(Untitled)

[and_the_dragon]

There wasn't much by way of lounging on the beach these days, not unless you wanted to end up with a serious case of hypothermia and possibly be pummeled to death, but George liked actual winter all the better. Sure, it meant tracking snow in from outside and the accompanying puddles of water that invariably got stepped in after one or the other

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[unit_girl]

As exciting as it was to have cold and snow for a change, it was too cold to go outside for long, so Jo spent more time than she was used to in the Compound. But since she wasn't the only one she knew there would always be people to chat to and she wouldn't be bored.

"What are you reading?" she asked, smiling, and hanging over the back of the chair George was sat in. He had a book that looked far too big to be interesting, and a blank piece of paper that couldn't possibly be as interesting as it appeared to be to George.

[and_the_dragon]

The book, which was now comfortably settled turned over on its spine with the pages spread open, lay open to a part later in the book than George had read to. Not having noted Jo in passing, he looked at her dumbly for a moment before spluttering an answer. The book, though it had occupied his attention quite well, was no match for the Map now in his hands. "Oh," he answered, and folded the map back up so that it could fit in his pocket, "just something funny is all."

George leaned down to retrieve the book, closed it, and held it out face-out towards Jo, the title Soul Music clearly displayed.

[unit_girl]

"Oh," she said as she looked at it. "Is it about music?" She wasn't sure how that would be funny, but maybe it would be interesting. But to someone else - Jo wasn't yet bored enough to read a book that big. "Did the blank sheet of paper help?" She wondered if that was related to the book, or George's reading of it, but since it was blank she didn't really see how.

[and_the_dragon]

George glanced down at the cover, which clearly showed a picture of a stringed instrument beneath the title, and raised an eyebrow. "Well, among other things," he answered her, thinking to himself that the answer was quite self-explanitory.

With the Map carefully stowed inside the pocket of his courderoys, George shrugged his shoulders. Truth be told, the map didn't do much of anything now that it was blank inside, but it was the sentimental value it held that was more important to George. His hand rested over his pocket and over the Map. "It's parchment, actually, not traditional paper," he corrected her, but didn't go any further into explanation.

[chose_dragons]

Charlie noticed a distinctive head of hair and walked up behind the chair. He stood for a moment with his hand on his hip, weighing the choice between stealing the parchment and giving his brother a decent whack upside the head. He decided the best course of action was to try to do both, of course, so he gave George a light thwack across the crown of his head as he reached out and go ahold of the top of the parchment. It wasn't an easy task with only one arm. His left was still in a sling from the little encounter with the Yeti he and Bill had tracked down.

"What've you got here, brother?" he asked, giving the paper a tug only to have his fingers slip off of it. "Something scandalous, no doubt?"

[and_the_dragon]

It was nothing quite so scandalous as Charlie would think, especially not here. At Hogwarts it may have been-- well, was in truth, because really it meant the twins could get away with about anything they pleased without getting caught, though they frequently were caught anyhow. The tap to the back of his head didn't hurt, but did make him scowl back at his brother as he pulled his hand away in time to feel Charlie's finger's slip off the parchment.

The scowl wasn't permanent of course, and when he turned to see his brother face-on it turned to a grin. He waved it up in the air. "Don't you wish you knew?" he taunted, wagging it back and forth to tease his second eldest. Maybe it would get his ire up and maybe it wouldn't, but it was always good fun to tease a wounded sibling, so long as the wound wasn't too serious.

[chose_dragons]

Charlie laughed and feigned another grab for the paper, just to be trouble, then gave up.

"Yeah, I do. What is it?" he asked, straining to get a better look at what George was holding. "Is it a map?"

[and_the_dragon]

Sure, George could have drawn out the game just as long as he wished, but it didn't seem quite fair, what with his brother's disability and all. George knew a thing or two about missing essential things, like ears for example, and the troubles that being without one's senses for a long period of time (or a short one) caused. Rather than taunt his brother further he skirted half-way around the chair to sit on the arm so he could open it up. "Well I figure I can tell you, family and all," he feigned wariness as he slowly parted the crease to give Charlie a peek at the cover.

