Ron can't remember the last time he had seen George at the dining table eating with everyone else in the family (Well, he could, but it had been an awfully long time ago, nearly a year now.) He must say he was quite surprised when he saw his brother sitting in his usually spot at breakfast, Katie sitting next to him, piling more food on to his plate than Ron thought was digestible.
"Trying to fatten me up, Katie?" George asked as even more food appeared on his plate. "I've got mum for that, don't need it from you too."
"Just eat your food, George." Katie said, ignoring the look that George sent her and grabbing a piece of toast to butter for herself.
"I doubt even Ron could eat this much." George grumbled, and began slowly working on diminishing the small mountain of food on his plate.
"Shut it, Geoge." Ron mumbled, though it was clear his heart wasn't in the admonishment, as he was immensely relieved that his brother was eating again (not only eating but teasing him as well).
"That's not all you're going to eat, is it Katie?" George frowned as Katie buttered her toast, which in all honestly looked smaller than the half piece Ginny had taken.
"Not really hungry." Katie muttered, and looked slighted embarrassed when George turned to glare at her.
"Eat properly, Bell." George said as he shared he picked and chose food from his plate to transfer to Katie's. "You're already too skinny as it is."
"I'm off to work." Percy entered the room just as Katie began to protest. Percy has moved back to the Burrow after the final battle, much to the delight of his parents. He has been hired back by the ministry (now headed by Shacklebolt) and works closely with the department of Magical Regulation.
"We should go too." Charlie stood up and nudged Bill none too gentally. They were both helping Gringotts rebuild in Diagon Alley. Ron shot them a smile as they left the table. To be honest, he had always been a little jealous of Bill and Charlie, not only because of their popularity (that he could understand, they were both wonderful people), but because their relationship was perhaps the closest among all of them, aside from Fred George. (Don't think about him, Ron chided himself.)
"Hang on, we'll join you." George said as he finished the last of his pumpkin juice. He took Katie's hand naturally, almost as if unconscious of the action. "Hurry up, Ron, surely you've had enough to eat."
"Shut up." Ron knew from experience that the tips of his ears would be red, and took satisfaction in seeing Katie give George a rather stern look. He wanted to protest that he really hadn't had much to eat except for a piece of toast, a muffin and some eggs, but thought better of it.
They Apparated to Diagon Alley and said goodbye to Bill and Charlie with promises to join them for lunch later in the day.
The three of them walked up to the store, and Ron was somewhat shocked to see that it had already opened, though the early hours of the day did not help to provide any customers.
"Verity opened it a couple of days ago." George said softly, he didn't sound surprised, and Ron supposed he must have known about this.
"You should give the girl a raise." Katie suggested, giving George's hand a squeeze.
George shrugged, and began walking into the store. He paused briefly at the door, as if unsure of whether to go in or not, and took a deep breath.
"Coming, Ron?" Katie, either to distract George or to distract herself, turned and asked Ron, who was still staring incredulously at the open store.
As they stepped in to the store, George paused again upon entering to take in the conditions. This was just as well, for Ron also felt like he needed a moment to adjust. Everything was just as Ron remembered, except the number of customers had declined somewhat since his last vist. The shelves were still stocked with various brightly colored packages, and although some shelves were much better stocked than others, the variety of products had not diminished in the slightest. Occasionally a hat or a pixie-looking thing would whiz past Ron's head, and Verity stood unchanged, with her short blond hair and magenta robes.
"Mr. Weasley." She hurried over once she spotted the three of them, "I didn't know you were coming in today."
"I've brought help with me, too." George nodded towards Ron, "I think you'll be glad I did."
"Of course." Verity smiled as she looked at Ron, who noticed that the same smile faltered a bit upon landing on Katie, "It tends to get really busy just before and after lunch."
"Good." George nodded, "Oh, and I'll want to see the ledger, of course."
"Sure." Verity nodded, "I'll bring them to your office."
George nodded, seemingly satisfied. Ron thought, even though he supposed he could have been wrong, that George's grip on Katie's hand tightened just a little bit.
"I'm sorry, ." Verity suddenly said, her smile now gone. "I heard about….about…." She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, but instead broke into tears.
"It'll be alright." George said. Ron though that his voice was much too strained and he sounded like he was reassuring himself more than anyone else.
Verity nodded, wiped her eyes and stopped up to hug George awkwardly. "I'll go see to the customers." She muttered, blushing after she let go of a stiffened George. Ron to turned to see that a couple of bright eyed children were being led into the store by their parents.
"I'll go help her." He muttered and turned to leave quickly.
"I think she's got a crush on you." Ron heard Katie say breezily as he turned to walk. He paused in his steps to listen to George's reply, but didn't hear anything for a while except for Katie's giggling.
"You already know who I've got a crush on, Miss Bell." Ron heard just as he started walking again.
The morning passed relatively quickly for Ron, who saw George come out of the office only twice. Both times he asked Verity brief questions and then returned to his office. Katie had been in there with him the entire morning, appearing only once to pick something from a shelf.
Ron was kept busy by the flux of customers who rushed in around ten thirty that morning, most of whom lingered in the store to browse. He realized that he would never become a qualified salesperson, as he lost his patience far too quickly, and Verity had banished him to the cash register by eleven. Helping customers ring up their purchases seemed a much easier job than explaining to a crying child why he couldn't purchase the one that he had set his eyes on. (And apparently "it says aged 10+ on the package you little runt" was not the correct method to handle the situation)
Bill and Charlie showed up promptly at quarter after noon, both looking tired but rather pleased with themselves.
