Chapter 14

After George had left the restaurant (and Angelina) he wasn't quite sure where exactly he wanted to go, he certainly wasn't keen on going back to the Burrow quite yet, especially since Ashley could possibly still be awake … well, she definitely would be, she stayed awake for hours. He wandered around Diagon Alley for a while before he came across his own shop, which was currently filled with younger children and their parents whilst Lee Jordan was behind the till, trying to deal with them all at one time. Luckily for George, Lee had offered to look after the store for a while, but apparently he wasn't doing as well as he thought he would, considering the store should have been closed already, but Lee had offered, he had obviously known that George probably wouldn't be able to deal with it for a while … this fact got him thinking about whether he would ever live in the flat above the shop again. He hadn't set a foot in there since Fred had died. Maybe one day he'd be able to go in there, but for now it was not even an option he could consider. He'd probably just collapse as soon as he walked in and saw all Fred's things strewn across the room, shoes, jackets, shirts etc.
It was still difficult accepting the fact that his twin brother had gone and that he would never be coming back, and it still felt odd for him that there was no one around to finish his sentences anymore. George quickly turned away from the shop and made his way down the alleyway, passing shops that were newly opened and ones that still had broken windows and didn't look as if they would be re-opened any time soon. He was almost certain that he passed Angelina at some point, but he didn't really want to stop to check, definitely not if it meant he had to have another conversation with her, the few minutes this evening were enough for a few more years, at the very least. He knew that he would eventually have to go back to the Burrow and face whatever hell was waiting for him there; either from his sister, his mother, Ashley or all three … maybe not so much from the latter though, although from what he had just heard from Angelina, she may be the one who was most irritated and upset over this … whatever it was, he'd had with Angelina.
Unless Angelina was lying to him, which wasn't a possibility he could erase from his mind, which was now swimming with the possibility's of if it was the truth that she had told him or if it had been a lie to get him to seem vulnerable. Angelina seemed to feed off of the men who were more vulnerable or open than any other type of guy, somehow she got them to trust her, did whatever she needed to do to screw their lives up completely, then leave.
George had seen it first hand with both Lee and Fred, she'd messed up their friendship completely in 6th year by dating the both of them at the same time, of course, she didn't tell them, they eventually learned of this themselves … well, they had learned it from Ashley, who wasn't at all surprised when she'd heard what Angelina was doing, after all, when you hate someone you always expect the worse from them. It was at this point George realised if he walked much further he'd be in Knockturn Alley … not a place someone wants to go at night, least of all alone. He glanced towards his watch, 10 p.m. He could have sworn it wasn't that late, it would have made it 4 hours since he'd left Angelina in the restaurant, and all he'd done since then was think and walk … time had passed a lot quicker than he thought it would have. He apparated back to the Burrow and landed in the field outside, meaning that he was a good 5 minutes walk away from his front door. He slowly started to walk forwards and began to think about what Angelina had said again, could she have been telling the truth? Because if she was, then maybe, just maybe, everything could work out for him … almost. He turned his walk into a slight jog, and a few minutes later he reached the door, he opened it and walked into the burrow, slamming the door behind him and throwing his jacket on the back of the sofa before leaning on the back of it, facing the seat below him whilst clenching and un-clenching his fists.
'Well, well, brother dearest. Look who's finally got home' Ginny said, leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed over her chest, whilst raising her eyebrows at him.
'What have I done?' George groaned, not looking up at his little sister, he knew when he did he'd end up spilling everything to her, literally everything.
'Going on a date with Angelina? Really, George? Do you not remember how mean she was? Not just to Ashley, but to everyone on the team, especially after Oliver left'
'Yes. And?' he said, tilting his head up the smallest possible amount so that he would be able to look at her 'I was just wondering if she'd changed, it's possible for people to do that, you know? Weird, right?'
'Do you even like her?' she questioned, pretending that she hadn't heard his sarcastic comment.
'Well … I … erm'
'That's a no'
'So?' he asked, sighing again
'So why go out with her if you don't even like her?'
'Because I'm not going to stay completely alone forever, Ginny. And it's quite embarrassing admitting that your little sister has someone before you do' George said, running his fingers through his hair 'Guess I know how Charlie feels' he muttered quietly
'So go after Ashley!' Ginny said, waving her arms slightly
'Wait … what? Why would I want to go after Ashley? She's my friend, Ginny. Just a friend, which is a fact she's made quite clear over the years' George said quickly, muttering the last part under his breath, causing Ginny to raise her eyebrows at him once more,
'It's pretty obvious you like her, George', he stayed silent at this, he knew that there would be no point in arguing with her at all, she'd know he was lying in a second, then she'd hex him for lying to her in the first place. 'The fact that you have absolutely no sarcastic remark for once means yes. So ask her to go out sometime, I doubt she'd say no … not to you, anyway.'
