Twice Over
Hey again, I have a lot of plans now for this story. I was seriously doubting what would happen earlier on, when my plot bunny left, but now he's back, feeling better, and these chapters will be nice and long and hopefully good.
Disclaimer- me no own, you no sue. I don't own Harry Potter, and I am not hiding George Weasley under my bed. :hand comes out from underneath bed and foot stomps on it. A yelp is heard and it draws back underneath the bed: I repeat, there is no redheaded twin by the name of George Weasley, under my bed. Now I need to go find my- uh- my slippers, yeah, my slippers, from under the bed, so read the chapter and enjoy!
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Chapter 16- A New Pet and A Fancy Party
Angelina woke up to an empty room. She looked around and sighed, remembering her friend wasn't at Hogwarts. Getting up, she dressed into comfortable jeans and a baggy sweater, and put her black, curly hair up in a messy bun.
Walking down the steps, she came into the common room and crashed headlong into a fire-red haired twin.
"Fred!" Angelina gasped.
"Angelina!" Fred yelped.
They began to laugh and both of them got up from the ground.
"Morning to you too." Angelina said.
Fred shrugged. "Yeah, I thought it would be a nice way to wake up in the morning," he joked.
"Where are you headed to?" Angelina asked.
"I was going to go drag George out of bed… but I guess you and I could go to breakfast," he said.
"Sounds like a good idea," she answered.
The two of them walked down the hall until they met up with Lee and Oliver, who were debating on something about Quidditch. They all walked down to the Great Hall, and seated themselves. The school was noticeably emptier as a lot of people seemed to go home for the Holidays, but even still, there were a lot of students still there.
Angelina ate some fruit as she listened to Fred and Oliver debate on the best Quidditch teams.
"They say that Holland is coming out with a new team," Oliver said.
"Well, lets hope its better than the China Witchens," Fred commented.
"They're awesome with the Quaffel!" Oliver argued.
Fred shook his head. "No way, the Canon's beat them flat out," He said.
Angelina sighed. "Does it really matter?"
Oliver spun around and glared at her, and Fred just shrugged. Lee laughed at Oliver's expression, and Angelina shrunk in her seat.
"Okay, okay… just asking." She said, raising her hands.
Just then, George entered the Great Hall looking very tired, sitting beside Fred.
"Hey." Angelina said.
George waved lamely and downed a glass of pumpkin juice.
"Watch it, don't want a 'pumpkin juice hangover'… they aren't shots, man!" Lee said, yanking George's third glass away from him.
"Someone was a late riser today." Fred stated.
"Hey," George said with a small smile, "first official day of the holidays, I thought I'd get a little extra sleep."
Lee laughed. "Right, and a little extra sleep qualifies you to sleep till lunch?"
George scoffed. "Its still breakfast, my good man."
Lee rolled his eyes. "A little over exaggeration never hurt anyone."
"Actually," Angelina began, "A little over exaggeration could hurt a lot of people."
Fred raised an eyebrow at Angelina, and Lee opened his mouth to retort, but nothing came out.
"Well, Lee is just the man to get a few people overworked." George said, snatching his glass of pumpkin juice back from Lee.
"Me?" Lee asked in mock shock. "No way! Never!"
Angelina laughed. "Are you prepared to be a little overworked Lee?" She asked.
"I'm never overworked." Lee stated.
"What about um- nervous or a bit scared?" She asked again.
Lee shook his head and laughed. "Never! I'd stare fear straight in the face! My palms NEVER get sweaty! I am the master of control!"
"Really? Would you be prepared to prove that, Mr Master Of Control?" She enquired.
Lee nodded. "Anywhere, any time."
Angelina smiled wickedly. "Looks like here's your chance."
Lee raised an eyebrow, and then a voice floated over to their table.
"Hey Lee…"
………………………
Alicia awoke in a large bed, a newspaper sprawled around her. She sat up and put her hand over her face, pushing back her bangs and trying to straighten out her curls. She looked around a bit, and then screamed, falling out of the bed and onto the floor.
BANG!
