A/N- I'm glad I'm updating so quickly… Aren't you? :D

Here's some quick advertising: I recently published chapter one of a new Ron/OC fic I'm working on, so if you like Ron, you should check that out. I would appreciate it.

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Chapter 37: Don't Worry About It

Dear George,

If you're lucky, he's regretting breaking up with you, and is trying to get on your good side. Then again, you aren't really all that lucky, so I'm not really sure why he would be acting that way. It's not really like Fred to avoid things completely, so maybe you should look into that before I get there. If you find anything out, let me know. If not, I'll talk to him.

Where did you get the money for new clothes and a new haircut? Actually, never mind, I'm not sure I want to know. As long as you look good, and have girls falling all over you, you're good. I hope you picked out things that people actually find attractive. I'm not saying you have bad taste, I'm just saying that I've seen the way your dad dresses himself when he goes out in Muggle areas, so I hope you don't follow him on that. I'm sure you did fine though. You dress quite handsomely outside of school.

Don't even think about the plan not working, just focus on your goals, and what you have to do. Even if it doesn't work, we'll figure something out before school starts again. I know you love him, George, that's why I'm trying to help you.

Why don't you just talk to Ginny, by the way? I know it sounds like the typical 'girl answer', but talking works wonders. Just something to think about… I can talk to her too, if you'd like, but I really think it would be best if you resolved things as quickly as possible.

As far as pretending to be straight, you've been pretending most of the term, so you should be ok. I'm sure I'll have to end up getting you out of some sort of trouble though, by the time I get there. Merlin knows what havoc you'll have wreaked by then.

Love Always,

Hermione

When I finished reading the letter, I smiled. I had just received it at breakfast, and promptly removed myself from the table to read it. I placed it under my pillow so that I could respond to it later. When I went back downstairs, I took back my seat, and Fred asked who it was from.

"Just Hermione," I said, poking at my eggs.

"What'd she want?" he asked.

"Nothing, she just wanted to tell me a few things," I replied.

"Like what?"

"Nothing important."

"You've been doing a whole lot of nothing important, haven't you?" Fred chuckled. I appreciated that he didn't press any farther, or question me. I don't know what I would have said. "D'you want to do anything today? Work on products, play some Quidditch, anything?"

"Er, sure. Anything you're in the mood for," I shrugged.

"You're not giving me much to work with, Georgie," Fred nudged me. "Do you have anything in mind?"

"Not particularly," I shook my head.

"Well then how about we go Christmas shopping?" he said quietly, so no one at the table would hear.

"Yeah, that sounds good," I nodded.

"Alright then," Fred said, and returned to his food.

After we finished eating, we went upstairs to get dressed. I threw on a white tee-shirt with a black V-neck sweater over it, and a pair of blue jeans. Fred wore the same outfit, but his undershirt was red. He went for his dresser and pulled out a small bag of coins.

"I've got the money from our quills," he said.

"You mean you didn't spend it all?" I asked without thinking, then clapped my hand over my mouth. "I'm sorry, that's not what I meant, I just-"

"No worries," Fred shot me a crooked grin, and pocketed the money. I exhaled.

We told Mum we were going to Diagon Alley to look around, and used the fireplace in the living room to floo. We came out on the other side into the snow, and started walking around. We decided that we would stop at the Quidditch store for Ron's gift, and we entered the shop. It smelled like leather and new broomsticks. I loved it. Ron's favorite team is the Chudley Cannons, so we shopped around for something he might like. We settled on a pair of fingerless Quidditch gloves with "Chudley Cannons" stitched onto the back of each one, along with the team crest. He's been complaining about how he needs gloves for when he's flying, so we hoped this would get him to shut up about it. We got Harry's gift there too; a snitch, so he could practice when we played or before games. It was a decent one, so he could use it throughout school.

For Mum and Dad, we headed off to get them wand cleaning/care kits, since they used their wands A LOT.

