Chapter 10

Angelina froze at the sight of George, as she was the one most accustomed to what his current expression meant- that he was in a right state, and ready to cause destruction.

"George, wait a minute–" she started, looking worried.

Before Angelina could say or do anything else, Ginny charged forward and hurled herself at her brother, throwing her arms around him and smothering him with kisses.

"You arse! Why did you ignore me?" she exclaimed. She shoved him in his chest, looking angry, but broke into a grin as she hugged him again. Percy rushed forward to embrace his brother as well. The impact of his siblings' gripping embraces caused George to drop his wand as a look of total confusion washed over his face. He winced at the pressure of Ginny's loud kisses against his cheeks. At first he stood there, arms hanging at his sides, but as Angelina watched him with a rapidly beating heart, he slowly encircled his two siblings as they chattered cheerfully, cutting each other off in their haste to speak with him.

"Why the bloody hell haven't you spoken to us–"

"Thank God Angelina's been taking care of you, or we wouldn't have known what to do–"

"Oh, let's go see Mum and Dad, right away–"

George could not get a word in edgewise as Ginny squeezed him and Percy kept playfully poking and shoving him.

"OI!" George finally shouted, and both Ginny and Percy stopped short with their affections. George bent to pick up his wand.

"I need my wand to get the charm off the back door," he said gruffly. "You nearly crushed it under your heel, Gin."

Angelina smiled shyly, happiness flooding through her. He wasn't angry. His cheeks were flushed. He looked magnificent.

"What's in the back?" Ginny asked, turning around.

"Things I've been working on," he said.

"So, does this mean…"

"I'm back," George said quietly. He looked at Angelina, his eyes swelling with tears. "I'm back for good."

Angelina, Ginny and Percy all let out a celebratory whooping noise, and the few customers who had witnessed the unfolding of events applauded.

George helped Percy ring the last of the customers up while Angelina hung about, feeling slightly out of place. They had just fought, after all, and though he'd given her fair warning, he'd once again hurt her feelings. He'd told her she wasn't part of the family, and now she did feel sort of like an outsider. She made a motion to Ginny, who set a box down and came over to her.

"I'll see you all later on. I'm going to let George spend some time alone with everyone. Besides, I've got to get up early in the morning," Angelina said quietly, pulling her coat on.

"No, you mustn't leave! We're going to Mum and Dad's. You have to come with us! George wouldn't be here if it weren't for you!" Ginny said indignantly.

Percy and George had heard. "You leaving, Angelina?" Percy asked.

Angelina glanced quickly at George, who now looked down. She felt a sharp pain stab at her heart. It was true, then. He didn't want her around. She cleared her throat. "Yes, I-I was telling your sister that I've got to work early. So you go on and enjoy yourselves," Angelina said briskly. She hurried out before anyone could say another word. She hadn't made it but a few steps when she heard George call her.

"Angelina, wait," he said, jogging over to her. Even the short while he had been back at Wheezes had done him good. He looked so happy. She was glad for that, and realized that even though he'd been rude to her, she couldn't stay mad at him. He was making progress. She was no one to stand in the way of that.

When he came to her, he took her hands, standing close. She looked up at him, losing herself in his cobalt eyes of blue, and found she couldn't say a word.

"I love you, Angelina. D'you know that?" he asked her quietly.

She nodded. "I love you, too."

He sucked in a deep breath. "I need to go by myself this first time. Please, don't be upset. You know I didn't mean what I said back there, I–"

"It's alright. I'm not upset. I understand."

"I don't think you'll stick around too much longer if all you do is see me having breakdowns," George said, laughing gently.

"I was Quidditch Captain at Hogwarts. It'll take more than tears to scare me off," Angelina said, holding up her chin stubbornly.

George leaned down and kissed her, hard. He embraced as he did, lifting her from the ground slightly. For that moment, everything stood still; the only beings in the entire world were she and George, together, nothing coming between them. She suddenly felt in her heart that it could be like that. Forever.

"Thank you for understanding," he said.

"You're welcome. Now go," Angelina said, playfully shoving him towards the shop and his family. He grinned, leaned down and kissed her again, then turned and went back to his shop.

