George tossed the frying pan carelessly back into the cupboard then slammed the door shut. There was a corresponding groan from behind him. He randomly opened another cupboard then slammed the door again just for the hell of it.

"Is all that banging around really necessary?" Warrington grunted.

"Probably not."

Warrington replied with something under his breath that George didn't catch. But he got the general idea that it wasn't complimentary.

Truthfully, George would have normally used magic to clean up while he sat down and had a cuppa, but he felt like he needed to keep his hands busy. It took a lot to rile him up these days, but if anyone was capable of it, it was Warrington. He could feel the irritation buzzing away below the surface of his skin even now. What had Alicia said earlier? Something about a match and a fuse?

"You clearly have something to get off your chest. Why don't you stop being passive aggressive and just come out with it already?"

George took a deep breath and put a couple of plates away. Another slammed door. "I honestly wouldn't even know where to begin with you."

"I didn't lay a finger on her last night."

"I know that," George snapped. "I don't trust you whatsoever, but I trust Alicia implicitly. She'd have kicked you out on your arse if you'd tried anything with her."

"Then what's the problem here? If you agree that I did nothing wrong, why are you over there storming around like a hippogriff in heat?"

George whirled around at that. "Are you fucking normal? I never said you did nothing wrong! Do you really not see the problem?"

Warrington closed his eyes and muttered, "I'm too tired and hungover to play guessing games right now. If you're not going to make this plain and simple, I'll leave you to get on with your tantrum alone."

Tantrum? Like he was some sort of child? George felt something inside of him snap. A hot burst of anger overrode his senses and he strode over to the table. It was always going to come to this, he realised.

Match meet fuse.

"You want plain and simple? Fine!" George pointed his finger across the table and his other hand clenched reflexively into a fist. "You're a parasite."

"Excuse me?"

"You're nothing but a blood-sucking leech."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Warrington asked, the responding flash of anger in his eyes not masked by his current condition.

"It means that whatever this is between you and Alicia isn't healthy."

"We're friends now. Even I know that's the best case scenario for exes. How can that be unhealthy?"

"Because all you do is take advantage of her!" George shouted, totally exasperated that he had to explain this. "You've taken advantage of her kindness and her soft spot for you over and over again! Do you truly not see that?"

"We're friends," Warrington repeated tightly. "That's how friendship works."

"It's supposed to go both ways though. What have you done for her lately? Besides disturb her sleep and stink up her flat and deprive her of her beloved caffeine. All you ever do is take from her!"

"That's just how she bloody is! She wants to help everyone; she wants to be the nurturer and the mother-hen."

"And you play right into all of that! You knew she wouldn't turn you away last night. You also knew she'd hand over her coffee this morning! You didn't even consider that she might be enjoying it or that she might need it just as much as you. Your first priority is always yourself."

"No!" Warrington shouted suddenly and it looked for a second like he was going to jump to his feet. "I didn't deprive her of anything because I knew you'd give her your coffee. You're just as predictable as she is! I knew you wouldn't pass up the chance to swoop in and play the hero. And for the record, you have no idea how much I've sacrificed for Alicia's sake."

"I know you went through some shit together back in Paris. Fine. Whatever. But you still haven't answered my question. What have you done for her lately? Lee isn't even in the country right now and he's still working hard to help Alicia out. He's been pulling strings and calling in favours all week to get her a job at wireless headquarters. Meanwhile, you live in the same city as her and I've never seen you lift a finger to make her life any easier."

"What do you expect me to do for her? She hates asking for help from anyone, let alone me. If she won't tell me what's troubling her then my hands are tied."

"There's nothing specifically troubling her. That's not what I'm trying to say here."

Warrington frowned doubtfully. "You sure about that? Because the Alicia I know would never forget you were coming over this morning. She'd definitely never forget she made plans for Jake. Remembering endless meetings and appointments was her main job back in France. For years I watched her organise Minister du Pont's calendar down to the last second and she was brilliant at it."

"She's tired is all," George replied dismissively. "There's been a lot going on lately and she's spreading herself too thin trying to take care of Katie and check-up on Oliver and help Angelina start wedding plans. That's why you need to back off."

"So I'm not the only one taking up her time. Did you give everyone else this lecture?"

"No, because they know how to reciprocate. You're just sucking the life out of her for your own selfish reasons. Think about it. If the situation was reversed and she'd showed up at your house in the middle of the night asking for help, would you have let her in?" Warrington didn't reply, which was enough of an answer for George. He nodded smugly and said, "Just as I thought. But that all ends now. I'm not going to stand by and let you take advantage of her anymore."

"That sounds an awful lot like a threat, Weasley," Warrington said coolly.

"That's because it definitely was one. I'm in control of what happens from here on out. You and Alicia might have history, but I'm her present and future. I have no doubt she'll choose me over you if it comes down to it."

Once again, Warrington's silence spoke volumes. George knew he agreed with that assessment of the situation. A couple of weeks ago it might have been a different story, but their relationship was strong now. It had evolved way beyond whatever she once had with Warrington.

"That being said, Alicia clearly wants you around for some reason," George continued. "I don't have a fucking clue what she sees in you and, honestly, I don't even care. I simply don't want to waste any more of my time and energy on you. That's why I'm not going to get in the way of this new friendship you're trying to start so long as you stop running to her with every little problem you have."

"How very magnanimous of you," Warrington said dryly.

