A/N: This short chapter is just a bit of filler before we delve into the plot a little more. It's a cute flashback to Hogwarts, circa Goblet of Fire. It was fun to be writing a scene back at the school. Enjoy!
Sometimes Alicia really hated being a woman.
Now was one of those times. Her cramps this month were bad enough that all she could do was lie in bed and grit her teeth and groan in frustration.
But George was there at her back, curled around her with one of his large, warm hands on her lower abdomen. He'd come over to her flat because they'd planned to go running in the park. But Alicia's period had hit her hard that morning and exercise was the last thing she felt like doing.
"You sure I can't do anything?" George asked, sweeping her hair aside to kiss the nape of her neck.
Alicia shivered. Their breakthrough at the Burrow had only happened a couple of days ago, so it was still new to be kissed by him and it always sent her stomach swooping. They could be having hot, sweaty sex right now if it wasn't for her reproductive system having a meltdown.
"I'll be fine. Normally my periods are light, but every once in a while I'll have a bad one. It'll ease off in a couple of hours though."
"Do you want me to go so you can have a nap or something?"
"Please stay," Alicia said immediately and twisted so she could roll onto her back to look at him. "Your hand feels lovely on my tummy. I'm too uncomfortable to sleep and I won't be very energetic company, but if you're happy to just lie here with me I'd like you to stay."
"Whatever you want, sweetheart."
Alicia sighed contently and snuggled into his side. "You're the best. I'm sorry we had to miss out on our run."
George shrugged one shoulder. "Oliver will probably care, but I don't."
So far, they'd made plans to train the last two days, but both times had been derailed by sex, which, honestly, wasn't much of a hardship. Still, Alicia knew she had to get her arse moving and get some semblance of fitness back before the match. George never pushed her and it was too tempting to forgo the exercise in favour of losing herself in a glorious orgasm.
She could actually do with some nagging from Oliver right about now, but he was still busy with the Scottish team for another week or so. Katie had wanted to run drills while Angelina was away, but Alicia had stalled her on the flying. Her old Cleansweep wasn't really up to the job, and she was hoping to be able to borrow a broom off someone soon. So, effectively, she had done no training whatsoever for the charity match.
"To be honest, it'll be nice to just lie here for a bit. It's been non-stop with Fred gone."
"You have been working very hard," Alicia agreed. "We can just lie here and talk. I love listening to your voice."
"Really?"
"Mmhmm. Tell me a story or something."
"I might have one," he said after a few seconds of thought. "I've been meaning to tell you about it for a while actually. It's a bit embarrassing though."
Alicia turned her head and grinned at him. "Sounds perfect. Go on."
George cupped her jaw and turned her face back towards the ceiling. "Seriously, I can't look you in the eye while I tell this story."
"I'm very intrigued, but okay." Alicia rolled back onto her side, facing away from him. She pulled his arm tighter around her and pushed his hand up beneath her shirt to cup her belly firmly again. "All right. What's this embarrassing story about then?"
"The Yule Ball. I told you that I asked you to go with me because Fred really wanted me to go and you were the only Gryffindor girl left without a date. That's not entirely true."
"What do you mean?"
"It all started thanks to Jeremy Sanderson."
Alicia half sat up in surprise. "The Ravenclaw in the year above us? The hot Ravenclaw?"
He and Cedric had been widely regarded as the two best-looking boys at the school. Alicia had never had any interaction with Jeremy since he wasn't in her year and he hadn't been involved with Quidditch. She had never been a member of his fan club either, mainly because she'd had her own redhead to silently obsess over at the time. But she remembered Jeremy had been really handsome and well-liked by everyone.
George pulled her back down to the bed. "Just listen to the story and don't judge me too harshly. Remember, I was a hopeless sixteen-year-old boy…"
18th December 1994
George was in the library that afternoon. Yeah. The actual library. What's more, he currently had seven or eight books clustered around on the table in front of him. He looked like any other studious swot in there who spent too much time reading and not enough time having fun.
