Title: A Lid For Every Pot, George Weasley

Author: BooksVCigarettes

Summary: Set a couple of years post-war. Still struggling with the absence of his twin, George Weasley needs some time away from the world he grew up in to heal. Alice Clark wants a flat mate who doesn't want to kill and eat her. It was perfect... Except not really. George/OC Ron/Hermione Harry/Ginny

Chapter 4 - Daniel

The space the band used for rehearsal was part of a converted industrial warehouse in Camden, near the river. Usually, Alice loved to be able to hop on and off the tube inside of fifteen minutes but today she had arrived at the station smack in the middle of rush hour and the noise was unbearable. As she stood, crushed amongst the chatter of commuters and tinny music blaring from smartphones, she tried to distract herself. Occasionally, a bit of stimuli would slip through and she would be blindsided by a flash of colour or a collection of shapes. Alice had never been afraid of the way she saw the world, but sometimes it was just easier to pretend she was normal. Her mother hadn't liked it, her sister Sarah had just used it as a stick to beat her with and Pete had simply tolerated it as long as she pretended that it was something she didn't enjoy happening. Alice had never known her father, but inferred (somewhat bitterly) that if he'd had anything to do with her mother, he probably wouldn't have cared for his daughter's defect either. Which was why Alice loved being with the band. Up on stage or in the rehearsal room, she didn't have to pretend to see what everyone else saw. She could fly away with the music and nobody would know. It was like a secret superpower.

Alice's thoughts turned to her new flatmate. George Weasley seemed like a sweet, if ultimately broken, man. He had the kind of thousand yard stare that she had only seen on soldiers in history books. Whatever he had seen in combat, it must have been bad. She wondered what he was going to do with his time if he wasn't going to be running his business. As long as he made rent, it was no real concern of hers, but Alice couldn't help but feel curious about him. George moved around as though in a daze, as though the entire world made him sad. As though a part of him was missing. Alice remembered what Hermione had said about his twin brother and a wave of sympathy washed over her. She wondered if it was worse for twins. If they were both in the army, did that mean George had watched his brother die?

George Weasley hovered at the periphery of her consciousness all along Camden High street, the image of his sad eyes never quite leaving her. He blended in amidst her background thoughts however, as she walked into their rehearsal space and clapped eyes on a man she had never seen before "Sorry I'm- Oh!"

The man was casually leaning on the microphone stand, a shock of floppy, dirty brown hair hanging in his eyes. He stared at her expressionlessly "You must be Alice."

Alice knew her mouth was open but couldn't seem to bring herself to close it. The man smirked a little and Alice felt a blush creep up her neck "I'm – I'm Alice."

"Alice! You're back!" Teddy burst into the room and engulfed her in a hug from behind "I was beginning to think we'd never see you again! Have you met Daniel?" The man disentangled himself from the microphone stand and stretched languidly, his eyes never leaving Alice's "We're meeting now."

Alice felt a shiver go down her spine and cleared her throat awkwardly "Yes – um, hello." Feeling like a buffoon, she held her hand out for Daniel to shake. He stared at it for a moment, leaving her hanging before reaching out a tanned and graceful arm. She noticed an incredibly detailed tattoo of a serpent slithering up the inside of his bicep, rippling as his muscles flexed. His hand was soft in her grasp.

"Daniel is our new bass." Teddy was saying excitedly. Alice shook herself from her reverie and snapped her gaze to Teddy "What? What happened to Marta?"

Teddy looked hurt "Alice, didn't you get my email? Marta had to go back to Sweden a month ago. I asked if you wanted to sit in while we saw potential replacements but you never replied."

As he was saying this, Alice felt the email in question surface in her consciousness. It had arrived during the earliest days of her breakup with Pete and she could remember thinking that quite aside from the fact that Marta's decision to return to her home country was almost entirely out of the blue, sitting in on auditions for the tiny blonde bassist's replacement was the last thing she wanted to do at the time. Part of her felt a little betrayed that Teddy and Blake had signed off on a replacement without waiting for her approval too, but for all she knew they could have sent her an entire background check on this guy along with a notarised voting slip and she probably wouldn't have noticed "Right, right of course. I remember now, sorry…" She murmured. Teddy gave her arm a squeeze "It's nice to have you back, Al."

"Has that little firecracker from Charing Cross road finally made her way back to the fold?" a booming voice followed by the thump of several bags and boxes being unceremoniously dumped on the floor floating from the hallway and seconds later, Blake appeared. Blake was considerably shorter than the sound of his voice would have most people believe. During the day, he worked as a mortgage advisor but on evenings and weekends, he was a fierce drummer with dreams of playing stadiums and arenas. He strode over to Alice and pulled her into a hug that lifted her clean off of her feet which for Blake involved wrapping both arms around her hips "I see you've met Daniel the bassist? Isn't he dreamy? I wanted someone less attractive but it turns out he's a bloody good bass player too."