'Why not to me?'
'Because you're George. You're her best friend, the guy that's always there for her, the one she's snogged about 20 times in the last 5 years … you're obviously something to her, George, and she's obviously something to you. Maybe the reason you two haven't worked out with any other person is because you're meant to be with each other'
'Okay, so we might go out, then we date and then the chances are that we're going to break up, so what happens after that, huh? It'll just be awkward whenever we speak to each other so we'll just end up never speaking, therefore in mere seconds I've destroyed the friendship that has taken fourteen years for me to build up'
'That's a chance you would have to take if you wanted to date her. Because it might just work out … and anyway, since when have you been the type of person to over think things? Usually you're the one jumping in feet first, not the one dragging behind.'
'Why would she not tell me that she liked me?!' George said angrily, ignoring what his sister had said and slamming his palm down on the back of the sofa and hanging his head again
'Did you actually give her a chance too?' Ginny asked, sighing slightly and resting her side against the doorframe again
'Well … I er - …'
'That's a massive no' Ginny said, before rolling her eyes slightly 'Honestly, you're a complete moron sometimes … along with the rest of the male population, I suppose'
'Why?!' George asked, looking up at his sister with wide eyes
'If you'd have given her a chance to explain her feelings towards you then you would probably have just been out on a date with Ashley instead of her mortal enemy who just so happens to also be your brothers ex girlfriend. So, stop acting like a four year old and go and see her! You're supposed to be twenty and you're still acting as if you're at Hogwarts with all this relationship crap!' Ginny said, to which George stayed silent once again, simply staring at the seat again 'I'm right, George … and you know I am' Ginny added quietly, before she slowly turned away from him and walked quietly out of the room, leaving George completely alone with his thoughts, the fact that he seemed to be having multiple ones at once was making it even harder to just focus on one.

-oOo-

A few minutes later he had begun to think about the fact that Ashley hadn't told him she liked him. Or that she had liked him at some point or whatever the situation was between himself and her at the current moment in time. Maybe she likes me, but she doesn't want to actually be with me? he thought, before deciding that he needed to know for himself what she thought about him, because thinking of her reaction was only make him feel more nervous about asking her. So it was now or never. He quickly pushed himself off the back of the couch and turned on the spot so that he was facing the stairs, he took a deep breath before he sprinted up them and towards the room that used to be owned by his older brother, Percy. Once he had reached the door he threw it open, quickly stepping inside the room and slamming the door behind him, an action which caused the door and a bookcase leaning against the wall to shudder, along with the windows.
'George?! What the hell!' Ashley said, lifting her head up from a book
'Why didn't you tell me?!' he exclaimed, pacing back and forth quickly whilst running his fingers through his hair
'Why didn't I tell you what?' she asked, turning around in her chair to face him and frowning slightly
'That you liked me!' he yelled 'You made me feel like a complete idiot, just standing there and confessing my bloody love for you, then you just left me alone!'
'Because you told me to leave … I'm sure you remember it quite clearly.'
'That's not the point!' he said, rubbing his temple and sighing again
'Then what is the point, George?' Ashley began, standing up and crossing her arms across her chest 'You told me how you felt, I tried to tell you the same but when I did you told me to "fucking leave you alone", so, I'm sorry, but how again is that any of my fault?'
'It's not' George confessed, before sitting on the floor cross-legged with his head in his hands 'I'm more pissed off at myself'
'Why?' Ashley asked, her tone of voice back to it's usual level once more. She walked over to him and knelt down in front of him, she couldn't help but notice how young he looked sitting cross legged on the floor. She was reminded of when they were little and he'd done something wrong and gotten yelled at by his mother, he'd always used to sit cross-legged on the floor every time he knew he'd made a mistake … although she hadn't seen him do it since he was about eight years old.
'Because I keep blaming you for everything' he said, lifting his head up so that he was able to face her,
'It's fine, George. Lately most things are turning out to be my fault, it's not a big deal … guess I've gotten used to it' she said, giving a slight laugh
'They're not, Ash' George said 'Nothing is ever your fault'
'There's a few things'
'Well they don't matter' George said, then took her hand in his 'Ash … I need to ask you something, basically so I can figure out what's going on right now, cause I'm supposing that you're just as confused as I am'
'Go for it'
'Do you like me, at all?'
