Insert Joke of Choice Here

"Why did the goblin cross the road?" George asked his own reflection in the mirror. He screwed up his nose and continued to speak to his reflection. "Oh, damn you Fred, you weren't the source of all our jokes, so why did my humor have to go with you?"

Then he shook his head, convinced he was going crazy. In attepts to console himself, however slightly, he reminded himself that they were identical but for his own missing ear, covered by his hair.

He was still darkly muttering 'goblin' and 'road' under his breath as he left the washroom to return to his shop. There were a few people milling around, many he recognized as Hogwarts students enjoying the last few days of their summer holidays. He browsed around, stopping distractedly to restock the shelves, often skipping the shelves that actually needed to be restocked and restocking things that didn't need to be.

It had been just over a year. Why was he finding it so hard to move on?

He knew that a huge order for some of their Defence line would be coming in soon, but how soon? He needed to prepare the order...

Running the store wasn't the same.

Before it had been something fun to do. Now, he was making more money than ever, but most of the fun had been drained out of it.

He glanced out the spotless window as he passed. People, laughing, smiling, talking, walked by, some of them stopping to look interestedly at the display in the window. He knew that every second person who came by must have lost someone the know in the war... so why had the moved on? What made it so much easier for them than him?

He frowned. Ginny had commented the week before that he still wasn't himself. She didn't like the new, brooding George. For the first few months he had put on a real show of acting strong, pretending he was alright, going about with business. But the further along he got, the more he realised he had lost.

With both his better half and his ear gone, he now remained only forty eight hundredths of what he used to be. He still sometimes said half finished sentances, expecting his twin to come up and finish it for him, adding a witty remark at the end.

"Excuse me?"

George looked at the little kid, had a fleeting image of a red haired boy the same size, helping him to find the spell to turn Ron's bear into a spider... but as quickly as the image had come it was gone, and the boy who stood infront of him no longer resembled an eleven year old Fred.

"Yeah?"

"Could you show me where the fake wands are?"

"Down the last aisle, right side, third shelf... hey, kid?"

The boy turned around.

"A hag walked into a bar..."

"And said ouch. Yeah, I've heard that one before."

"Oh..." George said, forcing himself to grin. "I know. Just thought I'd test you..."

The bell above the door jingled and George watched Ron walk in.

"Hey mate, how's it going?" he asked.

"Alright. Business is going good today."

"I hear the old bat next door is thinking about selling. Smart move, she isn't doing so well selling Dark Wizard deflecters... for one thing they don't work, for another there aren't anymore Dark Wizards to deflect..."

"Hey..." he forced himself to smile again. "What's brown and sticky?"

"Eugh," Ron said, stepping back.

"A stick!" George said it. "Geddit? Oh... not funny huh?"

Ron shook his head. "Not at all."

"It's like my fucking sense of humor went with my ear. Or with Fred..." his voice faltered.

"Oh come on, you'll get it back," Ron said, looking away." You just need to relax... no more cheesy jokes. Just focus on the store and it'll come back to you."

"Right..." George said. "You here to work?"

"Nah, you gave me the day off, I just came to get my good shoes..."

"Your good shoes? You have good shoes? That are different than regular shoes?"

Ron blushed. "Yeah, and they're a hell of a lot nicer than yours. What are you still wearing those for eh? You've had em more than a year and I think they've got a blood stain..."

George mumbled something about thinking new shoes were a waste of money when his worked perfectly well. Ron shrugged. "Alright then. I'm going to do a bit of shopping... it's Hermione's birthday coming up and I need to get her something. I'll come by after to get those shoes."

He had a sudden stroke of inspiration, one last try at pulling off a decent prank. George nodded and patted his little brother on the back. "Thanks mate."

"For..."

"For your advice."

"Who are you and what have you done with George?"

----

"I'm back. Do you need help closing up?"

"Nah, I think I'm alright... how was shopping?"

"I was never much of a shopper. Couldn't find anything... it was weird though, people kept poking me when I walked by. You know, like, little sharp jabs in the ribs and stuff. I ended up jinxing a bloke, he didn't look too happy, but if I get in any trouble I can say it was self defense..."

"Yeah, that's weird," George said, no longer having to force a smile, but instead fighting one down.

"Well, see you for dinner?"

"Yeah," George said, smirking.

Ron looked slightly nervous when he left. A year and a bit ago, George smirking meant danger.

George watched him leave, now grinning outwardly. On his back was a glittery purple sign that read 'Poke Me, I'm a Prat'. Who knew something so simple could be so effective?

George dinged the bell at the front desk. "George Weasley, back in business."

----

AN: Not as good as I wanted it to be, but still okish I hope. I thought I'd post it anyways, just to see. Kinda depressing at the beginning. Oh well. Review review?