Separation, Chapter 4

In the woods, George Weasley was lying on the soft patch of moss in the middle of his favourite clearing. It was about one o'clock in the afternoon, and he had been there since early that morning. It was unlikely the Crofts had missed him.

The sun was shining through the trees, golden rays lighting up the clearing. Tiny particles of dust floated in the air, and it smelt like flowers. It was silent but for the sound of birds singing.

Well, it was silent until George's stomach rumbled. He groaned and stood up. Time to go back and get food, as quickly as possible. He made his way out of the woods, tripping on a branch and leaving a long, deep scratch on his arm. He barely even noticed it.

He arrived back at the house to Mrs Croft standing at the door, looking furious. "Where have you been?" she shrieked. Apparently they had missed him.

"Not here," he replied. She gave him an evil look before continuing.

"A man is here to see you. About a school." She smiled cruelly. "Freak school, I'm guessing."

George followed her through to the tiny kitchen, dreading what he was about to hear. She had probably referred him a mental institute or something like that.

There was an incredibly old man with very long, white hair and beard, sat at the kitchen table. He had half moon glasses on the end of his nose. He smiled at George.

"Hello George, I am Professor Dumbledore."

A Professor. That proved it then.

"I'm Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am here to offer you a place at my school."

Haw haw. Funny. Sounded like the headmaster was a bit mental too. Bet that's a good mental institute then. A mental place with mental kids and mental teachers too. Bet even the cleaners were mental.

"Sure you are. I'm about as magic as you are sane."

The man chuckled. "I see you have humour. Good. I assure you though, this is not a lie. You are a wizard, George, and I want you to come to my school. You will have the best education you could possibly have, and I have the greatest confidence you will be a fantastic wizard."

"I don't believe you."

"Yes, that's what everyone says. Have you ever done anything strange, that you can't explain? Or even witnessed great things that you didn't even think were anything to do with you?"

"I... I suppose I have, yeah. That's still not proof though. Weird things happen all the time."

"Only to people like you or I. I see you scratched yourself, Mr Weasley."

"Wha... oh, yeah. I fell over on the way up here."

"I can see that. The blood is fresh. And yet, the scratch has healed over. Can you see that?"

George looked, and noticed the old man was absolutely right. He would never have noticed it.

"Yeah, I see it. Maybe it was just a very thin scratch"

"With that much blood? Okay, Mr Weasley, I'll show you some magic now. You must believe what I'm saying before I give you the details, else I really would be wasting my time, wouldn't I?" He said this with a twinkle in his eye that George couldn't help but like.

Suddenly, the fridge burst into flames. Mrs Croft, who has been silent up to now, screamed and jumped away from it.

"Do not worry yourself Madam, this is merely a demonstration. Look, your fridge is perfectly fine, and if you care to look inside, I promise you the milk has not gone sour."

True enough, the fridge had stopped burning as quickly as it has started, and there was not a mark on it. George's mouth was wide open in shock. Magic. Magic.

Mrs Croft, after opening the fridge and confirming that all the food was unaffected, leaned against the wall and gave Professor Dumbledore a scathing look.

"What a load of rubbish. Absolutely ridiculous."

"I assure you, what I say is the truth."

"This kid is perfectly normal, and there is nothing special about him at all!"

"You absolute hypocrite!" George blazed angrily. "How many times have you told me that I'm mental? All those things I did to Ben, and you called me a freak! You know I'm different, and now you try to deny it?"

She had pursed her lips, and was about to answer when the man interrupted.

"Please, do not argue on my account. I merely wanted to show you the kind of thing you will be studying at Hogwarts, George, and I hope you will make the choice to join us. I am positive you will love it there. Do you accept your place?"

"Yes, definitely!" he said, grinning. Mrs Croft was silent for a moment, before saying:

"Yes, he can go. But he isn't coming back here, not ever. I'll be glad to get rid of him."

"That's a shame, Mrs Croft," he said, eyebrows furrowed. "But if that is your wish, we will be happy to make arrangements for him."

"And he's not getting any money either."

"I'm sure we will manage," he replied, giving George a kind smile. "Now, George, term starts on the first of September, and you must buy all your supplies as soon as possible. Directions to Diagon Alley are enclosed, as is your train ticket and your shopping list. Here is your key for your vault at Gringotts, the wizard bank. There is not much in there, I will warn you, but there should be enough, if you make do with second hand supplies where possible. You will need some money to travel to London no doubt, so here you go, have some Muggle money that I took to travel here. I chose Muggle transport to get here, just out of interest. I will take other means to get back."

"What's a Muggle?" George asked, confused.

"Oh, someone who doesn't have any magical powers, that's all. Like this good lady here." He gestured to Mrs Croft who scowled gracelessly.

"Well, I must take my leave. I look forward to seeing you on the first of September. Thank you for your time Mrs Croft."

And with that, he left. There was a silence, before Mrs Croft left the room without saying anything. George grinned. He couldn't wait for the day when he could leave this place behind forever.

A wizard. He could barely believe it. His life had always seemed so meaningless, and now he had a purpose. He could make friends. Actual friends.

Suddenly, his life seemed so much brighter.

A/N: So, Fred and George both know now! Woohoo! Seriously, this chapter was written in record time for me, quite proud! ;D The similarities are intentional, and the two chapters are meant to happen on the same day. I hope you liked, I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter! The fun will start fairly soon :P Please review and tell me what you think! Thanks very much to sharu, Spiralling-Down, aleir29, SkyeElf, GeorgieForever, SolelyReader, and TwinFan for your lovely reviews, you guys make it so worth it!

Next chapter: Fred and George go shopping.