You're Making It Come Alive
By: Red Car Wire

Chapter Six: Veteriserum, Alcohol, and Categories

oOo

"So you're meaning to tell me that you had Arianna McKinnon alone, in the common room, and you kissed her… on the forehead. The forehead, really? Did you ever consider that aiming for her lips instead?" Fred demanded in a whisper.

"Considered that multiple times, Fred," George groaned as he fell onto his back on his four poster bed.

He heard the small goodbye that she managed to get out, but it took everything possible to keep him from going back to her and snogging her senseless. For fuck's sake, they had just met over the summer and hardly even knew each other. So why was he so attracted to her? He ran his fingers through his hair and turned his head towards his brother, who was sitting at the edge of his bed shaking his head at his twin. "You're pathetic and Anna is equally as pathetic. Just stop your little 'are they or aren't they' game and get together already."

"It isn't that simple, Fred, you know that."

"Oh really, what about how I asked Katie out last year?"

"Yeah and you see how well that turned out?"

Fred's eyes narrowed at his brother. "Anna is different than Katie and the attraction isn't as one-sided, obviously."

George let out a laugh. "So I guess that means I'm the more attractive twin?"

"Piss off," Fred muttered as he climbed into his four poster bed. "Say, George, didn't Lee say that you guys were making Veteriserum in potions?"

"Yeah," George answered slowly. "Why?"

His brother sat up and flashed their signature grin at George. "What do you think about having a little private time between us, Lee, and the ladies? We ask them to come up here a Saturday after it's finished, you steal a small vial of the best potion and I get some drinks, the fancy stuff that girls usually go for, and we have a little 'getting to know you' time."

George shook his head. "Honestly you're sounding just about as creative as an obsessive teenage girl at this point."

"You'll like this part though, we tell them we're playing a game of truth or dare and I pick Anna to go first and just ask her a simple dare."

"How do you know she'll pick dare?"

"C'mon George, she likes a challenge and she's not going to just pick truth and reveal something. She'd figure someone would ask her who she was interested in. She'd just pick the lesser of the two poisons."

"And why do you think she'd pick dare over truth."

"She has pride, she's not going to admit something through a little game that's fuelled by truth serum and alcohol."

George had to admit he had a point. George knew plenty of girls who weren't one to hurt their pride and aside from any of the girls directly related to him, Anna was most likely the most prideful girl he had ever met. Adding those two poisons to the mix would only make her want to suppress revealing anything that might have to do with her family, why she wanted to go to Hogwarts to finish her education, or even who she had her eyes set on. "So how am I going to like this?" he asked slowly growing fond of his brother's plan.

Fred's wolfish grin grew more prominent. "I give her a dare that involves something removing clothes, she tries to alter the rules of the game so that if you pick truth you have to do that dare regardless."

"And how do you know this will happen?"

"Intuition, my brother. Now, are you going to follow through with this brilliant plan of mine?"

"It's not really brilliant since you're mixing alcohol with the world's most powerful truth serum, but as long as Lee and the girls are up for it, I am too."

"Oh, we're not telling the girls."

"Then what are we telling them?"

"That we gentlemen have an evening of merriment in store for the four of them."

George rolled his eyes, but couldn't suppress the grin on his face. It sounded like an interesting set-up Fred was trying to get them in and there was most likely something that Fred wanted to happen to him specifically. Though most of his so called brilliant plans seemed to blow up in his face (usually the literal sense of the occurred more than the figurative), but with the promise of something happening involving Anna, it seemed almost too good to pass up. At the same time, he didn't want to end up hurting Anna in Fred's little plan. He didn't know the full details of it or what might happen, but something in his gut was just saying to go with it. "Fuck it, let's do it then."

oOo

It was near the end of the month and the lunar cycle had just finished its round. Snape was planning on testing their Veteriserum on that Friday. As Arianna had suspected, her potion was the only one that worked nearly perfectly and caused her to answer several simple questions like her mother's name, her favorite color, and if she managed to complete the essay he had assigned a few days ago yet. Fred nicked a few bottles of wine and fire whiskey as well as some glasses from the kitchens and invited all of the sixth year girls, as well as Katie Bell, to their dorm for what he advertised as 'an evening of unadulterated merriment'.

