Old Faces, New Tricks

by Jagged Epiphany

COMPLETE! The epic fic starring Fred, George, Lee, Angelina, Alicia and Katie! As the story now draws to a close, the group is faced with one crisis after another. Who will pull through and who will fall apart?

48. When it Comes Crashing Down

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to people who aren't me. As such, they make all the money and I do this for pure love of writing.

A/N: Man, I love you guys. Who needs millions of dollars when I have such wonderful reviewers? Ok, here's the chapter. I've surpassed myself length-wise yet again. I probably shouldn't love this instalment so much, but I do. Contrary to what many of you would think, I actually had a great time writing this chapter. It's nice to stretch myself as a writer and step away from the fluff and humour I normally produce. Ultimately though, you guys are going to have to be the judges as to whether I succeed with the angst and raw emotions I'm about to throw at you.

Oh, this momentous chapter is for Eruaphadriel, simply because I'm currently obsessed with her G/A story and I hope that a chapter dedication might make her write faster.

Hold on to your computer chairs, people!

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Chapter 47

George could see that it was about to come crashing down.

Before his watchful eyes it teetered and quivered like the fragile creation that it was. It wasn't going to last much longer. Actually, he was quite surprised that it had lasted this long. It was a spectacular testament to his perseverance. Never let it be said that George Weasley was not a patient or meticulous person.

It was, without a doubt, the biggest house of cards he had ever made.

"George!"

The cards quivered threateningly as George turned in his seat. An angry looking Alicia Spinnet was striding across the common room, pushing aside any hapless students who got in her way.

"Hey, baby," he said cheerfully.

"Don't baby me! You're supposed to be working on your Transfiguration essay. McGonagall wants to look at the draft on Monday."

"I'll whip something up later. Do you like my card-house?"

"Come on, George, you have to start taking this seriously."

George turned back to his cards moodily. "I don't have to do anything. I'm not as smart as you so I'm quite happy to scrape through."

"No way, that won't work with me," Alicia said, pulling out the chair beside him. "It won't work with me because I know you too well. I know how smart you really are. You can pretend with other people but I see straight through yours claims of stupidity. I've seen you do some truly amazing things."

"Well, I wouldn't say amazing…" George said, blushing in a pleased sort of way.

"You're easily the best Potions student in our year, whether or not Snape will acknowledge it," Alicia persisted.

"That's only one subject though."

"You're also really good at Transfiguration. You got an 'E' in that."

"I only did that to impress you. I just wanted you to notice me, but now that we're dating I can stop paying attention to McGonagall."

Alicia sighed. "Well, you got an 'A' in Charms."

"Only cause Lee helped me a lot."

"George-"

"Look, I'd really love to start work on that essay, but we have our first meeting with Harry in ten minutes," he reminded her.

"Keep your voice down," Alicia hissed urgently, looking around the crowded common room.

George put a soothing hand on her leg. "Relax. Even if someone overheard they wouldn't know what we were talking about. They'd probably assume it had something to do with Quidditch. It only seems suspicious to people when you become jumpy about it."

"I know. I'm trying to be calm, but I can't help imagining what will happen if Hermione's list is found. It'll look especially bad for a senior prefect to be caught breaking the rules."

"You don't have to do it, you know," George pointed out. They'd had a similar conversation when Hermione had first brought up the idea. The outcome of this conversation turned out to be the same as the previous one.

Alicia shook her head. "I can't back out. I really want to do this. If Umbridge isn't going to teach us anything useful then I think we have the right to look elsewhere. Besides, learning some defensive spells from The Boy Who Lived is one those opportunities that you don't pass up."

"Sticking it to the Ministry is fun as well."

Alicia pursed her lips. George knew the Ministry's recent actions were a sore point with Alicia and he regretted bringing it up. Alicia remained fairly calm though. "I'm really glad Erica isn't working there anymore. She'd hate to see the Ministry being so negligent. Someone has to show them what's really going on. If that involves breaking rules, then so be it. We can't back down," she finished ardently.

"My cute little Amazon warrior," George said, twisting one of her curls around his finger.

"My gorgeous Potions genius," Alicia returned softly, leaning towards him.

"My gag reflex."

Alicia groaned and closed her eyes. "Go away, Fred."

Fred gave her a malicious grin and took a seat on the other side of George. "Last time I checked it was a free country. Hey, nice card-house. How many cards did you use?"

"Two decks," George answered proudly.

"He should have been doing his Transfiguration essay," Alicia interrupted irritably.

"Waste of time," Fred dismissed.

"The NEWTs are not a waste of time!"

"You don't need NEWTs to open a joke shop."

Alicia leant across George to glare at Fred. "What are you going to do if the joke shop plan falls through? Without your NEWTs you won't have a lot of options. You'll both end up as cleaners or waiters."

Fred shrugged inconsequentially "What's wrong with that?"

"It would be a waste! You two have such brilliant minds. If you only put them to good use the world would be your oyster."

"I don't like oysters," George said thoughtfully, watching his card-house quiver.

"You think I have a brilliant mind as well?" Fred asked. "Wow. That's the nicest thing you've said to me since…well, since we met."

Alicia ignored this shot. "If you applied yourselves a bit more you wouldn't do so dismally at school."

"You sound just like our mother."

"Your mother knows what she's talking about!"

"Can we not do this at the moment?" George whispered, aware that people were turning to observe the argument.

"Fine with me," Fred said. "I hate to bring it up, Spinnet, but your concerns about our future are unnecessary. We've already put an offer in for a shop in Diagon Alley. I'm confident we'll get it."

"You've got a shop already?" Alicia demanded loudly, elbowing a red-faced George.

"Oh, did I let the cat out of the bag?" Fred said, his voice dripping in mock remorse. "How awful of me. I just assumed your loving boyfriend would have told you about the plans he made. Silly of me to assume like that, I suppose."

"Just shut up," George said wearily.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Alicia asked, looking hurt and angry. "I told you about…you-know-what!"

"A secret? Very intriguing," Fred mused.

George turned to Alicia and took her hand, which she wrenched away immediately. "It only happened in the last few days. It's no big deal," he said hastily.

"It was a big deal for me to tell you about the…the you-know-what and I hoped you would have returned the favour. Did you think I'd be disappointed or something? This is your dream! Of course I'm happy for you!"

"You don't look very happy," Fred observed innocently.

"That's because I had to hear it from you!" Alicia stood up and slammed her hand down on the table, sending cards flying everywhere. "When major changes happen in your life, George, I'd like to know about them. I'd like to be there to share them with you."

The look on Alicia's face before she stormed off made George's stomach heave. She'd been making such an effort recently that he should have reciprocated. Truthfully, things had been so great recently that George didn't want to ruin it by bringing up the future. Alicia never seemed to want to talk about it, at least not when it came to the Daily Prophet job.

"Well, did you enjoy that?" George asked his smug brother.

"Immensely," he answered enthusiastically.

"It won't make a difference, you know. She won't break up with me over something like this. It might have worked a couple of months ago but now our relationship is too strong. She won't stay angry for very long and in a few hours she'll be all over me."

"Are you suggesting I deliberately set out to break the two of you up? I'm offended, George. How could you accuse your own twin brother of doing something so horrible?"

"Don't even bother," George said listlessly.

"Fine," Fred said, swiping cards off his lap and getting to his feet. "I won't harp on about it, but maybe you should consider why Spinnet's been all over you recently. Have you ever heard of overcompensation?"

"Isn't it possible that she finds me incredibly sexy? Her hormones are probably just starting to kick in and there's no way she can resist me. It's not unheard of."

Fred shook his head, dismissing George's explanation. "It's way too strange."

"You think everything Alicia does is strange."

"She's a strange girl."

George watched Fred walk away and disappear through the portrait hole. Perhaps he did have a point about overcompensation. Alicia had been going out of her way to please him, even if that meant pushing boundaries they hadn't yet explored. In the last few weeks she'd let him get away with things that he wouldn't have dared to attempt as little as two months ago.

Then again, if his girlfriend wanted to be extra nice to him why should he complain? George smiled to himself and flicked his wand so that the cards zoomed back into two neat piles. Friendly, touchy-feely Alicia was much more preferable to prudish, ice-queen Alicia.

Hopefully she wouldn't be angry with him for much longer. You see, George had a sneaking suspicion that Alicia was finally beginning to fall in love with him.

xxxxx

Alicia could see that it was about to come crashing down.

She hadn't paid enough attention in the beginning, now there was no hope of saving it. If the foundation had only been a little stronger, she wouldn't be in such a hopeless predicament. She'd treated the whole thing rather haphazardly and now things looked like getting messy. A fair amount of delicacy was going to be required if she hoped to salvage the situation.

Cautiously, Alicia took a step towards her nightstand. That was as far as she got. The stack of textbooks gave one last wobble then toppled over, hitting the ground with a resounding thump. Katie, who had fallen asleep doing her Transfiguration essay, jerked awake, poking herself in the eye with her quill in the process.

"I told you that pile of books was too high," Angelina scolded.

"Time's it?" Katie asked, rubbing her eye and looking around frantically.

"Relax," Alicia said, picking up her books, "you haven't missed the meeting with Harry. We were about to leave. The boys are waiting downstairs for us."

"Lee?"

"I saw him come down the stairs just as I was coming back up here."

Katie rolled off her bed and began to fix her hair. "Is he sad yet?"

"Nope. Seems the same as always. Do you honestly want him to be miserable anyway?"

"If he was miserable I'd at least know he cares."

"Well, Fred reckons Lee's been a lot quieter recently when he's away from us. He still refuses to talk about the break up though – says it's ancient history already," Angelina said.

"And I completely agree," Katie said briskly.

"Then why does she keep going on about it?" Angelina muttered out of the corner of her mouth as she passed Alicia.

Katie threw a hairbrush in Angelina's general direction. "I heard that and I hate you."

Alicia smiled fondly at her friends. She'd been so preoccupied with George that she hadn't even considered how they would take her news. It was possible they would be even more upset than him. Katie would especially feel abandoned. It was going to be painful, but Alicia knew she wouldn't be able to avoid it for much longer.

The three Chasers made their way down to the common room where they met George and Lee. Katie and Lee studiously ignored each other, as they'd been doing ever since the break up. Alicia threw her arms around George to let him know that she wasn't angry with him. When Fred first mentioned the shop in Diagon Alley she had been angrier with herself more than anyone else. George was soon to be anchored to London and she couldn't do anything about it.

The group headed off towards the mysterious room that nobody thought existed. Angelina walked in between Katie and Lee and George and Alicia walked hand in hand. They met Fred waiting beside the Barnabas the Barmy tapestry. There was a door across from it that Alicia was certain hadn't been there before.

"Overcompensation," Fred said as soon as he spotted them.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Angelina asked warily.

