George's Little Secret

George's Little Secret

By Elf Flame

George had always been the quieter of the twins. He kept to himself unless dragged into something, rarely expressed an opinion that had not been shared with Fred first, and was always the quicker of the two to back down when confronted. He wasn't a coward or anything like that, but there were simply some times when he realized he'd gone too far. Unfortunately, no matter what the consequences of his actions, it was a realization Fred never seemed to come to.

So when the business caused them to spend more time apart, Fred doing more of the inventing as George took over more of the financing and business end, George began to realize just how different he was from his twin. And many of those differences began to worry him. When not working on their expenses, or other business dealings, George would often find himself alone at home, reading, rather than out carousing with Fred and Lee. And it often almost seemed a relief when Fred would go off on one of his infrequent dates with Angelina.

Unfortunately, the changes in George's life did not go unnoticed by his twin. One afternoon, a gas leak in Muggle London closed down the Alley, so the two brothers found themselves at the flat together with several hours of free time.

Fred had been going on about Angelina's latest attempt to convince him that perhaps it was time they settled down, when he stopped mid-sentence. He examined George's face for several minutes before getting an odd look on his own face. "George," he said slowly. "How come you never want to go on double dates with me and Angelina?"

George snorted. "Because of the stigma of double dates and twins. You know what everyone would think."

"But..." Fred looked at him, eyes narrowed now. "But you never date anyone. Not even at Hogwarts. Not once."

George rolled his eyes. "Just because you never..."

But Fred quickly interrupted him. "I think I'd know, George. After all, we did spend about ninety percent of our time together at school. You never even talked about the girls at school."

George tried to look disinterested. "So? You more than made up for the fact. I didn't feel it necessary to do so."

"Didn't feel it necessary, or didn't feel the inclination, Forge?" he wheedled.

Inwardly, George groaned. Fred only used that nickname when he knew George was hiding something. And he always got what he wanted out of George when he did. "Is there a difference?" he said as calmly as he could.

Fred's eyes were quite narrow by now, and he was leaning so far forward on the couch that George was sure he would fall off any moment now. "Necessary means that you wanted to, but I said everything you would have anyway. Inclination, on the other hand, suggests that you weren't interested, Forge. And if you weren't interested in them..."

George wanted to growl at his brother, but that would only prove him right, so he did his best to maintain his placid expression. "Yes?"

"Who were you interested in, Forge?"

"Who said I was interested in anyone, Gred?" he raised an eyebrow at his brother. Fred usually knew to drop whatever discussion they were having when George used that name, but Fred didn't seem ready to let this go just yet.

"Come on, George," he said earnestly, "who was it? I won't tell. Do I ever tell anyone anything? I'm your twin. You can trust me. Was it McGonagall?"

"Fred..."

"Pince?" Fred asked.

George sighed. "Fred..." he said warningly now.

"It wasn't Pomfrey, was it?" Then Fred's eyes went round. "Not...Myrtle!"

George rolled his eyes. "Frederick Weasley, if you don't stop right now..."

"It's not Ginny, is it, cause that'd just be wrong, George..."

"Damn it, Fred, no! It wasn't any girl--" he saw Fred open his mouth and continued quickly, "or woman, at Hogwarts, okay?"

"No female at Hogwarts, eh? I guess our business partner better watch himself around you, eh, George?" he chuckled, nudging him.

George felt the tips of his ears go red. It was that Weasley complexion. Couldn't hide anything with it. "George?" Fred said waveringly. "Um, I was...kidding. You're not...I mean, you didn't..." George would have laughed had it not all been so painful. It wasn't often Fred Weasley was at a loss for words.

"Yeah, okay? Harry's...Harry. Those eyes, and that smile." Fred was looking at him like he was speaking in tongues. George decided it was time for the full truth. "Look, it was only a fantasy anyway. Now that Ron's up and left Hermione, it looks like Harry's decided to take over, so definitely not gay." He sighed. "It was a nice dream, but I never expected more than friendship anyway."

Fred still looked incredulous. "Harry. Harry Potter? Two years younger than us? Mess of black hair? Our little brother's best friend?" Then he shook his head vigorously for a moment. "How could you be gay all this time and I never noticed, George?"

George snorted. "In what free time, Fred? You were always either planning something or out with Angelina. It just never came up," he shrugged. "Besides, it's not something I flaunt, Fred."

Suddenly Fred smiled one of those smiles that always scared George. "You know, George, you may have the perfect opportunity right under your nose. Angelina told me that Harry's been to the office a lot more recently, and when she asked him why, he said that he and Hermione had a falling out, so he needed something to distract himself." His smile widened into a grin. "Perhaps you should go take those papers we needed him to sign to him tonight, treat him to dinner...maybe see if he's even slightly interested in your kind of distraction..."

George sighed, then laughed. Leave it to Fred to find out he was gay, and immediately find a way to cause the most havoc with it. "Maybe, Fred, maybe."