It had been two weeks since Angelina and George's fight and to the outside world presumably nothing had change. But George felt an invisible degree of emotional separation between them now. He tried to think of it as a good thing, maybe this was a sign that their relationship lines were becoming too muddled and confusing. They certainly were for George. The only problem was, the more she pulled away, the more desperately he longed for her to treat him the way she used to.
"Are you ready?" George asked Angelina excitedly. "It's the big day, the dreamcicle grand opening. Look at that queue!" He went to hug her but she quickly swerved to the other side of the counter.
"Let's not leave them waiting then!" She replied with a smile. She opened the door then quickly had to run out of the way so she wouldn't be bombarded by the eager customers.
"ALRIGHT EVERYONE ARE YOU READY TO EXPERIENCE YOUR DEEPEST DESIRES?" She yelled to the hungry crowd.
"Yeah!" The crowed yelled.
"Wicked. Now before we start, I just want to say that this product has a special place in George and my heart. Why's that George?" He paused at first, mesmerized by Angelina along with the crowd. She gave him a fierce look signaling it was his time to talk.
"Oh um…Well most of you know about my brother Fred." This caused a mixtures of awes and whispers to come from the audience. "He was the one who had the idea to make the dreamcicle. Angelina and I made his dream come to life and now his product will do the same for you!" George's speech was met with cheers and hollers echoing throughout the shop. "Pardon the nepotism, but the first dreamcicle goes to my mum." Molly, who was already tearing up, flushed a bright red. The crowd cleared her path as she trotted, exuberantly to the front of the shop.
"You're too good to me George!" She took both his cheeks in her hands "My sweet boy, I'm so proud." Angelina got a box of dreamcicles from behind the counter and handed it to Mrs. Weasley.
"George, Padma Patil Daily Prophet, could we get a picture of you and Ms. Johnson giving the box to your mum?" The three of them turned for the picture, Mrs. Weasley turning and even darker shade of scarlet.
"Luna Lovegood, temporary quibbler representative, what do you say to those that claim your product works by attracting waxspurts to your brain?" She said. Luna stared them down, wearing a mismatched suit and only one high heal.
"Luna we know you!" George said laughing. She got very close to him, so close it made him feel a little uncomfortable.
"Let's just imagine that you don't, I'm trying to be professional." She moved back to her spot and winked at Mrs. Weasley.
"Alright, all further questions will have to wait until after the initial sale because we have some customers, here, who want to try out the newest WIZARD WHEEZ!" Angelina shouted, jumping up on the counter and sliding to the other side. 'When did she get so sprite?' George wondered with a grin. "There will be two queues, one in front of my register, and the other in front of George's." The crowd swiftly parted forming two massive queues that reached well outside the door. Angelina looked at George and took a deep breath. "Alright! Let's DO THIS!"
George and Angelina frantically worked their way through the seemingly endless queue of people, passing them boxes, accepting their Galleons.
"Wait Mam, please sample the product in the privacy of your own home. Weasley Wizard Wheezes isn't responsible for any embarrassing things you do while experiencing the product." George said to a woman who was just about ready to give the whole shop a show.
"Hey Angelina, what do you say you give me a dreamcicle – on the house." Lee Jordan said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Anything for my best mate. Angelina give Lee, here, a complimentary box!"
"Sure thing!" She said with a smile. "Though, I heard your dream already came true Lee. Didn't Katie and Oliver break up? That wouldn't have anything to do with you would it?"
"I may have had something to do with it!" He said, taking his box and walking haughtily away.
"It's good for them, don't you think? That they get to be together now." George quipped, trying to engage Angelina in conversation.
"I won't say I'm not happy about it." Angelina replied in a flat tone, wrapping another box with a flick of her wand.
"Alicia's going to freak when she finds out!" George persisted, even though it felt like he was having the conversation with himself.
"I'm sure she already knows." Angelina said dryly, then "I hope we made you laugh today!" brightly to the man she just helped. George couldn't take it anymore, how long was she going to torture him?
"Come on Angelina." He said, stopping what he was doing. "How long are you going to keep treating me like this, be mad at me or something but this indifference crap is so infuriating." Angelina looked at him awkwardly and tilted her head to a clearly terrified old witch he was supposed to be checking out. George scratched the back of his head awkwardly "Oh umm sorry Mam. Here you go. Feel free to take a free liquorish wand on your way out." George said, feeling mortified.
