Disclaimer: All the property of J.K. Rowling, I am merely borrowing and am not making a cent off this.
A/N: I'm sorry this has taken so long, but I haven't been in places with internet access for a long time and as I'm going away again soon, I can't promise any really regular updates until the 21st of March when I am firmly grounded on U.S. soil again. But for now, here is Chapter 3. Thanks go as always to Zsenya, my wonderful beta reader who is re-teaching me about commas which have always been my Waterloo.
Alicia contemplated the piece of parchment before her and grinned. What could she write after a day like that? If she'd been confused about her status before, she wasn't anymore.
Diagon Alley had been better than she'd expected.
When she arrived at Angelina's house, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson greeted her pleasantly, but Angelina rushed forward, not caring that she was covered in soot and given her a nearly bone-cracking hug
"Alicia! Oh, I'm so glad you're here! You have to come and see the new broomstick Mum and Dad bought for me."
The new broomstick was a lovely gleaming Nimbus 2000 and Alicia raved suitably. Then Angelina, in one of her girl moments, snatched the broomstick away and asked her what she would wear to Diagon Alley the following day.
Alicia sighed, "I don't know. I'm not sure what this is. I mean-,"
"A date, Alicia dear, a date, haven't you ever been on one before?" Angelina was grinning at her in an aggravating manner.
"How do you know?"
"Because Fred told me that George hesitated before writing you a PS and that he had to suggest it," Angelina was logical and psychological, "therefore, that means that he was nervous which means that he likes you and thus, Diagon Alley tomorrow is a date," she switched tactics, "you did bring your green robes, didn't you?"
Alicia nodded.
"Good, wear those" Angelina's voice brooked no argument. Alicia found Angelina's confidence reassuring and inspiring. This might have been because Angelina was usually right.
When the Yule Ball had rolled around the year before, Alicia had asked Angelina who she was going with.
"Fred" Angelina had replied matter-of-factly.
"You mean he's asked you already?"
"No, but he will."
And she'd been right, ten minutes later Fred had shouted an invitation across the common room.
"Say, Angie, how did you hex Fred by owl?"
Angelina laughed, "Got him with one of his own spells, the Prancing Parchment. I knew it would come in handy."
Alicia laughed too. Prancing Parchment looked exactly like regular parchment until it was touched with the fingers and then the unfortunate victim ended up prancing about for two hours.
The next day, Fred and Angelina greeted each other as exuberantly as they danced. George and Alicia were a bit less so. Alicia was feeling rather awkward. If this had been a casual, "Hey, Lis, let's go down to Hogsmeade" it wouldn't have been so strange, but the dynamic had changed.
"You two got here pretty quickly, I thought it might take longer for you to Apparate," Angelina commented.
"No," George said. "Actually, we just walked. We're staying in London right now helping a friend with decontamination."
"Decontamination?" Alicia was interested. "What type of decontamination?"
"Now, now Lady Green-eyes," said Fred, "that would be telling, wouldn't it?"
Angelina shot Alicia a crafty look and turned to Fred, "Come on, you have to show me that charm you found in that shop you were telling me about, say we all meet back up at Fortescue's at noon? See you later, you two," and before either Alicia or George could protest, she'd dragged Fred off.
Alicia and George looked at each other. Neither of them was quite sure what to say.
"Are-," George began as Alicia said "Thanks for-"
They both stopped.
"You first," said George.
"Well, thank you for that letter. I felt a lot better after reading it."
"That's good. I was going to ask if you were all right," he paused, "Come on, I want to show you something"
"All right," she gave him a warning glance, "but you had better not do anything to my hair,"
"All right," George flashed her an innocent smile, which instantly arose her suspicions, "I like those robes, they remind me of the ones you wore to the ball."
Alicia blushed. He'd remembered her robes?
"Although," he added, "The ones you wore to the Yule Ball weren't quite as bright."
Alicia glanced down and noticed that her robes had turned a violent shade of fluorescent green.
