Chapter 70
New Year - New Problems George swore quietly and Cassie wanted to smile in response but her head hurt too badly. Remus stood up in frustration and Arthur joined him a second later. Cassie closed her eyes but listened carefully to their conversation.

"You mean we're not done with this yet? You have no idea who it is?"

"No - sadly they were using code names and they never even mentioned his code name to give us a hint of who it could be. But we tried, we really tried. That's why we took so long. We looked at every piece of paper and everything else in the room trying to see some indication of who they were waiting for, but there was nothing."

The two witches sat down heavily on chairs next to George and Cassie. "All I can say, young lady, is that you did very well. All the men on the parchment were indeed at that meeting, just as you said."

Cassie nodded, keeping her eyes closed. George spoke quietly to the Headmaster. "So, who were the other two wizards Cassie did see?" Dumbledore answered him and Cassie tried to pay attention although it was difficult when what she really wanted was to go back to sleep.

"One of them is an American, a wizard I am sure you have never heard of. His name is Jonathan Wilson. He works for the American wizarding government. We are not really sure what his role was in this group although it is most likely as some sort of liaison. Or, he may be in it for himself. There may have been some sort of promise of safety for him or his family after Voldemort assumes power here. We aren't sure."

"You're right. I've never heard of him." Cassie could feel George's anger practically radiating through his skin even though his voice was steady and soft. "And the other?"

"His purpose in the group is more easily defined. His name is Sean MacConnell. He works for the Daily Prophet as one of their reporters. I am sure that he was there to serve as sort of a propagandist. He has not written all of the articles about us criminals, but I believe he has written many of them. It makes sense that he was there and it just convinces me more that this was a well-organized effort. They really knew what they were doing. Had it not been for Miss Robinson - I'm not sure what would have happened, but it would certainly not have been pleasant." Cassie felt Dumbledore's hand on her shoulder and she smiled vaguely up toward what she hoped was him, her eyes still firmly closed.

"What are you going to do about finding the other one?" Remus asked and Cassie sighed into George's shirt. She was curious, but her part was done and right now all she wanted to do was go back to the Burrow and sleep for a week or so.

"I am thinking about that right now. I have an idea or two but I don't want to rush into a decision. I think at the moment, we need to get Miss Robinson back to the Burrow and I will let you know once I have settled on a possible idea."

"Just make sure it does not involve Cassie."

"Right now, I think we need to replace that memory. That will do a great deal toward helping your headache. Just sit still for a few moments, please."

"Aren't you going to need it again?" asked George and Cassie was grateful, because she had just been wondering the same thing but hadn't wanted to ask. All she could really think at the moment was that she was never going to do this again. Never.

"No. All three of us saw it and we took copious notes. That will be adequate." Cassie felt a wand tip against her temple and pushed away from it, not wanting that sensation of the string being pulled through her skin again. That had been so strange. However, this time, although she could definitely feel the memory strand passing through her skin, it was not nearly as peculiar. She really couldn't define what it felt like and she was unsure if that was because her brain was in such pain that one more odd sensation didn't register or if she really didn't have the words for it. She didn't, though, honestly care. She sighed against George, only aware of one thing. Her head did not feel any better. "There. Now I suggest you all go back to the Burrow. I will probably call a meeting of the Order tomorrow or possibly Friday to make some decisions about what we want to do next. I'll be in touch."

The trip via portkey was the most unpleasant she had taken and when she landed in a heap on the floor of the Burrow to everyone's exclamations of concern, Cassie groaned in gratitude when George whisked her upstairs to her bed. She could hear Arthur and Remus explaining what had happened to everyone else in the house and she tuned it out, concentrating instead on George's even breathing. That seemed to help keep the pounding in her head to a minimum. "Drink this," he said after he had taken off her shoes and loosened what clothing he could without actually undressing her. She shook her head then instantly regretted it. "It's not a headache remedy. Those obviously aren't going to work. This will just help you sleep." She dutifully swallowed the liquid he help up to her lips.

"Have you people ever heard of pills?" she muttered. "They don't taste. Maybe you should . . . ." She wanted to finish her sentence but she couldn't because she forgot the end and she laid back on the pillow. "George?"

