Well, I'm back again, trying to fulfill this George/Alicia high that I seem to be on. Also, I need to recover from having to write an extremely demanding History essay that seems to be governing my life at the moment.
Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter
Good evening, Mr Spinnet
"Are you sure that they'll… be alright with everything?" George Weasley asked tentatively of his girlfriend, Alicia Spinnet.
"What? Oh, yes, of course they'll be alright…" Alicia murmured distractedly, adjusting her shirt with an expression that suggested everything to the contrary. "They're my parents, aren't they? So they'll have to accept- I mean, understand- I mean…" she trailed off, her hands now pulling down her skirt as far as it would go in a vain attempt to get it to cover her knees.
George remained unconvinced. His parents, in particular his mother, had welcomed Alicia with open arms and even asked her to spend the night when it grew too late into the evening (though Mrs Weasley had ensured that George and Alicia slept in separate rooms and magically locked George's door), but somehow George received the impression that the Spinnets might not be so accomidating. Perhaps it was caused by the fact that Alicia had gone very white around the nose.
"Alicia… Are you sure that you want me to meet your parents? I mean, you seem a little nervous," George suggested, trying not to sound as if he'd quite like to get out of the situation himself.
"I'm not nervous, why should I be nervous?" Alicia snapped. "It's just… You're the first boy that I've ever even considered inviting home to meet my parents, so I've never gone through this before."
"So I'm the first? I'm flattered," George said, grinning. "Does this mean that I'm the first guy you've ever been serious about? Or is that taking the flattery too far?"
This seemed to relax Alicia a little, and she giggled slightly. "It's taking the flattery a bit too far, I'm afraid," she said solumnly.
"Ahh, too bad," George sighed dramatically. "I would so liked to have been the first guy to have captured Alicia Spinnet's heart. Would have made quite a good story to tell the lads down at the Leaky Cauldron. But please enlighten me, who was the scoundrel who first stole your heart?"
Alicia snorted, and went bright red. "Oh, c'mon, you can tell me…" George pressed further.
Alicia winced. "Alright, then, you asked for it. In second year I had a short, unreturned crush on Marcus Flint."
This brought out a gasp from George. "Alicia! How could you?" he exclaimed, pretending to slump against a streetlamp in shock.
"Sorry!" Alicia cringed, laughing. "I was twelve, and you and Fred weren't that built yet."
"And then you went for me just once I'd built up some muscle? Alicia, I'm insulted. I was positive that you went for my superior genius rather than my skills with a Beater's bat."
Alicia was now laughing so hard that she had to lean against the streetlamp for support. "Oh please," she gasped, the chilly autumn air causing her long blonde hair to blow wildly about her face. "It's better than Katie's crush on Oliver Wood in third year… That was painful, that was."
"Ah yes, I remember it well," George agreed. "Darn embarrasing, seeing her blush and fuss during all of Wood's speeches. Wood never noticed it, of course. He was as bad as my little brother." He turned slightly and pushed some of Alicia's hair out of her face. "Now, I'd love to just stay here and chat, but I really do want to make a good impression on your parents and I doubt arriving late would help," he said softly, giving Alicia a soft kiss on the cheek.
"Oh, right!" Alicia said, startled into remembering the actual reason for the two of them standing in her street. "Err, we should get going, then…"
They walked down she windswept street in silence for a while, Alicia digging her hands further and further into the pockets of her fawn trenchcoat. Like George, she preferred to wear Muggle clothing when not at work. "Actually, George…" she piped up thoughtfully as they entered her parents' front gate. "There are some things that I'd rather you didn't mention when you meet my parents… Just so, you know, they don't get the wrong impression."
George shrugged. Anything to endear him with Alicia's family. "Sure, tell me what not to say and I'll keep it zipped."
Alicia sighed heavily as they stepped up onto the porch. "Don't mention the Ministry, Death Eaters, You-Know-Who or anything remotely political," she began. "Don't mention that you left school before doing your NEWTs, don't mention that you run a joke shop, and don't bring up the fact that you support the Chudley Cannons or my dad will start lecturing about how the Appleby Arrows are better, and I just can't handle that right now." She took a deep breath as she raised her hand to ring the doorbell. "Actually, it would probably be best if you didn't say much at all," she finished off-handedly.
George frowned and was about to say something when Alicia rang the doorbell. The door was immediately flung open by a small blonde teenage girl, and George got the nasty feeling that she had been hiding behind the door the whole time.
"Alicia, you're here!" the girl exclaimed in a very unconvincing tone of surprise.
"Hello, Clementine," Alicia said through gritted teeth. "Clementine, this is my boyfriend George Weasley. George, this is my little sister Clementine."
"Pleased to meet you," George said kindly as Clementine looked him up and down.