She covered her face with her hands and then slowly opened her fingers slightly so she could peek through. She almost screamed again and closed her hands and eyes tightly.
"No-no-no-no-no-no-no…" She muttered.
Slowly, she lowered her hands from her face. Her eyes were still squinted shut, and after sitting there for a few minutes like that, she slowly opened her eyes and looked around, falling onto her back and sighing, staring into the empty ceiling. She lay there for quite some time, undisturbed, until a maid walked into the room.
"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry Mrs Alicia… your mother would like to have breakfast with you…" The maid stopped and looked at Alicia for a couple seconds before saying wearily, "if you're feeling alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. I'll be right down," Alicia said.
The maid left, and she sat up and looked around the room again.
"So I am actually here. This was no major nightmare- a little bit of my imagination." She sighed to herself.
Picking out a black skirt and white top, and a nice black hat that flopped over one eye and looked like one of those old-fashioned 'newspaper boy' hats, she walked out of her room. Looking around, she ran into a sprint again, and cut through the kitchens so she wouldn't be late.
"Morning mother," Alicia said as she entered the room.
Mrs Spinnet nodded, without raising her eyes from the morning paper, to show she acknowledged her presence.
Alicia sat down and a waiter came up to her.
"Just a chocolate chip muffin, please." Alicia asked politely.
The man smiled and nodded, and left into the kitchens.
"Did your studying, my dear?" Mrs Spinnet asked.
Alicia nodded. "Yes."
"Paper?"
Alicia handed her mother the old paper.
As Mrs Spinnet began quizzing her, Alicia answered everything quickly and correctly like she had studied.
"Good," Mrs Spinnet said, without any real enthusiasm, "now that you're all caught up on the business side of life, what's that dreadful Hog with Warts done to you?"
Alicia raised her eyebrow and leaned her head forward slightly. "I'm sorry?"
"That awful school you go to." She replied.
Alicia nodded and allowed her mouth to open ever so slightly. "Oh." She looked up at her mother who was staring at her, for the first time since she had gotten here, interested in her life. "Well," Alicia began feeling a bit better that her mother wanted to know about her, "it's really wonderful, and I made friends and-…"
"Don't let them bring you down." Mrs Spinnet snapped. "The last thing you want is a weak link. Now that must be different for you, child. How much did you give them?"
"What- I mean, pardon?" Alicia asked.
"How much did you pay- to have them hang around you?" Mrs Spinnet replied.
Alicia's jaw dropped slightly, but she quickly recovered. "I didn't-…"
"Oh yes, but they must be your type." She said.
"My type?" Alicia asked.
"Why yes, you never really fit in with the kids at private school, except for a few of them…" Mrs Spinnet trailed off as she sipped her coffee.
'That's because they were all stuck up PRICKS at that place! Rich, spoiled, bratty… I don't know what it was with that school…' Alicia shot daggers with her eyes when her mother wasn't looking.
"Well? Why do you think that was?" Mrs Spinnet demanded as if she should know the answer.
Alicia sighed. "Well, mother, I guess it was because I had no sense in manners, I just didn't present myself properly." She lied.
Mrs Spinnet nodded. "A well rounded answer."
Alicia sighed as her breakfast was placed in front of her.
"You're going to get fat off of that." Mrs Spinnet said quickly, "chocolate in the morning- I never!" She shook her head and clicked her tongue. "And you're dejectedly short, mind you, the fat goes straight to your stomach and ass." She snapped.
Alicia nodded, not having anything to say.
"Well I'm off to work, don't get into trouble. You can go shopping with Winston." She said, walking by her and slamming a wad of cash on the table. "See you."
Alicia stared straight ahead until her mothers clicking high-heels could no longer be heard. She looked at the table and saw the large stack of folded green paper. She sighed and grabbed it, dragging it off the table and shoving it into her pocket.
"Miss-…" Winston began, putting up a finger.
Alicia shook her head. "I'm going for a walk. I don't need an escort."
"You're mother might not approve…" He trailed off as Alicia shoved a bill into his hand.
"It's just down the street." She answered.
He nodded and she left, shaking her head. Since when did people become so degraded, as to silence themselves for money? They were so selfish and needy.
