keegan delaney has always been a part of george weasley's life. they were never close, though they both were always there for the important moments. it's only after hogwarts when keegan gets a job in a cafè right across from weasley's wizard wheezes...
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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: HUMAN NATURE
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WHEN KEEGAN FIRST SAW Ron at the door, she thought for sure she was hallucinating him. He was alone. Harry and Hermione were nowhere to be seen, and it was shockingly clear to Keegan that the past few months had not been kind to him. Ron’s face was gaunt, his cheekbones jutting against pale skin like jagged edges of rock. His hair was flaxen and unkept, not to mention longer than Keegan had ever seen it. Wearing dirty clothes with a new scar peeking over the collar of his shirt, Ron had seen things that neither Keegan or his brothers could even begin to imagine.
And, of course, in true Fred Weasley fashion, the first thing Fred did was smack him over the head.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded, then just as quickly narrowed his eyes. Pointing his wand at Ron’s neck, he asked, “How do I know you’re really Ronald Billius Weasley?”
Instinctively, Ron rolled his eyes. He swatted Fred’s hand away. “Nice to see you too, git.”
Either Fred genuinely wasn’t certain it was him or he was just committed to taking the piss. He raised his wand again and said, “Tell me something only Ronniekins would know.”
Ron’s responding sigh spoke volumes of his exhaustion. Nonetheless, with five pairs of wary eyes fixed on him, he forced himself to play along. “When I was three, you two assholes turned my teddy bear into a spider.”
George let out a chuckle as a reminiscent smile curved the corners of his mouth. “Ah, good times.”
It was settled, then.
“Welcome back, Ron,” Bill clapped his youngest brother on the shoulder. Something warm entered Ron’s expression. It was an ache that Keegan immediately recognised; the longing for family, to not feel so alone. Keegan carried it with her everyday, and now it was another person’s unwelcome burden. The look on his face was quick to fade into something bleak when Bill’s eyebrows suddenly furrowed into a concerned frown. “But why are you here? Where have you been?”
“It’s a long story…” Ron trailed off with a hopeful glance at the bubbling pot of soup Fleur had been heating on the oven.
Following his line of sight, Fleur didn’t hesitate to usher him into a chair at the dining table where she fussed over him like a mother hen. “Oh, you must be starving,” she murmured in a way that reminded Keegan strongly of Mrs Weasley. “Bill, get your brother a bowl.”
“Yeah, Bill,” Fred snickered as he dropped into the chair next to Ron.
“What are you waiting for, Bill?” added George, smirking. “Get us a bowl.”
“You two!” The twins were quick to fall silent, gulping as a glowering Fleur rounded on them. “I won’t hear any more of your teasing.”
