"My hands are shaking," he says, his voice quivering slightly. "This was a bad idea."
Harry sighs and looks down at the cup his friend is holding. George's hands really are shaking, he finds. The liquid is sloshing around in the cup, almost as if it will spill any moment. He sighs again. Maybe George is right. Maybe it was a bad idea to bring him out like this, so suddenly. It definitely was a terrible idea to bring him to a bar of all places...but he wasn't sure where else to take George.
He had not dared to risk Hogsmeade, knowing even the sight of their-well, his- shop might be enough to drive George back into his shell. Harry had not been sure if he would like to spend any time with their friends either, given that it had taken even Harry himself far too long to get through to George. So he had decided on a quiet, out of the way, Muggle pub. Now, he was regretting it.
"Alright then," he said to George in a reassuring voice. "Let's go back home."
George nodded quietly, and slid out of his seat. Both of the wizards headed outside into the cold night air.
As they were walking to the nearest Apparition point, which was a fair distance from the bar, George turned to Harry.
"They haven't stopped shaking since...since the war, you know." Goerge's voice was soft, and a bit anxious. Harry lifted his head to look at his friend. He had been visiting George on a nearly daily basis for months now. How had he not noticed?
"Alright, George, I-" Harry began, but the other wizard cut him off.
"No, Harry. I am not alright. I know you have been trying to "fix" this, but I have told you too many times before, that you can't! And yet you persist!" George's voice was louder now, and a few people were already turning to look at them.
"I meant to help you," Harry said, quietly, hoping it would calm George down.
"You are only hurting me!" George nearly screamed. In his agitation, his glass slipped from his hands, falling with a loud crash. Harry winced.
A few moments later, they were out on the cold street, having been pushed out by the bartender himself.
George was leaning against the wall, quiet now. A tear was still running down his cheek. Harry regretted bringing him out, for the hundredth time in less than five minutes. But before he knew it George was crouching on the pavement of the deserted Muggle road, sobbing with a pain that Harry realised was not physical.
When he knelt down to take George's freezing hands in his, they were still shaking.
Notes: For the Leonardo Da Vinci event on The Golden Snitch. Prompt: Harry Potter.
Also for the Through the Universe Challenge. Prompt: "My hands are shaking."