A/N- I saw the midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2, and it was so amazing! Just blew me away completely. Neville was such a BAMF, just saying XD Anyway, seeing the bits with the twins made me want to write, so here we go, a new chapter! :D
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Chapter 37: Muggle Magic
The orange-ish light of morning shone through the slight separation in the curtains across the room, and I contemplated getting up, but then I decided not to, and slept for another two hours. When I did get up, Fred was still asleep, so I got up and left, trying not to wake him. I shuffled down the stairs of the Burrow and in my tee shirt and black pajama pants and strode in to the kitchen. Mum was just finishing up breakfast, and Ginny, Ron, Harry, and Dad were at the table eating. The only one not up yet was Fred. The two open seats were side by side next to Ginny, of course, so I occupied the one that left a chair between us.
"Morning, Georgie, dear," Mum greeted me cheerfully as she set a plate in front of me.
"Morning, Mum," I returned the greeting with a smile as I stabbed a forkful of eggs. I could feel Ginny launching glares in my direction every few bites, and I just wanted to curl up in a hole.
"Any plans for the day, kids?" Dad asked over the Daily Prophet. No one else said anything so I spoke up.
"I'm gonna go for a walk or something later… get some fresh air," I said. Dad grunted his approval.
"How was your little Masquerade ball, Ginny?" Dad then asked. "Did everything plan out alright?"
"Oh yes, everything was just perfect," Ginny said in a falsely happy voice. She shot me an extra menacing glare, and I winced.
"You boys have a good time?" Dad asked.
"Eh, yeah… It was alright," Ron muttered, and Harry quietly agreed.
"George?" Dad looked at me.
"Yeah, it was alright. I had a good time."
"Did you have a date?" Dad asked, a smile spreading on his face and he winked at me. I closed my eyes and sighed.
"No. Fred and I went... alone," I managed. "Doesn't matter though. We had a good time."
"That's good," Dad said, and returned to the paper.
"Oh, I'm glad it went well," Mum added in. I nodded with a tight smile. We continued eating in a thoughtful silence for a few minutes before Fred came shuffling down in his pajamas, rubbing his eyes, and trying to tame his manic case of bed-head.
"Why didn't anyone wake me? I sleep right across from you, George, you can't be that lazy," he said in a groggy voice.
"I didn't want to disturb any… Pleasant, dreams you might have been having. You were mumbling things in your sleep, and I thought you might want to finish-"
"George!" Mum scolded me.
"Heh, I appreciate the thought, I suppose," Fred chuckled.
"I thought you would," I said over my glass of pumpkin juice. He sat down between me and Ginny and Mum summoned him a plate. He said his thanks and started eating. I didn't bother stealing any glances at him; it wouldn't do me any good. I just focused on my food, and where I would be going.
When I was done eating, I excused myself and jogged up the stairs, Fred following me up not too long after. I opened my wardrobe and pulled out the black skinny jeans, the green and white flannel shirt, and the red high top shoes and laid them on my bed. I then decided that if I was going to go anywhere today, I should probably take a shower, so I went down the hall to the bathroom. I turned the water on as hot as it would go and let it scald my skin. I washed my hair and body, but didn't get out right away. I liked the feel of the hot water on my skin. When I was satisfied, I turned off the water, and grabbed a navy blue towel from under the wooden counter of the sink. I wrapped the towel around my waist and exited the steam-filled bathroom back to my room. When I entered, Fred was laying on his bed. I dumped my dirty clothes in the basket by my dresser.
"You going somewhere today?" he asked.
"Yeah," I replied. I removed the towel from around my waist and used the side that hadn't touched my skin to scrub my hair dry. No matter how awkward things felt to me as far as this situation was concerned, being naked in front of him didn't bother me. He had the same set-up anyway, so there was no point in hiding.
"Where to?" he asked.
"Just around," I said, and tossed the towel in the basket as well. I pulled a clean pair of boxers out of my dresser, and slipped them on.
"You've been rather vague lately," Fred chuckled.
"I'd be more specific if I knew where I was going," I said. I pulled the jeans on next, and buttoned them up. Then I put the flannel on, and buttoned up all but the top two buttons. I rolled the sleeves up to just above my elbows.
"You don't know where you're going?" Fred asked.
"Nope. I'm just gonna walk around, I guess."
"You want some company?" He asked, sitting up. "I'll come along."
"That's alright. I just wanna have some 'me' time, you know?" I said, looking at him as I tied my shoes.
"Alright then," Fred said casually. I stood up, now fully dressed, and smoothed down my damp hair, making sure my bangs were the way they were when I first got the cut. "Wow, Georgie, you look really good," Fred said, grinning.
