Wow, now that's really funny. This was supposed to be a filler chapter, just to go on in time. But somehow that little boy turned it into a direction I hadn't expected, and now it's become so much longer than planned - but well, just have a look and tell me what you think! Thanks a lot to all my reviewers, keep'em coming, you always make me so happy!
7. Hide and Seek
Days passed by, turning into weeks, colouring the leaves on the trees yellow and orange and red. The pavements of London were covered in the bright carpets of foliage, the people who passed by had replaced their shirts by warmer jackets, and from time to time someone would stop and look at the clouds painted on the sky. Autumn was approaching.
George never looked at the sky when he headed for the joke shop in Diagon Alley. Sometimes he stopped, though, to watch the people in the streets, and it wasn't only the wind that sent chills through his body. It was the fact that time would never stand still, that it passed by without a chance for him to stop it; the evidence could be found in the trees getting bare-branched and in the days getting shorter.
He tried not to think of it, he kept himself distracted by work, and his friends and family visiting him more often than ever helped him in the desperate battle of forgetting. But this was a fight he couldn't win, and he knew it.
Actually, he didn't even know what he wanted to forget. Was it the endless hours in the Great Hall? The sunshine on the darkest day of his life? The various little things that reminded him of his loss every single day? But he couldn't forget that, because it meant to forget about Fred, and that was the last thing he wanted… - but remembering was suffocating him more with every passing day.
He tried not to show it, he tried to keep up the pretense that he could somehow cope with it, but inside he knew that he wouldn't be able to hold that up forever. It was only a matter of time until he would break down, and that knowledge scared him even more than the everyday thought of living the rest of his life as one half of one.
"Good evening, Mr Weasley!", someone shouted from across the street, and George looked up. The assistant of the robes shop was smiling at him, waving. He waved back at the young girl, forcing himself to a fake smile. There had been a time when he would have given anything just to have this girl look at him, he thought. But it had been Fred who had talked to her one day, and actually George hadn't cared once he had seen his twin so happy and proud. Now he'd give anything just to see that look on Fred's face once again.
When he opened the door of the joke shop, Ron was nowhere to be seen, and George cursed under his breath.
"Ron!", he yelled. "Ron, where are you?"
"Comin'!"
George heard rapid footsteps on the stairs, and a second later his younger brother was looking at him, guilt written all over his face which was nearly as red as his hair.
"Where have you been?", George asked, trying to stay calm. Hadn't he told Ron not to leave the shop? Hadn't he made it absolutely plain that there always had to be someone downstairs? George wasn't the one to mistrust people in general, but when it came to his belongings and earnings, he wanted to be quite sure that no one could take anything away from him. Nobody would ever steal anything from him, he had sworn that – but maybe Ron had again not listened to him.
"Sorry George", the younger one mumbled. "I just had to read the letter I got."
"From whom?", George asked sharply, although he felt like he knew the answer. But seeing Ron blush even more was at least one thing to cheer him up.
"'Mione", was the barely decipherable answer.
George couldn't help but smile slightly. It was strange to see his little brother being in love, acting so grown-up all of a sudden, but still appearing as the child he used to be from time to time. There was only one thing which told George that Ron would never be that child again. It was his eyes that had lost their innocense during the last year.
"I was wondering if maybe I could take off the rest of the day", Ron said shyly. "Of course only if it's okay with you."
His look was almost pleading, and George suddenly realized that Ron needed Hermione to feel like that child again. Didn't they all want to feel like that?
He streched out his hand in order to pet Ron's shoulder, but stopped halfways.
"Off you go", he simply said, lowering his arm.
"Are you sure?", Ron asked, merely surprised.
"Go before I change my mind!", George told him warningly.
"Thanks man!", his brother shouted, beaming at him. "Thanks!"
"Give Hermione my best regards, will you?", George said, and Ron nodded smilingly.
"See you tomorrow!", and with no further words he was gone. George stayed behind, staring at the spot from where his brother had Disapparated. He was alone again.
