Chapter 20: A Remembered Date

*****

            Why does homework always seem to be never ending? George wondered, staring down at the books in front of him.  He and Fred were spread out over one half of a table in the common room, while Lee and Alicia took the other half.  All were intently working on homework.  The Professors weren't letting up on any of them as N.E.W.T.s were only a few short months away; they seemed convinced that if the students had any free time, they'd obviously fail them.

            Alinora would normally have been with them, but she'd decided that she wanted to spend some quality time with her 'brother' Colin instead.  Glancing across the room, he could see the two of them with their heads bent over Colin's Transfiguration text book.

            He wondered just how much homework they were really getting done, considering the amount of laughter he'd been hearing from them; but just then Colin pulled out his wand and successfully transfigured his ink well into a small frog.  Alinora was quick to grab it before it could hop away, giving him time to change it back to its original shape.  His fellow fourth years, sitting near by, applauded and Colin stood to give them a sweeping bow.  As he sat back down, Ali gave him a hug.

            George grinned at the look of pride on Ali's face- Colin was only an okay Transfiguration student and had been struggling with that assignment for a while.  Just then, Alinora glanced over and caught his eye.  She smiled, sending a surge of warmth through him.  She maintained eye contact for a few moments more before turning back to reply to a comment from Colin.

            George forced himself to look away and glanced back at his Transfiguration paper.  But his heart wasn't in it right now- luckily it wasn't due for a few more days.  Putting down his quill, he propped his head on his hand and stared into the fire.  As they seemed to do a lot lately, his thoughts turned to Alinora.  Only recently had he been able to follow through on his Christmas promise of a 'real' date- just the two of them.

            It had taken him long enough to put his plans into motion that it had almost been Valentine's Day before he was ready.  He'd considered holding off until then, but Ginny had convinced him that Ali really wouldn't care so he shouldn't bother waiting.

            He also found it amusing that in order to set the scene he had wanted he had had to learn even more advanced charms than the ones they'd covered in class.  McGonagall and Flitwick had been quite helpful, though also a bit amused.  Even Dumbledore had appeared one evening while he was practicing to suggest a room near the tower where he could hold his date, as well as providing a couple of suggestions…  If it wasn't all so funny, he might be a bit irritated by their involvement, but he also knew they were concerned about how intense Ali had been getting over the past couple weeks.  They obviously knew something that they weren't telling him that concerned her, but they did agree that she needed to take a break for a while and were willing to help him make sure that happened.

            So, the day had finally come; and while the rest of the tower's occupants had headed down to dinner, he had escorted Ali down a side hall that neither had remembered seeing before, and to the room George had prepared…

*****

            As she opened the door to walk in, she was hit by a wave of summer warmth.  Alinora gasped and stopped in amazement as she stared at what appeared to be a mountain clearing.  Off to the side was a waterfall that ended in a small lake that flowed away in a stream.  There appeared to be a picnic meal set up near the stream, under a willow tree.

            "Oh my!  George…  How did you…?  Wow… this is amazing!" Ali stammered as she slowly walked into the room and removed the cloak she was wearing to conceal the t-shirt and shorts she'd been told to wear.

            George followed her in and shut the door behind them, where it disappeared into the scenery.  He removed his own cloak and walked over to where the picnic supplies were waiting.

            Ali had wandered over to look into the pool created at the base of the small waterfall.  "Can we go swimming first?  Just for a little while?  Please???" she asked, glancing back to where George was standing.

            As he heard the pleading in her voice, all he could do was smile and nod then he turned back to continue making sure that everything he'd arrange for was there.  He glanced up again at the sound of a splash as Ali dove into the water.

            George smiled as he quickly stripped down to his swim suit and headed towards the pool- he'd had a feeling Ali would rather enjoy the water, since she spent most of her free time at the lake as it was, and she had grown up beside the ocean.  Thankfully, Dumbledore had been able to help him make it work.

            Nearing the side of the pool, he sat down on the edge and looked around for Alinora.  Just then she resurfaced, shaking back her long hair with a broad grin on her face.

            "This is wonderful George.  I don't know how you managed it, but thank you!" she said, smiling happily up at him.  She was slowly making her way towards him through the water and into the shallower areas around the edge.

            As she slowly rose from the water, George felt his heart skip a beat.  She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen- her hair, weighed down by the water, hung down her back in waves, her eyes sparkled a brilliant green and… he didn't think that excuse for a bathing suit she practically wasn't wearing was even legal around here; but he wasn't complaining.  In fact, he was simply attempting not to stare too obviously and to remember what it took to breath properly.

            "So, are you coming in?"

            "Huh… what?  Oh, yeah.  Definitely." he said, shaking his head to clear it and lowering himself into the water.

            Ali grinned at him, turned, and dove back under the water.  As her feet cleared the surface and were about to follow the rest of her back under, she flicked them back towards him- spraying George with water.