"George Weasley! You said you wouldn't do anything!"
"I said I wouldn't do anything to your hair," he informed her with a maddening grin. And the awkwardness was broken, he was still George Weasley
"You . . .you . . .ooooh," Alicia pulled out her wand to hex him into next week, but when she looked down again, her robes had returned to their normal state.
She shook her head in exasperation. "What is it with you and changing colors? Anyway, what did you want to show me?"
"We've got possible premises for Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes."
"Really?! Where?"
"That's what I'm going to show you. Come on"
A few minutes later they stood outside Gambol and Japes which had a large Going Out of Business sign posted in the window.
"Here?" asked Alicia.
"Yes, since Zonko's expanded into Diagon Alley, Gambol and Japes just couldn't compete. They've got the same stuff and it's more expensive. Fred and I know Zonko's hasn't got any of our inventions so we figure we'll have a chance here"
"I think you will too," she looked at the dusty shop window and pictured a scrolling label on it, Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes.. She could easily imagine the popularity such a shop would have. And of course, instead of a bell, they'd probably play a joke on anyone who entered. She had a feeling that, despite what Mrs. Weasley thought, the shop would be a great success. Her musings were interrupted by a sudden tap on her shoulder.
"Ah! Don't do that!" Alicia glared at George who merely grinned at her and chided her for not following Moody's invective of Constant Vigilance! Her heart rate should have gone down but she could feel it rising and she noticed that George was right at her shoulder. They didn't usually stand so close together and Alicia realized that it was his proximity that was causing her rapidly rising heart rate. He was studying her now with a contemplative look.
"What?" she almost snapped.
"I was just wondering," he answered, "what you would do if I kissed you."
"Does . . .does that mean you want to kiss me?" It was a stupid question, she knew, but her brain was not functioning as well as it normally did at the moment. There was only one really definitive way of answering that question and George took it. He kissed her.
Unfortunately, the moment was broken by Fred's voice, "HA! Pay up, Angie, that's five Sickles you owe me"
They sprang apart.
"You bet on us?" Alicia asked incredulously.
Angelina looked sheepish as she handed five Sickles to Fred, "Well . . ."
George held out a hand, "Come on Fred, that's three you owe me."
"What?!" This was even more surprising.
Angelina sighed, "Welcome to the ranks, Lis. They do this all the time."
"He bet me I wouldn't kiss you before lunch," explained George.
Alicia wondered why she was not annoyed, but rather felt an urge to laugh.
"What did you two bet on?" she asked Angelina.
"Nearly the same thing except in ours it was by the end of the day."
By the end of the day, the two couples had separated again as they were saying goodbye at different Floo portals.
It was almost as awkward as meeting up had been. Neither of them was quite sure what to say.
Alicia was wondering several things and although she merely meant to say goodbye, confessions and questions spilled from her mouth before she could do anything to stop them.
"George, I-, did you only kiss me because of that bet? I mean, I know we've been friends since first year when you told Lee to drop that spider down my robes, but since our fifth year, I've, well, I feel a bit more than friendship. " The words were out there and now there was nothing she could do to take them back. She was surprised to see an expression of both relief and surprise spread over his features.
"Really?" he asked, "Why didn't you say anything before now?"
"Because I wasn't sure, I thought maybe you and that Ravenclaw-,"
"What Ravenclaw? Alicia, remember when we won the Quidditch Cup?"
"You mean when that Slytherin claimed to mistake me for a Bludger?"
"Yes, Alicia, I don't whack Bludgers at Slytherins for just anybody."
"Well, if that's true, why didn't you say anything?"
"The same reason you didn't. I thought you and that Hufflepuff, well, you know . . ."
And then both of them burst out "But I went to the Yule Ball with you!"
There was silence as they looked at each other. George was the first to break it.
"Well, there's only one thing to do now"
Alicia blinked, "What's that?"
He kissed her. "Goodbye, Alicia, send an owl when you can."