Arianna, Alicia, Angelina, and Katie all sat in the boy's dormitory, resting their backs against pillows laid out against their trunks. Fred managed to slip his way between Katie and Angelina, with Lee sitting on the other side of her and Alicia sitting next to him. Arianna sat against George's trunk that sat facing the rest of the group; George sat to her right. The girls all chose the drink of their choice and sat, waiting with anticipation for the idea the boys had all come up with. Fred and George both stood up and presented the group with two vials of clear liquid, half drained. Alicia was the first one to fully register what they've done. "You didn't," she sputtered out in shock, staring at the twins.

Arianna watched as the twin's grins grew broader as the girls began to realize just what they had done. "So, this was your idea of a good time," Arianna scolded, glaring at the boys. "To make us take the most powerful truth serum known to man and get us drunk as well?"

"Now, now Anna I'm afraid you're looking into this too much," George said sitting down next to her and taking her glass of wine, draining it of its contents. "We just wanted to have a simple evening between friends and just get to know little secrets about one another. Plus, the potion isn't as strong when mixed with alcohol."

"Yeah, like who was your best snog Katie?" Fred asked casually, taking a seat next to her.

"Oliver Wood," she answered unblushingly taking another drink of her wine. "It was after we won the cup last year. We were talking and suddenly I just ended up against his locker, the benches, in the shower…" her voice trailed off and a smirk tugged at the edges of her lips.

Alicia let out a giggle and winked at her friend. George saw from the corner of his eye that it didn't please Fred too much that the girl he fancied had snogged and possibly shagged their Quidditch captain and someone they considered to be a very close friend. "So is that all we're doing, just asking each other questions to get the full honest answer? Don't you think we could have done this without the potion?" Angelina questioned Lee.

"You see Ang, the potion was just an added extra to the mix. Figured it add a bit more fun."

"Along with drinks, of course," added Arianna who was filling up another glass to replace the one George took. "Real classy too. I figured you'd get us butterbeer or gilly water if there was going to be drinks involved. Oh, you didn't spike the bottles did you?"

"Just the glasses and figured we'd pick something that you ladies would enjoy. Considering, we are entertaining the four of you this evening."

"Right," Arianna said, drawing out the word as she inspected the fire whiskey she had poured. "So, Lee, you ask me something."

She tilted her head to the side and offered him a challenging smirk. "Well you see," Fred chimed in. "We were planning to have this as more of a, what is it that muggles call it? Truth or dare? Yeah, I think that's it. Right, we were going to have this as a truth or dare kind of affair. So, Arianna, truth or dare?"

"Dare," she responded, but not before taking a quick swig of her drink.

"Alright then," Fred's signature Cheshire cat grin formed on his face as he leaned back on his hands, weighing the options for the brunette across from him. "Take any article of clothing you want off."

"That's it? Honestly I was expecting you to ask me to walk around in nothing but my knickers through the Great Hall," she laughed as she pulled off her jumper revealing her black lace bra underneath it.

"One article of clothing at a time, love." He said with a wink.

"Well how about I make it more interesting then," Arianna challenged.

"Oh Christ Arianna, don't go egging them on with their games," Angelina muttered, shaking her head in disproval.

George turned to face her, the same grin plastered on his face. "Go on."

"For dares you can't make someone take off a piece of clothing, if they choose truth they have to do it. Just to keep people from picking truth every time."

She watched as the twins exchanged the same look, as if they both knew something that the rest of them didn't. Angelina was mouthing the words 'she's crazy' to Alicia who just nodded and nursed her glass of wine. "That's brilliant actually, couldn't have thought of it better," Fred said with a hearty laugh.

Arianna raised her glass and gave him a nod of thanks before downing the rest of its contents. "So, Alicia," she begin with a devilish grin. "Truth or dare?"

By one in the morning, the group had each lost nearly half of their clothes (Anna was still in her jeans and bra) and everyone but Angelina, George, Lee, and Alicia were completely pissed. They all remained in the game, but refused to be the ones to ask the question so that left Katie and Arianna left. "So Anna," Katie slurred with plenty of giggles mixed in as well. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

Katie began to giggle repeatedly and pointed at Anna to almost demonstrate what she wanted her to do. "Kiss George," she said after gaining some form of composure and moving her finger from George to Anna at least three times.