She grabbed a jacket and slid on shoes, putting the money in her inside pocket and making the long trip down the driveway. As she walked along the street, she looked at the other rich houses around her, her mind drifting in and out of thoughts.
Soon, she stopped at a bunch of old townhouses. The area looked like what some people called, 'the bad side of town' or the 'wrong side of the tracks'. She walked through the broken down area, feeling a bit uneasy as the owners of stands and shops glared at her from where they stood, like she didn't belong. If she didn't belong in her home with her mothers' kind of people, and she didn't belong here, where did she belong? She knew the answer. She belonged at Hogwarts.
All the years of doubting that there was anything more to life than what she had; the miserable emptiness that she felt trapped inside her life… never did she expect such a wonderful place as Hogwarts-…
CRASH!
"And don't you come back here, you mangy scoundrel!" A woman yelled as she lifted a broom above her head, shaking it in the air.
Alicia almost screamed in shock, and jumped into an alleyway as the woman disappeared back into the house. She looked down at the ground to see what the woman was screaming at when a ball of fur leaped toward her.
……………………
"Hey Lee."
Lee almost chocked on the sip of pumpkin juice he had just taken, but managed to swallow it down as he sent warning glares at his snickering friends.
"Carrie Apples… hey." Lee said standing up and turning to the blonde Ravenclaw.
George smiled and leaned over to Angelina and Fred. "He fancies her," he whispered with a wink, as he remembered the event in Transfiguration.
"Carrie Apples, if you would go first, please."
The blonde Ravenclaw walked up to the front of the class and muttered the spell, transforming the needle. It stayed the same, except there were some feathers poking through, which were all grey.
"Lee fancies her." George whispered.
"Do not!" Lee said quickly.
"We never would have guessed," Angelina laughed.
Fred smiled. "I'm surprised if the whole school doesn't know."
Lee blushed at the sight of her, swinging her long blonde hair behind her shoulders. She wore pink high-heels and a small pink skirt, along with a pink shirt.
"What's up?" She asked, popping a bubble with her pink bubblegum.
Lee tried to swallow a ball of nerves in his throat that was reaching near the size of a rhino, threatening to choke him. "N-Nothing much…"
"Yeah, well…" Carrie popped another bubble with her bubblegum. "When can I see you? Later tonight by the lake?"
Lee nodded. "O-Okay…"
"Great, see you then." She said, turning and walking back to her friends who all giggled with her.
"Lets see, Mr Master Of Control, how many words did you manage?" Angelina teased.
"Enough to know that girls fall all over me." Lee said with a grin.
Angelina laughed, "I'm sorry, all over what exactly?"
"Ooo!" Fred and George clapped hands together. "Burn, Lee!"
Lee rolled his eyes, "if you weren't watching, you wouldn't know I got a date tonight, but um, since you were watching, I'm going to say that you already know." He said.
"Right," Angelina said, "lets see if you can actually talk to her on your date… if that's what it is."
George shrugged. "Give him a break, the guy scored a date with a hot girl-… Wait…"
"Yeah, wait a second… he scored a date with the girl of his dreams… we cant give him a break! He already got way too big of one!" Fred exclaimed.
Angelina smiled. "If all of this amounts to more teasing, I'm in!"
Lee sighed and sat down once again. "Great, I'm so glad to have friends that are happy for me."
"We show our happiness in a different way." George replied.
Fred nodded. "Be happy we don't treat you like Flint and his cronies."
"But no one we like deserves that much disrespect." George answered.
Lee laughed. "Lucky we planned that antidote in their meals."
The twins, Lee and Angelina turned in their seats just in time to see Flint jump up from the Slytherin table, his arm sprouting large golf ball sized pimples. Along with him, most of his cronies were experiencing these pimples on other parts of their bodies, like necks, legs, and one guy who looked very pained as he closed his legs and hopped around.
"Ouch," the twins and Lee said together, as Angelina laughed hysterically.
………………………
"What the-…?" Alicia began as a ball of brown and black fur scurried past her and leapt behind a trashcan. Alicia raised an eyebrow and looked warily at the house that the lady with the broom just entered.
