Chapter 23

The day at the joke shop couldn't go fast enough. George spent every second reminding himself of his family- he repeated their names, their birthdays, what they look like, over and over again. He served customers all day, reassuring them when they questioned the absence of Fred who George had left with his mother at the Burrow. While he was annoyed at his brother, George knew it wasn't really Fred's fault. Even so, it was like Fred had given up completely- he wasn't even trying to remember. To him, the last twenty years really hadn't happened- he had just left Hogwarts and was working on opening a business with his twin.

George could see that some of the customers were struggling with their memories too. Loyal regulars who visited often, entered the store as though they'd never seen it before. Others explored as though the shop has appeared on Diagon Alley overnight; admiring the exterior for a few minutes before actually coming in.

Throughout the day, George became gradually more on edge; his fingers began to twitch, and he was jumpy and sweaty. Molly had told him exactly where to find the shop, so with any luck, George could go as soon as the shop closed and restore everything. The clock, however, seemed to have different ideas.

Time seemed to have slowed down, to the point where it had nearly stopped completely. And the more George wished it to be closing time, the further away that time seemed.

Eventually, the last customer left after strangely congratulating George on the opening of his shop. He rolled his eyes and followed the woman to the door so he could lock it behind her. He sped around the shop, closing blinds and securing products until finally, he could leave.

He marched towards the hidden alley, quickly glancing around him to make sure no one saw him vanish. With his wand in front of him, George crept through the abandoned alley. Why Molly decided it was an even remotely good idea to venture down here, George would never know- Knockturn Alley screamed 'Keep Out!' if you asked him. He looked through every shop window, but none of them seemed to match the description Molly had given him. None of the shops seemed 'filthy on the outside but clean when you looked in' as Molly had said, and there certainly weren't any creepy old men!

Slowly, George was losing hope. His mind filled with the images of the Hogwarts students whom he had promised to save. He thought about his family, who were forgetting about their own children, he even thought of Kat, Fred's wife, who was pregnant at home, probably after forgetting who the father was! For all George knew, Kat may have even forgotten all about the baby, or maybe that too had faded, just like the children at school were.

He couldn't let them all down, especially Roxy and Fred. His own children! George had found a photo of the two of them which he'd slid into his jacket pocket just to be certain that he didn't forget. Every time he placed his hand in his pocket, his fingers would brush against the tin piece of paper as a little reminder for him. But when George couldn't find the store on Knockturn Alley, he removed the photo and gently kissed the smiling faces of his two children.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, a tear running down his face and splattering onto the paper, "I looked. I really tried to find it, to find him. I won't give up, not yet, but, this, this shop, it was my only lead! I don't know where to look next."

Dragging his feet, George stuffed the photo back into his pocket and returned to Diagon Alley. His heart was still racing, but inside, he felt nothing but disappointment. He'd let everyone down.

George let himself back into the shop and clambered up the stairs to the flat which was mainly used for storage now the twins had both moved out, but when busier seasons came and the boys needed to stay for longer hours, they had been known to move some of the boxes and stay overnight.

Finding his way through the mountains of Skiving Snackboxes and Fireworks, George slid into the spare room which had the entire back wall plastered in various books on making potions and casting charms which Fred and George had used to develop most of their products. He took a seat on the floor and picked up the first book. He skimmed over every page in search of a purple potion which emitted green smoke and could erase memories.

He looked through book after book after book, refusing to let himself fall asleep. It took hours just to scour through a quarter of the pages in the room and before George knew it, the sky was pitch black and he'd slumped forwards, head resting on an open page and eyes closed.