Amusement, Sadness and Hope
It’s been a month. A whole month since they moved in together. At first, both of them were against it, as they were completely opposites. Turns out, that wasn’t true. Over the course of these thirty days, they learned to say “I’m sorry” and “I need help”. They learned to trust each other, even if it didn’t start in one of the best ways.
George lost his temper. That’s what made them realize something was very wrong between them. And when describing “loosing his temper”, it’s not screaming or hitting things rather… People.
George hit Percy, hard. So hard that poor guy was scared of his own brother, hell he’s still a bit cautious. Yet, they made up by lots of talking, getting along and hanging out. And as Fred was watching, he smiled to himself, saying “Damn. That god damn motherfucker did it. He solved the case of our prat brother.” And he was proud. So proud, since he wasn’t sure he’d be able to do it, if he were in George’s place.
Percy got a job at St. Mungo’s. He was very good at Herbiology back in Hogwarts, and Audrey was willing to give him tutoring lessons about muggle biology, along with a few books to help. By the end of the month, Percy was involved in treating more serious patients. Audrey was absolutely amazed, especially because medical students had to learn for years to be able to treat a patient. Sure, Percy wasn’t as good as a doctor, but he was making progress. Great progress. Perhaps he had some form of enchanted brain. Audrey could never get it. Maybe if she’d open him up… Nah, he’d never consent to that. But if he did… Okay, we’re getting off track!
George reopened Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. He had a total of 10 people working under his wing for a pretty solid income. The shop was living one of it’s many gold ages, when hundreds of people visited daily and all the shelves got emptied by the end of the day. He was thinking about opening another one somewhere far from there and perhaps get down into business for real, but not yet. He was still small for such big steps.
So after a month, a solid, long month, George saw a flier while he was walking home from the shops. A flier about an amusement park opening nearby. The Weasley had never been to a muggle one before, and he was sure he wasn’t about to miss his chance either. But first, he had to talk to Percy. After all, going out is more fun, if you’re with someone.
George got home with a huge grin spread across his face. He basically dropped everything from his hands and went to the couch, where Percy was seated at. He was reading and highlighting one of the medical books Audrey gave him. However, he noticed George’s weird excitement. The jumping and grinning like a six year old child meant only one thing. He had a great idea.
“Yes, George?” he asked, knowing the younger Weasley won’t say anything unless he asks.
“Soooo,” he started energetically. “I saw this flier about an amusement park opening on Saturday and I was wondering if we could go? Please,” his eyes were practically begging. Percy frowned.
“Are you sure you want to take me? I mean…” he gestured down to his legs. “I might just get in the way.”
“Oh, nonsense! Disabled can laugh and have fun! They can also ride a roller coaster and all other sorts of stuff. It was written on the flier too. They were encouraging disabled to come. Please, pretty please, Perce,” he knelt down and dramatically pleaded. Percy couldn’t hold his laugh back.
“If you want it so bad, why not? A little break can’t hurt. I’ve wanted to go out with you sometime anyway,” George squeaked out of happiness.
“Yay! Amusement park, amusement park!” and he was off to his room, repeating the same two words again and again. And Percy was in tears from laughing. His brother was truly something…
* * *
The gate of the amusement park was huge. George was jumping all the way there, sometimes even bumping into Percy’s chair, who did not appreciate that.
“George, please. I get that you’re excited, but don’t kill me just yet,” the wheelchair took the hits from the Weasley just well, but it was beginning to squeak a lot as if it were complaining about it. Maybe it had to be oiled. Well, that was the least of their worries. George could carry Percy like a champ anyway, probably because the older Weasley was thin as fuck. George was slightly worried about that, but decided on not commenting as long as his brother was not showing any signs of starvation.
There was a man standing in front of the gate, who was giving out the tickets. By now, you’d think there were muggle machines doing the work, but no. Obviously not. The line wasn’t as long as they expected it to be however, which was good. George began to push Percy’s wheelchair into the line. As people began to notice them, they stared. That made them a bit uncomfortable.
“Oi! You with the wheelchair! Come here, you and your companions get an early pass!” oh? The ticket guy was calling them. So George helped his brother get in the front, and enjoyed the groans coming from others. “Alrighty, err two male, both adults I assume?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Any medical conditions we should be aware of?”
