Hi everyone! (waves) Here's another chapter of Secret Smiles! But first I have a quick comment:
I just noticed how unpopular George/Alicia are as compared to Ron/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, Draco/Ginny, or others. I wanted to say that I'm not TOTALLY excluding, I WILL have other pairings (i.e. HPGW, HGRW, FWAJ, NTRL, etc) in here, but this fiction is going to remain centered about 70 of the time on George and Alicia... So, here is another chapter!
-For this and future disclaimers, refer back to chapter one if you want one that badly.
Chapter two: Sphinx
"Fred! George! Get out here this instant and say hello to your mother!" Mrs. Weasley shouted. Ron snickered as Hermione shoved him lightly in the stomach with a 'Don't-make-it-any-worse' look. (AN: See? I told you there'd be some of them too!) It was bad enough that she had to yell that in the twin's own store while it was crowded. He didn't need to start anything more.
"Oh, Harry, make him stop." Hermione said exasperated, as Ron only laughed harder. Harry smiled and shrugged. "You're the only one who can do that, Hermione. He only listens to you."
Hermione sighed. "That's not true for this moment." She grumbled.
"FRED! GEORGE!" Mrs. Weasley shouted.
"What IS it mum?" George asked, coming out, looking quite annoyed as his mother engulfed him into a warm hug with a "George!" "Did Ginny eat the canary creams again? Because I warned her not to eat anything that might look like a pastry." Fred said, coming out.
"Fred!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, grabbing him and hugging him tightly to her, while still hugging George all the while. "Agh! Mother! I can't breathe!" George managed out. Mrs. Weasley let go of her sons and smiled fondly at the gasping twins. George was the first to look around.
"Ah! Harry old chap! Good to see you, good to see you!" He exclaimed walking towards Harry and shaking his one had with both of his. Harry smirked at this.
"Ron, Hermione, you both look as lovely as ever!" He added as Hermione giggled and Ron nodded back, before turning red. "What do you mean we 'both' look as 'lovely' as ever!" He asked angrily.
"Whatever you want it to mean, my dear brother." Fred responded, coming towards them. He bumped George out of the way and shook Harry's hand with a very strong.. shake. "Simply wonderful to see you again my dear sir!" He said in a funny voice, then went to Ron, and gave him a pat on the back, with a "lovely, lovely", which left Ron angry as he went to Hermione. Giving her a quick one armed hug with a serious "good to see you, Hermione." He went back and stood by his brother.
"So how are you all? What's brought you here?" Fred asked curiously. At this Mrs. Weasley turned red.
"How can you even ASK that!" She yelled. "You haven't come visit in TWO months, I would have at LEAST expected a letter!" She started to berate them as Ron snickered again.
"Oh Ron..." Hermione said exasperatedly. Ron wrapped an arm around her waist. "Oh come on Hermione, they're always fooling around, its good to see them yelled at every now and then!" Hermione just shook her head as she rested her head on his shoulder.
Harry smiled at them. Then a voice came from right behind him.. "Oh, hello Harry!"
Harry jumped and turned around to the smiling face of Alicia Spinnet. "Alicia! You startled me!" He said, but smiled nonetheless. "Ah, sorry about that, I didn't think you'd have so much of a reaction." She replied, apologetically.
Harry shook his head. "It's okay. Are you here to see Fred and George?" He asked, indicating to the two, who, were indeed still being yelled at. She nodded with an amused smile on her face. "Well, I might have to wait in line." She replied as Harry laughed.
"PLUS, you NEVER have ONCE used the floo powder that your aunt gave you to visit your family! YOU both remember what she said to you! She said that you had to visit your mum twice a week! TWO MONTHS! You don't CARE about your mother! How much I WORRY about you both—"
"Mum, you-know-who is dead," Fred said, looking at the scarless Harry. "What could you possibly have to worry about?"
"You're my sons! I know the way you both behave! That's what I have to worry about! You're both so reckless with all the people that come in here, you're not nearly careful enough.." And she went on.
"She could have just said 'You're Fred and you're George' and left it at that." George whispered to Fred. Fred nodded, annoyed. Then he nodded his head in Harry's direction, where Alicia was still standing beside him, amused.
"What?" George said. "Look that way." Fred replied. George looked towards Harry, and, spotting Alicia blushed very faintly.
"ARE YOU TWO PAYING ATTENTION!" Their mothers yell brought them back to her. "Mother, come on, you're in our store, can you please—"
"Can YOU both please VISIT me!" She retorted. George sighed as he and Fred nodded. "Yeah, but, just stop yelling at us in front of our customers?" He asked, wincing at the look she gave him.