"Yes, Cassie?"

"It's New Year's Eve tonight."

"I know."

"Wake me later, okay?"

"We'll see." And then she smiled to herself and allowed sleep to take away the pounding in her head.

"Cassie? Cassie?" The voice didn't go away so she dutifully forced her eyes open, expecting bright light to assault her battered brain. But instead, the room was in a dusky sort of haze and she opened them wider. George was sitting on her bed, holding her hand and calling her name softly. When he saw her looking at him, he smiled. "How are you feeling?" She didn't answer right away, trying to decide.

"Better, actually. My head doesn't hurt nearly as much." She glanced around, thoroughly disoriented. "What time is it?"

"Seven."

"In the morning or at night?"

"At night. Mum's got dinner on the table. I thought you might want to come down. She's really made a nice meal for the holiday."

"Holiday? Oh, yeah. It's still New Year's Eve, isn't it?"

"Yes. It is. Are you sure you're up to it? You seem a little, um, out of it."

"I am a bit. But I think it was that potion you gave me. Give me a minute. I really do feel better." She looked at him again. "You shouldn't be in here with me alone."

"I know. I was hoping that since you were sick, you really wouldn't mind." His grin was slightly sly. "At least that's what I told my mum." She smiled and tried to sit up. The room spun slightly on its axis and she closed her eyes quickly, then slowly opened them after another moment. The room stayed still so she set her feet on the floor.

"And she bought that story?"

"She did."

"I see. I'll have to have a talk with her, then. Because if I wasn't convinced that I had the worst morning breath in the history of the world, I would be kissing you senseless right now." She ran her tongue over her teeth, which felt hairy and gross. "Do me a favor, George."

"Sure."

"Please do not force me to drink another potion for at least a month. I've now had about 12 in the last 24 hours and I think I may actually die if I have to have another."

"You're exaggerating."

"Not by much. Ginny drugged me last night, remember? Then there was the one this morning, the two headache remedies, and the one you gave me up here."

"That's 5 - nowhere near 12."

"Close enough. Five, twelve. It's all the same." She stood up carefully, testing the strength of her legs. To her surprise they held her upright, although she grabbed George's shoulder for support at first.

"So, maths isn't your best subject?" She laughed tentatively, pleased she could do so without hurting anywhere.

"I get by. I need to go brush my teeth. Help me, please?" He helped her to the bathroom and stayed right outside while she brushed her teeth about three times, trying to get rid of the tastes of the various gross substances she had been forced to ingest that day. Then he carefully helped her set her clothing right and put her shoes on again and he even brushed her hair very gently when she couldn't do it without pulling. "Is everyone waiting downstairs for us?"

"No. I came up a bit early because I thought it might take me a while to get you up and moving."

"I'm sorry I'm being a wimp." She sighed as he tied her second trainer.

"What do you mean, Cassie? You were very brave today." She sighed and twisted her lips. "But I should be feeling better now, right? Am I just being a -"

"No. Don't even think that. That was a really nasty potion you had to drink today. I had Hermione show me the ingredients. It would make anybody sick. Truly."

"Don't tell me what's in it. I saw Professor Dumbledore's expression. I don't want to know."

"I won't." They walked carefully down the stairs, she following him carefully, stepping with concentration down each step so that she didn't miss one and fall into him. When they reached the kitchen, Molly looked over and smiled at her.

"You're feeling better, then?"

"Yes. I am."

"That's good. We all hoped you'd be able to celebrate the turning of the year with us." Ginny poked her head in a moment later and hugged Cassie tightly.

"You're up! We're so proud of you!"

"Thanks. But I didn't do anything."

Ginny opened her mouth to say something else when Hermione, followed immediately by Ron and then Harry entered the kitchen, also. They all hugged her, the boys very carefully as though she was going to break and she hugged Harry tightly before he let her go. "You okay, Cass?"

"Yeah. I think so. I'm still in one piece. And I don't think I'm mad." He smiled broadly at her and then glanced at George before hugging her again.

