Prompt: Embrace, explode, eyes

Summary: When Angelina causes an accident in the shop, she isn't the only one burned.


George was working in the back room, mixing a new potion to create additional colors for Weasleys' Wild-Fire Whiz-Bangs. He heard Verity tell Angelina he was in the back and then the sound of her footsteps, but he didn't look up to welcome her. This potion was highly volatile.

"Whew, it is pouring out there," Angelina said. "What are you working on?"

He corked the flask and set it back on the shelf. "Whiz-bangs. Stay over there—no, wait!"

His warning came too late as Angelina took the coat she had just removed and gave it a vigorous shake. Drops of water flew everywhere, and the potion fizzed ominously.

"Duck!" George lunged at her, and they hit the floor hard as the Whiz-Bang potion exploded with a resounding boom, followed by a series of cracks and pops as the Skiving Snackboxes ignited on the shelves above.

Verity appeared even before the noise had stopped. "Mr. Weasley! Mr. Weasley, are you all right?"

"Don't Vanish them!"

"I remember, Mr. Weasley," Verity said, ducking a spinning Catherine wheel in a vivid shade of violet, just what he had been going for. "It makes them multiply by ten. Should I call for a Healer?"

George followed her gaze to see Angelina still lying on the floor, her hands over her eyes.

"Angelina!" He dropped to the floor beside her. "Did it splash you?"

"I think so." Her voice was tight with pain. "It burns."

"Call a Healer," George said sharply, and Verity disappeared. "Let me see. Come on." He pulled her hands down, and she turned her head away from him, wincing. He breathed a sigh of relief. "It's not your eye, but it is close. Sit still." He stepped over the debris scattered everywhere and opened a cabinet.

"Here." He sat beside her again, conjured a handkerchief, and poured a yellowish substance onto it. "Essence of murtlap. It'll ease the sting."

She tensed and jerked away from him, so George placed his free hand against her cheek, dabbing at the corner of her eye with the other. She relaxed into his touch and her breathing eased.

"Better?"

"Uh-huh."

Her lashes fluttered open, and George found himself staring into warm eyes the same brown-black as coffee beans. They hadn't been this close in months. He could feel her hip pressed against his as they sat side-by-side, the warmth of her skin under his palm, the whisper of her breath against his jaw. He dropped his gaze from her eyes to her mouth. Her full lips parted, as if in invitation, and he looked into her eyes again, wanting to be sure.

"Right through here, sir," Verity said. "She got splashed by a potion."

Angelina's eyes shuttered, and George dropped his hand.