Chapter Five: George Weasley and the Muggle Arrest

Disclaimer: All characters, places, spells and objects that are in JKR's books are hers. I do not own them. I am just having fun playing in her sandbox for a while.

George had been enjoying the bachelor party; it was always enjoyable to see Harry get drunk. He was such an amusing drunk, especially since, like Ron, he was tone deaf when it came to singing, and just to make things more amusing, it looked like Charlie was about to give Harry 'the talk' about how he needed to treat his younger sister. The scene was set to make things even more fun: Charlie could be very frightening when he wanted to be — the man did hold his own against dragons on a daily basis — so George was a little disappointed when Ginny's Patronus had appeared.

That disappointment had faded, however, when he had heard it talk.

He had known from a young age that Ginny was not the innocent little girl that she had made herself out to be at times. It may have taken some of their family until Ginny's sixth year at Hogwarts to know what she was made of, but he had been on the wrong side of her hexes one too many times to believe that sweet smile of hers. Fred used to say, when they were growing up, if you had a sister who could outwit a Gringotts' goblin and curse like a dealer in Knockturn Alley, it meant you could tolerate having a twit like Percy as a brother. That's why the pair of them had taken her under their wings; she was much more like them than anyone realised. This was one of the reasons why he had offered her a job when she had finished Hogwarts, which she had turned down, naturally, in favour of her contact with the Holyhead Harpies — not that he could blame her for that.

Today, however, it looked like she had outdone them. Not even Fred had managed to get himself into this situation — not that he hadn't come close on a couple of occasions, especially that incident involving a beach ball, a fake wand and a pair of red pants on the pier in Muggle Brighton.

Despite all their mother's warnings about what may happen to them if they didn't focus on their studies, neither he nor Fred had ever been arrested. They had always got out just in the nick of time. So to have to pick up his little sister, the apple of his mother's eye and her darling little angel (not that she had been seen as that for years), from a please station was highly amusing, to say the least. And something that he was sure he would remember for years to come.

It was hard to stop the fits of laughter as he pushed open the door.

He was more than a little regretful he had not gone back to the shop to pick up some devices that would help him keep a complete record of the events tonight; they would be worth so much in the morning. Accio'ing them now, across Muggle London, would break so many wizarding laws and cause the attention that Ginny had obviously wanted to avoid. Luckily, he did have the camera that he had brought to Harry's stag do, to use to embarrass him at a later date.

It looked like another way that Ginny was going to become Harry's equal.

He was going to be able to dine out for months, embarrassing her over this.

George walked into the please station and straight up to the Muggle in charge. With the use of some rather helpful spells, he managed to talk himself to the cell area without too much effort. They really did need better security at these places, although he guessed that please-men were not used to wizards and the persuasive tactics they had, not to mention the odd Confundus Charm. He scanned the corridor that led to the cells. This place really wasn't too bad. Not a patch on Azkaban. His only visit to that prison, during the Death Eater trials, still sent shivers down his spine.

He looked through two of the wall grates before he came across her.

With a flick of his wand, he opened the cell door to see Ginny sitting on the bed. She did not look upset in the slightest, not that she would — just bored, as if she was just frustrated and wanted to get back to her night out.

"Well, well, well..." George said as he stared at his little sister. "This is quite a sight."

Her eyes met his and she glared at him. "Cut it out, George."

Ginny's glare would make most normal people back down, but George wasn't any ordinary person, especially when it came to Ginny. Both he and Fred had helped teach her all her tricks and knew all her tactics. He knew every one of her expressions only too well. He knew when she was really angry and when she was only giving the impression that she was angry to suit her own purpose. Besides, he had the upper hand this time, since there were so many people that Ginny would want to keep this from.

He was going to have a bit of fun before he helped her out and Ginny had to expect that too.

"Oh, be nice," he cracked as he grinned at her, "or I'll conjure up a camera."

"George," she spat.

"Now, now, Ginny, behave yourself," he said as his smile grew. "You are supposed to be a role model to young children. Wasn't that in the Daily Prophet this morning? A nice long Skeeter article on how Quidditch stars should realise the role and responsibility that have." Ginny's frown grew and he continued to smile at her. "Oh, I could sell the pictures for millions of Galleons even without a story or quotes." He laughed. "That would double the price."

"You wouldn't!"

George laughed, teasing her further, "Wouldn't I?"