Except George wasn't doing anything related to schoolwork that day. He'd dragged himself to the library because he needed some books on advanced spells he wasn't entirely familiar with. He'd come up with an idea for an apparatus that would allow someone to eavesdrop on a conversation that was happening somewhere else. He wanted to have something practical to demonstrate before he went to Fred with the idea.
But the magic was proving finicky. There were a few different Charms required and some of them were counteracting the others. All the components just wouldn't come together. Hence all the books and the trip to the accursed library.
George looked over his shoulder and found Madam Pince was still watching him suspiciously. He gave her a pleasant wave and smile then turned back to his work. If only he could find a substitute for the –
"Hullo."
George looked up from his dusty book and frowned. It was that Ravenclaw that every girl at the school fancied. Jeremy something-or-other. "Hi," he replied uncertainly.
"Uh…"
"George," he supplied, barely fighting the urge to roll his eyes.
"Right. George. Have you got a minute?"
Not really, he thought. "Sure," was what he said though.
Jeremy pulled out the chair across the table and sat down. He sat there for a moment drumming his fingers on the tabletop till George raised his eyebrows questioningly.
"You're friends with Alicia Spinnet, right?"
George shrugged. He didn't really know how that worked. Was he? Probably. She didn't talk to him all that much though, and they hadn't spent much time together this year thanks to Quidditch being cancelled. "Yeah, I guess you could say we're friends," he answered uncertainly.
"So is it true she doesn't have a date to the Yule Ball yet?"
How was he supposed to know something like that? He wasn't keeping up on the gossip regarding the Ball – he couldn't care less in fact. Girls were constantly chattering about it though. He actually remembered the three Chasers talking about it that morning over breakfast. George had only been half listening, but he recalled Angelina had been teasing Alicia that she'd have to go with Gregory Goyle if she didn't hurry up and find a date.
"Last I heard she didn't have a date."
Jeremy nodded and rubbed his hands together. "Great. That's fab actually. Do you know where I can find her, by any chance?"
George shrugged. "Does it look like I would know her daily schedule?"
"Oh."
"Usually if you find one of the Chasers, you'll find the other two. I don't know where they like to hang out though. Why do you want to find her?"
"To ask her to the Ball, of course."
"You don't have a date?"
Jeremy shook his head, looking a little miffed. "I was supposed to be going home for Christmas. My parents were insisting, but I guess my complaining became too much because they owled me last night and said I could stay at the castle."
"And Alicia's the only decent girl left without a date now?"
"I'd say she's more than decent, but yes. I heard a rumour that she was dateless and I couldn't quite believe it, so I thought I better confirm before I make an arse out of myself."
George had seen her reject a couple of boys already, but she'd probably say yes to Jeremy. Any girl at the school would.
Jeremy slid his chair back and stood up. "Well, thanks for that. Any advice on how I should ask her?"
"Dunno. I suppose using English would be a good start."
Jeremy chuckled. "You're funny, Weasley. All right. I'll see you around. Thanks again."
George nodded to him then lowered his gaze back to his work. What a pointless interruption. Oh well. Back to the grind. He flicked through a few more pages then stopped, turning to gaze out the nearby window. Light snow had started to fall that morning, leaving the grounds now looking like the front picture on the sort of Christmas card his mum would buy.
So Alicia was getting herself a date to the Ball. Good for her. He didn't have a date; he wasn't even planning on going.
Fred was taking Angelina and Lee was taking Valerie, one of the other Gryffindor girls from their year. Both of them were sure they would end up losing their virginity after the Ball and they hadn't stopped going on about it for days. They'd teased him plenty about his lack of a date (and therefore his non-existent chances of getting shagged) but George had just shrugged them off. He didn't particularly care.
But really…good for Alicia. She'd be happy to go with Jeremy what's-his-face. She deserved to go with someone like him. He seemed like a nice enough bloke.
Alicia was nice enough as well. And fairly pretty.
George tapped at his chin and sat back in his chair. If he absolutely had to pick someone to take to the Ball, he'd ask someone just like Alicia. Not Alicia herself obviously. That would be weird.