George stood up quickly and took the glass of fire whiskey out of Katie's hand. "Alright I think the game is over now."

"Aww, but George I haven't done anything yet," Anna said as she began to stumble while getting up and throwing her arms around his neck.

Her vision was pretty much impaired at this point, but she was a confident kisser, even when she was too pissed to see straight. It was only George though and there was a very high chance that neither of them will remember what happened tonight anyway. "Alicia would you mind taking her to-"

"Shhh," Anna hissed placing a finger over his lips to stop him from speaking.

She let out a giggle and pressed her lips against his. Despite her current state, there was something sobering in the kiss that caused her to deepen it, make it last longer than a drunk dare should, and entangle her fingers in his ginger hair. His lips were quick, hungry, and tasted like a mixture of the fire whiskey they had been drinking and something sweet, like cinnamon. Even in her intoxicated state, she knew George wanted this as much as she did. As she slowly pulled apart from him, she felt as though the wind was completely knocked out of her. She was left utterly breathless from both the kiss and the amount of alcohol in her system, but to her it was definitely the kiss. "You have no clue how long I've wanted to do that," she whispered.

George's face grew slightly red and he rested his forehead on hers. "Is that you or the alcohol talking?"

"Both." She nodded multiple times, but gave him a confused smile with each one. As George opened his mouth to respond to her, she quickly covered hers and began to make a gagging noise before vomiting over his bare chest and falling foreword in exhaustion. "Didn't know you were – you were that bad of a kisser, Georgie," Katie sputtered out through her laughter.

George looked over at the girls, Fred, and Lee. "Alicia, you and Ang make sure Katie gets to bed safe. I'll let Anna stay here for the night. Lee, you find some of that sobering potion you made," he said as he made his way to the bathroom to clean her up.

"I'm fine George, just tired is all," Anna muttered in protest as he stripped the jeans off of her and turned the water on so to clean her.

"Shut up, Anna," he said as he peered out of the bathroom for Lee. "You have that potion yet, mate?"

George got a cloth wet and added soap to it as he quickly cleaned his chest. Fred walked over to him, a small vial in hand. "Lee gave me some, the rest is for Anna. We're sleeping in the common room tonight," he said and with the last sentence added a wink for good measure.

"Give us an hour, she'll most likely want to go sleep in her own bed tonight," he whispered to his brother.

Fred gave a shrug and grinned at his brother before walking out of their dormitory. Quickly, he brought the vial to her lips and had her drink the potion. Almost instantly she felt her mind becoming less fuzzy and her vision clearer. The taste of sick was still burning in her mouth, but she still looked at George and gave him a small smile. "I'm a terrible drunk," she admitted weakly.

"I've noticed. Look, I'll… I'll go get you something to wear. You just clean yourself up. The potion will probably hinder most of your memory. I'll just fill in any holes afterwards, okay?"

She nodded and stripped down fully as soon as he left the room. She had a very vague idea of the night, but judging from where she was and that she and George were the only ones left in the room and he seemed less than pleased with her. She cleaned herself and her knickers before using a drying charm on them. She pulled them back on and opened the door to see George rummaging through his trunk. "My jumper and jeans are still good George, I'll just put them on and head back to my dormitory."

"Here," he said handing her an old wool jumper of his that was a dark blue with a 'G' on the center of it in gold. "Mum makes me one every year, you should sleep in something cleaner and stay for a bit."

She took the jumper and pulled it over her head and her arms through the sleeves. It was a good size and a half larger than her and fell mid-thigh. "It's kind of big; especially considering it was made for you," she observed as she pulled down on it and pulled it back up again.

"Yeah, mum doesn't really take account what size we wear when she makes them, unless you're someone not in the family."

They stood in silence with the smell of sick and alcohol filling the air. She felt bad that because of her recklessness, the boys were staying on the couch instead of their own beds. She took out her wand and began to use a few simple cleaning spells around the room that left it odorless. The silence became more prominent and the lack of noise was leaving a small ringing in her ears. Arianna watched as George picked up the bottles and tossed them in a bin in the bathroom. "I'm sorry for ruining the night," she said quietly.

"You didn't," he muttered shaking his head. "It was already dying down before Katie made that dare and you, well you know."