"He gets rather perturbed when I hug you. But . . ." Cassie just grinned but did see George's face get a rather strained look before Harry let go. They all sat down at the table and were joined in short order by Tonks, sporting a multi-colored spiky hairdo and electric blue eyes ("in celebration of the holiday, of course") that made Cassie blink in surprise, Remus, Arthur, Bill, and Charlie. Fred was the last to join them and Cassie wondered what he had been doing. His color was rather high and he looked agitated. She wanted to ask him what was going on but decided it was none of her business, so she turned away from him and looked at Ron instead. He was looking rather green and she blinked a few times before deciding it really was him and not just some trick her battered psyche was playing on her.

She ate her dinner carefully. The food was very good and as always there was plenty of it. She didn't have much of an appetite which was hardly surprising. But she tasted everything and complimented Molly on the meal. She tried to help clean up afterward, but she tired quickly and after a few minutes, George led her out of the kitchen and settled her on one of the easy chairs. "Just wait here. I'll go help Mum if it would make you feel better. We've got some great stuff planned for the evening and I want you to stay awake for it."

"What kind of stuff?" she asked, wondering if it would explain either Fred's anxiety or Ron's queasiness.

"It's a surprise." He bent very close to her ear and whispered, his breath sending shivers up her spine. "I wish we could play Partners again, love. That was the most fun, ever." She smiled and turned her face to meet his mouth. Their kiss was gentle at first, but George put his hand behind her head and pushed a bit harder against her lips, then pulled back as though questioning her about whether she wanted it. She followed his mouth and kissed him. It had been too long since they had really kissed and she suddenly wanted more of the passionate kisses he was so good at. He groaned and slipped off the footstool he had been sitting on, kneeling in front of her. His other hand came up and slipped into her hair, holding her head still for his mouth. She felt his tongue slide over her lips and she responded, opening her mouth a little to allow him to deepen the kiss. Someone cleared their throat behind George and they both jumped. Cassie looked up to see Ginny standing there, grinning like the cat that ate the canary.

"Sorry to interrupt."

George just scowled and stood up. "Did you want something in particular or are you just trying to drive me mad?"

"I wanted Cassie, of course. Your sanity or lack thereof is your own concern." George just growled in the back of his throat and stalked off toward the kitchen. Ginny sat down in front of Cassie. "Hermione and I are going to get dressed up, in fancy dress robes and all. Do you want to?"

"But, why?"

"Hermione suggested it. She said that her family does it every year and she likes to have the excuse."

"I guess so. I'm not sure I really have anything appropriate."

"We'll find you something. Don't worry."

They went upstairs, giggling, and Cassie smiled at George who was helping his mother wash dishes. He still didn't look too pleased at the earlier interruption although he smiled back at her as she climbed the first set of stairs. Once she was up in Ginny's room, they started trying to assemble nice outfits. Hermione talked her into wearing the witch's robes George had given her for Christmas even though Cassie insisted they were much too elegant for an evening when she was just staying in. However, when she tried them on and saw how stunning they truly were, she gave in to the other two girls' pleading and left them on, then allowed Ginny to do something fancy with her hair. She put on her constellation necklace once again and looked at herself for a long time in the mirror. "I almost don't recognize myself, Hermione."

"You look like a proper witch. George will be impressed." Cassie tried not to think too hard about the implications of that statement and just thought about kissing George later and grinned.

"Hermione? Ron looked nervous earlier. Are you two going to your parents' tonight?"

"No. He seemed all right to me." She looked at Cassie closer. "Do you think something might be wrong with Harry?"

"What's wrong with Harry?" asked Ginny as she opened the bedroom door and came inside after a visit to the toilet.

"Nothing. It's just that Cassie thinks Ron looks upset and that's usually the only thing that upsets him."

"Oh. Well, Harry seemed okay earlier. What is Ron upset about?"

"I don't know. And no, we haven't been fighting or anything if that was your next question, Ginny."

"It was probably nothing. And he looked nervous, not upset." Cassie was going to mention about Fred but decided against it. "George said they had a surprise for tonight. It's undoubtedly to do with that."