Wouldn't it?
She'd never gone out of her way much to interact with him outside of Quidditch. She'd occasionally helped him with his Muggle Studies homework over the years, but otherwise they spent virtually no time alone together.
Maybe he ought to make more of an effort with her. He only had a year and a half left at school with her and he felt like he barely knew her. It'd be nice to get to know her better. She was quite pretty.
Something registered vaguely in the back of his mind. She had blue eyes. And slight dimples on her cheeks. And she was quite smart, always doing well in class. She was definitely one of the best Quidditch players in the school.
Alicia was really pretty, he realised.
What a lucky guy that Jeremy was. Lucky, lucky guy. Maybe George would be able to get a girl like that himself one day. Just not Alicia, because she was taken now. Except that she really wasn't…yet.
"Weasley! If you are not using those books you must return them to their rightful places immediately so other students may make use of them!"
"Sorry," George muttered, lurching to his feet. "I'm done with them, Madam Pince, but I'm afraid I don't have time to put them away. I have something I really need to do right now."
"Don't you dare move a muscle, Weasley!"
But George was already jogging out of the library, wracking his brain. He had to get to Alicia first. He had to ask her to the Ball before Jeremy could. How could he not know where she could be? The Marauder's Map, he thought suddenly. But he'd have to go all the way back to Gryffindor Tower to get it from Harry's room. That would take a good ten minutes even if he ran the whole way.
Fucking hell. Why had he even told Jeremy that she was dateless? Why couldn't he have realised he wanted to ask her fifteen minutes ago? Then he could have told that git that she was going with someone then he'd be free to ask her himself without the need to rush.
Because, deep down, for some inexplicable reason, George had a feeling Alicia might say yes to him if he got to her before Jeremy. He thought Alicia might actually be happy to go to the Yule Ball with him. He could even picture the smile on her beautiful face.
So he had to find her first. Right. It was snowing outside and she always complained at Quidditch practice when it got too cold. She wouldn't be outside then. She was never the type to be cooped up in the common room either.
Alicia had to be somewhere else in the castle. He'd known her for years! How could he not know what she liked to do besides Quidditch? Fred was always telling him that it was time to start paying attention to girls, before all the good ones were taken. Well, he was paying attention now. He just hoped he wasn't too late.
It was almost lunchtime; maybe she was already in the Hall with the other two. Perhaps he could just go there and wait for her to show up and hope Jeremy hadn't found her in the meantime. But he really, really wanted to get to her first. He couldn't quite pinpoint why, mostly because there was a lot of adrenaline and hormones surging through his body right now. But he wanted to be the one to dance with her at the Ball. To touch her waist, maybe kiss her a bit. The idea of having to watch her do all that with Jeremy made his stomach clench.
Fuck! Okay. Think!
He was probably better off just going back to the Tower to grab the Map. George stopped in his tracks and spun around…and ran right into Lee and Valerie coming out of an empty classroom. They'd just finished quite the snogging session, judging by Lee's wide grin and Valerie's pink cheeks.
"Oi, watch where you're going," Lee snapped, putting a protective arm around Valerie's waist.
"Sorry. Have either of you seen Alicia since breakfast?"
"No. Why?"
"I need to speak to her. Urgently," George added bouncing from foot to foot impatiently.
"About what?" Valerie asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.
"I think I know, Val. You're gonna ask her, aren't you?" Lee nodded slyly to himself. "Yeah. You're finally gonna ask her. Talk about leaving it till the last minute."
"Don't look so fucking smug. Help me find her."
"Well, it's Saturday morning so she's probably at her book club meeting still," Lee answered.
"Wait, what? Since when is there a book club at Hogwarts? Has everyone been hiding this from Fred and me? Because we wouldn't prank them…much. Oh, look, never mind. How do you even know for sure Alicia's in it?"
"Because I actually talk to her, you tosser. I don't know where the club meets though. Val, my sweet? You feel like helping out a clueless git today?"