I wanted to get Ginny something good; in hopes that maybe she would stop hating me. I know I shouldn't try to buy her love back, but it sounds a hell of a lot easier than talking to her. I figured it would be a good idea to go down to Honeydukes first, since the key to every girl's heart is chocolate. While we were there we got her some special dark chocolate frogs, because dark chocolate is her favorite, and a bouquet of sugar roses to go along with it. We grabbed some dark chocolate truffles on the way to pay as well, and requested that it all be put in a wrapped basket. We were about to leave, but I made Fred wait so that I could go back and get a pack of sugar quills for Hermione. Once we were done there, I dragged Fred to Flourish and Blotts to get Hermione's gift. I looked around until I saw something I thought she really might like: an astrology-themed stationary set. It came with parchment that had different planets in the corners, cards with star constellations on the front, envelopes that listed all of the astrological signs, two quills, and black and blue ink. Fred came up to show me the book he had picked out for her: Ten Fail-Safe Ways To Charm Wizards. ("C'mon, she needs it").

Once all the gits were purchased, we hopped down to the Leaky Cauldron to grab a drink before heading home. We shrunk down the items and slipped them in our pants pockets before we went inside so that no one would see what we had gotten. We went straight up to our room to wrap. We labeled each one right after we wrapped it that way we wouldn't confuse who it was for, as well as who it was from. When they were wrapped, we stowed them away under our beds. I decided that I would have to go shopping for Fred's gift before the end of the week. I wasn't sure what I wanted to get him though. I've never had a problem deciding before, I always got him something from Zonkos, and that was that. I didn't want to do that this year though, I wanted to change it up, but how? Should I buy him something, or make it? Funny or serious? Meaningful, or useful? I didn't even know what he wanted, or what he needed. Christmas sex would be fine by me, but I doubted things would be resolved by then, so I had to think fast. I would have to worry about it later; it was three O'clock, and I was debating whether or not to call Kate. There was no reason to call her. Then again, I'm sure Muggles don't always have a reason to phone each other. I made up my mind that I would call her… before I left to meet her in London. But what if it was too late by then? I didn't want to anger her dad. I mulled over it for a while longer. I shouldn't have had so much trouble deciding, I mean, it was just a girl. Finally, after an hour of arguing with myself, I decided to call her. I went downstairs, through the kitchen, and into the back yard. I took my time walking to Dad's shed, and slipped in.

Dad has a few Muggle telephones, because he likes to take them apart and see what they're made of and how they work. Lucky for me, he had one that he had not touched yet, so I pulled it toward me. It was plugged in and everything, so I guess he was experimenting calling random numbers or something. It had a round thing on the front with numbers written into circles. I tried pushing them, but they didn't push in or anything. I had to play with it for a few minutes before I figured out that I had to rotate it. I had taken Kate's phone number out of the pocket of my jeans from yesterday before I came so I pulled it out of my pocket. I put the number in and held the hand-held part up to my ear and waited. The weird tone that buzzed in my ear startled me a bit, and I wondered if I had broken it. Before I could make the decision to hang up, someone answered.

"Hello?" I heard Kate's voice. Oh my God, Muggles invent the most amazing contraptions.

"Hello?" I said tentatively.

"Who's this?"

"Geo- er, it's Fred. Is this Kate?"

"Oh! Hi, Fred!" Kate sounded happy to hear from me, and I grinned.

"Hi, Kate."

"So how are you? You're still coming tonight, right?" she sounded like she was smiling.

"I'm fine, and yes, I'm still coming tonight. How are you doing?" I assured her.

"Oh, I'm alright, I suppose. It's funny that you called, because normally I would be in the shop right now," she giggled.

"Oh, well why aren't you there now?" I asked.

"Eh, I didn't really feel like going in today. It's not like we're losing money or anything, since no one really comes in, so I just decided to keep it closed today. Dad didn't care, because he was piss drunk by ten this morning," she told me casually.

"Hasn't anyone told him that you shouldn't drink alcohol in the morning?"

"I'm sure someone has, but he's never been one to listen," Kate said airily. "So why did you call?" she asked.