"Are you mad at me?"

"No, but do you remember what happened in the past hour?"

"Vaguely… this is bad even for me. I remember the taste of fire whiskey and cinnamon and you, but not everything."

George let out a laugh and ran his fingers through his hair. "Do you want to know what happened, Anna?"

She nodded sitting down on one of the beds. His face was beginning to turn a shade of red that she had usually seen only on Ron. "Well, you kissed me and considering you were pissed enough to the point where you had to drink half of that bottle of sober up potion, you were, and well you were pretty good."

Anna sat, staring up at him in bewilderment. "I've wanted to do that for so long and I can't even remember it," she said breaking out into a laugh, covering her face with her hands in embarrassment.

"Yeah, you mentioned that," George said, his voice giving off a much warmer tone then before. "You're a lot more timid when you're sober which is saying a lot."

She moved her hands to look up at him. He looked amused for the most part and partially confused as well. She wanted nothing more than to remember that kiss and if it was pretty good for her too or just as forgettable as a snog with any other guy. George wasn't just some other guy though. She genuinely cared about him and liked him and that had only ever occurred once with another guy and it turned to shit. She opened her mouth slowly, carefully planning her words. "George, what do you think of me?" she asked quietly, regretting the words as soon as they left her mouth.

He looked caught off guard and looked her over once or twice as she stared up. "You're one of those people that you don't expect to come into your life and make such a small, but powerful impact," he started slowly, not looking at her the entire time. "I honestly consider you to be a best friend of mine, aside from Fred and Lee of course, but still a best friend none the less."

"Oh…" she muttered as her head fell in slight embarrassment.

"You didn't let me finish," he added sitting next to her and tilting her head so that she was looking directly at him. "The thing is, I don't think about Fred and Lee the way that I think about you. And honestly, I'm falling for you, hard. Really fucking hard and it's both exciting and… completely terrifying at the same time."

George took her chin in his hand and leaned forward, and pressed his lips gently against hers. The kiss was warm and the taste she remembered, the mixture of cinnamon and fire whiskey, returned quickly as Anna slowly began to remember the first kiss they had shared. That little spark she was able to feel that sobered her up, even for a few minutes, blossomed now that she actually was sober to the point where it was almost intoxicating. She moved so that she was on top of him, her legs on either side of his, and placed her arms around his neck, his at her waist. The kiss soon became rough, the two of them moving swiftly against the other. George ran his tongue gently against her bottom lip, parting them and gaining entry. A chill ran down her spine as he entangled his fingers in her hair and pulled her closer to him. She had to admit, snogging George was unlike snogging a lot of the guys she was with. He was playful, yet passionate and it wasn't one where it was only her in control. It was a perfect match, one where they were both dominant kissers that resulted in a few small giggles and moans to escape from their lips from time to time. As George moved his lips from hers and slowly traced her jaw line with time, to the nape of her neck, a quiet moan escaped from her lips as he playfully kissed and bit her skin. "George," she moaned leaning her head back. "I really hate to say this, but maybe we should stop. Before things get too…"

She could feel him smiling against her neck before he pulled back to look at her. They were both left breathless, a small sheen of sweat on the two of them. George let out a laugh and pressed his forehead against hers, smiling from ear to ear. "Same question," he said.

"What?" she asked breathlessly.

"What do you think of me?"

"I feel the same, mainly for the last part, but still the same," she breathed heavily. "So, what does this mean about us?"

"We're either two friends who love to play guessing games with the other or we can actually establish ourselves as a couple and see where it goes."

She giggled and bit her lip, averting her gaze from his. "That is, if you actually want that."

"I do!" she said quickly, focusing her eyes on his again. "I like you, George, and I would love to be your girlfriend."

The absurdity of the word caused another giggle to escape from her lips as she kissed him again. "Remind me to thank Fred tomorrow morning," he told her as he pulled away from Arianna and fell back on the bed.

"And what for?" she asked curling her legs up to her chest so that her head rested on her knees.

"All of that mess that occurred, well what happened before hand, was his idea. He may not look like it, but he has a pretty good grasp on people's personalities and suspecting what they want to do."

"He came up with the whole truth serum, alcohol, and truth or dare?"

"And he said that you'd be the one to have that dare he used on you be at the end of truth so people won't be as inclined to pick truth."