"What sort of surprise?"

"I don't know. He didn't say." The three girls all looked at each other, now each slightly anxious for different reasons. Cassie wished she hadn't asked about Ron earlier because this had obviously upset Hermione who in turn had upset Ginny.

But all three plastered smiles on their faces and went downstairs. The rest of the family was gathered in the living room and when they entered, there was more than one wolfish whistle directed at them. George took Cassie's hands and held them out to her side, inspecting the robes carefully until Cassie flushed and pulled away.

They settled into seats and Cassie relaxed against George's shoulder when he sat down by her. "You look wonderful tonight."

"Thank you. When do I get to know the surprise?"

"Very soon." Molly had several trays of goodies set out in the living room and Cassie recognized some of the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes among them. She decided that she would avoid them completely. She had had more than enough weird magic today. Anymore and who knew what would happen. She told

George as much and he pointed out a few new things she should avoid, then, and also promised he would not let her eat anything magical.

After a few minutes of small talk and some more discussion about the day's events, George and Fred stood up and stood next to each other. "Family, we have a special surprise tonight. Most of our fireworks were destroyed as you know yesterday in our shop. However, we had a few prototypes for our new and improved Wildfire Whiz-Bang Fireworks in our room upstairs and we would like you to come watch them in celebration of the New Year." The both bowed deeply and summoned a large box to them.

"Are you insane, Fred? You want to set off fireworks - obvious wizarding fireworks - above the Burrow? Why don't we just send invitations to the Aurors and tell them to come find us?"

"Oh, Mum! Honestly, you worry too much. There are fireworks going off all over the place tonight. Mostly Muggle ones, of course, but they will still provide adequate cover."

Despite Molly's rather worried looks, everyone trooped outside, although there was some good-natured grumbling about freezing to death from Harry and Ron looked even more nervous than earlier. George and Fred had obviously planned ahead because set up a short distance from the house was a group of chairs and some warm blankets for everyone to tuck around them. Cassie found a comfortable chair and watched as the twins got to work on lighting the rockets.

It took about a half hour for the entire show and by the time the last whirling Catherine wheel had faded into black, Cassie was hoarse from cheering. It had been without a doubt the most incredible display of fireworks that she had ever seen and she told George as much when he came over to her afterward. "That was so marvelous, George! I can't believe the two of you can make things like that!"

"Thank you, Cassie." He looked down at his shoes and Cassie could have sworn he blushed. "You really enjoyed it?"

"Yes! It was amazing!"

"Good. I hoped you would like it."

"I guess that explains what Fred was doing right before dinner, then. I'm glad this was it. I was sort of worried. Did Ron help?" George looked at her in confusion.

"What? What was Fred doing right before dinner?"

"I . . . I assumed he was getting ready for the . . ." George was shaking his head. "No. We got this ready this afternoon."

"Oh." Cassie tried to hide her worry. Fred had been up to something. She was almost positive but it was certainly nothing that was any of her business.

George stopped walking toward the Burrow and looked at her. "Tell me you are not thinking that Fred is the one who betrayed you."

"No! He wouldn't! I trust him implicitly, George! I really do!" But despite her completely honest insistence, Cassie felt a niggle of doubt in her soul. George took her hand and they walked back over to the circle of chairs where Fred was folding up blankets.

"Oi! Coming back to help, are you? Good thing, Forge. I thought you'd deserted me." George just stepped up to him.

"What were you doing right before dinner?"

"What?"

"Right before dinner. What were you doing?"

Fred turned a dark red color. "It's none of your concern!" He looked over at Cassie and she felt, for the first time, a bit of anger in his gaze. "It's nothing to do with you or her."

George's mouth thinned. "Tell us. We need to know!"

"No, you don't." He turned his back on his twin and folded another blanket with an angry flick of his wand.

"Don't make me tell Dad and Mum." Fred turned and stared into his twin's eyes.

"If you think I would ever betray any member of this family or even a friend, then I have to wonder what has happened to you."