"We aren't talking about it remember, that was the deal." Angelina said in harsh whisper after the woman had gone.
"I thought we were going to act as if it didn't happen."
"I'm sorry I'm not emoting to your liking George, please let me know again how I am supposed to live my life." Angelina passive aggressively mused through gritted teeth.
"Ok, I didn't want to start another fight. I –"
"Well this is why we don't talk about it." She turned to the man she was helping. "Could you hold on sir, I have to bring more boxes up from the back storage area?" George watched her go, disheartened – that got him absolutely nowhere.
Once the crowed had died down, George and Angelina sat in their respective lounge chairs, silent. Every once in a while George would steal looks at her to see if she was looking at him but she never was. He blamed his parents, 'damn the Weasley temper' he thought. He had gotten it from both his mum and dad's side. His dad told him a story once about how his brother blew up a diner when his mother wouldn't let him have another piece of pie. 'It could be worse Angelina, I could be like Uncle Pluto'. He chuckled to himself.
The bell chimed signaling the front door had opened, both George and Angelina jumped from their exhausted daze. A tall, brawny man walked into the shop, looking closely at the merchandise. Angelina shot up bolt straight, looking stressed. She hit George repeatedly on the arm.
"Owe Angelina, what are you on about?"
"That's him, that's Bletchley. You have to come up with something, hide me." She smiled grimly and waved to him from across the room as he started heading their way. "Oh shit! He's seen me, this is so embarrassing." She smiled uncomfortably, her eyes permanently glued to the floor.
"Hello Angelina! I… uh knew it was the big day and I promised I'd come so," He tussled his sandy blond hair "So I'm here." Something cold hit George's chest. 'Shit, he's a nice guy!' He didn't much like the idea of Angelina being with anyone, but maybe what she needed right now was a sweet guy like Bletchley. But it certainly would not be a permanent thing. George offered his hand.
"Hello, I'm George Weasley I own the shop. Angelina and Katie have told me wonderful things about you." George said, mustering all his strength to do it. He owed this to Angelina. She gawked at him.
"Oh yes, it's really great to finally meet you." His face shifted. "Angelina told me about your brother – I'm so sorry." Anger bubbled within George again and this time it really was for Fred. How could this guy even say his name? Was he sorry when he was snogging his Fiancé? Angelina could feel it, she stared at George worried, waiting for the explosion. 'Breathe George, breathe,' he mentally told himself.
"Hey, I think you graduated from Hogwarts the same year as my brother Bill." George said tastefully changing the subject.
"Yeah, I was Captain of the Hufflepuff team at the same time as him." 'Figures he was in Hufflepuff, look at that stupid grin.' But George smiled on, much to Angelina's amazement.
"Hey, a bunch of us are celebrating at Hogshead after closing if you'd like to come along." Maybe that was overkill, but George owed her a lot. Even if it did mean having a nights worth of mannerly conversation with boring Bletchley.
"Thank you, but I won't be staying long." George exhaled. "Actually, I was hoping to speak to Angelina if you can excuse her for a few minutes." He turned to face her, her head still bowed. "You haven't been coming to practices so I thought I'd corner you at work. Can we talk?"
"Yeah…" she said sheepishly. "Yes, of course."
"You can talk in the back storage area, take as long as you need." George offered, then watched Angelina begrudgingly head in that direction. What he would give to listen to that conversation. He considered opening a box of extendable ears, but decided against it. If he messed up again, he could kiss his hopes of rekindling his friendship with Angelina goodbye.
"It was great meeting you George, enjoy the rest of your day." Bletchley said later, on his way out the door. George noticed that he seemed to be in a relatively good mood and there had been no shouting coming from the storage room. Oooh, George was practically jumping up down to know what they talked about. He couldn't take it anymore, he decided he would take his chances on talking to Angelina. He walked cautiously into the back storage area, knocking on the door frame.
"Is it safe to enter or will I be hit with pinching curse on sight?" He asked wearily.
"You're safe." She said in a somewhat brighter tone than she had been using with him for weeks.
