Chapter 5: Night Conversations
*****
The fire crackled spiritedly in the fireplace and cast flickering shadows on the faces of the two figures lounging nearby. Red hair mixed with deep auburn as George and Alinora lay stretched out together on a faded piece of carpet. The house was finally silent; the family had gone to bed and those living close by had returned home for the night. Since it was the first time in way too long the two had had the chance to simply spend time together with no deadline approaching, it was too tempting to resist spending just a little bit more time alone.
Alinora lay on her side, head pillowed on George's shoulder, lightly tracing abstract designs on his chest. As usual, she was humming and that, combined with the light touch of her hand, was soothing him almost to the point of sleep. He had only half noticed she'd stopped humming before she spoke.
"So George, how did you know about Ginny and Harry's engagement?" she asked slyly, still tracing patterns on his chest. "They weren't even in England when he asked… the only people they told were Katie, Colin and me. Not even Ron knew, since we know he can't keep a secret. I'm very curious."
George was grinning broadly and wide awake now. "I can tell you're curious, but I'm not going to tell you. You three aren't the only ones in the family in espionage. How good of a spy would I be if I'd missed out on that major news?"
"But Fred didn't know, did he? He's into all this as much as you are."
"True, but I have more of a reason to travel then he does."
"So, you found out during one of your trips? When you were visiting us? Or while on business?" The twins had opened a joke shop, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, while still in school and it had quickly caught on in the wizarding world. A couple years later, they'd branched out into less obviously magical items which were soon being sold to Muggles all over the world. This lead to a lot of travel for the twins, however since Fred and Angelina's marriage, George had been doing most of it alone.
"Now that would be telling, and what good spy simply gives up such important information after simply being asked for it?" George was grinning delightedly up at her as she pondered what he'd said.
"You know, spies have been tortured for information in the past…" she said finally, as she levered herself up on an elbow to hover over him. She was smiling slightly and, although he couldn't see it, silently starting to cast a charm.
The look he shot her was obviously one of amused disbelief. "Torture? Why would you want to torture me? I've done nothing wrong. Besides, you've always said that you don't believe in that sort of thing."
"Well, that really depends on your definition of… torture…" She leaned towards him, her outstretched arm helping her keep her balance, and gave him a light kiss on the lips. Just about the time he began thinking she was going to let the subject drop, she drew back her outstretched hand until it was just touching him under his arm and triggered her charm.
It was a very minor tickling charm, but it was completely unexpected, which made up for its lack of power. As George was convulsed with laughter, Ali rolled away slightly to aim a silencing charm towards the stairwell so they wouldn't wake the others. Then she turned back to enjoy her handiwork.
He was rolling around on the floor, laughing uncontrollably at the tickling sensations running through his body. "Oh… you are… so going… to get it… for… this!" he gasped out, as the charm slowly faded away and he was able to catch his breath.
Alinora was giggling pretty hard herself, but was still prepared to defend herself when George attempted retribution. Fortunately for her, she was much less ticklish than he was. If she could find the right spot, he'd be completely defenseless…
Despite her best efforts, Alinora wasn't able to completely subdue George and they both eventually collapsed to the floor. Random spurts of giggling could still be heard as they both slowly caught their breath.
"Wow, it got a bit warm in here, didn't it?" Alinora struggled into an upright position and tugged her jumper up and over her head before tossing it onto a nearby chair. She was wearing a white t-shirt underneath, which was much more comfortable after their exertions. Now feeling cooler, she resumed her former position, lying in the crook of George's arm. She yawned, lazily covering her mouth with her hand.
"It's been quite a day, hasn't it?" he asked.
Ali nodded, "Pretty amazing, wasn't it? Katie and Ginny both announcing their engagements and Colin having twins- I think I'm still in shock. But in a good way…!" She grinned up at him, some how still bubbling with excitement over it all despite her tiredness.
"So, do you think all that will change your group? Will you guys still go out on the road like you've been doing, touring and doing concerts?"
"I don't know," she replied, staring off into the fire, "I don't think we'll be disbanding, if that's what you're asking, but I'm sure this will change things to some degree. I mean, Colin's not going to want to be away from Anna and the babies all that often; Katie might not be able to be gone as much either as a politician's wife. You know I'll stick with it- I'm not ready to come run the shop for you guys yet!"
