Chapter 12
Alicia came home from the States. She had just left her wealthy husband, Marcus Flint for all that he had. She never wanted to be with him, but George was set in stone about never wanting to be with her, no matter what she tried. That and her parents basically said she would be disowned if she didn't marry Marcus. It wasn't that he wasn't kind to her, he was. She had just never given up on her dream guy, George Weasley. She figured that he would be single again, given that it had been almost twenty years since she and Marc left for the States. He couldn't have been happy, living a single life. Marcus had a professorship in California and she wanted to get away from England.
They never had any kids, even though he wanted them, being the only heir to a pure-blood name. She returned with one goal in mind. To scoop up the sad and lonely George Weasley, but this George is happy and committed to whoever that skank is. Angie always steered the conversation away from him when she would bring him up over the years.
He stands and Alicia comes back on line. She is sure that he and the skank are just dating. "Hi George."
The red headed man looks over and snorts. "Alicia, I bet Angie was happy to see you. Have you been to Hogwarts yet? You should go and see the castle that you and your husband skipped out on helping clean up. Come on, Love. We need to open up the store." The woman with curly brown hair and thick framed glasses grasps his outstretched hand and stands. He gathers her close and kisses her hand. Their fingers interlock and they walk right out the back of the store.
Angie had been watching and shakes her head at her friend's back. Leesh is up to her old tricks. Maybe she should let her in on it.
"Leesh, don't think that, that is a passing thing. They have been married longer than Fred and I. They started dating during our sixth year. He has loved her since our third. There is no one else in his eyes.
Anyway, she is the most powerful witch in our world and the heroine of the war. She helped Harry with destroying Riddle's power structure. Towards the end of the year, Ron came home with his tail between his legs and went back soon after.
They were captured and taken to Malfoy Manor. She was tortured by Bellatrix and Fenir Greyback. The crazy witch crucioed her for hours and carved into her skin, Harry's house elf saved them and took them to Bill and Fleur's.
George couldn't take it any longer, he asked her to marry him there instead of the wedding that they had planned and they were married by Arthur with Bill and Fred on his side and Fleur and Luna Lovegood on her's. She got pregnant on their wedding night and now they have a sixteen year old daughter, Isabelle.
You don't have what it takes, Leesh. He is happily married to his only love and if you try to bust that apart, you are just a vindictive bitch, not to mention the fact that she will not give up easily and you will be roadkill before she is done. She is the farthest thing from being dark, but she has the knowledge and power behind her. If she can't do it, then Harry can and will to protect his sister. He took her under his family's wing after the war."
The former chaser bursts into tears. Her whole plan is trashed because he was happy with the woman and it is obvious that he would not leave his child for a woman that would not want her around or to have her own. She was a pampered trophy wife and this one was a real wife that maintains her husband in more ways than she could ever provide.
Angie doesn't fall for the crocodile tears for a moment. It had filtered back to her through her husband that his twin was down about hurting Hermione all those years ago, because of this same witch's obsession with him.
Angie was to blame for setting her on her wild ride to ruin. She had planted in Alicia's head that it would be so cool to be best friends dating twins. Then George blew up at Alicia before the Triwizard Ball and Angie could see that he blamed her for it all.
From then on, she watched as he would almost stare at Hermione, sad that the younger girl would have nothing to do with him, because Alicia called him. Eventually, he forgave her, but Angie could still see that he was still guarded around her even after all these years.
George opens the door to the office of KWP and allows Hermione to walk in. This time, he knows he did the right thing, leaving with her. She snuggles into his arms and he closes his eyes in joy.
They open the store and have a line outside the door. In a little over an hour, they are sold out of three lines of their comics and it looks like another two might soon. The parents are happy to see books for them also. Hermione is busy suggesting different authors and series, while George handles the till.
At lunch, he flips the sign and locks the door, before taking her out to eat at the Gilded Feather, a new restaurant geared towards the fine dining. He has gotten more used to this type of food, but at lunch, the place is known for it's pub style service and food, for the workers of the Alley. It was a brainchild of the owners, Harry and Neville and run by Neville's wife, Luna.
The bright, odd woman sees trouble come in and sits on the other side of George. "Don't look now, but your walking shadow from school came in." She tells the twin.
"Yeah, she came by the shop and interrupted the best kiss of the morning with my wife. I am still a bit disgruntled. Maybe she'll go back to Flint."
"Doubt it. I heard that Marc has moved back and doesn't want her back. He's looking for someone who will be a real wife and not just order the help around while starving herself to look like she did in school. He said to Goyle that he had the trophy wife, now he wants a real one and kids."
