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 7 – Driscoll

George was stood blearily in the kitchen trying to decipher the fundamental aspects of poaching eggs without the use of magic (virtually impossible, to his mind) when he heard a commotion seemingly coming from the garden below. George remembered Alice's words to him when he moved in "It belongs to the ground floor flat but that's been empty for donkey's years," she had explained when he had commented on the difference between the overgrown wilderness that backed onto their flat and the neat, prettily kept postage stamp sized squares of land attached to the other houses in the row "The landlord lives up north and has a longstanding feud with the people on either side who keep complaining that he should pay for a gardener because it devalues their property so of course he refuses just to annoy them. And the result is that one day we'll wake up and the flat will be like Jumanji." George hadn't understood what she had meant by that, but had given her a small laugh anyway. Probably some muggle reference.

In the weeks that George had been living in the flat, there had been no signs of life from the floor below, but now he could hear a woman's voice calling out to someone. The voice seemed to be moving around at the back of the house. He heard the back door open and the voice became clearing, floating up and through the open kitchen window "Driscoll! Where are you?"

George leaned over the sink to get a better view out of the window. Craning his neck, he peered down into the garden where he could see the top of a grey head, the hair loftily piled into a bun and a pair of gold rimmed spectacles sitting atop it. The woman called out to Driscoll again and this time was met with a whimper from deep within the weeds. George heard the woman sigh "Well I can't very well come in there and get you, can I?" Another whimper "Well you should have thought of that before you went in there!"

George smiled in spite of himself and leaned a little further out of the window "Do you need help?"

The bun turned toward him and George was met with a sunny smile and bright blue eyeshadow "Young man. that is very decent of you. I'm not sure Driscoll is ready to admit defeat yet and bitter experience has taught me not to besmirch his honour without asking him first." She turned back to the mass of weeds, grass and wild shrubbery "Are you ready to be rescued, baggage?"

A high pitched whine that George took to be in the affirmative emanated from somewhere near the back of the garden. The bun once again turned to face back up to George "I think the lesson has been learnt."

X

"Well now," Said the bun, whose name he learnt was Arlene Appleby after he had retrieved her dog by crawling on his stomach through ten feet of untended plant-life to find him with a paw caught under a gnarled tree root "I should be delighted to reward you with a cup of tea and a slice of cake if you are interested. Driscoll would never forgive me if I didn't show you his gratitude."

Driscoll, an over large cross-breed, all gangly limbs and soulful eyes and currently cowering in George's arms, gave an enthusiastic bark. Arlene rolled her eyes fondly at the dog "The amount of debts I repay on your behalf, baggage."

And so that was how George Weasley, covered in mud and grass stains came to be sitting in the sunny living room facing out onto the back garden, petting Driscoll who now seemed content to sit nowhere but directly in his lap while Arlene bustled in with a tray of tea and a rather delicious looking cake "Do give him a shove if your legs lose their feeling won't you? I often wonder if he thinks he's a much smaller dog. Must be the poodle part of him."

George smiled politely and took the cup of tea she offered "How long have you been living here Mrs Appleby? I thought this flat was empty." A cursory look around while she had been in the kitchen hadn't given him any clues – the flat was a jumble of knick-knacks and odd-and-ends along with the usual detritus of a life so judging by the state of the place it was possible that she had only just moved in, but George suspected that any homestead belonging to the little old woman currently plying him with cake would look like this regardless of how long she had been occupying it.

"Call me Arlene, dear. I took this place sight unseen a few months ago when I was living abroad," Arlene lowered herself heavily into the chair opposite George with an 'Oof!' "Driscoll and I only really began living here in the last week." She sighed and gestured toward the garden "It's a shame really – had I known the state it was in I would have arranged for a gardener before moving. You're the first person I've met, although I've seen your wife coming and going – the pretty little fair-haired girl?"

"That's Alice; she's my landlady, not my wife." George felt his cheeks redden slightly. Arlene smiled airily "Oh. Shame. Have you been living here long?"

"A few months. I moved from Devon to the city to... try something different."

Arlene nodded "A change is as good as a rest, I suppose. Do you work in the city?"

"I have – had a business with my brother," George swallowed hard "What I mean is, I still have it but... not with... he died. Now it's just me." And alone, I am not enough. And it is only a matter of time before everyone discovers that.

"My dear, I am sorry." Arlene gave him a sympathetic glance "There is no loss quite so profound as that."

George nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Driscoll, noticing a lull in the petting, nudged George's hand with his nose and George smiled in spite of the heavy feeling in his chest "I have someone looking after the business for me," He explained, wondering if his voice had always sounded that rough "I've decided to step back for a while." He neglected to mention that by moving from Devon to London he had geographically brought himself closer to the shop than he had been for years.

"An excellent decision, if you ask me." Arlene sipped her tea and George noticed that she wore earrings shaped like radishes "Sometimes all one requires is a little more time."

X

Alice pushed open the front door to the building and paused in the downstairs hallway. There was the gentle tinkle of music coming from the ground floor flat and she thought she could hear a voices and a dog pattering about inside. It was about time someone rented the place out.

Her flat was empty. Alice wondered idly if George had noticed her failure to come home the night before, then wondered why it even mattered to her. She shifted uncomfortably in her dirty clothes and decided to make straight for the shower, only pausing briefly before stepping under the stream of hot water to inhale the scent of Daniel on her skin one last time – aftershave and expensive cigarettes. He had made her a cup of coffee before she had left his flat and the memory of the taste mingling with his mouth as he had kissed her the night before made her shiver. He made his own syrup to put in the coffee and Alice was still trying to work out the delicious flavor now – Ginger, maybe? And something so familiar but hard to identify...