"You're tall," she commented. "Hey, Weasley… Isn't there a joke shop in Diagon Alley called Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes or something like that?"
"Err…" George replied, glancing at Alicia for help.
"Clemmy, shall we not?" Alicia hissed, motioning for her younger sister to move aside. Clementine stuck her tongue out at her sister and moved aside to let them enter the house.
The first impression that George received of the interior of the home was that it was dark. However, the Spinnets seemed to have made a decent attempt at making the terrace house seem a little brighter by adding brightly coloured carpets on the floors, and on all four walls portraits of various members and ancestors of the Spinnet family waved down enthusiastically. It didn't seem like the house Alicia would have been raised in, indeed, it didn't feel as if it had been lived in very long, at least not by its current family.
"This is my parents' new house," Alicia said quickly, as if reading George's mind. "We used to live in a house by the sea until recently, but Mum and Dad decided to move into the city when You-Know-Who returned. They felt a bit isolated out there. I'd already moved out of home by then, so I've never actually lived here."
"Oh… Sorry you guys had to move," George said carefully, aware that Clementine was still watching him from the corner.
"Nah, don't be," Alicia said carelessly. "We used to get buffeted by wind all the time in our old house, it was a wonder it still stayed up."
"Hmm," looking up at the portraits. A large, glimmering Appleby Arrows banner was hung over the banister to the upper floor. He wanted to ask Alicia if the banner had anything to do with him not being able to mention that he supported the Chudley Cannons, but he was stopped when a tall thin woman with sandy hair in a hasty bun came down the hallway.
"Alicia, darling!" the woman exclaimed, dragging her daughter into an embrace. "I so glad you're here, I barely see you now that you're working at Madam Malkins…"
Alicia screwed up her face as she was slowly suffocated in her mother's arms. "Mum, lay off will you, you're worse that a Lethifold," she muttered, clearly embarrassed. Fortunately for Alicia, Mrs Spinnet chose that moment to release her daughter and turn her attention to George.
"And you must be the man in Alicia's life!" she chatterred happily, shaking George's hand with a vigour that was unexpected for a woman of her age. "I'm Harriet Spinnet, Alicia's mother," she added unnecessarily.
"Err, Mum, can you check if Dad's around?" Alicia asked quietly, her face a spectacular hue of magenta. Mrs Spinnet frowned at Alicia.
"Now really, dear, I was only trying to be friendly… It's not often that I get to meet the boyfriends of one of my girls. But if you really don't feel like chatting- and I can tell you don't, Alicia, it's impossible to hide things from me- you might as well move into the living room, go on!" With that, Mrs Spinnet flounced off to the kitchen in a huff.
Alicia let out a low moan. "Can we leave," she said gravely, "while I still have a shred of dignity intact?"
"Oh, I think your mum seems nice," George observed, sitting down a dark green sofa patterned with bright yellow sunflowers. "Reminds me a bit of my mum. Lovely sofa, by the way."
Alicia glanced at the sofa's pattern and groaned again. "It's Mum," she explained. "She loves sunflowers. When I was a kid I had a sky blue doona cover with miniture sunflowers, and a giant sunflower rug on the floor. That probably contributes to why I can't stand them now."
George laughed, and took a moment to observe the Spinnet living room. Sunflowers did indeed appear to be a reoccuring theme, as did the Appleby Arrows banners. "Um, I take it your dad really likes the Arrows?" he inquired.
Alicia rolled her eyes. "Does he ever. He played Chaser for them after he left Hogwarts, though don't ask him about that, he'll go on for ages. He was overjoyed when I got onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team. My older sister Bernice didn't inherit a speck of talent, and neither did Clementine, though Dad's still hoping that she'll be a late bloomer."
"Well, that certainly explains a lot," George remarked, regarding a particularly large Appleby banner with dislike.
At that moment the living room door burst open and a tall, slightly portly man with a distinct bald patch burst into the room, his arms spread wide. "Alicia!" he boomed. "How's my favourite Quidditch Queen?"
Alicia did a remarkable impression of someone trying to sink through a sofa. "Hi, Dad," she said in a small voice, her face returning to it's former magenta hue. "This is my boyfriend, George Weasley."
"Good evening, Mr Spinnet," George mumbled, feeling rather nervous.
"Boyfriend?" Alicia's father immediately became much more business-like. "Well, I'm always eager to meet Alicia's… aquaintances… Weasley, Weasley, were have I heard that name before?"
Oh no, George thought, trying to keep his squirming hands still. Please don't tell me he's heard of the shop.
"Weasley, now I remember!" Mr Spinnet said efficiently. "Alicia was telling me how her best friend was marrying your brother."
"Angelina, yeah," George said, thankful that a non-forbidden topic had been brought up. "Yeah, my twin brother Fred proposed to her two weeks ago. They've been going out for a few years."
