Disclaimer: I own nuthin'.
A/N: I'm baaaaack! Did ya miss me? Hehe. I'll take that as a no. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and wished me luck. I think I did all right but I don't want to guess my marks in case I overestimate. Thanks for sticking with me anyway. As a reward for not flaming me I'm gonna try to update lots over the next three weeks so keep checking back.
This chapter marks the beginning of their fourth year (Harry's second). Hope you enjoy it.
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Chapter 21
"But I don't want to go!"
"Come on, George. Don't be such a sook," Fred argued.
Fred, George and Lee were in the back garden at the Burrow one evening during the summer break. Fred and Lee were trying to convince George to go to Katie's house with them. Lee had found out from Katie's older brother that Angelina and Alicia were staying with them.
"Why don't you want to go? Did you have a fight with Alicia?" asked Lee as he kicked away a gnome that was poking his ankle.
George refused to answer and Fred frowned. "You did have a fight with her, didn't you? You haven't spoken to her all holidays. Usually you never leave her alone. What happened?"
"Nothing. Just drop it. I simply don't think we should risk taking the flying car out again. Our luck is going to have to run out sometime. You and Lee can go without me, I'll cover for you."
"George! We're like those Muggle blokes. You know, the ones with the swords and the tights."
"The Three Musketeers?" George sighed.
"Yeah, them! We all have to be in this together. Come on, you don't even have to talk to Spinnet," Fred pleaded with his brother.
George groaned and rubbed his face with his hands. He knew Fred and Lee would not give up till he agreed to go with him.
"You don't even have to look at Alicia if you don't want to," Lee added helpfully.
"If only it was that easy," George muttered dryly.
"Great! Let's go!" Fred grabbed him by the arm and dragged him along.
Two hours later.
The trip that should have taken at least five hours took less than half the time as Fred flew cross-country. Katie lived in Brighton, which was on the coast.
"That's her house there!" Lee pointed.
George swiveled around in the passenger seat to stare at Lee. "How do you even know that?"
"Technically, stalking is illegal," Fred informed him kindly.
"I'm not stalking her! I found out where she lived a few months ago from Alicia's address book."
"Oh, that's much better!" George said testily.
"I went into her room because I needed her help with my Transfiguration homework. It's not like I went in there deliberately looking for the book. It just happened to be lying open on her bed," Lee explained with a shrug.
Fred began to chastise him for not snooping around the room while the girls were gone. George tuned out though. For the whole trip he'd been steeling himself for the moment he saw Alicia. A day hadn't past when he didn't think about her. One night he even dreamt about her. That had kept him awake for the following night incase it was a recurring dream.
Somehow, George had managed to avoid having to see Alicia since the end of third year. They'd exchanged letters but nothing more. It hadn't been easy though. Alicia had wanted to see him. At first George considered telling her he'd contracted a highly infectious disease but realised Alicia would only worry and talk to his mother.
So far he'd managed to come up with appropriate excuses. He was quickly running out though so perhaps this impromptu meeting was a blessing in disguise.
Albeit, a really effective disguise.
"Which one is her room?" Fred asked the next obvious question as the Ford Anglia hovered above the two-storeyed house.
"Wouldn't have a clue," Lee admitted.
"Well, that's that then. We can't just go knocking on windows. What if we accidentally knock on her parent's window? Then we'd be in real trouble. I guess we might as well go home." George feigned disappointment while his heart rose.
"I didn't drive this far just to turn back. It shouldn't be that hard to find," Fred reasoned.
With George protesting the whole time, Fred circled the house. The room at the front they figured had to belong to her parents so they avoided that area. Then they came across a room with red and gold curtains. Lee exclaimed that it had to be Katie's room. George then kindly pointed out that it could also be her older brother Tristan's room as he had also been in Gryffindor.
The next room had pink curtains. Lee cheered and Fred smirked. "I doubt that room belongs to Tristan."
***************
"Seriously, who would you rather snog: Snape or Flint?" Katie asked Angelina.
"I refuse to answer that!"
"She'd rather snog Fred," Alicia smiled and rolled over onto her stomach.
Angelina, who was lying on the floor next to her, poked her in the ribs. "Well, who would you rather snog: Fred or Snape?"
"No comment."
"What about George and Snape?" Katie grinned.