"Of course I will." She turned to the Floo portal and said loudly, "Spinnet Residence!"
The blank piece of parchment stared up at her and she smiled, she knew precisely what to write now.
Wednesday
Dear George,
Grand-mum says that when you have a pleasant day with a gentleman friend, you are supposed to write him a nice thank you note. Of course, her definition of nice and my definition of nice may be rather different.
For example, I don't think she'd approve of my writing thank you for kissing me so nicely. But I think that's perfectly acceptable. As if no one in the older generation had hormones. How the heck did we get here then?
I'm less scared for me now I've got you. I have, haven't I? I'm scared for Harry especially with all the rubbish the Daily Prophet has been printing. Seriously, though, thank you for a lovely time in Diagon Alley and for letting my hair remain its natural shade. I can't say the same for my robes though.
Lee says he can't wait to do commentary again. I just can't wait to play Quidditch again.
Love,
Alicia.
p.s. What took us so long?
Breakfast at Grimmauld Place could be just as chaotic as at the Burrow what with Tonks tripping over everything and Mrs. Black screeching her consistent mantra. Owls for various members of the Order swooped in and out and sometimes it was hard to tell exactly who an owl was aiming for. Not to mention that the twins had passed their tests and Apparated everywhere without thinking. Mrs. Weasley was at her wits' end.
The third time that the twins Apparated into her, she lost her temper.
"That's it, you two! If you're so keen on Apparating, you can Apparate yourselves right up into the second guestroom with Sirius and help him clean it!"
Of course, no one ever dared quarrel with Mrs. Weasley when she was in that sort of mood and so Fred and George obeyed her. The room they were in was covered in dust and a stench from near one of the heating ducts indicated-
"Yes," said Sirius, straightening up from where he'd been looking underneath it, "It's another bunch of dead Puffskeins.
Fred and George looked at each other. The first dead Puffskein had been an enormous help in some of their experiments, but these didn't look like they'd be any use at all. They'd obviously been there for years and years and were merely a bunch of moldy old bones.
"Well," said George, trying to make the best of things, "at least there isn't too much to clean up."
Sirius gave a hollow laugh. "Not in this room, but the rest of the house"
There was a sudden thumping against one of the dusty windows. In any other house but Grimmauld Place, this thumping would not necessarily have been cause for alarm. However, Grimmauld Place had many unexpected booby traps that came from plenty of unexpected places.
Sirius crossed to the window and opened it carefully. The only trap waiting for him was a large brown owl with a letter clamped firmly in her beak. He took it from her and read the address.
"Your friend's got a very smart owl to find you here, George," Sirius suddenly grinned in a slightly mischievous manner, "Or should I say your girlfriend?"
"Give me that!" snapped George, sounding, to his dismay, a lot more like Percy than he'd ever thought he could.
"All right, all right," said Sirius handing him the letter.
George read it twice to make sure that he hadn't misunderstood anything and that she really had enjoyed herself at Diagon Alley and that now they really were more than friends. When he'd satisfied himself about the answers, Mrs. Weasley called them all to dinner and George Apparated straight into the soup tureen, much to his mother's dismay.
And it was not the last time for such a mis-Apparation to occur.
Friday
Dear Alicia,
Yes, you have. As to what took us so long, we're both just clueless. You should know that Fred and I only made that bet so I wouldn't lose my nerve. I can't wait for Quidditch either. Fred and I are both really annoyed by those Daily Prophet stories. We're tempted to use their heads for Bludger practice. What do you suppose the DADA teacher will be like this year?
Love,
George
p.s. Fred and I passed our Apparition exams.
Dear Lady Green-eyes,
You've gone and done it. Made my twin and business partner completely useless. He's mooning about with your letter looking like Percy he's been hit by a veela charm. Thanks a lot.
Fred
Dear Fred,
As if you weren't in the same state after the Yule Ball last year.
Lady Green-eyes