The pizza smelled so good and Alicia was sooo hungry. Katie still wouldn't let up with the questions though.

"But I still don't get it. Why Warrington?"

Angelina thrust her slice of pizza in Alicia's face. "Exactly! If you insist on betraying your house and team at least pick a hot Slytherin!"

Alicia chose to leave the comment about betrayal for later. Angelina was still teetering on the edge of hating her and she didn't want to start an argument. "He's better looking now and it's not like I had the whole Slytherin Quidditch team lined up in front of me to choose from."

Katie cocked her head thoughtfully. "But how much better looking? Like on a scale of one to ten?"

Alicia took a huge bite of pizza so she wouldn't have to answer. George was sitting next to her at the table again and he'd barely said anything since he'd returned with Fred. This was not a conversation she wanted to have in front of him. Thankfully, Fred spoke up and changed the topic.

"Nobody wants to hear about Warrington. Tell us more about Jake."

Alicia swallowed and gave him a grateful smile. "Jake is the best. I can't wait till you all get to meet him. He'll be so excited to meet my old Quidditch team."

"He likes Quidditch?" Angelina asked, her tone of voice finally lightening up.

"He loves it. He goes for the Kestrels right now but he changes teams every other week. His bedroom is covered in Quidditch posters."

"I'll get him a heap of Arrows merchandise then. I can probably still get tickets in the players' box for our last home game, if you think he'd like that."

"He'd love that! Wow, that's really sweet of you, Lina."

Angelina shrugged coolly. "It's no big deal. I'll use my connections to get Jake whatever he wants. It's not his fault his father is an evil Slytherin git. That's on you."

One step forward then two steps back. Alicia shirked away from Angelina's stare and instead turned to Katie. "I want to hear about what you guys have been up to. How come you're single, Katie? I thought for sure you'd be doing a long distance thing with Lee."

"Oh, don't bring up Lee," Fred groaned.

Angelina rounded on Katie. "Go ahead and tell her all about Lee."

"Lee's fine. I still see him when he's in the country," Katie said.

"He's comes back every couple of months to have sex with her then he leaves again," Angelina clarified bluntly.

Alicia's eyebrows shot up. She knew that Lee had taken a liking to broadcasting after he hosted an underground Wireless show during the war. After Voldemort's defeat he'd been given the chance to create his own show and he'd started doing these really gritty and in-depth reports about various issues throughout the international magical world. It had been the most popular Wireless program for the last couple of years. It was syndicated in a few European countries and Alicia had enjoyed listening to it in France. Lee's familiar voice had been very comforting when she was homesick.

"We're both adults," Katie was saying as Alicia tuned back into the conversation. "I'm perfectly happy with the arrangement we have."

"But it's not the only so-called arrangement you have. Go on and tell Alicia about the rest of it," Angelina prompted.

Katie shrugged and idly picked an olive off her pizza. "I might also spend time with Oliver when he's in the neighbourhood. No big deal."

Alicia froze, her glass of water halfway to her mouth. "Oliver? Our Oliver? You mean to tell me you're shagging him and Lee at the same time?"

"Not at the same time, obviously. They're never in town together so it's never been an issue."

Alicia looked over at Angelina and knew right away that this was an issue for her. Out of the three women, Katie was a lot more liberal with her sexuality, but it never bothered Alicia so long as she was safe and happy. Angelina on the other hand was a lot more traditional and conservative when it came to sex and relationships. Alicia had always been the peace-maker and she could only imagine the horrible arguments her friends had endured in her absence.

"You need to choose one or the other before this blows up in your face, Katie!" Angelina insisted, probably not for the first time.

Alicia switched her gaze back to Katie and saw that the tips of her friend's ears were turning red, a sure sign she was about to snap, so Alicia jumped into the fray without thinking. "Since everyone involved is a fully functioning adult, I think it's fine if everyone is happy with things the way they are."

Angelina pounced on her immediately, her lecture to Katie forgotten for the moment. "You haven't been here so you don't get an opinion! Lee and Oliver don't even know about each other."

Katie's ears were entirely red at this point. "They both know I'm not exclusive with them. They get to blow off a little steam when they're in Scotland and I get fantastic sex, plus I get to do whatever I want when they're not around. Win-fucking-win, Angelina."

