A/N: Hi again! The beginning of this chapter has a violent act described. It's not too graphic or gory but I figured a quick warning wouldn't hurt.


Alicia heaved in a deep breath and pushed hard for the last stretch of her run around Hogsmeade. George's house came in to view and she slowed to a light jog. He was waiting for her of course, a large grin on his face.

"That lap was almost a minute faster than last week. You're smashing it, pet."

"Thanks," was all she managed to say before she collapsed onto her knees on the grass.

"Have a nice stretch and relax now," he advised, patting the top of her damp head.

Alicia groaned. She was sweaty and sore all over, but it was an oddly satisfying feeling. At least she could now make it all the way around the village without wheezing like an eighty-year-old asthmatic. She whipped her shirt over her head and flopped backwards wearing only her sports bra. They'd been going at it for an hour already in the heat. "It's so bloody hot. It's inhuman."

There was now only a week to go before the match, and strangely, Alicia was feeling less and less nervous as the big day approached. The team had trained together several times now and things were clicking into place a lot better than anyone had expected. Sometimes it felt like only a few months had passed since the seven of them had played Quidditch together.

Alicia shaded her eyes with her hand and squinted up at George. "How are you still wearing your shirt? Take it off already and enjoy the sun. Remember we're in Scotland, so today could be your one chance this summer to get a tan."

"I'm incapable of tanning," he replied shortly. "I'll just get sunburned then end up with more freckles. Now stop trying to get me to take my clothes off and concentrate on your stretches."

Alicia sighed wearily and rolled onto her stomach. She grabbed hold of one of her ankles and pulled her heel towards her bum so that her quad muscle pulled tight. "For the record, I love freckles. The more freckles the better, I say."

"I'm just not comfortable taking my shirt off, all right."

"You realise I've seen you naked dozens of times at this point."

"It's not you I'm worried about. I don't ever take my shirt off in public."

Alicia made a scoffing sound in the back of her throat and switched legs. "We're hardly in public. Who's going to see us here behind your house? Mrs Krenshaw? I highly doubt she'd care about your scar. Seeing you shirtless would probably give her the first orgasm she's had in thirty years."

"That's a horrific image," George grunted as he dropped to the grass beside her. "Roll over."

Alicia obliged and smiled innocently up at him. "You really would be more comfortable without that hot, stifling fabric clinging to you."

George shook his head and grabbed hold of her right thigh. He pushed back on her leg till her knee hit her chest. "I take it you aren't going to shut up till I'm half-naked?"

"You know me so well already," she said sweetly, fighting the urge to wince as her hamstring was stretched to its limit.

George stared down at her for a moment before switching legs. Alicia could tell he wanted to give in to her, but the instinct to keep his stupid scar covered was strong. She was confident she'd break him of the habit sooner rather than later. During sex she could detour over to it now and press her lips to it without him freaking out and she was consequently less and less disconcerted by it every day. Progress all around.

Except even after weeks together, he still didn't walk around shirtless in front of her much, which was frankly a bloody travesty.

George released her leg and sat back on his heels. "Look, I don't want anyone to see my scar and be disgusted by it. Worse still, I don't want anyone seeing it and being reminded of the Battle."

"You can't worry about other people and their personal issues though. If they have a bad reaction to your scar then that's hardly within your control."

"I have control when I don't let anyone see it," he replied. "I don't want to upset anybody."

Alicia sighed and began to stretch her arms above her head leisurely. "I think you're being overcautious, but I suppose it's your body at the end of the day. Just don't come crying to me later when you end up with heat stroke."

George rolled his eyes and said, "I really doubt I'm going to end up with heat stroke, but whatever." He yanked his shirt over his head in one fluid motion. "You win."

"Yes I bloody do," Alicia chirped, sitting forward and clapping her hands gleefully. "Now lie down with me and enjoy the sun while it lasts."

