"At work. Should be home soon. He's bringing Remus with him." She reached over and slapped George's hand as he snagged a pastry off the table. "Dinner's not that far off."

"Ouch."

"You'll get more if you try that again." She shook her head. "I swear, between you and Fred…" Her voice trailed off and she turned away, moving back to the stove. After a long moment of silence, she straightened her shoulders and stood tall though her voice echoed with emotion. "He's not coming then?"

"I'm sorry, Mum."

"It's not yours to be sorry over," she assured him, giving him a milky smile. "Your brother's stubborn and bull-headed, but that doesn't make him right, and he's likely to realize it soon enough. At least he will as soon as you stop sneaking cobbler home to him."

George grinned. "Sorry, Mum."

"I should have been more forceful, should have simply stopped it all, long before it got so far. I just…" She sighed and shook her head, moving to stand beside him in the doorway. "Look at them." George followed her gaze to where Ron was leaning back, one eye on Harry as he surveyed the board, the other on Hermione as he tilted back in his chair and smiled, his somewhat embarrassed grin exclusively for her. "I knew from the first moment he wrote home about her, not very flattering words, mind you, but I knew."

"Mum…"

"Destiny, George."

His voice sounded hollow to his ears. "Aye, Mum."

"George!" Ginny looked up from where the chess game and smiled widely at him. "Come and show Harry how to play without losing."

"And pit myself against Ron? You know I hate to make my little brother cry, Gin. Especially in front of his girlfriend."

"She's not my…" Ron flushed and bit his lower lip, turning his head slightly to see Hermione's raised eyebrow. "Oi, reflex."

"One you really should cure yourself of." Hermione jabbed him sharply in the ribs as she got to her feet. "I'm going to see if your mum needs any help." She softened her glare with a quick kiss dropped on the tip of his upturned nose. "Before you get yourself into a comment you can't charm your way out of."

Ron grinned as she walked away. "I've charm, did you hear that?"

"Only because they teach it at Hogwarts, Ronniekins," George assured him. He cuffed Harry on the shoulder and headed back toward the kitchen, following behind Hermione. "Try not to beat him too badly, Harry."

"Spoil all my fun," Harry muttered as he turned his attention back to the game. Ron watched Hermione for a moment longer, his eyes darting from her to George before the movement of Harry's hand caught him; his attention completely held.

"He's not staying away because of me, is he?"

George shrugged and looked out the frosted window to the left of her. "Partly, I imagine. But not solely."

"I never meant…"

"I know. No one ever means." He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "Sorry. It's not…ignore me. I'm having a bit of a crisis of my own."

"Oh?" She turned her eyes to him and he could feel her gaze noting every line, every darkness of his complexion. "Anything you want to talk about?"

George levitated Crookshanks, ignoring his yowling and Hermione's knowing gaze. She glanced out the window, shaking her head at him then sucked in a soft breath.

George watched for a moment then followed her as she made her way to the door. He stood back in the shadows as she and Ron spoke with Fred. He stared at the pain on his twin's face and, as the sharp crack of someone Apparating came from the kitchen, he wondered how much they looked alike.

He walked away from Hermione, moving free of the pain in her eyes as he ducked through the doorway into the kitchen. "Hullo, George!" Arthur swung a thick arm around his son's neck and hugged him close. "Where's your other half?"

George's gaze locked on Remus and he shrugged, pulling free of his father's embrace. "Dunno, Dad."

"Oh, Arthur!" Molly began sobbing, her face buried in her husband's chest. "He's not coming and it's all my fault!"

"There, there, Molly." He ran his fingers through her hair, turning enough to shield her from both George and Remus. "Let's go in the other room and sit for a bit. The children can fend for themselves for a moment or two."

"But the dinner…"

"The dinner will wait, love." He kissed the top of her head and guided her out of the room. "Come on."

Remus stared out the kitchen window as Molly and Arthur left the room, not turning his gaze until the door swung shut behind them. His eyes, when the met George's, were emotionless. "Happy Christmas, George."

"You too." He bit the inside of his lip and looked toward the living room. "Everyone's in there. Did you want…"

"I can't do this anymore. Can't see you again."

"I'm sure Harry'd be chuffed to see you." George held Remus's eyes. "You don't get off so easy, you know. You don't get to come here to my family's Christmas celebration and just toss that off."

"Where would you have me do it then, George?"

"You don't get to do it at all." George moved closer, his breath hot as it grazed Remus's flesh. "Not tonight."