Alicia winced at the thought of Oliver and Lee ever finding out they were both currently shag buddies with Katie. "I think maybe we need to talk more about this, see if we can't sort this mess out."

"It's not a mess! It's my life and I like it perfectly fine the way it is," Katie snapped.

"No way, Alicia," Angelina interjected suddenly. "It's too late for you to walk back into our lives and think you can solve everything. Katie's happily wasting her life on two men who'll never settle down with her. Maybe if you'd been here in the first place it wouldn't have turned out this way, but you chose a Slytherin over us."

Alicia stood up and pointed at Angelina. "I want to talk to you alone in Katie's room. Now."

"Bad idea," Fred said softly. He put his arm around Katie's shoulders as she blinked back tears.

Angelina stood up without saying anything and headed back towards Katie's room. Alicia trailed after her and shut the bedroom door behind herself. She settled herself on Katie's perfectly made bed and crossed her arms expectantly. Being best friends with Angelina hadn't always been smooth sailing, especially during her tenure as Quidditch captain, but Alicia would give anything to have their friendship return to the way it had been all those years ago. She wanted the good and the bad. She wanted the mood swings and bossiness, because, well, that was Angelina. Alicia loved her unconditionally, just like everyone else out in that kitchen did.

"What's your problem?" Angelina demanded.

"Why are you being such a bitch?"

"Why do you think? Use your brain."

"You think I betrayed you because I was with Warrington?"

Angelina sat down on the end of Katie's bed as well. "That's not it! Why do you think I was crying with you two before? You had a baby and didn't tell me!"

Alicia shuffled a little closer but didn't touch her yet. She didn't know what to say. They had been best friends since the moment they met on their first trip on the Hogwarts Express and she'd still only ever seen Angelina cry a handful of times before.

"I'm so sorry, Lina."

"I worked out the math on it. Jake is four and you wrote me that long letter three years ago. You had the chance to mention him then and you didn't."

"It was too much to put in a letter."

"You should have told me you were pregnant in the first place! I would have come over to be by your side straight away. No matter who the father was I would have been there for you. You robbed me of the chance to share all those moments with you. I don't know how I'm supposed to just get over that."

"I'm sorry. I'll do anything, Angelina. Please just tell me what I can do."

Angelina shook her head and tears began to roll down her cheeks. "Then Fred and George found out about Jake before me."

"I told you I didn't plan to run into George that night," Alicia said quickly.

"I know but it doesn't make it less painful. We were best friends and soulmates before the boys showed up in our lives. Remember? When I started dating Fred I told you that you'd still be number one no matter what."

Alicia threw her arms around Angelina and was grateful when she returned the hug. They sat there hugging and crying for a while. Alicia decided she had to start putting Angelina first. Whatever was going on with George would have to take a backseat for a while.

"I don't enjoy playing Quidditch anymore," Angelina said softly, her head resting on Alicia's shoulder.

"I could tell something else was up. Tell me all about it."

"It's just not fun playing professionally. It's so draining. There's sponsors and owners and vicious fans and constant performance reviews. I'm always getting weighed and measured and poked and prodded. I hate it."

"There are rumours you're going to retire. Why haven't you announced it?"

"Because I'm scared. I've decided to settle down and start a family with Fred but I'm worried that'll be too boring for me. What if I hate not playing Quidditch?"

Alicia kissed the top of her braided head. "We'll work it out together. I'm back now and I promise I'll never leave you again. We should go see if Katie's all right though."

Angelina nodded then lifted her head. "I really think she needs to pick one or the other. It can't go on like this forever."

"I'll help work that out as well. We're still the Gryffindor Chasers, right? Standing strong together through anything."

"Absolutely. I need to go and wash my face before I go back out there. I must look awful."

Alicia grinned at Angelina. "You're still insanely beautiful and you know it. I hope Fred knows how lucky he is."

"I'm the lucky one. He's so good to me even when I'm being unbearable."

"Then your relationship hasn't changed much at all," Alicia said playfully.

Angelina gave her a shove towards the door. "Watch it. I haven't completely forgiven you yet. You're going to have to be on your best behaviour for the next few months."

"I'll do whatever it takes to make this up to you and Katie," she promised.