"Oh, I see," Mr Spinnet replied, settling himself onto the armchair opposite the sofa. "And how long have you and my daughter been seeing each other?"
"Err, three years this Christmas," George answered. It felt like being back at school.
Mr Spinnet seemed to ponder this for a moment. "Three years, quite a long time for young people. Do you feel the need to catch up to your brother?"
"Dad!" Alicia interruptted, her face now even redder (if such a thing were possible). "Anything- and I mean anything- like that is entirely between me and George!"
"Yes, yes, alright, dear!" Mr Spinnet said impaitently. "I was just asking!"
"Asking what?" Mrs Spinnet had entered the living room, bearing a fully laden tea tray.
"Nothing dear, I was just asking George some questions… Alicia, would you mind keeping your mother company while George gives me a hand in the kitchen?"
Now it was Mrs Spinnet's turn to roll her eyes. "William, really," she said in an exasaperated tone. "They're fully grown adults, don't you think this is a little extreme?"
"Extreme? Not at all. I was simply going to ask Mr Weasley here to help me get something from on of the shelves in the kitchen." Mr Spinnet motioned for George to follow him, which he did so after Alicia poked him hard in the back.
"Go on," she hissed. "It's not that bad."
Feeling remarkably like he was being dragged to his own execution, George followed Mr Spinnet into the kitchen. There, Mr Spinnet turned around abruptly. "I'll make this quick. I passed both my OWLs and NEWTs in Potions with one hundred percent, and I can mix up a Veritaserum in a heartbeat, so I suggest you answer me as honestly as possible, is that clear?"
"Um, yes sir!" George gulped. He half expected Professor Snape to jump out at any moment. Had it been in any other situation it would have been funny.
"Good. Now, Alicia is nineteen years old. That is too young for either of you to get married, so if you are thinking about marrying my daughter at this present time I suggest you reconsider. Do you with to marry her at this present time, yes or no?"
"Err, no," George answered.
Mr Spinnet nodded. George wondered if he had ever been a Ministry interrogator at some point during his career. "Does this mean that you do not consider your relationship with Alicia to be important or significant enough for marriage?" he barked.
"No, sir!" George replied quickly, now feeling slightly scared. "I love Alicia and I want to spend the rest of my life with her, but I agree that we're both too young for marriage at this point."
"Good. Have you, at any time, broken the law?"
"No." Not yet, George added quietly.
"Have you ever taken any illicit substances?"
"No."
"Did you receive adequate marks in school?"
"Yes."
"Are you employed?"
"Yes."
"Will you promise to love and cherish my daughter as long as you both shall live?"
"Yes, I promise."
"Right," Mr Spinnet went back towards the living room door. "That's settled, then."
"Eh?" said George to himself. "What's settled?"
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, unless you counted Clementine 'accidentally' dropping her teacup across Alicia's lap. Mrs Spinnet averted what could have been a nasty screaming match by drying Alicia's skirt with a simple spell and sending Clementine out of the room.
George was astounded at what appeared to be a sudden personality change within Mr Spinnet. He became remarkably amiable and chatty, passing George a second helping of biscuits and even refilling his teacup. Upon hearing that George had also played on the Gryffindor Quidditch team during school he decided to regale them all with a few anecdotes from his Appleby Arrows days until Alicia said that it was getting late and she and George had better leave as they both had work the next day.
"It was lovely to meet you, George," Mrs Spinnet said after she had released Alicia from another bear hug. "I hope the two of you are very happy together,"
George gave her a selfconcious smile before turning to shake hands with Mr Spinnet. "Evening, Weasley," Mr Spinnet farewelled him gruffly, making a fast return to his 'interrogator' alterego.
"Good evening, Mr Spinnet." With that, George took Alicia's hand and the two of them walked down the garden path and out of the front gate.
"George, you were brilliant!" Alicia burst out as soon as they were out of hearing range, throwing her arms around his neck. "Not many men have passed the Spinnet Interrogation!"
"How did you know I passed?" George asked, putting his arms around Alicia's waist.
"Well…" Alicia regarded George thoughtfully, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "Lets just say that the last guy Bernice brought home failed and was hexed into the middle of next week by Dad. When you came out your face was still intact, so I just assumed you'd passed."
Then it dawned on George. "So that's why you hadn't brought any guys home before… You didn't want to risk their skins!" he said accusingly.
Alicia laughed. "Not quite," she replied, her face coming closer to his. "I brought you to meet my parents because I knew you'd pass."
"Really?" George whispered, his nose nearly touching Alicia's.
Alicia beamed. "How could you not?"
As George kissed her, Alicia thought that if this had been a film, an orchestra would have begun to play at exactly that moment.
So there we have it… Harmless, slightly cheesy fluff. Sorry the ending seemed a bit rushed and choppy, it's not my best work.
Reviews make my world go round…