Chapter 11: After the Show
*****
They left the Great Hall and headed towards the stairs, slowly making their way towards Gryffindor tower. They didn't speak. Alinora was simply too tired to make the effort and gratefully leaned in towards George- thankful for his steadying arm around her shoulders as they started up the first set of stairs.
A couple times, she got the impression that he was about to say something, but he never got to the point of actually getting anything out. She was content to wait.
The silence continued as they ascended the next six staircases, which thankfully weren't moving around much that night. Finally, they got within sight of the portrait entrance to their hall. Before they reached it though, George pulled her to a halt and she looked up at him questioningly.
"Um… I… I have a question for you, and I'd prefer to ask it before we went in."
"Sure, what's it about?"
"Well… I've been wondering... I mean… I was hoping you'd…" His ears were turning pink and Alinora was trying very hard not to smile.
"George? What?"
He took a deep breath, his eyes closing as if to calm himself. Finally, he opened his eyes and looked down at her. "I was wondering if you had a date yet for the Yule Ball and if not if you'd be interested in going… with me?" As he finished, his face went pale and he appeared to be holding his breath while waiting for her response.
She smiled up at him, with a hint of her normal mischievousness sneaking through the general exhaustion. "I would be delighted to go with you… but," she teased, "only under the condition that you allow me to teach you a slightly more advanced form of dancing- 'cause Ginny's been telling me stories..."
In the back of his mind he noted that her eyes were no longer the clear emerald green they'd always been before, but were now more of a smoky blue green shade, but in his relief at her answer he quickly forgot about it and smiled at her. "If you're willing to try to teach me, I'm willing to learn. It's your feet at stake!"
"If I can teach Colin, I can teach anyone. And I've grown quite adapt at protection spells for things like that. We'll start the lessons… some other day. I'm too tired tonight." She yawned.
He put his arm back around her shoulder and gently drew her towards the door, a broad grin on his face. "You sure about that? You'll be getting your second wind any moment now…"
"By this time it's more likely my third or fourth, but yes, I'm sure it's coming soon." she said and lightly poked him in the side as they gave the password and entered the common room.
*****
While most of the Gryffindor's appeared to have gone straight up to bed, the normal group had scattered themselves in chairs around the fireplace to wait for their return.
As they climbed through the portrait hole, Alinora was being gently escorted by George; Katie caught her eye and winked. Alinora gave her a quick, small smile in return as she turned to acknowledge a greeting from Colin.
"I'm tired Ali, but I wanted to say G'night before heading up. You were amazing tonight Sis." Colin smiled at her and gave her a hug before heading up the stairs to his room.
Alinora and George made their way to an empty couch and sat down. Alinora looked around and asked the room at large "So, what did you think? Weren't they all amazing?!? I told you you'd do great." she teased, glancing over at Ginny who grinned back at her, tossing her red hair back over her shoulder.
Alinora noticed that Harry was looking a bit stunned and was sneaking glances at Ginny when he thought she wouldn't notice. From the smirk on Ginny's face, Alinora had the feeling that she was noticing more than he was aware of. And that she was enjoying every minute of it. About time too she thought, Part one of the grand Yule ball scheme is progressing well…
They discussed the various acts of the evening- the surprise of Pansy Parkinson's opening act, the fact that Justin could really sing and the shock that Ali had taught Colin to dance.
"And did you see the look on McGonagall's face when you got up to sing the last song?" Katie began to laugh, "I thought she was going to have some sort of a break down before the music started…"
She and Ali looked at each other and immediately started laughing even harder.
"I think I missed a punch line here somewhere," Lee complained, "What are you two laughing about??"
Alinora finally controlled her laughter enough to answer, though she was careful not to look at Katie, "I'd originally convinced her that I was actually going to sing a completely different song- that Dumbledore had approved might I add- that she felt was a bit… inappropriate. But, as Dumbledore had approved, she couldn't tell me I couldn't do it. Of course, Dumbledore also knew I was just kidding- the man's got an amazing sense of humor." She laughed again and caught a look of dawning comprehension on Ginny's face.
"You were going to sing that Muggle song weren't you? The one we were practicing the other night? Oh, that would've been hysterical on stage for the whole school!" and she joined Katie in laughter.