Angelina was no slouch at holding a grudge, so Alicia knew it was going to take a while and she was going to have to be the one making an effort most of the time. At least when she was dealing with Angelina she felt like she was back in her comfort zone. George was more of an enigma.

Alicia made her way back to the others and found they were now sitting in the living room. Fred was sitting in an armchair frowning at the movie currently on the television. George was sitting on the sofa next to Katie, who was cradling a large bowl of ice cream to her chest.

"You all right now, Kate?" Alicia asked, sitting down on George's other side.

She nodded. "George gave me some ice cream and, look, the Sound of Music is on TV tonight."

"But why do they keep stopping to sing all the time?" Fred muttered. "I don't understand what's happening."

Katie reached across George to grasp Alicia's forearm. "I'm so glad you're back," she whispered. "I'm really sick of having to explain Muggle stuff to these three."

Alicia smiled to herself. Although she hadn't met Katie till they started playing Quidditch together, their bond was strong. Katie was a half-blood like her so they shared a background Angelina had never understood. She was the third point of their little triangle and they'd grown to love the younger witch with every passing year at school. Katie was easy-going and carefree where Angelina could be uptight and obsessive. Alicia was the middle ground between them more often than not. In fact, Alicia thought it was kind of a miracle that Angelina and Katie had stayed friends without her being there as a buffer. From the look of it, Fred and George had stepped into that role somewhat.

Alicia realised the group dynamics had evolved easily without her around and she wasn't really sure how that made her feel.

"Can we spend the day wandering around Muggle London like we used to?" Katie asked hopefully.

"We'll do everything you want. We can even have a movie night next time Jake stays with his dad, okay."

Angelina returned then and settled herself on Fred's lap. They began whispering to each other and Fred started placing little kisses all over her cheek. Alicia quickly turned her attention to the TV and tried to ignore the jealousy flooding her body. She'd never had a relationship like that. Christopher had hardly ever been that affectionate with her and he certainly hadn't been that way in front of others.

"You better get used to all that public groping happening over there. They're like that whenever they aren't fighting."

Alicia turned to George and theatrically gasped. "Oh, you are capable of speech!"

"Just got a lot on my mind at the moment," he replied pointedly.

"What's wrong? Do you have to talk your way out of another one of Ginny's blind dates?" Katie asked between mouthfuls of ice cream. "Leesh, you gotta hear about these ridiculous blind dates George goes on to keep Ginny happy. It's so funny."

"She doesn't want to hear about those stupid dates."

"I think the cat lady was the funniest," Katie continued. "What were her cats called again?"

"I can't remember," George replied shortly.

"They were all named after teachers she'd had at Hogwarts," Fred answered on his behalf. "Remember, one was called Severus. Imagine if George had actually snogged that woman while furry little Snape had watched from the corner."

Alicia laughed along with her friends and realised she was finally back where she needed to be. In the end, she'd been forced to leave France against her will, but this was where she should have been all along. She had wasted too much time trying to make things work with Christopher.

"Well, I think it's officially time for me to leave," George announced from beside her, causing her heart to sink.

Katie gasped and clutched his arm. "Don't leave! I promise we'll stop teasing you."

"I'm used to you lot teasing me about my love life. I need to leave because I've got to be at the shop early tomorrow morning to do some paperwork. As always you were the perfect hostess, Katie."

Alicia had to make her move right now. If she could just get a few moments alone with George she might get some sort of answer from him. If they both left at the same time she might be able to corner him outside.

"I should get going as well," Alicia said, stifling an embarrassingly fake yawn. "I'm usually in bed by nine o'clock these days."

George stood up then wordlessly extended his hand down to her. She took it slowly and searched his eyes, trying to second guess what he could possibly be thinking. She got nothing at all. But he kept hold of her hand and started walking towards the front door. Katie halted their progress by reaching out and grabbing Alicia's other hand.

"Wait! I want you and Angelina to stay here tonight." Katie stared up at Alicia, large green eyes at full puppy dog capacity. "Please. It'll be like back at school when you used to let me spend the night in your dorm room."

George turned back and gave a little shrug. "Sounds like she really wants you to stay the night."

Angelina clambered off Fred and joined Katie on the sofa. "It could be fun to have a sleepover like the old days."