She lay back down and patted her leg invitingly. George accepted the invitation and pillowed his head on her thigh. She sighed blissfully and closed her eyes. Her limbs became heavy; her muscles loosened and relaxed as if the sun was melting away some tension she hadn't been aware she'd been carrying. Her hand fell to George's head and she stroked his hair idly.

"It's not something I'm going to just get over, you know."

"I know," Alicia replied softly. "But if this scar is going to be there for the rest of your life then maybe you're better off embracing it."

"Showing it off you mean?"

"Not exactly. When people do happen to see it you should just own it though. It's not something shameful or sordid. You got it doing something heroic. Anyone who's disgusted by it can grow the fuck up."

"It's not that simple," George said flatly.

They lay there in silence for a while. Alicia wasn't sure what she could say anymore. He'd lived with the scar for years already without progress so he was hardly going to suddenly embrace it all just because she told him he should. There was history and trauma and anger and whatever else attached to it. There was a lot to untangle, but Alicia wasn't one to be put off easily. She needed to know the full story though. She'd avoided asking him to relive the ordeal, but now he seemed a little more open and receptive. Maybe he was ready to share with her.

"Can you tell me about it?"

George was silent for a moment and she assumed the answer was going to be no. "I figured you'd have heard the story from someone else by now."

"No one told me anything. I'd have stopped them anyway. I want to hear it from you, not a third party who wasn't even there. But only if you're ready to talk about it."

"You might not like what you hear," he warned.

"I'm definitely not going to like what I hear. I think I need to hear it though. At least so I can get an idea of where you're at with it."

"I'm much better these days. It was years ago remember."

"Yeah. But you have a daily reminder of the Battle that most other people don't have. It makes sense that it'd be a longer road to recovery for you."

George let out a resigned sigh. "I'll give you the gory details then, but you have to promise not to pity me. I don't need anyone feeling sorry for me."

"No one pities you," Alicia assured him, letting her hand trail down to cup his cheek briefly. "You're a hero as far as I'm concerned."

"You might not think that after hearing this."

"Georgie…"

"All right," he huffed. "I've never worked out exactly when it happened. Voldemort hadn't given Harry that ultimatum yet so it was before midnight at least. After you and I got separated I went off with Angelina, Katie and couple of other DA members to guard a passage and it was quiet for a while. I almost went back to the hall to find Kingsley to see if he had something more useful we could be doing."

Alicia could remember that moment. It was the calm before the storm. Everything had seemed peaceful, almost as if the whole thing had been a hoax. It hadn't felt like they were in the midst of a fight to the death. It hadn't lasted too long though.

"I never got the chance though and in the end I'm glad I didn't leave the corridor," George continued. "Everything hit at once and suddenly the walls were shaking with the impact of dozens of spells. Eight Death Eaters appeared out of nowhere and it was mayhem for a while, but everyone held their own well enough. We gradually broke apart though and starting fighting in pairs. I think that was our first mistake. We should have kept up a united front and not let them separate us."

"That was their plan all along. We were kids fighting against grown men with years of experience, so it's hardly surprising we played right into their hands," Alicia said.

George hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose…but hindsight, you know. Anyway, I eventually ended up on my own. It wasn't anyone's fault; it was hard to keep track of who was around at any one time. I only had one of the foul gits with me so I wasn't too worried about being alone. I had him on the run so all I had to do was hit him with a well-aimed trip jinx.

"I stunned him while he was down. It happened while I was kneeling to disarm him. I shouldn't have turned my back on the empty corridor. It wasn't really empty. Someone was there the whole time. He was Disillusioned."

"Lying in wait," Alicia said bitterly. "You couldn't have known someone else was there in the corridor with you."

"Maybe, but I still should have kept my guard up. I was cocky. I'd just knocked out a Death Eater. I felt invincible. I couldn't wait to drag him to the hall and show everyone how well I'd done." George was quiet for a second, then he cleared his throat and continued. "The second Death Eater hit me in the back with a full-body bind. I fell forward on to the first one, completely paralysed from head to toe."

