Disclaimer: Nothing familiar belongs to me. Everything you recognize belongs to those who own the rights to it. The USQL and all its teams belong to Rowling and AZScorpions24 whose fic on the league can be easily found on my favourites.

Okay, I haven't got so much as a review for this story but since it was written as more of a way of getting to another story, I'm going to post the rest of the story and if I get a review or two I will post the sequel to this in case anyone is interested. ~ Vivi

Chapter Three

A Chance Meeting

After I moved to London, I got quite use to visiting Diagon Alley, but it was usually for certain things, like a visit to the Apothecary or to one of the booksellers for a medical manual. My life changed the day I met Fred and you, but I don't think that I understood the meaning in it. I really thought when I left the shop that I wouldn't see either of you again unless I went back into the shop or one of you showed up at St Mungos.

October 1996(HPY6)...

Celeste clamped her mouth closed and tears welled in her eyes. When that didn't work, she bit down on her bottom lip hard enough to make it bleed but still she didn't make a sound. The smell as she breathed through her nose was almost enough to gag her but if she parted her lips to breath she was going to lose it and scream bloody murder. She was quite certain that this was not what she had in mind when she came to England to study healing.

"Not bad, Rayne." The pompous ass of a healer before her said as he clapped her on her back hard enough that she almost skidded across the floor. "Nice to see there's one of you, who's not a whimpering mess."

She gave what he took for a smile but the mediwitch next to him saw it for the snarl it was and cut in. "Celeste, why don't you go see Healer Galen? She'll give you some Skele-Gro."

"Take the rest of the day off." The healer boomed and Celeste wished she could move her fingers in her wand hand so she could see him committed to the hospital as a patient. She had just finished working over twenty-three hours; she could at least hope that it was a sick joke of some kind.

"He's a menace." Anna Galen said as she measured out a draft for Celeste. "You should be okay in a couple hours." She gave the blonde before her a smile. "Now, drink this and you're free to go. I'm sure you know all the procedures."

Celeste nodded and made a face before downing the potion before her. She grimaced and wondered how many times Tempest had had to drink the vile concoction. Finishing the drink, she left St. Mungos and headed to Diagon Alley. She needed to pick up a book on magical diseases that she had ordered, but it was still early and she had a few minutes before any of the stores opened. As she walked the length of the alley, spending her first free morning in the months she had been in England doing absolutely nothing, Celeste wondered what she was doing in England. She had thought she had known what she was doing when she charmed her hair to match the blonde locks that three of her siblings had inherited from their father. She had decided her red locks were too noticeable with the new ads for US Brooms came out with her twin wearing a mini-dress and the newest broom model from the company would come out in November. She paused to look at a brightly colored storefront just as the clouds that had been hanging around for the last three days decided to release their loads. She darted into the store that had caught her attention.

The bell over the door rang out and a male voice called from within the depths of the store, which Celeste now saw was a joke shop. "We're not open yet, come back in a half hour."

"I'm so sorry, but it's raining and..."

"I'm sure you won't melt." The voice countered as its owner came forwards from the back of the shop. He took one look at the drenched witch before him and burst into laughter.

"It is not funny." Celeste gritted out but the ridiculousness of the situation made her lips twitch in real amusement for the first time since she had arrived in London. "Well, maybe a little."

"I suppose you can stay for a bit and dry off."

Celeste flushed and silently cursed the fair skin that she and her twin had as redheads. She let her wet hair fall in her face as she pulled her wand from her soaked cloak. "Ahhh!" She dropped the wand and grasped her left forearm.

"I think it might be a good idea if you left."

Celeste let out a few gasping breaths. "Shhh, I'm trying to calculate the time it takes for the potion to kick in. Why didn't I ask for something for the pain? I know why because I'm going to let Horsley drive me insane. The pompous ass is trying to kill me." She pulled back her sleeve and watched with slight relief as the bones in her wrist shifted. "At least Anna's not trying to poison me, but no one is that nice." Meeting a pair of brown eyes that were watching her like she was going to do something unspeakable at any moment, she flushed and wished she had some of Ashlyn's ability to melt a member of the opposite sex with a flick of her brown locks and a look in her eyes the same color as fresh green leaves in the spring. "I'm sorry, I'm not usually this..."

"Strange?" He offered.

"I was going to say crazy. Put it down to lack of sleep. I'm a trainee healer at St. Mungos." She put out her right hand but continued to cradle her left. He gave her left arm a look, before grasping her hand. "I'm Celeste."

"Fred."

When he continued to seem preoccupied with her arm, Celeste explained. "A patient who took too much strength potion spent the last three hours crushing my hand and arm. Come to find out too much of such a potion works itself out of your system painfully." His eyes widened. "Unfortunately, I'm left handed. Only thing I can claim as different from my siblings." She added ruefully.

"A lot of siblings?"

"A few."

"What's that three?" He teased as he pulled out his wand and dried her off.

