Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Surprised? Oh yeah I don't own Eternity by the Jobros either. Just loved the song and felt like it fit. READ AUTHOR'S NOTE!!
Author's Note: This is NOT a songfic, just something Victoria wrote. Thanks, now on to the story...
Next Week….
George woke up to find himself face to face with Ginny. "SHIT!" George yelled as he rolled out of bed, surprised to see Ginny an inch away from his face.
"I was wondering when you would get up. We have work in 10 minutes," she told him giving him a gentle smile.
"Alright."
Ginny turned to walk out when George's voice stopped her. "Oh can you not mention my, uh my, uh outburst?"
Ginny gave him a small grin, "I won't. But can you atleast try to talk to me and Ron and Victoria?"
"I didn't even give you permission to hire her."
"We needed the help."
"You still should have asked me first. I really don't want anyone else around."
"Oh come on George. Give her a chance."
"Okay," George told her heavily as he stood up.
"See you down stairs," she told him giving him a tight hug before walking out of the room.
George really didn't want another person in the store. He knew they needed the help, that was obvious, but he didn't need another person checking to make sure he was ok every second and shooting him concerned looks every minute. Ginny and Ron didn't do that so much, but when they did, it made George feel like a five year old who had just broken his favorite toy. He just didn't want to deal with that.
Downstairs….
"Oh Ron now really! You're eighteen! Can't you clear your own plate?" Mrs.Weasly asked, exasperated.
"Sorry Mum! Got to go!" Ron told her, running out the door behind Ginny.
"Morning George," Mrs.Weasly sighed as he made his way downstairs.
"Morning Mum."
"Aren't you going to work?" asked his mother.
"Oh, oh yeah! Oh man! I got to run!" George said realizing that Ron and Ginny had left, and with, that he was gone.
Weasly's Wizard Wheezes…
George ran in to find Victoria standing at the counter, staring blankly at the box in the corner that she was supposed to be unloading.
"Hey. Hey!" George said, snapping Victoria out of her reverie.
"Oh sorry! …George?" Victoria asked.
"Yeah?"
"Well, I just haven't talked to you at all. You seem to like ignoring everyone," she told him nonchalantly.
Her words, although said in a quiet tone, made an impact on him. He was ignoring everyone at the store, he knew that for a fact, Ginny had asked him not to this morning, but for someone who had just worked there for a week to notice, he must have really been not talking to anybody.
"I've got a lot on my mind, ok?" he told her, staring at the counter.
"Whatever," she shrugged, careful not to say anything that would cause a big blow up from either of them, seeing as her feelings were on the surface, and not all of them were sadness. George, who had been looking at the counter top, snapped his head up and looked into her eyes, wondering why she just let it go. That was something his family and friends hadn't been able to do. Victoria gave him a tight-lipped smile and turned to unload the box. He started to walk back to get more boxes and looked back at her.
"Victoria?" he asked.
"Yeah?" she asked, knowing her tone wasn't the nicest even though she felt a jolt in her stomach as he said her name.
"Never mind," George finally managed to get out as he stared into her ice blue eyes.
"Okay," she told him, and although she had a hardened look on her face, George could see the sadness she was trying to hide in her eyes.
That night….
"Who's locking up?" Ron asked his little sister as the two red-heads walked down Diagon Alley.
"George," she told him, smiling.
"Why are you smiling?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Because I know something you don't."
"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Ron asked his sister, curiosity getting the better of him.
"I'm here!" Hermionie called as she stepped out from behind a statue in Diagon Alley.
"Hermionie!" Ron called back as she ran towards him.
He pulled her into a tight hug. "I haven't seen you in forever!"
"I know," Hermionie told him, "Auror training takes a lot out of you."
She pulled back in the hug to look into his eyes. He kissed her, tightening his grip on her waist. Hermionie held onto him tightly around the neck, and though the kiss was short and sweet, the two eighteen year olds were extremely happy. Ginny grinned. "So am I the best sister ever?"
"You planned this?" Ron asked looking from Hermionie to Ginny and back again.
"Of course," the two girls said in unison.
"Thanks," Ron told his sister with a smile. He took Hermionie's hand and the three made their way back to the Burrow.
At Weasly's Wizard Wheezes…
George looked around the shop as he finished putting the last box on a shelf, he heard a noise in the back. George made his way to the back of the store to find Victoria holding a wand in one hand and a piece of paper, with her hand writing on it in the other.
"I didn't know you were still here," George told her. Victoria jumped and turned around to look at George. The paper she was holding held so tightly in her hand, he thought she might rip it.
"Well I am."
George could tell something was different. The sadness in her eyes wasn't alone. There was passion in there too.
"I'm about to lock up," he told her unsure of what to say.
"Ok." Victoria stood up, folded the paper and stowing the wand in the back of her jeans pocket, and turned around, and as she did, tripping over a box. Luckily, George caught her arms. George felt a tingle go through him as her hands grasped his arms, but as quickly as she did, she pulled her hands away.