Alicia glared up at her. "Again, no comment."
"What? Seriously, it can't be that difficult!"
"Kissing George would be like.I don't know, kissing my brother or something. Too weird." Alicia shook her head adamantly conveniently forgetting that she had kissed him.
Angelina sighed. "How did our conversation about Quidditch teams turn to boys?"
"Katie started it."
"Did not!" She hurled a pillow at Alicia's head.
Alicia was about to throw the pillow back at her when there was a tap on the window. The girls froze. Katie immediately turned to the cages lined up against the wall. Sparkles, Joey and Aphrodite were asleep.
"Who would be sending me a letter at midnight?" Katie frowned. She went and opened the curtains.
"All right, Katie?" Lee smiled widely.
"LEE!"
Alicia and Angelina scrambled up immediately. Sure enough, Lee was waving jovially at them. Then the three girls noticed the car. Angelina let off a string of expletives that made Alicia gasp.
"Glad to see us?" Fred grinned from behind the steering wheel.
"You three are completely insane!" hissed Katie.
"Want to go for a ride?"
"Sure," Katie said immediately.
"Excuse me?" Alicia demanded. "Now who's the insane one? This car has to break some serious laws."
"Actually, it doesn't," George spoke up for the first time. "Dad made sure of that."
"Illegal or not, it's dangerous." Alicia folded her arms across her chest defiantly.
"Fine. Stay here then." Fred shrugged carelessly and turned to Angelina and Katie. "I thought we'd head to the beach."
"The beach?" Alicia asked quietly.
"Yeah, but of course, it's much too dangerous for Ms Spinnet," Fred mocked. Knowing her half his life had its advantages. He knew she couldn't resist a trip to the seaside.
"I haven't been to the beach in ages," she mused to herself as Angelina and Katie pulled their cloaks on over their pyjamas.
"Come on, Leesh," Angelina sighed impatiently. "You've got the rest of your life to be an upstanding citizen. Live for the moment."
George fought off a groan as a dazzling smile lit up Alicia's features. Angelina and Katie clambered into the backseat with Lee while Alicia retrieved her own cloak.
"Oh, looks like you're stuck in the front seat with George."
George had the sudden urge to punch Lee in the face. Instead, he smiled at Alicia and she winked back. His stomach jolted in reply and he wished he hadn't let his mother talk him into third helpings at dinner.
"I'm sure Georgie and I will manage."
As she climbed in, Fred stared at his brother. They certainly didn't seem to be in the midst of a fight. In fact, Alicia was acting as friendly as ever.
Something was definitely up though. Perhaps it was twin's intuition but Fred knew something was bugging George.
The six of them stayed at the beach that looked out over the English Channel for an hour or so before Fred and George realised they had to get back home if they wanted to sneak in before their mother figured out they were absent. On the way back Alicia and George had their first private chat.
"I'm sorry I've been so busy over the past few weeks," George said quietly so he wouldn't be heard over the conversation the others were having.
"It's all right," she said, smiling genuinely. She was half sitting on him but oddly George didn't find it that awkward.
"So, what have you been up to then?"
"Oh, I saw Oliver a few times."
"Saw him? As in walked past him in the street?" George suggested.
"Not quite. I went to his house a couple of times and he came to my place last week."
"A couple of times?" George asked, trying to sound calm.
Alicia shrugged, not picking up on his discomfort. "Five or six times"
George covered his startled gasp with a cough. Five or six?! That was more than a couple!
"Why?" he said after a while.
"Why what?"
"Why spend so much time with Oliver?"
"I don't know. You were busy, Angelina was at her father's place and Katie had her grandparents staying with her so I wasn't left with many options. I just didn't want to stay at home for longer than I had to. Jasmine and my parents are constantly fighting. She's pulling the whole 'you're not my real father routine' on dad and it's really getting to him."
George felt guilty all of a sudden. How could he be thinking about himself when Alicia was going through a hard time? Oliver had been there for her while he'd been hiding away in his room.
"Sorry, I didn't realise things were so bad at your house," he offered weakly.
"Forget about it," Alicia insisted waving her hand dismissively. "I know you would have helped me if you could. I had fun with Oliver anyhow. He's actually relatively normal when he's not a tyrannical Quidditch Captain."
"Relatively," George mumbled. Alicia shifted against him as they approached Katie's house.