"Oh, come on, George. You know the press are going to have a field day with this, not to mention the Harpies or..." he noticed Ginny give an involuntary shudder, "...Mum." Ginny continued to glare at him as she shook off the shudder. "Just get me out of here, please."

"Fine, but one thing first," George waved his wand and conjured a camera, "Smile."

"George," she protested.

"Ginny," he overruled.

Ginny met his eyes again and this time her look had softened, her defences dropped as she tried to sweet talk him into getting her way. "Okay, what do you want?"

George grinned. He rarely got to take advantage of Ginny like this; she was normally too careful for that and he never got exactly what he wanted from her unless Ginny was willing to give it in the first place. Usually, he would have to give something she wanted in exchange, and Ginny could be very good at bargaining. The Gringotts goblins should really take note of her skills.

He needed to think about this, and what he could hold over her head if he was going to help her tonight, and there was never any doubt that he would help her. That's why Ginny had sent him the Patronus: Ron would have told Harry; both Percy, and to a lesser extent Bill, would have lectured her and it would have totally changed Charlie's opinion on her. Charlie had been away for so long he still, at times, struggled to see Ginny as the little girl he had left at ten years old, something Ginny often used to her advantage, an advantage that she did not want to lose. No, she knew that he would help her and without mentioning it to anyone, but he was going to make it worth his while.

And then he had it.

He knew what he wanted to start with.

Ginny had been greatly embarrassed recently, when the Harpies had released a 'Ginny Weasley action figure' and although Angelina stocked them in her shop, he had been outright banned from getting one. His girlfriend had refused to sell him one, saying she would not help him in his games to embarrass his sister, and Ginny had hexed him so badly that it had led to a St Mungo's visit when he had suggested getting one so he could use it with his Boy-Who-Lived doll to demonstrate what he thought of their relationship.

If Ginny was this adamant that he was not going to get one, this was the first thing he wanted.

She really should know better than to be this insistent on something. After he'd played with the two dolls a couple of times, including some rather amusing comments, he would probably have given up. Now, Ginny was going to be forced to endure watching the two dolls talk to each other for hours every week at The Burrow as he manipulated their actions, and, for fear of their mum finding out about this arrest, she would keep quiet — at least for a while.

None of them were stupid and none of them wanted their mother to know anything she didn't have to. After all, what Molly Weasley didn't know could not kill you, and she had come so close to stringing them up for far more minor things than a Muggle arrest.

Oh, and Ginny had already tested those boundaries a lot recently, especially when she refused to back down. Ginny wasn't stupid and would not enter a fight with her mother lightly, but when it came to getting her way with Harry, Ginny was willing to do battle every time, even when she knew that she stood very little chance of winning. The planning of the wedding proving the perfect example of this as Ginny had fought with their mother over so many issues.

Ginny had proved herself to be willing to do anything for Harry over the years, even if it meant that she was left hurting. She had even gone so far as to let him break her heart. Ginny was not that good an actress for the rest of them — the ones who really knew her — not to know what had happened. They all knew that Ginny had been left a shadow of herself that year, even when she had tried to hide her tears. It had been very painful to see her at times.

Likewise, Harry was the same with her, even if it meant risking her temper later, as he had when he told her to stay in the Room of Requirement during the Battle of Hogwarts. And Harry had witnessed that temper in its full force after the battle had finished; Ginny hated being told she was too young and being left behind. It was a mistake Harry wasn't likely to make again.

Maybe he could use the dolls to act out the 'Who is the Biggest Noble Prat' scene as they sacrificed things for each other. After all, he had seen both of them sacrifice their happiness for the other. No doubt he could reduce 'who could give what' to the real basics. He could have hours of fun with that, especially if Ginny started to get infuriated with the scene.

He could just see her hand twitching right now as it shot for her wand, and then there would be the frustration on her face when she realised that she could not pull it out and hex him. It would be wonderful to watch it unfold.

Getting one of those actions figure was a must.

"Oh," his grin grew with delight, "I think one of your action figures to start with."

"George." She started again, readying to protest all the points he made and no doubt with reasonably convincing argument.

He held his hand up to stop her; he knew his sister, her tricks and even the words she would use. There was no way, absolutely no way, that he was going to let her get away with all that tonight, especially when he had such an upper hand. "Oh, but you look so sweet in those Harpies robes. I admit, not as sweet as you do now in the Muggle handcuffs, or even wizarding ones if they found out, but still..."