Of course, it had been a map, but it wasn't any longer. It was as useless now as it would have been had the twins been without the spell to unlock its mysteries years ago. "It was a map, once upon a time."

[of_badfaith]

He spared them both a glance and that same glare he always reserved for the lowest of the low. There were few things worse than a Weasley, and they always seemed to travel in packs.

He wasn't in the mood for them, but he hardly ever was, so he didn't go running out the room like the coward he so often was. He sneered and held his ground, going about looking for a book as if their presence hadn't just darkened his day that much more.

[and_the_dragon]

He didn't so much as notice Malfoy until he had the chance to look up. The boy hadn't said anything, after all-- though they weren't precisely on speaking terms now were they? And what would Malfoy have said to George Weasley given the chance, that George Weasley hadn't already heard? It was always the same with him, the same insults, and they'd begun to just glance off him like water across a duck's back.

There were, of course, things he'd never forgive the pasty-faced little pureblood bigot for, but bereft of magic there wasn't anything to be done except scowl and sneer at each other and get into the occasional scuffle.

George saw Malfoy as he looked up, and returned his glare in kind. He folded the parchment and held it fast in his hand, then bent down to recover his fallen book. "Was there something you wanted, your snottiness?" he asked as he brushed the cover of the book and sat back in his chair.

[of_badfaith]

"I was simply noting your continued presence here. It's been so long, I was beginning to hope you'd gone," he drawled, glancing quickly around, faintly uneasy at there apparently only being one of them in the room. He half expected him -- whichever one this was -- to start multiplying, more of the popping up from behind furniture and crawling out of the woodwork.

"Where's the other one? Don't you normally travel in pairs?"

[and_the_dragon]

Rolling his eyes would have proved too concentrated an effort on a lowlife such as this. George smirked instead, and merely shrugged. Though he and Fred were together most times, it wasn't as though they were conjoined twins or anything, though the thought of them actually being attached by the hip was a terribly entertaining thought. In another place and time (or, you know, back at home) he'd have suggested the idea to Fred as a project for a lark or two (or three).

Instead he had a Malfoy to worry about. "Here and fitting to stay, just the same as we have been the past couple of years, matter of fact." George re-opened the book but didn't bother checking the page or looking down at it. "Fred's about, I suspect. Why, did you want to see the pair of us at once?" he asked with a sneer, as if the answer to that weren't completely obvious.

[likes_to_bite]

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good, too!" Sunny chimed in. She held up her hands, fingers covered in cookie dough. She stuck one in her mouth and tried to see the piece of paper. "What's that?"

[and_the_dragon]

George must have missed her up until the moment she spoke, as she was quite small and, he imagined, probably quite easy for others to overlook. She had a smartness to her face that George found charming, and he imagined she was a quick study, since most young children who had that air about them tended to be quite sharp. He and Fred had been sharp children, though not in the strictest traditional sense.

George looked around, as if checking to make sure no one was lurking about. "Well, I'll tell you if you promise to keep it a secret," he said, and winked at the girl as he slid down the chair and onto the floor, cross-legged.

[likes_to_bite]

Sunny glanced around. Neither Duck nor Geoffrey were anywhere to be seen, so she wiped the remaining mess from her hands on a nearby couch and quickly came over to hear the secret.

"I promise," Sunny said, and sat down on the floor to see. "Is it a book?"

[and_the_dragon]

George didn't begrudge her the chance to wipe her hands on furniture, in fact it had been a favourite hobby of his as a child. He grinned as she came closer.

"It's not a book," he answered, shaking his head. "It's much better than a book in my opinion." He paused again and drew open the map (blank on the inside). "It's a map," he said.