"Nothing to do with you, angel."

Alicia looked from George to Fred and decided that she'd rather not know what was going on. As George ushered her through into the room Alicia's breath caught in her throat. She wouldn't have believed that any such room existed in Hogwarts. Really, what were the chances of there being a room perfectly set up for defensive magic lessons?

The answer was eventually given by Harry, who explained briefly about the Room of Requirement. As soon as Harry was officially chosen as leader and a name for the group had been selected, everyone was told to pair off and practice the Disarming Charm. The unpleasant Hufflepuff boy Zacharias Smith sidled towards where Alicia, Angelina and Katie were standing.

"Step away from the Chasers," Fred said immediately.

"They're already spoken for," George added.

Zacharias scowled. "I was merely going to offer them some help. Gryffindors aren't exactly renowned for their intelligence."

"Just as Hufflepuffs aren't renowned for their Quidditch playing skills," Angelina retorted, earning appreciative nods from the twins.

"Go and find yourself another partner. These girls are way out of your league," Lee said.

"See you on the Quidditch pitch!" Fred said pleasantly.

"Not that pretty anyway," Zacharias muttered as he walked away.

"He's becoming too much of an irritant," George said.

"Agreed. Do you think we should?" Fred asked.

"He hasn't left us with much of a choice."

"Let's do it then."

"Take it in turns?"

"We'll have to.

"Excellent."

Without a word of explanation to anyone, Fred and George walked off in pursuit of Zacharias. Alicia rolled her eyes and pulled Angelina and Katie away with her. "That's never a good sign. Something bad always happens after they've just done their twin ESP thing."

An awkward moment followed this because the girls realised one of them was going to have to pair with Lee.

"I'll go with him," Angelina said after a moment of contemplative silence.

The slightly nasty look in her eye made Alicia shake her head. "I think I should be Lee's partner. You might get a little overzealous."

"I don't think Lee needs either of you to be his partner," Katie said quietly.

Alicia turned to see what Katie was staring at. Lee was standing beside Padma Patil who was giggling at something he had said.

"I hate her," Angelina hissed immediately.

"You don't even know her," Alicia said fairly.

"I know enough to hate her."

Katie squared her shoulders and turned away. "She can have him. Now, who wants to be my partner?"

"I'll do it," Angelina offered.

"No, I think I've got a better idea." Katie hitched up her skirt and sauntered off in the direction of a Ravenclaw named Terry Boot.

"Oh Lord," Alicia groaned. "We're going to have to keep an eye on her. She could do something stupid."

"Let her have some fun," Angelina said lightly.

"You think she should throw herself at the nearest guy?"

"She's just letting off steam."

"It's not healthy," Alicia said firmly, pulling out her wand.

"Let her do what she wants to do," Angelina snapped.

Alicia backed off. Angelina was getting testy and she had been so on edge lately that Alicia didn't want to push the issue. Besides, she had long ago accepted the fact that she and Angelina had different views on many things. Still, she couldn't see how it would benefit Katie to go after random boys, nor could she see why Angelina would encourage this behaviour.

"Expelliarmus!"

Alicia's wand dropped out of her hand and she yelped. "That's not counted! I wasn't paying attention!"

"That'll teach you to focus, won't it?"

Alicia snatched up her wand. "Expelliarmus!"

Angelina ducked and Alicia's spell hit Dennis Creevey in the back of his head. The poor boy squeaked and fell to his knees. Colin, who thought he had hurt his brother, dropped his wand in horror and frantically began to ask Dennis how many fingers he was holding up. Alicia and Angelina had to turn away as they broke down into giggles.

xxxxx

On the morning of the first Quidditch match of the season, it was hard to tell who was the most nervous. Angelina was just about ready to strangle anyone who said anything slightly pessimistic and Ron was likely to vomit if anyone said anything at all to him. It was Katie who first noticed the Weasley is our King badges. She told Alicia immediately and they both worked together to make sure Fred and George didn't find out.

The twins were acting extra hyper to cover up their nervousness so they didn't pay any attention to the Slytherins. Anyone who knew them well could tell that they were a little tentative about the upcoming game. It had been quite a while since they last played a proper game of Quidditch and a lot was riding on this first game…namely Angelina's sanity.

"If we lose I wouldn't be surprised if she tries Wood's old trick of attempting to drown himself in the shower," Fred commented as they made their way towards the stadium.

"Did I just hear you say the word lose?" Angelina barked, coming up behind everyone and making them jump. "No one's going to lose today. I mean, except Slytherin. We're going to win so they'll naturally lose. So someone will lose today, it just won't be us because we're going to win. Slytherin will be the only team losing today. I mean, well…that's kind of obvious since both teams can't lose. Anyway, you know what I mean, right?"

"Not at all," George answered cheerfully.

Fred clapped his brother on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I got the gist of it. She basically said that we're going to lose today."

"That's not what I – oh for Christ's sake, you two are idiots!" Angelina said before picking up speed and striding ahead of the group.

"Thanks a lot," Katie said, slapping both Weasleys in the back of the head. "You realise she's going to give us a lecture about taking Quidditch seriously, don't you?"

"Whoops," the twins said in unison.

When they had all reached the changing rooms, it became obvious that Ron was in a worse state than Angelina, who had merely locked herself in the Captain's office after giving her 'Quidditch isn't a joke' speech. Ron sat down on a bench and didn't move. His face changed colours intermittently, turning red, green then white.

"Do you think he's all right?" Alicia asked George quietly.

"Nope. Maybe you should go and give him a snog to distract him from the fact that hundreds of people are about to see him fail miserably."

Alicia thumped him on the arm. "Shh. If Angelina hears you she'll give us a lecture about liasing with team-mates."

"How about you and I go do some liasing of our own in a shower cubicle?" George said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"Ugh. How could you think about that at a time like this?"

"Quite simply actually as I'm always thinking about it."

Katie stepped in between Alicia and George just as they were about to kiss. "Do you really think it would help if someone snogged Ron? I'd do it if it would help. I'd be willing to take one for the team," she said, looking Ron up and down slowly.

"Don't even think about!" Alicia put her hand over Katie's eyes.

"He's been looking very grown up recently," Katie protested, attempting to pry Alicia's hand away.

"There's a difference between looking grown up and being grown up. Ron is neither so forget about it right now. Jeez, I hope Lee knows that he's created a monster."

"If he can snog other girls then why can't I?" Katie demanded.

"You want to snog girls?" Fred asked, having just returned from the Captain's office.

"He hasn't snogged other girls at all," George interrupted. "I definitely know he's had opportunities, but he hasn't wanted anything to do with it. He's sad about what happened, Katie."

"How sad exactly?" she asked. "Sad like he broke a nail or sad like his dog ran away?"

"Sad like a really hot girl chucked him for no reason."

"It wasn't for no reason. I happen to have very good reasons!"

Alicia left her friends to argue and went to help Ron put on his robes. He was trying to button them up back-to-front for some reason. Alicia shook her head at him and gently began to dress him as if he was a small child.

"You know," she began conversationally as she buttoned up his robes, "you're in the same position that Harry and I were in when we joined the team. You're walking into an established group that already has tight bonds and their own special way of doing things. At first you think you're never going to fit in, but eventually you'll just become one of the team. Isn't that right, Harry?"

"Absolutely."

Alicia straightened Ron's robes and patted him on the shoulder. "I was nervous before my first game and everything turned out fine. It was Harry's first game as well. Do you remember? Harry almost swallowed the Snitch."

Ron gave a weak smile. "Yeah, I remember that."

"It turned out fine and so will this game. Keep that in mind as we walk out. Fred and George will protect you from Bludgers and the girls and I will do our best to make sure the Quaffle doesn't even get near you. And…and don't worry about what they say."

Ron obviously hadn't noticed the Slytherin badges yet because he just gave Alicia a confused look. A little colour had returned to Ron's face so Alicia went back to George to hear Angelina's pre-game pep talk. It was a good talk on all accounts. It was succinct and to the point, unlike many of Wood's famous speeches.

"Have a good game," Alicia said as George threw his arm around her shoulders and they followed the rest of the team out to the pitch.

George swung his bat in a sweeping arc. "I've got a Bludger with Bletchly's name on it."

"I told you to leave it alone."

"And I told you there's no chance of that happening. No one jinxes George Weasley's girlfriend and gets away with it."

Alicia rolled her eyes. That was typical. "So it's not even about me? It's some silly boy thing. Marking your territory or something?"

"Of course it'll sound bad if you put it like that. I like to think I'm being chivalrous and romantic."

"So you give Bletchly a concussion and I'm supposed to go weak at the knees?"

George grinned sideways at her and raised his voice as the noise from the crowd got louder. "If you'd rather swoon and throw yourself at me I'd be fine with that."

Alicia gave him a good luck kiss just before they stepped onto the pitch to tumultuous applause and cheers. Alicia stood face to face with Warrington as Angelina shook hands with Montague. As soon as Madam Hooch blew her whistle fourteen players rose into the air and she tossed the Quaffle up. Angelina swooped on it.

"And it's Johnson – Johnson with the Quaffle, what a player that girl is, I've been saying it for years but she still won't go out with me."

Alicia grimaced at Lee's comment. She glanced over at Katie who was on Angelina's other side. Katie was too professional to have any visible reaction, but Alicia could see that she was grasping her broomstick tighter than was necessary. To be fair though, Lee had always maintained that when he commentated he was playing a role so anything he said was part of his other persona. Excuse or not, it was a pretty convenient way for him to flirt with Angelina and not be punched for it.

Alicia was so busy feeling sorry for Katie that George's Bludger almost hit her. She ducked just in time and it glanced off the back of Montague's head. Katie grabbed the dropped Quaffle and the game truly began. Alicia became absorbed in the passes and swerves so much that she tuned out Lee's commentary. There was one thing she couldn't tune out as easily. After Warrington scored the first goal it echoed through the entire stadium.

The Weasley is our King song made Alicia's skin crawl. The following minutes of the game were an utter fiasco. Harry had inexplicably stopped searching for the Snitch, Katie dropped the Quaffle twice, Fred and George reacted to the Slytherin song by hitting Bludgers twice as hard in every direction and Alicia and Angelina both let Pucey fly right past them. In short, Gryffindor fell apart and all game plans flew out the window.

Slytherin's fourth goal induced a Vesuvian scale eruption from Angelina. "THAT'S IT! WE PLAY OUR GAME FROM NOW ON! IGNORE THE CROWD, IGNORE THE SCOREBOARD, IGNORE THE COMMENTATOR! DO EXACTLY WHAT WE PLANNED…AND FOR GOD'S SAKE, STOP THE BLOODY QUAFFLE, RON! YOU'RE LETTING THEM FLY CIRCLES AROUND YOU!"