Alicia swallowed hard. An awful thought entered her mind and she realised it would have been simpler for the Death Eater to hit him with an Avada while his back was turned. The idea that he'd immobilised George so he could then drive a blade into his stomach made bile rise in her throat. That was torture. That was a whole other level of sadism she wasn't prepared for.

"He never took his mask off," George said, his voice becoming raspy. "He spoke though so I heard his voice. He flipped me onto my back and laughed once he saw my face. He said it was his lucky day. He said he'd caught himself a weasel."

"He knew who you were?" Alicia asked.

"I don't think it was a coincidence he called me a weasel. I guess my whole family was on Voldemort's hit list and my red hair was a dead giveaway. He never called me George though. Or Fred for that matter. I doubt he knew of us that intimately since he spoke with a heavy accent. It was Eastern European I think, but I'm not good with that sort of thing. Plus, I was busy being terrified."

Alicia groped around till she found his hand. She squeezed it. She honestly didn't want to hear anymore, but she had asked for it so she figured she ought to let him continue.

"That's when he pulled out the knife. I don't remember it being fancy or particularly magical looking. It was a bit like a short dagger. He held it in front of my face so I could see how sharp it was before he lifted my shirt. He said he wanted to see what my insides looked like."

"Oh God," Alicia said, her breath hitching as she imagined herself standing by and watching that nightmarish scene. She wanted to tell him to stop; she hoped he would just end the story right there.

"I remember it burned," George said. "It might've just been the dark magic. Maybe it always feels like that when someone cuts you open. I don't know what was supposed to come next because a noise nearby spooked him."

"Who was there?"

"I never found out. They ran past our corridor without stopping, but it was enough to get the Death Eater to scarper. I don't know how long I was lying there paralysed. It felt like an hour, but I suppose I'd be dead if I'd been there for that long. Eventually the spell wore off enough that I could call for help. Bill, Fleur and dad found me."

Alicia scrambled up on her knees, causing George's head to hit the grass with a thump. She threw herself on top of him, burying her face in his neck quickly so he wouldn't spot the tears in her eyes. She squeezed him, wanting to feel every inch of him alive and well beneath her. He held her just as tightly and kissed the top of her head.

"That's it. That's the story."

"It can't be. Where's the Death Eater now? Please tell me he's dead."

"I don't know. All I know is he wasn't one of the lot thrown in Azkaban. He probably didn't die during the battle either."

Alicia pulled back far enough to look down at George. "So you're saying he escaped?

"The official term Aurors use is 'unaccounted for'." George brushed some loose strands of hair from her face before continuing. "But yeah…he escaped. A fair few of them got away that night but eventually most were caught. They all turned on each other pretty quickly once their necks were on the line. Lucius Malfoy himself named two dozen or so Death Eaters he knew hadn't been rounded up. My old mate wasn't one of them though."

"How does anyone know for sure? If you didn't see his face then you can't identify him."

"The Auror department recorded every interview they conducted and they let me listen to the ones with foreign Death Eaters. I didn't recognise any of the accents. None of them even knew of an Eastern European man being there that night. He's a ghost."

Alicia sat up then as she realised she was becoming rather sweaty lying on George like that. She crossed her legs and rested her elbows on her knees. It was all a little strange. Why would a Death Eater have been hiding in a corridor and not fighting? Was George his target? Why bother to target a relatively minor player in the war?

She frowned thoughtfully as her mind started making leaps and bounds. "Maybe the accent was a ruse. What if it was someone you knew all along?"

"That doesn't change anything. I'm still here with this foul scar and they're in the wind."

"I could ask Chris if he knows anything about a Death Eater with an accent."

George narrowed his eyes. "I thought you said he didn't hang around with Death Eaters."

"He didn't. But his dad was right in the thick of it so he might have seen or heard something by chance. Wouldn't hurt to ask," Alicia said with a shrug.

George sat up, leaning back on his hands and giving her a solemn look. "No. I don't need Warrington thinking I'm some sort of damaged charity case. I told Harry and Ron to drop the investigation years ago. I want you to drop it as well. Speculating won't do us any good. It certainly won't make the scar disappear."

