A/N And here's chapter 6. Chapter 7 is the final chapter. It's about 4000 words long and will be up next Sunday. Enjoy and remember to review.
Disclaimer: These three characters belong to JK Rowling.
5th November 1998
Light flooded into the room and George groaned.
"Up and at 'em, George, chop chop," the rather demanding figure said.
He sat up to find Angelina Johnson grinning at him.
"Why are you here?" he asked curiously.
"I came here to take my best friend out for the day, what's wrong with that?" she laughed cheerily.
"So where's Alicia?"
It was weak but he was joking and Angelina's smile widened even more.
"Come on, you idiot, get dressed. We have a full day ahead of us."
The ginger guy took a moment to come to full consciousness and weigh up his options. Around half an hour later he'd made it as far as the door and he hesitated.
It seemed that Angelina completely understood.
"He wouldn't begrudge you one day away from him, George," she said quietly.
So she was the one to turn the doorknob and open the door for him and in that moment the door represented so much more to George. He set foot outside it. The voice didn't call after him. Angelina held her hand out and instinctively he took it.
The human contact felt good after being cooped up for so long and he grasped it like a lifeline. She smiled reassuringly at him and they descended the stairs slowly.
Upon reaching the bottom, George gasped. The store was immaculate; there was not even a trace of dust, let alone the debris from the numerous death eater raids. He could have opened up there and then if only the stock was back in.
"What happened here?" he asked, confused.
Angelina grinned. "They were surprised you didn't notice. Lee and Ron were in here basically all summer with Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Alicia and Charlie. It gave them something to do to keep their minds… and you wouldn't have wanted to do it, George."
He was completely overwhelmed with a sudden sense of hope. Possibly the main reason he hadn't come down here was fear that it wouldn't be the same but it was. There was an essence of such Fredness that he couldn't help but smile. Happy tears felt strange.
"I…"
"We're all around if you ever need us, Georgie." Angelina squeezed his hand.
He said nothing but the Weasley was grateful for Angelina's understanding of what he suspected was Charlie's interference.
2nd November 1998
"What the hell did you say to her?" Charlie Weasley burst forcefully into the stale flat.
George barely glanced up.
"Go away, Charlie," he said.
"You know what? I won't!" his brother shouted. "You're pushing us all away, George! Can't you see we're just worried about you?"
George just ignored him.
"I'm just going to stop bothering. You don't care," Charlie sighed disgustedly. "Merlin, poor Angelina. She's in pieces. Well done."
The older Weasley walked straight out of the door.
"Wait, Charlie." George sounded incredibly tired as soon as he let the anger slip from his voice.
"Yes?"
"Does she hate me?" George whispered one of his biggest fears.
"No, actually. Just remember, she lost him too and she also lost you. You can push your family away as much as you like but please, George, make an effort with Ange."
"Ange, where are we going now?" he sighed. "I just want to go home."
"George you've been in the flat for six months. You can manage twelve hours away from it."
It was dark and the duo had spent the majority of the day walking by a local river. This was something pre-war George would not have been caught… wouldn't have done but suddenly he found it refreshing. Now they were in some grotty Muggle field in the middle of nowhere.
"Do you know what today is, George?"
George shrugged. "Erm… November?"
"More specifically?" Angelina pressed.
"It's not your birthday is it?" George asked, worried he'd forgotten.
She laughed. "No you missed it; it was two weeks ago. Today is Bonfire Night."
George sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Ange…"
"There will be no running away. You love fireworks," his friend insisted. "Hey, look, that woman's selling those funny Muggle light-up contraptions. Let's go buy one for your Dad."
"I don't have any Muggle money," the Weasley said stubbornly.
"I do," Angelina grinned.
He seemed to finally be enjoying himself when he took the light-up toy and the vendor asked, "Does your girlfriend not want one, sir?"
Within a second George had dropped the toy and sprinted off. Angelina snatched it up and ran after him.
"George, come on. She didn't mean anything by it," she yelled.
Finally he stopped running and turned to face her.
"She might not have done. Did you?" he demanded.
Angelina stared at him, out of breath. "What?" she asked incredulously.
"What happened last week. You've been skirting around it all day but, Ange, I know you've only stuck it out because you're hoping that one day I'll fall for you. That's why you left when I asked and why you bothered coming back today. I know you, Ange. But I won't! My brother loved you and I will never do that to him."
He sounded so desperate it was almost as if he needed Fred's love for Angelina to be true. He needed that one reason to keep himself away from her.
"George," she sighed. "I know you're hurting but I need you to know I left and came back for the same reason: I love you. I know you won't believe me when I tell you Fred was our biggest matchmaker."
George kept shaking his head so she walked up and took his hands.
"But, see, the thing is, I'm in love with you, George"-he wasn't leaving, she noticed-"but I'm still your friend. I want to be here as whatever you need. We can forget this whole conversation if you want, okay?"
George was silent. Angelina's lip trembled in anticipation. She had just put herself right out there and laid all her feelings bare. A thousand scenarios from this point flashed through her head.
"Okay. Ange? Thanks for telling me," he told her calmly.
He wiped a tear from her eye and hugged her tightly. Red light burst across the sky, galloping and colliding in a kaleidoscope.