So, I know I royally suck at updating... I have no excuses.

Mistaken Assumptions

The walk upstairs seemed much shorter to George than it had earlier. This might've been due to how conscious he was of his movements around Luna or it could've been because he no longer had to face the room alone.

Whatever the reason was, George didn't care. He wasn't preoccupied with worrying about anything except for the fact that he would finally face the room he had grown up in. His only hope was that Luna's presence would somehow keep him from feeling as if someone had just cast a very powerful crucio curse on him. Because, honestly, that was what it had felt like going back to the store - back to their flat. It was painful knowing that the other half of him was gone.

"Do you need a moment?" Luna asked, standing just behind him. Her expression gave no sign of any emotion, except that her grey eyes were less dreamy than they typically were. Less dreamy and more serious. He briefly noted that the seriousness seemed all wrong on her face.

There was a brief pause between her question and his response, during which George merely looked at her. As he did, he felt a slight feeling of calm. He wasn't sure where it came from, but he was grateful for it.

"I'm fine." His words, softly spoken, were understood as she nodded.

Turning back towards the door, George lifted a hand to touch the doorknob, which was cold against his fingers in spite of the fact that it was summer.

Slowly, he twisted the knob and with a loud creak, the door slowly slid open.

Behind him, Luna tilted her head to see around his shoulder, trying to see into the dark room that held most of his childhood memories.

Reaching into his back pocket, George pulled out his wand and whispered "Lumos," quietly before he took a hesitant step into the room. After he was just inside the doorway, his eyes were drawn immediately to what was once Fred's bed. It was still unmade – a sign that his mother hadn't yet been able to face the room either. His heart felt heavy at the sight and at the thought, but he quickly looked elsewhere to keep from lingering on it. As his eyes slid over the rest of his room, he felt Luna step into the room after him.

She moved quietly and, had it been anyone else, he would've barely noticed them. But it was hard not to notice Luna, her presence was too pronounced to ignore.

"George?" He felt her fingers wrap around the tips of his own as she stood just behind him, her hand reached out to his.

He cleared his throat of the emotion that threatened to choke him before looking over his shoulder at her. His lips pulled into a forced, yet friendly, smile in the dim light of his wand. "It's dark. Let's see what we can do about that?"

He made no move to slip his hand from hers as he raised his wand with his free hand. In an instant, the few candles that dotted the room were alight.

With the candles lit, he could easily see everything about the room. It hadn't changed much since the last time they had visited the Burrow. Everything was still as it was when they had moved to their store, the few things they'd left littering the room haphazardly.

As he looked around, his eyes landed on a bit of parchment falling half off the desk the two of them had shared. He knew what it was without looking – one of their first order forms from when they had first started their business.

He felt a pang in his gut at that. How long had it been? Just a few years. But it feels like even longer that he's been living without Fred. The year since Fred died just seemed to stretch on endlessly in its misery. Life without Fred just seemed infinite because it was so impossible to handle.

"Are you going to be quite alright?" Luna asked, her hand still on his. Her expression betrayed none of what she might be feeling at the moment, but her eyes gazed at him in a worried manner.

He nodded at her question, his eyes not leaving the desk. "Just thinking," he replied, his voice slightly deep and rough with emotion.

Her hand slid even further into his, squeezing his it slightly as she spoke again. "May I ask what you're thinking about?"

Breaking his gaze from the desk, he looked down at their hands, which were clasped together and, out of reflex or overwhelming emotion, he squeezed her hand back, grateful for her presence.

"Fred."

"Of course," she replied, her tone melodic and understanding. "You miss him."

George smiled wistfully at that. "I do."

"He misses you too," Luna assured him quietly.

He almost chuckles at that. It's the first time anyone had tried to comfort him in such a way. Most of them had just worried about themselves – or how George was dealing with it – and were unconcerned with what might've became of Fred after… Somehow, it does comfort him – at least slightly.

"I'm sure he's too busy to worry about me," George replies, his voice a bit softer than before. The hardness of his voice from earlier in the evening is gone. He's opened himself slightly – to the odd girl in the room he couldn't face.

"He is rather busy," she said in reply, smiling at him. And as George looks at her, he sees the same dreamy expression that he always associates with her.

"But," she continues, noticing she has his attention, "He does find it quite hard to focus on pranking people when he's worried about his brother."

His brow arches slightly at that, but the slight smile on his lips doesn't waver. Luna is trying to cheer him up and he doesn't mind if it seems loony – he likes the idea that his brother misses him and that he hasn't changed wherever he is.

"Does he?" he asked, the amusement in his tone as he looks at her.

She nods, her blonde hair slipping from her braid and falling over her shoulder to frame her face. "He does. He can't plan pranks properly with you moping all the time."

George can't help but chuckle at that. It sounds exactly like what Fred would say. "What does he recommend I do then?"

"Get on with your life," she replies. Her tone isn't firm or dreamy, but is dancing a line somewhere in between.

He ponders that for a moment... moving on sounds tempting. But how is he supposed to move on when he's lost half of who he is?

Like how I switched up tenses without noticing and am too lazy to change it? Awesome. But seriously, I'll try to do better.