George surveyed the adult members of his massive family, all gathered in Mum's sitting room. Everyone, minus Bill and Fleur who were on holiday in France, was there and were awaiting his "Big Announcement". Ginny was sitting on the arm of the armchair Harry was sprawled in and Teddy was sitting tensely in the other armchair. Charlie and Percy were arguing in the corner over dragon regulations and Hermione was telling the both of them off for being stubborn. Ron was playing an intense game of chess with Victoire, who appeared to be winning. Mum was trying to force tea on everybody, mostly by shoving full teacups into their hands.
George wasn't necessarily nervous, but there was just a hint of anxiety, because he truly did not know how his family would react to his impending job change. "So there's no point in beating around the bush," he said. Everybody turned to look at him. When Ron glanced up, Victoire switched a rook and a pawn and looked angelic when Ron returned his attention to the board. "Five months ago I applied for a teaching position at Hogwarts."
The reactions of his family cut off any further explanation. Ron snorted, Harry sat up straight in his chair and exchanged a baffled expression with his wife, Percy and Charlie abruptly ended their argument and stared blankly at their little brother, and Teddy rolled his eyes and flopped back in his chare. "I thought this was important news," he groused. "Like you were having a kid or dying or something."
"Come again, there, George?" Charlie asked to break the silence. "You did what?"
"I applied for the job of Potions professor at Hogwarts," George said. "I want to teach."
Everybody tried to voice their opinions at the same time, but Hermione won out and her gentle voice calmed George somewhat. "I'm sure you've put a lot of thought into this, George. We're not trying to downgrade your…idea…but do you think you're prepared to teach? Students can be a handful."
"Yeah, mate, remember what you were like." Ron looked up from staring suspiciously at the board and Victoire shuffled a few more pieces around. Ginny hid a grin and gave Victoire a thumbs up behind Ron's back. "Oi! What is going on here?"
"Nothing," Victoire said sweetly. "It's your turn."
Somehow, George felt that they should have been more…something. More outraged, more supportive, more anything. Mostly, he got the impression that they didn't really care one way or the other what he did. In the back of his mind, his mind was throwing up the idea that they didn't think he'd be able to stick it out, and that prompted the rest of his explanation for dragging them all together. "I got the job and I start this year," he said flatly.
"Is this about Fred, dear?" Mum offered him a steaming cup of tea and he accepted it. His hands curled around it, but he didn't drink. He was too tense to even try.
"In part, I guess. I just—I spent twenty one years trying to accept the fact that my twin brother was gone and suddenly he's not. I want to be where he is, and that means Hogwarts." George looked down his tea and almost considered dumping it out to see what the leaves read. He understood why his family thought it was a foolish decision, but George had spent three weeks agonizing over what to do after his return to London. The way George saw it, he had three decisions. He could forget about Fred and get on with his life; he could go and visit periodically and feel the hurt reopen every time; or he could arrange to stay at Hogwarts. At long last, and after a great deal of drinking, he had come to the decision that there was only one option—and he went after that option for all he was worth.
George had aged and matured (to everybody's mutual amusement) and had settled down, perhaps too early, and it resulted in his marriage falling apart. Angelina had latched onto him after…after the battle, and George let her do it. It hurt the both of them, and not too long after Roxanne's third birthday, Angelina walked in the door with divorce papers. The only person who could have possibly helped George through it in the way that he needed was Fred, and here was his chance to have all that he needed back again.
He was proud of his decision and sure that he would be more than able to handle the job, but the lack of faith his family was showing irked him. Wasn't family there to support each other in every way? Yeah, the Wheezes hadn't been fondly looked upon for the first few years, but he and Fred had pulled through and now it was an international success. Teaching was nothing compared to managing an exponentially growing company while nursing a broken heart from death and desertion, not to mention trying to raise two young children; George was going to do to Potions what he'd done to Wheezes, and then nobody would be able to deny that it was the right thing.
Now, if only he could convince everybody else of that.
That night George sat down at his desk with a quill, an ink bottle, and a fresh roll of parchment. It was hard to figure out how to word it; Freddie was astute and would pick up on any accidental undertones to the letter, and George chuckled. He was so much like his mother, who read into nearly everything by habit.
Dear Freddie,
I hope that the end of your fifth year is going well, I don't hear from you very often, but I'll take that as a good thing. No news is good news, eh?