With that heartening pep talk still ringing in their ears, Gryffindor set about turning the game back in their favour. After they had re-grouped it didn't take Angelina very long to score their first goal.

"THAT'S HOW YOU PLAY QUIDDITCH!" she screamed in the face of Montague, who had jostled her all the way to the goalposts.

Alicia's hopes rose considerably. Even with Ron playing badly there was no way they could lose whilst Angelina was in such a fiery mood. She was going to stampede over anyone who got in her way. That also meant Ron unfortunately. Alicia could only hope that he made more of an effort to protect the goalposts because if he didn't he was certain to face Angelina's wrath.

The three Chasers were in pursuit of Pucey when the crowd suddenly exploded. That type of reaction could only mean one thing…

"Harry caught the Snitch!" Fred shouted happily from somewhere above them.

In perfect synchronisation, all three girls pulled up hard on their brooms and did stationary three sixties so they were now facing the Slytherin end of the pitch. They all took off at top speed and that was when the Bludger hit Harry. There was a collective gasp as Harry fell off his broomstick and lay still on the ground.

"Not Harry! HARRY! I'm coming! Don't move! Oh no! Not Harry. Please not Harry. I'll kill Crabbe!" Angelina shrieked. She fell into a steep, dangerously fast dive.

"And people say I'm the Potter fancier," Katie said wryly to Alicia as they followed their Captain at a much safer speed.

Alicia landed just before Katie and she heard Draco Malfoy say something nasty about Ron, who hadn't joined the rest of the team. Her elation was momentarily replaced with anger. This also mixed with apprehension. Fred and George might give Ron a hard time occasionally but they were fiercely protective of their family. Thankfully, they had landed behind Katie so they didn't hear any of it.

Alicia ran to hug Harry, who was glaring at Malfoy. She was quickly joined in the hug by Katie and then pushed aside so Fred and George could shake hands with Harry.

It happened then. The moment that changed everything.

Malfoy was still talking but no one was paying him much attention. He simply raised his voice, making sure that everyone heard him this time. Everyone heard him all right. Fred and George distinctly heard him insult their father. Angelina reacted immediately, knowing that the twins wouldn't let him get away with that.

She grabbed Fred's arm and told him to leave it. He seethed openly but made no attempt to go after Malfoy. At least not until Malfoy called the Burrow a hovel. Things got messy as both twins made a move towards the smug Slytherin. Angelina hung onto Fred's arm desperately and Katie quickly grabbed the other.

"Alicia! Don't just stand there! Grab Fred!" Angelina ordered.

"But George-"

"Harry's got him. Just help us!" Katie said, grunting from the effort of holding Fred back.

Alicia saw that Harry was in fact doing a fair job of keeping George subdued so she added her own weight to help keep Fred under control. Angelina started saying soothing things to Fred, which had no effect at all. When this failed she began swearing and ordering him to calm down. Needless to say, this didn't work either.

Alicia knew it was going to happen before it happened. As soon as Malfoy opened his mouth she knew all hell was going to break loose. As she continued to hold Fred back she turned and reached for George. Malfoy tossed out the insult casually, as if he was tossing biscuits to a dog. Alicia managed to catch the back of George's robes but he slipped through her fingers and charged at Malfoy.

Angelina and Katie screamed. Alicia turned to go after George and Harry just as Fred renewed his struggle. All three girls were nearly thrown aside. Angelina held on grimly then all but jumped on Fred.

Katie grabbed Alicia's sleeve and held her back. "Help us keep Fred out of it!"

"I don't care about Fred!"

"You can't help George now!" Angelina said.

Alicia watched in abject horror as the boys tumbled to the ground in a writhing pile of flying fists and verbal abuse. She saw George get hit in the face by Malfoy and she yelled in outrage. Fred must have seen it too because he made a sudden surge and Alicia stumbled back. As her mind became a little clearer she realised George was in fact already in a heap of trouble so she might as well keep Fred out of it.

Madam Hooch broke up the fight just in the nick of time. Things were beginning to get out of hand and the girls were getting tired of holding Fred back. Predictably, George and Harry were ordered to go to McGonagall's office straight away. The exhausted Chasers finally released Fred.

"I'm going to go as well," he informed them.

"Don't you dare move a muscle!"

Angelina's command made everyone freeze. It had come out of nowhere like a sudden crack of thunder. Fred didn't listen to many people but when Angelina told him to stop he did it without question.

"We're all going to go back to the changing rooms and remain calm. It's bad enough that Harry and George are going to get detention, but we can all be on our best behaviour so that at least most of the team will still be at training. Do you all understand?"

Fred, Alicia and Katie nodded numbly at Angelina. The stadium began to empty as the four Gryffindor players made their way back to the changing rooms. No one spoke, not even when it became apparent that Ron hadn't returned to the changing room at all. They all took quick showers then reconvened to stare dully at each other.

"Why is everyone so depressed?" Katie finally asked. "We just won our first game of the season so we should be arranging one of our famous parties."

"Good idea," Angelina said, glad to find a distraction from the hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Feel up to organising a party, Fred?"

"I'm not doing anything till I talk to George."

Angelina nodded obligingly and said, "Ok. Let's grab his and Harry's gear and go up to the castle to meet them."

"What about Ron? Are we going to find him or at least take his stuff back as well?" Alicia asked.

"I think we ought to leave Ron alone for now. He might come back here to change so we better leave his stuff behind for him."

Angelina and Katie gathered up Harry's belongings as Fred and Alicia did George's. For an extremely awkward minute Fred and Alicia avoided touching each other or making eye contact. Fred finally cracked when they both reached for George's Gryffindor scarf and their hands brushed. Alicia snatched her hand away as if she'd been burnt.

"Do you think – I mean, will George be expelled?"

Alicia looked up at Fred in surprise. "Expelled? Why would he be expelled?"

"We both know he doesn't have the cleanest record. One day he and I are going to go too far and we're going to be kicked out. You're a prefect so you know about this sort of thing. Is there a chance that he'll be expelled?"

"Oh, I seriously doubt it. McGonagall is strict but understanding. He and Harry will get nothing more than a few detentions," Alicia said confidently.

"Can't you get them out of the detentions? You heard what Malfoy said so you should be able to tell McGonagall and get her to lower the punishment. She'll listen to you."

Alicia shook her head disparagingly. "I don't have that kind of authority and I wouldn't use it even if I did. Harry and George knowingly broke the rules so they have to face the consequences."

"You think it's right that Malfoy should get away with insulting our family," Fred snapped, more accusing than asking.

Alicia sighed wearily and closed George's locker. "I didn't say that. My point was merely that there are better ways to deal with things like that – ways that don't involve violence."

"We should sit down with Malfoy and have tea and talk about our feelings?"

"Again you're twisting my words. I was suggesting that maybe you should leave it up to a teacher to sort out rather than take things into your own hands all the time."

"What would have happened then? Malfoy would have got a warning, or at most a detention," Fred said. "I'd rather see him get a punch in the nose than a slap on the wrist, but perhaps that's just me."

"I'm not the enemy," Alicia said exasperatedly.

"You're not an ally either."

"That's it, I'm done talking to you."

Fred gathered up George's clothes and dumped them into his bag. "Good. I was done talking to you ages ago but you don't know when to shut up."

"Me? You were the one who kept throwing accusations at me!"

"Well, at least I'm not-"

"Oi!" Angelina interrupted loudly. "You two cut it out. No one is allowed to fight anymore. This Quidditch team is going to start being harmonious and united or I'll kick all your arses."

Alicia was going to point out that Angelina's threat lacked both harmony and unity, but she quite rightly decided to let it go. Everyone was on their best behaviour as the group returned to the castle. Lee was waiting solemnly on the front steps for them.

"Seen Harry and George yet?" Alicia and Fred asked together.

"No. I assume they're still with McGonagall," Lee said, looking hesitantly from person to person.

"What is it?" Katie asked, seeing that Lee was holding something back.

"It's-it's just that I heard a rumour – I don't know if it's true – but people are saying that Umbridge is also in McGonagall's office."

Alicia reflexively reached out and grabbed Fred's wrist. "That's very bad."

"Bad? Can she expel him?" Fred asked, not seeming to notice that Alicia had hold of him.

"I don't really know. It's hard to keep up with what she can and can't do, but I think Dumbledore still has the final say on who gets expelled. He won't let it happen."

"Expulsion?" Angelina echoed, looking sick all of a sudden.

"Surely they wouldn't…" Katie trailed off, standing up on her tiptoes suddenly. "I can see Harry!"

Alicia jumped, using Fred's shoulder for leverage. She spotted Harry across the Entrance Hall. He was walking slowly with his head down, which couldn't be a good sign. Alicia abruptly released Fred and joined the race to reach Harry first. Angelina reached the dejected Seeker first because she pushed everyone else out of the way.

"What happened?" five voices demanded at once.

Harry looked up, caught Angelina's eye and took a few cautionary steps back. "George and I have been given a lifelong ban from Quidditch. So've you, Fred. Umbridge says you would have hit Malfoy if the girls hadn't held you back, so you've been given the same punishment. We have to hand our brooms into her," Harry finished morosely.

No one said anything for a long time. No one knew what to say. Alicia gave Fred wary sidelong glance and found him staring at Harry blankly as if he was really just an apparition.

"But Umbridge can't ban people from Quidditch," Katie argued, her eyes tearing up.

"She can thanks to Educational Decree Number Twenty-five."

"There must be a way we can stop her," Angelina said, snapping out of her trance. She turned to Alicia for help. "Isn't there some sort of appeal process? Can't we go to Dumbledore or something?"

"I doubt it. Whatever we try, Umbridge will just come up with another Decree to stop us. I don't see any way we can get around this," Alicia answered truthfully. "Harry, where's George?"

"When we got out of the office he went in the opposite direction."

"Poor, Harry," Katie cooed, stepping in front of Lee to put her hand on Harry's shoulder. "Is there anything I can do for you? Anything at all?"

"Hands off," Alicia said sharply, grabbing Katie's arm. "Did George happen to say where he was going?"

"All he said was that you'd know where to find him," Harry replied.

Alicia knew exactly where to go. George would be in the study room in the library that they had met in after the Oliver fiasco. They went there to be alone sometimes and they referred to it as 'Their Place'.

"What are you going to do now?" Lee asked Angelina.

"Oliver didn't mention anything like this happening," she muttered to herself, seeming not to have heard Lee at all.

In a matter of seconds, everyone scattered like dandelion seeds in the wind and Katie and Lee found themselves alone at the foot of the marble staircase. Alicia went to find George and Harry disappeared in search of Hermione. Angelina simply stalked off, with Fred trailing her like a lost puppy.

"Looks like it's just you and me," Lee said brightly.