Carefully she turned back to the trashcan. It wasn't moving. Nor did it seem like anything had just leapt ferociously behind it. In fact, there was a silent mewing that sounded almost pained. Alicia walked slowly towards it and held her breath, peeking down into the blackness of the corner.
Sitting there, looking up at her with bright green eyes, was a small kitten. The kitten was skinny, shaking, and looking hopelessly up at her with eyes as big as moons. It had a little imprint of black on its furry brown face, that looked like an M. In her old muggle school, she had learned that this type of cat was a main-coon cat.
Alicia slowly bent to her knees; pushing the garbage can aside and hearing its tin bottom hollowly scrape against the pavement. The kitten stayed still, its fur prickling, yet it didn't look menacing. Its eyes were still wide and fearful.
Alicia reached her hand out slowly, trying to keep her hand as steady as possible. The kitten leaned forward and sniffed her hand, and then carefully licked her fingers, making a smile tug at her lips.
Careful to not move too fast, she leaned forward and put her hands around its skinny waist, lifting it into her lap. After petting it softly for a small while and allowing it to get to know her, she raised herself from the ground, kitten in arms.
The only thing left to do, was to find out whom the kitten really belonged to. She hoped that the lady chasing it away wasn't its' real owner… she didn't seem too friendly. Scooping up whatever courage she had, she moved toward the door of the woman's house.
'I'm a Gryffindor, I'm a Gryffindor,' she told herself over and over again. 'Gryffindor means courage, bravery…'
As she reached the door of the cranky woman with a broom, she realized that courage wasn't her middle name… nor was bravery. But this kitten was in need of her help!
"And I'll be damned if I let anything happen to an innocent creature." She said to herself, raising her hand and knocking on the woman's door.
The same lady answered. "What do you want?"
Alicia opened her mouth to answer, but the woman beat her to it.
"Oh," she said looking at the cat in Alicia's arms, "is it about this scoundrel?"
"No…" Alicia began in the kittens' defence, "and yes… I was just wondering if he was yours?"
"He's a stray, kid. His mother used to prowl around here too…" She growled.
"Thank you," Alicia said quickly so that she could get away, "that's all I needed to know."
As she walked away and the woman closed her door, Alicia stared down at the cat in her arms, purring and rubbing its soft forehead against her arm.
"So… you're a stray, huh?" She asked.
The cat purred.
"What do I do with you?" Alicia asked. "I guess I have to leave you here."
The cat stared up at her as she put it on the ground. She turned and began walking away, when the cat ran up and put itself in front of her legs, rubbing against her.
"I have to go." Alicia said.
The cat mewed and stared up.
"What? I can't take you home… I cant… mother would never allow it… I already-…" Alicia stopped. She was going to say she already had a pet for school. Truth was, she didn't. And every student was allowed one pet, whether it is owl, cat or toad. Alicia smiled, "looks like you're coming home with me."
……………………
Alicia sat at the silent dinner table, the cat in the corner, lapping up milk. Her mother stared pointedly at it, chewing on her expensive dinner.
"Where did you say you got her?" Her mother asked.
"She was abandoned on the street."
"Right," her mother said looking at her with a glare, "a reject."
Alicia looked down at her meal. "Yes."
"Tomorrow is Christmas Eve." Her mother said, changing the topic.
Alicia nodded and her knife and fork clinked hollowly on her plate.
"You'll have to do better when dressing yourself for Christmas Eve. You'll be meeting some of my colleges and business partners. I'm having a party." She said.
Alicia nodded. "Okay. Well I better get some rest; I want to be at my best for that then. May I be excused from dinner?"
"I suppose so." Mrs Spinnet said.
Alicia stood up and walked out of the kitchen with a nod, and the cat followed her out of the room. She looked down and saw it, so she scooped it into her arms and brought it up the large staircase.
When she reached her room, she placed the cat on the ground and flopped onto her bed, her curly hair waving around her messily. She felt some weight add on the end of the bed, and felt the cat walk across the mattress over to her, nudging her face with the top of its head.