"No, more than that." She smiled. "Thank you."

"More than three?"

"Yes, more than three."

"You didn't go to Hogwarts." There was no question.

"No, all my family went to Smithson in the states, well except Misty."

"Squib."

"Worse."

"Worse?"

"Brain." Fred laughed loudly at this. "Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with having some sort of smarts but Misty is well..."

"A prat?"

"I guess that works as well as anything else." She looked out at the rain. "I'm sorry if I'm keeping you from something."

"Like opening the store?"

Celeste looked up and met another pair of brown eyes. Her lips twitched as she remembered joking with Tempest after NEWTs. "I'm sorry. I'm Celeste."

"George." He didn't look too put out at his twin.

"I really am sorry." She gave them both a quick smile.

"What brings you to our shop?" George asked.

"The rain." She quipped causing both boys to laugh. "Actually, once Fred gets on the ball and the shops open I might pick up a few things to send back home."

"For your younger siblings?" He teasingly questioned.

"Well, not Misty. She lacks a sense of humor to appreciate such a gift. But Drew still has a couple years with the other two in Smithson with him."

He gave her another smile. "So, what did bring you to Diagon Alley, and while you are injured at that."

"I needed to pick up a book." He made a face and she smiled. Neither noticed that George had left them. "I think I have more books in my apartment than I ever had in my dormroom. In fact, I think I have more books that all four of us in the room had in our room in that last year, unless you count Pest's quidditch notebooks and Ash's sketchbooks, which since they were mainly in their own hand, I don't think should count."

"That seems very sad to me."

"Well, I have until February before my schedule slows down."

"Sounds about right. I have a friend in the program but I think you might be a bit ahead of her." Fred nodded. "She was on our house quidditch team with George and me."

"What's her name? I might have met her."

"Alicia Spinnet. She was dating a friend of mine until just recently."

"I've met her. She's sweet." Celeste shifted. She was unsure what to say next. Fred must have felt the same way because he changed the subject towards the store's products. They chatted while Celeste made her purchases and she promised to stop by on another day.

It wasn't until Celeste flooed home after getting her book that she realized that she had left her wand. She took a quick shower and pulled on a pair of jeans, a black Bombers t-shirt. She picked up the dark blue dragon leather jacket that Ashlyn had sent her for her birthday. The cut of the jacket was far different from most that could be found in the wizarding world and showed her friend's ingenuity as well as her ability in fashion design. After brushing out her now blonde hair, she apparated to Diagon Alley.

She strolled down the lane getting more than a few admiring glances before pushing open the door to the joke shop, which she now knew was named Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. The store had a few more people in it and upon spotting a slightly familiar shade of red began moving in that direction. She found the hair that she spotted was both Fred and George. They were talking to a witch whose magenta robes would have made Ashlyn wince.

George was the first to spot her, when he happened to look up. "Celeste, you clean up pretty nice." He grinned. "We had a feeling that you'd be back."

"I can't imagine why." She smiled. "Didn't happen to leave anything important behind when I left?"

"Like a wand?" Fred grinned at her. "Is there by chance reward?" He moved away from George who he exchanged a look with before moving up next to the blonde.

"What do you have in mind?" She asked warily. The wizard before her was highly attractive and from what she had seen of the shop, just as devious.

"Dinner for a start and then, we'll see." He wiggled his brows at her.

Letting out a husky laugh that surprised Fred because in his experience blondes like her had a habit of giggling or hitting a higher pitch than their voice when he made them laugh, Celeste nodded. "I guess we could do that."

"Right now, so you can have your wand when you go back to St Mungos." He wanted to hear that laugh again and he was finding he was a sucker for bright blue eyes that sparkled with amusement, so he didn't see a reason to waste time.

"Alright."

"Hold on a minute, I'll be right back." Fred said before moving back towards his twin. "We're going to dinner."

"That was fast." George commented. "You don't know anything about her."

"It's just dinner." Fred looked back at the blonde. "She has a great laugh."

"That's promising, but then you said the same thing about Angelina."

Fred made a face as he thought about his ex. "George, Angie and I just didn't work."He shrugged and went to the back to get his coat before going back to the blonde. "Ready to go?"

She gave a nod and they headed to a bistro just outside of Diagon Alley. The evening progressed smoothly enough. Fred learned that Celeste and her large family grew up in a house outside of Fitchburg, but not exactly how many siblings she had. She learned that he had six siblings including George. They had a good time and when it was over they promised to do it again when her schedule would allow. She told him that she'd owl him when she found out her schedule for the next month. After eating, Fred had suggested a walk in a nearby park. They held hands and talked. What they talked about hadn't been half as important as the person they were with.

When she got home, Celeste sat down at her kitchen table with a quill and parchment but after sitting for several minutes with nothing more productive coming from her than a goofy grin, she decided not to write about Fred. It was still too early. So, instead she capped her ink and turned in for an early night.

She dreamed of a pair of brown eyes that were full of life.

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