Terry stood solemnly, his hand having dropped the hand of a rather lovely young witch with black hair that reached shoulder length. The witch looked curiously at her fiancé then shifted to follow his gaze and her eyes landed on Alicia and George who stood, basically at a stand off. Persephone's dark eyes went back to Terry's blue eyes and saw the barely constrained anger lurking in the depths. Smoothing out her scarlet robes, Persephone cautiously questioned, "Friends of yours, darling?" Terry tensed and shifted his dark gaze to Persephone.

"You could say that." He retorted, eyeing Alicia narrowly. As if a cat cornered by a dog, Alicia stepped behind George who took a protective step in front of her. The scene was rather odd. One of them didn't know what was going on, one only knew of the rivalry always showed inside of school and outside—mostly on the Quidditch Pitch, and the other two's eyes kept locking and looking away.

"Higgs," George growled, reaching behind him and taking Alicia's hand. "If you will let us pass without acting so Slytherinish—Alicia and I have plans." He started to pull her away from the whole scene, until he heard footsteps behind him and ducked just in time, pulling Alicia down with him as a fist threw where his head would have been. Turning sharply, and having good reflexes from his years on the Pitch, George threw his own fist back, straight into Terry's stomach.

"Terry!" Persephone screamed, rushing to aid him. Alicia screamed as well, grabbing George's hand and pulling him away from Terry who was struggling for breath. Between a Seeker and a Beater it was no wonder that George's fist hurt. He was one of the best...

"George! George, stop! Let him go! Let him breathe!" Alicia pulled George's shirt and yanked him to her. As he turned to try again, she grabbed his chin and turned him to face her. His eyes were narrowed in anger and hatred. This battle was not over; not by a long run. But Alicia had to stop this, if they fought and one of them got hurt, or one of them died... It would be her fault. "George, calm down. Calm down, you have him down—you don't need to hit him. Don't. You know you're very strong, George, you could have killed him..."

"He... was... looking... at... you." George hissed darkly, his breaths coming in pants. "I don't want him to look at you... The last time he did... You went with him." Alicia gasped in surprise as she eyed him warily.

"George... Where did you...?"

"On the Pitch... He looked at you and that night you went with him. You were his. You gave yourself to him. But you don't want him now, you want me. And I will protect you." He turned to look hatefully at Terry who was glaring at him from his slouched position on the ground. Persephone stood over him, her dark eyes watching the exchange silently. Alicia trembled. She had not known that George had been aware she had been with Terry. Finally, Persephone straightened and stepped closer to Alicia and George.

"Now that you are finished, would you care to listen mister...?"

"Weasel." Terence hissed through clenched teeth.

"Weasley." Alicia corrected at once.

"Mister Weasley, I am Persephone Lyonda—Terry's fiancé. We are getting married at the end of summer. I bid you to forgive Terry, he's been very stressed out as of late and I'm certain that this didn't help the situation at all. You must be Alicia Spinnet. Terry says he was very close to you, but that you wouldn't be coming to the wedding. 'Tis a shame that you should miss the event. It will be a wonderful day. Of course, we wouldn't want to cause any problems—you seem to be doing very well Miss Spinnet, having such a strong man to defend you. However, I must bid you not to hit my fiancé anymore. I wish him to be well for our wedding. If you will excuse us—Terry darling, are you all right now?" Terry nodded and stood, straightening up, his eyes locked on George. "We have wedding robes, and such, to look through for our upcoming marriage. Adieu." And, taking Terry's arm, she led him off. Terry's eyes lingered on Alicia as he was led off.

"How... How long have you known?"

"Since the first day. I was surprised you'd finally agreed to go out with me. I should have known it was because Higgs ditched you." He said bitterly, fixing his tattered robes.

"Oh, George... For a long time I've been getting feelings for you. But I still had feelings for him and I couldn't compromise well. I'm sorry. I should have told you." He chuckled.

"I would have kicked his ass any way."

"That was a good punch, George."

"Anything for you. If you told me to give you the world I'd find a way to get it to you. Now how about we walk over here, I buy you some stupid girlie thing you can fawn over with Angelina and Katie and they can be envious of you until Lee and Fred get them something as corny and sentimental as that so I'll have to work to outdo them again and it will be an unending cycle, okay?"

"Sounds perfect." She smiled at him sweetly, pushing her hair from her eyes. He leaned in and kissed her firmly, pulling away far too soon for Alicia's taste, and started to walk away.

"Stay here." She nodded and waited. And waited.

And—You guessed it!

She waited some more.

Finally, George came around the corner a box clutched in his hand. It was a very small box. With a small snort, she laughed. "I'm supposed to fawn over a little box?"

George scoffed, "My dear, it's not the box, but what's in the box to fawn over. I used all my savings but it should be worth it, 'eh?" She looked at him curiously.

"What is it?" He opened the box and knelt before her and pulled out a gold ring with a red gem.

"Until I have a great job so I can afford a better one, I bought you this ring. It's a red diamond. Alicia, until you are ready, will you wear this ring to show that you are spoken for? And the instant you agree to marry me I will find the most beautiful ring I can afford, and I will buy you the best, and you will have it, if you'll have me. And if you do not want me anymore all you have to do is put the ring back in my hand and I will let you go. You won't even have to say anything. What do you say?" He offered her the ring. She eyed it quietly, before a grin spread over her face.

"I say that you love me more than I deserve and that I can't wait until the day we graduate because I will start making plans for our wedding. George and Alicia Weasley. It has a nice ring to it..." He slipped the ring onto her left ring finger then pulled her into his arms tightly.

"That it does. And before long that's what everyone's going to be calling us. George and Alicia Weasley."

"Angelina's going to kill me... One date and I'm all ready engaged..." He laughed cheerfully, his cheeks flushing red.

"We'll have more dates before the wedding. I promise. Many more." Alicia smiled and they walked to where the rest of the school was gathering to go back to Hogwarts. As they headed back Alicia fingered the ring adorn on her left hand. She smiled. She just couldn't wait to see the look on Angie and Katie's faces!