Angelina watched him go, feeling light as air as she did.

At home, true to what George had told her before, Hestia was laying in front of the door as if waiting on her. She arched her back and twitched her fluffy black tail when she saw Angelina.

"Come on, gal," Angelina said, scooping her up. "Let's get ready for bed, now, shall we?"

Hestia gave her consent by purring.

* * * * *

George hadn't come home by the time Angelina needed to be at work, and, though she felt anxious about what had happened when he'd gone to his parents, she didn't have the time to ponder it.

Work was the usual; half her day spent in the lab while she worked with her team on new creations and tried to avoid general mishaps, and the other half of her day spend checking over and signing off on deliveries, accepting packages from owls of all sizes and shapes, and occasionally checking in with Mr. Boggains.

"Are you all set for the conference in Dorset this weekend?" he asked her from his desk, where there sat quite a few bubbling potions.

"Yes." Angelina gagged as she caught an abrupt whiff of what was burning in one the flasks. "Are those slug secretions you're burning?"

"Precisely! Oh, few would have been able to pick out the aroma of slug secretions! I'm not worried at all about the grant we're requesting from Briggs and Coleman. You'll do just fine," Mr. Boggains said.

"Grant? You didn't tell me we were attempting to obtain a grant! I thought we were just showcasing our latest upgrade with the vision medications!" Angelia gasped. And a grant from Briggs and Coleman, no less. They were a hugely successful company of suppliers, and to earn the respect of them would be monumental. To be awarded a grant would be even more so. Angelina felt a slight headache coming on, as Mr. Boggains looked slightly confused.

"They're the only company with the funds to give us so we can expand the business. Didn't I mention that to you?"

"No, Sir, you did not."

"Ah, well, no matter. As I said, I have full confidence in you, Angelina. Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe this last vial is ready." Mr. Boggains grabbed a pair of thick rubber gloves and slid his safety goggles over his round face.

Angelina left his office feeling overwhelmed, and not just because Mr. Boggains was experimenting yet again in his office. (He'd blown up seven office spaces since she'd worked for him.) Her anxiety was kicking in because she'd had no idea that such a large task lay before her. True, she hadn't a problem talking in front of others or asserting herself, but requesting a grant was quite a lot of pressure to put on someone, especially when that someone just found out four days before the event was to take place.

"I'll never be ready in time!" she hissed to herself in a panic.

"Sorry?" James asked. He'd been walking in the opposite direction.

"I was talking to myself," Angelina said, shaking her head.

"Is everything alright? You look upset," he said, offering a small, sympathetic smile.

"As a matter of fact, it's not. I've just learned that I'm expected to talk my way into getting a grant from one of England's most profitable companies in Dorset on Friday," Angelina said.

"Which company?" James asked.

"Briggs and Coleman!"

James made a whistling noise, which infuriated Angelina.

"I'm well aware that it'll be the challenge of my life, Mr. Turpin–"

"Please, call me James. You–"

"Well, James, you have a good evening. Unlike you, I've got loads to do before I'm able to go home. So if you'll excuse me…" she snapped, stalking off towards the lab, glancing at the clock as she did.

Damn. It was already a quarter to six. It looked as if she'd be pulling another twelve hour day.

As Angelina pulled her works in progress to the front table, she tapped her wand against her head, muttering a quick spell that gently arranged her long, curly hair up and off of her face, and into a knot on top of her head. She grabbed her quill, and started to make notes on her tablet, but her quill snapped in half. Huffing in disgust, she hurled the broken pieces to the floor and looked frantically around for another quill.

Just her luck; there were none to be found. "This is ridiculous! Where the hell are all the quills around here?"

Angelina went to the back storage room and threw open the door, turning on the lights. She grabbed a long quill from the holder she saw on a table and came back out to the lab to find James there, pulling on his lab coat.

"What do you think you're you doing?" she demanded.

"Helping you. Just tell me what you need me to do," he replied.

"I can handle it. You go home," she said, wishing she could accept his offer, because it would help her call it a night sooner, but it wouldn't be right. Besides, James could be careless. He'd proven that before.

"You think I'm incompetent, don't you?" he said with smirk.

