Chapter 1: You Are The Nightlight Ripping Through My Wicked World

Disclaimer: Don't own nothing but my mushy storyline..and review if you please. Encouragement is the best way to get chapters out of me.

AN: I am super inspired by music when I write so I am gonna post songs that kind of go with the feel of the chapter. Just for a little extra fun on my part. This chapter goes with Motion City Soundtrack's This Is For Real.

A handsome red haired man sat by candlelight in the darkness of his office, spinning a gold galleon around his desk. Outside the oak door he could hear children laughing and squealing with delight as they looked over the merchandise, amused by the many creations of their minds. This store had been their dream for as long as he could remember. Making people laugh was their biggest pleasure, seeing an angry or sad face split into a smile by a funny joke or silly trick was what kept them motivated in their dream to own this shop. Laughter was the best medicine in the world. But he hardly had any reason to laugh anymore. Sure the war was over, people were finally starting to settle down, and the magic world seemed better then ever. But at what cost? The man closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, then reached for the bottle of scotch beside his desk. He was only 24, but felt old. The last two years had been the hardest of his life. Losing Fred was like loosing a half of who he was. They had been 'Fred and George' their entire lives, and would never have wanted it any other way. But now there was just him...George. Despite his large family, attentive friends and adoring customers, he felt very alone.

George was awoken from his drunken stupor by the door being slammed open by his new partner and best friend, Lee Jordan.

"Oh for the love of Merlin, George!" he yelled as he stomped over to the window and pulled back the curtains. The morning sun burned his eyes. George buried his face in his arms, trying to block out the light.

"Go away." he mumbled.

"I can't, we have a business to run, remember?"

"I'm taking a personal day."

Lee rolled his eyes then looked around the office in disgust; it was a huge mess. "We have a meeting with the head of Zonks today. But I'm guessing you forgot."

George shrugged as he sat up and reached for another class of scotch. The bottle of amber liquid zoomed away from his hand and into Lee's outstretch one.

"You do realize its only 11:30..." Again George shrugged. Lee hung his head and sighed, then pulled up a chair.

"George, I know your miserable and everything but come on! It's been four years! The mourning period is over! Fred wouldn't have wanted you to live like this."

George didn't answer, but knew he was right. He just really didn't care. Lee rubbed the back of his neck and got up. "Listen, I'll go talk to Zonks, ok? You just...I don't know. Stop drinking and go out. Just do something besides mope!" He started to open the door but then stopped and look back at his friend. "Oh, and Katie and I wanted to invite you to dinner next Saturday, the whole wedding party is coming."

George made no answer and Lee sighed, exasperated. "Please don't forget... I need my best man."

George groaned as soon as Lee left. He wasn't in the mood for hearing Katie blab about the wedding. He was happy for them, really he was. But he just couldn't see how anyone could move on and want to get married when Fred was dead. He sighed and got up out of his seat; maybe Lee was right. Maybe the mourning period was over...for everyone else. He shook his head and grabbed his coat then headed out towards the back door.

A few minutes later George was walking out of The Leaky Cauldron onto the bustling streets of London. He pulled his black coat closer around him and upturned the collar then just started walking. It was cold, and snow was falling hard with no sign of letting up. It was only the beginning of October, but it felt like dead winter. It suited his mood perfectly. It was probably a good thing Lee was going to meet with Zonks by himself. The sad gentleman was still pretty drunk and was in no condition to talk about jokes. In fact, he hadn't cracked a joke in four years. It just wasn't any fun without Fred. Nothing was fun without Fred.

George walked for around an hour before he found himself on London Bridge. He leaned against the banister and looked at his reflection in the water. He used to love that he was a twin, but now he couldn't stand it! Every time he looked in the mirror he was reminded of the brother who was never coming home. It was a constant source of torture. He struggled to keep the tears back; he would have done anything to have been able to see his brother again. He just couldn't take the pain anymore! Then suddenly he got a dangerous idea.

George looked down once again at his reflection, the water looked icy cold. He had always heard that drowning was a lot like just floating off to sleep. And that sounded so nice. He looked around, no one was close enough to stop him. He really could do this if he wanted to, he could just jump and end all of his suffering. It was tempting. He took a shuddering breath and put his foot on the bottom ledge, testing the idea. Suddenly someone ran into his side, spilling hot tea all over his shirt and knocking them both to the ground.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" George yelped as the hot liquid scalded his body.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" The girl beside him squealed, scrambling to get up. "I slipped on a patch of ice and just went flying! And your shirt! Are you ok?"

The young wizard looked up at the girl and stopped breathing; she was beautiful. She had wavy blonde hair and bright green eyes that match her knitted cap. She wore a brown jacket and red rain boots over her petite body, and her jeans were soaked. She looked around his age, maybe a little younger, and by the messenger bag lying beside her, he guessed she was a college student.

"It's fine." he said getting up and trying to act like his skin wasn't burning off.

"No, no its not! You're just being nice!" she said taking off her scarf to try and mop up some of the liquid on my shirt. "I'm so stupid! I can't believe I just did that!"

He smiled in spite of everything, she was acting so frantic! "It's really not that bad, honestly. I'm cooling off now."

"Well let me buy you a new shirt then!" She started picking up her bag.

"No, its really fine." And it really was. George had his wand in his coat pocket and could clean himself off in jiff, but she didn't know that. "I won't take any money, it was an accident."

"Are you sure?" she asked, her eyes full of concern.

"Absolutely! I'm George by the way."

"Emmaline Trent, but everyone calls me Emma." They shook hands.

There was an awkward pause and George wanted to keep her talking. "So, where were you off to before I so rudely got in you way?"