George gave her what he hoped was his most desperate, pleading look. It must have worked because she shrugged. "Okay. I feel like I'm still missing something here though. They're meeting in the Transfiguration classroom. I'd be there now as well but I got a better offer."
"Thanks!" George clapped Lee on the shoulder. "I'll see you at lunch and let you know what happens."
"You better hurry though. They'll be finishing up right about now," Valerie said.
George rushed off down the corridor and heard Valerie's voice in the distance ask, "Hang on. Was that Fred or George?"
She'd only been his housemate for over six years now, but whatever. George had more important things to concern himself with. Like getting to the Transfiguration classroom aaaaalll the way on the other side of the castle. Luckily, thanks to a few old friends, he happened to know of a few shortcuts.
When he finally ducked out from behind a tapestry and emerged into the right corridor, he was dismayed to find it empty and silent. He paused for a second to catch his breath. As he was bent forward, hands braced on his knees, he once again lamented the absence of Quidditch. His fitness had gone to shite without an incentive to exercise.
Jeremy had probably beaten him to it anyway. A club based around reading was right up a Ravenclaw's alley; one of his housemates would have undoubtedly told him Alicia would be there.
So it appeared he'd missed the meeting of this so-called club (it sounded boring as hell to him), but he went down to look into the classroom anyway. In the end, he almost didn't spot her. She was on one of the desks in the far corner, lying on her back with her legs hanging down over the edge. Her brown hair was fanned out around her head and she was reading a book she was holding suspended above her head.
He didn't want to startle her too much, so he cleared his throat from the doorway before he entered. She sat up abruptly, then slid off the desk and dropped her book all in the one motion.
"George? What are you doing here?"
Something deep down inside of him throbbed (his soul or his awakening libido – he wasn't sure which) and he fervently wanted to kiss her at that moment. Alicia somehow always knew when it was him. She never had trouble telling him and Fred apart and he'd never appreciated that small, simple gesture till now. She'd been doing it for years; she could do it from the other end of the Quidditch pitch, for Merlin's sake.
George realised he'd just been standing there staring at her lips like a prat, so he stepped into the room and walked towards her.
"I just found out about this spiffing little club of yours and I really want to join."
Alicia snorted and retrieved her dropped book. "Yeah right. What are you really doing here?"
George smirked at her instant dismissal of him. "I came to find you actually. I need to ask you something."
"What?" she asked, her voice lowered to barely above a whisper as she sat back down on the desk.
George settled onto the desk across the aisle from her. "Do you want to – I mean, would you like to go to the Ball?" She frowned uncertainly and he quickly added, "With me. As my Yule Ball date."
Alicia clutched her book to her chest like it was a protective talisman. Her eyes were big and watery. "Is this some sort of prank you're pulling on me?"
"No. Why would I pull a prank on you? I'm serious. Will you go to the Yule Ball with me?"
"But I don't understand."
"What's there to understand? I need a date and I heard this morning that you happen to be dateless as well. We can go together. It actually makes sense if you think about it."
"Oh. So we'll be going as friends."
George grinned at her. "If that's what you want. I personally wouldn't say no to a snog or two."
Alicia turned a pretty shade of pink and looked down at her feet. She seemed to blush and look away a lot when he spoke to her. He just figured she was shy around boys.
"You promise this isn't a joke?" she asked.
"I promise."
"And you won't change your mind if a better girl comes along and asks you?"
George shook his head adamantly. He hopped off the desk and stood in front of her. He could have easily leaned in a bit further and kissed her, but he had only done it a couple of times so far and he wasn't at all confident in his technique. He settled for touching her hair, brushing it back over her shoulder.
"I promise I won't change my mind. You'll be stuck with me for the whole night. That is, if you're going to say yes…"
"Yes!" she blurted. She laughed, the sound tumbling out of her mouth seemingly unbidden. "That would be lovely. You have no idea, actually. God. This is crazy."
George wasn't sure what she was talking about. All he felt at that moment was relief. And that insistent throb was still lingering.
"It's almost lunchtime. We should get down to the Hall," he said.