"Ready for lunch, little brother?" Bill smiled at the sight of Ron busy behind the register.
"Yes, I'm starving." Ron nodded eagerly, bagging a trick wand and a reusable Hangman. "George and Katie are in his office if either of you want to get him."
"I'll go." Bill volunteered and set off towards the back office.
"Busy morning?" Ron asked Charlie, who was examining the Candy in a Can.
"Would have been easier if you three hadn't destroyed half of Gringotts." Charlie grinned, "But yes, quite busy. You?"
"Just finishing with the rush." Ron sulked slightly, "Kids are a pain."
"Well, you'll have your own one day." Charlie retorted. Ron was about to reply, but was cut short by a rather flustered Bill.
"What?" Charlie asked, nothing Bill's red ears.
"Saw something I hope I'll never have to see again." Bill muttered darkly and shot a glare towards Charlie when he started snickering.
"Were they shagging?" Charlie asked, still grinning from ear to ear, "Did you at least get a word in to tell them we're going to lunch?"
"We weren't shagging, and he did tell us. Thank you very much." George appeared behind a row of shelves, pulling along Katie, who was blushing so furiously that Ron had to wonder if the redness will ever recede from her cheeks.
"Good, good." Charlie said, somehow managing to not burst out into laughter. "Lunch, shall we? Before Ron starves to death."
Despite the reconstruction all around them, Diago Alley retained its business. Most of the restaurants were filled with shoppers just getting out again after the end of the war. The five of them were forced into a back booth that really couldn't have been meant for more than two people.
"So, dear brother." Charlie turned to George after they placed their orders with a rather frazzled witch, "What have you been up to all morning?"
"Snogging in the office, I'll bet." Ron said before he could stop himself.
"Only for a little bit." George shrugged as Katie elbowed him.
"We were looking over the numbers." Katie mumbled.
"Oh, is that why you were sitting on his lap?" Bill snorted, "And his hands were - "
"It was hard work," George smirked, cutting Bill off before he could say anything else,
"I needed to relax."
"Shut up." Katie whispered furiously.
"You should get used to him." Bill smiled at the embarrassed Katie, "He's like this all the time."
"I know." Katie groaned, "No shame at all."
"Too late now, Bell." George threw his arm around Katie and laughed maniacally, "No exchange or refunds."
Ron shared amused glances with Bill and Charlie, both of whom looked immensely pleased to see George joking again.
Lunch passed as Bill and Charlie attempted to entertain Katie with tales of dragons and ancient curses, and Ron cutting in once in a while to question the reality of the tale.
When it came to getting the check, Ron had suddenly realized he had brought no money with him.
"Oh don't be stupid, Katie." Ron heard George say as he saw Katie pulling out her wallet.
"It's on me, Katie." Charlie smiled, "Don't worry about it."
"Oh, thank you, Charlie." Katie smiled, her face flushing a little.
"So, you two going back to snogging?" Charlie asked slyly.
"None of your business if we do." George took Katie's hand again and glared.
"Could use some help in the front." Ron said, peering at George.
"I'll help." Katie declared, "George should work on filling the orders and I'll be no help to him at all."
"He's doing well?" Bill asked Ron as they watched George and Katie walk ahead after exiting the restaurant.
"He is, I think. He's smiling again at least." Ron confirmed.
"Should have gotten her here sooner," Charlie sighed, "Would have saved a lot of trouble."
"I knew they were friends," Ron frowned thoughtfully, "But I had no idea they were dating."
"I would have expected for Fred to say something," Charlie remarked, "He must have known. Frankly I'm surprised at the lack of teasing."
At the mention of Fred's name the three fell silent, each losing himself in memories of the prankster.
George and Katie stopped I front of Gringotts, waiting for the other three to catch up. "Getting old are you?" George asked as the three walked up to them.
"Not all of us are motivated by love, dear brother." Charlie grinned, ""See you at home?"
"Sure." George nodded and waved goodbye to both Bill and Charlie as they entered the Goblin bank.
The afternoon passed with relative ease. Despite the rush of customers that hit shortly after lunch, the shop remained well managed with the added help from Katie. Ron noticed that she was particularly good with children, and knew all the products as well as Verity does.
However, Ron noted with some amusement, Verity seems to have a distaste to working with Katie, often ignoring her requests or choosing to be far away from her. Ron made a reminder to talk to George about it privately.
Ron also noticed, even though he was pretty sure he wasn't meant to notice, that George came out of his office far more often in the afternoon. He would stand at the door of his office and simply star at the happenings in the store simple stare at the happenings in the store as if monitoring an experiment, though after a few minutes his gaze would always land Katie.
Ron had been told countless times (and not just by Hermione) that he was quite thick when it came to relationships. However, even he couldn't miss the love that George had while appeared on his face while watching Katie interact with little kids.
Katie would sometimes look up, and search around until she finds George staring at her. She would then offer a smile in return and wave a little. The affection from her was equally apparent to Ron, and he wondered if perhaps Hermione looks at him that way as well, and hoped that she did.
Ron smiled despite two screaming three-year-olds running around him. He looked up again to see Katie and George sharing a smile. He rolled his eyes at how sickeningly sweet the two were being, but in his heart has started to plot how to tease George. He expected he could start teasing George again soon. After all, it looks like George would be alright after all with a little help from Katie Bell.