"O, um… Well I don't really have a reason. I just wanted to call," I said slowly.

"Aw! Well that's sweet of you, Fred, I'm glad you called," she said happily.

I felt my heart drop when she said Fred's name. "I'm glad I called too," I told her.

We ended up talking on the phone for a good two hours, about the most random things. She told me about how her mother passed away when she was a child, and how her dad hasn't been the same since. I told her about my family and siblings, but didn't tell her I had a twin. When she mentioned her pet dog, and asked me if I had any pets, I told her no, because I wasn't sure how well owls and rats would go over with her.

"Uh oh, Fred, I have to go," Kate said suddenly.

"Why? What's wrong?" I asked.

"My dad's just woken up, and he's yelling at me to get cooking with dinner," she said in a hushed voice. The loud voice yelling vulgar slurs in the background proved her right, and I let her go. She hung up, and there was a click. I hung up as well, expecting Mum would have dinner ready by now, and would be wondering where I was.

"Hey, George, where've you been?" Fred asked when I sat down at the table.

"Just in the back yard," I said nonchalantly.

O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*

Should I risk leaving through the front door? Or should I just leave through the window? I thought to myself as I stood in the middle of the bedroom. I was all dressed up in my white skinny jeans, black V-neck shirt, White vest, red shoes, and my black fedora, with my bangs laying just so across my forehead. I was trying to decide whether or not to sneak out through the front door. I didn't really want to risk the noise it would make, plus I would have to pass Mum and Dad's room on the way, as well as Ginny and Hermione's. I decided it would be easier to go through the window, since we were only on the second level. I opened the window, and made to stick one leg out, when Fred came in from his shower, with only a towel on.

"Where the bloody hell are you going, George?" Fred asked with a red toothbrush in his mouth.

"Nowhere important," I said, hoping he would leave it at that. He gave me the look. "Just cover for me if anyone comes looking for me, ok?" I said, pleading with my eyes.

Fred shrugged. "Alright…" he said, and waved me off. I thanked him in a whisper about a million times as I climbed out of the window. I let go of the ledge, and let myself fall to the grass below. The drop was a bit longer than I had anticipated, but I didn't get hurt. "Wait!" Fred yell whispered from inside, then poked his head out the window. "Arent you taking your wand?" he asked.

"I won't need it," I assured him.

"Where are you going that you won't need your wand?" he asked incredulously.

"Don't worry about it!" I hissed. He looked at me in a way that made me want to cancel this whole outing and just stay up there with him. He looked… heartbroken? That can't be the right word. But it seemed to fit. He looked down at me sadly, and as he turned away to go back, he muttered something that sounded like "…never tell me anything anymore?" It took a deep breath and everything I had to turn away from the window and walk away. A moment later, I heard something hi the snowy grass. He had tossed my wand out after me. I let out a breathy laugh. He cared.

It was only nine-thirty, but I had purposely left the house early because I wouldn't be using the floo. I crunched my way to Dad's shed, and looked for the most useless looking thing I could find, which was hard, since just about everything looked pretty useless. I stumbled over one of Dad's many rubber ducks, and decided that it would have to do. I pulled out my wand, suddenly quite glad that Fred has given it to me, because I had forgotten I had to do this. I took a deep breath, and let out a string of spells and enchantments. It took five straight minutes of talking to enchant that duck to be a portkey. Yeah, I knew how to do that. It's a long and complicated story, but let's just say that I will go to all lengths to get revenge when Ron tries to pull a prank of his own on me. I set the time for five minutes after that moment. I sat and waited, touching myself up as I sat, smoothing out my clothes, fixing my bangs, and such. When the duck glowed blue, I grabbed it, and was transported to the back alley of the Leaky Cauldron. I ditched the duck, and walked through the pub, and out through the front.

I looked up and down the street of Muggle London for any signs of where the club might be located, but there were no giveaways. I tapped the shoulder of a Muggle woman who was passing by.