"How did he figure that out?"

George turned his head towards the brunette, eyed her legs that were severely uncovered by the jumper he gave her, and gave a wolfish grin. "Well, he said that if you picked truth someone might ask you if you're interested in me and that you're too prideful to admit something like that through a liquor induced state."

She smiled softly and traced the pattern on the quilt that lay on the bed. "It's silly how much we behave like prideful little third years, too scared of their own good to admit their feelings."

"Better than Ron and Hermione, I guess."

She laughed again and ran her fingers through her damp hair, separating the curls forming at the ends. "I better get to bed," she started and in a quick response George shifted so there was room for her to lie beside him. "My bed," she specified with a small laugh.

Arianna put her hand on the back of George's neck and kissed him goodnight. "I'll send the boys back up, I'm sure they're awake," she said as she pulled away and went to gather her clothes.

"Night, Anna."

She flashed him a warm smile and said goodnight before running down the steps into the common room to find Fred and Lee each snogging Alicia and Angelina. Not wanting to disturb them, she quickly made her way to the staircase for the girl's dormitories. She felt silly for grinning so hard at what had just happened with George and while she wanted to be sure to scold Fred tomorrow for causing such reckless and stupid behavior, she wanted to thank him as well. Her dormitory was empty that night as she climbed into her bed, not bothering to remove the jumper George had given her. It wasn't until later on in the night when Alicia and Angelina stumbled into the room, each whispering to each other about the night. She was too tired to listen to what the girls were chatting about, but as she neared the stage of deep sleep she only heard the mention of George and herself.

oOo

It was the day that Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were to come to the school and the tournament would officially start. Classes, particularly Defense Against the Dark Arts seemed to drag on for ages as Moody went over curses and counter curses. George had received around fifteen points for his quick wand work from him dueling with Fred. "Alright class, now I'm required by Professor Dumbledore to tell you all that this competition that is starting tonight is a way to make friends and that even if you're not selected as a champion, it is a great learning experience. However, as being an ex-auror I feel obligated to give you all another piece of advice, be careful who you get friendly with. Durmstrang's head is a former Death Eater and there is no doubt in my mind that a few of his students might have picked up some of his views and I advise you to stay away from the lot of them. The Beauxbatons ladies and gentlemen, well we currently have a former student of theirs in the room so you can just ask McKinnon what's what about them. I'm also required to tell you to go to your dormitories before heading to the Great Hall and getting ready to welcome our competitors. Class dismissed."

As they made their way back to the common room, George gave a quick goodbye to Anna before rushing off with Fred and Lee. Alicia turned towards the Anna and gave her a large smile. "So, I take that things with George are good," she giggled as she nudged her friend with her elbow.

"What was that?" she asked as she continued to watch the boys walk off. "Oh, sorry, yeah things are pretty good. It's only the first two weeks, though. That's when things are usually easier."

"So you've been in a relationship before? Anyone at Beauxbatons?" asked Alicia.

"Well… only two, but only one lasted relatively long."

"Uh, details please!"

Anna laughed and shook her head no. "Alicia, I don't know you well enough to give you details about my former private life."

"Well, is either of them going to be arriving tonight?" Angelina asked as she joined the conversation.

"Ian is, but John isn't. John left the school around three years ago."

"Which one was Ian?" Alicia pressed.

"The long-term one," she answered as she pushed past the girls and pushed her way to the front of the Fat Lady's portrait.

She quickly gave the password and hurried into the common room, her mind clouded with memories of her times with Ian. She had been successful at pushing him from her memory, but her revealing the names of her past two boyfriends to Angelina and Alicia just caused hundreds of times they spent together flowing back. She made her way to her dormitory and changed into clothes more suitable for the evening's events, the memories began to stream together clearly and flowed through her mind in a way that nearly caused to feel completely sick. Everything from her first time on the Quidditch pitch at midnight to when he visited her when she was at home. Arianna did consider him to be her first love, but they lacked a certain passion to them that caused her to want to stay with him. He was a terrible boyfriend and an abusive one at that, but for some reason she stayed with him until the last term for her at Beauxbatons where he cheated on her with several different girls and she didn't do anything to stop him. It was a terribly unhealthy relationship, but for some reason she couldn't stop herself from being with him.

