"Don't hurt me..please...please", the young Malfoy whimpered at the sight of the wand that was pointed at him. "I can't believe Potter had the heart to spare you and your mum's lives. You should have joined your father in Azkaban, you scum!" Malfoy scanned the dark alleyway for something...anything he can use to defend himself from his oppressor. He found a nearby pebble and kicked it far behind him to create a distraction. The man immediately lowered his wand and looked behind the boy for a few moments and Malfoy took the chance to escape.

Malfoy kicked the dirt under his shoes and wiped them off the rug before he got through the door of his house. He called for his family's house elf for some ice cold brandy to alleviate his problems at the very least, but before the cold beverage touched his lip, Narcissa swung open the doors of her son's room. "Draco!", his mother screamed even before she could set a foot inside the room. "Where have you been the whole afternoon? I believe I didn't give you the permission to leave this house." Narcissa gave her son a stern look. "Mother, do forgive me for my foolish actions. I was just trying to look for something better to do." Malfoy didn't look at his mother when he talked. He kept his eyes still at the untouched brandy.

"You do know very well that we aren't exactly loved by the others out there, don't you? Your father is not here to protect us and if you dare put our name lower than it already is, I swear to-" Narcissa was cut off when Malfoy decided to finish off the sentence harshly.
"..to put me in the same place as my father? to Azkaban?" The boy looked truly depressed as he looked at his mother. Narcissa couldn't speak a word after she saw the bitterness in her son's face.

Speechless, Narcissa just took the brandy out of Draco's hands and placed it at a nearby table. "Alcohol is never the solution, dear."
"And neither is staying in this house, doing nothing. It will only give me more time to ask myself why we deserve all this."
Narcissa just sighed and looked at her son one last time before she left the room. "As a mother, I am ashamed for not knowing how to comfort her own son, but please Draco, don't do this to yourself. I love you. You father and I do." Quietly, almost like a whisper, she greeted her son goodnight before she closed the door shut.

"I love you too, mom, but I'm afraid your love is not enough to rid me off my problems." Malfoy saw the brandy that her mother forgot to take out with her on the table. He pushed himself up from his bed, gulpped down the brandy and got ready for bed.

It was five in the morning and George hasn't gotten a minute of sleep. He was looking through some papers and for evey page turned, he had an expression of disappointment on his face. George threw away the writings one by one into the garbage as he rejected them all. "These ideas are just completely silly...and not in a good way." George spoke to himself before finishing the rest of his already-cold coffee. He took a last minute glance at the clean sheet of paper on his desk and tapped his pen a couple of times, hoping something will pop in his head. NOthing. He was completely out of ideas for a new invention.

He heard the door open followed by some heavy steps down the stairs. It was Ron in his bathrobe with a tooth brsh and mug at hand.
"G'morning, George." He greeted his older brother with a slight smile. "Up so early? Or have you been awake all this time?" George gave his brother a lazy nod and asked his brother if he had any fresh new ideas. "You asking me? Well maybe some really effective bug spray to keep all the creepy spiders out of the house. Woke up screaming when I saw one on my bed one time, you know?" George leaned against his chair and raised a brow. "That's completely boring, Ron. I'd rather make something that duplicates spiders rather than killing them. Besides, there are tons of that already, y'know..at the market?" Ron shrugged and was on his way to the loo.

"What would you have thought of, Fred?" George sighed under his breathe as he asked his deceased twin. George never really gotten over the fact that Fred was already gone. He would even sometimes pause in the middle of a sentence to wait for Fred to finish the rest of it or he would jump out of bed excitedly to nodge his brother awake and scream at his ear for a brilliant new idea he's thought of, but he always awoke to the realization that his very own twin was gone. George wasn't used to it. For him, Fred was like his pair. He couldn't function properly without him. He thought that maybe their shop will have to close down if he didn't think of something quick.

