Nora waited for fifteen minutes inside the shop, and then realised that she'd probably got it wrong, and was meant to meet George outside.
So she walked outside after she'd returned her books to their shelves, and waited for another fifteen minutes.
There seemed to be a disturbance further down the Alley, but she couldn't see much apart from a few Medi-witches and Medi-wizards who were pushing through the small crowd towards the joke shop. She made a note to ask Arthur if everything was okay.
Getting antsy, she replayed George and her conversation in her head over and over, trying to figure out what she'd done wrong, or what she'd misunderstood.
Finally, after another ten minutes, she shook her head, sent one last look down both ends of the Alley, and then apparated away, red-faced from embarrassment and feeling woefully unconfident and stupid.
She arrived at her little studio flat and unlocked the door with slightly shaky hands, opening it to reveal her hidden sanctuary.
A small kitchenette with a breakfast nook greeted her first, and then her bed, with her fairy lights hanging above it. Next to that stood a rather large and ladened bookshelf, followed by her clothes storage (more of a clothes rail and shoes underneath), and then the door to her small bathroom.
She'd magically painted the walls a light grey, and used splashes of her favourite colours on the fabrics and appliances around the room to make it feel more homely.
And it was exactly what she needed right now - a little taste of normal, comfort, and her.
She threw her bag down, closed the door, pulled off her trainers and dungarees, and slipped under her covers, bringing the duvet all the way over her head.
She didn't move from that spot apart from using the toilet or accepting her take away order for dinner. Otherwise, she wallowed, ate chocolate, and read her way through the rest of the day, finally falling into a restless slumber at around midnight.
xXx
Before that Thursday at the start of June, Nora had never had an 'off' day in front of anyone else.
She'd cried and lamented over her condition, she'd thrown things and shouted, she'd screamed into her pillows, she'd had panic attacks, and she'd definitely had days when she'd stayed in bed unable to move from her depressive state.
However, until that Thursday, she'd never shown that side of herself to anyone else. She'd done all of that when she was sure that she was on her own.
And especially at the office, she'd managed to be her happy, kind, shy self, but without showing her upset, angry or moody side even if she was having a bad day.
But there was something about being rejected quite so cruelly that made her feel awful.
And so, when Arthur walked into the office ready for his two weeks of daytime raids and greeted Nora, she didn't say, "Hello," and smile. No, she tensed her jaw, nodded at him, and got back to work.
She knew she was acting oddly, and she knew from the whispers around the office that everyone in that day wanted to ask her what was wrong, but no one knew what to say or do. And she was glad that they weren't talking to her.
She also heard people talking about the fact that one of Arthur's sons had been sent to St. Mungo's the day before with bad burns from an amusing accident at his joke shop. A customer had set off a whole load of wet start fireworks in the middle of the store. There was more to it, but Nora stopped listening. She wanted to ask Arthur if his son was okay, but she also didn't know how to break out of her funk enough to ask. And she was worried that if she did they might start a chat about his sons, and she still didn't really want to know more details about them.
It wasn't until about three in the afternoon that Arthur finally asked her what was wrong. They were in a lift on the way back from a meeting with Kingsley - Arthur was reporting back to him on a few raids which had thrown up interesting issues, and he'd asked Nora to take notes.
"So..." he said, and Nora groaned inwardly. "Anything the matter?"
Nora didn't want to tell him anything, but she was also keenly aware that if she did offload once, there was a strong chance that he wouldn't ask her for personal information ever again. She took the chance.
"Men are awful," she said simply. Even with her bad mood, she had to try not to smile when the witch in front of her nodded.
"Are we?" Arthur asked slowly, shooting a glance to the witch, and then looking back at Nora. "Why would you say that?"
Nora groaned. "Why ask someone out if you're just going to leave them standing outside of a shop waiting for you for the best part of forty minutes? Just tell me you're not interested. It's simple enough to say."
Arthur coughed. "This happened yesterday I'll take it?" he asked. Nora nodded. "Okay... Well I'd say that if he didn't have a good enough excuse, then you should move on, happy in the knowledge that he wasn't worth your time."
Nora smiled sadly at Arthur. "Unfortunately I think he's the only person who has wanted even an ounce of my time recently, and I think I really liked him, which means this will take me a while to get over."
"I can understand that, but don't let it influence you too much. You're a lovely person and he's making a big mistake."
Nora smiled despite herself and nodded, looking down at her trainers.
"Though, I'll have to duck out here I think," Arthur said, as the lift came to a sudden stop at Level 6. (Nora had given up on the lift just going from Level 1 to Level 2 in a straight line at this point.) "I promised Molly I'd pay a visit to my son, Percy, while I'm here. See if he can spare the time to come to St. Mungo's with us."
Nora smiled and nodded. "I hope your other son's okay," she said sincerely, grimacing at the thought of the poor man who was in the hospital.
Arthur paused at the door to look back at her. "He's fine. Should be out within the day, but we're all enjoying making fun of him. He didn't quite hear the first firework go off and walked straight into it. Then he fell into a new product and... well, they now know not to keep those in the same part of the shop! But you go home! I'll be leaving once I've talked to Percy," he said, smiling at Nora.