George used the camera to take a photograph. There was no way that he was leaving this cell without any evidence. He could hardly wait to get that shot developed. Maybe he should make several copies in case Ginny set about stealing any evidence back. He was not going to underestimate her abilities to sneak her way out of this, once she had got out of this cell.

Ginny sighed. "Shouldn't you be talking to the Muggle please-men?"

"The please-men can wait," George mused, "I also think we are going to need you down the shop. You know — as the family celebrity."

"You know I hate that stuff," she groaned, "and I already went down to the opening of Angelina's shop."

Ginny really did hate the public appearances. She thought — and she was probably right — that it only fuelled the press attention that she got — attention that she did not want in the first place. It took a hell of a lot of persuading to get her to give an appearance that she didn't have to. It had actually — even though she had promised to do whatever she could to help — taken a hell of a lot of promises, several lies that helped her stay at Harry's house over night without her mother finding out, and over a week of owls to talk her into going down to Angelina's shop. Yet when she had gone, she had indeed played her part, signed autographs for over an hour and even brought down unique Holyhead Harpies goods. The mayhem at the shop had taken two days to die down and proved a very nice start for its books, a start that Angelina's Quidditch Shop was still getting rewards from months later, as the profits had helped fund so many other ventures.

If Ginny could do that for Angelina, then she could do it for him. After all, whether they liked it or not, Ginny would get followed wherever she was in the wizarding world, so she may as well help out her family.

"Not as much as you'll hate the press, the Professional Quidditch Association," Ginny had already been brought up in front of the Professional Quidditch Association six times in her short career for bringing the game into disrepute, the latest being her reaction to her photo being taken on Sunday, "and Mum finding out about this. She'll love to hear about tonight's little adventure."

"Fine," she spat, still glaring and her words were tense, "consider it done."

Ten minutes later, and after getting the action figure, the shop appearance and getting Ginny to take the blame for the next of his pranks that went wrong at The Burrow, George spoke to the please-man and, with the use of a bit of magic, managed to get the charges dropped. Finally, they made their way out and back into Muggle London.

He turned to look at his sister, who was now massaging her wrists. He knew the reason that Ginny had opted to go out in Muggle London instead of somewhere in the wizarding world. Here, no one knew who she was and she could enjoy herself on her hen night without getting followed. She did not want photos of herself appearing in the newspapers after she'd had a few drinks and it looked like, after what had happened already, that she had made the right choice.

"So, how did you end up in there?" George finally asked.

"It was a dare that went wrong." She shot him a smile. "And you wouldn't have wanted me to back out on a dare."

"Very true." He grinned. "I'm guessing this came from your mates on the Harpies squad and not Hermione."

Ginny laughed. "Yes, it came from the Harpies; I think Hermione nearly fainted when I ran out of the pub — kinda explains why she's not here now. You know what we get like after a few." Her smile grew for the first time that evening. "We're a very spirited team..."

George echoed her laugh. "I really should come out with you girls more."

Ginny grinned at him. "I'm sure Angelina would approve of that!"

"Hey," he held his hands up in mock protest, "I'm just watching over my little sister so nothing happens to her." He grinned. "Looks like she needs it."

"Maybe, but she would like to get back to them now," she said as she hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for helping me out, and look after Harry for me tonight."

George returned her hug before releasing her. "I will do, but if I'm going to rescue one of England's finest Aurors from a please station, I'm going to want him at the shop too."

Ginny just smiled at him before saying, "While most people have a little angel that sits on one shoulder and a little devil on the other, I'm starting to think that maybe my little angel has been thrown off by the little devil that is still there, but Harry's angel is still there. He's too noble for his own good."

George laughed again. "Well, let that little devil enjoy the rest of the night as the angel is going to be back before too long. In less than a week, you're going to be one of those sensible, mature, married people."

Ginny just smiled at him before she Apparated out of there, no doubt back to the Muggle pub for several more drinks and George returned to the bachelor party. With any luck Charlie, wouldn't have spoken to Harry yet, nor would his soon-to-be brother-in-law have stopped singing.

After all, Harry and Ginny were equal, and he saw no reason for that to stop being the case tonight, especially when it came to stories that he would be able to embarrass both of them with.