Playing With Firewhiskey

George was stocking the shelves in the "Need a Break from School" section, located in the far back corner of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, when he heard a loud crack. This caused him to nearly drop a stack of Skiving Snack Boxes - which certainly would have been a production to clean up. Luckily, they made it safely to the ground before any further mishaps could occur. George stood up, stretching his six foot frame, and headed to the front of the store. It was approaching exam time at Hogwarts and the other schools in the area, so it was a slow time for the store; George wondered who it could be. He took in a deep breath and mustered the best cheerful voice he could come up with.

"Welcome to Weasley's... Oh. Hi, Ron," George said upon seeing his younger brother, who had taken it upon his pesky self to "drop by" every once in awhile. He knew it was because Ron was reporting back to their mother about George's well-being. The Weasley twin (because he would always be the Weasley twin now) appreciated the concern of his entirely too large family, really he did, but sometimes, he found them downright irritating.

Ron smiled at him, shaking some early winter snow off of his coat. "Hello, George. Got time for some supper?"

"I don't know, mate." George shrugged, glancing over his shoulder at the Skiving Snack Boxes just waiting to get sorted. "I've got stuff I need to do tonight..."

"Like what?"

"Yeah, like what?"

George whipped his head around to look at the door, and rolled his eyes when he realized who it was. "What, did mum put you up to this?" he demanded, glaring at Ron again.

Ron shook his head with an amused smile.

"Aw, don't blame Ron, Georgie." Oliver Wood strolled over to George, patting him on the shoulder. "He didn't even know I was coming. Come on, Weasley. Come out with us."

George glanced over Oliver's shoulder and noticed that the former Slytherin Chaser he had met the previous night was curiously looking through the "Get Back at Your Brother" section, which sat near the front of the store. They had conversed briefly at the Leaky Cauldron and had, for all intents and purposes, reconciled their differences from their Hogwarts days, each admitting that they only hated each other due their house affiliation.

Seeing Kyle now reminded George of how alike he and his younger sister looked. Kaitlyn. She was absolutely beautiful. That was George's first thought when she and Kyle had come to a stop at their table and introduced themselves the night before. As it turned out, George really didn't have much of a chance to have other thoughts about Kaitlyn. He and Ron were highly distracted by the Quidditch players at their table, and Kaitlyn seemed content to engage in conversation with Hermione all night long.

It was pretty amazing, George mused, sitting at a table and having Butterbeer after Butterbeer with half of the Puddlemere United Quidditch team. He found it incredibly amusing that good ol' Oliver Wood had become their starting Keeper. But George wasn't entirely surprised. Wood was always brilliant at Quidditch. Obsessive? Yes, but there was some merit in that, George supposed, especially since he was now a professional Quidditch player. Oh, how Fred would've loved to see that.

And there it was again.

For the past year, George had been desperately trying to keep his mind off of his late twin, as he was advised by everyone he knew. But how could he possibly keep his mind off of the most important person in his life? He knew his family and his friends were only trying to help, but none of them understood. They didn't have a twin, an identical version of themselves who knew every single thing about them. They didn't have someone who knew what they were thinking before the thought had even fully-formed. He missed Fred every single moment of his days, and if it hadn't been for Ron's continual attempts to get him out more often, George probably would never leave the shop or his flat located right above it. George supposed that the only other reason he ever went out was to keep up appearances. He did own a joke shop after all. He couldn't go around being depressed all the time, even if it was exactly how he felt. All of the time.

It hadn't really helped either that Alicia Spinnet had broken things off with him shortly after the war had ended. She had moved away to America and left George behind. He tried to pretend that this didn't bother him, but it did. Especially because George knew that it was his fault. Alicia had never provided an explanation, but George knew that she just couldn't handle him anymore. She tried, Merlin knows she did. Alicia had cooked for George, gotten George out of bed, made sure that the store was fully stocked at all times, and even ran the front of the shop for the first few months following Fred's death. But when George showed no signs of improvement, Alicia had decided that George simply didn't want to get better and, for the sake of her own future, she'd left. George couldn't blame her.

For months, George couldn't understand how his own family could even stand to be around him. Here he was, an identical, walking, living reminder of Fred. Living being the key word here. For a while, George got by without a mirror. He couldn't bear to look into one because he only wanted to punch his reflection every single time. Why had they, whoever they were, decided to take Fred alone? Didn't they know that they belonged together - forever? Had it not been for the fact that George knew that the store was Fred's dream (and it was George's too, but not without Fred), George was sure he would've also given up on himself a long time ago.

To the immense relief of the Weasley family, Harry, and Hermione, George didn't give up. There were days the clan feared that they may walk into the twins' flat, only to find George dead. There certainly were moments where it seemed like a good idea to George. When he finally showed up at the Burrow for a family dinner for the first time in eight months, everyone was shocked into silence. Then, Molly screamed and threw herself at George. From that day on, George threw himself into his work. Every spare waking moment he had was spent inventing new products, advertising the shop, and servicing his customers. His siblings offered to help, but George refused. This was his; his and Fred's. And now that Fred was gone, George needed to do this by himself. For Fred, at least.