“Other than the numb legs?” George thought. “Nothing.”
“’Kay, names?”
“George Weasley, and Percy Weasley.” the guy was scribbling like crazy.
“Aye, you two are brothers?”
“Yea.”
“And judging by the red hair, Scottish right?”
“Uhm,” George looked at Percy, who shook his head. “No.”
“Aye, then it’s dyed?”
“Nope, natural.”
“Good lord. You guys are fucking rarities. Haven’t met a natural redhead, who wasn’t Scottish in my life! Glad I chose this job, aye?” he gave them two cards. “The only thing he won’t be able to try is the ‘love tunnel’ as we call it. But I guess that won’t be a problem?”
“No, sir. Thank you,” Percy said, and George helped him inside.
“Welsht?” George suggested, looking back at the guy.
“Nah. Irish.”
“Definitely not Irish.”
“Oh, please. Like you’ve met an Irish before.”
“Well, I can imagine!”
“George, give up. He’s Irish.”
* * *
“The first thing we’re going to try is right before your eyes,” George said, gesturing towards the roller coaster in front of them. Percy gulped.
“Are you a hundred percent sure this is safe for me?”
“Yup. Completely. Welsht guy would’ve mentioned if it wasn’t.”
“Still Irish.”
“Oh shut it, prat,” there weren’t much people in line. The two waited around 10 minutes until they were up. A worker stepped beside them and lifted his papers.
“Neck or back pain?” he asked, looking at Percy. The Weasley stared back at the man, secretly finding his weird moustache hilarious.
“None, sir,” he answered, politely, smiling to hide his laugh.
“Can you sit straight?” the Weasley did so. “Okay. Any history of digestion problems, asthma, epilepsy or other that we should know about?”
“None.”
“Any recent surgeries?”
“None.”
“Perfect. Well, you’re definitely tall enough… Alright, you can go,” the man looked up at George. “Please, help your… Relative in the chair.”
“He’s my brother,” the guy nodded.
“Right. Then, you’re brother,” George did as he was told and minutes later, both of them were sitting in a moving car. It was going up at a speed described as very slow, driving Percy crazy.
“Oh my lord, just get it over with already,” he muttered. “George, if I end up dying or worse, throwing up, please look after me,” the younger Weasley laughed.
“Will do, but please try not to do any of two.”
“Will do,” finally, as they were up at the top, adrenaline rushed through their veins, just out of different reasons. One out of excitement and one out of fear. You can probably guess which is which. Just when Percy thought something was wrong, since they weren’t moving, the coaster went down, fast. And Percy was enjoying it, somehow.
“HOLY SHIIIIIIIT!” George screamed beside him, smiling like a maniac, and his brother could not do anything more but to mimic him, because fuck, this was amazing. People were shouting in his ears, some out of fun, and some out of pure fear, and Percy wanted nothing more than to join them. So he did. He felt George grabbing his hand as they got to a bigger drop, squeezing it like if he was about to fly away any minute. And then it stopped, because they were back at the beginning, panting and laughing and… So full of excitement.
George helped his brother back into his wheelchair, still a bit shaky from the ride. The workers told them where to leave and they did. Both of them were shocked.
“Holy crap,” the younger said, trying to process what just happened.
“Yea… What’s next on the list?”
“Maybe try something a bit calmer?” then Percy pointed at something. George paled. “No.”
“Oh, come on! This might be a one in a lifetime chance!”
“I am NOT going in there,” and yet the next moment, the two of them were in front of a dark house. A haunted one, to be specific and George wanted to cry right then and there. “Oh, Merlin please spare me…” he muttered under his breath.
They got the tickets and the instructor gave them a series of questions to answer, including medical history of heart diseases, neurological problems, bladder problems and etc. After they got through the security check, a whole bunch of exciting (scary) things were in front of them. They just had to stay with their group, and wait until something makes them shit their pants.
The tour had two major points. One, where Percy squeaked after a horror character accidentally tripped over his chair and two, when George actually peed his pants. It happened around mid-way through the journey, and it wasn’t because of an actual jump scare, but a cobweb. George was so fucking embarrassed, yet Percy couldn’t do anything more but to laugh until he pissed himself too.
