"Oh, Ron what a lovely idea!" Molly exclaimed at the news that he and Hermione would be taking George to the store that afternoon. She grabbed the ginger boy's head, giving him several kisses all over his face.

"Mum, please..." he groaned, trying his best to pull away from his overbearing mother while Hermione giggled behind him.

She released him and gave him a warm smile, which he returned happily. Though Ron acted like he was annoyed by his mother, he secretly really appreciated how loving she was especially as he got older.

Molly had been absolutely thrilled at the idea of them visiting the store and even though she'd be on her own in The Burrow for a majority of the day, the thought of being alone didn't concern her at all for the first time in a month. George agreeing to go back to the store gave her a bit of hope that he would be back to his old self eventually. Not immediately, she knew that, but eventually.

"If Charlie is there, do tell him to come to dinner would you? He's always flying back to Romania right after work, he never rests." Molly pleaded with Ron as they were about to head out the door.

"Sure, mum." Ron gave Molly a reassuring smile before turning to Hermione, "Any sign of him coming down yet?"

Hermione shook her head, "I haven't seen him since breakfast."

Ron let out a sigh, "I'll get him."

He climbed the stairs up to George's room. Ron remembered how loud that room had once been only a few years ago when Fred and George were in there inventing everything that would one day be sold in the shop. Now it stood completely silent with one half of the duo sulking inside. The memory gave Ron a painful feeling in his chest and he wondered how long it would be before the happy memories he had of his brother would stop hurting.

Ron knocked on the door, "George, you ready?"

There was no response. Ron ran a hand through his hair and exhaled, he was never good at this emotional stuff.

On the other side of the door George laid on his bed staring at the ceiling. This is how George had been spending most of his time lately. Being around his family was exhausting and looking around his childhood room and seeing Fred's items was depressing, so at the ceiling his eyes stayed.

Another knock came to the door a few moments later, "Come on mate, I'm sure Verity and Charlie will be glad to see you."

Ron heard footsteps approach the door and George emerged, refusing to acknowledge Ron's presence. Ron took a step back to let his brother exit the room while giving him a reassuring pat on the back. The two boys walked down the stairs to the entrance of the Burrow, George walking in front of Ron. When they reached the bottom they saw Hermione already standing by the door eager to get going.

She clapped her hands together when she saw them, "Ready then?" she said with a warm smile.

George rolled his eyes, "This is the most excited I've ever seen you to go and be around such mischief, Granger. It feels like only yesterday that you threatened us with detentions for our pranks you know."

Normally Hermione would have been dismissive of this comment, but it was the closest George had been to joking around with anyone. It was also the first time he mentioned Fred, though they all noticed he wouldn't say his name.

"Well, everyone needs a good laugh now and then don't they?" she responded softly.

"Yeah, I suppose." George shrugged.

The awkwardness had returned to the air. There was always tension around George, everyone was walking on eggshells around him. Hermione being so kind to him bothered him, he had almost wished she had said something smart back to him like she normally would, but instead she continued to be sickeningly sweet. Everyone made him feel broken, he knew he was, but the way people were treating him amplified those feelings tenfold.

"Uh, right then. Best be off. See you later today, mum." Ron turned to Molly, who had resumed cleaning the kitchen. The entire house was spotless, George, Hermione, and Ron knew this, but they didn't dare stop her. All she did when she was awake was clean and cook to distract herself from her grief.

She tore herself away from the dishes that continued to scrub themselves despite her abandoning them and planted a kiss on each of their cheeks, lingering a second longer with George. "Don't forget about Charlie." she pointed to Ron.

"Yeah, yeah, mum I know."

-

It was mid-afternoon when the three arrived at Diagon Alley. Things were bustling, though not with happy witches and wizards shopping and socializing, but with store owners who had returned to rebuild their shops. The scene was a beautiful metaphor for how things had changed in the month since the battle.

Years ago Diagon Alley was bright and full of life, filled to the brim with happy and eager people doing their shopping and spending time with each other. Once the war started though, the street had been destroyed and looted, stores were burned and people were forced to flee from their livelihoods. Now, as the trio walked down the street and saw everyone come together happily to rebuild what had been taken from them, it put into perspective that maybe there could be a time where things would feel how they had before.

At the end of the street stood the tall purple building with orange window frames that they all recognized. It was one of only a handful of shops that had reopened in the last month. Charlie wrote to Verity shortly after the battle and asked her to come back to the store, he wanted to run it for George until he was ready to return. Charlie knew that even if George didn't want to work right now, he would hate himself if he let the store turn to ruins. So the two of them reopened the store the weekend after Fred's funeral and have been working every day since.

The three of them stopped just outside the door, Hermione and Ron stood on either side of George and waited for him to make the first move. Neither wanted to be pushy, it was a big step for him to even agree to come here in the first place. George took a deep breath in and reached for the handle. As the three of them stepped inside a bell chimed above the door and it felt almost like they had been taken back in time.