"I'm telling you, he's going mad, Oliver. Working all the time. He zones out like this for ages some days."

George tuned back into the present, where Ron was telling Oliver and Kyle about the many "zone outs", as Ron referred to them, he had these days. George couldn't help it - his mind just didn't like to stay in the present.

"I'm not going mad," George quipped at Ron. "I just have a lot to think about. Aren't you supposed to be at Auror training right now anyway?"

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "You? A lot to think about? Right."

George scowled at his former schoolmate and Quidditch captain, who merely smiled in return.

"It's Saturday, George," Ron reminded him dryly.

"Come on, Weasley," Kyle finally spoke up from behind the other two, graciously saving George from having to admit he'd forgotten what day of the week it was. "We're not going to get plastered. Just some supper and perhaps a drink or two at my flat. Hermione said she would come over as well, and she might be bringing her friend Harry. It'll be a fun time, mate."

George looked over at Kyle, who just looked back at him with an even stare. No taunting, no nagging. It was the combination of his appreciation for Kyle's lack of ulterior motive and his stomach's loud protests that finally caused George to cave in. "Fine. I guess I could do with a break."

Ron broke into an ear splitting grin. "Great! Come on, then. I'm positively starved."

Before George could say anything, Oliver, Kyle and Ron marched out of the store, looking over their shoulders at him expectantly.

"Just hang on a minute!" George called after them, quickly going through the motions of closing up the shop, making sure that he moved the stack of Skiving Snack Boxes to the back storage room before he had an unfortunate accident with them in the morning.

"Don't look so grim about having a bit of fun with your friends," Oliver chided George as they finally left the store. "You missed me. Admit it."

"Oh, Wood." George sighed overdramatically, almost resembling his former self. "I am just so flattered that you think so highly of me. But you know I just don't play for that side of the Quidditch pitch." He batted his eyelashes at his former teammate.

Kyle snorted in laughter as Wood chuckled. "You're an arse, Weasley."

It had been awhile since George remembered joking so easily with anyone about... well, anything. It was usually forced, something that he had told himself he had to do for the sake of the shop's reputation, as well as for the sake of his family. He knew his mother worried incessantly about him, and if he could just put on a nice façade for her, she would be placated for the time being. Ron and Ginny were a bit tougher to fool, but they had to be, especially since they often found themselves the butt of his and Fred's jokes.

By the time the three men made it back to the Thompson siblings' flat, their noses were growing pink from the gusts of wind sweeping through Diagon Alley. As a result, they welcomed the heat which radiated throughout the flat.

"Come in and hang out while I get some food figured out." Kyle waved the rest of the group to the couches several yards away as he flicked his wand to open all of the cupboards, carefully inspecting his sister's rather sparse food items.

As Kyle prepared what he thought would be an adequate supper, the Weasleys and Oliver goofed around in the living room. Kyle thought he heard a loud bang a few times, but he chose to ignore it, concluding that there was nothing too valuable in the living room for anyone to break anyway.

The supper ready, Kyle looked around the kitchen, reflecting on how little time he had spent in it during the last year. It had been a long road for Kyle. Quidditch was exhausting at the professional level, though he would never trade his job for anything. It consumed his life and Kyle often felt guilty for being away for such long periods of time. Kaitlyn put on a brave face, , but he saw how she struggled with having to go from having a family of four around to living alone most days of the year. She was only eighteen after all. Kyle didn't think it was fair, but Kaitlyn wouldn't let him quit Quidditch, and, if Kyle was honest, he didn't really want to quit either.

Playing professional Quidditch was his lifelong dream, and now it had finally come true. Yes, he and Oliver got off to a rocky start, but now they were the best of friends. It had been a little lonely on the road for him,, but the rest of his teammates had become more like family to him than his house at Hogwarts had even been. Actually, Kyle hadn't spoken to any of the Slytherins he'd hung out with in school ever since the whole break-up situation. He hadn't really expected anything different, as everyone was bound to side with his ex. Kyle still didn't even know if he was technically an ex-boyfriend or not, so he always simply referred to him as "the ex". But, he supposed, that was the whole root of their issue: the title thing.

Kyle shook his head to rid himself of these thoughts and quickly opened up the refrigerator, taking out the case of Butterbeers he'd purchased earlier in the day to serve the group of friends sitting in the living room.

"Hello, Hermione," Kyle greeted, noticing that she and Harry had arrived during his absence.

Hermione gave him a smile. "Evening, Kyle. Thanks for having us over. Have you met Harry yet?"

Kyle looked over to Harry, who was sitting on the other side of Hermione and smiled. "It's a pleasure to have you over. Make yourselves at home. I made a light supper, but I'm not really much of a cook to be honest," Kyle said to the group. "Kaitlyn's really a much better chef. But I don't really know where she is at the moment."

