Another Day in the Shop
Date: 19th April 2001 Time: Early morning Location: Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, upstairs at flat and shop Characters: Ron Weasley, George Weasley, and open Rating: PG for language.
Ron opened his eyes with a start. He had been in the forest, by the pond. The image of Harry and Hermione in an embrace still clouded his eyes and he could hear the words whispered, 'Why would she want you? Why would anyone want you? She could have him. Why would she choose you?' He rubbed his eyes, and stretched, relaxing in the bed, knowing it was the same dream. That image was from the forest, long ago, before he had shattered that locket horcrux. It was a bloody pain in the ass, he thought as he moved to swing his legs off the bed and get up. He stopped, and then moved out of the spare room, to poke his head in on George, who was still crashed out, a huddle in his bed. Ron relaxed for a moment, and went to clean up in the bathroom, thinking about his older brother.
He had been coming here, spending Friday nights with his brother for almost a year now. It was their routine. Ron would come hang out with George on Friday, spend the night, and then spend the day working in the shop. Sometimes, many times, others would join them. Ginny, Percy and even Charlie, would drop by to spend a time with the Weasleys in the flat above the shop. They would go eat dinner with Mom and Dad, and sometimes stay there. But many times, the Weasley sibling clan ended up in the apartment, hanging out, chatting about their week. It was a good routine. It kept them together; they did it for George.
The loss of Fred had hit them all very hard; they had been drawn together to fill the gap that their fallen brother had left. Ron worried about George; the loss of the twin obviously left its mark on his brother. But Ron had been pleased at how he and Percy had come to an understanding, taking the responsibility for George very seriously. So Ron was here, Saturday morning, cleaning up so he could go downstairs and open the shop. Percy would come in later, and then Ron would be free to find Harry and Hermione, to see what they were doing for the day.
Ron knocked on the door as he was ready to go downstairs, and open up the shop.
"George? You up? I'm off. I'll put on coffee downstairs. You sleep okay?"
George rolled over and gave his brother a bleary looked, grunted and nodded. Ron was satisfied, and moved out the flat door, and down the stairs. The entrance to the flat was right next to the entrance to the shop, and Ron removed the locking spells, to open the door and uncover the windows. That dream still bothered him; he wondered why it plagued him, but then realized that he probably had it because he was sleeping away from her. He hated being away from Hermione, but he had yet to convince her to come stay the night with him when he spent the night with George. Hermione and her ideas of 'propriety' Ron thought. Well, it was the truth. They were not 'there' yet, as much as he would like that. He respected her; he wanted her to feel ready. When ever he slept away from her, especially in a different location, that horrible dream would come back. It had been over three years; he would have hoped it would have gone away.
In the back room, he put on some coffee, and took out his wand to say the spell to get the water boiling and hot. He moved to the counter, and took out the inventory list, and began to move through the shelves, checking to see what might need to be restocked. The sign said, "OPEN," and putting the list down, Ron got a cup of the fresh coffee. He sat on the stool, watching the people begin to pass by the shop windows. Diagon Alley was open on a Saturday and it was a beautiful day in April. He sighed, and wondered just how busy they were going to be.