DISCLAIMER: honestly, If you think I'm going to try to own them by now, then you're being pretty darn silly. Really.
Author Notes: its been awhile. Story will probably sound a little different if you've been following it due to huge time gap. Note that it's almost over and then we'll be working on the third and final fic in this series.
once again warning for drugs
"Wood."
"George?"
"I'm gonna need," he paused to count on his fingers, "about two weeks off."
Wood looked at him. "...no."
"Why do you need two weeks off? Where are you going?" Fred interrupted.
George paused for a really long time, glancing back and forth between the two before answering, "So anyway, I'd better get going with that."
He walked away very quickly, leaving them both in confusion.
Nella was being stared at. She tried to continue reading her book, but George sighed loudly in an attempt to catch her attention. Finally she put the book down and looked at him.
"What do you want George?"
He thought for a moment, "about two weeks off?"
She sighed, "why?"
"Fred's sending me to Egypt to do... something."
"What did Wood say?"
He scratched his head, "well, he said no, but that could very much translate to yes."
"George," she said in a warning tone.
"It'll be fine," he replied, clapping her on the back, "I'll be back for dinner."
"George?"
"Hello, Mr. Green," George greeted as he strolled into the apartment.
"What are you doing here?"
"You have a spare bedroom?"
"What do you need a spare bedroom for?"
George was counting on his fingers again, "I'd say about two weeks."
"No, I mean why..."
"Great! Well, I'll just go unpack, when's dinner? Okay, I'll see you later," he opened the door, through a suitcase in, and went over to Devian's room.
Mr. Green went to go make dinner.
George strode up to where Devian lay on the bed and whipped out his wand, pointing it at her.
"Okay Devian, empty your pockets."
She closed the book she was reading and looked up at him incredulously, "what the hell are you doing?"
"Helping you," he replied innocently.
"And how long will you be... helping me?" she asked carefully.
"About two weeks. I moved into the bedroom next to yours. Now empty your pockets, please."
After about an hour he had scoured her bedroom and gotten rid of any hidden stashes she had lying around. When he was satisfied there were no more drugs left, he turned back to her.
"Okay, let me see your nose."
"Why?" she looked startled.
"I have to do a charm so you can't snort anything."
"I don't want you pointing your wand at my nose."
"Oh come on, I've done it before."
"... when?"
He paused, "that information is classified."
She shook her head, "I don't trust you George, you're acting a little strange."
"I'm George, Devian. I've always been a little strange."
"That makes sense," she nodded, "alright, get it over with."
Fred sighed. The spot on the paper where both he and George had to sign was still blank. His twin had been missing for three days. Fred decided now was exactly the right time to start looking for him.
"Hello?"
"Nella? Can I ask you a question?" Fred started, toying with the phone cord in an almost bored manner.
"Sure Fred, what's up?"
"Do you know where George is? I thought maybe being as you two were engaged, you'd be the first person to ask..."
There was a very long pause in which Fred thought he could make out muffled cursing. Nella's voice reappeared several seconds later, faking calmness and talking extremely slow.
"He told me you sent him to Egypt."
"Why would I do that?"
"To do, and I quote, something."
"Well have you heard from him since he left?"
"Yes, he comes home for dinner every night, around 6, stays for about 2 hours, making phone calls to somewhere unknown every 15 minutes, then leaves again."
"And... you haven't found this at all suspicious?" Fred was mildly baffled.
"It's George. I figured he'd just gotten... a new hobby or something."
"Okay... erm... I'm going to make some more phone calls and try to figure out where the hell he is. I'll call you back later. Bye."
After hanging up with Nella, he paused, trying to decide who to call next. After painful deliberation he had compiled a list and quickly dialed the first number on it.
"Hey, Lee."
"George?"
"No, Fred. But do you know where George is? He seems to have gone missing."
"Gone missing?" Lee snorted, "People like George don't just... go missing."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I figured you people wouldn't be stupid enough to let him wander off on his own, is all. Especially with that drug addiction."
Fred choked on the butterbeer he had been sipping. Violently choked. It was coming out of his nose.
"Man I wish I could have seen your face."
Fred could almost see the toothy grin on the other end of the line. He became angry. Not just angry, severely pissed off.
"Quit fucking around, git, I need to know where my brother is."
"Last time I saw him was about 4 days ago. He came around asking about that anti-sniffing charm and whether I new the number of someone who could cheaply and efficiently take out a major drug dealer."
"What the hell did you say to that?" Fred asked in wonder.
"Mind you, I was slightly put off, but I managed to point out that Hagrid is a rather big bloke, and with the right amount of alcohol could take anybody out by accident. I meant it jokingly."
"His response?"
"He asked to borrow my owl, looking thoughtful. If I were to guess, I'd say he was trying to hire Hagrid as an assassin. After that he just left."
"Son of a..."
"Yeah I know," Lee agreed, "the bastard forgot to give my best quill back. Wanna play detective and find him?"
"Sure. I think it's safe to assume we'll be making a stop at Hagrid's, first. Meet you at Hogsmeade?"
"Right. Give me half an hour."
Not five seconds after he hung up with Lee, the phone rang again. Exasperated, Fred jerked the phone once again to his ear.
"Yes?"
"It's Devian."
"Hey," he said, a little softer, "what's up?"
"Erm... well, I wanted to know if maybe... well, if you're not busy, you'd want to come for tea tomorrow?"
He gulped, "alright, yeah, that sounds good. Say Dev," he added, as an afterthought, "you haven't seen George around lately, have you?"
"George? Pfft.... no, of course not, why would I see him? There'd be no reason to, and that's why I haven't." she responded quickly.
"Right. Didn't think so. I have to go look for him, but I'll see you tomorrow, Okay?"
