Back again with another chapter. Thank you for bearing with me, nine chapters in and there hasn't been too much Luna/George love, but I promise we are getting there.
JK Rowling owns everything, except any credit for the George/Luna pairing. I believe she missed a golden opportunity with that one.
''George, when did you and Fred last clean this place up?'' Molly emerged from George and Fred's closet looking nothing short of horrified. It had been five days since Luna had convinced him to finally return to the flat above the shop, and George had asked his mother to come and help him sort out Fred's things that morning, although he was still unsure of what he was going to do with them once they were sorted.
''Sorry Mum, we were too busy trying to save wizarding kind by making ourselves look like a short specky git, and need I remind you I suffered for it.'' George said, pointing to the bandage that hid the part of his head that was missing an ear.
''George, honestly, it looks as though you and Fred just threw anything you didn't need into that closet.'' The fact that George did not reply and simply smirked, confirmed to Molly that that was in fact what they had done.
George folded the last of Fred's clothes up and put them into one of several boxes labelled Clothing.
''Are you sure you don't want them George?'' Molly asked her son, who was now sealing the last box.
''I'm sure.'' George looked at his mother and smiled, but he could not hide the sadness in his eyes; all morning, the pain and sadness had come and gone at certain moments, and at that moment George could feel the sadness returning.
If only Luna hadn't been busy preparing to meet potential buyers of the Quibbler;she had of course offered to cancel her plans to be there for him, but George had insisted that he would be alright. However, at that moment George wanted nothing more than to feel Luna's hand in his and too see her sweet smile.
George felt his mothers chin rest on the top of his head, while her arms wrapped around him. ''Oh Georgie, what am I going to do with you?''
''Well, you could take me for a trip down Diagon Alley and buy me a new broom.'' Molly lightly chuckled at her son's attempt to lighten the mood.
''Good try, but no. You own a shop George, if you still cannot afford a broomstick then you are clearly not doing as well as I thought you were.''
''What are we going to do with his stuff Mum?'' George asked, bringing the conversation back to the matter at hand. Molly moved to sit on the chair across from George, an idea coming into her mind as she did so.
''Well there is plenty of room in the attic at the Burrow; we could keep the boxes up there. Maybe when you're older and have children; you can tell them stories of their Uncle Fred and show them some of the things you both had when you were younger.'' George suddenly wondered why on Earth Luna had come into his mind when his mother had mentioned him having children. He decided to worry about that later and focused back on his mother. ''Anyway, I honestly couldn't get rid of them, and I know you couldn't either.''
''That sounds like a good plan Mum. I'll start apparating boxes to the Burrow if you like.''
''Okay George you go ahead, I think I'll do a spot of cleaning while you do that. If you're going to spend more time up here I have to do something about the mess in this place.''
George chuckled at his mother's obsession with cleanliness as she disappeared off into his closet. He picked up three of the boxes and apparated back to his other home.
''Luna, somebody's at the door for you.'' Percy's shout was the first sound that greeted George back at the Burrow. He had arrived in his room, as he placed the boxes on his bed, George felt his stomach churn. Before returning to the flat, George decided he would grab something to eat, and he began making his way downstairs towards the kitchen.
He was stopped in his tracks at the sight of a handsome man standing at the front door, speaking to Luna. George walked back around the corner so that he would not be noticed, but peered round so he could see what was happening.
The man at the door looked to be of the same age as George, he had short brown hair, chiselled facial features, and he was an inch or two taller than Luna.
George could not make out their conversation, but he could see that the stranger was wearing a confident smile on his face; a smile George thought made him look like a complete git, although he had the feeling that it was the sort of smile that girls liked to see guys wearing.
He relaxed when he saw the stranger walk away from the house, and Luna closing the door behind him.
''Who was that?'' George asked casually, pretending he had just arrived dowstairs.
''His name is Thomas; he is interested in buying the Quibbler.''
''He's a bit young, isn't he.''
''Well, he has the money to buy it, so I don't mind how old he is. Have you already finished at the flat?''
''No, I'm bringing boxes to the house so that they can be put into the attic, I was just coming to get something to eat.''