"Nothing has-" "George!" Cassie stepped between the two of them. George pushed her gently aside but Cassie grabbed his arm. "Please, don't! I don't want you two to fight!" She suddenly felt weary and wanted to cry, but she pulled hard on his arm. He ignored her at first, but eventually turned toward her and stopped staring at his brother.

Something shifted in his eyes, then, and he helped Cassie sit down and tucked a blanket around her. Then he sat down and patted the chair next to him. "Come talk to me. You know that if the situation were reversed, you would have done the same thing." Fred shook his head, but then grimaced and sat down.

"Fred! George! You need to come in. We're about ready to start the game!"

"We'll be in in a moment, Dad!" Fred leaned back in his chair and stared up at the clear sky. "I . . . . went to see Angelina."

"What! But you didn't . . . leave from the kitchen."

"No, I didn't. I went outside the wards to disapparate. I wanted to go ask her . . . , you know, if she would possibly marry me."

"Ah."

"But she was gone. Her mum said that she went with a friend out of town. So, I came back but had to apparate pretty far away from the house and then walk back. I underestimated the time it would take. That's why I was a little late." He looked at Cassie. "I've been thinking about what you said last night, about her maybe betraying you. I'm sure it wasn't her."

"I'm sure, too. That was unfair. It was just I was a little bit panicky. I like Angelina. If she's smart, she'll say yes, when you do eventually manage to ask her." All three of them laughed and the two brothers looked rather awkwardly at each other.

"I'm sorry, Gred."

"I'm sorry, too, Forge. I don't blame you for being nervous. You almost have to be, things being still unsettled." Fred sighed and picked anxiously at the blanket sitting in his lap. "It may have been Percy, you know. The one who mentioned her."

"No!" Cassie stood up. "He's a bit annoying, but he wouldn't-"

"Not on purpose. The thing with Percy is . . . he talks way too much and he doesn't know how to keep secrets. I started thinking today that if he mentioned your parents' names together to someone, they might get suspicious. We didn't give them fake names when they were here. Or your brothers. And we told him they were Muggles. It doesn't take too much imagination to see how if all that information was put together by one person who knows them, it would be obvious that it was your family. And Angelina could tell every single person she knows about you from now until next Halloween and no one would care. But Percy only has to tell one person at his job, and next thing you know, Nightscall hears about it and he passes it on to Blackman and he . . . well. He knows, then. The risk is small. The bet is hedged. And . . ." Fred stood up, folded the blanket again and then started banishing them one by one toward the house. "Percy's first day back at work after Christmas was Monday. Your dad was approached on Tuesday. The timing fits, really. They hear the rumors, take a few hours to check with the school in Switzerland, and then Blackman feels safe enough to ask your dad for clarification. He's not satisfied. By that night, they're certain. Maybe they show Perce a picture of your dad. Who knows?"

George stood up and helped Cassie stand, then folded her blanket and banished it toward the house as well. All three of them looked at each other again. Fred sighed and started stacking chairs. "I don't want to tell Mum and Dad. Not yet. Not until it matters. I figure . . . well, the damage is done. He doesn't know anything else. And, maybe more importantly, I only have my suspicions. No evidence." Cassie and George both nodded. "Come on. We better get in there or Mum will have our heads for keeping Cassie out in the cold for too long." He waved his wand at the stack of chairs and they disappeared. George took her hand and they started back toward the house. He looked back at Fred.

"Do you know anything about Ron?" Fred looked startled.

"Ron? Why?"

"Cassie says he's nervous about something."

"He's green. I've only seen him that particular shade a few times and he's always been nervous."

"Oh." Fred nodded. "I have some idea. If . . . if we don't know by tomorrow, I'll tell you, okay?"

"Sounds fair."

The house was warm and inviting and Cassie settled with relief into a comfortable chair in the living room. Molly was fairly put out that she had been out that long and pushed a cup of warm cocoa into her hands. Cassie sniffed it suspiciously and made George do some sort of revealing spell on it to see if it was drugged. He assured her (after performing the charm) that it wasn't and she sipped it slowly as teams were chosen. It was the Weasley Family party game again and Cassie decided to sit this one out. It wasn't that she hadn't had fun last time, it was just that she knew she was a pity choice because she really couldn't play and this time everybody knew it. She laughed and smiled through the entire thing, though, and was pleased when George's team won, despite Charlie's really bad artistic talents and some difficult pictures that their team had to draw.

