The 'Sticks was unusually crowded for a Wednesday night. A lot of tourists had apparently stuck around following the match on Saturday. Alicia found herself being jostled by intoxicated strangers as she returned to her table with two glasses of Ogden's finest in her hands. She'd just finished having dinner with Lee and they'd decided to stick around for a drink or two.

Jake was with Chris for the night and George was off spending time with his brothers. Charlie was in town for a couple of days so the six of them were getting together for dinner and a poker game. Alicia, meanwhile, was more than happy to spend some time alone with Lee before he dashed off to save the world some more. Unfortunately, the fallout from Katie and Oliver's kiss the other day was still lingering, so he wasn't exactly his usual bubbly self.

"How am I supposed to compete with someone like Oliver?" Lee asked glumly. "He's an international Quidditch player. All I do is talk a lot on the radio."

"We both know you do a lot more than that. And there's no point worrying about it now. We'll see what happens when Katie explains it all to Oliver tonight. Maybe he won't want a relationship and he'll step aside. Are you still sure you want to settle down right now?"

"Yes. Being back here and seeing you and George together has really opened up my eyes. I'd like to share my life with someone."

"All right, but are you sure that someone is Katie? Have you really dated much since school?"

"How am I going to date someone when I'm constantly on the move? I live out of a bloody suitcase, Alicia." Lee narrowed his eyes across the table at her and tilted his glass towards her. "It's beginning to sound like you're trying to talk me out of this. Do you know something I don't know? Is she gonna pick Oliver?"

Alicia shook her head quickly. "I have no idea what Katie's thinking. She's playing her cards close to her chest as usual. But you know what she always says about relationships being too suffocating."

"I always thought that was just bravado. Like it was her way of protecting herself. Always keeping people at arm's length and whatnot."

"Maybe. The fact that you're willing to take the time to find out either way is really sweet." Alicia clinked her glass against his. "I'm Team Lee all the way."

He flashed her one of his signature smiles. It was the first proper one she'd seen all night and it warmed her heart. After that, the tone of the evening was much lighter. Alicia made sure to steer clear of any romantic matters and instead talk about her recent job hunt.

"But do you even want to go back to the Ministry?" Lee asked.

"It's what I'm used to. I'd be back to writing memos and managing calendars and booking fancy lunches that I'm never invited to."

"You don't sound all that enthusiastic."

Alicia shrugged. "I can't take advantage of the twins for much longer. Everyone knows I'm not much of a saleswoman. Back at the Ministry I'd be doing something I'm actually good at, never mind that it's useless and menial."

"I bet you write fantastic memos," Lee said, shooting her a wink. "But if that's the sort of thing you're truly interested in doing then I could probably get you a job at the wireless headquarters."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. Just say the word. I do have a fair bit of pull over there, you know."

Alicia couldn't help but feel a little excited by that prospect. She'd be back in her boring comfort zone. Better yet, the wireless offices were in Hogsmeade as well, so she'd be close to George still. It seemed like a perfect solution to her problem.

"I'll sort it out for you before I leave," Lee promised. "It won't be hard. Mildred in reception is like a year or two away from retirement anyway."

"No! Don't fire an old lady to get me a job!"

Lee hopped to his feet and grinned down at her. "Honestly, the old bag's had a good run of it. Time for some fresh blood around there. And I'm sick of her always calling me Liam. Another drink?"

"Don't you dare get Mildred fired!"

Lee gave her his most innocent look then took off towards the bar. Alicia sighed and shook her head. She was going to miss him when he was gone. He'd really come through for her just now. A job at the wireless would solve the last problem she had weighing her down.

Well, the second to last. She still had a pile of threatening letters hidden deep in her underwear drawer. No new ones had shown up since the Masking Charm was done on the flat. Still, that didn't necessarily mean it was over. Perhaps she should just go to the Ministry and dump them on an Aurors' desk so she could finally be rid of the whole thing.

It all seemed a little silly now. Like maybe it had been someone's idea of a joke. Maybe she'd turned down the wrong bloke back in Paris and he'd tried to frighten her in retaliation. She'd certainly ruffled a few feathers during her time at the French Ministry. A lot of people had been upset to see a largely unqualified English woman be appointed as the Minister's assistant. Never mind that Alicia hadn't even wanted the job in the first place and Marie had been the one to insist.