''Well don't let me keep you.'' Luna said, gesturing towards the kitchen.
''Do you want anything while I'm in there?''
''I'm fine, I don't want to be full when I go out with Thomas later.''
Luna's words made George pause at his place in the kitchen doorway, he pivoted round to face her.
''You're going out with that guy'' George asked, attempting to hide his displeasure.
''It's more of a business talk. He's busy this morning, so he asked if he could talk to me over dinner this evening, we're going to that new restaurant opposite your shop.''
''Oh, sounds nice.'' He lied, there was something about that guy that George really did not like. ''Well I'll see you in a bit Luna.''
George walked into the kitchen, leaving Luna oblivious to the raging emotions inside of him.
George and Molly, with the help of Percy and Ron, had finally finished getting all the boxes into the attic by late afternoon.
George had not seen Luna since he found out about her dinner with Thomas, when he had asked Ginny where she was, he had been told that she was in her room sorting through paperwork for the newspaper. ''If she told me that Luna looked like she was getting ready for a date , I swear I would have been sick'' George thought as he made his way downstairs. However, his mood quickly turned sour as he heard a knock at the door.
''George dear could you get that?'' Molly asked from the kitchen, where she was cooking dinner. Realising he was the only other person downstairs, George reluctantly made his way to the door.
Thomas' smile dropped when he saw the tall redhead who opened the door, George's height and unwelcoming expression made him look slightly intimidating. ''Oh...um...I'm meant to be meeting Luna.''
''Yeah I know'' George grumbled, not bothering to hide his irritation from the man in front of him. George turned at the sound of Luna skipping down the stairs.
His relief to see that she had not been spending the whole afternoon getting dressed up was overshadowed by his disbelief over how beautiful she looked anyway; she was wearing a pair of black trousers, a yellow t-shirt and a long grey cardigan, her blonde hair was in a ponytail with several strands of hair loose around her face. George couldn't believe someone could look that amazing in such simple clothing.
''I'm ready to go.'' She said to Thomas as she reached the door and stood beside George. ''Oh, Thomas, this is my friend George Weasley''
George knew something was clearly wrong with him when he winced at her use of the word 'friend', while introducing him.
''George, this is Thomas Richards, the- hopefully- soon to be owner of The Quibbler.'' George gave Thomas a weak smile, but made no signs of actually caring. ''I'll see you later George.''
''Bye Luna'', before George thought about what he was doing, he leaned in and kissed Luna on the cheek. Before he moved away his whispered into her ear ''Keep an eye on him.''
Luna looked up at him confused. Before she could ask what he meant, Thomas' voice broke between the two. ''Luna, the reservation is for five thirty, do you want to get going?''
Luna resisted the temptation to say no, and nodded, not once taking her eyes off George; who was now staring at his feet. ''Bye George''
With that second and last goodbye, Luna stepped outside and apparated away, following Thomas.
''Where's she going?'' George shut the door and turned to his younger brother.
'She's having dinner with a bloke who's hoping to buy The Quibbler.''
George's voice told Ron that something was wrong. ''Sounds harmless enough, what's the matter with you then?''
''I have a weird feeling about that bloke, I don't know what it is, but I don't like him.''
''Does Luna think he's alright?''
''Yeah, it looks that way, I told her to keep an eye on him though.''
''Where's he taking her?''
''That new restaurant across the street from the shop.'' Ron watched George's eyes widen as look of realisation spread across his face.
''Hey Ron, do you remember the other day when I said about going round to the shop after it's closed, to rearranging the aisles and displays?''
''Yeah, why?'' Ron asked, wondering where George was going with this.
''Well I was thinking, we haven't got nothing better to do, why don't we go now?''
''Erm...alright.'' Ron shrugged his shoulders as he spoke.
''Great, I'll go let Mum know.'' Ron watched George run off towards the kitchen.
Ron couldn't stop himself from grinning as he watched his brother. He had a very good feeling that George's sudden need to get to his shop had nothing to do with his business whatsoever.
Next chapter; After a talk with Ron, George finally realises the obvious. But is Thomas about to get in the way.