It had been months since Fred had been killed, and George still wasn't the same. He still mourned Fred, of course, but he knew that Fred had died for something that he believed in. Fred had died for The Cause. And that was…well, that was okay. George could never fully get over Fred's death, but he could also never get over being a Weasley Twin.
This personality trait had been ground into him from the first cognizant moment that he looked over in his crib and saw himself, red-haired and wrinkled, looking back. From that moment onward, there was always someone there to help him to cause mischief, to help him have fun, to help him finish his sentences, and to help him live his life.
George simply did not know how to operate on his own.
One day, tired of speaking in divided sentences and grinning into a mirror to comfort himself (that way, he was always being looked back at by Fred minus one ear), he apparated to Shell Cottage and invited himself in. Bill, sitting comfortably at a chair at the table and enjoying himself some very raw meat, barely looked up. He was used to the impromptu visits from his brothers.
"Ah. George. How have you been, man?"
George didn't waste any time. "Bill," he started, looking sheepish. "Will you be my twin?" Bill looked at him strangely, half pity and half fear. "Not my real twin." George shrugged. "I'll just feel better if I, you know, had someone else for a while."
Bill blinked for a moment, looked at Fleur in the doorway of the kitchen, and just resumed cutting into his steak. "Alright then."
But alas, this twinship wasn't to work out, as George didn't have the natural affinity for bleeding animal flesh that Bill did, and he also straight away refused to grow out his hair and wear a fang in his remaining ear.
That night, after returning to his flat, he flooed to Katie's. "How'd the Bill thing go?" she immediately wanted to know, serving him some steak just right .
"Not well. I refused the fang, you see." He gestured with his fork toward his ear.
"That's too bad."
"How'd the date thing go?"
"Not well. It was dull. Incredibly dull." She frowned and took a dainty sip of water.
" 'oo ba'ad." George replied, his mouth already full.
It was a week later before he tried again, this time apparating home to find Charlie sitting peacefully in the garden enjoying those gits, the gnomes. "Hullo George."
"Charlie." George said bluntly. "I need a new twin. Will you be it?"
Charlie looked thoughtful. He traced the scars on his arms. "Alright then."
Unfortunately, the relationship didn't follow through. Charlie took him dragon hunting, and only one near death experience into it, George decided that Charlie was not the right twin for him.
At Katie's, he showed her the shiny spot of skin that ran up his arm toward his elbow.
"That's quite manly, George. But obviously not right for you."
George considered this for a moment. "Were you nearly eaten by dragons this morning, Kate?"
"If Editors are Dragons, then I very nearly was."
"Oh yes, they are one and the same."
It was around this point that George decided that he didn't need a twin so much as he needed a companion. He would obviously never find anyone who was as much…himself as Fred was. So this is what he asked Percy for when he arrived at his office door.
"A companion, George? Hmm." Percy brushed his quill over his lips, thinking. "I think that we could be companions."
Apparently, all of Percy's companions file, because that was all that Percy had George do that day. Or, rather, that was all that Percy told George to do. After George had woken from his nap in the filing room, he decided that Percy wasn't the companion that he was looking for. So, he resigned.
"You resigned?" Katie squealed. "Just like that?"
"Just like that." George snapped his fingers.
A friend, not even one as constant as a companion, must be what he was looking for. Ron looked confused when George asked him to be his friend.
"But George," Ron spluttered, confused. "We already are friends."
"No, you git." George rolled his eyes. "Friends. Like Fred and I."
Ron looked at him blankly, until finally George growled "Nevermind. You great, stupid prat."
"Do you know anyone who is as much of a git as that Ron?" George asked Katie.
"Not one single person." Katie agreed.
"I know. Great prat." George said affectionately.
A friend. That still sounded about right, and he only had one more Weasley left. Only one more chance to find the missing side of the Weasley twins. Ginny just continued to skip stones when he asked her to be his friend.
"Alright then." She agreed, and handed him a stone.
Ginny and George had a fantastic day, and George wondered how it was that Fred had ended up as his twin instead of Ginny (of course, he later regretted that immensely). They continued to skip stones, they played tricks on unsuspecting passers by, and later they just talked about WWW and Fred and George. He explained to her about his search to find another Weasley to be his twin, because he couldn't function alone, and how she was the best candidate.
"I can't wait to tell Katie that I've finally found myself another twin." George sighed happily.
Ginny was silent for a moment before asking, "What was it that you were looking for again, George?"
George pushed back the hair from his forehead. "Originally, I wanted a twin. But then I realized that a twin is a companion and a friend, someone who is like me and who I have fun with and just talk to."
Ginny just gave him a blank stare until he got it.
"Katie?" George asked her, back at her flat. "You know how I've been looking for a twin?"
"Of course. I've had the pleasure of hearing about all of your adventures," She smiled at him.
"Well, I learned that I didn't need a twin all along."
"Oh yeah?" Katie looked interested.
"Oh yes. I had myself the whole time, and I knew what I wanted. I wanted a friend and a companion, someone who understood me and would listen to me, but also someone who would talk to me." He looked down at her and brushed stray strands of hair out of her eyes. "I wanted someone to be my other half."
"Katie, will you be my twin?" She smiled and nodded, resting her hand against his freckled cheek.
Then they shared a kiss that was anything but brotherly.