            Sputtering and wiping water and hair out of his eyes, George dove after her.  For the next twenty minutes, they chased each other around the pool where he soon found himself out-classed.  He'd always considered himself a strong swimmer, he'd grown up swimming in the lake near his home, but it was impossible to keep up with Alinora.

            Finally exhausted, George made his way back to a shallower area of the lake and tried to figure out where Ali had disappeared to this time.  He caught a flicker of movement near his legs just before Ali surfaced behind him.  Jumping a little out of the water, she threw her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist.  Leaning over his shoulder, she kissed his cheek, whispering, "Thanks George.  I really can't imagine anything I would've liked more than this- with you."

            "Well, I can't imagine anyone else I'd go to so much trouble for."  As he said it, George realized that maybe that wasn't quite the proper response…

            But Alinora just laughed and nuzzled her face down into the crook of his neck.  "I'll take that as a compliment as I'm sure this wasn't an easy thing to arrange."

            They stood there for a while longer until they were interrupted by the sound of George's stomach growling.  His ears went red and Ali started giggling.

            Dropping down, Ali turned George around to face her.  "Why don't you finish up with whatever preparations you need to do and I'll be out to join you in just a few minutes…"

            George nodded and moved to get out of the water.  Ali dove under again and swam out to the waterfall. She played in the spray for a little while before coming a bit closer in.  She created a rock perch in the water to sit on.  Summoning a comb from among her belongings, she began to comb out her wet hair- humming to herself.  By using a little bit of magic, she was able to get it combed out and dried by the time George was ready.  Transfiguring the comb into a long, pointed stick, Alinora twisted her hair up on the top of her head and used the stick to anchor it into place.  Then, she lowered her perch back into the water and slowly made her way back to shore.

            Using one of the towels that had been provided to wrap up in, she had soon joined George at the picnic.  The conversation flowed smoothly from topic to topic, from the mundane to the ridiculous.  As 'day' began fading into twilight they pulled their clothes back on over their now dry swimsuits.  Using towels as pillows and their cloaks as light blankets, they lay looking up at the stars above them.  While pointing out various constellations and talking, they both fell asleep.

            George was woken up sometime later by the sound of a door opening.  For a moment, he couldn't remember where he was, but then he felt the weight of Alinora's head pillowed on his chest.  Afraid to open his eyes too much, he glanced towards the door to see who'd entered.

            In the faint light seeping in from the hallway, he could see Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall standing in the doorway.  Realizing how late it must be, and how long past curfew, he fully expected to be in a lot of trouble…

            "Albus, should we not wake them?  They should have been back in the tower hours ago!" McGonagall whispered loudly.

            "No Minerva, let them sleep.  It can't hurt to let them stay.  They both deserve the break and it may be one of the few they get in the coming days.  Let them enjoy the peace while they can."  Dumbledore motioned her back and McGonagall turned to leave the room.

            When she'd turned and could no longer see into the room, Dumbledore took out his wand.  Pointing it to where George and Alinora were laying, he created a cushion underneath them.  Then, pointing his wand up, he renewed the charm on the ceiling so the stars glowed again.  Winking, he turned and left, shutting the door behind him.

            Feeling movement beside him, George turned to see Ali grinning sleepily at him.  "Gotta love that man…  G'night." she mumbled, snuggling closer before her eyes closed and she fell back asleep.

            Cradling her closer, George closed his eyes as well.  His last thought before he too was asleep was that yes, it had been a good night.

*****

            George startled as someone touched his shoulder, drawing him from his memories.  Turning, he noticed that the common room had emptied while he wasn't paying attention and Alinora was standing over him grinning.

            "I thought you'd about gone to sleep sitting there, despite having your eyes open.  Not doing homework tonight?" she said gesturing at the parchment that was no further along than it had been hours before.

            "No, I was remembering our date from a couple weeks back." he smiled, pulling her around to sit on his lap and wrapping his arms around her.  She was quick to do the same and they sat there in silence for a moment- both remembering.

            "That was a wonderful night.  I'm very happy though that we woke up early enough to have made it back to the tower before anyone noticed we'd never come in the night before." Ali commented, smiling mischievously at him.

            "True.  I don't want to imagine the ribbing I would've gotten from Fred…"

            "Yeah, and I don't want to imagine what Angelina would've done to me after she found out what I'd done to her boyfriend in retaliation for that ribbing!"  They laughed.  "Well, I was actually heading up to bed- it's quite late and we do have classes in the morning."

            "Sweet dreams then." he said, leaning down to kiss her.

            When they resurfaced a while later, slightly breathless, Ali quickly got to her feet.  "Well, if that doesn't guarantee good dreams, I don't know what will."

Pressing a quick kiss to his forehead, Ali turned and ran up the stairs to her room; leaving George to wish that he could wake up the next morning and find Alinora once more cradled in the circle of his arms instead of the lonely solitude he'd experienced since that night under the stars.