"Did you know that Oliver's middle name is Alexander? Isn't that cute?"
"Splendid," he agreed morosely.
"Well, I guess I'll see you on the Hogwarts Express then," Alicia said cheerfully, attributing his tone for exhaustion.
"I guess."
She hugged him then said good bye to Lee and Fred. She climbed through the window after Katie then turned back to smile at Fred.
"I got you home in one piece," he noted.
"That's nothing short of a miracle considering the way you drive," Alicia quipped.
"I'll have you know that I'm an excellent driver!"
"I believe you, Fred. Well, see you boys in a few weeks." She and the girls waved as the drove away then shut the window.
***************
At the start of term feast Fred and George were telling the girls all about their adventures with Harry.
"-then he ended up in Knockturn Alley. Mum was about to let us go look for him when we saw him with Hagrid."
"Knockturn Alley?" Oliver suddenly went very pale. "That's no place for Harry."
"Because he's our star Seeker?" George asked from across the table.
"Well, that and the fact he's just a kid. Seeker or not he shouldn't have been there at all. I'm just glad Hagrid found him before anything happened," Oliver replied earnestly.
Alicia put her hand on his forearm. "Your concern is sweet."
George narrowed his eyes. What about his concern? He had been worried about Harry as well. Hell, he had even rescued him from those horrible Muggles!
"I have a good feeling about this year. Our bad luck is past us. You-Know-Who can't try to kill Harry two years in a row. Nothing odd is going to happen this year."
Obviously he had spoken too soon. Angelina suddenly noticed Harry and Ron's absence from the Gryffindor table. Even Hermione had no idea where they were. Oliver nearly jumped out of his seat but Alicia pulled him back down.
"I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation."
Katie was cut off as the first years entered. Throughout the entire ceremony Oliver attempted to leave his seat on at least a dozen occasions. If Alicia hadn't kept hold of him he would have run from the Great Hall shouting Harry's name and waving his arms like a lunatic.
Ginny was the last student to be sorted and everyone cheered as she joined the Gryffindor table. Angelina was peering curiously down the table at the small red head.
"What's Ginny like then?" she asked Alicia after Dumbledore sat down and the food appeared.
"Sweet kid," she answered through a mouthful of potato salad.
"Really? Well she obviously takes after her other four brothers," Angelina said, glancing meaningfully at the twins.
"We heard that," they said in unison.
"You were meant to."
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Of course, the normality Oliver predicted didn't last very long. The next morning Fred and George were still complaining about Harry and Ron's arrival. They'd complained all through Transfiguration and everyone was getting annoyed.
"Does it really matter if they flew the car without you?" Katie sighed as the group headed for Defence Against the Dark Arts.
The identical look of insult she received from the twins answered her question. They entered the classroom and groaned as one. Lockhart was standing at the front of the room, preening himself in a hand held mirror, looking as annoying as ever. Fred and George had told them all about the incident in Flourish and Blotts and they'd heard from the sixth years that had him after breakfast. The report wasn't exactly flattering.
"Why are you late?" he asked without looking away from his mirror.
Fred opened his mouth to make a smart-ass comment but Alicia cut him off quickly. "Sorry, Professor, we were just in the library reading 'Travels with Trolls' and we were having so much fun that we lost track of time. When we realised we had your class we ran here as fast as we could."
He finally put down his mirror and waved them to their seats. "Of course, I should have known. Ten points to Gryffindor."
"Do you realise you just got ten points for lying?" Lee whispered.
"Honestly, I thought Professor Dumbledore had more sense than to hire a self-obsessed prat like him," she said harshly. Normally Alicia respected her Professors but this guy.this guy couldn't teach his way out of a paper bag.
"I am your new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor! My name is Gilderoy Lockhart, no doubt you've heard of me before." He flashed a brilliant smile on cue.
Alicia shook her head in answer. The first she'd really heard of him was when Fred and George mentioned him being in Flourish and Blotts.
"Although this is only your first class I've got some exciting news!" Lockhart announced as they took their seats. "We're going to venture into the forest!"
He was met with stunned silence.
"Obviously your definition of exciting differs to ours," Angelina commented.
"Why would we want to go into the forest?" Fred demanded.
