Brother Bonding -- July 1988

I promised George that we would have a day together this summer because I was going into my last year and he wanted to hang with his big brother.  There was nothing wrong with any of that.  I called up to him and figured he would know to meet me out by the shack.  Him and Fred wanted to become beaters at Hogwarts -- I thought he would be better to get help from Charlie since he was the big Quidditch star in the house, but I would see if George wanted me to help him out or if he'd prefer to go to Diagon Alley or something to get him some supplies for whatever pranking he was up to lately.  I worked at Florean's ice cream shop during the summer to get some extra money, so we could always stop there while in the area for some free ice cream.  He was a cool guy to be doing things like that for his employees and friends.  It was great.

I trotted down the stairs and jogged out to the shed where we kept our brooms.   I grinned at him and said, "What do you have planned Bill?"  I figured he could do that planning... I was younger.  Besides, I was sure that he would be perfectly okay wiht taking me somewhere.

I laughed and ruffled George's hair much to his dismay.  "Well, little brother, we can either practice and stay around here to get your abilities strengthened for the Quidditch team in a year or so," I explained, "or we could go to diagon alley and we can browse around and get ice cream.  Perhaps buy some goodies and then come back and play on the brooms."

I hated when he did that to my hair.  He always called me little brother... which I in turn called Ron.  It was just something we did I guess.  "Let's go get some goodies... what type were you thinking?" I questioned, following his lead and walking back to the house.  I assumed we were going to Floo there.  Made sense anyways... that's what we did when we went to get the older three school supplies.

I shrugged, being most evasive about my plans.  I did not need him to get super excited about going to get him some supplies for his and Fred's 'workshop'.  That's what I called their bedroom anyways.  I let Mum know what was going on and where we would be and then let George go first.  I followed him shortly after and saw George barely waiting for me to go into the crowd.  "Hey now... you gotta stay close or Mum will have both of our hides," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

I really did not want to deal with Mum killing either one of us.  "What all did you have in mind, Bill?" I asked him, getting interested and a little impatient.  I did not want to appear ungrateful though because I knew that he was probably going to pay for it with the money he worked for.  I did not want him to get angry with me or anything.

Alright, it was mean of me to keep it hidden from just a kid.  "Well, would you like some pranking stuff or quidditch gear," I suggested.  I wondered which one he would choose.  I would end up getting pretty much the same thing for Fred if  I would be able to do so.  Especially if it was Quidditch gear.

Man, that was a toughie.  Fred and I always had ways of getting our hands on pranking things.  "Quidditch gear," Ianswered, grinning at my older brother.  I could not believe that Bill was going to get me something from the Quidditch place!  We walked into the store and he let me pretty much run rampant.  "What should I even be looking at?  We want to be beaters... but what if we don't get the position?  I mean... would that be wise to get something for a certain position?" I asked talking a mile a minute.

I laughed and pointed out the bats for beaters.  "You know that Charlie is Quidditch captain... he will be until he graduates -- which is your second year.  I'm pretty sure that if you outplay any other beaters, you'll be on the team in those positions.  Mind you, Charlie doesn't play favoritism, so you're going to have to be good at that age," I told him, walking over to the bats.  They weren't too badly priced.

I looked at all of the bats and saw that the prices were kind of crazy.  "Bill, we probably should just look at riding gloves or something," I said, sure that this would be way too much for my brother.  "Besides, we could get outplayed... we'd only be second years afterall."  I did not want Bill to waste money if e didn't get the positions.

I shrugged and said, "I mean... if you don't want anything... then I guess this trip is a bust."  I looked at a couple of bats and thought that those definitely said Fred and George on them.  I raised my eyebrows at George and pointed at them.  "I like those, though," I added.  I grinned as I saw George's face.  I knew I was definitely going to get them those... they were on sale so why not?  And I also had been saving my money to bribe my siblings into still loving me even after I graduate and most liekly moved away.  I hadn't decided where or anything... but there were a few places that seemed relatively interested.

I saw the bats Bill was pointing at and they were super cool.  I looked over at Bill and saw his smile.  "Those are really awesome," I agreed, nodding at my brother.  I really wanted them... but I wasn't sure if Bill was okay wiht them.  Though, he did point them out... "The trip doesn't have to be a total bust," I suggested slowly, grinning at my brother.

I laughed and grabbed two of the bats.  "Well, that's settled then," I said walking over to the cashier.  I paid for them with my money and then carried the bag out of the store.  "Want to hit up Florean's before we head back and test these bats out?  I'm sure Charlie will want to join in the fun with you and Fred.  We could always get Ron or Ginny involved, too..."  Those two were a little young to be playing rough, though.  We would have to be careful.  "Or we could just do you and Fred so that way we can help you guys out one on one to get you guys ready for a couple of years."  I figured I'd leave it up to the twins.  It was nice to get in a big group to play around... but sometimes it was also nice to have it be only a couple of us.

I rolled my eyes.  "You have to ask about ice cream?" I teased, leading the way to where Bill worked during the summers.  We got a couple of free cones and meandered around Diagon Alley until we finished them.  "I'll ask Fred what he wants when we get back... that way we can figure out what we want to do," I told my older brother.

I grinned and ruffled George's hair again -- and again, he scowled at me.  I laughed and took us back to our house.  I watched George run up the stairs and I found Charlie.  "Hey, I got the twins a couple of bats and depending on if they want the two youngest ones to get involved, we're gonna help them practice.  Or we'll just play a game with all of us," I said to him as he looked up at me from his Quidditch magazine.