The Fate of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes
We've all heard the story of Harry Potter and how Fred Weasley and his twin, George, opened a shop, correct? If not, then you shouldn't be reading this story. It holds a lot of tragedy between two brothers, twins, actually, and what happened after one of them died. What became of the shop? What became of the products? Could George even stomach going back there after what had happened to the co-owner of said shop?
Let's find out.
George Weasley could barely eat and sleep in the days following the Battle of Hogwarts. He hardly spoke, hardly moved, and never left his deceased brother's side. He hated when they called Fred that: Deceased. Made it sound too permanent, but Fred never liked permanent things. Unless it was his brother, or his family and friends, or- goodness, the shop.
The shop he and his brother had opened together was in ruins, destroyed by death eaters and Voldemort's other creatures alike. The product's recipes were destroyed, but they had always been held in the memory of the twin's brains. Had. Now, only one Weasley twin was alive to carry on the legacy of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Only one twin to create the products, to joke with the customers, to interview and kid with possible clerks and re-stockers.
They would never again be the 'Weasley twins' or 'those hilarious yet infuriating brothers'. It would be 'George Weasley' or 'that funny George'. George couldn't even fathom life without Fred, and now he had to live it. Live a life without having someone to know exactly what you were thinking just from the sound of your voice, someone to wake up and tell what you dreamed about to, someone to joke with and synchronize words with, someone to relate to in every single way. It took George's friends and family months to get him to act relatively normal, but they could tell he was still hurting. But there was one imminent problem: The shop.
The family had been paying the rent for those past months, and with no income, George couldn't very well pay them back. The family came up with a solution: Either sell the shop, or get it running again. While George didn't want nor could he stomach selling he and his brother's livelihood, he couldn't stand to go back there again. He and his brother had literally BUILT that shop up, made the products, designed the decorations. There was just too much 'Fred and George' there, too much 'Fred'. But he knew he had to get around to it at some point, so George gathered whatever courage he had left and took it upon himself to start renovating the shop that day.
He didn't tell anyone he'd gone, or that he was even going anywhere. He just apparated to Diagon Alley, a little bit away from the shop, and walked towards it with determination in his step. He made it all the way into the backroom of the shop before he broke down. On the way in, he'd seen the posters of George and his brother with their arms around each other, proudly holding out whatever new product had come out before the was started. Seen the displays for the products they'd created together and tested on each other. Seen the cauldrons where he and his brother had stood together for hours, brewing and casting, while just talking and joking around.
Fred was always joking, even in the very end. It made sobs wrack throughout George's body like they never had before, and it really scared him to think of the fate of the store.
George stayed there, surrounded by the shop's Fred-ness, until someone thought to look for him at the shop and found his laying on the ground with his knees pulled up to his chest, still crying silent sobs and calling for his fallen brother.