"Thanks…" I said, confused. He looked like he was about to get up, but I went for the door. "See you later," I stated, and left.
I padded downstairs, and was about to leave through the front door when Mum stopped me.
"George, where on earth did you get those clothes?" she asked, perplexed. Merlin, I forgot about that problem.
"Er, Hogsmeade. There's a shop there that sells Muggle clothing," I lied easily.
"Are you going in to the Muggle village?" she asked worriedly.
"Yes…" I said slowly.
"Alright, well… be careful dear. Don't draw too much attention to yourself," she said, and patted me on the shoulder.
"Don't worry Mum, I'm leaving my wand here," I said.
"Oh, no, dear, you really should take it, just in case."
"I'm not going to need it Mum, don't worry," I gave her a reassuring smile.
"Well alright… Isn't Fred going with you?" she asked.
"No, I just want some time to myself," I said quietly.
"IS everything alright?"
"Yeah, Mum, everything is fine. I want to be alone for a bit, to think."
"Okay… Well, have fun dear. Be careful."
"I will, Mum." I waved goodbye, and shut the front door. I let my breath out, and walked away.
O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*
St. Ottery Catchpole was a rather quiet little village, and it wasn't a far walk. The main area was scattered with random shops and restaurants, and not too far from there, there were a few Muggle neighborhoods. I walked slowly down the snow-covered sidewalk and looked around. There were only a few people outside; I assumed everyone else was either at home, or in the warmth of one of the buildings. I looked around at them, reading the signs hanging above them. "Brendan's Pub", "Maggie's Second-Hand Shoppe", "Arcade", "Food Lion", "Dory's Ice Cream Parlor". There were several other places but none really tickled my fancy. There was something called a Cinema not too far down, and it sounded interesting, but I had no idea what it was. There was a stationary shop, another pub, a few restaurants, and another grocery. Then, a shop came into view that caught my interest; "Magic Shoppe". I figured that would be a good laugh, so I crunched through the snow until I reached the door. I pushed it open, and a little bell jingled. The walls were covered in shelves holding their merchandise. I looked to the register counter, and saw a young-looking, black haired girl reading a magazine standing behind the register. There was no one else in the shop.
"Can I help you with anything?" Came the voice of the black-haired girl. She had put down her magazine and was looking in my direction.
"Eh, no, that's alright. I'm just browsing…" I said. She nodded and went back to her magazine. The shop was warm and welcoming. The wood floors were shiny, and everything on the shelves looked new. I went around the shelves, looking. There were decks of cards, top hats and "magic wands", shelves of books on how to do "magic tricks", sets of coin tricks, rope tricks, water tricks, and countless others. I picked a book up off one of the shelves, one that told how to do card tricks, and skimmed through it. I snorted quietly. This wasn't magic, it was illusions.
I put the book back, and shuffled up to the counter where the girl was standing. That's what I was there for, right?
"Must be a slow day, eh?" I said airily. She lowered her magazine and chuckled.
"Every day is a slow day here. We're lucky to get one or two customers per day," she said. Her voice was raspy.
"Really?" I raised my eyebrows. "That's a shame. Your products seem very interesting…" I said.
"I suppose. I don't really believe all that 'magic' baloney. It's all a matter of illusion and gullibility," she said, snickering.
"Oh really? You don't believe, even a little bit?" I asked teasingly.
"Why, do you?" she asked with a playful smirk, like she was daring me to disagree with her.
"I just believe in keeping an open mind," I said casually, with a smile on my face.
"Wise words from such a young boy," she chuckled.
"Hey now, I'm not THAT young. I'll have you know I'm sixteen," I told her, the way a six year old would tell his mum that he was a "big boy".
"I'm only yanking your chain, mate. That's how old I am."
"Where do you go to school?" I asked.
"There's only one school in the village, dummy," she laughed. "Are you trying to chat me up?" she asked slyly.
"Hah, sorry, I don't go to school around here, I wouldn't know," I said.
"I should have figured, since I've never seen you 'round here before. D'you live somewhere else too?" she asked.
"Yeah, not too far though. I've only been in the village once or twice, so I thought I'd stop in. Doesn't seem to have changed much, though, since the last time I was here."
"Yeah, nothing's changed in quite a while. Same places, fame families, so the same people. That's why we hardly get any people in here," the black-haired girl explained.
"Who is this "we" you're mentioning? I only see you," I inquired.
"Oh. Well technically my dad owns the shop, but I'm the only one who really works here. He counts up all the money and handles things of that nature, but I'm the one who physically comes in. I pretty much run everything, including inventory," she said casually.
"Wow," I nodded my head.