Doing her best to collect her thoughts, she stood, pinned her curls away from her face, and pulled on the black robes Dumbledore wanted the school to wear in order to be appropriate for the guests coming to the school. She would much rather stay in her dorm for the night, or in the common room, but McGonagall had told everyone a week before then that anyone who was absent from the guest's arrival would be deducted of ten house points and given a detention. She passed the two girls she left behind at the portrait as she made her way back to the common room. "Anna, wait!" Alicia called out to the girl.

She stopped and turned to look at the dark haired girl. "We're really sorry." Angelina nudged Alicia. "Well, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have asked you about something that's so personal."

"It's fine, Alicia. Don't worry about it," she said kindly as she dismissed the girl with a wave of her hand before continuing to the common room.

George leaned on one of the arm chairs waiting for Arianna to come downstairs. He caught a look on her face and he looked at her carefully. "Are you alright, Anna?"

She bit her lip and played with her fingers. She knew her face was showing her nerves for their arrival for the two schools and if Ian was actually showing up with them or staying behind at school. "Just nervous I guess," she admitted weakly. "Can we just stay here? I could live with ten points off and a detention for the night. I just, really do not want to be here to welcome certain people."

"Yeah, that's fine with me," he said, pulling her into a hug. "Come up to my dorm once everyone leaves."

He gave her a kiss on the cheek before telling her he's going down to the kitchen to get something to eat since they were both missing the feast tonight. She went up to her dorm and pulled the black robes off and unpinned her hair before heading off to his for the night. The room was empty when she walked in. She pulled her school jumper off and threw it onto the floor as she began to look around the room. It was relatively clear, with the exception of a few muggle posters of women clad in the tiniest of bikinis and posters of several Quidditch teams around the room as well. She glanced at the trunks at the end of each bed before setting her eyes on one with the initials 'G.W' etched on the outside of it. Peering over her shoulder at the door, she opened it and took a look inside of it to see piles of clothes and a few odd inventions here and there. She closed it and went to the window to see the Beauxbatons carriage on the horizon.

"Alright, Anna, are you hungry?"

George was holding two bags, one filled with four bottles of butterbeer and the other filled with two small boxes with the smell of burgers coming from them. He went over to his bed and dropped the bags on it and took her hands. "Okay, let's get you away from that window. You didn't want to attend so you're not going to watch from the window."

He sat her down on the bed handed her a butterbeer and grabbed one for himself. She twisted the cap off and took a swig, letting the warm liquid flow down her throat. She leaned back against the headboard and gave him a warm smile. "Thank you."

"It's no problem," he said as he took off his tie and jumper and tossed them on his trunk. "So what made you want to not go to the ceremony tonight?" he asked as he took the cap off of his butterbeer and pulled out one of the burgers for Anna. "And we still have some of that Veteriserum if you don't tell me the truth."

"Ian Fouché." She spoke softly between bites of her burger. "He's my ex and one of the main reasons I'm going here now."

Arianna looked up to see how George had stiffened. "Look, I can either go into details or we can stop this conversation here and just eat our burgers and talk about things other than Ian and Beauxbatons. But you're my best friend and now my boyfriend so it's a little bit required for you to know it."

"Are you sure you want to talk about it?"

"If you get me something stronger than butterbeer I am."

He shook his head and placed his hand over hers in an attempt to calm her nerves. "Alright," she sighed. "It started the day after my fifteenth birthday, Ian is a year older than me, and I was walking to my transfiguration class when he stopped me along the way and asked me to meet him on the Quidditch pitch at midnight. It was the first time he had ever spoken to me so I told him I'd come. That night we ended up having sex, my first time, and right there on the Quidditch pitch. He said that he heard it was my birthday the day before and wanted to do something special for me. He didn't speak to me until the beginning of last year and we ended up starting a relationship that was primarily focused on sex, him cheating on me, and the occasional abuse I received from him."

"What kind of abuse?" he asked, his was voice tense.

She grew quiet and took another swig of the butterbeer, wishing it was stronger than the fire whiskey she had two weeks ago. "He beat me a few times," she admitted in a weak voice. "He did it whenever I confronted him about cheating on me, or when I said that I wanted us to stop seeing each other. I thought it was love and in my delusional mind of mine, I thought it was a mutual feeling. Maurice, my granddad, found out when Ian came to visit."

