Hey guys, this story is almost over!!!!!!!!!! Aw, isn't that sad? NE way, please be sure to send lots of reviews on these last few chapters because I would really appreciate it...only four more to go after this one, yay!!!!!!!

The year came to a quick end and the world finally heard the cry of the Weasley brother's freedom. They left with a bang, literally speaking. Fireworks in the form of an elaborate dragon chased them out as they flew away on stolen broomsticks much faster than their own. There would be no graduation ceremony for them, but it didn't matter. They were free. After Emerald had left, things had returned to a somewhat normal state between Fred and George. There were still those awkward silences that would pass between them that had before been nothing in their minds, but now the silence was deafening. Fred just tried to brush it off and avoid the deep depression that kept calling his name. Life without Emerald was empty to be blunt. There was no more Shakespeare readings in the library, no more laughter between stolen kisses, not even a hand to hold when he felt lonely. As for the book that she had left behind, Fred hadn't gathered the courage to read it. It sat on his shelf with the bookmark still neatly tucked between its pages. He was almost certain that it would never be finished, but it may have proved to be good for him. It wouldn't constantly remind him of the pain and grief he was going through. Emerald was gone and all Fred could do was try to get over her.

A year later, Fred and George had proudly opened their new joke shop in Hogsmede Village. It was opening day, Halloween, the perfect night to spook all of your friends for a reasonable price. Everything was flying off of the shelves. Students were packed into the store, stuffing random items into the baskets that had been provided. George and Fred looked proudly over their handiwork with huge smirks. From what they could tell and from the money they were making, they were doing pretty damn well.

"Fuck we're good." George muttered under his brother, loud enough for only his brother to hear. Fred smirked.

"Yeah, I'd say that we're pretty fucking good." Another purchase was made and happily rung up by the two brothers, almost fighting over who got to take the money.

"So when did mom and dad and the others say they were gonna stop by?" George ask, shutting the register having won the brief fight.

"Some time after midnight, they're dropping by after they drop by the Halloween party at the Ministry…you know how dad is about their parties, he hasn't missed one." George rolled his eyes.

"Doesn't he have a record down there or something?" Fred shrugged his shoulders.

"Hell if I know, like I ever pay attention at what's going on down at the Ministry…bunch of freaks." George snorted.

"You're telling me."

A sudden flash of red caught Fred's eyes and his head snapped towards the window. This happened on almost a daily basis. He would see a twist of red hair and instantly assume that it was Emerald. Whenever he would take a good look, though, it was never her. The first time it had happened, he had chased after the girl and caught her by the shoulder, nearly scaring her to death. He apologized with an embarrassed blush on his cheeks and rushed back into his shop, vowing never to do that again. Now whenever he saw that flash of red, he would just remind himself that Emerald was gone and that she wasn't coming back.

He had often wandered off in a daydream and thought about where Emerald had run off to. She could be anywhere in the world right now what with her parents money backing any trip that she could dream up. Fred wondered how far was far enough to forget everything that they had shared. For his whole life, Fred had always been under the impression that you only get one great love in your life. You were supposed to treasure it and love that person with all of your heart. If you lost that person, that was it; you were destined to spend the rest of your life alone. Fred was convinced that Emerald was his one true love; as corny as it sounded, he believed it. They fit together perfectly, but what he couldn't understand was why you would want to run away from something so perfect.

It suddenly happened again, the flash of red that jolted Fred out of his seat. George rolled his eyes as students started to file out of the store with large bags clutched in their hands.

"Will you just give it up?" He asked as he was paid by the last student, who ran for the door to catch up with their friends. George followed after that student, locking the door firmly behind them. "She's gone, why do you keep looking for her?" Fred merely shook his head.

"I…I can't explain it…" He muttered sadly. George picked up the daily paper that he hadn't gotten the chance to read earlier. He started flipping through the pages while his brother continued to mope.

"Well stop acting like a fucking pussy and jumping at the window every time you see a girl with red hair." Fred leaned his forehead against the window. George shook his head. "Stop letting her control you. You have to deal with the fact that she's gone and…just…" Fred furrowed his brow together as he glanced over when his brother stopped talking.

"What's wrong?" He asked. His brother's eyes were focused solely on an article in the Prophet, but he roughly folded up the paper and shoved it behind his back.

"Nothing." He said nervously. Fred slowly walked over to his brother and went to grab the paper that he was hiding, but George quickly ducked away.

"Dude…what did you read?" He asked, making another grab for the paper.

"I didn't read anything." George insisted. "Remember, I don't like to read…reading makes me barf!" Fred pursed his lips out of frustration.

"You obviously read something to make you freak out like this…and why won't you let me read it?" George rushed around the counter with the paper still behind his back.

"Go do stock or something!" He said as she rushed around to try and keep the paper from his brother.

Fred cut his brother off and forced him to the floor so that he could grab the paper from his hands. He ripped it open to the page where George had left off and instantly felt his heart sink into his stomach. His brother had been reading the wedding announcements and there, taking up half of the page, was Emerald. She was standing amongst a group of hundreds of people in a white lace dress with a bouquet of orchids forced into her lackluster hands. She wasn't smiling, but the man next to her was. He was a tall, muscular man with a buzz cut and a slight smirk on his face. Fred shrunk at the fact that the man was extremely handsome, but also marveled at how beautiful Emerald looked. He had never seen her look so stunning and yet, his heart stopped at the fact that she was…married.

