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 Fourteen – Doom
George entered the flat, the warmth of the cosy space almost immediately starting to undo the damage that the cold outside had done to his bones. He shrugged out of his coat and made his way through to the kitchen, where he could hear Alice humming happily to herself as she pottered about. She stopped when she saw him and George tried to ignore the canary yellow swirls that disappeared with the tuneful sound, taking the faint aroma of buttermilk with them "You don't look as though last night did you any harm."
Alice looked away bashfully "I felt pretty rotten until Daniel turned up but now I'm feeling much better," she blushed prettily and George felt the stirrings of jealousy in his chest "You on the other hand, look like you've been eaten by a badger. Are you hungry?" She gestured behind her and George realised that she was in the middle of mixing up something in a huge bowl on the surface "I thought something sugary might be in order so I'm making brownies." She gestured to the table "Sit down, you must be frozen."
"Actually, I have some things that I need to do," George tried to talk over the sounds of his stomach growling "I just wanted to say thank you… you know, for last night. I had a good time." He desperately wanted to stay in the kitchen and bask in Alice's sunny presence for a little longer, but the idea that had been percolating at the edge of his consciousness for the majority of his walk was now becoming more insistent.
"Oh," Alice smiled and George noticed that she had a tiny smear of icing sugar on her cheek "You're welcome, George. I had a lovely time too." They stood grinning at one another across the kitchen for a few moments before a tiny box by the oven made a pinging sound and Alice hurried to silence it before turning toward the oven. George took the opportunity to duck out and away into his room.
Changing into some dry clothes, George rooted through his trunk in order to find a spare scrap of parchment. Dusting off a quill that he was fairly sure hadn't seen any use since his Hogwarts days, he found a book to lean on and began to scribble notes.
After a while he paused, his quill hovering above the paper. A thought struck him and he made a snap decision, tearing off a blank sheet of parchment and scratching out a new note before folding it in half and hunting around for an envelope to place it in.
By the time Alice was ensconced firmly in her bedroom, it was dark outside. George crept into the living room, the note he had written clutched in one hand, the pot of floo powder his mother had given him in the other. He moved through the flat without turning on any lights - if Alice happened to come in and see him crouched over the grate, the darkness of the living room may well be the only thing he could use to his advantage when convincing her that she hadn't seen what she thought she saw.
Nerves clenched at his stomach. What if Kingsley had closed the floo connection in Alice's fireplace? This was a muggle dwelling after all; it was unusual for them to be connected all the time but George had begged Kingsley to contact him with any and all news regarding the escaped Death Eaters. He knew the Minister liked to use Floo over sending owls, but Kingsley Shacklebolt was a sensible man who knew only too well the implications of an unsecured floo connection in a muggle habitat. He may have decided it was too risky.
George quickly set about building a small fire, trying his hardest to be quiet. When the flames were sufficiently established, he took a deep breath and cast a pinch of floo powder into the grate, almost weeping with relief when the flames turned the familiar emerald green "Thanks, King." He murmured to himself. Until that moment, George hadn't realised how much he had missed the everyday things that he had taken for granted growing up. Holding his note aloft of the green flames he quickly muttered the address to which he wanted it to go and dropped it in. The letter disappeared immediately and the flames returned to their normal orange glow. George rocked back on his heels and stared into the grate for a long moment, imagining the letter winding its way through the floo network to its destination.
X
A few days later
The entry phone to the flat rang and Alice frowned. She wasn't expecting anyone. Perhaps George had forgotten his key again. A delighted thrill raced through at the thought that it could be Daniel. She hadn't seen him since he had come to 'cure' her hangover and Alice had spent the last couple of days wandering around in a happy daze. Practically skipping to the phone, she plucked it from its cradle and held it to her ear, barely able to keep the excitement out of her voice "Hello?"
"Open the door." The sound of her mother's voice through the intercom, cold and formal, made Alice shudder. All previous cheerful thoughts forgotten, she muttered a "Yes, mother." Before hanging up the phone and pressing the door release button, trying to quell the impending sense of Doom with a capital 'D' that had overtaken her senses.