To be honest, she didn't even know if it was worth calling in the authorities. As far as she knew there was no way to trace a letter sent via owl if the sender didn't want to be found. Her letters would probably just be shoved in a filing cabinet somewhere and forgotten about.

Lee returned to the table and placed another glass of Firewhisky in front of her.

"Last one, yeah. Wouldn't want George thinking I'm deliberately trying to get you drunk while he's not around."

Alicia accepted the drink and cocked her head thoughtfully. "Hey, Lee, have you ever received death threats?"

"Of course. People have done actual prison time because of my investigations. I've made more than a few enemies over the years."

"Oh God," Alicia mumbled, suddenly wishing that she hadn't brought it up.

"Why do you ask? You worried about me or something?"

"I bloody am now! How often does it happen? Is there some sort of protocol you have to follow when you receive a threat?"

Lee shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know how many I get anymore. I used to get a kick out of reading them, but then there was more than I could keep up with. But it doesn't bother me. In fact, the more people I piss off the better. Means I'm doing my job properly."

"Nope. I really don't like the sound of this," Alicia said firmly, shaking her head.

"I promise you I'm always safe. I have a team travelling everywhere with me, including two Ukrainian hit wizards and an ex-Auror from our Ministry. My assistant handles the owl mail and I trust he'd hand over anything really disturbing to law enforcement. I reckon most of it ends up on a bonfire though."

"Maybe it's time to retire," she suggested lightly. "Come back home and live a quiet, peaceful life in the village."

Lee sighed wistfully and looked off into the distance. "It'd be nice to get back to my Quidditch roots. Hmm. Katie and I could get a place up here. A couple of cats and a dog or two. Maybe kids eventually."

Bollocks. So much for steering clear of relationships.

"You could move back even without Katie," Alicia pointed out quickly. "Mrs Krenshaw needs a new boy-toy now that George is off the market."

"Is that old bat really still trying to get into his pants?"

"Afraid so."

"Well it could be worse. At least your competition isn't a famous Quidditch player with a legion of giggling fangirls."

"Oh, Lee."

An hour later the pair stumbled out of the 'Sticks, laughing about a story Lee had just told. Alicia liked hearing the stuff that he and the twins had gotten up to back at school. She'd only had the guts to watch from afar back then, so it meant a lot to her to be retrospectively included.

"You know, I think I was the first one who realised George liked you," Lee said as they started off down the main street.

"Really? Even before Fred?"

"Yeah. George kept telling us that the two of you were just friends who went to the Yule Ball together because you had no other option. But one night, sometime in January, he cornered me in our dorm room and shouted at me because I made you walk back from our midnight Astronomy class on your own."

"I used to walk back from Astronomy on my own all the time," Alicia said. "You always seemed to have a rendezvous planned in a broom closet somewhere on those nights."

"And George never told me off for it. Until that one time. There was even some pushing and shoving, which was what really started me thinking. He was always pretty good at keeping his temper, unless someone he cared about was involved."

"Did you ask him about it?"

"No. I figured he'd deny it anyway. I started keeping an eye on the two of you though. You ignored him for the rest of the year so even if he was interested I realised you weren't. No point upsetting the guy by bringing it up then."

Alicia sighed and pulled her coat tighter around her torso. "I wish I'd have said something to you back then. You're probably the one person who could have helped me resolve my stupid crush before everything went to shit."

Lee threw his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her. "But everything worked out in the end. It was obviously meant to be."

"That's how it'll happen for you as well. Whatever is going to happen with Katie will be for the best. I know you care about her, but you'll have to let her go if she doesn't choose you."

"I know. I still feel like I need to do something, make some sort of declaration so she knows I'm serious about this."

"Well she doesn't have any flying classes tomorrow so she'll be at home all day. Ange and I are meeting her for lunch, but you could go there in the morning to talk to her."

"You think it'll help?"

"Honestly? No. I think she's probably made up her mind already. But it'll help you because you'll know you did everything you could to make this happen."

"I suppose you're right. Now come on, I'll drop you at George's doorstep."