She nodded and the doors closed.
"He's right you know," said the witch in front of her. "No man's worth that aggro."
Nora smiled again, and got off at the next stop to deposit her notes on her desk ready to be written up the next day. Then she left.
xXx
On Saturday, Nora fancied venturing out to a wizarding shop for some window shopping - she enjoyed finding out more about magic through the things people sold and bought. It said a lot about the intricacies and day to days of wizarding life, and she found it fascinating.
So, instead of Apparating to Diagon Alley, she found herself walking through the near-empty streets of Hogsmeade.
She noticed a lovely busy pub called the Three Broomsticks, and made a note to pop in for lunch later.
She went to the sweet shop first and stood in front of the chocolate, marvelling at the different flavours. She saw a salted caramel and pecan bar, and her mouth began to water, but then her eyes widened at the price. She was just weighing up her options - lunch at the Three Broomsticks or five large bars of chocolate, when someone entered the shop, the bell dinging behind them.
"Hey," George said, appearing next to her suddenly.
She managed to control her surprise and reined in a shudder of shock, turning it into a simple step to the left. She noticed that today he was in more Muggle attire - blue jeans, a simple black t-shirt, and trainers.
From his back pocket he produced a wand which immediately burst into a beautiful bunch of flowers when he held it out towards her. "For you," he said, smiling.
"I have hayfever," Nora replied moodily, turning away from him to walk over to another display, leaving the chocolate she'd wanted to pick up.
She heard George let out a loud laugh behind her, and tried not to smile.
"How about this then," he asked, catching up with her when she stopped by the fudge display. "I'll buy you something sweet."
Nora stayed quiet.
"Perfect," George said, ducking his head down into her eyeline to smile at her. "'I'll surprise you?"
Nora thought for a moment, and then frowned. She wondered if she should be putting up more of a fight, but she really did want some chocolate, and she was hoping that his excuse for standing her up might be good enough for her to feel okay about talking to him again. And she definitely wanted to talk to him. The moment he'd smiled at her, her butterflies had returned and she'd felt her anger dissipate.
She nodded once and he grinned.
"Okay, no peeking," he said, and Nora rolled her eyes, but turned around to look out of the window. She could hear him behind her chatting to the shop owner, and so knew he was still there.
Finally, he came to stand next to her, and gestured to the door. Nora sighed for appearances, but went with him eagerly.
Once they were outside, he broke off a large chunk of the chocolate bar which was packed within a simple brown bag, and handed it to her.
She took it, and bit down into the most delicious thing she'd ever tasted. "Oh my god," she moaned, staring at the small slab of heaven in her hand. It was salty and sweet with a crunch from the outer chocolate and thick creaminess from the sticky inside.
"Good?" George asked, cracking off a bit for himself.
"Good? This is..." Nora moaned again and bit off another piece.
"Good enough to act as a very sincere apology for accidentally standing you up?" he asked, his smile replaced with an apprehensive look.
Nora shook her head. "For that, you'd have to have a good excuse."
"But what about the chocolate?" he asked, smiling again. She supposed he was happy that she was talking now, and not glaring. "Doesn't that help?"
"The chocolate means you have to make it a-" she stopped to cough once, "sorry. The chocolate means-" she coughed again.
It was a peculiar feeling, as though her skin was beginning to feel hot and itchy, and her throat was feeling scratchy.
"Are you okay?" he asked, frowning at her.
Nora shook her head quickly and raised her hand to her throat, which felt hotter than the rest.
She coughed again, and something - the taste lingering in her mouth, the smell of the salty yet sweet chocolate, the tingles and itchy feeling throughout her body, sent her back. It wasn't a vision, it wasn't anything which took her out of that moment, standing in Hogsmeade with George, it was more of a feeling, like de ja vu.
"I think I'm allergic to peanuts," she rasped out calmly.
"What?" George said, the blood draining from his face. "Okay," he placed his hands on her upper arms and looked at her. "Tell me what to do. Do we go to St. Mungo's?"
Nora frowned but shook her head. She'd not often had memories like this, and wanted to enjoy the oddly calming feeling it brought, but she also knew that she didn't have much time left to communicate.
So she dropped the chocolate which was still held in her hand which was halfway to her mouth, and reached for her bag. Her hand slipped over the zip, and she coughed again. She was beginning to feel a bit faint.
"What am I looking for?" George asked, grabbing her bag and opening it immediately.
"Small-" she coughed. "Bott-" she rasped out.
"Small bottle?" he clarified, and Nora nodded, falling to the floor to sit down, her legs out in front of her.
She watched him pull out his wand and cast a charm, and then the bottle came zooming out of her bag into his open and waiting hand. He squatted down and looked at her and she nodded, and then he uncorked the glass bottle and held it to her lips.
His free hand (which still held his wand) found its way to gently hold the back of her neck under her ponytail, and she shuddered slightly. She was worried George noticed, but he must have put it down to her allergic reaction, as his face didn't change, displaying only an intense concentration as he carefully tipped the vial up against her lips, pouring the liquid inside.
It only took a few seconds for the potion to do its magic, and then she took a deep breath in, inhaling the sweet, sweet summer's air.