"Of course he does, he's an heir. He wants the Flint line to carry on. It is cruel to marry an heir and not want kids." Hermione bites out, as she looks at her menu. When the bartender comes over she orders the nachos and an ice tea. George gets an order of potato skins and a Irish coffee. Luna puts in her order for lunch as well, as she has decided to play interference for her best friend and George.
Sure enough, after they order, Alicia tries to gain George's attention again. This time, bolstered by both Hermione and Luna's support, he ignores the witch. Hermione looks up from the corner of her eye and sees that she has lost her dark hair to the State's "I must be a L.A. Blonde." Alicia's teeth are as fake as her rack. She is two years older than Hermione and her tits are practically under her bronzed chin. What did she do all day? Lay in the sun and plan "mixers"?
The food arrives and Luna has a bowl of cream of broccoli soup and a side salad. It makes sense that she would, she just had her third little Longbottom and she was still pumping when away from little Liam. George's skins are covered in bacon and cheese, which is how he likes them. Hermione's nachos are piled high with hamburg, re-fried beans, sour cream and cheese. It makes Hermione's day, when she sees Alicia's eyes calculate the calories in the spread. The fact that George and Hermione both portion out some for each other and ask for doggie bags before even beginning to eat is lost on her.
George turns to Luna. "How is the revival of the Longbottom family coming. You've got three, are you going to try and beat Mum's record?" He jokes, knowing that Luna would never attempt it. Both her and Neville are too sensible to try and have seven children. He and Hermione still talk about it from time to time, both want a son, but are really happy with what they have now. Their daughter is almost out of the nest and soon it will be time to focus on just them again. Then there is the promise of grand babies.
"No, I don't think in this day and age many would want to even try and give Molly a run for her money." Luna says smiling at his tactic of centering the conversation on family and babies. Hermione also caught it and wanted to laugh, but she had just taken a sip of her iced tea.
Alicia just sits there, playing with her straw wrapper. Hermione decides to sink the hook. "Alicia, did you and Marcus have any kids? Did you try?"
The woman looks up, surprised that she was being addressed by George's wife. "No, we didn't. He wanted to, but I never wanted and still don't want them. It was a major chink in our marriage." She admits, figuring that if she was honest, it would be better.
"Too bad. I couldn't imagine not having Isabelle. Besides Hermione here, Belle is my life. I could never be with someone that didn't want children. The reason Hermione and I only had her is because she was a joyous surprise. We don't actively try so much as we figure it is a happy miracle if we get pregnant. If we decided, I would get the Muggle surgery done and we would be done, but until then, if it happens, it happens." George smiles at Hermione and kisses her, before stealing another chip.
"As much as they go at it, you would think that they surpassed his parents by now, but they only have Belle." Luna snickers at Hermione.
Hermione looks at her watch and George pays for lunch. He reaches over and hugs Luna and nods to Alicia before scooping Hermione into his arms and carrying her out the door. The whole place laughs, they are used to the Weasley twin's antics and his devotion to romancing his wife every chance he gets.
"Those two." The bartender shakes his head. "He's always doing something to make her smile and laugh." That was not what Alicia wanted to hear, that George was devoted to his marriage with Hermione Granger.
George carries Hermione out the door and up the Alley to her store. He allows her to open the door and carries her across the threshold before setting her down.
The rest of the day goes by and before they knew it, it was time to go home. George and Hermione lock up and walk to the Leaky, holding hands and talking about the upcoming family dinner at the Burrow.
Bill's daughter Victoire and Harry's godson, Teddy were coming home for the weekend to spend it with family, as it was Arthur's birthday.
"You know it's going to be the same thing as always. Everyone is going to be all over Vic and Ted and poor Isabelle is going to get a "That's nice dear." and be ignored." Hermione sighs.
Molly has gone out of her way to show her dislike of George and Hermione's union, though it has produced a grandchild and they are still happily married to this day. The same can not be said for Bill and Fleur.
Their marriage is hanging by a thread. Bill had walked in on the blonde with a fellow from the french school. That was soon after Louis was born, twelve years ago. Since then, it's been a series of arguments and threats to leave. Fleur has stuck around because Bill was easily manipulated.
Victoire was an outgoing vivacious blonde like her mother. She was also a little slut like her, but Molly praises her to the hilt. Isabelle was a good girl with outstanding grades and awesome power, yet her grandmother barely acknowledged her.
At home, Hermione makes supper. Tonight it's fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. All three eat their fill and retire to the living room, so Isabelle can catch up on her DVRed shows. After two episodes of Dr. Who, Hermione shuts the TV off.
George tells Isabelle to get ready for bed and they will meet her in her room. He and Hermione fill the basin and he sets it on the bed. By now, it has become old hat to go into the basin.