"Bugger off, Jordan," Katie snapped before hurrying up the stairs.

In the library, Alicia gave Madam Pince a terse smile and continued through to the private rooms. Sure enough, George was in the last room in the row. When she entered she stood at the back of the room and waited to see what kind of mood he was in. If she rushed in and hugged him he could react angrily. He obviously wanted her there, however, because he'd have gone somewhere else if he wanted to be alone.

"I guess you heard," he said, running a hand through his hair, causing it to stick straight up.

Holding back a sigh of relief, Alicia dropped the bags she was carrying by the door. "Harry told us the whole thing. Are you all right?"

"I haven't decided yet. How did Fred react?"

"I think he was shocked more than anything. I just hope I'm not around him when it sinks in because that could get ugly."

"Are you frightened to be around me?" George asked quietly.

Alicia smiled at him and said, "I know you'd never hurt me no matter how angry you got. Fred on the other hand…"

"Are you going to give me a lecture?" was his next question.

"No. I understand why you did what you did. You wouldn't be George Weasley if you didn't lose your temper and react rashly. Besides, I happen to think it's about time someone punched Malfoy. How's your lip anyway? Do you need to see Madam Pomfrey?"

"It's just a run of the mill split lip. It'll be fine. My knuckles are a little sore though."

Alicia went to him and took his hands. She clicked her tongue at the sight of his scraped knuckles. "Boys and their testosterone. Don't make a fist for a while and you'll be all right."

He winced as she touched his hands gently. "I'd hug you right now but I'm still covered in sweat," he said regretfully.

"I got plenty of Fred's sweat on me when I was holding him back. I'd much prefer your sweat."

"That's a compliment, right?"

"Absolutely." Alicia reached up and buried her hands in his hair, tugging at his sweaty locks. "See, I don't mind it at all."

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

George let out a relieved sort of groan as he grabbed her. He hugged her tightly, lifting her off the ground and squeezing almost to the point of rib cracking. She hugged him back as tightly as she could, determined to do her job as his girlfriend. Even when he was miserable like this, Alicia was oddly happy. When he was like this he needed her and she could comfort him in ways that other people couldn't.

"Is one of those Quidditch bags mine?" he asked, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Yes."

George stepped back and began to undo the buttons of his Quidditch robes. "Might as well take these off for the last time. They'll probably need to be altered for my replacement."

The idea of replacing George made Alicia cover her face with her hands and moan. "Oh, I can't believe this is happening."

"It's happening, all right. You know why it's happening?" George asked sharply.

Alicia took a few steps back and sat on the edge of the desk. She could sense that the reality of what had just happened was starting to get through to George. She stepped back and kept quiet to give him time and space to think about it all. He threw his robes on the floor, steadily getting angrier.

"All of this has happened to me because I have red hair. I might as well be wearing a target!"

"It's not fair," Alicia agreed quietly.

"I hate being singled out because I'm a Weasley! Even more than I hate that, I hate it when the same people who single me out then assume that I'm going to be ashamed of being a Weasley. I'm not about to turn my back on my family like Percy did!"

Alicia could see they were divulging from the Quidditch ban, but she let it go. George was venting and he'd probably been holding this stuff in for a long time. It was healthier if he let it out. Or so she thought.

"I don't want to end up like my father. He's a great man, of course, but he hangs around the lower rungs of the Ministry and doesn't fight back. As soon as he starts to climb some You-Know-Who loving bastard knocks him right back down! Lucius Malfoy uses his money and connections to reach the top and no one objects. The world is a freaking joke, that's what it is. Nothing is the way it should be and no one is stepping up to fix it."

Alicia was beginning to get worried. George was getting wound tighter and tighter. He'd begun to pace furiously back and forth and his blue-green eyes were blazing in a way that Alicia had rarely seen. When he stopped and clenched his fists, Alicia covered her eyes and turned her head away.

"It's not fair!"

George's last word was punctuated with a sharp crack. Alicia let out a terrified squeak and kept her eyes covered. There was ringing silence after this, then a sullen declaration of "Ouch".

Alicia slowly lowered her hands and turned back to George, who was nursing his right hand. She tried to appear fine, but truthfully she was shaken by his behaviour. "When I told you not to make a fist I assumed it was a given that you shouldn't punch plaster walls either," she said with forced lightness.

"You should have been more specific," George said, looking down at his hand, which was bleeding.

"Did you get it all out of your system now?"

"No."

"I'm not going to fix your hand if you're just going to punch something again."

"I don't want you to fix it anyway," George said. "At the moment the pain and blood are serving as a nice reminder. If I'm not willing to bleed for what I believe in then it becomes a lost cause. If it requires blood and pain to change the world then I'll do it. I won't even have to consider it."

A shiver ran the length of Alicia's spine. "Please don't say things like that. You can't just go running into situations without thinking them through."

"Harry does it. He works on instinct and he doesn't sit around thinking about every little thing."

"And how many times has he almost been killed?" Alicia asked, her voice becoming shrill.

"Almost, Alicia! He hasn't been killed, no matter how many times people try it!"

"You are not Harry Potter and don't ever think that you are!" Alicia yelled, the sudden force of her own voice startling her. "Harry is special in ways that nobody understands. People like him only come along once in a hundred years. You aren't him!"

George seemed to resent this, but blood began to trickle between his fingers and stain the floor before he could say anything. Growling like an angry bear, he quickly pulled his undershirt off and wrapped it around his injured hand. He pushed his hair out of his face, streaking it with blood in the process.

"What are you saying? Should Harry do it all by himself? Do we have to sit safe and sound at home whilst Harry single-handedly takes on the darkest wizard of all time?" George demanded.

"I'm not saying that at all! I'm trying to tell you that you can't just throw yourself into things that you don't fully understand. You can run head long into this war with You-Know-Who, but the result could be disastrous. You're entirely mortal, George, no matter how angry and invincible you feel right now. If you get into this war you could get injured or even…" Alicia trailed off as the lump in her throat made it too difficult to speak.

"Killed?" George supplied tonelessly. "Would it be such a big deal if I died? One life for the millions and billions we'd save?"

"Shut up!" Angry tears spilled out of Alicia's eyes and she jumped off the desk. "I refuse to have this conversation with you!"

"I didn't mean to make you cry," George said, his voice offering little comfort, "but we're going to have to talk about it sometime."

"Not when you're so angry that you aren't thinking straight." Alicia moved towards the door, but George stepped in front of it. "Get out of the way," she ordered.

"What about our children?" George asked, standing firm as she tried to push him aside.

"We don't have any children!"

"But we will one day. Even if we don't have them together, one day we'll have children of our own. Do you want to bring them into this world? Do you want them to have conversations like this when they grow up? That's what will what happen if we don't stop this now."

Alicia was now crying so much that George was merely a tear-blurred shape in front of her. "But if you go and get yourself killed you won't get the chance to have children at all!"

"You will," he said evenly.

"Is that it? You're trying to martyr yourself? You'll sacrifice yourself for me?" Alicia asked, laughing bitterly. "That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I don't want or need you to get yourself killed. It won't achieve anything at all!"

George reached out and grabbed her arm. He held her so tightly that she was going to end up with bruises. "It'll achieve a hell of a lot! You can't fight wars half-heartedly. I'm going to go all-in and if I take out some Death Eaters with me, the world will already be a better place. If enough people feel the same way I do, then we'll have a chance of winning. Even if I don't survive it you'll still be around to carry on with your life. You'll go get married and have lots of beautiful children. Tell them about me if you want. Tell them that there were people who died so that they could lead happy, terror free lives."

All Alicia could manage to say now was, "Stupid!"

"It's up to our generation to fix this. I know you've realised this as well, otherwise you wouldn't have joined the DA. We need to succeed where our parents failed. We need to help Harry because you yourself said that people like him only come along every hundred years. Can we afford to wait another eighty years?"

Alicia had taken all she could. She sat down right where she was standing. She pulled her knees up to her chest and sobbed into her own lap. They weren't even eighteen yet. By Muggle standards they were still children and they were having conversations like this. Seventeen year olds shouldn't be thinking about things like war and death. The worst of it was that they had to have conversations about it, whether they liked it or not. It had to be addressed eventually.

"Stop crying," George said. "It's not going to do any good for anyone."

Alicia looked up, suddenly furious with him. "And how is talking about your death going to benefit anyone?"

"I'm preparing you."

"You're a stupid…" she croaked, losing her control again. "Such an idiot. I can't even-"

"You can think what you like about me, but this is the way it has to be. If I do die then you need to know that I did it for a good reason. Muggles die in wars all the time and a lot of them don't even believe in the cause they fight for. I've been given the chance to choose my side and I'm not going to back down now that I've decided."

Alicia put her hands over her ears to block out the sound of his voice. His words were like physical blows now. He didn't understand how much pain he was causing her. There was a way she could make him understand though. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve and slowly got to her feet.

"I respect your decision completely, George, and I hope that you can respect my decision in turn."

"What decision?"

"I'm going with you. Right through it all. I'll be beside you during the fighting. If I die then so be it. If I die so that you may live then you can tell your children about me. Tell them bedtime stories about the woman who followed you into every dangerous then finally jumped in front of the Killing Curse that was aimed at you."

George stared blankly at her. His face flashed through several different emotions before it settled on disbelief. "You wouldn't do that."

"Jump in front of a curse aimed at you? I might not, but are you willing to take that risk? Are you one hundred percent certain that I wouldn't die for you?"

"You aren't going to die," George said tightly.

"Nor are you!"

"But I might-"

"Then I might as well! I'm not in the DA just for the fun of it. The reality is that one day I could die and you could be the one to survive."

"Stop talking like that. You aren't going to die," George said, desperation creeping into his voice now.

Alicia smiled smugly and folded her arms across her chest. "It hurts, doesn't it? It hurts to hear the person that you care about most in the world say that they're going to die and leave you behind? Don't cry about it, George, because that won't help."

George lowered his gaze ashamedly. He did look almost close to tears now. "I'm sorry I said all those things. I shouldn't have heaped all of that on you so quickly."

"Well, you've said it now so it's out there and you can't retract any of it. This problem with Umbridge may have brought it all to the surface, but I know you believe everything you just said. I don't. I know you aren't going to die. I won't let it happen," Alicia said definitively.

"I didn't think you cared that much," George replied lowly.

Alicia shook her head and corrected him. "You didn't want to think I cared that much. If you knew I cared so much you wouldn't be able to become the martyr that you were hoping to turn out to be. You wouldn't have been able to leave me behind to live without you."

"I won't do it," George agreed. "Not if it's going to hurt you so much."