So after the haunted house, they looked for the bathroom and used some of the abracadabra they learned in school. Suddenly, pants were clean and they were off to see different stuff.
George decided that this time, they were actually going to sit on something calm. That was the Ferris Wheel. Percy agreed, even if he had to go through another boring security and safety check, but it was worth it. They saw London from high up and they weren’t even sitting on a broom. They saw all the buildings, the Big Ben, even the London Eye! There was River Thames along with so many more famous buildings. That was one of their best experiences ever.
When they got down, George decided that it was time to eat something. The two found a nice burger-shop, and Percy was sat down at their seat while George was making the orders.
“Uhm, excuse me wheelie, but that’s our place,” someone said. Percy turned around and met with three young boys. They looked rude and extremely full of themselves. The Weasley scoffed.
“Well, I don’t see your name on it,” he said back, annoyed. The boys snickered.
“Wow, brave for someone, who can’t stand up and run away,” Percy frowned.
“Excuse me?” people slowly started to take notice of the conflict. They gazed towards them, but no one interfered.
“Oh, please. Don’t tell me there’s also something wrong with your brain! Then you’re twice as useless as you are now,” the three boys laughed, as Percy’s face drained from all colour. He was frozen. “Oh, please. Like you do any great for people here. You take a lot of space, and don’t even work for all the air you waste. What do you do? Sit around in nursing homes, get served? Pathetic.”
“No, that is not-”
“And how do you even get by? I mean, you surely don’t have a girlfriend, judging by the way you look. And I don’t see a nurse with you, but no nurse would go out with you anyway. Who would actually even pay for you to come here? A waste of money in my opinion,” Percy stared at the floor. A tear rolled down. No one stepped in to help him. “Oh, so now you’re crying? Quit it, just don’t embarrass men anymore! Gosh, you’re truly are a waste of fucking air and space. How did you loose your leg anyway? Probably over some stupid. You do look dumb. Come to think of it, what use can you actually serve? Not being able to move freely and also lacking two braincells, what’s your worth?”
“The only one here with two braincells is you,” another person spoke and suddenly, one of the boys were grabbed by the hair. His head hit the table. Now everyone’s attention was focused on one very angry redhead.
“W-who are you?” another boy asked, stepping away in fear.
“I’m the brother of the one you just called useless. And for your information, he lost his ability to walk, saving your asses in a war, and now, he works in a hospital, saving even more lives. So, to sum it up, he probably did more so far, than you will ever in your whole, useless fucking life,” he let go of the boy and pushed him away. “Now, scram!” everyone was silent. George looked around. “Anyone else got a problem with my brother?” no one spoke up. “Good. Perce, let’s get out of here,” he didn’t care about the food but of his brother, who was too abnormally quiet. He pushed the wheelchair behind one of the other strands and went in front of Percy. He knelt down to match his level. “Hey? You alright there?” a sob escaped through the older’s lips.
“I’m sorry,” he whimpered, bringing his hands up to cover his face. George’s eyes widened.
“What? For what exactly are you sorry for? You have nothing to be sorry of, those guys were the jerks!”
“No- no, they’re right… They’re so right…” he muttered, and George suddenly wanted to go after the three boys and punch them to death.
“That’s not true, Perce please look at me.”
“I want out! I want to get out of here, please…” he continued on sobbing, not even bothering to keep quiet. George sighed and did as Percy asked. They kept going behind the strands and only entered the crowd at the main entrance. They passed the Irish guy, drinking.
“Wow. What happened?” he asked, noticing at the crying Weasley. George sent him a piercing look.
“Your security sucks,” he growled, and turned around, not willing to start a fight.
They walked until they reached a park. The air was great and there weren’t a lot of people. George went to a nearby bench and got himself seated. Percy was right next to him, still weeping.
“Hey, you want to talk to me?” he asked, bringing his hand to rub his brother’s arms.
“I’m sorry… I break down and even force you to leave. I truly am pathetic…” George frowned.
“What? No! Don’t you ever day to say that, you hear me?” he tried to make his brother look at him, but Percy just couldn’t.
