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 Sixteen – Diagon Alley
Alice was sobbing into her pillow when she became aware of Fred's presence in the room "Go away." She sniffled feebly, not even bothering to look at him.
"Good grief Alice, I know my presence in your life was unrequested but there's no need to bawl about it."
"You don't understand," Alice turned to face where he was sat at her dressing table, her eyes blotchy and cheeks tear-stained "Your brother has locked me in here to stop me from seeing the man I love!" she wailed, burying her face back into the pillow.
Fred frowned "George did that?"
"Yes!" came the muffled response "Don't act so surprised – I bet he's got previous for imprisoning women in their own homes and stopping them from seeing gorgeous men who make amazing coffee syrup!"
"First of all, that is an incredibly specialist fetish for even the most seasoned of perverts to have and second," Fred fixed her with a look "What sort of syrup are we talking about?"
Alice raised her head to narrow her eyes at him "What does it matter?" she hiccuped "George took it away from me!"
"Alice, this is very important," Fred crouched down next to the bed "This syrup – what did it smell like?"
Alice bit her lip "Buttered Toast, I think. And Ginger. And maybe…" she shook her head and looked away "You'll think I'm crazy."
"As a paranormal entity haunting the landlady of a most beloved sibling, I doubt it."
Alice sighed, her cheeks reddening slightly "It smells like… the smoke from Christmas crackers straight after you've pulled them."
Fred smiled "That's not so crazy."
"No, what's crazy is your brother keeping me away from Daniel!" Alice retorted. Before Fred had a chance to reply, there was a tentative knock at the door accompanied by a woman's voice and they both froze, their expressions stricken "Alice? Alice… my name is Ginny – I'm George's sister. He's asked me to look after you while he's out. Are you alright? I thought I heard you talking to someone…"
Alice glanced back toward the dressing table but Fred had already disappeared. Slowly, she slid off the bed and padded over to the door "I want to come out." She sniffled petulantly "I want to come out and I want Daniel."
The voice on the other side of the door sighed "I don't think that's such a good idea, Alice..."
"Oh I see," Alice folded her arms and glared at the door "George wants Daniel all to himself does he? I thought he was acting weird whenever Daniel was around. Well you can just tell him that Daniel isn't interested because he's with me."
The voice snorted audibly "Yeah don't worry, I'll let George know."
"Don't laugh at me!" Alice stamped her foot and dissolved into tears once more. Outside, Ginny Weasley rolled her eyes in contempt before pulling her wand out and pointing it at the door "Muffiato." She mouthed, giving a great sigh of relief when the loud melodramatic sobs were replaced by silence. George had better hurry.
X
George decided to walk to Diagon Alley rather than apparate, mostly because he suspected that to apparate after an extended period without magic would make him vomit, or at least provoke an unsolicited attack of biliousness. He shrank further back into his coat as the cold December air made to bite at his face and neck. He gripped the potion bottle tightly inside his pocket as he trudged toward the Leaky Cauldron, his stomach clenching anxiously as he thought about the last time he had set foot in Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. It had been the one and only time he had been in the store without Fred. Once had been enough, he had decided. There was nothing he couldn't do from somewhere else, somewhere that didn't remind him of Fred everywhere he looked. Of course, he hadn't realised that by trying to work from the Burrow, he had simply been swapping one set of painful memories for another.
George walked through the Leaky Cauldron as quickly and humanly possible, refraining from meeting anyone's eyes as he did so. He and Fred had celebrated the end of their first week in business here with several firewhiskeys and lots of singing. There had been a lot of nights like that in the beginning. It had seemed that their moment in the sun had finally come and nothing could dampen their spirits.
Stepping into the Alley, George kept his head down and hurried through the Christmas shoppers, making a beeline for his destination. 93 Diagon Alley was as much an eyesore as it had ever been, but that had always been the plan. Fred and George had agreed that Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes should be visible from the further possible point in the alley, a beacon of irreverence and warmth and light at a time when darkness had been everywhere. The storefront was decorated for Christmas but George didn't linger for long on the pavement, knowing that if he didn't step inside now he would lose his nerve.
Pausing in the doorway, the assault on his senses was almost overwhelming. George bit back bile as he forced himself to scan the shop looking for the person he'd left in charge. Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, it seemed, had not suffered a downturn in trade following the death of one owner and the reclusive nature of the other. Young children and adolescents belted about the store excitedly, followed by harangued looking parents laden with their school supplies. At the till, Verity was merrily ringing through purchase after purchase, bestowing her sunny smile on each customer. Nothing had changed. Not a single product stand had been moved, every display was exactly as he'd left it. George felt the heaviness flood back into his chest and fought the urge to turn around and walk straight back out. His fingers, thrust deep into his pocket, curled around the bottle of Amortentia, the ridges in the glass reminding him why he was here in the first place.
Nobody really paid him much attention as he moved through the store, gently winding his way through the crowds. He supposed it wasn't much of a leap to assume that no one would expect to see him here after all this time. Reaching the door to the stockroom, he paused as he heard a familiar voice.
"This is one of our specialities – a Daydream charm. Just pop it in your mouth, let it melt and soon you'll have drifted off into the most fantastical fantasy you've ever had. Now, bearing in mind that your daydream will most likely include appearances from people you find very attractive, what time are you planning to take it so that I know when to turn up?"
George watched as the pretty young witch that Lee Jordan was talking to blushed and giggled "What if I decide to take it before I have a bath?"
Lee waggled his eyebrows "Even better."
George cleared his throat and Lee looked around, gasping when he recognised the redhead, his eyes wide as though he was unable to believe what he was seeing "Merlin's beard! What are you doing here?"