"Bloody hell," he whispered, dropping his hands and sitting down on the pavement next to her. "Thank Merlin you had that on you."
Nora nodded and blushed, taking the now empty bottle from his hand. She slipped it into her bag and gulped.
"Are you embarrassed?" he asked, frowning. Nora nodded. "You can't be embarrassed if I poisoned you! That's on me!"
Nora smiled despite herself. "Maybe," she said, "but I'm the one who didn't realise I was allergic to anything. I could've warned you..."
"How didn't you know?" he asked.
"Uh... I uh... I had an accident and I can't remember some things. It's... It's hard sometimes, like when I can't remember that I'm allergic to peanuts, obviously! But it can also be fun. Like, if I listen to a song, it can take me back to a moment in time, or I smell something and suddenly I'm six, watching my mum cook. It's... It's odd."
"Yeah... As long as random men don't try to kill you..." he said, and she could tell from his grimace that he regretted his word choice.
Nora let out a chuckle. "Death by chocolate? I'm sure there are worse ways to go..." she stopped and bit her lip, and then she looked at the floor. "It's okay," she said, sadly. "You can go."
"What? Why would I leave?" he asked, frowning at her.
Nora looked up and sent him a sad smile, tilting her head to the side. "I just told you I can't remember much of my past. I don't really expect you to hang around..."
George surprised her. Rather than walking away, or raising an eyebrow, he grinned.
"I like a challenge," he replied, and Nora smiled back.
"I'm a challenge?" she asked in what she hoped was a flirty voice.
"No, you're the easy part. It's the figuring out how to stop you killing yourself that'll be the adventure."
Nora laughed, and it possible, George's smile grew bigger.
"You're sure you're okay, though?" he asked, frowning for a moment. "Should we go to the hospital to get you checked over?"
Nora smiled again and shook her head. "I'm mostly okay," she said. "No hospital needed this time. But that was my only potion like that, so I'll have to go in if it happens again... and in any case, now I'm intrigued."
"You are?" he asked, and Nora couldn't stop herself from thinking he looked adorable.
She nodded. "I think you now need to come up with the best excuse in the entire world if you want to get back into my good books, and I'm intrigued what your excuse will be..."
"Hmm..." he said, stroking his chin comically. "How about I stay in your bad books? I've always had an issue with trouble..."
Nora laughed again and shook her head. "You're ridiculous."
George's grin lessened to a smile and he winked at her. "So, I went back home to get changed and there was an explosion, and-"
Nora laughed and rolled her eyes. She'd already (stupidly probably) decided to give him another chance. It was the least she could do after he helped to save her after she accidentally poisoned herself (and yes, she was blaming herself - she hadn't realised she was allergic to anything.)
"No, really," George tried.
Nora shook her head. "Don't worry," she said, grinning at him. "If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. Just answer me this: do you actually want to go for lunch, or dinner, or a drink or something, or are you just being nice?"
He smiled. "I genuinely want to go on a date with you. Genuinely."
"Okay, that's good enough for now. But one day you have to tell me the truth, promise?" she asked.
The smile on his face faltered for a moment, and then it returned. "Promise."
"Okay, what were you thinking?" she asked, very aware that they were still sat on the pavement outside Honeyduke's.
"Well, I have work at four, but I'm free until then..." he said, frowning and looking up the street.
"Oh, do you work shifts?" she asked. She was actually quite interested. So far she'd not known many people who worked outside of the normal mid-week hours apart from Arthur and the people assigned to night raids.
"Uh yeah," he said, blushing slightly. "I ow- I uh... I work in a shop."
"That's cool!" she said happily. "So... that gives us..."
"About six hours," he said, smiling again.
"Okay..." Nora said, nodding and looking around. "Late breakfast?"
George laughed out loud and nodded. "Sounds perfect. Though, why does everything revolve around meals with you?"
Nora shrugged. She didn't want to tell him the truth - that when she was in St. Mungo's she'd been bored out of her mind, stuck in a ward with inhabitants who didn't quite know she was there and who all had their own memory issues. And that she'd become used to telling the time of day through the meal times, or that she loved lunchtime because it meant that she'd be allowed to go to the hospital library and take out another book, which would see her through to the night, when she'd lie in bed listening to the sounds and whispers and wait until morning, when breakfast would bring conversation and staff back to the ward.
That was too depressing.
So instead, she said, "Food's tasty," and immediately regretted her words. Food's tasty? Really?
She needn't have worried. George threw his head back and laughed, and then said, "Well you've got me there. I wholeheartedly agree. I know a great little café in Ottery St. Catchpole if you fancy it?" he asked, extending an arm out to her.
She frowned, but looped her arm around his nonetheless, moving to stand next to him. "Ottery St..."
"It's a wizarding town near where I grew up," he said quickly.
"Oh!" she said, trying to hide the fact that her heart was racing and pumping out of her chest now that she was so close to him. He smelt amazing, and the muscles of his bicep flexed underneath her hand as he turned on the spot.
xXx
A/N: thank you to that1chick, Guest, and Pink8Fluffy8Unicorn for your lovely reviews!