Alicia reached out and tentatively pressed her fingertips to the angry, red slash that marred his pale skin. As always, it was warmer than the rest of him. "It's dropped then," she said firmly. "Thanks for telling me what happened. I wish I could have been there to stop it happening, but I was likely unconscious. I have no excuse for not being there after though. I was cheerily skipping around Paris while you were still in pain and trying to find the man who hurt you."

"We were barely friends," he reminded her. "Never mind the weird history we had that made it awkward to be together. I never begrudged your decision to leave. I know it wasn't as if it was a choice between me and Paris. You don't owe me anything."

"Everyone owes you. Is there an award higher than the Order of Merlin, First Class?" George snorted and Alicia folded her arms resolutely. "I'm serious. Can we get you knighted? Or a sainthood even?"

"I'm pretty sure another George got to the saint thing before me." He reached over and cupped her cheek. "I appreciate your support, I really do, but I don't need you to take up my cause. I definitely don't need any award or title."

Alicia leaned forward and kissed him soundly. They fell back on the grass and snogged for a while, forgetting the stifling summer heat and the fact they were in public. George eventually rolled on top of her and broke the kiss.

"Tell you what I could do with," he said. "A bloody shower. You've made me all sweaty."

Alicia smiled angelically up at him. "So sorry. Scrub your back to make up for it?"


My dearest Alicia,

I trust this letter finds you well. I must apologise for the lateness of my reply. I rarely venture out to the post office these days. I'm afraid your letter remained there unread for two weeks. News of the match at Hogwarts did reach me here on the island and I was most happy to see your name listed for our Gryffindor team.

I very much appreciated your invitation to attend, but unfortunately, I believe my days of international travel are behind me. Please pass on my thanks to Harry and Ginevra as well. I'm glad my donation to the school was put to good use. I was never much of a flyer back in the day, but I loved nothing more than to cheer on our side from the stands.

I know you will do us all proud and I look forward to hearing your account of the match in our next correspondence.

Stay safe, poppet, and give Jake my love.

Yours,

Tiberius J. Ogden

Alicia refolded the letter and smiled to herself. It was comforting to see the looping, formal handwriting again. She'd spent months scouring his notes so she knew it well. It was nice to be called poppet again too. Tiberius had called her that during their first few weeks in Paris because he kept forgetting her name. After that it became a term of endearment he kept using.

He was like a grandfather to her so she was ecstatic to finally receive his reply. The wait had been agonising and she'd been on the verge of asking Harry if he could find out whether Tiberius was all right over there. Alicia hadn't really expected him to be able to come back to Scotland either. International portkeys were rough at the best of times and Tiberius was in his mid-nineties now.

Maybe she could go and visit him soon. She'd almost gone to stay with him for a few days following her split with Chris, but she'd ended up at one of Marie's summer houses in Majorca instead.

Alicia nibbled at her sandwich and stared off into the distance. A holiday with George would be nice. She was thinking it was about time to let Jake know that she wasn't only friends with him. Not that Jake would completely understand the implications of that yet.

The match was in three days, then after that she'd be free to spend a little time abroad. George certainly deserved a break. Perhaps he'd be up for visiting France with her and spending time with the friends she'd made over there.

"Can you come for lunch then? Who's here with you today?"

Alicia dropped her sandwich in surprise. She hadn't been expecting to hear that familiar voice yet.

"I hired a new girl," came George's reply from just outside the door to the Wheezes storeroom.

"Oh yeah. Anyone I know?"

"You might recognise her, yeah."

Alicia jumped to her feet just as George came through the door, followed closely by Lee.

"Bloody hell!"

"Lee!"

"Alicia?"

She ran over to hug the stunned man as George grinned at them both and said, "Did I forget to mention in my last letter that she was back already?"

"I didn't think I'd get to see you till the day of the match," Lee said, his eyes scouring her face. "How long have you been back?"