George laughed and stood up, making his way to the kitchen. "As long as you don't kill us, eh?"

The group of friends spent the better part of the evening catching up with one another. It made George realize how long it had been since he had done this - just sat around, having Butterbeers and talking with his friends. He couldn't truly remember the last time he'd felt this at ease. Barring the furtive glances Ron would throw his way every so often, of course. It was as though Ron thought George was going to Avada Kedavra himself at any given moment. George had decided early on to very consciously ignore the pang of annoyance he felt every time he noticed Ron giving him a nervous look; after all, he was only doing it because he cared.

It was about eleven when the door to the flat slammed open, revealing an upset Kaitlyn. All conversation stopped as everyone looked up at her. The first thing George noticed was that the younger girl had clearly been crying. He immediately frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but Kyle beat him to it.

"Kait?" He stood up and walked over to the door where Kaitlyn had awkwardly tried to step in and walk to her bedroom unnoticed.

"Hello, everyone," Kaitlyn said with false cheer in her voice. "I didn't realize you would all be here tonight," she said in an apologetic tone. "Have you all eaten already?"

"I made supper a few hours ago," Kyle replied dismissively. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

Oliver cleared his throat, softly trying to start a conversation with Harry about how Ginny was doing during her final year at Hogwarts as the Gryffindor Quidditch captain. Hermione and Ron quickly joined in the conversation, all wanting to allow their hosts some privacy. However, as much as he tried to, George couldn't help but continue to listen to what the Thompson siblings were saying. Kaitlyn had looked completely distraught and that, for some reason, concerned George.

"I'm fine, Kyle. Really," Kaitlyn quietly insisted just a few metres away from where George was sitting.

"You don't look fine," Kyle accused. "You've been crying."

Kaitlyn made a step towards her room, which Kyle easily blocked. "Have you just been with Zacharias?"

George noted the fury which laced Kyle's tone. He recognized it as the 'protective older brother' tone. He'd heard Charlie and Bill use that tone with him, Fred, Ron and Ginny in the past, and he'd definitely heard himself use it with Ginny at least once.

"If you must know, yes," Kaitlyn snapped at her brother, finally pushing past him to put the leftovers from her dinner in the refrigerator. George raised an eyebrow unconsciously. Zacharias Smith? He and Kaitlyn must be an item.

That's too bad, George thought. From what he had heard from Ginny and some of his and Fred's female friends, Zacharias Smith was about as attentive of a boyfriend as a plant. No wonder Kaitlyn was crying.

"Bloody hell," Kyle muttered under his breath. "What did he do? I'm going to kill that bastard -"

"Kyle." Kaitlyn put her hand up to stop him. "You are not doing anything. He didn't do anything. I don't understand why you hate him so much."

"Are you bloody serious, Kaitlyn?!"

Clearly, this had come out much louder than the elder Thompson had anticipated because, once again, all conversation stopped.

Kaitlyn spared a glance over at the group of friends assembled in the living room, and George had to quickly look away. He didn't want her to know that he'd been listening this whole time. Slowly, the Weasley twin looked back up and watched the exchange once more as his friends forcibly went back to making small talk.

Kaitlyn took a deep breath, eyes closed. George noticed how tired she looked. The brunette let out a long, slow breath and said softly to her brother, "I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."

Without another word or another glance at anyone else, Kaitlyn quickly and silently slipped into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. Kyle seemed to battle with his emotions for a few minutes, but in the end, he plastered a smile on his face and came back over to the group.

"Everything alright?" Oliver asked as the elder Thompson sat down.

Kyle nodded, "Yeah. Sorry about that, mate. She just..." Kyle shook his head, "I just can't believe she puts up with the...bullshit Zacharias hands out to her. I don't even know what he did this time, but he's just so awful most of the time that I have no doubt he's the reason she's so upset."

"Yeah," Hermione agreed. "He makes it seem like a chore every time she asks if he would like to have lunch with her. He never even comes into the office. And in school, the girls hated him; no one was ever sure how he ended up in Hufflepuff of all houses. He's definitely not the loyal type."

It was silent for a moment before Kyle shook his head once more and changed the subject. At least, he'd reasoned with himself, Kaitlyn was safely at home and he could keep a watchful eye over the door of her bedroom for now. He knew they'd have to talk about this soon, though. It made Kyle's skin crawl to know that Zach was the only person Kaitlyn really had around when Kyle was at training.

Kyle was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't notice how Oliver kept throwing him worried glances, or that George kept looking over to Kaitlyn's bedroom door.

George was disappointed when he found out that Kaitlyn was dating someone - not that he would have ever had the guts to make a move on her, especially seeing how protective of her brother was. Besides, he really didn't think he could stomach a girlfriend now. He'd be an awful boyfriend, of that he was sure.

But George couldn't help but feel that same bit of rage that Kyle had displayed earlier every time he went to the bathroom that night and heard muffled sobs coming from Kaitlyn's room. Whatever games Zacharias Smith was playing with this poor girl, George didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.