The Dark Flame: I'm going, promise.

Narikia: Flouncing just seemed so appropriate. The update took so long because, well, I had writer's block which seriously sucked. But I'm back now.

DramaTized: Thanks for the suggestion. I hope I managed to add more detail in this chapter.

Ellsie: A beta-reader reads over an author's work to catch mistakes and make suggestions on how they could improve it.

searching4romeo: Wipes away a tear. Wow, that was a beautiful review. I feel the same about stories where people fall in love over a weekend. It just doesn't typically happen that way, especially with two characters who didn't really know each other before. I hope this continues to meet your expectations and keep reading!

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Harry Potter or the author.

Picnicking with Nessie

The house was blissfully quiet as George quickly dug through the fridge for picnic items. It seemed to him that every date felt like the first despite Padma's assurances that one mistake would not send her running for the hills. He wanted desperately to impress her each day he spent with her and that included cleaning the house he still shared with Fred, learning to cook the most difficult Indian cuisines, and even popping into the Apothecary with a small gift once or twice a week. Padma complained that he was spoiling her, but he would merely reply that she deserved to be spoiled.

He cast a cooling spell over the basket to keep the deli meats and drinks cold until they arrived at their destination. After much discussion with Fred for ideas, he had decided to take her to Loch Ness which she had mentioned being fascinated with during one of their lunch dates. Oliver had been kind enough to agree to apparate out there and set up for the two.

The cuckoo clock above the fireplace mantle struck 12:00 and a yellow feathered bird shot out.

"Six o'clock!" it squawked, "Soon your sexy lady will be her to…"

George swatted at the canary with a nearby pan. Apparently, Fred had managed to charm a vast majority of the household appliances to shout out various lewd phrases about Padma. Earlier the shower had asked him if he wanted cold water this morning.

The canary blew a raspberry at him and disappeared back into the clock.

"Bloody clock," he muttered, vowing to take revenge on his brother when he had a chance.

But revenge plots would have to wait for at that moment Padma popped into the living room of the Jokester Joint.

"George?" she called out, looking around the empty room.

"Right here," he stepped out of the kitchen with the picnic basket in hand.

"Ooh, what's in the basket?" Padma asked, grabbing for it, but George was quicker and pulled it out of her reach.

"It's a surprise," he told her, "just like the location."

She sighed and placed her hands on her hips.

"Then just how do you propose I floo there?"

"Weren't you good at divination?" he teased.

She laughed good-naturedly and threw a couch cushion at him.

"That was Parvati and you know it!"

"No, I'm pretty sure that you were the one that looked up to the old fraud."

He used his free arm to grab her around the waist and hoist her over her shoulder. She shrieked and began to pound him on the back with her fists, "George, put me down this INSTANT!" but she was not really upset with his behavior. They played this game all the time and she had come to expect to be carried to all manner of places.

He grabbed a pinch of floo powder from the tin bucket hanging on the wall next to the fireplace.

"Haverford!"

If there was one form of travel that Padma wished she could rid the world of, it was flooing. Half the time she ended up tumbling out of a fireplace completely disheveled and the other half of the time she got motion sick. Today was the former, making her incredibly grateful that she had chosen to wear trousers instead of a skirt.

"Good form," George joked, stepping out of the fireplace behind her, "but your landing needs a little work."

She stuck her tongue out at him and he rolled his eyes.

"Real mature, Padma."

"This from the man who gave his older brother fuchsia hair the day of his wedding simply because he accidentally broke your broom."

George began to chuckle loudly earning a stern glare from the shopkeeper whose fireplace they had come out of.

"I do believe that's our hint to get out of here," George whispered in her ear.

He placed his free arm around her waist and guided her out of the store. Once outside, he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket.

"To make sure that you don't peek," he informed her.

She allowed him to tie it around her head so that the world was pitch black.

"You're going to have to hold our basket so I can guide you along," he said.

She nodded. The wicker basket was soon placed in her arms and she felt two hands take her by the waist and gently push her forward. One would think that it would be a bit unnerving to be unable to see and have to trust another person to help you walk an unknown distance to an unknown destination, but not to Padma. This was George, and she knew she had nothing to worry about. She would trust George with her life.

George guided her carefully along the cobblestone path, looking just barely ahead to make sure that not a stone was out of place putting Padma in danger of tripping. He always had this overwhelming urge to protect her when they were together even if it meant taking on Lord Voldemort himself.

After a mile, they came to the top of a hill and the lake came into full view. One could even see the table and candles Oliver had set out under a tree. The sun was just beginning to set, but Oliver had convinced a group of faeries living nearby to help light the area around the tree by flying just out of sight with the faerie lights. George pulled the cloth from Padma's eyes.

"Oh!" she gasped, her mouth forming a perfect O, "Is this…Are we…"

He nodded and she immediately flung her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his.

"This is absolutely perfect."

She suddenly took off running down the hill. "Race you!" she called out over her shoulder.

"Hey!" George exclaimed, "You cheated!"

He took off running after her, determined to make up the difference. Fortunately, Padma's legs were considerably shorter and he had caught up to her in no time. She ran all the way to the end of a pier and stopped. George was not so lucky. He tripped over one of the wooden planks and fell headfirst into the water.

Padma burst into giggles and had to set the picnic basket down for fear of dropping it. George's head popped above the water, sputtering. His red hair hung limply into his eyes with beads of water rolling down his cheeks.

"Think this is funny, do you?"

She nodded, doubled over with laughter.

"Well how about this?"

He grabbed her hand and tugged causing her to lose her balance and tumble into the water beside him. An icy chill shot through her body as she hit the water. It was extremely cold.

"How dare you!" she choked out between coughs, feigning anger.

George's face went white.

"I…I…I didn't…"

A broad grin spread across her face and she dunked him below the water. He soon returned to the surface, spitting out mouthfuls of water, a look of shock encompassing his face. Then, he smiled. Gently, he pushed her wet hair away from her face and then gave her a soft kiss. Everything, including the chirping of the birds, suddenly seemed to be far away, almost like they were in another time and place. Then, she was pushed under water.

They continued this game for awhile, until the sun had sunk well below the horizon. Completely bedraggled, they pulled themselves from the water and staggered to the picnic table with their basket.

"You'd think that with all the splashing Nessie would have at least taken a peek," Padma giggled.

"Forget Nessie," George grumbled, "I'm starved."

He pulled off the lid and his face fell.

"What is it?" Padma asked.

He pulled out a sandwich that had frozen into a block of ice.

"I used a cooling spell, but I guess it was too strong."

Once again, laughter shook Padma's body as she tried to hide her chuckles.

George stuck his tongue out at her.

"Well, I suppose I've ruined dinner."

Padma wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek.

"Forget dinner. The sky is clear and the stars are out."

"Perfect for stargazing."

They sat there for hours amongst the twinkling lights of the faeries, their clothes still damp. It seemed to George that the stars had never been so bright.

Wow, now there was some fluff. Anywho, read/review and let me know what you think. And don't you think Narikia did a FABULOUS job as beta-reader… oh, wait, you didn't see the first draft. Thank Merlin for small favors.

Arianna