Malignant ••• George Weasley

Chapter 33 - Shimmering

Juna rose shortly after George had left early this morning, still buzzing from the soft kisses he had given her before he disapparated, it was certainly one of her favourite ways to start the day. But the second the empty silence of the flat rang in her ears, the turmoil and gut-wrenching guilt and sadness returned. It was growing incredibly hard to be the person she once was - numb, tough and brutal. She didn't think she had the nerve to return to that person.

The morning passed slowly with Juna begrudgingly dragging herself to train for 2 long hours with Bane, she had been slacking lately and the deep ache in her muscles afterwards proved that. Bane had yelled and screamed himself hoarse trying to get Juna to push harder, to keep going. It was for nought though, the fire and passion that once raged inside her was no longer there and the evidence showed itself in every aspect of her life, even Bane could see no amount of encouragement was going to change that.
He's a hard-arse but at the end of the session he placed a hand on her shoulder and offered her a home-made Pumpkin Pastie, which Juna gratefully took.

No words were spoken between them about Juna's clear disdain for being there, but the sorry and pitying face he looked at her with told the entire story. It told Juna she wasn't alone, he understood, but he couldn't help. That's the best she could ask for right now.

••••

"Hello!" George's bright face smiled down on her as she entered his shop.

Juna smiled back at him, holding out the paper bag and tray of three coffees she held.
"Time for a break, surely?"

George nodded eagerly before looking around for his brother.
"Fred! FRED!" He shouted across the floor, causing customers to turn to him with eyebrows raised.

"What!?" Came Fred's distant voice before he appeared from the back after a few moments.
Juna couldn't help but stare for a moment - his stance seeming odd and his gait unusual.

"I'm having a break, Juna got you coffee too." He looked at her proudly.

"Sure." Fred took the coffee and looked at her with an unusual narrow eyed glare.

George didn't seem to notice this and before she could think more about it, he took her hand and led her to the back of the shop where the office was. He pulled her inside and closed the door before giving her a long and sweet kiss.

"I'm so happy to see you." He spoke as he cleared a spot on the large wooden desk covered in parchment.

"We spent the whole afternoon and night together, George! You only left 3 hours ago!"

"And it simply wasn't enough!"

Juna laughed and raised an eyebrow at him cheekily.
"I just prefer to drink my coffee in good company, that's all."

"Just good!?" He slapped a hand to his chest in mock dismay.

Juna rolled her eyes, laughing.
"Nooo," She took a step closer to him and planted a feather-light kiss on his lips. "Absolutely fucking incredible."
She took a cup and sat down on a chair as she sipped. "Is that better?"

George nodded animatedly.
"Definitely!"

"What's the matter with Fred?" She asked nonchalantly after a moment of enjoying the strong hot coffee she happily sipped.

"What do you mean?"

Juna shrugged.
"I don't know, he just gave me a right weird look back there. I thought we were getting along now... maybe I was wrong."

"He has been acting a bit weird since I got home. I think he's still just pissed off that I left during work yesterday and didn't come home until this morning. I wouldn't read into it."