Alicia knew then that she would be staying. All she wanted to do was make her friends happy from now on. She owed them her time and attention. So she reluctantly dropped George's hand and returned to her spot on the sofa.

It was about half past eight when Alicia woke up alone in Katie's bed the next morning. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept in so late. The sound of Muggle music playing in another room had ultimately roused her. She took a moment to stretch luxuriously after being squeezed between her friends for hours. They'd initially enlarged Katie's bed, but the spell had worn off sometime during the night and no one could be bothered to get up and try again. Cramped conditions aside, Alicia hadn't slept that well because she spent all night thinking about George.

She was really at a loss now. She needed to call in reinforcements.

"Oh, you're up."

Alicia looked over to see Katie standing in the doorway with a plate full of pancakes. "Yeah. Sorry. You should have woken me when you got up."

"It's all right. I was coming to wave some pancakes under your nose. Are you hungry?"

"Famished." Alicia grinned and rolled off the bed. "Is Angelina still here?"

Katie nodded. "She's on her second plate of pancakes and doesn't look like stopping any time soon. She says the team nutritionists can kiss her fat arse. You better get into the kitchen before there's none left."

Alicia stopped by the bathroom to freshen up a little then joined her friends at the kitchen table. Angelina was enthusiastically attacking a stack of syrupy pancakes as she sat down. Katie handed her a plate of her own and she began to eat.

"It seemed like you didn't sleep well," Katie said to Alicia as she too took a seat at the table. "Something wrong, love? Aren't you happy to be back with us?"

Alicia forced a smile. "Ecstatic. I can't say I missed Angelina's snoring though."

"I donot snore," Angelina replied tartly. "Whatever you're upset about has something to do with George. That much I'm sure of."

"How could you possibly know that?" Alicia demanded. So much for the big secret.

Angelina shrugged, reaching for more syrup. "I could tell something was up with George. I lived with him for long enough and he shares so many mannerisms with Fred that it was glaringly obvious."

Katie nodded in agreement. "I could tell something weird was going on as well but I just figured George was still embarrassed and nervous around you after what happened all those years ago at the Yule Ball."

Alicia almost choked on her mouthful of pancake. "Oh God, no. How do you know about the Yule Ball incident?"

"Angelina told me."

"Fred told me."

"This is so embarrassing. I'm going to kill George."

"I can't believe you actually managed to keep it to yourself in the first place," Angelina said. "All you did was natter on about George for years then you neglected to tell us that you had sex with him."

"Because it was mortifying!"

"Don't worry yourself about it. No one's first time is good," Katie reassured her. "I mean, mine was perfect but I'm probably the exception."

"Actually, my first time was pretty great as well," Angelina said.

"Wow, you two are making me feel so much better."

"Who cares though?" Angelina asked. "It was years ago and a lot has changed."

"For a start, George isn't a crap shag anymore."

"What?" Alicia whispered, staring at Katie in shock.

"Oh! I don't know from personal experience or anything like that! I'd never do that to you and he's too much like a brother to me now anyway."

"Some of his ex-girlfriends liked to overshare," Angelina explained, a sour look on her face.

"Ex-girlfriends?" Alicia echoed.

"Of course. Were you hoping he'd been saving himself for you this whole time?"

"I'm not that selfish. I realise I don't own him but I thought I would have heard if he'd had a significant relationship. It made the French papers when Percy got married."

Katie looked at Angelina briefly then shrugged. "Well, I suppose Gwen was the only significant relationship he's had."

"Right," Angelina agreed. "George doesn't exactly shy away from media attention but he's always evasive when it comes to his love life. Even when that stupid slag Rita Skeeter won't leave him alone."

Katie suddenly gasped and slapped her hand down on the table. "It was you! I read Skeeter's column last week and I thought it was just another one of his blind dates but it didn't properly click till now. You kissed George outside the shop that night!"

Alicia nodded, glad that Katie had worked it out on her own. It felt less like she was betraying George that way. "Someone saw George kiss me when we were standing out the front of the shop."

Angelina dropped her fork with a noisy clatter. "Wait. George kissed you?"

Alicia met her gaze boldly. "Yes. More than once actually."

"You're telling me he still kissed you after you told him about Jake and Warrington?"