Alicia couldn't say anymore. She'd got what she wanted. He wasn't going to do anything stupid to prove himself to her and that was all she could hope for. He'd still join the fight against You-Know-Who, of course. She'd never be able to talk him out of that. She wouldn't want to anyway; their side could do with people like George.

"I really want to kiss you now."

Alicia looked up at George and realised she wanted to kiss him as well. Actually, it was more like need than want. She needed to kiss him to remind herself that neither of them was dead. She leapt into his arms and kissed him fiercely. A tumult of emotions had been brought up in the last few minutes and they both poured these emotions in the kiss.

Just before they reached the point of return, Alicia pulled away, breathing as if she'd just run a marathon. She felt as if she'd just run a marathon. Normally after a Quidditch match she liked to lie around and rest, not get into physically draining arguments.

"Do you want to go to lunch?" she asked, running her thumb across his bottom lip.

"If I see Malfoy I'm going to punch him again. In fact, if I see any Slytherin I'm going to punch them. Same goes for Umbridge."

"Ok, looks like I'll be getting lunch for us. I'll sneak something into the library. If you want to avoid people we can leave at dinner when everyone else is in the Great Hall."

"I should go and find Fred," George said apprehensively, glancing uncertainly at the door.

"He's with Angelina so he'll be fine for now. Is there anything in particular you want me to get to eat?"

"Something sweet," he answered. He grabbed her arm as she turned away. "Wait, I wouldn't go out before you clean your shirt."

Alicia looked down at herself. Only five minutes ago her shirt had been white. Now it was stained with blood, sweat and tears. "Well, that's rather poetic. No matter, I've got a spare one in my bag."

She went over to her bag and pulled out a clean shirt. She made sure she stood beside the door so if someone happened to look in the room they wouldn't see two half naked seventh years. Alicia changed her shirt slowly, conscious that George was watching her closely. A glimpse of skin might help cheer him up a bit.

After she'd pulled the clean shirt on she grabbed the door handle and said over her shoulder, "Put on a shirt whilst I'm gone. Your hot, sweaty body is beginning to repulse me."

"Really?"

She winked at him. "Not at all. Stay shirtless if you like."

"Er, all right, um, hurry back then."

"Hungry, are you?"

"Something like that."

Alicia grinned to herself as she left. Oh, he was alive all right.

A few floors above George and Alicia, another argument was going on. As Alicia had predicted, Fred got rather angry when the news of his ban finally sunk in. Angelina was the only one with him so he took it on her. Not that she cared. She was busy expressing her own anger.

The pair was in the Room of Requirement. Angelina has headed straight there after leaving the Entrance Hall and Fred had followed, still lost in his stupor. Angelina had marched back and forth in front of the blank wall asking for a room that she could use to release her anger and not get in trouble. She ended up with a room that was empty except for a pair of red boxing gloves and a life size mannequin of Umbridge.

Angelina gleefully began punching and kicking the fake Umbridge. She swore and yelled as much as she wanted to. "No. Quidditch. Cup." She said bitterly, pausing after each word to punch fake Umbridge in the head.

Fred sat silently by the far wall for ten minutes. When he realised he was never going to play Quidditch at Hogwarts again he jumped to his feet. "Hey, I didn't even do anything!"

"God. Damn. Umbridge."

"You should have let me get at Malfoy! At least then it wouldn't have been a total waste."

"That. Dirty. Ferret."

"Angelina? Are you listening to me? This is all your fault!"

Angelina stopped punching and turned to him, her eyebrows raised questioningly. "Excuse me?"

Fred knew better than to provoke her when she was wearing boxing gloves. "It's not your fault," he said, hastily backtracking. "You couldn't have known that Umbridge was going to get involved. You're not to blame. You look really pretty when you're angry."

"I'm not angry anymore," she said forlornly. "I feel empty now."

"I bet you feel better than I do at the moment. You still get to play Quidditch."

Angelina laughed darkly as she ripped off the gloves. "I get to play on a losing Quidditch team. I've done that before and it wasn't much fun. I suspect it'll be worse now that I'm Captain. I should probably forfeit the season now and save Gryffindor the embarrassment."

"You want to just give up?" Fred asked as she sat beside him.

"Why not? You and George are the best Beaters in the school so we've got no chance of replacing you with equals. God, don't even get me started on Harry. He's the reason we win most of our games."

"At least the majority of the team is still able to play," Fred said, desperately trying to find a bright side. He was already clutching at straws.

"No offence, but your brother sucks and we can't win a game with only Chasers, no matter how good we are."

"There's always hope."

"Thanks for trying," Angelina said morosely as she put her head on his shoulder. "Actually, I guess there is some good news to come out of this fiasco."

"Really?" Fred asked sceptically.

"I'm now going to be remembered for something Quidditch related. I'll be known as the Captain who broke Gryffindor's winning streak."

"Angelina…"

"Well it's true, isn't it? People are going to refer to Wood's reign as the Golden Years. I'll have the Year of Abysmal, Heart-wrenching Disappointment. Makes me glad this is my last year."

"It won't be that bad. Ron will get better and you'll find adequate replacements for the rest of us. Sure, everyone's going to think Gryffindor has no chance, but imagine if you managed to win the Cup anyway. Wood had a team of champions to work with when he won. It'll be an even bigger achievement if you do it with a team of misfits. Imagine the accolades, angel."

Angelina sighed happily, smiling for the first time since the fight had broken out. "Do you reckon they'd name a wing of the castle after me?"

"Baby, they'd rename the entire place Angelina Johnson's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Angelina giggled and sat up straight. Dozens of strategies were already flying through her head. At first it had seemed ludicrous, but stranger things had happened. "Do you think I can do it?"

"I think you can do anything."

Angelina's heart swelled and she put her hand on Fred's cheek. "I'm sorry you got punished for something you didn't do. When I made the girls help me hold you back I was only thinking about your welfare."

Fred eyed her suspiciously. "You weren't thinking about the team?"

"Not at all. I was thinking about your face. It would be such a pity if someone were to spoil it."

"That's all I am to you? I'm just a pretty face, aren't I?"

"You've got some other nice attributes," Angelina whispered, leaning towards him.

"Want to be specific?"

"That wouldn't be very ladylike of me. I would like to ask you a question, though."

Fred, who had been slowly leaning in to meet her, stopped reluctantly. "Can't it wait?"

Angelina shook her head and drew back so she was out of range of his lips. "Unfortunately not. When you kiss me my mind has a habit of going blank. I can't think about anything but you for a while after. I need to ask now before I forget."

"All right, just make it quick."

"It's about what's going to happen after school finishes. I know you want to start your joke shop, but how definite is it?"

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that," Fred began, looking slightly guilty. "George and I are pretty close to having a shop in Diagon Alley."

Angelina grinned and hugged him around the neck. "That's terrific! I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks. Is that all you wanted to know?" He tried to kiss her but she pulled away too quickly.

"I haven't even got to the real question yet. Now that your shop is in Diagon Alley, where are you and George going to live?"

"There's a small flat above the shop that's just big enough for the two of us."

"Oh." Angelina stared at her hands then smiled up at him. Her smile was strained. "That's all I wanted to ask."

Fred frowned at her sudden drop in mood. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah, fine. I was just hoping that – never mind. It's fine."

"Come on, what is it?"

Angelina tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking uncharacteristically shy. "You know that I wanted to play professional Quidditch after school, right? Well, I've decided I want to hold off on it for a year."

That was definitely a surprise to Fred. "Hold off? Why would you want to do that?"

"To be with you. I could help you in the shop and…and whatever you wanted."

"For me? You'd pick me over Quidditch?"

"Quidditch will still be there a year later. I think we need to work on our relationship and we can't do that if I'm busy training and travelling around the country. I'll find a local Quidditch team to play with so my skills stay sharp and by the time I join the League we'll be rock solid."

"Angelina, that's – it's a huge decision. You can't make it lightly. Have you really thought about it?" Fred asked.

She nodded and took his hand. "I know it's what I have to do. I know our relationship won't last if I don't do this. Don't you want to make our relationship stronger? Don't you want to stop fighting about every little thing?"

"Of course I do! It's just that you're making a big sacrifice and I'm losing nothing. Hell, I get you and a joke shop! It seems too good to be true."

"There's a little more to it actually," Angelina began hesitantly. "When my mum got married I made myself a promise that I wouldn't spend a night in Richard's house. I'm going to keep that promise but that means I need somewhere to live. I was sort of hoping that I could live with you."

Fred gaped. He had never seen her like this. She was nervous, shy and hopeful all at once. "You want to live with me?" Fred repeated, just to be sure. Perhaps he was having a shock-induced hallucination.

"I'd like to but it's up to you. I understand if you don't want me around to distract you from your work. You're probably sick of me after having to see me at school everyday for seven years…"

"Angel, the flat's really small-"

"Yeah, I completely understand. I can stay with my sister for a while. I mean, it'll be weird because her best friend and boyfriend live there too but I'll survive. If I find a job quickly I might even be able to get-"

Fred cut her off by putting his hand over her mouth. "You didn't let me finish. I was going to say that the flat is small but we can make it work if you don't mind being a little cramped up."

Angelina tugged Fred's hand away as her eyes began to water. "Do you really mean that?"

"Sure. I'll have to ask George, of course, but I know he'll be fine with it. I'd have asked you to live with me in the first place but I didn't think you would want to."

"Why would I not want to? So many horrible things have happened this year and you've helped me through all of them. Between Cedric and my parents losing their minds, I'd have broken down if you weren't around. At the moment you're the only constant in my life. You were here for me and I want to return the favour by standing by you as you start the joke shop."

Fred answered her with a passionate kiss. As he kissed her he imagined how many more perfect moments they'd share. Soon they'd be sharing a room, a bed…a life. It was more than he could ever have hoped for.

xxxxx

The saying goes that when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. Unless you're Fred and George Weasley, in that case you throw the lemons at passers by. If you're Angelina Johnson you yell at the lemons until they turn into juicy, red apples. Angelina knew she was going to have to do this with her lemons, Ginny, Andrew and Jack. They'd probably never be apple material but at least she could turn them into oranges or limes.

Angelina worked non-stop on Quidditch during the Christmas break, much to Alicia's chagrin. Katie and the twins had gone home for Christmas so Alicia found herself stuck with Lee quite a lot. She tried unsuccessfully to talk to him about Katie, but he always got annoyed and walked away. Alicia was so desperate to have someone to talk to that eventually she stopped mentioning Katie all together.

Hearing that all the Weasley children and Harry had gone early had naturally unsettled everyone. There were numerous rumours about their departure, each wilder than the last. Even Lee, who was in the room when McGonagall collected the twins, could not shed any light on the matter. Alicia got so fed up that one day she asked McGonagall if something bad had happened. All she would say was that everything was fine and it was a family matter that had taken them away from school early.