Angelina faltered, blushing in her embarrassment of his accurate assessment. "No, it's not that, it's just–"

"I know, I've made mistakes. I've had some personal things going on…been going through a separation. I haven't had any major malfunctions in weeks. Check my evaluation report. I'm telling you the truth," he said.

"I'm not accusing you of lying," Angelina answered. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "I'm sorry about your split. I really am, but I've got loads to do, and I'm wasting time just standing around–"

James reached out and pulled the record sheets towards him. "It says that all vials of cockatrice egg mixture should be tested after they're reheated. We could use beakers to be safe, but it would work faster if we used the fire cauldron."

He seemed determined to help. It felt a little strange working after hours with James, but the sooner she got out of here, the sooner she could get back to George, and find out what had happened at his parent's house.

Angelina smoothed her hands over her lab coat, and went into Supervisor mode. "We'll have to be very careful working with higher potion amounts. I'll document the color change at the moment it turns. It has to be exact–"

"Yes, I know. It should take about eight minutes. I've worked with the cockatrice before, from the beak to the feather, and everything in between," James said.

True to James' word, the unpleasant smelling mixture did turn at precisely eight minutes, going from brown to a liquid gold. It was quite an amazing change, for at the moment of color change, the smell went from being unpleasant to a light, buttery smell.

"Quickly! We've got to remove it from the heat while it's gold!" Angelina exclaimed. She and James both reached for the pot handle at the same time, his fingers covering hers accidentally. She let go, embarrassed, and the pot swung dangerously in James' hands, threatening to fall to the ground. She gasped.

"I've got it," he said calmly. Angelina watched him set the large pot down on the table, then handed her a ladle. He was very confident in the way he maneuvered, and Angelina was impressed.

They worked quickly together, and Angelina was pleasantly surprised to see that they were finished by half past eight. She had anticipated well after ten o'clock before she'd be going home.

"It's finished. Thank you so much. I'd have been camping out in my office if you hadn't stayed behind to help me," Angelina told James as they finished labeling the last crate of mixtures. James waited for Angelina to put the mixtures in the lab cooler before he shut the lights off to the lab. Angelina closed the door and locked it.

They walked towards the front of the building, not saying very much to each other. At the door, Angelina hesitated for a moment before she said quickly, "I should apologize for being rude to your earlier. You've no idea the pressure I've got on me for this Friday."

"I can imagine. But, you aren't a Supervisor for nothing. If you like, I could go with you, as your assistant. I'm sure you'd need help unloading everything and getting your paperwork together for the presentation. You'd have to clear it with Mr. Boggains, of course, but I'm sure he wouldn't object."

Angelina looked at him, noticing that up close, he wasn't bad looking at all. He had dark coloring, with large dark eyes and curly black hair. What was he being so helpful for?

"I-I don't think I need an assistant. But thank you very much," she said gently.

"Then don't worry about it. I'm sure they'll be so mesmerized by you, they'll give you anything you ask for," James said. "Especially if you wear your hair up like that."

"My hair? Are you serious? I charmed it up in seconds just to keep it off my face!" Angelina said, laughing.

"It's beautiful," James said.

Angelina's laughter faded as she now understood why James had helped her. She was flattered, but she didn't want to hurt his feelings. "You know I'm seeing someone…" she said softly.

"Yes, I assumed as much. The good ones are always taken," he said.

"Well, maybe you'll work things out with you wife –"

James made a face, shaking his head. "No, that's done. It's for the best, for both of us."

"I'm sorry, James. The right one's out there somewhere. When you're not looking, that's when she'll turn up," Angelina said, trying to sound cheerful. James shrugged, then pushed the heavy doors open, a gust of icy wind hitting them.

"Merlin's beard, it's cold out here," he muttered, pulling out his wand. Turning to Angelina, he said, "I'll see you tomorrow, then, Miss Johnson."

"Angelina. And thanks again for your help," she said. She took her wand out of her bag as well.

"Goodnight, Angelina," James said with a smile. "Let me know if you change your mind about Dorset."

Angelina simply nodded, and returned his smile. "Goodnight, then."

There was the sound of two loud cracks, and they both Disapparated to their respective home locations.