Alicia giggled at this. "How long has this been going on?" She asked Harry. "About five minutes." He replied, looking around them with interest. People had been gathering around, clearly (like Alicia) finding the whole ordeal greatly amusing.
"Hm.." She replied, watching as Mrs. Weasley finished.
"Bloody hell, I thought she'd never stop!" George sighed. Fred nudged him and indicated to the vast crowd standing around them, staring. He sweatdropped. "Um, all barking baguettes are now fifty-percent off, watch as your friends turn into small dogs!" He yelled, indicating to Terese who was just restocking the shelves with them.
Her eyes grew wide as the crowd instantly started to accommodate over there. "Sorry, Terese." Fred whispered to himself.
George walked over to Alicia and Harry. "Did you see all of that?" He asked her, grinning. She shook her head.
"No, but I think I saw the most of it." She said, a smile on her face. George shook his head. "Well then, sorry about that, but you know, Percy had to get it from someone."
Ron was the first to understand this and started cracking up. Hermione sighed, yet again, and walked over to Harry. Everyone else who got it also laughed lightly.
"Anyway, would you like another tour? This time it can be around Diagon Alley." George asked, trying not to sound overly hopeful, but in a curious tone. Alicia smiled and nodded. "That would be great, I got lost a few times trying to find this place... everything IS different." She added.
George smiled. After explaining to Fred that he was going to go out for a while and saying bye to everyone else, they headed out the door.
"There are so many new shops!" Alicia exclaimed. George explained that when Voldemort had died, people were not afraid anymore and were more ambitious about their lives. Indeed, after Harry had done the great deed (as it was called), the entire street had turned more lively and colorful. Any shops that had been closed (such as Olivander's) had been re-opened and were flourishing.
George and Alicia walked down to the newly re-opened Flourean Fortescue's (Florean's son had taken over the business..) and George bought them sundaes. Looking at Alicia carefully over the top of his ice-cream, he asked her, "are you happy to be back?"
Alicia looked up, the spoon sticking out of her mouth, looking puzzled. Taking the spoon out, she replied, "Of course I'm happy to be back... why do you ask?" George shook his head. "No reason, I just can't imagine why you would leave all the wonderful sheep and potatoes."
Alicia wanted to fall over. "Again with the attempts at stereotyping Scotland? If you must know, I only ate potato dishes about twice a month, and yes, there were sheep, but only in pastures and fields. I lived in Edinburgh, which is as you know a big city. There's not that many sheep there." She replied, a content smile on her face.
George nodded. "I know you already gave me a general reply in your letters, but how is the Quidditch? Does McMullan still stink?" He asked, snickering as Alicia used her wand to make a ball of paper fly at him. The Scottish team was Alicia's favorite, although their keeper was probably the worst thing Britain had ever seen. Other then him though, the rest of the team was fairly decent.
"Well other then the fact that they won the last 7 out of 13 games, the most recent being Norway, they're doing FINE George. A bit better then the Irish team from what I hear." She said, now her turn to smirk as George looked aghast.
"Well Alicia its not their fault that Connolly broke his nose and they were left with only one beater! With two bludgers to be on the look out for it wasn't easy!" He argued.
Alicia laughed as he took the defensive. "Yes but its his fault in the first place that he had his nose broken."
They argued for about fifteen more minutes until they got up to leave, walking back to Weasley Wizard Wheezes. On the way back, George talked with her about what her plans were.
"So what are you going to do now that you're back in England?" George asked. He knew her specialty was in Transfiguration, and that she was a pretty good Chaser, but that was about it.
"Well, when I was in Scotland, I kept in touch with The Ministry of Magic... I talked to Rufus Scrimgeour." She said and wrinkled her nose in distaste at the name. "They need someone in the Department of Investigation that's a metamorphmagus. I wasn't born with that ability but I demonstrated my other abilities and specialties. They like the fact that I'm an animagus. So, they are thinking about it. If they don't accept me, I was thinking of working at Madame Malkin's Robe shop."
George shook his head. "Going into the ministry would be good... but do you seriously want to work at Madame Malkin's?"
"Well, it's either that or Zonko's in Hogsmeade." She replied, her expression perfectly serious.
George looked appalled as he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. For a second all he did was blink, and his mouth opened and closed a few times. Then, finally, finding his voice, replied loudly. "No WAY! You're not going to actually- I mean, they ripped us off with stealing our idea of nose-biting teacups-... You're not serious!" He asked her, about five seconds away from shaking the said girl.