"Uhh, are you OK Ang?" George asked sitting on the opposite wall.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank Merlin all guys aren't assholes like you!" She said mockingly. George gasped and brought his hands up to his heart as if he just been hit by a fatal spell.
"Angelina, you wound me!" He looked at her, smiling wide, eyes big and hopeful. "But I guess I deserve it, huh? You're teasing me again, that's a good sign."
"You were really cool today, with Bletchley I mean. That situation could have been a colossal embarrassment for all of us but you really kept it together. Thank you!" Angelina admitted with a smile. A real smile, one that George had dearly missed. He had the overwhelming urge to scoop her up in his arms and hug her but he knew that was completely inappropriate so he just ended up staring at her. What on earth were the impulses he was having towards her – he needed to get them under control.
"Whatcha lookin at weirdo?" Angelina said waving her hands in front of his face. George flinched, feeling his cheeks warm.
"Umm nothing, what did he want anyway?" He asked changing the subject and because the question had been tugging at him.
"Ahh, so that's why you're in here – you nosy git! You don't care if I'm ok. You surprise me Weasley, in events like these don't you generally pull out the extendable ears?" Angelina mused, shaking her head in amusement.
"I was tempted, trust me, but I thought it best not to push my luck!"
"Look at that, George Weasley taking the high road. Well, this just won't do. I think you're getting soft with age." Angelina teased.
"Merlin, will you shut it and tell me already?" George said feigning exasperation. Angelina chuckled.
"He honestly just wanted to make sure I was alright. He apologized for pressuring me – even though he didn't. He told me to start coming to practice again and to not worry about any awkward tension between us because as far as he was concerned, there was none."
"You know, I think he's too nice. Like maybe he has a basement with a bunch of dead bodies that he likes to cast spells on for fun." George proposed, trying to cover up that he was obviously threatened by him.
"Yeah, Ok George. I'll make sure to ask him that on our date this Friday!" Angelina said happily. George's face went dead, like if he had just eaten a puking pestile. 'That ruddy little perv, he already asked her out on a second date? No wonder he left with such a big bloody grin.'
"Oi George, don't have heart attach I was only taking the piss. Just wanted to see how you would react." Angelina said. "You didn't call me slut this time, so we're already miles better than the last go round!"
"OH THAT'S IT JOHNSON, YOU'RE MINE!" In a matter of seconds he had cornered her, tickling her center. She erupted in laughter, squirming on the floor like a worm.
"Alright….I'm sorry! Truce… truce!" But George didn't stop until she hit the stack of dreamcicles behind her which upon impact fell atop both of them.
"I'm sorry." George said between laughs. He picked up one of the fallen boxes. "We did it, the product's a hit!" He continued proudly. Angelina grinned.
"Yeah, we really did! It felt like the whole wizarding world was here to try it out, and that doesn't even include the hundreds of Hogwarts orders we sent out this morning."
"It's a brilliant idea. I mean, people have a lot to dream about these days. I'm glad we got to finish it for him." George pondered, looking at the front of the box; it had a moving picture of Fred on the top. They both stared at if for a while.
"You tried it out yet?" Angelina asked.
"No." George had thought about it, but he was afraid of what he might see. "Have you?" George saw her flinch involuntarily.
"Yeah, a bit ago after the wedding planning party at your mum's house."
"What did you see?" he asked eagerly
"Yeesh Weasley, mind your own beeswax!" Angelina said defensively.
"Oh, come on… tell me!" he begged.
"Not a chance!" George perked up his eyebrows and smiled innocently. "Fine, here's the deal – you lick it and tell me what your dream is and I'll tell you mine."
"Now?" George asked bewildered.
"There's no time like the present Georgie!" She unwrapped a dreamcicle and handed it to George. "I'll let you have some privacy while I go and, you know, do our jobs."
George watched her leave, then examined the dangerous snack in his hand. "Here it goes." He took three savoring licks of the cicle and felt his eyes glaze over. Where he was once standing in the storage area, he was now in the shop crouched behind the counter.
"You ready for this George? Look at her, the old toad face doesn't even see it comin!" Fred said crouching beside him. George smiled eagerly.
"You know, I feel as if I was born ready Fred. What are the odds that Umbridge would come into our shop? She's practically begging us to teach her another lesson."
"I couldn't agree more!"