George didn't get any sleep in the end. He closed the door behind him and started on his morning walk, hoping the morning breeze will frshen his mind a bit.

He also decided to stop by Diagon Alley to buy some ingredients just in case a brilliant idea popped in his head. He didn't think so, though.
He was probably just looking for a good excuse to stay out of the house. George was on his way to his last stop when he heard Malfoy's name being screamed out loud like he was caught stealing something. He looked around to see where the boisterous shouting came from, but saw nothing until he turned around and noticed a hand was pulling on his coat. He looked straight and saw that some blond was pulling him to the nearest alleyway.

"What in Merlin's name...?" George tried to shrug off the hand that was tugged on his shoulder. "I-I'm really sorry, sir. I didn't mean to...Weasley?"
Malfoy suddenly drew back his hand at the sight of the red head, his expression like disgust. "I see you haven't changed. Still treat me like I'm some kind of horrifying creature about to pounce on you." After fixing his coat, George bent down to pick up one of the bags he dropped while he was being dragged away."I'm sorry. Uhh...force of habit." Malfoy smiled a bit, thinking it was a bit funny, but George wasn't amused. He gripped the bags tight and was on his way out. "Wait! Don't you want to know why I suddenly pulled you here? Aren't you shocked? Curious?" Malfoy tugged on George's coat once again having a scared and troubled look on his face. "Shocked, yes. Curious, not really. And please stop pulling into my coat.
I can't afford to buy another one if it gets ripped unlike you Malfoys."

Malfoy hesitantly let go of George's coat. He didn't want him to leave him just yet so he stopped him by asking a rather shallow question.
"Why aren't you curious?" Of course Malfoy knew the answer more or less, but he was just trying to distract George. "Don't think I'm stupid, Malfoy. I know very well that you're just trying to use me as some human shield to protect you from whoever's after you."

The blond looked down to his feet after hearing the ugly truth from George. He felt embarassed, really and it made him think twice about using one of the Weasleys like that. George was kind of shocked to see a Malfoy look down in embarassment and not talk back in defense for once. "I apologize. It's just that I-" Malfoy shut his mouth when he saw the man that was looking for him from afar. Quickly, he hid behind the nearest object that could conceal his presence.

"Hey, boy! Yea, you with the red hair. Saw that Malfoy kid anywhere?" The first thing that George noticed was a mouth filled with copper teeth and a foul odor coming from in between them. He saw that the man was also not dressed appropriately. He had a cloak that was rather ragged draped over his shoulders and the bottom ends were covered with mud. Then his eyes finally traveled to his face and Merlin, did he look scary! George barely kept a straight face on him and he felt himself twitch. "Malfoy? Why, no, my good sir. I wouldn't think that such a snotty brat like him would walk the streets of this place."

George, regaining his manners, managed to smile at the man properly and heard him grunt as he left. "He's gone. you can breath now." George confirmed. He watched the cautious boy come out from behind the dumpster, shaking a little. Malfoy cleaned out the dirt from his pants and regained his posture, looking proud once again.

"Good sir? Snotty brat? What was that all about?" Malfoy snarled. "Yeah, you're welcome. Okay, Malfoy, so maybe I am a little curious. Who was that loving fan you were hiding from?" Malfoy glared at him, thinking that his sarcasms weren't funny at all. George held back the insults as much as he thought how funny it would be to piss him off some more. He remembered that he and Fred used to love teasing the brat.

"It's not funny, Weasley. You have no idea how much my mother and I are suffering right now!" Malfoy's eyes grew large and covered his mouth."..I can't believe I just told you that." He looked away.

"So I'm supposed to pity you now?" Malfoy didn't speak a word. He was just looking down at his feet again, looking almost pitiful. George looked at him for a while. He seemed like he was arguing to himself about something. "Why don't we continue this with a cup of tea?"
Malfoy held his head up and studied George's expression. He didn't seem to be joking so he gave him a little nod.