Alicia stared at him blankly, a curious look on her face. "Why not? It's a good job, and it would be fun too."
George's stared at her incredulously. He shook his head slowly. "No way... If you want a job at a joke shop, you can come work at mine and Fred's. We're going to buy out Zonko's in a couple of years anyway." He said as he kept walking, then, stopped again, and turned to look at Alicia again, his eyes still wide.
"You're NOT serious, are you!" He asked her again.
Alicia raised an eyebrow, smiling slightly. She remained silent for a few seconds, before bursting out laughing. "Oh you idiot, of course not! I did that to see your reaction! How could you seriously believe me that easily after saying something like that?" She asked, disbelieving.
"You're not the type to joke around as much as Fred or me!" George replied, happy that she WAS joking. Then he sighed, holding his chest. "You know, you almost made me go into cardiac arrest," He added, imitating (in a very overly dramatic way) someone having a heart-attack, adding sound effects that a ten year old would make for someone dieing.
Alicia laughed and shook her head, dragging him by the sleeve back up and walking again. When they got back to Weasley Wizard Wheezes, they walked in to see another enormous crowd of people. George smirked and told Alicia that he had to go see Fred quickly. Alicia nodded and looked around the store.
She walked aimlessly throughout the shop, not really paying attention to what she was looking at. She had a lot on her mind, and almost dropped the crystal she had picked up in surprise when it glowed pink. "Huh?" She looked around and found a little chart telling her what it was.
Love Catching Crystals! ®
Ever wondered if you like that 'special' person
as more then a crush?
Well now you won't with our special
Love Catching Crystals!
She stared at it disbelieving.
Blinking, she put it back down, before noticing that there was a chart explaining what every color meant. "These are like those mood rings the muggles like to wear... Orange is friendship, yellow is acquaintance, black is hate, grey is indifference, purple is passion, red is love, pink is.. like?"
'What was I thinking about before I picked up the crystal?' She tried to remember and George's face popped up in her memory. His smirking lips, freckled, heart-shaped face, bright orange hair... She stopped, smacking herself in the face.
'Why am I thinking these things? We're good friends.' '. . .well it's not like I'm thinking anything in a weird context. . ., that IS what he looks like. . .' '. . .then why does it make me so happy to think about him?' She shook her head clearing the thoughts.
"Having a mental conflict?" Came an amused voice. Alicia jumped. "What! No! Wait..." She turned around, facing an amused George with Fred beside him.
"You know, having fights with yourself doesn't solve anything because you always somehow end up losing." Fred added, smiling as well as George elaborated, "you were making interesting faces and hitting yourself in the face."
Alicia smiled sheepishly, a small blush on her face. "What um.. plans do you both have for the rest of the day?" She asked.
"Working for a while." Fred replied.
"A half-hour.."
"Or maybe a couple of hours..."
"Until three..."
"Or five..."
"Till nine..."
"The rest of the day.."
"The rest of the week..."
"Or year..."
"Until we're white old men with beards as long as Dumbledore's used to be."
"Maybe a bit longer then his, actually."
"Seriously." Alicia said, stopping them.
Fred smirked. "Well, we have to work. There's quite a crowd gathering and I don't think Terese and the rest can handle it. The U-no-poo is selling out again and we won't restock until Thursday.
Alicia nodded, understanding. "Okay then, I guess I best be off. I'll see you both tomorrow or sometime around then, then?" She asked. They both nodded.
"Sorry I can't show you a bit more of Diagon Alley, we can continue that another time, I promise." George said, smiling kindly. She nodded again, smiling.
"Okay then. Bye, you both." She said, waving and leaving. "See you." George called after her as Fred waved.
"Did you give it to her?" Fred asked George, turning towards him. George's eyes widened again. "I forgot to.. maybe I should go after her?" He asked his mirror image. "Definitely mate." Fred said, clapping him on the back. "Don't worry, I can handle it for now." He added, seeing the hesitant look on his brother's face. George smiled.
"Thanks." He said, and promptly turned to the door, walking out into the narrow street.
"It does get crowded this time of year... it must be because the new Hogwarts year is starting in two weeks." He said to himself. He looked around at the tiny eleven-year olds who he knew were going to be first years, and he saw many older people, in the 2nd - 7th years. Witches and wizards of all kinds were hustling and bustling through the crowded street, going off to find this or that. Magical creatures of all kinds were also busy walking around; he saw two leprechauns arguing with a street vendor over whether or not the gold they gave him was real.
