George stepped out on to the balcony to keep from openly staring at Liz as she practiced pronunciation with Ginny. They were using a candle and watching the patterns of the flames as she spoke, but all he could see was the glow of her skin and her hair in candlelight.
He stifled a groan while he took a deep breath, trying to refocus his mind. He heard the swish of robes and the clunk of a heel behind him. He turned to see his twin staring at him concerned. Turning back from Fred he looked out over the towers and over towards the pitch. He quietly spoke, "I never thanked you for covering for me yesterday."
"No problem. It's obvious to me that you have a crush on her, but not to the other guys. I can't speak for the girls. So why haven't you asked her to go with you next weekend to Hogsmeade?" Fred asked.
"Because she has a boyfriend situation that she is trying to sort out and I don't want to be the rebound guy. But I really would settle for anything, even best guy friend at Hogwarts, if it meant I could spend time with her," George answered truthfully.
"Cheer up. I think she's willing to give you at least that title, probably more. You may rank as her best friend at Hogwarts, girl or guy. I could make you a trophy if you want."
They both laughed and returned to the common room.
Journal Entry- Liz Parker
Things seem to be progressing with my pronunciation practice. I seem to be picking up the rudimentary charms finally and the newer ones only take about half the time to work through. As much as I hate to admit it, that damn candle is helping. Unfortunately, I keep feeling like Eliza Doolittle and want to break in to a chorus of "Just you wait, 'enry 'iggins…" Except my version goes Ginny Weasley instead of Henry Higgins but the frustration and the silliness are very much the same.
Speaking of Weasley's, George presented me with my working CD player last night. I was so happy I kissed him on the cheek. Then I hugged Fred since he worked on it too.
And I actually let Kyle choose some of the music we listened to. Kyle put Dave Matthews on and proceeded to dance with all the girls, including me. He had danced the longest with Hermione (who was blushing bright enough to read by), when Ron cut in. He then proceeded to tread on her toes for the remainder of the dance. Seeing this Kyle took him aside and showed him how to avoid stepping on girl's feet. Ron may still be pouting, seething or stewing over that one but it might just save Hermione a trip to the hospital wing with a broken foot.
Professor Dumbledore called us in to speak with him this afternoon. They want to have an after school class for us during the school year. He said it wouldn't be quite as intense as this summer but it would be daily. And I will have to tell my parents that I am a witch. I guess I can do that now. I'm more settled with it and who says I have to say why I'm such a "late bloomer" to the wizarding world. Also there may be monthly weekend visits to study astronomy and for research and tests.
Fred was excited to hear that and is planning to approach the headmaster for permission to recruit Kyle to the Quidditch team. But they will have to work out a practice schedule too.
We have a Hogsmeade visit tomorrow. I'm kind of excited. I hope the girls forgive me. I asked George if I can hang out with them because I'm afraid Hermione will try to turn it into a History lesson and I need some fun. Plus she seems to be looking for an owl all the time and gets a little snappy when they don't appear.
We are throwing Harry a surprise birthday party next weekend and I need to get a gift. I'm not sure what to get him, so I will be doing a lot of browsing tomorrow.
Oops, Kyle is trying to get my attention. Uh oh, we have class in 10 minutes… got to go.
Liz
Hogsmeade
The dark haired woman paced nervously while awaiting her contact. Her dark green robes were simple but well cut. They were long sleeved and covered the tattoo on her arm which only ached mildly today compared to the when she was being summoned.
She glanced at her watch again before muttering a few expletives and continued her pacing. "Fifteen minutes late. God what a …argh! He's got two minutes to show up or he can do without."
A loud knock behind her and two men stepped into the room, their white blonde hair gleaming in the torchlight. With a second glance she realized that one was just a teen, not a man yet and was obviously the son of the other. Malfoy she thought contemptuously.
"You're late. I was expecting you fifteen minutes ago, she said unable to keep the contempt from her voice.
Lucius Malfoy stared icily at her before stating, "I trust you have what I need."
"Of course I do. I do what He requests. But everything has its price. This one is 150 galleons," She answered coolly.
"Would you have me tell Him you charged three times what it's worth? You'll get 50. Period," he stated firmly.
"If the laws of supply and demand were kept in the dark circles of the wizarding world you wouldn't have a choice but to pay a fair market value. As it is I am forced to accept this pittance that you deem a fair price for my hard work. Next time you can milk the North American Golden for both his blood and his venom," the hatred in her voice was unmistakable.
"You will take the 50 and accept that the rest is keeping you out of Azkaban. All it would take would be an anonymous owl to the Ministry and they would arrest you for selling illegal goods. Now woman, you try my patience. Where are the vials?" he asked in his chilling voice.
She had no doubt that he meant what he said. She handed him the vials. "The green one is the venom and the brown is the blood."
He threw the money on the floor in front of her and turned to leave.
She knelt to gather the scattered coins. She never heard him return; only realizing he hadn't left yet when he kicked her hard in the ribs.
"Draco, this is how we deal with those who would cheat and disrespect us," he said stepping over her prone form and leading his son out the door.
A few moments later she was finally able to get up and leave the now deserted back alley room and returned to the main street of Hogsmeade.
She walked quickly, eyes down, thinking of how she'd like to flay Malfoy. Actually all I'd like to do is to go back to the states and disappear back into the muggle world. But I can't. I'm too involved in all this mess. The wizarding black market is going to get me killed one of these days.
She rounded the corner without looking and walked right into the broad chest of a teenaged boy with an "Omph!"
"Excuse me," he said steadying her. "I'm so sorry, I didn't…" he stopped, visibly paling as he stared at her. "Mom?!!" he choked out.
Her head jerked up in shock. She stared into the face of the son she'd abandoned years before. "Kyle," she said her voice barely above a whisper.