Alicia disentangled herself from Lee and shook her head. "No, no, that's out of your way. You're staying on the other side of the village. I'll walk back on my own."

"Didn't we just establish that George will give me a bollocking if I let you walk alone at night?"

"That was years ago. And he won't even be home yet so he won't know," she pointed out.

"Oh, he'll be home all right," Lee said wryly. "With his rubbish poker face, his brothers would have bled him dry hours ago."

Alicia stood on Katie's doorstep, knocking for the second time. Still no answer. Before she could go for a third, Angelina appeared from around the side of the house, having just Apparated.

"She's not opening up?"

"Maybe she's not home. We are twenty minutes early, after all," Alicia said with a shrug.

"Nope. She's definitely inside." Angelina stooped down and picked up a rather dead looking pot plant. She yanked the shrivelled plant upwards and held the pot out towards Alicia. "Here. We can let ourselves in."

Alicia plucked the key out of the dirt at the bottom of the pot and frowned uncertainly. "Is that a good idea? What if she wants to be alone? What if she's in there with Lee right now? Or Oliver? Or…both of them?"

"Gross," Angelina replied crisply. "If everything was all right, she'd answer the door and tell us so she could get back to the debauchery. She needs us right now."

Alicia could see the logic in that. She unlocked Katie's front door and pushed it open. The woman herself was sitting in the living room with a tub of ice cream and a spoon.

"Oh no," Alicia said immediately. "You don't want to do that, babe."

"What's she doing?" Angelina demanded to know as she bustled into the room.

"Making poor life decisions."

They all had their coping mechanisms. Katie reached for sweets when she was upset. Angelina tended to internalise as much as possible then indulge in a little retail therapy if that tactic failed. Alicia's outlet used to be angry music or reckless flying, these days she reached for alcohol more often than not.

"It's all such a mess," Katie said mournfully.

"So your solution is ice cream for brunch?" Angelina asked tartly. "Give me that and tell us what happened. How did things go with Oliver last night?"

Angelina snatch the tub away and sat down beside Katie, who scowled briefly then slumped her shoulders. "Things went terribly. He told me he loved me. He told me he wanted to be with me. As in a proper relationship this time."

"And that's…terrible?"

Alicia took a seat on Katie's other side and grabbed her friend's hand. "Yes. It's terrible because Lee came over this morning and said the exact same thing. Right, Kate?"

Katie nodded sombrely. Angelina let out a low whistle then said, "Well that's a little complicated then. Two of the most eligible bachelors in the wizarding world both want to be with you. What are you going to do?"

"I already did it," Katie mumbled. "I already told them both I didn't want a relationship with them. I broke both of their hearts within the space of twelve hours. I ruined our friendships."

"Oh, sweetheart." Angelina's countenance shifted immediately. She handed the ice cream back, then stood up. "I'll grab two more spoons so Leesh and I can join you in your misery."

"You haven't ruined anything," Alicia said bracingly. "They're both big boys and they'll get over it. You did the right thing for everyone involved."

"It wasn't supposed to end up like this. How the fuck did it end up like this?" Katie said, before shoving a spoonful of raspberry ripple in her mouth.

Alicia squeezed her knee. "You underestimated how lovable you are, Katie Bell. Those two didn't stand a chance. You were there for them when they needed you. You gave them familiarity and intimacy that their careers didn't allow; they were always bound to fall for you."

Angelina returned and handed a spoon to Alicia. "So I take it we're not going out for lunch?"

"Don't feel like being in public," Katie confirmed.

"Fantastic," Angelina replied. She popped open the top button of her jeans before she sat back down. "Let's do this then. Hand over the sugary goodness, Bell."

A/N: I'm so sorry that was painfully short and boring. I just needed to get something posted so you all knew I was still around. The next chapter is already complete, btw. It's longer and better - I promise. I wrote that one first then realised I had to come back to this boring one, which was frustrating. Hence the months long delay. I really needed to resolve the love triangle here before the plot takes over though. This seemed like the best choice for Katie, as some of you pointed out.

Going forward things are going to focus more on just Alicia, George and Christopher. I'll update again in a day or two. Thanks for sticking with me!