Everything looked just like it did before Fred and George had to shut down the store and go into hiding at their Great Aunt Muriel's house. The only noticeable difference was that there were much fewer customers browsing inside than before. There was the occasional "crack" and "boom" from items in various aisles, but nothing measuring up to the chaos that had once filled the store. Despite Voldemort's defeat, some people were so used to the idea of hiding that they hadn't yet made the transition back to normal life.

At the sound of the bell a petite witch with short platinum blonde hair and pixie-like features peeked out from one of the aisles "Welcome to Weasleys' Wizard-" she stopped herself when she realized who she was looking at. She fully emerged from the aisle and leaned casually on the shelf next to her. She crossed her arms and smirked as she looked up at George.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't George Weasley in the flesh? Now that you're back, does that mean I can have a day off?" the witch joked.

"I'm not here to work Verity." George spoke flatly. Though he was relieved to see that she wouldn't be another one to add to the list of people that were treating him differently.

"Oh, fine, fine. You know, I'm starting to think maybe I should be the boss around here. You've taken up all your vacation time you know, I may have to fire you." she winked at him.

"Oh is that so, and what makes you think you'd be the boss before Charlie? Wasn't it his idea to reopen the place?" George quipped back.

Verity had always been quick with a comeback, so he wasn't surprised at all when she said "Because Charlie is scared of me, he already knows I'm the boss."

"Oh yes, Charlie who isn't afraid of dragons but is terrified of Verity Stokes." George retorted sarcastically, though when he spoke to her there was more warmth his voice than there had been all month.

"I'd say I'm much scarier than a dragon, wouldn't you? Anyways, best get back to work, a boss needs to work hard you know. Let me know if you need help finding anything." she reached over to playfully punch George in the arm and winked at him before returning to the aisle she had come from.

George hadn't noticed that Ron and Hermione left his side while he was talking to Verity. He found them casually browsing the Nose Biting Teacups when another bell chimed at the door. Instinctively George turned to see who had entered the shop and saw his older brother Charlie carrying several boxes and having a difficult time making his way through the door.

"Give us a hand then." Charlie said when he met George's eyes, "If you're gonna come back to work the least you can do is not watch me struggle."

"I didn't come to work Charlie."

"Well you might want to consider coming back soon, Ver's been on the brink of overthrowing the place and calling it Verity's Vexing Varieties, she assures me the name is just a work in progress."

George rolled his eyes as he took a box from his brother, "What's all this?"

"Uh, it's just some extra inventory I got from Zonko's. We've nearly reached the end of the supply you and Fred had made on a few things. I thought it would be best to have these as a backup since I didn't know when you'd be back." Charlie was nervous at what his brother's response would be to selling things he and Fred hadn't invented in their shop.

"Alright."

"Alright?" the voice came from a few aisles away, Verity as usual had been listening in to a conversation she wasn't a part of.

"THE George Weasley is alright with selling this cheap rubbish in his store? He really is hopeless isn't he?" Verity continued as she found her way back behind the till, both hands cupping her face as she leaned on the counter watching them carry in the boxes.

"Ver!" Charlie hissed at her, throwing daggers from his eyes.

"It's alright Charlie." George assured his brother. The typical nosy and blunt attitude Verity had always had around him and Fred was refreshing to hear, so none of her remarks bothered him, it actually made him feel better in a strange way.

They set down the boxes next to the counter and George took his attention away from the two of them as Charlie began unpacking things and leaving to restock more shelves. George's full attention was now on the staircase that led up to the flat he and Fred shared together.

Part of him wanted to go up there and take a look, but he knew it would be too painful. He spent two weeks sleeping on the couch in The Burrow before he felt ready to go into his childhood bedroom, but seeing the place he and Fred had lived in together only a few months ago would be much harder. If he saw any of Fred's clothes or scraps of parchment with product ideas written in his hand writing, George wouldn't be able to handle it.

Verity noticed George's gaze and she reached across the counter to grab George's hand, the gesture snapped his attention back to her as he looked into her mischievous blue eyes, but instead of the usual tone of whimsy in her voice she spoke softly, "We haven't been up there, you know. We left it just the way it was for when you're ready."

George nodded at her and gave her a sad smile. Ron and Hermione turned the corner and at the sight of them Ron cleared his throat, Hermione looked away pretending to be browsing something on the shelf next to her hoping they wouldn't think she had noticed. George and Verity quickly pulled their hands away from each other and George rubbed his hand on the back of his neck feeling incredibly uncomfortable while Verity smirked.

"Uh, I heard Charlie come in so I was going to let him know mum wants him to come to dinner." Ron said awkwardly, his eyes still shifting back and forth between the two of them before Hemione elbowed him in the side to make him stop.

"Oh yeah, he's down that way restocking shelves." George pointed the couple in the direction of his brother. He waited for them to leave before looking back to the girl behind the counter, "Ver, I think I'll come back to work some time next week."

She tilted her head and smiled at him, "I knew threatening to fire you would work."