"We're going to be looking for Cornish Pixies that I want to show to my second year class this afternoon! You have no need to be frightened; I can handle any creature we might come across in the forest. As long as we don't go too far in you'll all be safe."
Then all exchanged skeptical glances. Begrudgingly, they followed the blonde Professor from the castle.
"I never thought I'd be saying this but I miss Quirrell," George said as they followed the overly excited man through the trees.
Katie slapped at a branch in her path. "Me, too. For all his faults, he never tried to lose us in a forest."
"But I guess being outdoors isn't so bad," Fred commented.
"Let's pair off! You and you-" Lockhart pointed to Katie and Lee and gestured to his right "-go east."
"That's actually west," Lee informed him. Lockhart pretended not to hear and hurried them away.
"Alicia and I will go north," George offered hastily. This was his opportunity to get Alicia completely alone. Oliver wouldn't even be able to interrupt with one of those smiles Alicia was so fond of.
"Right you are." Lastly, he turned to survey Angelina and Fred. "Perhaps you should join them, son."
"I'd rather go with Angelina," he stated simply.
"I'll go with her," Lockhart told him firmly.
"Come on, Fred." Alicia dragged him away before he could do something stupid like jump the man.
"Who does he think he is!? Why would Angelina want to go with him!?" Fred ranted.
George was silently fuming as well. So much for being alone with Alicia. Stupid Lockhart.
"Shouldn't we tell him that Cornish Pixies are mainly found in Cornwall and they won't migrate this far north?" Alicia pointed out the obvious.
"Well, considering the fact they're called Cornish Pixies and not Scottish Pixies.I thought even Lockhart would figure it out."
"So what do we do then?" she asked the twins.
"Sit around for awhile," George suggested and went to sit under a large tree.
Meanwhile.
"We're going to patrol the edge," Lockhart told a very disgruntled Angelina.
She snorted in reply. She had suspected he'd be too scared to really go into the forest.
"Why couldn't I go with Fred?"
"I actually wanted to have a word with you. I know that we've just met but I couldn't help noticing how you look at me," Lockhart said.
"Come again?"
"In the classroom you were staring, my dear. I know it's hard not to stare but you must remember I'm much too old for you. I think it's best for everyone concerned if you get over me. I know it won't be easy but you must try."
Angelina gaped. She was utterly speechless.
"There's no need to be embarrassed. It happens all the time. Maybe you should find someone your own age. I find your crush on me flattering nonetheless," he assured her politely.
Angelina opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out. This bloke was seriously disillusioned!
Suddenly, despite Oliver's optimism, Angelina had the feeling it was going to be a bad year.
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A/N: You have no idea how hard that was for me to write! I apologise if it isn't terribly good but the exams drained me more than I realised. I'm getting back into the story now so it should be all right. Hopefully the next chapter will be out very soon. But I do have two other stories and I'm trying to divide my time equally but I always get drawn into one.
Now just to address some of my reviewers:
Coconut-ice agent h/h- I know. I took my time didn't I. Anyhow, this year should be interesting with the Chamber and all that.
Oliverwoodschic- George tries but he just can't seem to get it right. Poor dear. I tried to do it as quickly as possible but the next one will be SOON. Hopefully. Hehe
Tessa- Another of my loyal reviewers. Don't worry I get confused between the book and the movie all the time. I'm glad to be out of high school but a little sad at the same time. Thirteen years of school behind me. *Sob*
Ashlee- Yeah, I feel sorry for George sometimes too. But that's odd because I'm the evil person who makes his life so hard in the first place. I'm proud I made you a happy little bug!
Loverina- Hiya! Thanks! I like my name too. I think it comes from my Jagged Fel (character from Star Wars books) obsession. I like making people happy! Sorry it took me so long to actually update but better late than never! To answer your question, George doesn't walk in on them till next year. It's going to be an intense moment to write.
lil azn mystikal girl- Darn hormones! He'll get over it eventually.
mystical- I got a smiley face! Yay!
Mere- My chapters do seem to be getting shorter don't they. I can't really account for that. I'm having a good break actually. Not having to study feels weird though.
luneproject- Your review made me laugh! My story has more holes in it than Swiss cheese! That's just the way I write though. I just skip the boring and unimportant parts. If I didn't it'd be like fifty chapters long already! Continuity isn't my strong point, sorry!