"You want anything?" George waited for Malfoy's response as he seemed too busy traveling into space. Finally, he looked up and told George that he'll be having some alcoholic beverage. "This is a cafe if you haven't noticed the smell of the coffee." Malfoy seemed really out of it. George even looked slightly worried about the boy. "Then I'll have whatever you're having." Malfoy went back to staring into space, his grey eyes looked lifeless.

"So...what's all this drama about?" Malfoy suddenly attacked him verbally. Clearly, he was not one for jokes especially in this situation. "You think that this is some kind of joke, don't you? Your kind are just so used to the proud and bratty Draco Malfoy that you think you can fool around with me anytime?" Malfoy's voice was loud and most likely audible to the other customers around. Luckily, there weren't too many present. George slightly tilted his head downward to avoid showing his face to the customers.

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. I should let you know that I'm not one to comfort people lovingly. But really, Malfoy. Why go out in a place like this if you know very well that there are people like that?" George really had to stop the insults before he sends Malfoy out the door, making people think that they have a fling or something.

"Because I find going outdoors less disturbing than staying in my very own home hearing my mother's mourning and lecturing all day long." George understood this. He, himself didn't want to get cooped up in the house the whole day thinking about the loss of his brother and killing himself over thinking too much of new things to invent.

The tea came in after a few minutes of small talk. George blew on it and took a sip. He saw Malfoy just staring at it like there was a worm in it. "Why is it...violet?" Malfoy looked completely grossed out. After sipping the tea, George took a sniff of it and settled it down. The tea had a good smell. It was obviously violet because of the lavender scent and it just had the right sweetness to it. Plus, it was very soothing to the senses after gulping it down. It was the perfect drink for someone who is troubled.

"Drink it. It's their best seller. I assure you that it's not poison. Neither does it taste funny." Malfoy frowned and looked down at it. He hesitantly sipped the weird colored drink and much to his surprise, it was really good. Looks like there may be a substitute to alcohol after all. George smiled a bit to see that his companion likes it.

Malfoy looked around the room for anyone who might be staring at him with complete abomination. There weren't any. Most of them were a bunch of old people who just finished their morning walk and decided to freshen up here then his gaze turned to George's face. He looked at him for a while and could not help, but notice that his eyebags were huge and dark especially when hit by the sun's rays. "When was the last time you took a day off? You look absolutely hideous with those dark circles around your eyes."George just took the insult. He didn't want to anger Malfoy again who already seemed fine. "Work. Haven't gotten any bright ideas so I've been pushing myself."

MAlfoy finished up the tea and settled it down for the last time. He wiped the corners of his mouth before he could speak. "I see. As much as I hate to admit it, but I think we're in the same boat, Weasley. I know of your loss and you clearly know what my problem is." He continued, "Well isn't this swell. Two emotionally disturbed boys drinking tea in in an old cafe." Malfoy was just about to bring out his money from his pockets when George raised his hand to call one of the bus boys and told Malfoy that it was on him.

"I best be going home now before any other ugly men try to kidnap me for my money unless you can escort me back home like a good weasel you are." George just chuckled and stood up from his chair. He found himself looking at Malfoy, almost examining him. He was much taller than him. Perhaps a whole foot taller. He also noticed that he was much thinner than he last saw him, not that he scrutinizes him. It was obvious when he looked at him.

They were both outside the exit when Malfoy, a few steps ahead of him remembered something. "Weasley, thank you...for the tea and the time you most probably couldn't bare."George thought for a second that he was hearing wrong when he heard Malfoy speak those words and thought there still might be a smeer of tea on the corners of his lips that made it look like a smile. He was mistaken. He really was smiling at him even if it were only for a brief moment then he turned away and left.

'What in the world?', George thought to himself. That was very unlike him to do that. He thought that he'd never see the day Malfoy smile without the mischievous aura enveloping him. Well, whatever he thought, those words and that smile lifted him up a bit. 'No way', he thought 'No way.'