I wanted to let you know that I won't be working at the shop anymore. Your aunt Ginny is taking over as chief operations officer in my stead, though I'm staying President. I accepted the post of Potions Professor in addition to Professor Malson; I believe I'll be teaching first through fourth year, and possibly a remedial upper level class.
I trust that at this point you've met your uncle, Fred. If you haven't, he's the one in the Great Hall. He tends to show up later at night. Despite how long it's been since his death, he has manifested in Hogwarts.
I feel like I haven't been doing my duty as a father and so in order to be closer to you and your sister and Fred, I decided to accept the offer Headmaster Melbourne offered me. I hope that you are okay with this decision—I thought long and hard about this, and yours and Roxanne's needs were the deciding factor in me taking the job. Try to think of it as a way to spend more time together! I'm sorry that I haven't been able to be a big part of your life, but that needs to change. I love you so much.
Dad
George sat back and re-read his work. "That'll do," he said to his empty apartment. He got out another piece of parchment and wrote a similar letter to Roxanne, and got up to find his owl. Feathers, the moniker given to the owl by a four year old Roxy, was nesting in the miniature tree out on the balcony, and George attached the two letters to his leg. "They're for Fred and Roxanne," he told the barn owl. "Don't wait for an answer." He tossed the owl off and Feathers took to the night sky.
There was one person left to tell; Angelina, his wife of ten years and ex-wife of eleven. He reached for the pot of Floo powder and tossed it into the grate. "Rhododendron Garden," he told it. Angelina had kept the name of her house that the previous owner had entitled it, although on more than one occasion, both him and the kids had come out in a stranger's grate because of a mispronunciation.
He stuck his head in the green fire, and was pleased to see Angelina still awake at her kitchen table. "Hey, Ange," he said. She glanced up, and he was startled to see bags under her eyes. She got old-looking fast, he mused, but he kept that particular thought to himself. No need to bring about his own murder.
"George! It's late, is something wrong?" Concerned, she stood up and came over to kneel in front of the grate. "Freddie hasn't—"
"He's fine," George said hastily. "If he has done something stupid, I haven't heard about it. Uh, that's sort of what I wanted to talk about, actually, if you have a moment."
"Yeah, of course. I was just working on plays for the Gryphons. We're actually winning most of our games now!" Angelina lived and breathed Quidditch, she always had, and she had managed to come across the Aldeburgh Gryphons at the same time that their old coach was quitting, and had taken them under her wing.
"That's great!" George grinned, happy to see her so involved. After the divorce, a lot of people had mistakenly assumed that they hated each other, but Angelina and George had managed to switch from married couple to good friends with only a few minor mishaps, and for that George was thrilled. It made things so much easier when he got along with who was still his other half, though in a much less intimate manner than before. "Did either of the kids write you about seeing Fred, maybe?"
Angelina nodded, and her smile faded. "I can't say that I really believe it, but they're pretty positive about it. It's so hard to believe that he's back after so long."
"He's back, for sure," George said fervently. "You know how we were, back at school. Inseparable. I'm taking up an assistant Potions position at Hogwarts, to be nearer him and the kids."
Angelina rocked back on her heels, and a soft smile formed on her lips. "You never were one to do anything by half, were you?" she said, almost to herself. "And the store?"
"I asked Ginny to run it. She's only doing journalism for the few important games of the year, so she's got plenty of time to devote to it. She's already threatening to make changes." They shared a laugh, and George went on. "And any free time you've got, the store can use. Ginny's already got ideas for a sponsorship in the works for the Gryphons and she determined to turn me 'reputable'."
Angelina snorted and shook her head. "Merlin only knows what kind of store you're going to come home to, you know," she told him. George nodded, already very aware of that fact. When he approached Ginny after making his announcement to ask her to manage the store, she had been nearly giddy with the thought and had cornered him for the next two hours to demand information about the store out of him.
"She'll do fine, I'm sure," George said. "She's not inclined towards spur of the moment decisions."
"Whatever you think is best," Angelina said. "If that's all, I really do need to finish these plays. Keep me updated, okay?" She stood up and ignored the creak from her knees.
"Thanks for not freaking." George waved at her and she nodded. "Night."
"Night, you unpredictable loon."
