"Come on! You haven't done anything fun in weeks!" Fred yelled at me from the doorway.
"In case you haven't noticed, there's a war on," I replied, not moving from my spot on the couch. "Not much fun to be had."
"That's bollocks, and you'd know it if you ever left the flat!" He grabbed my jacket from the peg beside the door and tossed it into my lap. "You're going with me if I have to Body-Bind and Levitate you all the way there!"
"Fine," I said, standing and pulling my jacket on. "Someone obviously needs to watch out for your stupid arse."
"Exactly, so let's go." He stepped behind me and shoved me out the door.
A few minutes later we walked into the Leaky Cauldron, and Fred was almost immediately accosted by Angelina. Alicia Spinnet was standing behind her and rolled her eyes. "We've already got a table. I'll show you." She grabbed my hand and offered me a small smile before dragging me towards a booth. I glanced over my shoulder to see Fred smirking at me, and Angelina giggling at his side. I glared in return.
It wasn't that bad though. Fred and Angelina snogged in the corner, I made snide remarks about them and drank too much Firewhisky, and Alicia smiled and inched closer to me and laughed at every one of my jokes.
A couple of hours later Fred announced that he and Angelina were leaving. "I'll be out. Don't wait up," he said, meaning that the flat was mine for the remainder of the night. Then he added, flicking his eyes in Alicia's direction, "At least not for me." I didn't have time to respond before they were gone.
Alicia ducked her head and looked up at me from under her brow. "I should probably be going too . . . shouldn't I?"
She bit her lip and watched while I downed the rest of my drink. "Yeah, you should go."
She sighed and looked away.
"With me."