The shop was empty, which created one of the rare moments of silence. Normally it was crowded, and George was actually surprised not to have any customers at all. Maybe it's because it's already late, he thought. He gazed out of the window into the twilight. The sun set earlier every day, letting everybody know that winter wasn't far. George didn't want to think about it. Thinking about winter meant to think about snowball fights, Christmas presents and New Year's Eve. It meant to see it all again, as if looking at old photographs, unable to bring back the time that had passed.
George choked and tried to focus on something else. The cupboards had been filled again by Ron, and in his mind George calculated the sales of the next day. Halloween. He would have forgotten about it – or shoved the thought aside, more likely – if it hadn't been for the various decorations in the shops in London.
He didn't want to think about Halloween either.
Suddenly he heard the familiar sound of an opening door, and George blinked hastily, expecting to face Ron again.
But instead, a little boy was staring up at him. He couldn't be older than 6, George guessed.
"Hey", he greeted the brown-haired boy. "I'm sorry, it's nearly closing time."
It was only when the kid came nearer that George could see the tear streaks on the small face. Immediately he rushed over to the child.
"What's happened?", he asked tentatively, resting one hand onto the boy's shoulder.
"I… I… I lost…", the boy sobbed, appearantly unable to speak.
"What did you lose?", George enquired. When the boy didn't answer, he knelt down in front of him so that they were at eye-level. The brown eyes were tearstained, and almost intuitively he stroked the small shoulder until the shaking finally eased. He gave it another try.
"What did you lose?"
"My… my mum and dad…"
For a shock moment George wondered if the child in front of him was an orphan, but before he could even say something, the boy added: "I just wanted to look at the owl at Eeylops, and I stopped, and when I… when I turned round they were gone… and Liam was gone, too." He rubbed his eyes hard and sniffed twice.
"Who's Liam?", George asked.
"My brother", said the boy. "He's at Hogwarts, you know, but he came home for Halloween. We wanted to buy a costume today, a really scary one…", and again tears dwelled up in his eyes.
George didn't know what to do. He was good with children as long as they were laughing and experimenting with the joke stuff. He didn't know how to deal with a child's tears.
"Do you know where your parents and your brother wanted to go to?" It was the only question he could think of, but the boy just shook his head. George sighed silently.
"What's your name anyway?", he asked.
"Sean. Sean O'Malley."
"Okay Sean", he started, but stopped speaking when he realized that he didn't have a clue about what to do. There was something about this kid that made him feel uncomfortable, but also filled him with a strange kind of warmth, and he didn't know what to make of it. The brown eyes were seeking for help, and George tried to put himself into the kid's position. It wasn't as difficult as he had expected actually, and that realization hit him hard.
We both need someone we've lost, he thought. And he looked into the shining eyes, and somewhere he thought he could see himself. The difference was that he didn't know who to ask for help.
"I guess it's best to wait here. Your parents won't be far away, I'm sure. They'll find you."
"D'you promise?", Sean asked.
"Yes, I do", George replied, trying to make his voice sound somewhat reassuring. But the boy didn't seem entirely satisfied yet. "What is it, Sean?", George asked, seeing sorrow in the brown eyes.
"Liam… I bet he'll laugh at me for getting lost…", the child mumbled, his cheeks blushing slightly. "I don't want him to laugh."
"He won't. Just…", and suddenly he had an idea. "Just tell him you played Hide and Seek! If he doesn't find you in time, it'll just show that you're better than him!"
Sean began to smile, and George felt rather proud of his idea. He couldn't remember the last time he had made a child smile with mere words. The boy looked around in the shop, probably realizing for the first time in what kind of place he had ended up. The kid's eyes grew wider as he scanned the shelves filled with various kinds of colourful objects.
"This is a great place to hide, you know?", he finally decided, not even looking at George.
"Yeah", George said. "I know."
"Liam always says that you can't hide forever, though", Sean added after a couple of seconds. "He says he'll find me in the end."
"Let's hope that he'll find you today, then", George said. "But till he does, would you like to taste some of those sweets over there?" He pointed at several glasses filled with brightly shining toffees, and the boy nodded enthusiastically. "Okay, wait a minute."