Daniel had given her a little bottle to put in her coffee 'So I can wake you up every morning' (normally Alice would have rolled her eyes at a terrible line like this but she had giggled like a schoolgirl). As the water hit her skin, she replayed the events of the previous night in her head.

After she'd said goodbye to Abigail, she had finished helping the band pack up and was just about to make her way out into the cold night herself when Daniel had caught her arm and handed her a shot of something lethal-looking "Cheers." He picked up one for himself and clinked it against hers and then raising it to his lips, his eyes burning into her and his free hand still on her arm.

Alice did her best to look sexy and rock n' roll, throwing her head back with the shot and trying not to shiver as she felt the alcohol invade her senses, loosening her up. Daniel took the empty glass from her and placed it on the bar "Heading out for a drink?"

Alice's arm tingled where he was touching her and she swallowed hard, trying to act casual "Where are we all going?"

Daniel leaned in closer "I don't know about Blake and Teddy, but you and I are going somewhere I can buy you as many drinks as I need to so that I can kiss you."

Alice felt her breath hitch in her throat and she stared at him, eyes wide, trying to figure out if she had heard him correctly. Daniel smirked at her "That OK with you?" he ran a finger down the inside of her arm where he still had hold of her. Alice nodded, suppressing a shiver. She remembered Abigail's command and feeling suddenly more cavalier than she had ever felt, she leaned in and whispered "Perhaps we should skip drinks and go straight to your place."

After that, the night had been a blur. Alice knew she hadn't been drunk, but all she could remember clearly was the feeling of euphoria and the sense of finally being free. It was like Daniel represented everything she secretly wanted to be and have.

Alice changed into some sweats and padded through the flat to the kitchen to make another cup of coffee with that delicious syrup. Through the open kitchen window she could hear the voices from downstairs again - it sounded like they were out in the garden. Alice stood on her tiptoes to get a better look.

George was down there, clearing the huge amount of weeds, branches and brambles from the garden. He had shed his shirt and his muscles glistened as he worked, steam rising from his skin in the cold October air. A tiny older woman was stood off to the side holding a mug of tea for him and there was a dog scampering around his feet playfully and occasionally he would stop to pat it on the head or grin down at it, throwing a stick for it to chase. He really was quite a fine specimen physically, Alice mused "Not like Daniel obviously, but still extremely nice to look at..." She murmured to herself. Eventually, George looked up to the kitchen window and seeing her watching him, gave a wave and a small smile. The old lady turned as well and gave her friendly smile. Alice smiled and waved back, slightly embarrassed that she'd been caught staring. Turning away from the window swiftly, she quickly made her coffee and retreated to the living room where, for the first time in several weeks, she seated herself at the piano.

Playing and singing had always relaxed her; she had tried not to do it in front of Pete because he thought it made her act strangely and after he had left, she had been too miserable to bother. Caressing the keys gently, she could feel the weight of sadness lifting from her as she played the opening few bars of one of her favourite songs and smiled as the colours and shapes began to wash over her. She had needed to control it when she had been learning to play as it had been distracting, but once she knew a song by heart it was as though she could let her hands do all the work while the images took over.

'When you're alone
And life is making you lonely
You can always go
Downtown

When you've got worries
All the noise and the hurry
Seems to help I know
Downtown...'

As she sang, Alice caught a flash of red hair out of the corner of her eye. George must have come in from the garden. She stopped playing briefly and turned to say hello, frowning when she realised she was still alone. Shaking her head slightly as though to clear it, she began to play once more.

'Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?
The lights so much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles
Forget all your cares'

There it was again, that flash of red hair, the feeling of someone being in the room with her. Alice was only vaguely perturbed; it was unusual for her to see people when she sang but not completely out of the ordinary. When she was fourteen, she had been singing a solo in her school's Christmas concert and she had been sure that one of the portraits in the school hall – one with several couples dancing at a ball - had been waltzing along to it.

'Don't hang around and let your problems surround you
There are movie shows
Downtown
Maybe you know some little places to go to
where they never close
Downtown'

Why was her mind showing her George when she sang? Alice couldn't help but be vaguely amused as she imagined her lodger twirling around the room to the music and then flopping down next to her on the piano bench grinning widely at her. She knew he couldn't possibly be real because he made no sound when he moved but it was uncanny how accurate her mind's eye was making him out to be. He looked a little younger and a lot happier admittedly, but there was no mistaking him.

'And you may find somebody kind to help and understand you
Someone who is just like you
And needs a gentle hand to
Guide them along..."

George had disappeared from her side at the piano and Alice played the last few bars, smiling to herself as the colours faded out along with the music. She took a sip of her coffee and sat in silence, bathing in the afterglow of the sensory experience.

"That was marvellous." Alice gasped and sprang up from the piano stool at the sound of the voice. Had George been in the room after all? Where was he? She frantically scanned the room, unable to focus on anything in her fright. Finally, her gaze came to rest on the redheaded man on top of her bookcase, lounging there as if it were the most natural resting place in the world. He was wearing a purple fedora, matching pointed shoes a huge grin.

"George!" She exploded breathlessly "How did you – when did you – What the fuck are you doing up there? Get down!"

"Being serenaded by your lovely self, what else?" George sat up and hopped to the ground, landing silently like a cat. He took off the fedora and bowed deeply, at which point Alice noticed, her stomach turning to ice, that the man standing in front of her still had both ears.

Alice screamed.