Chapter 13

George turned towards Charlie. "Charlie?" He smiled. "My boy…YOU'VE WON! YOU DID IT!" The other kids had been stupid and cruel, two qualities that the Weasley family didn't have. George swept Charlie into a bear hug "You did it, I knew you would! I just knew you would! Oh Charlie…" he said as he released Charlie from the hug. "forgive me for putting you through this. Please forgive me. Come in, Mr Wilkinson!"

The man he had hired to impersonate Slugworth walked in. "Charlie, meet Mr Wilkinson." "Pleasure." Said Mr Wilkinson. "Slugworth!" exclaimed Charlie. "No, no, that's not Slugworth! He works for me!" George said in utter delight. "For you?" said Charlie. "I had to test you, Charlie. And you passed the test. You WON!" "Won what?" asked Joe. "The jackpot, my dear sir!" said George as he put his hat and coat back on. "The grand and glorious jackpot!"

"The chocolate?" "The chocolate, yes, the chocolate. But that's just the beginning! We have to get on, we have to get on, we have so much time and so little to do! Strike that. Reverse it." He corrected himself with a chuckle. "This, way, please!" he said, gesturing towards his final surprise…

"We'll take the Wonkavator." He said, opening a pair of sliding doors to reveal it. "Step in, Charlie. Grandpa Joe, sir." "Once they were all in it "George said, "This is the Great Glass Wonkavator." "it's an elevator." Said Joe. "It's a Wonkavator." Corrected George. "An elevator can only go up and down but the Wonkavator can go sideways and slantways and longways and backways-" "And frontways?" cut in Charlie. "'and squareways and frontways and any other ways and any other ways that you can think of!" exclaimed George.

"You can take it to any room in the whole factory, just by pressing one of these buttons! Any of these buttons! Just press a button and zing, you're off! And up until now, I've pressed them all. Except one. This one." He said, gesturing toward the up-and-out button. "Go ahead, Charlie. " "Me?" he asked. George m=nodded. Charlie pressed it.

The Wonkavator set off. "There it goes!" exclaimed George. "Hold on tight! I'm not exactly sure what's going to happen…" The Wonkavator kept climbing up and up, faster and faster. "Faster, faster! If we don't pick up enough speed, we'll never get through!" "Get through what?" asked Charlie. George pointed at the roof. "You mean we're going…" "Up and out." "But this roof is made of glass! It'll shatter in a thousand pieces! We'll be cut to ribbons!" yelped Joe. "Probably." Was the reply.

The Wonkavator kept climbing higher and higher. "Hold on everybody…" said George in anticipation. "Here it comes…"

CRASH! The Wonkavator shattered the roof. It soared into the sky, the clouds, making George feel closer to Fred. Charlie and Joe gazed in awe and the ground below. "You did it Mr Wonka! Congratulations!" cheered Joe. "Get up, take a look." Joe and Charlie looked properly then. "Grandpa, our town looks so pretty from up here!" Yeah, look over here, Charlie! I think I see our house!" "Wow!" "It really looks beautiful." "There's my school, Grandpa!"

George felt this was as good a time as ever to pop the question. "How did you like the chocolate factory, Charlie?" "I think it's the most wonderful place in the whole world!" was the reply. George cracked a massive grin. "I'm very pleased to hear you say that. Because I'm giving it to you." Charlie's expression grew shocked.

"What?" "That's all right, isn't it?" "You're giving Charlie the-" butted in Joe. "I can't go on forever." Said George. "And I don't really want to try." He added, thinking of Fred.

"So who can I trust to run the factory when I leave, and take care of the Oompa-Loompas for me?" he continued. "Not a grownup. A grownup would want to do everything his own way, not mine." George had learned this the hard way.

"That's why I decided a long time ago that I had to find a child. A very honest, loving child, to whom I can tell all my most precious candymaking secrets." 'And that's why you sent out the Golden Tickets!" exclaimed Charlie. "That's right." Replied George joyously. "So the factory's yours, Charlie. You can move in immediately." "And me?" asked Joe. "Absolutely." "What happens to the rest-" started Charlie. "Whole family. I want you to bring them all." Charlie grabbed George in a hug. George joyously hugged back, and it was one of the best feelings he'd had in his whole life. "But Charlie…" he began. "Don't forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he always wanted." "What happened?" asked Charlie. "He lived happily ever after."

George hugged Charlie again, and it was almost like hugging Fred once more.

He knew Charlie would never be Fred, but he also knew the real Fred would be incredibly proud right now.

The End

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