"Hey." She said quietly.
The cat stared at her with amazing green eyes.
"So," she said, sitting up and grabbing the cat, "you must want a name." She placed the cat on her lap and held it underneath the arms, holding it up and looking into his eyes. "Well, we know you're a girl… so you'll want a girl name."
Alicia stood up and went to her jewellery box. Opening it, she looked to see what the cat could wear as a collar. A glint of silver caught her eye. Looking over, she saw an old charm bracelet. She couldn't remember getting it, but one of the older maids had said it had something to do with her father. She shrugged and picked it up, looking at the charms. There was a wand, a wizard hat, a rain-cloud, a music note, and a strange ball with what looked like stars in it.
Bringing it over to the cat, she placed it around its neck and it purred its gratitude. It rubbed against her arm and she sighed, looking around her room. Naming a cat was an important thing… she couldn't change it. Once it was done, it was done.
She smiled and took the wizard hat charm in her fingers and turned it over gently. "A beautiful charm bracelet for a beautiful cat." She said, scratching the cat behind the ears. "Charm."
The cat purred.
"Charm?" She asked. She smiled and brought the cat onto her lap. "Welcome to my family, Charm."
…………………………………
George sat by the window, looking out at the snow. It caught to the window and melted, joining the pattern of frost that clung to the sides of the glass.
"Know what's weird?" Fred asked, sitting beside George on the couch.
George shrugged.
"Sometimes, I don't know what you're thinking. And its weird cause I'm the best at everything." He added.
George smiled, but it was wiped from his lips as quickly as it came. He looked at his brother and shrugged again. "I'm not thinking of anything."
"Sure… and I'm not Fred Weasley." He said with sarcasm.
"You're not." George said standing up. "You're a leprechaun." With that, he walked up the stairs away from his brother.
"So what if I am? What does that have to do with anything?" He called after him. Then he paused. "Wait… I'm not a leprechaun!"
Lee looked up from his book. "I don't know… you think he cares?" He asked Angelina.
"No." She said to Lee. Then she turned to Fred, "I don't think George cares."
"Well I don't know what's nipping him in the ass." He said.
Angelina shrugged. "You know George… doesn't like being bothered when he's thinking. But he cares that you care." She said.
"That doesn't make sense." Fred protested.
Angelina raised an eyebrow. "Um, yeah… it does."
"No, it doesn't! How can he care that I care?" Fred persisted.
Angelina sighed. "It makes sense. Get it through your thick and bloated head."
Fred frowned. "My head isn't bloated, and it doesn't make sense!"
"Yes it does," Angelina said, beginning to get a bit annoyed.
"No. It doesn't." He pressed.
"If you want to be stupid, go right ahead." She answered.
Fred rolled his eyes. "That's stupid. He cares that I care? Its just like saying cheese is made from goats!"
Angelina looked up. "It is."
"No, it's made from horses!" Fred said, putting his hand up to his mouth and mouthing, 'she's stupid' to Lee.
Angelina's jaw dropped. "Cheese can be made from Goats… and Cows. Not horses."
Fred rolled his eyes. "Sure." He said sarcastically. "I believe you." He added with false enthusiasm.
"Okay then," Angelina went back to her book.
"All right. God, cows make milk, not cheese." Fred added silently.
Lee looked on shaking his head, and then he looked back to his book. It was just one of those days that Fred was so preoccupied with some other thoughts, that all sense was wiped from his mind.
……………………………
"Miss Spinnet? Alicia?" The maid called into her room.
Alicia groaned and picked up the clock at the side of her bed. It was two thirty. "What do you want at two thirty in the morning?" She asked.
"It's the afternoon miss." The maid said, placing the cat food down. Charm jumped off the end of the bed and walked over to the bowl.
Alicia groaned again and put the clock back on the bedside table. "Just five more minutes."
"Miss, you should know your mothers party is going to start soon. She wants you downstairs for a talk in about half an hour. Thought you should know." She said.
Alicia sat up in bed. "What?"
"The party is going to start soon and-…" The maid began.
"No, I heard what you said. Thank you." She said.
