Ready to Start

Sydney was walking through Diagon Alley on one of her days off when she saw the curly haired woman down the street. Sydney eyed her curiously until she lifted her head and looked at Sydney.

Shit.” Sydney cursed, turning around. She briskly walked away, trying not to cause a scene. She tried to escape, but Elise was simply too fast for her.

“Hey, you!” Elise said.

Groaning, Sydney turned around with a smile. “Hi Elise.”

Elise didn’t seem pleased to see her. “We need to talk, Lake.” She said. “Come with me.”

Sydney followed Elise into the store; it was a slow day and a little witch was working the register. Elise pulled her into the store room.

“George isn’t here today, so I figured I’d talk to you.” Elise said.

“Where is George?” Sydney asked curiously.

Elise shook her head. “He’s at his mother’s house. Anyway, what is your fascination with George?”

Sydney shrugged. “He’s a twin, I understand him.”

Elise shook her head again. “You’re lying, Lake. I’ve had a friend check the files at the ministry.” She stated.

Sydney’s face went red. “You did a background check on me?” she asked, enraged.

Elise nodded. “I had to be sure you were good for George, and you’re not. Why lie to him?”

Sydney was taken aback. “First of all, you don’t know anything about me. You don’t know my life, or the people in it. I gave you a chance to get to know me, but you didn’t do shit about it. Secondly, I’m not lying to him and he knows that.”

Elise rolled her eyes. “George is a gullible guy.”

Sydney gave her a sharp look. “You just want George all to yourself, don’t you?”

Elise’s jaw dropped. “Pardon me?”

Sydney stared her down. “You want George all to yourself…he reminds you of Fred.”

Elise was now furious. Her eyes were turning beady. “Don’t think you know a thing about Fred!” she snarled.

Sydney shook her head. “I’m not going to pretend I know anything about him…but George has told me bits about him.”

Elise’s jaw dropped. “George…he’s talked about him?” she asked. Her voice cracked.
Sydney nodded. “He told me how he dated you…how he loved you, but he knew you loved Fred. He told me about their pranks and their childhood. He told me about your wedding. He even told me how Fred died.”

Elise’s eyes went from beady back to their original deep sea blue. “He…he never even told me how he died. Percy had to tell me…” she murmured.

Sydney stared at her. “Don’t judge me if you don’t know me. You don’t know who I am or where I’m from.” She said.

Elise stared at her as well. “I don’t want George to myself. I want him to be happy.”

Sydney shook her head. “You want George to be a father to Abby. I understand that. But he’s not her father, Elise. He has to live his own life, have his own family. You need to let him go.”
She said, walking out the door.

Elise stood there, dumbfounded.

*~*~*~*

George was home at the Burrow sitting at the table with Ginny. Ginny was home to help plan the menu for the wedding; it was coming up soon and the food was being finalized. The wedding was to be held at the Burrow; all the Weasley kids vowed that from now on, they’d all get married at home.

“So how have you been, Georgie?” Ginny asked, poking a spare potato on the kitchen table.

George smiled. “I’ve been good, actually. I’m starting to get over Fred.”

Ginny’s eyes widened; it had been a very long time since anyone, including George, had the strength to say Fred’s name. “Really? How so?”

George shrugged. “I have a friend…she knows what it’s like, being a twin. She knows how to get over it all…so we’re doing kind of a process thing. You know, one step at a time.”

Ginny nodded. “Okay…”

George smiled a bit. “I think I like her.”

Ginny dropped the potato. “What?” she asked, shocked.

George turned red. “I think I kind of like this girl, you know? She’s really nice…and when you take a second look, look past her business face, she’s a gorgeous girl.”

Ginny’s face brightened up. “You’re talking about Sydney, aren’t you?”

George chuckled. “Don’t get too excited, I don’t know if she likes me.”

Ginny squealed. “Oh, I’ll invite her to the wedding. We can have another chair…it’d be lovely.”

George nodded. “Yes, well, Elise hates her.”

Ginny pouted. “I know. Elise is sour about everything. She’s just being protective of you, that’s all. She really does care about you.”

George shook his head. “She made Hermione do a background check on the poor girl! I don’t want her to scare Syd away.”

Ginny grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it all.”