"Dude…are you okay?" George asked with an uneasy tremor in his voice. Fred stared at the picture and started reading the wedding announcement. It said that Emerald had gone to Scotland to finish out school and then she had apparently gotten engaged a month after school. It said nothing about the arranged marriage or what Emerald wanted to do with her life. It only talked about her new husband, Kent Adair.

"This is Kent Adair…the one that she had an arranged marriage with." Fred muttered. George peered over the newspaper to see the man that Fred was pointing at.

"He looks like he could snap her in half." Fred nodded. "So…does this mean that you'll give her up?" He asked, trying to hide the eagerness in his voice. For the past year, all that he had wanted was for his brother to finally give up hope that Emerald was coming back. They were finally in a good place in their lives. They owned their own joke shop, they lived in a decent flat, and there weren't any girls to mess shit up. He knew that if Emerald came back, Fred would drop everything and go running off to be with her. That was the last thing that George wanted.

Fred glanced up at his brother as he tried to hide the smirk that was hiding in his eyes. It was annoying to see his brother so excited and giddy over the fact that Fred had lost Emerald for good now. He sighed and tossed the paper back on the counter.

"Try not to be too excited over my misfortune." He muttered. George shook his head.

"That's not it at all!" He exclaimed. "I mean…this is a good thing because now you won't be moping around and you can focus on other things…maybe find another girl better than Emerald." Fred pursed his lips together, but wouldn't allow himself to explode at George. His brother knew how to push his buttons, but he was not in the mood to fight. This was supposed to be a good day and he wouldn't ruin it with a fight. So Fred kept his mouth shut as he picked up the paper again and threw it into the trash.

"Yeah, I guess I just can't win…" George clapped him on the back with a wide smirk.

"That's the spirit! Now go in the back room and take inventory." He said, pushing him towards the door leading to the stock room. Fred raised an eyebrow as he stumbled forward.

"Why the fuck do I have to take inventory?" He asked angrily.

"Because you're the youngest." He shot back. Fred rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, only by two minutes." He snorted out. George shrugged his shoulders.

"Still, I'm the oldest so get the fuck back there and start taking inventory!" He demanded. Fred rolled his eyes and slunk into the back room. George heard him start to work, checking through all the boxes and taking down what they had and what they needed.

George picked the paper back up and started reading about Emerald's wedding. It seemed like the most expensive thing that he had ever read about, complete with a full symphony orchestra and a huge wedding with over five hundred guests. It was lavish beyond anyone's belief, but he couldn't deny that Emerald looked absolutely miserable even if she was covered in lace and pearls. Even with dozens of people surrounding her, she refused to smile. He pursed his lips together, his eyes remaining on the picture. Maybe…maybe Emerald wasn't as bad as he had originally thought. She seemed all right the last time that he had seen her…besides the whole Fred choking him thing. She had defended him and tried to pull Fred off of him…even after he had…George shuddered slightly and tossed the paper back into the trash.

There was a light knock at the door, but George didn't even bother to look to see who it was.

"We're closed, come back tomorrow." He called out.

The person knocked again.

"Can't you hear me? We're closed, come back tomorrow!" There was a moment of silence before the lock slowly began to turn and the door popped open. George instantly drew out his wand and held it at the ready as the intruder pushed the door open and walked in. He instantly dropped his wand along with his jaw.

"Hello George…"

"Emerald…what the fuck are you doing here?" George asked as he ducked down to the ground and picked up his wand. Emerald quietly shut the door behind her and pushed her own wand into her coat pocket. She wore a navy style black coat with her hair in a low bun and her head covered by a turquoise hat. Her hair had grown much longer, strands hanging down around her face with the rest of her hair gathered at the back of her neck. There was something calm and docile about her nature, but her eyes were sad and she looked like she was about to cry. She couldn't even manage to smile at him, but merely stood in the doorway.

"Can I talk to Fred?" She asked quietly. George pursed his lips together.

"What do you think?"

"I think that you should step aside and let me talk to Fred…"

"He's already seen the wedding announcement, what does it matter if you talk to him?"

"Why should I explain myself to you?" She asked, taking a step into the shop. George held out his wand, forcing her to press her back against the door.

"Just leave…" He muttered. Emerald pursed her lips together, her eyes suddenly becoming enraged.

"You can't tell me what to do!" She exclaimed. "Now move so I can talk to Fred!"

"No!" He exclaimed. The shop door opened, making Emerald stumble forward as an extremely tall man walked into the shop. George instantly recognized the man to be Kent Adair, Emerald's new husband.

"Emerald, are you done in here?" He asked in a heavy Scottish accent, his eyes going over every inch of the shop. There was a certain disgust on his face, but he didn't say anything that was sure to offend. "Your family's waiting for us and we're late enough already." Emerald didn't look up at him, but kept her eyes harshly on George.

"Yeah…yeah we can go." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and started to lead her towards the door. She suddenly stopped him, looking over at George with her eyes softening. "Will you ask Fred…if he finished Hamlet? There's something in the back for him…something important." George rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, just get out of here." He demanded. Emerald kept her eyes on George as they left the shop. Kent quickly shut the door, doing his best to pull her into some sort of conversation. George stood there for a moment before harshly kicking the counter. Fred instantly ran out of the back room, his eyes wide.

"Dude, what the fuck?" He asked as he looked at the huge dent in the counter. He quickly repaired it with the simple flick of his wand, but he still was curious as to his brother's anger. George shook his head.

"Sorry…I just got really pissed off…"