Alicia sighed and dropped her own fork. "I only told him about Jake that night. I wanted to give him time to adjust to that first but Warrington showed up at the shop in Diagon Alley and the cat was out of the bag."

"That bastard!" Katie shouted. "What an awful way for poor George to find out. He must have felt so blindsided."

"It definitely wasn't how I wanted him to find out. We ended up having a huge fight and he told me he needed to take a few days to think about whether he could deal with the whole Warrington thing. That was on Wednesday though and he still hasn't told me what he wants to do. That's why it was weird between us last night."

Angelina let out a disbelieving breath. "This is some mess you've gotten yourself into."

"I know. I need your help sorting it out. I haven't got a clue what I should do now."

Katie nudged Angelina. "Should we help her?" she asked in a stage whisper.

"I don't know," Angelina mused. "I'm not sure she deserves our help after everything she's done."

"But there's also George to consider. We don't want him to end up heartbroken and we both know what he's like."

"I suppose we do owe it to George at the very least. He's always been there for both of us."

Alicia sighed. "Are you two done yet?"

"Aw, she looks so desperate, Ange. We should help her."

"I suppose that's what friends do for each other. She'd owe us big time though."

"I'll do whatever you want!" Alicia said. "Just tell me what I should do!"

"Obviously you'll have to go see George today."

Angelina nodded in agreement. "It's pretty simple. Even you can't mess it up."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Alicia said dryly. "Fred gave me similar advice but I'm not so sure. I'm not in any position to be putting pressure on him. Maybe I should give him the space he obviously wants."

"No," Katie said firmly. "George isn't great at relationships, okay. It took him over two weeks to decide to ask out Gwen and he almost missed his chance with her."

"And Gwen is much prettier and nicer than you," Angelina added helpfully. "So you could end up waiting months."

"Bitch," Alicia muttered and snatched a pancake off her plate. "Do you really think he won't do anything unless I make a move first?"

"George is just going to think and think and think. He'll end up overthinking himself straight into a nervous breakdown."

"Katie's right. George is sweet, but he's also dumb. He's just a big red-headed puppy dog really. You have to take charge of this. Trust me. I'm uniquely qualified in the field of Weasley twin thought processes."

"All right. I understand what you're saying but I can't go see him today. Jake is getting dropped off in less than two hours."

Katie shrugged. "Then just go see him now."

"Now?"

Angelina stood up and pulled her wand out of her pocket. She waved it at their plates and they all floated over to the sink which simultaneously began to fill with water. "Yes! Get your arse to Hogsmeade right now. It's Sunday so the shop won't open till ten but he said last night he's going to be there early."

"But I want to be here with you two. I owe you some attention right now."

Angelina tutted and wandered over to the sink. "Relax. We survived without you for six years. An hour without your illuminating presence is hardly going to kill us."

Katie stood up and wrapped her arms around Alicia's shoulders from behind. "She means to say that we appreciate the effort you're trying to make but this is more important. Everyone just wants you and George to be happy."

"But I'm not even ready to go there now. I'll have to go home and change and put on makeup and do my hair. And I don't even know what to say!"

"There's no time for you to go home. Shower here then borrow some clothes off Katie and we'll sort out your hair and makeup. It'll take half an hour at most. As for what to say, just tell George that he's not the only man in the world and you'll quite happily move on if he doesn't make up his mind right then and there. Simple."

Alicia let Katie pull her to her feet. As desperate as she was for a resolution, the thought of going back to Hogsmeade made her feel queasy. "I don't know, Lina. That could backfire on me. What if he decides he doesn't want to be with me?"

Angelina tossed a cheeky wink over her shoulder. "Then you'll be free to move on to Montague or Flint next."

"That's offensive and uncalled for," Alicia snapped.


A/N: Thanks for reading. If you're enjoying this and want more please let me know. I haven't been motivated to work on this story lately so some encouragement would be much appreciated. Also, I just wanted to give everyone fair warning now that the rating on the story will be going up soon, as there will be a sex scene eventually. If that's not your cup of tea then maybe stop reading now before you get too invested. Alternatively, I'll also give a warning at the start of that particular chapter so you can just skip the smut if you want to. Thank again! Next chapter: Alicia goes to see George. They may or may not snog up against a wall...