Alice smiled, feeling herself begin to loosen up now she was in a place she had always considered to be safe. Rehearsal went as well as could be expected considering that at least two of the band had never met before, but by the end her mood felt lighter than it had in weeks. Several times during songs she noticed Daniel's eyes lingering on her but told herself he had been watching her for the changes in the beat. She felt vulnerable under his gaze, somehow without defences. He was a good bassist, although his knowledge of popular music was a little sketchy. He claimed not to be familiar with a few of the really mainstream covers that they did, which elicited several wide-eyed stares from Teddy ('What do you mean you don't know who Bruce Springsteen is? We can't be friends.').

By the time they were ready to pack up, Alice's voice was hoarse but she felt elated. Stepping out into the chilly night she turned to head in the direction of the station once more. It took a moment for her to realise that Daniel had fallen into step beside her "Where are you headed?" she asked, more confidently than she felt.

"Meeting some friends," he gestured vaguely toward the road past the station "up there. You?"

"Charing Cross."

Daniel raised his eyebrows a fraction "I sometimes go to a pub there - The Leaky Cauldron. You know it?"

Alice nodded "I've walked past it a few times."

"I'll take you there one day." It was a statement, not a question to be answered or a request to be denied. Alice felt herself beginning to blush again and was grateful that it was dark out. They walked on in silence for a few moments more. Daniel's steps were unhurried, but his strides were long and suddenly Alice found herself quickening her pace to keep time with him.

"You're a good singer."

"Thanks." Don't tell him he's a good bassist! Be cool! Look, there's the station – you just have to make it a little further without embarrassing yourself… "I like your tattoo." Idiot.

Daniel glanced down at the serpent coiled on his inner bicep and smirked at her "Symbol of immortality."

Without thinking Alice snorted a laugh "That's why you got it? Excuse me while I leave the pretentious zone." As soon as the words left her mouth she felt a fool "I mean- I didn't mean to sound like-"

Daniel surveyed her with something approaching a grin "That's not why I got it. I got it because snakes are cool."

Alice clamped her mouth shut but felt a smile creeping onto her face. They had arrived at Camden station and were stood staring at one another. The rain had started again, a fine mist drizzling over both of them. Daniel nodded toward the door "Don't miss your train." Alice once again felt completely bare under his stare, as though she could hide nothing. She swallowed hard and nodded "I'll see you at the next rehearsal."

It took her the entire tube journey to shake herself free of the feeling his parting gaze had left her with.

X X X

Alice closed the door to the flat as quietly as possibly. No lights on – George must be an early-to-bed sort. She switched on the hallway light and moved through to the kitchen in order to put the kettle on. She was rummaging around for mugs when a stir of movement behind her caused her to turn around and come face to face with George, sans shirt. She yelped and dropped the mug she was holding, the heavy ceramic shattering loudly on the tiles. Alice tried to ignore the sensory assault this caused. Things breaking always looked like fireworks.

"You scared me!" Alice gasped, scrambling to pick up the obliterated kitchenware. George held up his hands, his eyes wide "I'm so sorry! Let me help you clean this up!" He dropped to his knees opposite her and began to gather the ceramic shards. Alice, upon seeing he was barefoot, sputtered "No honestly it's fine… please don't hurt your – fuck!" She swore emphatically as a particularly sharp piece entered her finger, drawing blood. The pieces she had already collected clattered back to the floor as she brought her finger instinctively up to her mouth but before she could get to her lips, George reached out and caught her wrist, his entire hand closing around it as though it were a twig. He pulled her to her feet and walked her over to the sink, guiding her hand under the tap. Alice, dumbfounded by his sudden tenderness, could only watch as he leaned closer to her hand to inspect it. For some reason, she thought of Daniel's hand shaking hers earlier that evening and suppressed a shiver. George's hands were rougher and more calloused than the bassist's had been, but somehow gentler. Alice suspected there was nothing gentle about Daniel.

"Nothing stuck in there, I don't think." George murmured, pressing around the edges of the cut causing her to wince "Sorry."

"It's fine. Thank you I- I think I'll be fine." Alice pulled her hand away from him and cradled it to her chest, grabbing a tea towel that Pete's mother had given them to wrap around it. George straightened and reverted to his original awkwardness. Alice felt the undercurrent of tension return to the room. Although she had to admit, the sight of him without a shirt was not unpleasant.

"I'm sorry," he said again "for scaring you, I mean. I'll replace the mug." His eyes were so sad, Alice thought. He must have been sleeping when she'd arrived home – his hair stuck up at all different angles, giving him the appearance of a lit candle. She smiled kindly at him "Please don't worry; I think it was one of my ex's – you saved me the trouble of smashing it another time. Would you like tea?"

George smiled politely "No I'm fine, thank you."

"Oh go on," Alice chided, holding up her injured hand "You're the one that's got to make it."