"She wants you to wear a dress." The maid added.
Alicia groaned. "Okay, tell her I'll be down soon."
The maid nodded and left Alicia in her room. Her hand shot to her hair, feeling the damage of a nights sleep on it. It was flyaway and wild, her curls sticking out every which way.
"Great." She muttered, standing up and grabbing her towels. She went to the bathroom and stepped into the shower, washing herself quickly and jumping out, running back into her room. She opened the closet to choose some clothes. There was a fairly wide selection, but she finally settled with a black dress. It was simple and plain. Her mother would like it.
She brushed her hair out and looked in the mirror, sticking her tongue out at herself. The dress looked disgusting, she was sure that if she had ever worn it in front of the twins or Lee, she would never live it down.
Walking out of her room, she closed the door on Charm so that she didn't get in the way of the party. She could imagine one of her mothers stiff work people screaming at the sight of a defenceless cat.
When she reached the kitchen, her mother immediately ran to her and began making her more 'presentable'.
"All right, now when they walk in, I want you to give them a handshake, a curtsy, a sweet smile, and then something like, 'welcome to our home'…" She trailed off looking around for something and then spotted thin white gloves, slipping them on.
"A curtsy? You mean, picking up the edge of this horrid dress and doing some sort of a royal bow?" She asked in sarcasm, before she could save herself from saying it.
"Yes," her mother snapped, "minus the complaints."
Alicia gave up and walked around, awaiting her mothers visitors. Soon, a very dry couple came to the door. The man was short and fat, with round sausage-like fingers and a thin moustache that looked as though it was taped there. He was wearing a new black tux, complete with bow tie, and he kept twirling his moustache in his fingers. His wife was just about as thin as his moustache, keeping to around the same height as him, with bony elbows and a disgusting purple dress, which Mrs Spinnet complemented on immediately. She had mouse brown hair and large bulging eyes, yet managed to give off a very proper and dreary sort of glow.
"I love the dress Claire," Mrs Spinnet said as her hand shot out like a bullet from a loaded pistol.
"Oh, this old thing?" She said with an air in her voice, "Well it is Lavender for gods sakes, it's the new fashion statement in New York, you know."
Her porky husband let out a snort of laugher. "She's always talking about New York style."
Mrs Spinnet laughed, "Where did you get it?"
Alicia rolled her eyes as the conversation continued into the living room and she was left, forgotten at the door.
"Alicia!" Her mother called.
Alicia rolled her eyes and decided to suck it up. She could act like the perfect daughter for one night.
"Yes mother?" She asked with a cheery and unbelievably fake voice. The people in the room hadn't noticed the fake tone.
"This is my daughter, Alicia." Mrs Spinnet said, motioning towards her, as if she couldn't be any clearer. Alicia wondered if the man would have thought her mother was talking about the lamp in the corner if she hadn't pointed straight at her.
"Hello. So nice to meet you." She said with a cheesy smile.
"And you, dear." Said the man.
The woman looked at her with her eyes nearly falling out of her skull. "Well isn't that the sweetest!"
Alicia raised her eyebrows at how she was addressed as 'that', when the woman continued.
"I just wish they made those dresses in my size!" She said, pointing to her dress.
'Right. Fashion.'
The doorbell rang once more and Alicia made her way with her mother to the door. Opening it, there were three women, all of equal height, who seemed to be friends. They all had short-cut hair that lay prim around their shoulders or chin, and it stuck to a basic brown, all except for the girl on the end who's hair was blonde.
"Sandy, Kelly and Natalie! So nice to see you!" Mrs Spinnet said, shaking their hands as they entered. "This is my daughter Alicia."
Alicia curtsied, holding back a wince. "So nice to meet you. Welcome." She said with a smile.
As the night drew on, more and more people arrived until it was time for dinner, in which the whole lot of boring and drabbling people made their way to the large table, seating themselves and ordering from the cooks. They all looked used to the way they were treated: like kings at a palace.
'They must get this treatment at home. They are all the same… clones of one another.' She thought through gritted teeth.
"What do you think, dear?" Asked the woman with the bulging eyes.