"Who was that?" George asked, strolling into the room.
"Your web of lies is falling all apart!" Devian cried dramatically.
Looking concerned, George opened the door to the closet and peered in, then looked back at Devian, "nope, it's all still there," he confirmed.
She blinked. "Fred is looking for you."
"Oh."
"Yeah 'oh' , what the hell did you tell him you were doing all this time?"
"Well, I never really 'told' him anything."
Devian buried her head in her hands, "everyone's going to find out, aren't they?"
"Well, they probably already knew, and shoved it into the back of their minds so as not to deal with it."
"I hate you, George."
He put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed, "It's okay Devian, I know it's just the withdrawal talking."
She groaned.
"Hey Hagrid, have you seen my brother George?"
"You're the third Weasley this week's come in here lookin for somebody. What's going on with you lot?"
"Probably more than you or I want to know."
"Anyway, yeah I've seen him. He came in a couple days ago, offering to buy me drinks at some shady place in London. I told him maybe it wasn't such a good idea, bein as that part of the city is well known for drug deals and the such."
Fred groaned, "did he say anything to you about going... somewhere for two weeks?"
"Now that yeh mention it, he said somethin about needin to speak to Neville Longbottom."
"Neville? What the..." Fred and Lee exchanged glances, extremely confused.
"Hey, Devian's dad, you got any blueberry muffins?"
Mr. Green shook his head, "I only buy poppy seed."
"Well, next time could you get some blueberry? They're my favorite."
"Why are you here, George? I mean, you're spending an awful lot of time with Devian..."
"Oh it's okay, I look like Fred." George assured him.
"But... you're not Fred."
"But I look like him. That's all that matters, really. You going to the store anytime soon? Cause I was really looking forward to that muffin," he held up the poppy seed and mimed disappointment.
Mr. Green walked away, feeling more than a little disturbed.
"Hey Neville, how's life?"
"Fred... Lee... what're you two doing here?"
"Can't we just be visiting an old friend?"
"I'm not sure you're even aloud to be on school grounds... Dumbledore knows about this, right?"
"Of course, of course, first thing we did when we arrived, said hello to Dumbledore. Listen, has George by any chance been by to see you lately?"
"Yeah, actually, he bought a great deal of weed off me and-" Neville gasped and clapped his hand over his mouth.
Fred and Lee's jaws dropped even further, "you mean.. Mari..."
"Marijuana, yes, he said he needed it for a friend," Neville stiffened up, going into business mode.
"Maybe that explains why he is the way he is," Lee pointed out to Fred, who actually took time to consider before Neville spoke again.
"Actually, he's never bought any before, from me at least. I really think he was just giving it to someone else."
"And you have no idea who this other person might be?"
Neville shook his head, "sorry, I make it a point not to get into customer's business."
"Right," Fred replied, raising an eyebrow, "thanks, Neville, guess we'll be seeing you... around..."
They walked away, sneaking furtive glances back.
"Maybe that's why he's so good at herbology," Fred whispered.
Lee nodded, "I always suspected, I mean, sometimes you could smell it coming from their dormitory..."
The next day Nella was cleaning off the table after lunch when George once again left. Instead of sitting around and wondering, however, she decided to take action. She followed him, discreetly, right to her very father's house.
Angry and confused, she waited five minutes to calm herself down before bursting in the front door..
"Nella dear, how lovely to see you!" her father cried immediately.
She tried to look around for her fiancé but her father had pulled her into a hug.
"You must have a cup of tea. Here you are, dear, now have a seat. How's the weather outside? I heard talk of thunderstorms and hail and a tornado earlier."
"Dad, why is George here?" Nella asked instead, head still spinning from his unusually excited greeting.
He grimaced, "I'm not sure. I pointed out he was spending a lot of time with Devian and he said he looked like Fred, whatever that means," he waved his hand dismissively.
Nella frowned, "It better not mean what it sounds like it means," she sipped on her tea.
Rustling in the kitchen caught her attention and she stormed in, cornering George like a deer caught in headlights.
"What the hell are you doing with my sister?" She practically screamed.
She slammed down the cup of tea and he picked it up, gulping the whole thing down before responding, "I'm Fred, actually."
"No, you're not, George."
"But I look like him, " he pointed out.
"Shut up! Tell me what you're doing here!"
"But you told me to shut u-"
"Don't make me hit you," she said menacingly.
"I'm helping Devian, she has problems," he whimpered, not used to this much violence coming from Nella.
"Devian always has problems. "
"These ones are bigger."
"Dammit! Am I the only sane one in this family?" She cried, picking up a muffin and throwing it across the room.
At that moment Fred and Lee bounded in, out of breath and wearing detective hats.
"Nella! We figured it out! We know where George is, look he's right there!" Fred pointed frantically over her shoulder.
"I know he's right there, stupid, I'm not blind!"
Fred and Lee deposited empty tea cups into the sink, giggling maniacally. George started to laugh with them, for what reason, no one was sure.
"I can't be going crazy, right?" Nella was starting to panic. She grabbed a marker off the counter and used the mirror to write the word SANE across her forehead, more for her own comfort than anything.
Devian lumbered in, looking half crazed and holding an empty plastic bag in her hand.
"George!" she cried, falling to her knees in front of him and holding on to his legs for dear life, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I'M SO WEAK!" she wailed.
George, still snorting with laughter, slid to the floor and pried her eyelids open so she'd look at him, "What did you do?"
"I ... I..." she sniffled, "I dumped the rest of my stash into the tea cause I couldn't snort it!"
Nella stared in horror at the mass of empty teacups in the sink. There had to be at least six.
End of chapter.
Gracias for reading,
Bob and Fred.