"Aw, shucks! And here I was thinking you'd be perfect for our Hogsmeade location…" he tapped her lightly on the nose as she stuck out her tongue at him. "Are you guys ready for the publicity that's going to hit when it's announced that two of the three of you are getting married? You thought the tabloids were bad before…"
"Hummph. They weren't all that bad until you started your stunt of disguising yourself and showing up at our concerts! You know how boring it got answering questions about my 'secret admirer'?"
"Well, I wasn't too thrilled that they named the guy Fernando- sounds a bit too much like 'Fred' to me."
"I don't think originality, at least in things like that, are what those particular publications are known for. Besides, if I could put up with the questions about the mystery man in my life, whether I was currently seeing someone and when I planned to 'settle down with some lucky man', then the rest of you could deal with it too." she told him in a tart voice, though her eyes were laughing.
"Hey, is it my fault? You could've been married years ago, but nooooo, you had to turn me down…" George gasped as she elbowed him in the side.
"Talk about something I'll be hearing about for the rest of our lives! And for your information, as you seem to have to forgotten, I didn't 'turn you down'; I said to ask me again later. We'd just gotten out of school; we weren't old enough to be getting married! Besides, you know you really didn't expect me to say yes. We both had too many things we wanted, or needed, to do first."
Ali looked over him, a slight smile playing across her lips, but George remained silent, smiling back at her. She laughed softly then changed the topic. "So, are you going to go with me to visit Colin, Anna and the new twins?"
"Of course! Wouldn't miss it. Can't wait to see how Colin's handling it- he's so excitable normally; him with children should be even more amusing. Besides, you're going to be their godmother, how could I not want to see them?"
"Yep, not quite a true fairy godmother, but close enough. I can't wait to see them, but I really wish Dennis and his wife would be there too…"
George looked down at the wistful expression on her face, "Are those two still not speaking?"
"Not for years," she replied, shaking her head slightly, "I can't get Colin to tell me what happened between them, but something obviously occurred right about the time he left Hogwarts. Dennis is the only true family he has left anymore, not counting Anna and the babies, of course, and I hate to see the way things have gotten muddled up, but I haven't been able to think of anything to do to fix things." Her frustration was obvious.
Leaning over, George kissed Ali on the forehead. "Hey, you can't fix everything you know. Just being there for him is probably the best thing you can do. The two of you are as much family now as any other two people bound by blood. He knows you care for him- he and Anna asked you to be guardian for their children, which is about the highest level of trust a person can give. He may miss Dennis, and I'm sure he does, but not as much as he would if he didn't have you and the others in his life."
"Thanks George. I know you're right, but every once and a while it just really burns me up to think about all the things Dennis has let him down for. But there's nothing I can do about it. I should just let it go…" Ali took a deep breath and let it out slowly. And then she yawned… and kept on yawning.
"Wow, it's getting late. We need to be heading up to bed, especially if we're going to visit Colin and still be back in time for the gathering tomorrow afternoon." Ali tried to sit up, but George had wrapped his arms around her waist and was preventing any further movement.
"Can't we just stay here? There's a nice, comfortable couch right over there…" George buried his face in the crook of her neck and began planting little kisses along it. Ali shivered at his touch, but held firm.
"I'd love to, but I have a feeling that Molly would be less than enthusiastic about that idea. She's having a hard enough time dealing with the Ron and Hermione situation. I don't want to add any more worries to her plate right now." Gently, Ali unclasped George's fingers from around her waist and got to her feet. Reaching out a hand to him, she gave him a tug to help him become upright as well. He immediately reached out and drew her into a tight hug.
They stood there for a while longer, before George finally drew back with a wry grin. "Okay, I think we'd better head up now. You can safely barricade yourself into the room with Ginny and Katie and at least Mum will be very happy about things in the morning."
Her only response was a simple, "I love you," as she reached up a hand to stroke the side of his face.
"And I love you too." Gently encircling her waist with his arm, they quietly ascended the stairs where he delivered her to the door of Ginny's old bedroom. Giving her one last kiss, he was gone with a quiet 'see you in the morning' lingering in the air as she entered the bedroom.
