Another "joining things up" chapter. I wasn't sure whether to have the Patil twins find out the effect they'd had on George, but MBP said it would be interesting to find out, so I did it.

George is next...

Reviews are good, and I love them...

(More date change edits!)

Christmas is coming - 16th December 1998

III Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

Back at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, Katie finished serving George's customer and a couple of others, before slipping out from behind the counter to consult with Ron and Lee, neither of whom were yet aware of the reason for George's abrupt exit, if indeed they had even noticed him go. Katie thought she had done the right thing in letting George escape before he broke down, but she was more than concerned about the idea of leaving him alone for any length of time in his current frame of mind.

Parvati and Padma were still in the shop, giggling over the range of lurid pink Wonder Witch products. Katie felt that she could cheerfully have strangled the pair of them. Instead, she gave them a preoccupied smile as she passed, and grabbed Ron, who was restocking a shelf with Patented Daydream Charms in the back room of the shop.

Ron frowned when he heard what Katie had to say. "And he didn't say where he was going?" he queried.

Katie shook her head. "Of course not. He wasn't capable of saying anything at that point. But we ought to find him, Ron. He shouldn't be on his own right now."

"Yeah, you're right," said Ron slowly. "We shouldn't shut the shop if we can help it though."

"George is more important than the bloody shop," Katie pointed out, somewhat irritably.

"Yeah, of course he is," Ron agreed. "And if we have to, we will close. But if George was in any state to realise what was going on, he's hate the idea of shutting on a Saturday so close to Christmas. Percy and Hermione are upstairs, and Harry and Ginny should be back from shopping soon. There's you and Lee and Angelina and Alicia too – between us we ought to be able to run the shop and look for George. We should get hold of Bill and Fleur too."

Katie frowned. "I thought Bill was in Romania?"

Ron shook his head. "No, he came back yesterday."

Angelina appeared through the door from the front of the shop at that point, looking agitated. "Lee says why the hell is he the only person serving customers round here?" she reported. "And where's George gone?"

Ron gave her a rapid précis of what had happened, and Angelina looked serious. "Alicia's not here any more," she said. "Oliver turned up, and they went off somewhere together. But Harry and Ginny just came in."

The three of them looked at each other, and then Ron took charge. "Katie, can you serve in here?" he asked. "Ange, go and tell Lee what's happened and then hang around to help. I'll grab Harry and Ginny and tell them and Percy and Hermione what's going on. If three or four of us stay in the shop, everyone else can look. Okay?" Katie and Angelina nodded.

Katie turned to serve the Patil twins, as Ron and Angelina departed into the front part of the shop.

"What are you all looking so serious about?" asked Padma. "And where did George go to in such a hurry?"

Katie glared at her. If she was going to be so bloody inquisitive, she would get an answer she probably wouldn't like. "We're worried because George walked out because he was upset," she said, glaring at the twins in a way that they didn't actually deserve. "And the reason he got so upset is because he really didn't need to see you two, today of all days."

"What?" said Parvati uncomprehendingly, while Padma gaped at Katie.

Katie tried to keep the exasperation our of her voice. "It's seven months to the day since the Battle. Seven months exactly since Fred died. And you two walk in here. Together. Laughing. Having what George had … What he's lost …" She stopped, choking back tears, and the Patils looked at her with identical stunned expressions on their faces.

"Oh Merlin, Katie," whispered Parvati. "I'm so sorry, we didn't realise…" She looked so upset at the hurt that she and Padma had unwittingly caused George, that Katie could not continue to be angry.

"It's not your fault, you can't help being twins," she muttered, swallowing her tears. "You didn't know, and I think something was probably going to set George off today anyway. It just happened to be you two. Sorry for going off at you like that, but…"

"But you're worried about him," Parvati finished for her. "S'okay Katie. We wouldn't've come in here today if we'd realised how hard it would be for George. I'm sorry…"

"It's okay," said Katie miserably, beginning to ring up the Patils' purchases on the till.

Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny clattered down the stairs from the flat above as Katie finished serving the twins.

"We're going to see if we can find George in Diagon Alley," Ron told her. "If you're okay to stay here and help Lee and Angelina? Percy's Flooing Bill and Fleur, and they'll check The Burrow and the graveyard between them."

Katie nodded. She wished she could be one of those looking for George, instead of being left behind to mind the shop, but she knew she didn't have the right to ask that. Percy, Ron and Ginny were family, and Harry and Hermione practically were. As far as any of them – except just possibly Ron – were concerned, she was nothing more than George's friend. She put the thought that she would like to be a lot more firmly out of her mind. George needed his friends right now, and if all she could do for him as a friend was to help look after his shop, then that's what she would do.

"Sure," she said to Ron. "That's fine."