Remus glanced around and caught George's arm, tugging him toward the back door. He resisted slightly, giving in as the grip tightened painfully. The back porch was dark, dusted only with the faint flickering glimmer of Christmas lights sprawled haphazardly along the eaves. "Last night…"

"You made your point last night." George's face was still, unreadable in the slow flash of color. "Our destiny, such as it is, is to fuck. But you're spent. You're a shell, hollowed out by Sirius's death. You've nothing to give me, nothing to offer." He quirked a hard smile. "How am I doing?" He didn't give Remus an opportunity to answer. "Besides, I'm far too young for you, right? A convenient excuse made slightly more plausible by the fact that you don't want to face my mother's wrath should she figure out that you're fucking one of the sons that she hasn't approved as a mate for you."

"Are you done?"

"Oh no. We're done. That's what you're telling me, right? The sex was lovely, but now that I've actually got to live with myself, it's much easier to live with someone who's dead?" George's laugh was bitter. "You took a chance on Sirius and that's it. You're done."

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. I understand we Weasley twins have a history of falling for people who are bad for us. Who don't love us back. I'd had to defy tradition."

Remus's mouth quirked slightly. "Destiny?"

"Sod your fucking destiny," George snapped. "And tell my mum whatever lie suits you best. As for me, I'm tired of it." He was about to turn when Remus grabbed his arm and held him, pulling him back against his chest. George's voice caught for a moment as he caught his breath then he spoke, "Sorry. I need everything else that goes with it."

Remus released him with a nod. "Goodbye, George."

George didn't look back as he Apparated without another word.

George stepped through the fireplace and sank down on the couch next to his twin. He glanced at Fred out of the corner of his eye before pulling a bottle from inside his robe. He broke the seal and passed it over. Fred didn't look, simply accepted it and took a long, deep swallow. He handed it back to George, waiting until his twin had taken his shot, then they both shuddered in unison.

"As much as I appreciate the show of solidarity, George, it's not necessary."

"What makes you so sure I'm here for you?" George took another drink and sighed, holding the bottle out. Fred took it and drank as his twin stared straight ahead at the empty wall. "."

"Yeah? I'd forgotten all about those issues what with you being gone practically every night, shagging the werewolf of your dreams." Fred took another long hit off the bottle, cradling it in his arms. "Speaking of, where is he?"

"Dunno."

"Oh, come on." He scoffed. "You've been with him practically every night since Halloween and now you're suddenly telling me that you don't know where he is? On Christmas?"

"Last night…didn't go very well."

"Last night was Mum being a silly sow about bullshit." Fred took another drink. "There's no such thing as destiny, George. It's just making choices. The right ones and the wrong ones."

"I think I'm a wrong one." George blew out a sigh. "He told me he didn't want to see me anymore."

"Well, that's just rubbish, isn't it?" Fred nursed another drink. "He's flippin' head over tail for you. You're like a sodding honeymooning couple, making googly eyes at one another across crowded rooms."

"Doesn't change the fact that he said we were done."

Fred rubbed his face with both hands, closing his eyes for just a moment. "Why d'you think he did it?"

"I don't know. All I know is that he did."

"And it sucks."

"Right. I know that too."

"You love him, George?"

George stared down into the empty bottle for a long moment then threw it across the room, watching the glass shatter in the fireplace. "Yeah."

"Maybe that's what scares him. After Sirius…"

"Sirius." George nodded. "Bloody, fucking Sirius fucking Black." He laughed and rubbed his eyes, fighting to hide the tears that suddenly filled them. "You know what, Fred? I wish it were that fucking simple. But the truth of it is that there's nothing in me that's even remotely like Sirius, and I'll thank you to not mention any sexual specifics that might refute that or I'll, so help me, beat you worse than Ron did."

"So then why?"

"He said he just couldn't do it anymore."

"What? Care about you? Shag you? Lie about it?"

"I dunno," George admitted, letting his brother pull him closer, resting a comforting arm around his shoulders as he rested his head on Fred's chest. The tears he'd managed to put off started falling, soaking through the thin fabric of his brother's shirt. "I just don't know."

"Love sucks." Fred rumpled George's thick hair. "Perhaps we Weasley twins aren't cut out for this romance stuff."

"Oh, right on. We'll just be celibate and such then, eh?"

"Nah. We'll forget about love and just shag all the willing boys and girls until we've conquered all of London."

George laughed, the sound milky with tears. "A brilliant plan, twin of mine."

"As for them," he gestured toward the fireplace with his hand, "sod 'em. Let them live their boring, pathetic lives without us. They'll soon learn the error of their ways. They'll soon see that nothing is better than a Weasley twin."

"And nothing is."

Fred nodded even though George couldn't see him and rested his chin on his brother's head. His eyes were longing and he knew they were both staring at the imposing brick façade, staring through the doorway to the lives they wanted, had for a brief time and were now denied.