George stood up in order to pick out some of the harmless toffees – those that made your nose turn into a pig's snout or made your face turn into shades of blue and green. He handed them to the kid and watched him laugh out loudly as purple feathers began to grow out of his head.
"That's so cool", he shouted in delight, and George smiled.
"Do 'ou 've bro's and si'ers?" Chewing and speaking at the same time was obviously a problem for the little boy, so George waited until he had finally swallowed the toffee.
"Pardon?", he said, and the kid looked rather guilty.
"I was just asking – do you have any brothers and sisters?"
Suddenly George had the feeling that all air had left of the room, he found it so hard to breathe, and he choked.
"Brothers. And a sister. Big family, us Weasleys."
"How many brothers do you have?" The curiosity was written all over the boy's face.
For a moment that seemed like eternity, he hesitated. What was the answer actually? It wasn't that difficult, he told himself. He used to have five, minus one made four. But wasn't the one still his brother after all? Because if he wasn't, then he wouldn't make him cry and feel so much pain – would he? He would be nothing but a stranger, but a stranger could never do that to him.
"Five. I have five brothers."
"That's a lot", the boy smiled, his face turning checkered in blue and yellow.
George was so lost in watching the kid trying out all kinds of toffees that he flinched when suddenly the shop door burst open.
"Sean!"
A lanky boy was running over to the child, and somehow George found him strikingly familiar.
"Liam!", Sean shouted.
"Where have you been?", the older one asked with a worried look on his face.
"Playing Hide and Seek", the little one answered, winking at George, who grinned back while trying to find out where he knew the brother from.
"Well, I got you, didn't I?", the older one grinned. Then he turned to look at George, and his smile faded. "You're George Weasley, right?"
George nodded silently.
"I'm in Ginny's year", Liam explained. "Ravenclaw."
"Then you must've known Colin." George didn't know why the tiny 6th year boy came to his mind, but he knew that he would never forget the pale figure being laid down onto the floor by a silently crying Oliver Wood.
"Yes, I did." The boy looked down at Sean for a second, but the kid was still fascinated by the fake wand George had put into his hand. "I'm sorry that your brother's… gone", he finished after hesitating shortly, appearantly not wanting to use the word "dead"in front of the child.
Sean took his eyes off the wand that had just turned into a rubber mouse, and looked from Liam to George.
"Did you get lost, too?", he asked with his childish voice, and George swallowed hard to get rid of the lump in his throat. But before he could even answer, Sean smiled at him. "No, you didn't. You're just playing Hide and Seek, right?"
"Sort of."
"But you know, in the end he'll find you", Sean said, squinting at his older brother. Liam took a deep breath and knelt down beside the kid.
"Sean, sometimes… sometimes we cannot be found." He bit his lip and avoided George's look, and he was grateful for that because the last thing he wanted was to cry in front of those two boys, but he feared that he would do exactly that if anyone looked at him right now. "We keep hiding, but no one comes to find us."
Sean seemed to reflect on his brother's words for quite a while, just long enough for George to pull himself together. He saw the child's eyes set upon him, and the small voice burned deep into his skin as Sean said: "Then you should stop hiding. Maybe someone else will find you."
"You're a smart kid, Sean", George remarked, clenching his fists in his pockets so much that his fingernails pierced the skin. He focused on that pain, because perhaps that could somehow make him not feel the other.
"We have to go", Liam said, blinking twice without succeeding in hiding the shimmer in his eyes. "Mum and Dad will be glad that you're back."
Sean nodded and smiled at George.
"Goodbye Mr Weasley."
"George. Just call me George."
"Goodbye George."
The boy took his brother's hand, and Liam shook George's hand with the free one.
"Thank you, George."
George stayed in the doorway, waving as the brothers went down the street and were soon out of sight.
"Who was that?", someone suddenly asked, and George jerked. He turned round and faced Lee who was staring at the same direction as he had.
"A boy", George said quietly. "Just a boy."