The worst thing about the twins being away from Hogwarts was the fact that Alicia and Angelina both wouldn't be able to see their boyfriends on their one-year anniversary. Christmas day ended up being a bittersweet occasion for everyone.

"A whole year," Angelina said incredulously as she sucked on a sugar quill that Alicia had given her for Christmas. "I thought Fred and I would have killed each other months ago."

"At least you made it to a year," Lee said, after double-checking that Katie hadn't sent him a present.

Angelina and Alicia had joined Lee in his room to open their presents because he kept complaining that he was lonely. At the moment the three of them were sitting on his bed, a shoebox sized package waiting patiently in between them. Fred and George had left it behind for the girls and Lee had just given it to them. Given whom it was from, no one was exactly volunteering to be the one to open it.

"We should at least read the letter," Alicia said. She pulled the letter off the box and unfolded it gingerly. It read:

Girls-

Sorry we can't be there. Hope you're having a nice Christmas so far. You're probably wondering what we got you. Instead of buying you each a present, we decided we'd be creative and thoughtfully make you something. It's a prototype of a product we hope to have in our shop one day. Don't worry it's perfectly safe. If something does go wrong, though, I had nothing to do with it and it was all Fred's fault.

Shut up, nothing will go wrong.

Right. It's perfectly safe. Nothing to worry about. Anyway, we hope you enjoy it!

Love,

F & G.

P.S. Tell Lee we hope he likes his new Weird Sisters shirt.

"Lee, Fred and George suggest that you open the box," Angelina said after she had read the letter over Alicia's shoulder.

Alicia rolled her eyes at Angelina as the unsuspecting Lee pulled the string that was holding the lid on the box. Nothing exploded or jumped out, which was encouraging. Lee grimaced and yanked the lid off the box in one quick movement. Nothing happened.

"What is it?" Alicia asked.

Angelina leant over the box and peered curiously inside. Almost immediately a handful of small, bright objects hit her in the face and she screamed and fell off the bed. Alicia and Lee also yelled and jumped off the bed as a swarm of tiny creatures attacked them.

"They're in my hair!" Alicia shrieked, shaking herself like a wet dog.

Lee promptly began to smack her on the head in hopes of killing the bugs. Alicia didn't find this method very helpful at all. Angelina, who was still lying on the floor where she had fallen, was first to realise what the tiny things really. She laughed as she got to her feet.

Angelina caught Lee's arm before he could hit Alicia again. "Relax, you two, they won't hurt us."

"Yeah, right. I bet Fred and George did this deliberately," Alicia said, still shaking her hair.

Angelina smiled and pulled one of the fluttering objects from Alicia's hair. "Believe it or not, they were actually being sweet this time. Our boys made us hundreds of paper butterflies."

"What?"

Angelina held the struggling paper butterfly by the wing and dangled it in Alicia's face. "See? They're made of paper. The boys must have cut them out in the shape of butterflies then charmed them."

Alicia looked up at the ceiling where the little bits of green, yellow, pink and blue paper were flying around. "They must have had to charm every single one individually," she said, her voice thick with awe.

Lee took the paper butterfly from Angelina and examined it. "Well, that explains why they were asking me about how to delay charms so that they only activated when exposed to light."

"I wish Fred was here so I could kiss him."

Alicia ran her fingers through her hair distractedly. "Those boys are brilliant. They could do anything they wanted with their talent."

"All they want to do is open a joke shop. Why shouldn't they do that?" Angelina asked, looking ready for a fight.

"I never said they shouldn't do it, but, God, just look at what they can do. It's exceptional!"

"The twins are an exceptional pair, all right," Lee agreed solemnly.

The three of them opened their last few presents then played around with the butterflies for a while. They were jumping around trying to snatch them from the air when Lee suddenly stopped, his eyes wide.

"What's wrong?"

"I think one of the stupid things has flown up the leg of my pyjamas!" Lee began to hop around, shaking his legs crazily. He stopped just as quickly as he had begun. For a moment he seemed fine then his eyes widened again.

Alicia collapsed in giggles on the nearest bed. "It must really like you, Lee."

"I didn't realise it was so easy to get into your trousers," Angelina added, as she landed heavily beside Alicia.

"It's not funny," Lee hissed.

"If only Katie could see you now, you cute little jumping bean," Alicia cooed.

Lee glared at the hysterical girls before dashing into the bathroom to remove the adventurous butterfly. It was quite a while before the girls were able to speak without bursting into laughter mid-sentence. Alicia was first to sober up when she realised they were spending their last Christmas at Hogwarts. Angelina turned to her when she recognised she was no longer shedding tears of laughter.

"What's wrong, Leesh?" Angelina asked kindly. "Do you miss George?"

"Yes, but it's not that. I just realised that this is our last Christmas at Hogwarts and we aren't even all here together to enjoy it. It feels wrong."

"Yeah, I realised it was our last Christmas here a few days ago but I didn't want to mention it to you because I knew you'd just start crying about it. You cry about everything these days."

"I have good reason to cry," Alicia said, wiping her eyes absently. "This is the last Christmas we're going to spend at Hogwarts and half of us aren't even here."

Angelina put her around Alicia comfortingly. "It's our last Christmas at Hogwarts, but I promise it won't be our last Christmas together. I'm going to propose we start a tradition of our own."

"Like what?"

"Well, for instance, all six of us could get together every year and have a special Christmas Eve dinner at someone's house. We could take it in turns hosting."

Alicia nodded vigorously, latching onto the idea for her own unspoken reasons. "That sounds nice. After we tell the others we'll make a group pact to meet no matter what. Even if we drift apart or fight we have to meet on Christmas Eve."

"No one's going to drift," Angelina said, giving Alicia a surprised look. "We definitely aren't going to fight."

"Katie and Lee," Alicia said pointedly.

"They're just being ridiculous at the moment." Angelina sat up and got a familiarly determined look in her eye. "Look, right now you and I will make a pact. Forget the others, this promise will just be for the two of us. It'll be a special, unbreakable vow between two best friends. No matter what the others say to our plan I'll spend every Christmas Eve with you."

Alicia blinked tears from her hopeful eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah, at least I know we'll never drift or fight. You and me forever, right?"

"Forever," Alicia agreed fervently, sitting up as well.

"So let's make the promise then. No matter where we are…"

"No matter how good or bad our lives are…" Alicia continued.

"No matter who we're seeing…"

"No matter how busy we are…"

Angelina smiled and added, "No matter how fat and boring we become…"

"We will drop everything to be together on Christmas Eve," Alicia finished.

Angelina held out her hand and Alicia hesitated for the slightest second. It would be years before their special pact would truly be tested, but at that moment she wondered if maybe the promise was too big for either to keep. You and me forever, right? The words rattled through Alicia's mind. There were few things she could count on lasting forever. She felt she needed Angelina's friendship. She felt she needed some sort of link to her Hogwarts days. She just felt she needed to shake Angelina's hand.

"I promise," Alicia said, beginning to cry again as she took Angelina's proffered hand.

"I promise, too."

They shook hands, grasping each other tightly then hugged. Angelina had tears in her eyes as well. When they broke apart they noticed Lee was standing in the doorway of the bathroom watching them.

"Eavesdropping?" Alicia asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"If you must know, I was waiting to see if you two were going to kiss," Lee said airily.

Angelina rolled her eyes. "Boy, you really need a girlfriend."

Lee went over to the bed and pushed his way between them. "It seemed like a kissing moment. Your promise would be stronger if you sealed it with a kiss, you know."

"I hope you let that butterfly down easy and didn't hurt her feelings," Alicia giggled.

"Don't change the subject, missy," Lee said, tapping her on the nose. "I want to know why you made a special pact without me."

"Frankly, we're sick of you," Angelina answered.

Alicia nodded in agreement. "Yeah, seven years with you were quite enough to last a life time."

"I want to join the pact," he whined.

"What do you think, Leesh?"

"Well, he's loud and disruptive."

"Not to mention crude and disobedient."

"Kinda cute though," Alicia said, tugging at one of Lee's dreadlocks.

"I suppose he does have that smile."

Lee flashed said smile and Alicia shrugged. "How can we resist?"

"You can join our pact but you must take it seriously," Angelina said sternly, flicking a paper butterfly off her arm. "If you shake our hands you're promising to join us every Christmas Eve no matter what happens. Do you understand that?"

"I understand but I still think promises that are sealed with kisses are stronger." Lee tilted his head innocently at them and they both sighed at the same time.

"All right, but you can't tell the twins."

"They'd get awfully jealous."

Angelina and Alicia each kissed him on the cheek, sealing the three-way promise. Not one of them knew if the promise was ultimately going to be broken or kept. What was clear was that they now had a special link. The sealing of the promise took place in seconds but its significance would reverberate for years. It would change the three of them forever.

For one of them it would offer absolute heartbreak. For another it would lead to the ultimate betrayal. For the other it would signal the end of something precious. Still, if it was as strong as they thought it was, the Christmas Eve pact would eventually save them all.

xxxxx

Not long into the New Year, it finally came crashing down. Only three days after the Christmas holidays ended, Alicia got the letter she had been waiting for. An owl dropped it off during breakfast and by midnight she still hadn't opened it. She sat on her bed staring at it by the light of her wand. She hadn't told George that the letter had arrived in case it proved to be a false alarm.

Alicia realised she couldn't hold off for any longer. Her destiny was either in the envelope in her hands or it was sleeping in the seventh year boys' room. It was time she found out where her path was going to lead. With shaking hands, she tore open the official Daily Prophet envelope and pulled out the enclosed letter.

Her brown eyes scanned the contents of the letter furiously.

Many notable applicants…blah blah…work was of a very standard…knowledge of Quidditch extensive…blah de blah…after much deliberation… the final two…

Alicia stopped breathing, her heart began to pound, her body trembled. It was all over. Months of subterfuge and heart wrenching moments had led to this.

Miss Alicia Spinnet.

Mr Jacob Lennox.

A high-pitched squeal exploded from Alicia's throat. Angelina and Katie both swore at her sleepily and she wrenched the curtains of her bed open with little care for decorum. Without saying anything to the girls she ran out of the room and hurtled down the stairs. Halfway across the common room she realised she had forgotten her dressing gown, but it hardly mattered now.

She ran up the boys' stairs two at a time till she reached the seventh years' room. Thankfully the door wasn't locked, which would have proved annoying. She barged straight into the room, waking at least two of the occupants.

"Whosat?" Lee slurred.

"Go back to sleep," Alicia whispered, "I'm here to see-"

"Leesh? That you?"

"Georgie, I did it!"

"Goway," Lee muttered.

"What are you talking about?" came George's confused voice in the darkness.

