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 Twelve – Drinking

"What is it?" George eyed the drink Alice was proffering him "And why have you bought a tray of them?"

"You can't tell me you've never seen a Jager Bomb before." George shook his head and Alice stared at him in disbelief "What sort of army were you actually in?"

George gave her a small grin "We… mostly drank whiskey." After demanding that he got dressed and phoning for a taxi, Alice had disappeared into her room and re-emerged approximately three minutes later having swapped her own pyjamas for ripped jeans and a t-shirt. They were in a busy bar on a street that reminded George a little of Diagon Alley. Shops selling colourful wares and useless trinkets were open late into the night; street performers and buskers were parading up and down the pavement mingling amongst tourists and natives. It made him think of the song he had heard Alice singing a few days before. The small dancefloor on the other side of the bar was busy and the bustling and happy atmosphere was almost infectious.

Alice made a face "I always wanted to be a whiskey drinker but I can't stand the taste. How is it possible for a drink to taste exactly like what I imagine my mother's soul is made of?"

For the first time in what felt like forever, George laughed. Really laughed. It bubbled up from inside him unexpectedly and he almost put his hand to his mouth to catch it. The guilt followed almost immediately and he dug his nails into his palms to distract himself from the ragged feeling in his chest. Alice grinned softly at him from across the table in the booth where they were sitting "I thought I'd have to make you drink at least three of these before you did that."

"Me too." George's eyes fell to his hands which were resting on the table in front of him. Alice watched him for a moment, her lips pursed.

"You're allowed to laugh, you know." She said gently. George glanced at her from beneath his eyelashes "I don't feel like I am." He murmured. Alice offered him a sympathetic smile "Then I guess it's back to plan A."

George frowned "What was plan A?"

Alice shoved the Jager Bomb into his hand "Last one to pass out has to carry the other one home."

George watched as she knocked her drink back in one go and attempted to do the same, dribbling most of it down his chin. Alice threw him a paper napkin with a snigger "Guess we know which one of us is passing out, then."

X

"Where do you go during the day?" Alice blurted after their fourth Jager Bomb. George had learned quickly how not to spill the sickly-smelling liquid on himself and was matching her drink for drink. He must have looked surprised at her question, because she blushed and hurriedly said "It's not that I've been secretly watching what you do! It's just that – well it's just that-"

"-You've been secretly watching what I do?" George gave her a teasing look. Alice clamped her mouth shut and looked at him with the slightly glassy expression of the newly drunk. George wondered if he had the same look. The warmth of the drink was starting to spread to his limbs, loosening them. He relaxed back against the shiny material of the booth they were sat in "I don't go anywhere, really. I mostly just walk around the city thinking."

"Thinking about what?" Alice pushed another Jager Bomb toward him and after they had knocked it back, propped her head up on her hand and fixed him with an interested look. George sighed and nudged the empty glass back and forth on the table with the tip of his finger "Fred, mostly. The shop. If I should go back to it."

"You think it would be too difficult to be there without him?" Alice asked, passing the tray of now empty glasses to the barmaid who had appeared out of nowhere to collect them and requesting a pitcher of beer. George shrugged, not meeting her eyes.

"It's not just that," he admitted "It's coming up with new products. Everything I do without him feels… incomplete, somehow. We were always 'Fred and George'. Everyone knew we were a package deal. If I try to keep the shop going without him, what if I always feel like I'm living half a life?" the thoughts that had been plaguing him, keeping him awake when thoughts of Fred weren't keeping him awake were finally spilling out of him.

Alice poured him a beer from the pitcher that had arrived while he had been talking "So… you feel like you want to start a new life?"

"I want to feel whole again," George murmured "I want to stop waiting for him to finish my sentences. I want to stop expecting to see him when I turn a corner. I want to be in a place where I'm not constantly reminded of him…" He trailed off and Alice stared at him, her own beer paused halfway to her mouth "But…?"

George exhaled heavily "But that feels like I'm betraying him. He never left me behind a day in our lives, and here I am wishing I could leave him behind and go to a place I know he'll never be. A place that I won't always think to look for him."

"Is that why you took the room in my flat? Because you knew he wouldn't be there?"

George nodded sadly. Alice tipped her head to the side and looked at him thoughtfully "And how's that working out for you?"

"How do you think?"

Alice offered him a small sympathetic smile and nudged the remaining two Jager bombs toward him "Maybe you should get to be the one who passes out."

George looked down at the foul-tasting drink and nudged one back over the table to Alice with a smirk "How about we carry each other?"

The look she gave him lasted barely a second or two, but in her eyes George saw a spark of surprise mixed with amusement, flattery and hope. It was as though she had never had someone offer her a shoulder to lean on before. George realised with a start that this was exactly the case. The look was gone before he could study it further, but George knew instinctively that he wanted to see it again. Alice picked up the Jager bomb and clinked the glass against his "Deal."

They tossed back the shots and grimaced at each other as the liquid burnt their throats. Alice slammed the empty glass down on the table and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She was trying to decide whether or not to say something. Eventually, she took a deep breath and fixed him with a look "George, I… I can't imagine what you are going through and I know it's not my place to say anything," she said gently "But grief is not something you can outrun. You could go to your shop or another continent or be here with me and ultimately it won't matter. Until you figure out how to stop being sad, your giant will go with you wherever you go." She was paraphrasing Emerson, but it seemed appropriate.

George tried to ignore the prickling behind his eyes "I think you underestimate the value of your company for getting rid of giants." He said quietly, gesturing around them in a weak attempt at a joke "I don't see any around here."

Alice shot him a small smile "Although my abilities do extend to repelling giants, I mean it, George. You can run as fast and as far as you like but you'll never rid yourself of it until you make your peace with it."

"Isn't it obvious that I'm trying to?" George's voice was so broken, so defeated "What else can I give over to it?"

Alice reached over and gave his hand a squeeze "Just time. Sometimes all it takes is more time."

George stared down at Alice's smaller hand covering his. It was soft but cool where she had been holding her beer. He thought about what he had seen when she had been singing at the piano the night before. How the magic flowed from her, her emotions seemingly manifesting themselves in a riot of colour and feeling. If only that could be bottled…

"I mean it, you know." He said quietly. Alice frowned a little "Mean what?" she withdrew her hand and George fought the urge to grab it back.

"Being... with you. In the flat, I mean," He felt his face begin to heat up "It has helped."

Alice gave him a radiant smile, which turned into a squeal of joy as a song she recognised came on "I love this! It always looks like sunshine! Do you dance?" she was already halfway out of the booth.

"After all those drinks? Definitely not." George shook his head emphatically at Alice's outstretched hand. Alice shrugged, her shoulders already shimmying to the beat "Are you sure? The rhythm train is leaving the station…"

George grinned "You're not making the compelling case you think you are." As Alice made her way across the bar to dance among the heaving bodies, an idea suddenly struck him. Maybe he did know a way to bottle the magic Alice produced when she sang.