"HELLO! Is there anyone working in this ridiculous establishment?" Umbridge said in her unmistakable high pitched voice. Fred and George rose from behind the counter, coolly. "Ahh, there you are! I will have you know that the Ministry recognizes a great many of your – products as breaking magical law." Fred smirked at George then turned to an unsuspecting Umbridge.
"Is that so? Hmm, what about that one, over there? We made it special for feline enthusiasts like yourself." Fred chimed pointing to the adorable, lifelike kitten perched on a counter in the center of the store. Umbridge approached it cautiously.
"What does it do?" She questioned, George snickered.
"It's more of an interactive piece of merchandise, you pet her and she gives you a treat!" The twins said together, cheekily. Umbridge pet the kitten apprehensively at first, but as it seemed nothing bad was happening she got closer and began to talk to it in a baby voice the caused Fred to make barfing sounds in George's ear. But just as she let her guard down, the cat tossed its head back and coughed up a huge, slimy hairball right in her face. It dripped down the front of her pink blouse. Fred and George fell over on the counter laughing, patting each other on the back every few chuckles. They had been waiting for months to use that particular invention and boy were the results satisfying.
"ARRRRGGGGGGGG, YOU TWO ROTTEN, VAGRANT,GOOD FOR NOTHING –" Fred and George each magically catapulted one of their peanut butter chews in her mouth in the middle of her angry rant. "mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" She grumbled, not able to speak because her mouth was stuck together.
"I'm sorry Dolore, I can't understand you!" George stated in a sarcastic tone.
"You know, brother dear, I think it's because of the peanut butter chews. See, here on the wrapper it says, to shut up racist ministry Witches!" Fred chuckled to himself "hmm, that's awfully specific."
"Well, you know how us VAGRANTS are – we like to stick it to the man!" George continued, the two smiling, abundantly proud of themselves. Umbridge let out a final grumble then marched her disgusting self out of their shop.
"Fred, that was extremely satisfying! Sometimes I don't think it's fair that two mischievous geniuses like ourselves get to have all the fun." George said, putting an arm around his brother.
"Too true, by comparison, the rest of the world is just sad!"
"How are my two favorite Weasley boys?" Angelina asked, walking in the shop wearing her Hogwarts uniform, fitting tighter and more seductively than George last remembered. She jumped up on the counter and kissed Fred, then George on the cheek. Fred wrapped his arms around her waist and made to pull her into a real kiss but she put a finer to his lips. "tisk, tisk Freddie, you know the rules of the relationship – you have to share. Today is George's day – isn't that right Georgie?" She hopped off the counter and kissed George square on the lips, moving her hands threw his long ginger locks.
"Oi you two, get a room will you?" Fred said laughing.
"Don't mind if I do." Angelina whispered, pulling George into the back storage room. As soon as they were away from Fred's jealous eyes, George grabbed Angelina's butt and lifted her…
"GEORGE WEASLEY! SNAP OUT OF IT, GEORGE…GEORGE!" George jolted out of his mirage and found himself holding on to a disgruntled Alicia's backside! He quickly let go of his fiancé and looked up to see Angelina toppled over with laughter. It took George a little bit to completely take in the scene. First the realization that Fred wasn't there set in and he felt too lightheaded to continue standing. He slid down the wall, cupping his head in his hands. Angelina immediately stopped laughing and put her hand to her mouth. "Angelina, what's happening to him? Is he having some kind of bad reaction to the product?" Alicia asked frantically.
"No, it's Fred. The dreamcicle's meant to imitate your desired reality so…" Angelina kneeled down in front of him, trying to pry his hands away from his face. "George, I know it feels extraordinarily real!" He lifted his head and met her eyes, then he remembered the second part of his fantasy. He wasn't snogging Alicia – he was snogging Angelina. George's heart began to race, he recoiled from Angelina's touch and stood up to stand next to Alicia.
"Sorry Alicia, I completely forgot we were getting the invitations when you got home from work." George said, detached. "Angelina, could you finish the day then close up the shop for me? We will see you at Hogshead later." He didn't even meet Angelina's gaze.
"Uhh, yeah of course George." Angelina said sadly, obviously taken off guard. George ignored her apparent confusion, however, grabbing Alicia's hand and walking out the door without another word.