Alicia saw his bed curtains ruffle and she hurried over, tripping on three different things along the way. As soon as she reached the bed she dove through the gap in the curtains then closed them behind herself. She landed right on top of George, who groaned loudly.

"Shh. Where's your wand?" Alicia hissed. George reached under his pillow. "Good. Do a Silencing Charm. I don't want the boys to hear this."

George did the requested spell then immediately threw Alicia off him. "What do you think you're doing? It's the middle of the night!"

"This is important!" she insisted, climbing right back on top of him and sitting on his stomach.

"Gerroff, you crazy woman."

Alicia brandished the letter in his face. "Just read it!"

"It's pitch black, you nutter!"

"Light your wand. Read it, read it!" she chanted, bouncing up and down slightly.

"Cut that out," George ordered, grabbing her firmly by the arms then flipping their positions in one quick movement. "What are you doing here?"

"You're the only person I can see about it. I had to come and tell you." She struggled to free herself so she could continue being ecstatic, but he held her down firmly.

"I'm sure it can wait till the morning."

"It can't wait. George, I got the Daily Prophet job! I'm officially a journalist!"

"Huh?"

"I'm the new junior Quidditch reporter for the Daily Prophet!"

"You got it?" George asked, rolling off her and rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"I just opened the letter and I've been given one of the positions."

"Did the other one go to your friend Anthony?"

"No. Someone named Jacob I think. Anyway, I had to come and tell you first." She sat up and clasped her hands together rapturously. "This is it, George, my life is set."

"I knew you'd get it. I told you, didn't I?" George pulled her down for a quick congratulatory kiss. "The main office for the Daily Prophet is in Diagon Alley, isn't it?"

"Yes, but…"

"But what?"

Alicia was glad it was so dark that he couldn't see her flinch. "Nothing. Can I stay with you tonight?"

"Absolutely not. You hog the covers."

Alicia humphed and slipped under the warm blankets. "At least I don't snore like you."

"Well, you shout my name in your sleep," George said smugly.

"I do not."

"Oh, George, don't stop! You're wonderful, George!"

Alicia stuck her hand up his shirt and pressed her cold hand to his warm skin. He swore and tried to push her away. The happy pair tickled each other and wrestled, laughing and gasping the whole time. When George finally caught Alicia in a headlock she was forced to surrender. They lay still for a few minutes and when Alicia turned to George he was sound asleep. In the darkness, she wriggled closer and put her arm around him.

It would be nice to wake up next to George Weasley at least once in her life.

xxxxx

Alicia's euphoria wore off very quickly. Realistically, she'd been preparing herself for this moment for months. Now that it was a sure thing she had to go ahead with it. She still managed to put it off for a whole four days. Technically she had been busy though. Everyday she got at least three letters from the Daily Prophet that she had to reply to and she had to find time to study for the upcoming NEWTs.

Finally, on Friday she cornered George in the common room. Fred was busy selling joke products to some second years so she sidled up to George.

"Afternoon, buttercup," he greeted her cheerfully. "Can I interest you in a Headless Hat? Half price?"

"George."

"All right, free of charge because you're so pretty. Don't go telling everyone though."

"I don't want a Headless Hat," Alicia said, knocking his hand aside as he tried to place one on her head. "I came to ask if you had any plans for tonight."

"Nothing special. Did you have something in mind?"

"I've got to go on midnight patrol tonight and I thought you might like to come with me," Alicia said, twisting her hands behind her back unconsciously as she spoke.

"Why would I want to go on a boring patrol?"

"I wasn't actually going to do the patrol. Nobody's going to wander the school at night after a mass breakout from Azkaban anyway. I just thought it might be a good opportunity to spend some time alone."

"We're alone all the time," George pointed out, frowning at her.

Alicia let out an exasperated breath. "This is different. We'd be alone without the threat of interruption."

George nudged her knowingly. "You're trying to get me to take you to the Astronomy Tower, aren't you? I didn't think you were that sort of girl."

"I'm not! I want to be alone so we can talk."

George sobered up immediately. "If something's wrong you can tell me now."

"No I can't. Meet me in the common room at quarter to twelve."

Before he could argue or demand answers she turned and hurried back out of the portrait hole. George stared after, his stomach tightening pre-emptively. He knew that something bad was about to happen; he just didn't know how bad it would actually be.

"What did the prefect want?" Fred asked, returning with a handful of Sickles and Knuts.

"She wants to meet me somewhere private tonight."

"Why?"

George smiled humourlessly. "It's but time."

Fred shivered in disgust. "Gross. Way too much information, thanks."

"That's but with one 't', moron," George said, jamming a Headless Hat on his brother's head.

For the rest of the day, George's mind wouldn't stop coming up with wild ideas as to what Alicia's 'but' was going to be. He knew she had almost said it the night she came to his room with the letter, but for some reason she hadn't. That suggested she was about to say something that would have ruined the jubilant mood. Tonight she was finally going to come clean and George had a feeling that the outcome wouldn't be pretty.

Later that night, at precisely quarter to twelve, George quietly made his way down to the common room. Alicia was waiting for him, warming herself in front of the fire. When she heard his footsteps she looked up and gave him a strange, almost ethereal smile.

"Are you ready to go?"

George was sure that if he opened his mouth he would say no, so he merely nodded. Alicia took his clammy hand and together they left Gryffindor Tower. Most of the torches had extinguished themselves, so Alicia lit her wand to guide them through the dark, echoing corridors.

Alicia talked nervously as they walked. "I originally wanted to go down to the lake to talk. That would have been nice, don't you think? Unfortunately the castle's been tightly locked down after all those Death Eaters escaped. Frightening, isn't it? I hope they catch Black soon."

"Where're we going?"

"I thought of the Room of Requirement first, but since we don't need anything just to talk I decided that would be overkill. I guess we'll just find an open classroom somewhere on the sixth or seventh floor. One of the Ravenclaw prefects is patrolling the fourth and fifth floors and Filch does the bottom three. If we stay up here we only have to worry about Peeves. You're sort of friendly with him though, so if you told him to leave us alone he would, right?"

"If you don't stop talking you'll lose your voice before we even find a room."

"Right," Alicia said, forcing a giggle.

As they continued along, they tried to get into various classrooms without success. Apparently Alicia hadn't been exaggerating about the lockdown. Finally they managed to get inside the History of Magic classroom.

"Makes sense since Binns doesn't even use the door," Alicia commented as she went around using her wand to light several torches. "I know it's not very cosy, but it'll have to do. Let's sit down."

"I think I'd rather stand for a while," George said. He was too jittery to sit still for very long. His nerves were already causing him to pace around and fidget with his hands.

"All right." Alicia sat down on the nearest desk and watched George wander around the classroom aimlessly. "So how was your day?"

George stopped. He was at the front of the room now and he could just make her out as a dark figure on one of the back desks. "You dragged me here to talk about my day?"

"It's called small talk, George."

"Why?"

"Why what?" Alicia asked, getting annoyed that she had to call across the room to him.

"Why are you doing this to me?"

"But I'm not doing anything."

"You're breaking up with me. I know you are, so don't deny it," George said hollowly.

Alicia lowered her gaze to her lap. She knew he was too smart to be fooled into complacency. "How long have you known?"

"Probably ever since you agreed to go out with me in the first place. I knew you were to good for me even then. Still, I hoped I could somehow show you that I wasn't stupid and useless. I guess I failed."

"I don't think you're stupid and useless! Get over here, George."

He slowly made his way towards her, avoiding her gaze the entire time. He stopped a few feet from her and studied the cobblestones between his shoes. "You don't have to worry about sparing my feelings, I already know I'm not really in your league. I don't have the brains and the personality to keep you interested in me."

Alicia leapt off the desk. "What are you talking about? You're the most astonishing person I've ever met. You'll probably be the most extraordinary person I ever meet!"

"I'm not attractive enough then? A famous Quidditch reporter can't be seen with someone like me I suppose."

"You aren't making any sense. You're well aware of how attractive you are, George."

"But how attractive do you think I am?"

Alicia shook her head, realising that this was going to be harder than she first thought. "Your appearance has nothing to do with anything."

"I always knew it. I always knew you'd prefer someone tall, dark and handsome like Roger Davies."

"Roger Davies? He's just a disgusting sleaze. You're losing your mind if you think I'd prefer him over you."

"But he's better looking than me, isn't he?" George persisted determinedly.

"No! You're everything I'd ever want," Alicia said, her heart constricting as deeply hidden feelings began to pour out. "You have the most remarkable eyes, George. One minute I look at them and I'm certain they're green. When I look a moment later they're definitely blue. The truth is, I could stare into your eyes all day trying to figure out what colour they were."

"I didn't…" George began, his voice suddenly failing him.

"And your hair," Alicia continued, quite unable to stop now that she had begun. "Your hair is as fiery and unruly as you are! I bet Roger's hair is nowhere near as nice to touch as yours is. It looks thick, but I know it's soft and fine and it always smells nice. I love your eyes and hair. That's not all, you know. I haven't even got below your neck and that's almost the best part."

"I get the picture," he managed to say.

"No, I don't think you do. I know I never really told you these things before, and now I realise that I should have. I shouldn't have let you think that I didn't find you genuinely attractive," she said, her face burning because she knew what she was going to say next. "When I imagine my first time it's always with you. You're the only person in the world I trust enough to even think about in that way. When you lie around after Quidditch practice and you're sweaty and breathing heavily I can't help it! I wish I had better control of my hormones but I don't."

"Then why?" he demanded loudly, taking a step towards her. "Why don't you want me?"

"I want you more than anything in the world! I just don't have a choice about it."

"Is it your parents? Your dad doesn't like me or something?"

"No. It's my job. I haven't told you the entire truth about it."

George's face twisted into an unpleasant scowl. Alicia took him firmly by the arms and pushed him back towards the nearest desk. She sat him down and stood in front of him, holding his hands so he couldn't get away. She took a deep breath and looked him square in the eye. She'd shirked away for long enough. Her procrastination had caused George to doubt himself, which she hadn't wanted at all.

"George, I'm not just an ordinary reporter, I'm a Quidditch correspondent."

"Correspondent?" he asked slowly. "Does that mean you won't be in London?"

"That's exactly what it means."

"You think I'd care that you lived somewhere else?" George said, beginning to look happier. "We might not see each other every minute of everyday, but we'd be together regularly. We can both Apparate now and there's always the Floo Network."

Alicia smiled sadly at his wasted optimism. "It's not that simple, I'm afraid. I'm not going to be in England, or even Britain for that matter. My full title is Junior International Quidditch Correspondent."

"International," he said slowly, trying out the word for himself. Alicia nodded gently. "What country will you be in? Some aren't even that far away really. Only the English Channel separates us from France. You could take a boat over then Apparate to Diagon Alley once you're in England. We could still see each other regularly. Or a Portkey! I could come over and see you whenever I wanted to."