By the time the game was finished, it was after 11 and Mr. Weasley set some sort of timer device to count down the remaining minutes of the year. The magical mistletoe was floating around again and Cassie and George "had" to kiss several times as it returned to them on a suspicious number of occasions. Cassie suspected that Fred was helping it but she didn't complain. Remus and Tonks also got their fair share of kissing opportunities and Molly and Arthur made their children all groan when they sank into a passionate snogging session at the mistletoe's prompting and didn't emerge for quite a few minutes. Ginny and Harry kept kissing despite the fact the mistletoe wasn't paying them many visits and Ron looked truly puce by now and Hermione was looking rather annoyed that he kept ignoring the mistletoe's attempts to get them into a passionate embrace. The single brothers, Bill, Charlie, and Fred, kept catcalling to the kissing couples although Bill looked fairly melancholy every time Cassie looked at him. Finally, it was almost midnight and George stood up and pulled Cassie up next to him.
When the timer buzzed, he covered her mouth with his and she wrapped her arms around his neck, meeting his passion with her own and losing interest rapidly in anything else going on around her. It was Hermione's excited squeal that made her pull away and turn her head in an almost dazed stupor toward the older girl. She was crying and laughing at the same time and Ron, looking decidedly less green was smiling and holding onto her hand. Well, her right hand. She kept looking at her left and Cassie grinned broadly as she realized in an instant what Ron had been so upset about. "So that's it." She muttered and George shook his head.

"What's it?"

"If I'm not mistaken, I believe you just got a new future sister-in-law." She walked over to Hermione and her suspicions were confirmed as she saw the unmistakable band of gold on her third finger. Hermione's eyes were bright with tears as she and Ginny embraced. Ron still looked vaguely ill, although the green tinge was gone from his expression. Everyone else seemed to realize at the same moment what had happened and the next 15 minutes were spent with everyone hugging everyone else, crying, laughing, teasing, and examining the delicate ring Ron had slipped onto her finger at the stroke of midnight. By the time the excitement had died down, everyone was exhausted and the party broke up rapidly. Ginny, Hermione, and Cassie were still standing there giggling faintly as Hermione started running over possible wedding dates in the upcoming year. George interrupted, wrapping his arms firmly around Cassie's waist.

"I wanted to spend some time with you last night but my darling sister prevented that very effectively. Then, I wanted to spend some time with you tonight to make up for it and my darling younger brother upstaged me. You don't get to retreat upstairs yet. It's been forever since I've held you."

"George!" Cassie flushed brightly, glancing at the other two girls. "You held me today."

"I don't mean held while you were violently ill, sweetheart. You know what I mean." He waggled his eyebrow in the way he did when he was trying to be suggestive and she shook her head.

"But -" Cassie wasn't sure how to gracefully say that she thought Ron and Hermione should have a chance to kiss in private down here in the living room

"No buts." He turned to Ron. "You want to have some alone time with Hermione?"

"Er, yes."

He then turned to Harry, who was still looking slightly shell-shocked on the periphery of the room and was leaning heavily on the fireplace mantel. "You want to snog with my sister?" "Yes. For New Year's. It's good luck." He looked steadily at George although his face was flushed even in the dim light.

"Yeah. Right. Okay. Ron, Hermione, you take this room. It's probably only right since you're newly engaged. Harry, Ginny you can have the kitchen. And I don't want to here any complaints about hard furniture. You can manage. Cassie and I are going to . . . well, somewhere else." The other two couples grinned faintly at each other and Harry and Ginny followed them into the kitchen. Then George took her hand and led her up the stairs.

"George. We can't go up into the bedroom."

"I know. No beds where we're going." He led her into the laundry room and Cassie looked with vague shock at him.

"Your parents are next door."

"I know." He cast the familiar silencing charm around the room, then pointed his wand toward the door. Before he said anything else, though, he looked at Cassie and lowered his wand. "I think I'll leave that unlocked. It'll keep me honest." Cassie smiled and opened her arms to him.