She giggled. "My Italian class. I was running late but it doesn't matter now. The doors will be locked. So I guess I'll just go into work early! This actually is working out pretty well."

"Where do you work?"

"Foyles book shop, on Charing Cross just down the street a bit." He knew Charing Cross, there was a deli a few blocks down that Lee was rather fond of.

"Oh, well isn't this convenient!" George said smiling. "I was just about to head over to Charing myself!"

She raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

He took a low, distinguished bow. "I would be honored to escort you the rest of the way Miss. Trent."

She broke into a huge smile and nodded. "As long as your not afraid of getting knocked down again."

"I'll take my chances."

"So, how do you like working at a book store?" George asked after a few moments.

"Oh it's fine. I stock books, help customers, that sort of thing. It pays the bills. What about you? What do you do?" She asked as we stopped at a light.

The wizard hesitated. She was obviously a Muggle, and to tell the truth he didn't know much about their world despite growing up with his father. So he said the first thing that came to mind. "I'm in Parliament, the House of Lords to be more exact."

She stopped and turned to look at him with a look that said 'Ok, I'll play along'. "Aren't you a little young?"

"Well...yes. But I won it from the former Lord in duel. That's how I lost my ear, ya see?"

She smirked. "Yeah, I was wondering about that. When your in session, I hope you stand up and shout 'Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears!'" She burst into laughter which he couldn't help but join.

"You like Shakespeare then?"

"Very much." she answered after she had calmed down "But really, who doesn't like the Bard?" George had to agree. Shakespeare was one of his guilty pleasures that not many people knew about.

"What's your favorite Shakespeare play?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"Macbeth."

"Me too!" she answered, smiling. "'Out damn spot!' I yell that whenever I'm doing my laundry. My neighbors don't like me much."

"I can't imagine why." Another pause. "Is that what your studying though? Literature?"

She nodded. "Yes. I've always been a bit of a book worm. My brothers used to get so angry with me because I'd quote books at them all the time. Whoooops!" She started to slide on another patch of ice, but luckily George was able to keep her up.

In the next few blocks George learned a lot more about Emma, just by observation. For one thing, she loved animals. On the way to Charing Cross they passed a man walking his Labrador on the other side of the street. She grabbed his hand and ran across to ask if she could pet his dog. The man seemed reluctant at first but as she continued to talk, he seemed happy that she stopped him. That was another thing George found out about her, she was really good at talking to strangers. Not like the usual small talk that you had with the sales clerk in the grocery store, but actual conversation. There was just something about her that made this grouchy, middle aged man chatter away with like they were old friends.

She was also very thoughtful. They were passing a car parked at a meter when she suddenly stopped beside one, frowning.

"It's a meter Nazi." She whispered, nodding towards the end of the block. George looked down and sure enough, there was a meter maid, checking the 1 hour parking meters.

"I need a 2 pence quick!" she said rummaging in her bag. Oddly enough, George remembered that he had some sort of Muggle coin in his pocket at the moment. He took out the coin and gave it to her.

"Will this do?" She looked down at the coin and smiled.

"Perfect!" She slipped the coin into the meter and grinned, taking his arm again. "There! There's our good deed for the day." George couldn't help but smile.

Too soon they reached Foyles and had to say goodbye.

"Thank you so much for walking with me." She said as she took her bag from his shoulder. "It was so sweet, especially after what I did to you."

"It was my pleasure, Emma." he said smiling. "Well, I guess I'll see you around?"

She nodded and skidded inside. He waved, then turned around and started walking down the street towards home.

Emma Trent...interesting girl. The snow had stopped and the sun had come out, everything was looking a lot brighter then he remembered. And he was half way home before he realized that he hadn't thought of Fred the entire time he was with her. It felt weird to forget his brother, even for such a short period of time. George wondered what he would have said about him and a Muggle girl. They grew up knowing not to discriminate against them, but they had never dreamed that they would ever be truly interested in one. When you lived in a world of magic, Muggles just didn't seem to cut it. George started to cross London Bridge and stopped to look down at his reflection. He couldn't believe that a little over an hour ago he was considering ending his life. How incredibly selfish and stupid that sounded now. It was so strange that a pretty Muggle girl could change his feelings so drastically, just by being kind and thoughtful. He truly hoped he would see her again.

He walked back into the shop, whistling a tune and thinking about how best to run into Emma again when Lee came out from the back stock room with boxes piled over his head.

"Hullo!" George said catching a box that began to fall. "Let me help you with that you loon! You'll strain your back with that load."

Lee looked surprised as George took half the boxes and began to stock shelves and answer customers questions. The last time George had been this normal was when he went to Knockturn Alley and bought some drugs from Egypt. He had been fine for about an hour, then began calling himself Don Francisco and was challenging customers to duels with a rubber chicken. It wasn't pretty.

"George mate, are you alright?" Lee asked nervously.

"Just chipper! Why do you ask?" he said handing a Pygmy Puff to a delighted little girl.

"Have you been down to Knockturn Alley again?"

George looked shocked. "Oh heavens no! Not after last time! That wasn't pleasant on my end either, ya know."

"Well then what gives! You're all cheerful! It's weird."

George thought about it for a moment and then laughed. "Don't mean to make you uneasy. I just had a pleasant outing is all. And I met a nice girl if you must know. Just put me into a jolly mood. Now don't spoil it with your questions! And get back to work you lazy cow!"

George grinned and went away to help with check outs leaving Lee quite bewildered and wondering who this mystery girl could be.

AN: Okie doke. I hope that you liked it. And I know, Emma seems pretty perfect so far, but please remember that this is their first encounter. She has faults that will be displayed in forth coming episodes. So calm thy selves.