Alicia put her hand on his cheek. "I'm not going to be living in any one country. I go where the stories are. The sports editor says I won't even be in the same country for more than a month or so before I have to leave. I'll be staying in hotels all over the world, sometimes Muggle ones. Portkeys wouldn't be practical. You could spend a lot of money on a Portkey to Russia, but if a story suddenly breaks in Japan, I'll have to go there immediately and you'd miss out on seeing me and waste money that you need for your shop."

"Give me a moment to think of something else then. There's a way. There's always a way."

"Not this time," Alicia said, stroking his cheek.

"We could have a long distance relationship. A lot of the time they work out fine."

The desperation in his voice made Alicia's eyes water. "It wouldn't work for us, George. Look at us now! We see each other everyday and can barely make our relationship work as it is. There's no way we can do it on separate continents."

George pushed her away angrily and stood up. "You're not even trying! You're throwing it away without even considering the options!"

"I have considered the options! I've considered every option a hundred times over!"

George suddenly whirled on her looking furious. "Hold on, how long have you known you would be leaving?"

Alicia stepped back to put a little more distance between herself and George. "I've known since I saw the position advertised, which was on Christmas Eve. I knew it was an overseas job when I sent the application letter on Christmas night."

"Christmas night? Ok. Let's see if I can work out the timeline for all of this," George said, bearing down on her so that she backed up right into the wall. "On Christmas Eve you spot the ad in the paper, yet you don't respond till the following night. Now, since you couldn't have done it before or during the Ball because you were surrounded by people, I'm going to assume it was after. Am I right so far?"

Alicia nodded meekly, tears streaming down her face as she realised her mistake.

George wiped the tears away roughly with his hands. "No, no, stay with me, baby. So you must have sent the application when you went back to your room, which would have been after the conversation we had. Do you remember that conversation? We were talking in an empty classroom. We seem to do that a lot, don't we? Do you remember what happened in that classroom?"

"It's not like that!"

He ignored her. "I remember it. I gave you a gold bracelet and told you that I had loved you for a long time. We kissed and you said you would be my girlfriend. You even told me that you thought I was gorgeous and perfect. I'll never forget that. That was the moment I thought I might actually have a chance with you. I never told you this, but I sat in that room for ages thinking about you after you had left. What were you doing at that time?"

Alicia tried to duck away but George grabbed her, cupping her face in his rough hands. "Whilst I was alone in that room thinking about what a great girlfriend you were going to be, you were upstairs applying for a job that you knew would take you away from me. You said you wanted to be with me one minute then the next you were busy ruining our future."

"What about my future?" Alicia demanded.

"Don't you dare try to blame this on me," he snapped. "You tried to have the best of both worlds. If you knew you were going to apply for the job you shouldn't have agreed to go out with me. It's that simple!"

"It's not simple at all!" Alicia collapsed against him, crying so hard that she couldn't breath. She'd always thought she had done everything the right way. George was making her reconsider her actions, which she hated doing.

"Stop it. Stop crying all over me. You might have been able to cry to get your own way when we were twelve but it's different now." He pried her off him ungently and backed away. "I think I ought to leave you here to cry all night."

"Don't! You need to know why I did it all!" She grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving. "I did all of it for you!"

"Yeah, you did it all so you could break my heart. You must get some sadistic pleasure from seeing me suffer."

"I did it so you would be happy! What would you have done if I had turned you down at the Yule Ball? I was always planning to go for the Prophet job. I only thought you had some little crush on me so I figured we'd date for a few weeks then you'd get sick of me. When you told me you loved me I knew it was serious. You gave me the opportunity to back out but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"I had to agree to be your girlfriend! If I said no you wouldn't have just stopped loving me, would you? You'd have become all twisted and bitter about pouring your heart out for no reason. I know it would have been the end of our friendship and I couldn't let that happen. If I became your girlfriend I knew it would make you happy so I agreed to it. This past year has been great, hasn't it?"

"It's been one big lie, Alicia, and don't try to dress it up."

"Can't you see where I'm coming from? I was caught between a rock and a hard place."

Although his brain was tangled in emotions, George could see the logic in what she was saying. Still, she should have been truthful with him. "Fine, you had to go out with me. You should have then told me about the job."

"We both know you'd have broken up with me the moment I told you."

"You're damn right I would have! I didn't want you just for a while. When I told you I loved you I did it so we could begin a long-term relationship. I've never once wanted to have a fling with you."

Alicia dug into her pocket and pulled out some tissues. She had brought them along because she was sure she would cry. As she wiped her eyes George went and sat on a desk. He sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. He looked back up at her and laughed darkly. "God, I still don't know how you manage to do that."

"Do what?" she asked softly.

"Come out of everything smelling like roses. Nothing sticks to you. I can't seem to blame you for this situation even though it's all your doing."

"I'm sorry it all happened."

"Sorry you went out with me, huh? Sorry you had to pretend to enjoy being with me?"

"Didn't you hear a word I said before?"

"You said you fancied me and wanted to lose your virginity to me. That's hardly love."

"But it is!" Alicia said, hardly believing those words had come out of her mouth. "I wasn't meant to but I fell in love with you. Why else do you think I delayed telling you and kept crying all the time?"

George remained unimpressed though he'd wanted her to fall in love with him for ages. "So you love me now that you're about to leave me? That's awfully handy."

"But it's not a very recent thing. I can't put my finger on when it happened, mainly because I was so focussed on not falling in love with you." Alicia gave him a weak smile. "To be honest, I probably fell in love with you the day you sat beside me and asked for a lick of my ice cream."

"Then you fell in love with a little boy who doesn't exist anymore. I'm of age, I'm a man now."

"I'm very aware of how grown up you are," she assured him. "I'm in love with the little boy in my memories and the young man sitting in front of me. I love all of you, every single aspect. Every freckle, every hair, every mischievous smile…every single thing."

George bowed his head, unable to look at her anymore. "If you really love me then why are you going?"

"I have to because this isn't just any job. It's my dream. We're both going to be able to fulfil our dreams, even if we do have to do it separately. The problem with us is we're both too career oriented."

George suddenly looked up, his eyes shining in the low, flickering light. "I'll fix it then. I'll forget about the shop and come with you. We'll travel the world together."

Alicia went and sat beside him. She shook her head gently and stroked his hair. "You wouldn't last a month before you had to come back to England. The joke shop has been in your mind too long for you to simply forget it."

"I could make joke products and send them back. I could do research in other countries. I wouldn't have to abandon it completely."

"And what about Fred? Could you walk away from him so easily?"

"You of all people should know that we're not one person. It'll probably be healthy for us to be apart."

Alicia couldn't help but laugh at that. "It wouldn't work. You and Fred aren't one person but you're joined at the hip, and I mean that in the best possible way. I don't think you'd be able to leave him so suddenly."

"It's beginning to sound like you don't want me after all."

"I guess it's only fair that you don't believe I love you. It took me a while to believe you loved me. Is there anyway I can prove it to you?"

Predictably, all he said was, "Don't go overseas."

Alicia smiled at him. "It won't be goodbye forever. I'll come back for your birthday and we still have our Christmas Eve pact."

"I think I'd prefer it if you didn't come back at all," George said, resenting the fact that Alicia was able to laugh and smile so easily when he felt like he was dying inside. "I don't want to see you on my birthday and I'm pulling out of the pact."

"But I suggested that pact to everyone precisely so I would be able to come back and see you all at least once a year," Alicia said.

"And I won't stop you from coming back to see them, I just won't be there. I think it would be better if we just made a clean break after graduation. If you really love me you'll understand why. Could you stand to see me with someone else?"

Alicia wasn't sure what she thought it was really going to be like, but when she imagined the Christmas Eve reunion she had never pictured George being there with another woman. Now that she thought about it she didn't think she'd handle it very well at all considering she'd never had to see him with someone else. Still, she didn't think a 'clean break' was going to be possible either. "What about our thirteen year friendship?" she asked shakily.

"That's as over as our relationship," George answered tonelessly. "It'll be too painful to be around each other. If we stop seeing each other all together the pain will eventually fade away."

The sense of finality to their conversation made Alicia's tears return. "We can't just leave it like this!"

"I'm not about to keep going out with you now that I know the whole truth. You might not have any trouble living a lie but I couldn't do it."

"But the last memories we have of each other can't be a fight!" Alicia shouted, clutching desperately at his arm.

Neither knew quite how it happened, but suddenly they were kissing passionately. Alicia clung to him, willing time to stop at that moment so she wouldn't have to leave him. Their last kiss ended up being all teeth, tongue, hands and tears. When George finally started to pull away Alicia tried to stop him. He wrenched his mouth away and began breathing heavily in her ear.

"I know what you want now," he whispered huskily in her ear. "It's what you said earlier about wanting me to be your first. You didn't say it for no reason, did you? And now all of this stuff about memories and parting…"

Alicia held her breath. It had crossed her mind more than once. What better way to leave it? They'd have a night, a moment that neither would ever forget. After all they'd been through it would be fitting to end things with such a pure and private experience that would be unique to only them.

"I'm going to take your silence as a yes. You'd like to leave things with that memory."

"Yes," Alicia whispered back. The word hung in the air for a moment, hovering between them like a spectre.

Then George did it. He reached right into her chest and ripped out her heart. "Well, you've missed your chance," he said, his voice suddenly as dark and hard as obsidian.

Alicia went limp and he was finally able to pull away from her completely. Her mouth opened and closed a few times but she couldn't find the words. Nothing could express the humiliation, rejection and sudden regret she felt.

"I can't forgive you for what you've done to me," George said coldly. Without offering any sort of comfort or apology, he got up and headed for the door. Alicia didn't move. As he left he flicked his wand over his shoulder and muttered, "Nox."

The torches all extinguished themselves with a soft fizz, plunging Alicia and her tears into darkness.

---

A/N: Excuse the language, but holy crap. Even though this chapter was easy to write, it was exhausting. I hope you enjoyed it despite the events. I also hope you can see why the characters did what they did. You're definitely allowed to hate them all, but do remember that just like real people they make mistakes and have flaws. This chapter was probably the climax of the entire story but there's still plenty to come. The next chapter will be called 'The Departure', which is pretty self-explanatory. Alicia has to tell the others about her job (which should end up being a tear-jerking scene), Angelina and Fred say goodbye and heaps more. Most notably, never being one to leave things well alone, Alicia attempts reconciliation with George, which only makes things ten times worse. That'll be a fascinating encounter. Leave a review and next chapter I'll give you some sequel info. I've decided on a title for it! Anyhow, hope you all still love me after what I did to your fave characters! I'm going to lie down, but first I have to say

…The Countdown Ticks Over…

…Only Two Left…