He suddenly stopped. "Wait... do I even know where she lives?" He stood still, thinking about what to do next. "I suppose I... could go back and just wait until tomorrow." Sighing, he walked back to the shop. Turning into an alley he didn't see a cat jump in front of him on its way across until to late—he tripped over the poor thing.
"Ugh!" He yelled, his hands coming out before him, stopping his fall as the cat tried to get out of the way, but failed. The cat let out a startled meow, stuck beneath him. It started frantically meowing as he lay there for a second, then he quickly sat up. "Oops, I'm sorry kitty.." He said, looking to see if it was hurt.
It was a beautiful cat – A ginger, onyx, and hazel calico, (one that looked quite afraid at the moment). It had it's shoulders hunched up and head sinking by its paws, with its eyes closed. "I think it's okay..." he said to himself, then pet the cat awkwardly. "You're okay, aren't you?" He asked. The cat's ears perked up as it turned its head toward George. There was a pause, then the cat's form began to change, until a women sat there, smirking up at George.
"Yes, I'm okay." Alicia replied, fixing her hair with her fingers.
"Alicia! What? Oh yes... you're an animagus. I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" He asked, concerned. Alicia shook her head.
"No, I just said I'm fine, but thanks for the worry." She said, smiling kindly now. "Why are you out here? I thought you had some customers to deal with."
"Oh! Well... I have something I meant to give to you earlier, but I forgot until you had left, so I went after you. After walking for a few minutes... I realized I don't know where you live. So, I turned back, leading me to here." He said, explaining the whole situation.
"Oh, I see.. something you meant to give me?" She asked. George nodded, and reaching into the pocket of his, pulled out the sphinx she had been looking at yesterday. He placed it in her hand, where it gave her a coy smile, then promptly curled into a ball and fell asleep.
Alicia looked stunned, as her lips parted slightly. "..thank-you..." she replied, softly. George nodded. "I noticed that you were looking at it yesterday, and it reminds me somehow of you... I thought you should have it." He added. Alicia closed her eyes, smiling.
"Was I that obvious?"
"Well, no, but both Fred and I have to be able to see when people are interested in something. We have a lot of people trying to leave the store with Skiving Snackboxes and Daydream charms. We've learned to see when people like something or don't like it." He replied.
Alicia nodded, looking down at the sphinx again. Her smile got bigger. "Well, thank-you.." She said, hugging George.
He smiled back and returned the hug, although it ended a bit to quickly in his opinion. "You're welcome." He stood up, then offering his hand, helped Alicia up.
"Anyway, I better get going back now, Fred's getting mauled by the costumers. I'll see you later then?"
Alicia nodded brightly. "You can count on it. Oh, and for future reference, this is where I live." She said, waving her wand casually in the air as a piece of parchment with her address on it appeared in front of George. He took it and put it in his pocket, nodding. "Well then, I'll see you later!" She replied, turning into a cat and leaping off. George watched her retreating figure, then turned around, heading back for Weasley Wizard Wheezes, to help Fred control the customers.
Chapter 2: Sphinx end
Okay, well there was the second chapter! I apologize if the middle was a bit dull to anyone, I went through a temporary writer's block. I hope you found the chapter to your liking though! I'll answer some reviews:
Pinocchio – thanks, and here you go.
Jagged Epiphany – Thank you very much! I'm glad that I have someone interested in reading what I write! Thank-you for the compliments!
iLUVmichi – nn I'm very glad you love it! I PROMISE you, the next chapter, Angelina comes in and there will definitely be some Fred/Angelina moments there for you!
Sir Fuzzalot – Wow! I think I enjoyed your review the most! nn Thank-you so much for all of you nice comments! I'm going to start reading your stories now! I'm sorry if it seems like I'm stealing your plot, but I promise you I made this up by myself, with no outside help. I hope this chapter was to your liking! Thank-you again, and I hope you stick with the story!
Harry Lvr – Thanks for the constructive criticism, but I have a few comments. One is that I don't underestimate the intelligence of my audience, that's just how I write. It clarifies things, both for me and for the readers. Alicia is NOT mary-sue. Mary-sues are made up characters, and, without a strong characterization of her in the books, authors are compelled to add traits that are needed. If I based her entire persona off of the book, she'd be a rather dull person because the book doesn't tell us much. And I didn't describer her as a 'vision of a godess', I said that's what she appears to be in George's mind. Please read what I write more carefully.
Bardlover – Thank-you for enjoying my first chapter! I hope you enjoyed the bit of Ron/Hermione I had at the beginning, I will have more of them in future chapters. I'll try to get in some Remus/Tonks.
Thanks again to anyone who read this, now, click the little lavender button and drop me a review!
- Meiko