Evelyn Clark was a pinched looking woman, tall and thin. She had been, at one time, very beautiful with high cheekbones and elegantly arched eyebrows. Alice had inherited her long eyelashes and thick, glossy hair although hers had tended toward the fairness which she assumed belonged to her father as Evelyn had the dark Irish hair and fair skin that the rest of her family were born with. Alice watched as her mother stood in the centre of her living room, a look of weary disdain on her face as she appraised the situation. Alice loitered in the doorway feeling, as per usual, very much like an unwelcome guest in her own home.
"Would you like a cup of tea, Mother?" Evelyn fixed her cool gaze upon her eldest daughter "I won't be staying long. I've only come to remind you that we will be holding a party in December to celebrate Sarah and Peter's engagement. You will be expected to attend and I hope I don't have to remind you that any disrespect toward your sister will not be tolerated."
"I like how you say you hope you don't have to remind me but here you are, reminding me anyway…" Alice grumbled mutinously. Evelyn glared at her "Don't answer me back, young lady. I realise that this is not perhaps the best of circumstances for you-"
Understatement of the century, Alice thought to herself.
"-But I expect you to behave like the lady I raised you to be. It does not matter how one feels in this situation, only how one looks." Evelyn pointedly eyed the yoga pants and vest that her daughter had put on that morning and Alice found herself wondering if this was the same motivational talk Evelyn had given herself when Alice's father had left all those years ago. Alice meditated for a moment on the cruelty of the words and imagined her mother standing in front of a mirror, tears running down her face, repeating them over and over again. In that moment, she allowed a modicum of sympathy for the woman who had, for her entire life, treated her like an unfortunate accident. She looked back to Evelyn, who was still holding forth.
"-Under no circumstances will you allow your failed relationship to overshadow this event, do you understand me?"
Alice blinked, a sudden realisation hitting her hard. In the months since she had met Daniel, the fact that her ex-boyfriend and her brat of a younger sister were now engaged had become first only a peripheral concern and later had disappeared from her mind altogether. Alice took a brief moment to consider this – had she really gotten past Pete and Sarah's transgression against her in such a short space of time? She felt a swell of emotions – happiness, triumph, relief. It didn't matter that Pete had left her, that he had been sneaking around behind her back with her sister for months – she had something better now. She had Daniel. Alice drew herself up to her full height and beamed at Evelyn.
"Mother, I can honestly say that I will be on my best behaviour."
Evelyn sniffed derisively and turned to leave. Alice followed her out into the hallway and just as her mother was reaching for the door, Alice caught her arm as though an afterthought had just occurred to her "By the way, I will be bringing my new boyfriend to the party – I hope that's alright?"
Evelyn stared her up and down in silence for a moment, a small sneer quirking her once lovely lip. Eventually, she sighed heavily through her nostrils and nodded. Turning once more to go she opened the door to the flat to reveal George, his key raised and pointed at the door. He froze, his gaze whipping back and forth between Alice and her mother. Evelyn stared back at him appraisingly for a moment before turning back to Alice "You don't seem to have wasted any time having this boyfriend of yours move in but I suppose I shouldn't expect any less from you." George opened his mouth to protest but Evelyn ignored him "Remember what I said – I will not tolerate any poor behaviour at the party. From either of you." She said, throwing George a final cold glance before declining to bid her daughter goodbye and marching out.
George watched her go before turning back to Alice, his eyes full of questions. Alice raised a hand and waved at the dead air where Evelyn had been standing "Bye mother…" she said weakly. George gaped "That was your mother?"
Alice grimaced at him "Don't be fooled by her charming and sunny disposition George. I have it on good authority that Satan himself has a restraining order against her."
George gave her a small smile as he hung up his coat "Are you alright?"
Alice waved her hand dismissively "Nothing I haven't seen before. Sorry I didn't correct her when she thought you were my boyfriend." She smiled sheepishly "It seemed to annoy her so much I just couldn't resist." George frowned "Why would that annoy her?"
Alice sighed "Because finding a new boyfriend and having him move in with me less than six months after Pete left would be just another thing I'd done wrong to spite her." She grinned at him "Thanks for playing along."
George grinned back "She didn't give me much choice. What did she want?"
"To remind me to behave at Sarah and Pete's engagement party. Don't worry, I won't make you come with me and pretend to be my boyfriend – I'll ask Daniel." She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw disappointment flash across George's face before he frowned again "She came all the way to your flat to tell you to behave at the party of people who did such a terrible thing to you?"
Alice shot him a small bitter smile "Never underestimate how far Evelyn Clark would go to make a point."