'George-' Ashley began, looking at him
'I don't know why I asked, of course you don't, I'm just being stupid … sorry, I'll go' he said, then made a move to stand up before Ashley pulled him back down again, then quickly leant in and kissed him
'What does that mean?' George murmured, not taking his eyes from hers
'It means that I love you, even though you're a complete muppet'
'Seriously?' George said, a grin spreading across his face
'Seriously, you're a muppet' she smirked
'I love you too' he began, ignoring her insult, then leaning forward and kissed her 'And right now the logical thing for me to say would probably be something about not lying to each other, right?'
'Yeah … about that' Ashley began
'Why am I suddenly worried again …' George said, sighing slightly
'It's nothing serious exactly' she replied, biting her bottom lip
'Right …'
'Well, basically … erm … you know in 2nd year, the Whomping Willow beat the crap out of me?'
'Of course I remember that, I was worried about you for ages' George said, turning a slight pink colour
'Well, when I was in the hospital wing afterwards, Madam Pomfrey told me that after I'd been hit by it, I'd been sort of dead for a while … but they managed to do some random kind of healing spell and fix it, obviously' she said, then gestured towards herself
'Wait, what? You've been dead before?!' George asked, his eyes getting wider and wider
'Yeah …' Ashley said, looking down at the floor 'I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I had to tell someone else to see what your reaction would be like … it's pretty much what I expected, I suppose'
'So, who else did you tell…?'
'Erm … this is the tricky part'
'Just tell me'
'Fred.'
'Oh, what year did you tell him?' George said,
'We weren't exactly at Hogwarts when I told him...' Ashley said, biting her lip slightly
'Right … so, was it before the battle? Well, it kinda has to be, doesn't it...'
'Well … not exactly'
'What?' George asked, frowning slightly 'You're joking, right? Please tell me that you're joking, or I might have to take you to St. Mungo's to make sure you weren't hit by some non-verbal spell and you've got brain damage'
'I wish I was joking …' she muttered
'Wait, so … what? You can … no, still don't quite understand.'
'I erm … I can see ghosts, sometimes anyway … I know it's not exactly normal, I know, but I swear to you that I'm not lying-' Ashley began, holding onto his hand tighter
'I think you do need to go to St. Mungo's …' George frowned
'I'm not mental!' she exclaimed
'Well, then are you completely stupid or something?' George asked,
'What?' Ashley said, looking up at him
'Are you a complete moron?' he said, frowning at her 'Are you really that insensitive that you're already pretending that my brothers not dead and that we can joke about it?'
'George, I'm not joking-' Ashley said
'Of course you fucking are!' he yelled, standing up and pacing slightly again, 'You can't see Ghosts unless they stay behind in this life because they're afraid of death or something, right? Like Sir Nicholas, he told you in 7th year that ghosts only stayed if they were scared of death, and I know for a complete fact that Fred wasn't scared of death, he wasn't scared of anything … other than Ginny and her curses, course … and yours, most probably' he muttered the last part under his breath slightly
'George, I can see him. I never said that he was scared of death, or scared of anything. From what I've found out by researching over the years – or what Hermione found out, should I say - some ghosts stay behind to make sure there families are alright without them around, then they stay to make sure that if they're not then they will be. I didn't purposely mean to find him, obviously. I was just walking around the Orchard and I sat down by a tree and he just appeared next to me and started talki-'
'No, you didn't see him, you didn't hear him. You just can't have, it's not possible, even for wizards. You're just being … I don't know what you are…mental seems like a good description for you at this moment' George said, then made his way towards the door before turning back to Ashley, who was still sitting on the floor and looking up at him, looking as if she was going to burst into tears at any moment 'And you know what? I think I just realised, I don't want to be with you. Ever. Just – just leave me alone.' he added, before walking out and slamming the door behind him.
'George, I'm sorry!' Ashley said, quickly getting up and running out into the hallway after him. He was currently stalking down the corridor with his head down and his hands in his pockets. Ashley ran up behind him and grabbed the back of his shirt, 'George' she said quietly
'Just go' he muttered, then quickly moved forwards so that her hand was ripped away from his shirt,
'I'm sorry' she murmured, whilst he continued walking away without even a glance back towards her.

Okay another chapter :)
Please tell me what you think and thanks for reading this! I think this chapters a bit longer than some of the others, but I'm not quite sure. :L