"Excuse me, do you know where a club called, er… Techno… Jet is?" I asked, glad I was able to remember the name of the club.

"Right down that way," the woman pointed across the street in the opposite direction. I thanked her and went on my way. I knew I was close when I saw a flashing blue sign that said "Techno Jet" in blocky lettering. Kate was waiting outside. She wore a torn up, bright green shirt (which revealed quite a bit of her hot pink bra), torn bright blue jeans, green sneakers, and a single pink fingerless glove. Her arms were covered in multi-colored bracelets, and her har was down and now wavy-looking. She looked nothing like the modest girl I met in the shop. Good lord.

Oh, Fred!" she shouted, and waved. I waved back, and walked the rest of the way to her. "I'm really glad you made it. Are you ready to go in?"

"Yeah, let's go." I could already hear music pumping from the outside, so when we opened the door, it was like a slap in the face; everything was so loud. Music was blaring, the room was dark, and everyone was dancing with sticks of colored light. Some people had glowing jewelry as well. My white jeans and vest appeared luminescent. "Wow, it's loud in here," I shouted over the music.

"Of course! Haven't you ever been to a club before?" she shouted back. I shook my head. "Well don't worry! I'll show you a good time!" she grinned at me, and her teeth glowed. She grabbed my hand and pulled me to the dance floor. She threw her arms around me, and danced energetically. I tried to keep up, but she was too fast for me. She laughed at my crazy moves, and I laughed at hers, and before I knew it, three songs had passed. "Come with me, let's get a drink!" I nodded, and she led me to a bar. Being that it was an under twenty-one club, I was shocked to see a variety of alcohol behind the counter along with all the juices. I brought this up, and Kate explained that people brought alcohol in all the time, and usually donated to the bar. I shrugged, and looked at the selection. None of the alcohol really looked familiar, so I asked for water. "Come on, get something exciting!" Kate grinned at me.

"I dunno…" I trailed off, and she shook her head.

"Nuh uh, you're not leaving this club until you've got something strong in you," she told me. I rolled my eyes, and looked at the drink menu. I decided on something called a Midnight Martini. I had no clue what it was, but the bar guy said there was vodka in it, which I had heard of as a Muggle alcohol. He handed me the drink after mixing it, and handed Kate her drink as well. It didn't really taste all that good, so I only took a few sips. Kate, however, downed her drink, and then ordered another. We sat at the bar long enough for Kate to down three drinks before she suggested we go dance again. That girl was crazy.

The music was so loud, I could feel the beats vibrate through my chest. Kate was obviously drunk, and had her hands all over me. I tried to still her hands, but she just wouldn't stop. I figured there was nothing I could do, since she was liquored up, so I let her go. She pulled off my had and ran a hand through my hair. She pulled me down so that her head was next to mine.

"Did I tell you that I LOVE your hair?" she asked, whispering in my ear. I gulped, getting nervous.

"Uh, n-no, you didn't," I stuttered, my eyes darting around the room to nowhere in particular.

"Well… now you know," she said seductively, and then she kissed me.

Her mouth tasted like alcohol and cranberry juice, and it wasn't really all that pleasant. Not just because of the alcohol taste, but because, well… she was a girl, and I didn't swing that way. She was starting to get rough with the kiss, and I felt awful. I was letting some girl mouth-rape me, while he was at home, not knowing where I was. That's why I was here though… pick up girls, THEN let him know where I've been, and make him jealous. That didn't stop me from feeling like I was committing some sort of crime, though. When she started grabbing on my pants, I decided that was enough, and I pulled away.

"Sorry, sorry," she slurred. "That was too far, I know." I shrugged uncomfortably, and said I forgave her.

"Don't worry about it," I said.

I sucked in a deep breath, and kissed her back.

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A/N- DUN DUN DUN! I really liked writing this chapter… I hope you liked reading it.

I was listening to "Let It Rock" by Kevin Rudolf while writing the club scene, so listening to that might help set the mood for ya.

Don't forget to review!