"It's a rare pleasure when people like you come in; it's rather lonely here."
"Well I'm glad I stopped in," I smiled. She smiled back, and looked at me for a koment.
"Have you been into town in London?" she asked.
"Once or twice," I shrugged.
"Well there's a club there, an under twenty-one club called 'Techno Jet'. I'm going tomorrow night, you should meet me there," she offered. It had been maybe fifteen minutes. Was I really that appealing?
"Sure, I'd love to. What time?"
"Around ten, if that's ok with your parents. My Dad is a bit of a drunk, so he doesn't much care where I go or when," she chuckled.
"It should be fine, I'm sure," I assured her.
"Great. Here, let me give you my number," she said quickly. She grabbed a torn piece of some sort of very thin, white parchment (which didn't look like parchment at all), and a plastic stick that she used to write with, and ink came out. Amazing, the things these Muggles come up with. "Here you are." She slid the non-parchment toward me, which had a series of numbers written on it.
"What's this?" I asked.
"My number."
"What number?" I laughed.
"My telephone number, silly, what else? Are you just trying to be cute?" she chuckled.
"Dunno, is it working?" I flirted.
"A bit, yes," she grinned. "I'll see you tomorrow night then?"
"Yeah, tomorrow night."
I turned to leave, but stopped. "Wait, I didn't catch your name," I said slowly.
"Kate," she told me with a warm smile. "Kate Baulderston."
"I'm Fred. Fred Weasley."
O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O
"So where did you end up going?" Fred asked when I returned. I unbuttoned my shirt and threw it in my dirty clothes basket, and flopped down on my bed.
"Into the Muggle Village," I said honestly. I closed my eyes and tried to convince myself not to run screaming from that girl's offer to go to that club with her tomorrow night. I still had her telephone number in my pocket, and I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go down to Dad's shed to use one of his telephones. I wasn't sure that I wanted to talk to that girl again at all. She seemed interested in more than just a friendly night at the club, and I was still unsettled by the idea of being romantically involved with a bird. I didn't want to get into something with her and end up chickening out, and having to explain that breasts aren't my thing.
"What did you do?" Fred asked casually. He was sitting at our desk writing prank ideas on a bit of parchment.
"I went into one of the shops. It was a magic shop."
"It was a what now?" I heard Fred's quill stop scratching the parchment.
"Well, it's what Muggles consider magic. It's really all just illusions," I explained.
"Oh," he resumed writing. "What were you doing in there. We obviously have the better brand of magic."
"Just looking. I ended up chatting with the girl who works there. She's our age, and a Muggle obviously."
"What are you doing chatting up girls, Georgie?" Fred snorted.
"I was only talking to her, not chatting her up," I lied. I contemplated telling him about the club, but decided against it.
"Just making sure," he chuckled. "Gay all the way, right?"
"Right, Freddie. Always," I laughed weakly.
"You gonna go back tomorrow? Ask her on a proper date, then?" Fred teased me.
"Shut it," I warned him, and threw my shoe at his head.
"I'm just fooling, Merlin," he laughed. He turned in his chair and threw it back at me. "Really though, are you going to see her again?" he asked.
"I dunno. Maybe," I responded, putting my hands behind my head. Fred shifted in his chair, and I squinted. He's been acting so weird, or rather, normal, I guess, and I just don't get it. The sooner Hermione gets here, the better. I rolled over so that I was facing the wall, and sighed, and Fred continued writing.
My mind drifted to what was sure to be considered a date but Kate, and I thought about it. If it was an under twenty-one club, then there wouldn't be any alcohol, since the Muggle drinking age is twenty-one, so I wouldn't have worry about being raped by her in a drunken rage. Then again, maybe that wasn't such a good thing, since I would probably want a drink to help keep my mind off the fact that I was on a date with a girl. There would be dancing obviously. I'm fine with ballroom dancing, since Mum gave us lessons when we were little, but this wouldn't be fancy dancing. I can do that too, but what if It's different with Muggles? What if they have a different style? I don't want to look like an even bigger idiot, since I already almost blew it when I didn't know what number she was giving me in the shop. Dancing is dancing though, so it's probably the same no matter where you go. The only part I was happy about was that I would get to wear that vest with the v-neck and my fedora. That really proves just how not straight I am.
"I sat up in bed and rested my bare back against the wall, and looked at Fred. He was twisting his fingers in his hair while he wrote. He always did that, it was a habit, and it was so cute. I exhaled.
"What's on your mind?" I asked.
"Everything," he replied, almost sadly. He heaved a sigh, and dipped his quill in the ink pot.
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A/N- I wrote this all at once off the top of my head. Hope it doesn't suck. XD