"This is crazy," she repeated, pressing the back of one hand to her flaming cheek. "I think I need a few minutes to myself. I'll finish this chapter then come down."
"No problem. I'll see you there." George gave her one last contemplative look, then headed for the door.
"George?"
He paused at the threshold and peered over his shoulder. "Yeah?"
"I'm really glad you asked me to the Ball."
"So am I." He smiled at her and threw in a wink for good measure. That was something people did when they fancied someone, right? Or was it considered too pervy? This was evidently going to be a steep learning curve for him.
Out in the empty corridor, he let out a relieved breath. He'd done it. He'd even managed to do it without coming off as too much of an inexperienced fool, which was even better.
Wait till he told Fred.
With that thought in mind, George started off down the corridor. Around the corner he came face-to-face with Jeremy the Ravenclaw.
"Weasley! Good to see you…again?"
"Yeah, it's George again."
"I thought so, but you know how it is. You wouldn't happen to know if Alicia's still in the Transfiguration classroom, would you?"
"Yeah, she's in there reading."
"Perfect. Then here goes nothing!"
George put a retraining hand on Jeremy's shoulder. "Listen, mate, you might want to save your breath. It actually turns out she's got a date."
"Oh, bugger. Who's she going with?"
"Me," George answered gleefully. He sidestepped quickly around the stunned seventh year and took off at a trot down the corridor.
"Oi! What the fuck, Weasley!"
Present day
"So there you have it. I obviously had to avoid Sanderson for the rest of the school year."
Alicia rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. "I still can't believe Jeremy Sanderson was going to ask me to the Yule Ball. What a shame. I remember he had the dreamiest hazel eyes and that lovely curly hair that every girl wanted to run her fingers through."
"Yeah, yeah," George huffed.
Alicia giggled and turned her head to kiss him on the cheek. "Just kidding. You know I only ever wanted to go to the Ball with you, Georgie."
"You wouldn't have said yes to Jeremy if he'd beaten me there?"
"I don't know," she admitted. "Angelina had been hounding me all week and I was kind of over the whole idea of going alone. Going with him might have been a little intense though. Lots of other girls would have been out to get me. I don't think I'd have had the stomach for all that attention back then."
"I suppose we'll never know then."
The revelation that George had fancied her before the Ball made Alicia's body hum with pleasure. She had always thought that it was the snogging and shagging that had attracted him to her. Because of the sequence of events, she assumed his horny teenage brain would have latched onto whichever girl he was with that night. To think that he had run all the way across the castle because he wanted to go to the Ball with her specifically! It was an intoxicating feeling; even better than finding out a fit seventh year boy had planned on asking her as well.
Alicia rolled over to face him again. "I don't get why you're so embarrassed by that story though. I thought it was really sweet."
"But I only realised I wanted you when there was a chance someone else might have you. Isn't that a little fucked up and possessive? Like, why couldn't I have worked it out on my own without Jeremy the Bland having to get involved?"
"I suppose you were just a late bloomer like you said. Maybe you needed that caveman instinct to kick in first to then get your teenage boy hormones going?"
George reached out and brushed his fingertips along her cheekbone. "Maybe. I just wish it hadn't taken me so long. Then it mightn't have been so intense. I would've had control of myself and our first date and first shag wouldn't have happened on the same night."
Alicia grabbed his hand and held it to her cheek. "Stop acting as though I wasn't a willing participant that night. I wasn't exactly in control of my hormones either. And by the sound of it we need to be grateful for Lee's insatiable teenage hormones as well. There's no way you'd have found me in time without bumping into him and Val first."
"Not to mention I wouldn't have made it across the castle that quickly if it weren't for James Potter and his crew of bad-arse rule breakers."
Alicia's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "Huh? What does Harry's dad have to do with it?"
George grinned and pressed his hand back to her stomach. "That'll be my next story for you then, my lovely. And what a hell of a story it is…"
A/N: So now that Alicia and George are officially together, we move onto what I consider to be part two of the story line. Thanks for all the follows, they've spurred me on to keep going.