Alicia looked up. "Who, me?"
"Yes," she said with the slightest hint of a smile, "what do you think about the New York stalk market?" She winked at her husband, as if daring Alicia to answer correctly.
"Well," she began, but the woman cut her off again.
"Lets see how well you've taught your daughter, Marissa." She said in sarcasm to Mrs Spinnet.
Alicia looked to her mother, who's eyes were wide and glaring at Alicia as if threatening her to answer right, or else. The table was silent, the knives and forks clinked down on the plates or at the sides, every person in the room peering over empty wine glasses.
Alicia sighed, "Lets see, the stalk in New York has increased well above almost any other place that manufactures and creates clothing, over the past couple years, making their clothing very desirable to people around the globe. This factor sways my decision to think that the stalk has created a liking towards fashion in New York, and I think that this would make almost anyone think highly of it. However, when it comes to it being the best choice, I disagree with that statement. England has much better fashion tips in more recent times, because they seem to be so far ahead of us, and only after they have finished with a fad do we develop it." She said.
The table was silent. Everyone turned to look at Mrs Spinnet, then at the woman with the large eyes, and then back at Alicia.
"Well," the woman said as her eyes retreated back into her head ever so slightly, "that's a very good and well rounded opinion, my dear. You can support your side and make very good points." She said very quietly.
There was a hum of voices as the clinking of plates raised in volume, until everyone was talking amongst himself or herself once again, and Alicia wore a very triumphant smile.
……………………………………
Alicia sighed and flopped onto her bed, her elbow nudging Charm to move to the end of the bed where he curled up comfortably.
"Oh my god," she muttered, wondering how she managed to get through the night. She grabbed her school cloak, thinking about Hogwarts and how she wished she were there right now.
She smiled and raised it to her, getting off of the bed and walking in front of her full-length mirror. She remembered being here before, with her Hogwarts dress clothing and sighing, wondering if she would make any friends. She didn't want to leave for Hogwarts then. Now, she found herself longing for the moment when she would be back with her friends, walking through the enchanted hallways and dodging ghosts and other magical things.
She lifted it against her body and sighed at her reflection. Here she was, alone and lonely. It was a mystery, how she ended up where she was now. She couldn't remember a thing; though she had a faint memory of how nervous she felt.
She flicked her radio on with the tip of her finger, and listened to the music, as if it flowed through her veins. She slowly rocked to the tune of a slow and distant song, her cloak flowing around with every movement.
Her mind went through her friends' faces. First was Angelina, with the question of how she would have ever gotten through anything without her. Next came Fred. Whenever she thought of Angelina, she thought of Fred. She didn't know why, but she figured it was because of their bouts and blushes, the unmistakable connection between the two, whether good or bad was not certain. Then, she thought of Lee, his dreadlocks falling in his face and his look of confusion.
Last, came the image of George. She scoffed at the thought of him, and then she smiled slightly. A small giggle escaped her lips. Shaking her head, she spun around with her cloak, her mind racing with thoughts that she couldn't make-out, or she couldn't understand.
THUMP.
She stopped as she heard the light crash of something falling lightly to the floor. She looked down to see Charm, sniffing a wrapped box that lay on the carpet.
Alicia fell to her knees, looking at the box. She almost felt afraid to grasp it, as she tried to think about where it was from. A closer look told her it was the semi-neatly wrapped present George Weasley had given her.
She lifted it and looked at it more closely, smiling. She remembered him telling her to wait for Christmas to open it. She sighed and her stomach lurched with suspense. Her only choice was to wait for the next day: Christmas morning.
She fell into her bed. Looking at the box and turning it in her fingers, she softly sighed and thought of George. What was it that was so confusing about him? She had no time to figure it out, for she was already fast asleep.
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Sorry for the late update, I'm busy and lazy, but summer is here so yay! And I now have more time on my hands… hopefully… Gosh, I have to give up on these excuses. Pelt me with tomatoes, for I deserve it! But do me a favour and review, and I'll do you a favour and update! Thanks for keeping the reviews coming by the way, I think its what motivated me to write more.
Kit