"Thanks," she said shortly quickly pulling away.
"Sure," George said with a half-smile.
"Is that your wand?" he asked her.
"No, it's my sister's," she said as made to walk past him.
"I would love to meet her," George told her, still trying to figure out what was going on.
"You can't. She died," she told him her voice becoming rough.
George's mouth dropped in surprise and worry that he might have said the wrong thing. "I'm so sorry," he said quietly, looking down at his hands.
"It's ok. From what I hear you lost your brother," Victoria stated boldly.
"I did. But I lost more than just a brother. He was my twin. No one can understand how that feels," George told her turning around so he wasn't facing her, even though he knew her eyes were focused on the ground.
"It feels like you've lost half of yourself, half of your soul, half you who you are," Victoria told him, in a fiery voice.
"How could you kno-"
"My sister. She was my twin." Victoria stated clearly, feeling the familiar fire in her soul ignite, as it always did when she mentioned her sister. How could she talk to George like this? She couldn't and she wouldn't do it. No, I won't do this. I won't open up. Sorry, but it's not going to happen. The only person she had ever opened up to was Leanne, and her best friend Zoey, who was away in Italy at the moment. Now Zoey was the only person she could talk to, and she was planning on keeping it that way. She wasn't one to be vulnerable.
"So you know how I feel?" George asked still processing the fact that he was talking to a girl who he'd known for a week, who was going through the exact same thing he was, and that he was actually thinking about opening up. Something he had refused to do with his family or friends. Oh no George we're not going there, the little voice in his head told him. For once he actually agreed.
"You could say that," Victoria stated without enthusiasm, "Look I really have to go." She made to walk past him, and seeing as it was close quarters, she put a hand on George's shoulder as she walked past. George felt the tingle again and he turned around to face the beautiful blonde before him.
George stood there trying to comprehend all the information that had just been inserted into his brain, and rooted to the spot as the spot on his shoulder tingled where her hand had been.
"You know, when you're locking up, it helps to get out of the store," Victoria told him with a dry sense of humor and a teasing smile playing on her lips, as she turned and walked to the front of the store.
"Ha ha."
George followed in suit, and soon realized a couple of boxes weren't put away.
Victoria turned back. "Are you coming?"
"Yeah," George told her, "There's a few more boxes to be put away."
"Want some help?" she asked.
"I'm fine."
The blonde began walking home, even though she could apparate, she preferred walking. It was odd. Ever since Leanne had died, she hadn't used magic all that much. She guessed it was just the after effects. When the news had reached her, she hadn't believed it. She had yelled for her sister, her older sister. Even if it was only by three minutes. She had yelled for her sister, and then finally realized that her sister had always been there, she hadn't ever had to yell for her before, and here she was screaming her heart out, and Leanne hadn't come. And that's when she'd known. When her sister hadn't come to her side. So she'd cried. But that was all over. She had gone from unbelievable hope, to extreme grief, to anger and fury, and finally back to who she was. With a few changes. She was still outspoken and headstrong, but didn't open up as much as she had before Leanne died. She was stronger and weaker at the same time. Stronger in the sense she could handle anything, and weaker in the sense she had lost her best friend. She was still fiery and passionate, and driven. That would never change.
She sat down on a bench and took out a the piece of paper. She simply stared at it.
Back in the shop...
George went through his mind trying to figure what in the world was going on. His new emplo- friend. Yes, friend was the right word (he assumed), had lost her twin. But she didn't seem so sad about it. But why? Was she hiding it? Let's think about something else George, Yeah something else would be good, he told the voice inside his head who he'd become accustomed to having little snippets of conversation with. What was with that piece of paper that she had folded up? Dammit! George thought to himself. Ugh! He couldn't get his mind on the right track. I need sleep he told himself wearily as he made his way home. As he was walking, the wind blew a piece of paper in front of him. he glanced down, and saw Victoria's hand writing. He knew it by now, considering it was the only employee's handwriting he could read. Ginny's handwriting was atrocious really and Ron's well, it was worse than Ginny's that was the point. Then he noticed how it was folded. It was the piece of paper she had when he had found her in the back of the shop. He started to read...
Looking at a picture of you in my hands
Wondering if I'm ever gonna see you again
Without you I don't know how my life will be
But I believe
It's not goodbye
Cause I will remember you
And I will see you again
When I rise
Cause I know and I believe
I will see you in eternity
So close yet so far
But in my heart you're here with me
You did not leave
You just went to live in eternity
Without you I dont know how my life will be
But I believe
It's not goodbye
Cause I will remember you
And I will see you again
When I rise
Cause I know and I believe
I will see you in eternity
He couldn't believe what he had just read. Did she write it? Well it was a good poem or song or whatever for sure. He wasn't sure he should ask her... What if she got mad? She had made a point of not letting him see it in the first place. Oh whatever, it's worth a shot, he told himself. If she wrote this she has to have a soft side right? He had to laugh at himself there. She was headstrong, fiery, and rough around the edges. Yeah, right.