"You need to be kept honest?"

"Hell, yes," he muttered and his mouth slanted over hers. His skin was hot under her fingers, even through the fine linen of his shirt, and his hands were hot where they held her face, turning it the way he wanted as he opened her mouth with his. Cassie abandoned herself completely to the kiss, the anxiety and stress of the day finding resolution in the blazes he ignited with his hands and tongue and lips. "Merlin." He gasped a few moments later. "You, you're pushing me over the edge, sweetheart."

"I'm sorry." And she truly was. She felt anxious, like little fires were igniting all over her and she didn't know what to do to put them out.

"I'm not," and then his mouth met hers again and the next thing she was aware of was when he lifted her and set her on one of the folding tables, nudging her legs apart and stepping between them, his thighs leaning against the edge of the table. His hands were gripping her shoulders, releasing, gripping again, and the soft material of her robes felt thick and coarse against her sensitized skin. Her hands were busy, too, stroking his back up and down, feeling the pulse in his neck, tangling themselves in his hair. She wanted to be closer to him somehow but wasn't sure how. Then she put her hand on the front of his shirt and slipped her fingers between the buttons. When they met bare flesh, he jumped and pulled away from her. She looked at him with wide eyes. She was sure that she was about to go up in smoke and was anxious for him to find some way to make it better. "It's all right, love. If you want to." He didn't even have to specify what he meant because her fingers seemed to know. She unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, then the next one, then the next one, holding her breath as the muscles of his chest were revealed to her feverish gaze.

She laid her hand flat against his bare skin and they both exhaled suddenly as though they both realized they had forgotten to breathe. "Cassie?" She ignored him, and leaned forward to kiss the skin above her hand. It was rough and smooth at the same time and her tongue darted out to touch it, tasting the slightly salty tang of his skin. She wanted to do nothing more at the moment than crawl inside his skin and absorb him into herself. "Cassie. You need to stop, sweet. You need to stop right now." She looked up at him, uncertain what he was saying.

"We need to leave now, okay?" She shook her head.

"You haven't held me yet."

"Oh, Merlin!" He barely breathed the words, but pulled a chair over with a flick of his wand and sat down in it, then pulled her off the table onto his lap. She wriggled against him and he gasped. "Stop. Don't move." She stopped, only aware at the moment of the warm skin of his chest now against her cheek and she marveled that the position which last night and this morning had been nothing but comforting and secure was now completely different. She turned her head into his chest and kissed him again. He lifted her chin, bringing her mouth up to his mouth and kissed her once, twice, three times firmly and then he set her off his lap. "I think you had better get to bed. I'm not quite sure that you're thinking clearly." He looked with some regret at her and then buttoned his shirt again, pushing her fingers aside when she tried to stop him. "It's not that I'm not enjoying this. I just want to make sure you know what you're doing. No regrets in the morning and all that."

"George, I want-"

"I know what you want. I want it, too. But not tonight. Not like this." He removed the silencing charm and led her out into the hall, leaning her against the wall. She grabbed for his hands again and he gently kissed her. "I'm going downstairs to get the other girls. Stay here." She tried to follow him, but he raised an eyebrow in a sardonic gaze and she leaned back against the wall where he had put her.

Ginny, Hermione, Harry, and Ron came up the stairs a few minutes later, Ron with a mutinous expression on his face. When George reached the landing where Cassie was waiting for him, he held out his hand and she grabbed it and they climbed the other stairs together, stopping in front of Ginny's room. The three couples talked for a few minutes and no one was too embarrassed as they kissed softly before the girls went into their bedroom. Ron bent forward to whisper something in Hermione's ear. George watched his younger brother and said, in a wholly conversational, non-accusatory tone, "Did you know, Ron, that I can hear anybody going up or down the steps to your room? They're right above my bed." Ron flushed.

"I didn't know that."

"Yeah. Well, it's true. Goodnight, girls. Happy New Year." He lifted Cassie's chin one more time and kissed her gently. "Goodnight, love. I'll see you in the morning."