George knocked on his sister's bedroom door.
"Come in!" She called.
George opened the door, and found Ginny and Hermione mulling through choices of outfits in her closet and laying them on the bed.
"Hey, Gin, quick question: tie or no tie?" George asked.
"It depends. Are you doing sweater or no sweater over the collared shirt?" Ginny said fairly.
George scoffed. "No sweater! It's the first date!"
"Then tie." She nodded.
"Okay, now which shirt?" He asked, and held out a selection to the girls.
"Don't you have something blue? It really brings out your eyes." Ginny cooed, pinching his cheek.
"Ew! Ginny, stop! And I never wear blue on the first date. It is my best color, and must be something the girl must have to work towards." He said cockily.
"Herman, what do you think looks best?" George asked when Hermione emerged out of the closet holding a dress for Ginny to wear.
"I told you not to call me that!" She said crossly, and Ginny giggled. "And I'm not answering that. I am upset you purposely scheduled Ron for tonight, so now we can't celebrate our fourteenmonthaversary."
George and Ginny exchanged glances. "Like I said, any bloke who uses that word in a sentence should be punished, and any girl too, for that matter. Therefore, you and Ron will not go out." When Hermione still didn't look satisfied, George said in an innocent voice, "It's my first date since Fred's died, and I just want to ensure the shop will be in good hands while I'm gone."
Hermione's face lit up. "You have a date? George, why didn't you say so?!"
"I did."
"Well say it louder, then!" Hermione said happily. "Oh, I think the red one, definitely, unless you have blue to bring out your eyes."
"That's what I said!" Ginny told her friend. "He looks very nice in blue."
"Oh, I'll bet! Ron looks fantastic in blue."
"Yeah, I'm leaving this conversation." George said, and sulked out of his sister's room.
/
"Do I look okay?" George said, fidgeting with his tie uncomfortably when he walked down the stairs.
"You look fine." Ginny said, fixing the tie herself.
"Yeah, don't be nervous, mate." Harry said bracingly.
"I'm not nervous!" He yelled.
Lies. It wasn't that he was nervous about meeting the girl; oh, he knew how to talk to girls, that was for sure. He was nervous that he was taking the next step forward into his life. One step into his life without Fred. Odds were, he wasn't going to marry this girl, and it was just a simple date to get him back on the playing field. But what if he did? What if he fell in love with her, but he would be forever wondering if she met Fred's approval?
"Oh, George, dear, you look so handsome!" His mother cried, breaking him from his train of thought with a bone-crushing hug.
"Mum! Geroff! You're embarrassing me!" George said, his ears soon turning the color of his hair.
"Oh, she's not even here! There's no reason to be embarrassed!" She said, pushing some of his hair back. "How about a picture?"
"Mum," George groaned.
"Ron would pay to see this!" Hermione giggled.
"Oh, please, you all look so darling!" She cooed to George, Ginny, and Harry.
"Yeah, a nice picture of a double date when I'm dateless." George said sarcastically.
"Ginny, why did you tell her to meet you at the restaurant? She could have come over here before!"
"Because I knew you'd pull a stunt like this, Mum." Ginny said darkly as she forced George and Ginny together to take a picture.
"Hermione, dear, will you please be so kind as to fill in as George's date?" Molly asked.
"Excuse me?" Hermione said.
"Just for the picture, so George doesn't look alone."
"So a picture for your scrapbook of Harry and Ginny double dating with me and my brother's girlfriend. That'll be a keeper, Mum." George jeered, as Molly put George's arm around Hermione's. "Okay! No! I was kidding, Mum! We're done here!"
"But, Georgie-"
"No date unless there's no photos." George said, crossing his arm.
"Fine." His mother pouted. "But when you marry this girl-"
"Which is highly unlikely-"
"Then you will be upset that there will be no photos to prove it-"
"Because a picture of Hermione and I would look so good on the wedding invitations." George finished cheekily, and Molly sighed before giving him a hug.
"I'm proud of you, okay?" She said. "And I just want you to remember girls will come and girls will go, but your mother will always be here for you."
"I know. I love you, Mum." George said before parting.
"Now, you best be off, you don't want to have-what's the girl's name, again?"
"Beats me." George shrugged.
"Karen." Ginny informed him. "Karen Criss."
"Sounds nice enough." George said easily.
With a bit more cooing from Molly, the young adults bid Molly adieu and apparated to the Three Broomsticks.
"What does this girl look like?" George asked as the three of them craned their necks around, looking for her.
"Blonde, blue eyes-"
"Ginny!" They heard a girl squeal, and Ginny went over to meet her friend.
"Karen, you remember Harry, right?"
"Pleasure." He said shaking her hand.
"Of course, how could I forget?!"
"And, Karen, this is my older brother, George." Ginny informed her, leading her over.
"How do you do?" George said politely with a smile, shaking her hand.
Ginny was right, she was pretty. Karen had long, shiny blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She had big, luscious red lips, glittering from her amble amounts of lip gloss. She gave him a bright smile.
"Ginny has told the team quite a lot about you." She said admirably.
"Has she now? Only good things, I hope." He laughed.
"Yes, don't worry." She responded.
George noted that Harry held out Ginny's chair for her, so George did the same for Karen.
"Wow, I can't believe you guys have the same hair color!" Karen said.
"Well, that often happens with siblings." George said cheekily, and Ginny glared.
"Oh, right, siblings, duh!" She giggled, and Harry gave George a bemused expression.
"So, Karen, besides Quidditch, what do you enjoy?" George asked.
"Cats."
"Excuse me?"
"I love cats. Any kind." She said excitedly.
"Interesting..." George said, and called to the waiter. "Can we have a round of butterbeers?"
He knew he'd have to drink up, because it was going to be a long night.