George cocked an eyebrow "Listen I'm not sure if you've noticed, but my name's on the door, Lee. I'm kind of a big deal around here." At least I used to be.
Lee sputtered "I just meant that – I didn't expect to see you-"
George grimaced "Me either. Any chance you could take a break in your busy flirting schedule and give me a hand with something?" Lee gave a start when he realised that the witch he had been talking to was still standing next to him looking ever more confused. He turned to her apologetically "Sorry love, business calls. Verity will ring up your purchases at the till."
X x X
Lee stared at the bottle that George had thrust into his hands the minute they had ensconced themselves firmly in the stockroom-cum-laboratory. He had listened silently while George had filled him in on how he came to be in possession of the Amortentia and his reasons for arriving back at the store unannounced as he rifled through boxes and plucked products off of shelves, placing them on the workbench ready to be brewed into an antidote. Lee simply stood, leaning against a wall, a pensive look on his face as he turned the bottle over and over in his grasp. Eventually, he had been silent for so long that George could no longer stand it "Say something, Lee!"
His old friend looked up, a little dazed "Sorry, mate. It's just... this is a lot of information to take in. I can't decide whether to start with the fact that there's a Death Eater on the loose posing as a Hipster in Muggle London, the fact that he's been plying your Muggle landlady with Amortentia for a month or the fact - in light of all the other facts - that the first place you've chosen to come is here instead of the Ministry!"
George stood by his old workbench, ingredients spilling from his arms, looking slightly guilty. Lee pushed away from the wall with his foot and approached the redhead "This... wouldn't have anything to do with that letter you sent me a few weeks back about the idea you had, would it?"
George shifted uncomfortably under his gaze "Why would you think that?" Lee narrowed his eyes "There's something you're not telling me, George. Are you in some kind of trouble?"
George gave a wry laugh "Apart from the Death Eater who's been frequenting my flat, you mean?" When Lee didn't respond, he sighed "It's complicated."
"I've got time." Lee reached up and gave George's shoulder a squeeze and for the first time since arriving in the store, George managed to look his oldest friend in the eye and saw in his expression that 'I've got time' clearly meant 'You can trust me. Please don't shut me out'. He wondered if Lee could see what a mess he was. George took a deep breath, and started at the beginning. He told him everything – about creeping to the living room door and seeing Alice's magic for the first time, about how she had taken him out and gotten him drunk, about how when the Minister for Magic had asked him if there was any possibility he was in danger, he had lied through his teeth despite knowing that he was living with an unregistered Obscurial. Once again, Lee listened intently, absently measuring out ingredients for him to add to the bubbling cauldron in front of them. When George had finished, he exhaled heavily, puffing out his cheeks "So I guess that answers my question as to why you came here instead of going to straight to the Ministry."
George stared down at the potion as he stirred, giving a silent nod. Lee folded his arms and levelled his gaze at him "So what are you going to do?" George sighed "Right now, all I'm interested in is getting the antidote to Alice. She's been taking this for a month. A month, Lee. Who knows what that could have done to her mind?"
"And what about after that?" Lee watched as George began ladling the finished potion out into several bottles. To be on the safe side, he'd produced enough antidote for four people.
"Merlin knows."
X x X
George decided to use the Floo Network to get back to the flat as time was short. Standing in front of the fireplace in the stockroom, he patted his coat down to ensure he had all of the bottles of antidote. Satisfied, he looked up to say goodbye to Lee and was met with a glare "What?"
"I realise that you have slightly more pressing matters to attend to today, but are we likely to expect the same amount of time to pass before your next visit?" Lee's tone was more scolding than accusatory, but all the same George felt his defences go up "I'm just… I'm not sure I can come back. How can it ever be as good with just one of us?" He looked down at his shoes "That wasn't the dream."
"And feeding your landlady love potion antidote and dodging Death Eaters was the dream, was it?" Lee's tone was chiding "Just… don't leave it so long between getting in contact, alright? And by the way," he reached out to catch George's arm as he went to step into the hearth "The idea you sent me a few weeks ago was a score. Best thing you've come up with for a while. If you make it back sometime in the next century, perhaps we can talk about it."
X x X
Ginny sat up on the sofa as her brother bowled out of the fireplace into Alice's living room "Finally! What were you doing, picking the Gurdyroots yourself?"
"Sorry…" George pulled out all of the bottles he had brought with him and set them atop the piano. Ginny eyed them with a level of apprehension "How many people have been drinking this potion, exactly?"
George didn't get a chance to reply as a strangled yell floated up from outside. Beckoning to Ginny to follow him through to the kitchen, he leaned over the sink and craned his neck to get a good view into the garden below "Bloody hell."
Alice had seemingly crawled out of her bedroom window and attempted to clamber down the trellis that covered the back part of the house. Somehow, she had gotten her foot caught and tumbled down into one of Arlene's flowerbeds where she now lay, struggling to get free. Driscoll, assuming that she had come to play, was clambering all over her and happily licking her face.
X x X
George knocked on Arlene's door and waited nervously for her to answer. When she finally opened the door, he did his best to look casual "Hi Arlene, sorry to bother you but-"
"-You've come to retrieve the lovesick young woman currently flattening my roses?" Arlene's smile was as bright as ever, giving nothing away. George blinked "Um – yes. How did you-"
"I've been around long enough to know the effects of Amortentia when I see it, young man. Besides, I've been waiting for precisely such an event to occur." She stepped back to open the door wide enough for him to enter her flat "Explanations can wait, George dear - there's only so long Driscoll can keep Alice from escaping."
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