"I moved back to London a couple of months ago. I only started working for the twins recently."

Lee let go of her and turned to look at George. "Why am I always the last to know everything?" he demanded. "Anything else I need to know?"

"A few minor things," George replied coyly. He exchanged a knowing look with Alicia then said, "Why don't you two go to lunch instead and I'll watch the shop?"

"But my break's almost over."

George waved that comment away carelessly. "Don't worry about it. You two have a lot of catching up to do and I'll be seeing Lee later at dinner anyway. Go and have fun."

"You're the best." Alicia went over and kissed him on the cheek. "I guess it pays to be sleeping with the boss, huh."

"Excuse me, what?"

Alicia laughed and grabbed Lee's arm as he stared at the two of them in shock. "I'll explain down at the 'Sticks. Come on."

"What the hell's been going on back here? You and George are…something?"

"We're a couple," George answered. "So hands to yourself at lunch, mate."

"Merlin's balls. No one tells me anything!"

Alicia ended up having to drag Lee out of the shop as he fired questions at them. Out on the street she looped her arm around his and started towards the Three Broomsticks.

"It's only been a few weeks so there are plenty of other people who don't know we're together. It's not like you're literally the last to know."

"I got a letter from George barely a week ago and he didn't mention you at all," Lee huffed.

Alicia knew he hated being left out. She'd spent a fair amount of time with Lee back at school thanks to the classes they took together. They'd been the only two Gryffindors to take Care of Magical Creatures and Astronomy all the way to NEWTs. Lee always paired off with her because he knew she was shy and uncertain when it came to mingling with the other houses. He never ditched her, even when there was some girl in the class he was trying to get off with.

Conversely, she had looked out for him after the twins left. Lee was suddenly without his two best friends and he became a little listless and despondent. Alicia made sure to include him in her little group with Angelina and Katie. Maybe that was when the seed was planted with Katie?

"So you're living alone in London?"

"Sort of…"

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Alicia smiled and shook her head. "I suppose a busy man like yourself wouldn't have time to read trash like the Daily Prophet."

"I've barely had time to scratch my arse lately. I've been a little preoccupied for the past two months trying to infiltrate a black market for magical creatures that operates out of Croatia."

"That's brilliant," she enthused, squeezing his arm briefly. "You've done such great work over the years. That time you took down the African warlord was my favourite."

"He wasn't a warlord yet," Lee replied modestly.

"But he was illegally using magic to make muggles do his bidding so it was only a matter of time before he became one of the most powerful men in Africa. He might've been untouchable then. God knows how many hundreds of lives you saved by exposing him."

"I have a team helping me, you know. It's not like I go in alone to pull off these exposés."

"But it's your voice we all hear on the radio. You're the one front and centre during all those nail-biting moments. Honestly, you're like James Bond or something. Do you know who that is? Don't worry, we'll watch a movie together sometime."

Lee gave her one of his customary bright smiles. He didn't look all that different to how she remembered him years ago. Perhaps a little skinnier now that she looked him up and down closely. His dreadlocks were long enough that he could tie them up at the nape of his neck and his twinkling eyes were still full of mischief. Alicia couldn't really blame Katie for keeping up her little arrangement with him.

They entered the Three Broomsticks and settled at an empty table close to the bar. Alicia picked up the menu and gave it a cursory look even though she wasn't hungry and she knew the whole thing off by heart. Anything to stall the proceedings.

"So, I take it there's something else you need to tell me," Lee said, fixing her with an expectant look. "I didn't miss that weird little moment between you and George."

Alicia sighed and stood back up. "I'll go get us a couple of firewhiskeys first."

He chuckled uncertainly. "Isn't it a little early in the day for whiskey?"

She patted him on the shoulder as she walked past and said, "Trust me. You're going to need it."


A/N: Felt like I needed a Lee scene. He needs more love in the fandom.

Next time I'll have a quidditch match for you. Probably split into two parts at this stage. Thanks for reading!