Ready to Start

George’s eyes widened as he recognized the voice.

“Not now.” He said, strained.

“Who’s that?” Sydney asked curiously.

George turned around and saw, nonetheless, Percy. Percy was out of breath. Of course he’d know where George was going; Percy was a know it all.

“Syd, this is my older brother…Percy.” George said, through gritted teeth.

Percy smiled. “Fancy seeing you here.”

George turned at him, staring him down. “Yeah, what are you doing here, brother?” he asked.

Percy pulled up a chair and sat with them. “Oh, I was just looking for my favorite brother when I came across you! Sitting here, with a lovely girl. Percy Weasley, nice to meet you.” He said, holding his hand out for her.

Sydney chuckled, shaking his hand. “Sydney Lake, nice to meet you.”

Percy smiled at her. “So, Sydney, where do you work?” he asked, taking a sip of George’s water. George slapped him away.

“I work for the Enoki Pearl Company; I’m their UK sales rep. I don’t work too much; they don’t do much business out here. What do you do, Percy?”

Percy nodded. “I’m at the ministry, you know, it’s a really lovely job, working under the minister.” He said. “Our whole family is actually pretty successful…I mean, Bill is at Gringotts, Charlie works in Romania, George here owns the best joke shop in London, Ron is one of the big shot aurors, and Ginny is a world class Quidditch player.” He bragged.

George hit his brother. “Perce, shut up.” He said through gritted teeth.

Sydney nodded. “Wow, that’s a lot. You have a bigger family than I thought, George…I thought it was just you, Ron, and Ginny.”

Percy butted in again. “Oh no, we’re a huge family…Bill’s the oldest you see, he’s married to a lovely girl named Fleur. We already have two nieces by them, Victoire and Dominique…and then Charlie, he’s not married, but we knew he’d never get married anyway. I’m married myself; my wife’s name is Audrey. We have a daughter named Molly and another on the way.” He said happily. “Fred of course had Elise and Abby; Ron and Hermione are married, but in that waiting stage, and Harry and Ginny are getting married soon. We’re just waiting for old George here to find a lass.”

George kicked Percy. “Can you just shut up?” he asked sharply.

Sydney chuckled. “I think I should leave you brothers to talk…I’ll see you later, George?” she asked.

George nodded exasperatedly. “Yeah, owl me?”

Sydney smiled. “We can have dinner tomorrow. Come round my place at eight.” She said, waving goodbye. “Lovely to meet you, Percy.”

The two waved as Sydney disappeared. When she was gone from the corner, George smacked Percy’s arm. “You had to come and screw things up for me?” he barked.

Percy chuckled. “Ginny was right, she is a looker.”

George turned red. “Shut it, Perce.”

Percy kept teasing him. “You like her, you so like her!”

George buried his face in his hands. “I’ve only known her for like a month…I don’t want to screw things up! And she’s helping me…she’s really helping me.”

Percy frowned. “How so?”

George sighed. “If I tell you, you promise not to tell anyone else?”

Percy raised an eyebrow. “Who would I tell?”

George gave another sigh. “Sydney’s a twin. At least, she was, until her sister died. She knows what it’s like to lose someone that close to you, and she’s been helping me get over Fred. She understands me…unlike Elise, she’s not trying to force me into anything. That’s why I like her. Everything about her is just so…carefree.”

Percy’s face softened. “You really like this girl.”

George furrowed his eyebrows. “How can you tell?”

Percy chuckled. “A guy gets a certain look on his face when he’s thinking about a girl he really likes…you kind of look like you’re smiling, or dreaming. You really like her.”

George turned red. “Shut it, alright? I don’t want anyone knowing. Worst case scenario is that Elise kills her, because I Know Elise is most definitely not fond of her.”

Percy rolled his eyes. “No one is good enough for Elise.”

George shrugged. “She thinks she’s antisocial…Syd’s just a bit shy, you know?”

Percy nodded. “Yeah, I can see that…anyway, I think you should ask her to the wedding.” He said, wiggling his eyebrows.

George chuckled. “I was planning on it…I just don’t know how to ask her.”

Percy shrugged. “Just ask her…the wedding isn’t too far off now, and a girl needs some heads up to get a dress. I think it would be lovely if the two of you went together.”
George nodded. “So you really think I have a chance with Sydney?”

Percy smiled, his glasses sliding up the bridge of his nose. “Of course you do, George. From what I can tell, she likes you too.”

George smiled at Percy. All those years, he’d been sour at him for abandoning his family. George now knew it was just a misunderstanding. He knew the person who regretted Fred’s death the most next to himself was Percy, because it was his joke that distracted him.

Percy wasn’t a Fred, but he was definitely a brother.