Secrets Unknown

Chapter Seven: "Share My Pain"

Later that night George found himself wandering through his store, picking up random jokes that were heavily marketed throughout the adolescent wizarding world. Jokes to get back at friends, jokes to get back at enemies, things to help you get out of class, the store was littered with these sorts of things. Soon he had reached the workroom in the back that he and Fred had spent hours upon hours in, inventing new jokes and improving others. As he reached for one of the unfinished experiments, he searched his brain for any ideas of how it could be finished. The twins were well known for their brilliant flow of unlimited ideas but tonight George found that he had none. In fact, the more he thought about it, the blanker his mind seemed to become.

"I have to finish it," George muttered to himself.

As he held the half finished experiment in his hand it slowly began to disappear. When he looked at it, he found it had gone entirely.

"No," George murmured.

Looking around the workroom he watched as all the unfinished experiments disappeared before his eyes.

"No," George murmured once again, reaching for the vanishing projects.

"Don't worry," a voice filtered through his dream, soothing and strangely familiar.

A hand brushed against George's cheek, warm and inviting.

"What?" he asked nobody in particular.

A slender finger stroked his cheek and George lifted his hand to touch the hand warm on his cheek. Thinking he was still in his dream, George smiled at the touch and leaned towards it, inviting it, loving every moment of it. Realising what he was doing, George opened his eyes and dazedly looked for the person causing him such an experience. As his eyes adjusted to the dark room he realised he was staring up into a pair of very dark eyes.

"Angeli-" George was silenced by a single finger being laid to his lips that was then replaced by Angelina's own mouth.

George, still groggy with sleep, kissed her back until he realised what he was doing. Butterflies grew in his stomach as he ran his hand through her dark curls and pulled away from her kisses. Pushing her away gently, he smiled sadly.

"You don't want to do this," he told her.

Angelina smiled coyly through the darkness, "how do you know what I want?" she leaned back towards George but he held her away.

"Angelina," he said awkwardly. Angelina stopped, a look of pure horror crossed her face and she turned her head away, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled her apology as she to climb off where George lay, still slightly dazed.

He touched her arm softly and she stopped and looked back at him, eyes glittering dangerously, punctuated by the moonlight coming in through the crack in the curtains.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered again, tears spilling from her eyes and her voice trembled with every syllable spoken, "I guess I just...I mean..."

George, a lump forming in his own throat, merely nodded and motioned for Angelina to come closer, which she did after hesitating for a moment. George pulled his coverlet back and wrapped his arms around the sobbing girl. Angelina lay down next to him as he scooted over to make room for her.

"How could he?" Angelina demanded angrily, tears running down her cheek and onto George's bare arm. "How could he?" she practically screamed as more tears cascaded from her eyes, which were now squeezed shut as she sobbed into the pillow.

George shut his eyes and shook his head, unable to speak, the lump in his throat getting bigger.

"I loved him," Angelina whispered, her voice surprisingly steady, "and he didn't care."

George shook his head and tried to control the waver in his voice, "he did care about you," he told her, remembering the way he spoke about her in his journal.

I love her so much. I think I could just watch her for hours and never grow tired. Watching her sleep is breathtaking. It's like I am in a whole different world. But then she wakes up and we are both in reality again. She is the only thing that can make me temporarily escape the hell that has become my life.

Angelina turned to face him, tears still streaming from her eyes and George looked down at her.

"It wasn't enough," she told him, her eyes dark pools of pure pain.

Looking at the anguish that Angelina felt about his brother made him feel like he was choking. Fred had left them both for no reason and now they had to live the rest of their lives without the person that meant the most to them.

George shook his head, "no it wasn't," he agreed as his voice cracked. Angelina was overcome by a fresh wave of emotion and she closed her eyes as she began to cry once again. She rolled over and snuggled deeper into George's grasp.

Angelina cried for a long time that night and for the first time since his twin's death, the numbness he had felt inside him subsided and George cried too.

Mm, sad eh? Sorry it's short but I felt that this little scene should be in a chapter of it's own. George cried! sob More diary entries in the next chapter, I promise!