"And he decided that he wanted you to go to Hogwarts instead?"

"Well, we looked at other options, but he mentioned that mum went here so I decided to go here instead and I went to go to my second Aunt's place to live, got a job in Diagon Alley, and you know the rest," she finished with a smile at memory of that little encounter they had over the summer.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I pushed Ian from my memory; Alicia only rekindled it when she asked me if I dated anyone before you."

George was finished with his burger and his first butterbeer when Anna had finally finished. He had removed his had from hers and they sat quietly for a while; the only noise came from the grounds bellow and from Anna eating her dinner. She thought about how fast she rushes into relationships, how she's full on all the time. It's either all or nothing when it came to her and she began to wonder if she rushed into being in a relationship with George, and that she jumped too quickly when he offered her to be his girlfriend. George was different from Ian though, he left her feeling safe, cared for, and grounded. Odd, considering his vivacious personality and charm. Sure, she loved Ian, but maybe she could fall in love for real this time and not have her heart broken in the end. By the time Anna had finished eating, she bit her lip and looked at George, dying to know what he was thinking. "Sickle for your thoughts?"

"Did he… ever rape you?" he asked, his hands clenched so tight his knuckles were starting to get white.

She bit her lip, hesitating before she finally answered. "Yes, and that was the time he visited when I was at home." Her voice was small. "Maurice heard me and he cursed Ian and told him that the two of us were through and… well…" she gestured with her hand and grew silent once more.

George's fists remained clenched and Arianna gently placed her hand on top of his, making small circles with her thumb in an attempt to calm him. "He's not going to be around forever and I half expect to see him around here, but nothing is ever going to happen between the two of us again."

"You can't really be sure when he's the first person you ever loved, Arianna."

She hated the way he said her full name. It was always whenever he was serious and it lacked the same affection that he had towards her whenever he called her Anna. She hated it even more. His tone in particular made her cringe, but she kept her hand in place. She could feel herself trembling and her eyes starting to fill with tears. "Don't you ever say that to me again, George Weasley," she hissed. "I'm a firm believer in a variety of love and what was with Ian was just a sexual love. We never had conversations and I doubt he ever knew my middle name. I'll never be able to love him again, but there is going to be memories of him that stay with me, no matter how hard I push them away."

"I thought you said he wasn't going to be around forever."

"I meant in the literal sense. I honestly have no feelings left for him."

She removed her hand from his fist and wiped her eyes. She carefully watched George. He seemed to be processing everything she had just said slowly. He turned his head so that his dark blue eyes met hers. "So, what variety of love would you categorize us as?" he asked as his took her hand, deciding not to discuss Ian anymore.

"First," she said without a moment's hesitation. "I've been in several other relationships before you and… you know, but nothing has ever had this feeling to it. It's brand new; something that I haven't really experienced where the feeling is strong and it is both passionate and caring. It's honest, not hiding any secrets. But really, it's both intoxicating and sobering at the same time. Leaving me breathless on a number of occasions, and so flustered and frantic on others. It's reckless, but grounded at the same time to try and prevent either of us from getting hurt."

"Sounds perfect."

"No, not perfect. There are flaws and baggage with both of us, but we're dealing and so far it's perfect, but with first love there is always something troubling to come."

"Aren't you optimistic," he teased as he took her face in his hands and kissed her.

She giggled and pulled away gently. "I'm just a realistic idealist," she admitted.

George tossed the trash lying out on his bed in the bin in the bathroom and lied down next to Arianna on his bed. She curled up against his chest and closed her eyes as he played with the curls in her hair. She listened to the rhythmic beating of his heart and a faint smile traced the edges of her lips. "So, what is your middle name?"

"Olivia."

oOo

Author's Note: So there we go, some more insight into Arianna's past as well as George and her finally getting together. Chapter seven is already in the works and should be out a few weeks after this one! :) I'm really sorry it took me ages to type up this chapter, but hopefully I'll have more time during school to write these chapters. I have a lot planned, but never really have the time to type anything out. Thankfully this spring break I didn't have wi-fi (god awful thing to experience, jfc) so I was able to finish this chapter and start the next. Hope you enjoyed!