“I- I can’t do this anymore, George. I’m so tired and sad and…” he took a shaky breath. “I’m so useless…” George wasn’t worried anymore, he was terrified by the words which just fell out of his brother’s mouth, because they were implying something way worse. A possibility George’s couldn’t even bare to think about.
“No, Percy no… Oh, Merlin…. Please, talk to me, I beg you- talk to me,” he sounded so desperate but how could he not when his big brother was talking about something he himself was trying so hard to avoid? Percy sniffled, shaking his head.
“No- I don’t- I don’t how how to, I can’t…” he pulled on his hair, trying to do something, anything that could ground him. George took Percy’s hand off his head, and instead rubbed it softly.
“Yes, you can. Come on, it’s easy. Just tell me the truth and I promise I’ll listen,” easy to say, harder to do. George knew. George knew because he himself would need this emotional relief. But Percy first. Yet he kept shaking his head, insisting that he can’t do it, that’s not worth the time and it broke George’s heart even more. So much, that he began crying himself. “Percy, please….” and the boy finally listened after hearing the strangled cry of his little brother. Maybe that’s when he realized that he was hurting them both, not only himself.
“I- I just feel like such a waste, like I can’t do anything right and I hate how much my life changed- and it kills me so much that I’m limiting and tiring the people around me and I… I…” he broke down into sobs, but for George, this was enough. He embraced his crying brother, burying his own face into Percy’s shoulder so that he could cry too. They wept, not caring if anyone else could see. People can mind their own business.
“I miss him so much, you know…” George whispered into his brother’s ear, not giving a damn if his voice was hoarse, “And sometimes I get the thought of ‘what if I joined him up there’ and you wouldn’t have to deal with my issues anymore…” Percy’s grip tightened around him.
“Merlin- no… Fred would beat your ass, if he’d find you one day, standing in front of him,” he tried to crack a joke, and it worked, because both of them giggled.
“And he would beat yours too, vice versa.”
“Maybe…”
“Not maybe, I know he would. He’d tell you how much you’re worth and how much he loves you until that’s all you could hear,” their tears ran out, it seemed. Less and less were rolling down their cheeks and dripping on the other’s clothes.
“Yea, and he’d tell you how amazing life you could’ve had, and how much you’re needed down here…”
“Vice versa,” comfortable silence followed. The air was nice, soothing almost. Almost as if nature was fighting for them too. The two Weasley’s enjoyed each other’s close company for a while. When George’s stomach began complaining, that’s when the two broke their almost deadly grip on each other.
“Alright, let’s go home, make something to eat then stuff ourselves with ice cream while watching sad movies and cry,” Percy said, his voice hard, yet still somewhat soft.
“Excellent idea, dear brother. I approve,” and so they went home.
* * *
George was making food in the muggle way, because it calmed his thoughts. Cooking was fun with and without magic, though the Weasley enjoyed traditional ways more. But this time, it clearly wasn’t working.
He kept thinking about him. About what he thinks of him, of how he would react if he’d seen his other half so… Broken. Would he be disappointed, sad, angry? George wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure about anything anymore.
Almost an hour ago, he found out his brother was borderline suicidal, and now he was making dinner, pretending like nothing ever happened. Merlin, George hated it. Perhaps George hated everything, and just pretended to like some things so he wouldn’t seem like a complete asshole.
When food was ready, he put it on a tray and brought it to Percy. His big brother looked up at him, eyes not as red and puffy as they were before.
“Oh, thank you,” he said and reached for the tray but George dropped it. George fucking dropped it, because his hands were too shaky from the thoughts about him. Yet that wasn’t the thing that caught his attention the most. It was the reaction Percy had, when he dropped it.
He expected a bit of scolding for ruining his brother’s new jeans, but instead he heard a hiss. A hiss of pain coming from someone, who’s apparently supposed to be paralysed from waist down, not feeling his leg at all. Both of them thought of the same thing as their eyes met and Percy teared up.
“Do you think…?”
“There’s a chance,” George shrugged, looking like he didn’t really care, but of boy, was he excited, because maybe, even if there’s just a tiny chance… Maybe it was possible.
Maybe Percy could walk again.