"Okay, what is this song then?" Fred was sounding a bit put out.
Alinora had perked up during their conversation and, as George had predicted, gained her second (or third or fourth) wind. She climbed up onto the back of the couch, reached into a pocket and pulled out what appeared to be the base of a Muggle CD player. She whispered a few words to it then shot a challenging look at Katie and Ginny. "We practiced it the other night- you two up to it now?" she waited a couple seconds, grinned, then pressed 'play' and the music started.
…
"Not too shabby" Ali said as the song ended, "I can't imagine why McGonagall had issues with it- quite tame really, unless done right of course. Too tired to do it justice right now unfortunately." she said grinning at Ron's look of shock and Hermione's blush. Ginny winked at Harry, who was rapidly turning a rather becoming shade of pink. Alinora slid back down to sit beside George on the couch and reached over and gently raised his jaw up, closing his mouth.
"Not too shabby is right, though I think that second verse could've used a little something more…" he murmured in her ear, regaining his normal manner. He shot her a rather lecherous look. In response, Alinora turned her back to him and squirmed back until she'd tucked herself up beside him, leaning against his chest. She could see Ginny and Hermione hiding grins as Angelina quickly distracted Fred from noticing that George had most likely gone quite red again.
Alinora just smiled and snuggled in closer as she felt George's arm come to rest along her shoulders.
*****
No one really wanted to call it a night, but after a while most had given up and headed up to their beds. Katie and Alicia were quietly talking in a corner and Alinora and George were still on the couch, where Ali had fallen asleep curled up against him.
Katie and Alicia finally decided it was time for bed and turned to see George, awake, staring down at Ali with a rather amazed look on his face. They smiled at each other and quietly walked over to them.
"We're heading up- do you want us to help Alinora up to bed?" Alicia whispered.
George considered this briefly then shook his head, "No, go on up. I'll carry her up in a little while. She's so tired and I don't want to wake her if at all possible."
They nodded and slowly ascended the stairs to the girl's dorm.
George sat there, quietly, after they left, his hand stroking Alinora's hair and contemplating the girl curled up so trustingly at his side. She was absolutely fascinating and he couldn't quite understand why it'd taken him so long to notice it. Last year, she'd been around, but with everything else going on- the Triwizard tournament and the whole mess with Bagman- he hadn't noticed her as much more than an amusing addition to the Ladies and his group of friends. He hadn't noticed how much he'd enjoyed their almost daily attempts to fool each other with some sort of prank- he still didn't know how he'd so spectacularly not ever succeeded with one against her! And it was only over the summer, when they'd all been so concerned about her whereabouts that he'd realized just how little he really knew about her and how much he wanted to change that.
They had become good friends since school had started, but he was still amazed that she'd accepted his invitation to the Ball- There would be a lot of guys at Hogwarts who'd be upset that they hadn't asked a little sooner… he thought, shaking his head. She looked so young while asleep, for once not sparkling with her normal mischievous energy, but quiet and peaceful. He smiled and slowly slipped his arms around her and stood up.
"Okay sleeping beauty, time for you to go to bed." Carefully, he carried her up the stairs and to the room she shared with Katie, Angelina and Alicia. Finding her bed, he set her down and bent down to remove her shoes. He maneuvered the bedcovers out from under her and tucked her in. She immediately curled over on her side to face him, still asleep.
Kneeling down beside the bed, he brushed back a few curls that had fallen into her face. She smiled sleepily and opened her eyes a little bit.
"G'night George" she murmured sleepily and reached out a hand and gently stroked the side of his face. Though she'd never done it before, it felt very familiar and it took his tired mind a couple seconds to connect where he'd felt it before.
"You?!? You've been sending me all those notes and those…" he gasped, a little louder than he'd planned.
She smiled again and lazily pressed her fingers against his lips to quiet him before pulling her hand back under the covers. "Took ya long enough… to figure it out, didn't it?" she teased as her eyes fell closed and she drifted back off to sleep.
In a daze, George made his way back to his own room and got ready for bed.
Finally, as he lay in the dark staring up at the curtains above his head, he started to chuckle quietly.
She'd gotten him yet again.
