Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this.
An Understanding Within
George was sitting on his couch when he heard a knock at his door. Puzzled he got up to go and answer it. To his surprise it was Ginny.
"Hey George." Ginny walked in and sat on his couch.
"Ginny?"
"Yes it's me. It's not like you have many sisters."
"Well don't forget Fleur…"
Ginny's head cocked to the side and slowly a smile appeared on her face, "Wow, that was…a joke?"
George couldn't believe that it had come out of his mouth, jokes didn't come as easily these days like they used to. "Fleur is our sister-in-law."
"I know, and you know what I mean."
"It's just…"
"Come on George, I wanted to see you, and I thought we could have dinner together." She stood up and looked expectantly at him. He looked up at her blankly and after a minute she responded, "I'm not going by myself."
"Did you even consider that I might have some plans of my own?"
His younger sister pursed her lips and thought for a minute, "Do you?"
He shrugged and it was at this point that Ginny put her hands on her hips. George then decided that resistance was futile. Slowly he got to her feet which brought a smile to Ginny's face. If he had to be eating with someone from his family, Ginny wasn't bad, not that the others were horrible, but…Ginny was different. As the only girl in the family she had found her niche with all of the brothers, fitting into them quite well while still maintaining her own self. It was quite impressive.
Although she never seemed to make it look hard, even talking with Percy. George's relationship with Fred was never hard…except now. How could one have a relationship with a dead person? You couldn't. Not really.
Lee was pretty easy. He got along great with Fred and himself really well. They all enjoyed the same things, and even though it was quite obvious that Fred and George were the twins, Lee still fit in like their best friend. Which he was. And that was probably why he stayed as long as he was, he wasn't giving up on George…George and Angelina.
Alicia, Katie and Angelina hung out quite a bit with Lee, Fred and himself. They all had gotten along quite well, but…then there was Angelina. He wondered about her, still. He knew that they were…not seeing each other? No, that wasn't right.
They just weren't together right now. She was off trying to handle things on her own, and he was doing likewise.
It was hard.
He had grown to become accustom to having her there. He could go over to her place, she could come to his. He sighed, he knew that was exactly the point of why they were doing this. They needed to really understand things better. Although he was sure that he knew how he felt…
Did he?
"Alright, we're here."
George was brought back to the present and followed Ginny inside a small restaurant. He still didn't want to go where big crowds were, aside from dealing with them in their store, but elsewhere…the smaller the better, and Ginny must have realized that.
The two were quickly seated and had something ordered in no time. George glanced around the room. It was nice, quiet. There were about 5 other people there. One was an older couple sitting in a corner on the other side of the room. The other three people must have been a group of friends who were seated at the front. It was then that he noticed that he and Ginny were on the other side of the room from the five people and a small smile crossed his features.
After they got their food Ginny asked, "So, the store is going good?"
He nodded, "So far."
"How are you doing?"
He shrugged.
"Come on; don't tell me that now you're not going to talk?"
"What do you want me to say?"
"I don't know, but…talk to me?"
"Look…" He picked up his cup and slowly drank from it trying to form an answer when another idea came into his head. He put down the cup and then looked at Ginny, "How's Harry?"
She must have guessed what he was trying to do because she smiled and then rolled her eyes, "He's good. You could ask Ron as well. Or even Harry when he's come into the store."
"I mean you two."
"Oh, well…we're not together right now. Harry…is Harry. He's still going through everything as well."
George nodded, "He'll be fine Gin."
"Thanks. And…I know…I do…"
"But…"
"I'm patient."
"I suppose you would be." He smiled as he remembered the first time Harry had come and stayed with them. "You were so funny when he first came to our house. Fred and I thought it was so funny."
Ginny's cheeks became red, "Not that funny." George became quiet as he thought about Fred. Ginny took this as an opportunity to speak up. "So where's Angelina?"
"I'm not sure. You guys hang out."
"Not more than you two do."
"We haven't been…we're both…busy."
Ginny looked into his eyes for a couple of minutes, "Fine. I just thought…we all did, that it would be cool if you were to bring her back to dinner at home with us again?"
He shrugged, "If it happens it does." He wasn't going to bring up the…discussion that he and Angelina had.
"Well you'll think about it?"
"Sure."
It was quiet for a bit more, followed by some more talking. As he walked back to his and Fred's flat he thought about Ginny's request. It wasn't as if he didn't want Angelina to come back, he enjoyed having her there. It just didn't seem as though now was the best time for that.
After all Angelina and he were doing separate things now. That brought his mind back to what she was doing. But why did it matter to George what she was doing anyways. Sure she was his friend, but did he think about that with Lee or Alicia or Katie?
What did it mean?
He didn't like Angelina that way. But…what about the past months? He and Angelina had become close. So close. They depended on each other. Did that mean? Did it mean that he liked his brother's wife? It couldn't. The red haired man opened his door and slowly walked door his brother's room.
Fred's room.
Angelina. Fred's wife.
He couldn't like her. He couldn't. This type of thing just couldn't happen. And yet…your soul wasn't supposed to die either and half of George's had, while the other half had become sick. Sick with the grief of having a part of you die.
Something like that couldn't just be fixed. He didn't think that he would ever be fixed, not like before that horrible day. But something had patched him. He shook his head as he sat on his brother's bed, someone. Someone had helped him.
Angelina.
She had been the medicine that helped him get better and in turn she had told him that he had helped her.
Angelina.
George groaned; he had fallen for his best friend, his brothers' wife. How could he have done that?
He would be crossing the line if he continued with those feelings, he couldn't. But…if it helped him… It made him feel more like a person when she was there, even if not physically. Should he not do anything?
Shaking his head he realized that he was getting ahead of himself, Angelina probably didn't even have those feelings for him. George would be wrong to even ask her how she felt. He didn't want their relationship to get to confused, to uncomfortable. No, for her sake and for Fred's, he had to not give into those feelings.
That kiss…as tempting as the thought was even now was wrong. It wouldn't be right because even though he cared for Angelina, he really liked her, he could not go past the friends' part. That would have to be where their relationship was going to stay. He wouldn't ruin an important relationship. He wouldn't betray his brother.
Even though George thought he had resolved the issue there was a thought in the back of his mind that whispered that Fred would want him to be happy. This thought, the one that came in Fred's voice, the one he hadn't heard since the battle was coming to the surface again. He and Fred knew each other's thoughts but George wasn't listening and so the thought was still partially buried.