"I'm not joking around here. I'll have no problem asking her to cut you off again. You don't make her life better in anyway so I won't be depriving her of anything. You and Jake will still have a relationship obviously, but she'll be free of you. I'll be free of you."

"Do you really think that's what she wants?"

"I think it's what's best for her. I also think she's a sucker for a sob story and you lay it on thick so she'll fuss over you. I definitely know she's better off without you dragging her down," George said firmly. "I'm watching out for her from now on, whether she needs me to or not. I'll also make the hard decisions for her if I have to."

Warrington closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath, as if taking a moment to compose himself. He stood up after another beat and George realised he was probably just trying not to vomit.

"Are you done?"

George nodded after a moment's reflection. "Yeah. I think that about covers it."

"Fantastic. I have things to do today. Namely go home and curl up into a ball and hopefully die quietly."

"Don't let me keep you then," George said, feigning cheerfulness.

Warrington slumped off, his hand pressed to the side of his head. He paused before he left though and George fought the very real urge to throw a chair at him.

"Just out of curiosity, Weasley, did you ever end up telling Alicia that I came to warn you before the Quidditch match?"

"What's that got to do with anything?" Geroge snapped.

"I'll take that as a no. Seems to me that I actually did go out of my way to try to keep her safe that time and you were the one who failed."

"I can't control what happens in the middle of a Quiditch match, idiot. Next time try cutting out the middle man and telling your teammates not to maim her in the first place."

Warrington just shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. "And yet you couldn't even bring yourself to tell her I'd tried to help. Maybe you need to consider why that is. Do you really want me to be the one who comes to her rescue? Are you sure you want those big blue eyes looking up at me all grateful and adoring?"

"I don't care who does the rescuing as long as she's safe," George said stiffly. It sounded weak even to his own ears.

"Right. Because Gryffindors notoriously hate playing the hero."

George opened his mouth, a snide retort ready on the tip of his tongue, but Warrington Apparated before he could speak. The flat was suddenly empty and silent. He kicked out at a chair in frustration. The urge to punch something wasn't entirely foreign to him, but he hadn't experienced it for a while. He had to calm down before Alicia got back.

Fucking arrogant Slytherin.

His relationship with Alicia was rock solid. The trust and respect went both ways and it was only going to get stronger. George was sure of it. Warrington was only fishing around blindly, hoping to poke holes in what they'd created. He wasn't going to come between them.

George wasn't going to let that happen.


The smell of curry was so pervasive and alluring in the tiny restaurant that it made Alicia's mouth water. The wait was always long there – the place was a Westminster institution at this point - but the pay-off would be more than worth it. So she waited patiently at her table, flipping through a Muggle gossip magazine. Between George and Jake, she didn't get many nights to herself anymore so sitting alone in one of her favourite restaurants was actually a bit of a treat.

There was something to be said for peace and quiet and relative solitude.

Right in the middle of an article about the latest royal family gossip, Alicia was interrupted by someone calling her name. She recognised the voice and wondered for a moment if she could get away with pretending she hadn't heard. But that became a moot point when he wandered over to her table and said hello.

"Oh, hi, Harry. Didn't see you over there."

He smiled down at her affably and hitched his glasses back up his nose. "No problem. Are you here on your own?"

Alicia blushed a little because it probably seemed weird to him. "Yeah. Jake is with his dad and George had a meeting tonight up in Glasgow. Not that I mind a little time to myself."

"And this place serves the best chicken tikka masala in London," Harry replied, nodding knowingly.

Alicia sighed wistfully. "Definitely. I think this was the food I missed most in Paris. You can't beat a well-made, authentic curry. I wasn't expecting it to be quite this busy on a Wednesday night though."

"Yeah, I've learned to call ahead. We were just picking up some dinner for the team back at the office," Harry said, gesturing back over his shoulder. Alicia followed his gaze over to the man by the counter who was standing there with his arms folded and eyes warily scanning the hungry hoard around him. He was dressed in Muggle clothes like Harry, but he stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Your colleague gives off undercover cop vibes," she said lightly.

Harry chuckled. "He's a bit full on, yeah. Good bloke to have around in a fight though."

Alicia's stomach turned a little at the mention of fighting. Then something occurred to her. "You're going back to the, uh…office? It's almost seven o-clock."

"It's just been one of those days," Harry said wearily. "I doubt we'll get out of there before midnight. We couldn't go on much longer without sustenance though. Ron in particular was starting to get stroppy."

"Everything all right?" she asked tentatively. Then immediately regretted it, because she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know the answer to that.

"Nothing we can't handle." He peered around cautiously then took a seat at the table across from her. He lowered his voice even though he didn't say anything specific. "Things kicked off a little in Slovenia this morning, but it's been taken care of."

"Is it them?"

Harry nodded, understanding her cryptic wording immediately. "Although, they've rebranded since you faced them back at school. No matter how many leaders we eliminate, the ideology won't ever die out completely. Every couple of months they gather enough momentum to pull something off. It wasn't too bad this time around – only a few minor injuries to bystanders."

The delicious smell in her nostrils suddenly soured and she felt ill. Death Eaters (or whatever they called themselves these days) were still out there in the world causing chaos and targeting innocent people all because they deemed their blood to be impure. Maybe she was terribly naïve, but she'd assumed Voldemort's death had put a stop to most of the zealots. Without a rallying point she figured they'd disband and go back to writing angry manifestos in the shadows of society.

To hear they were trying to reorganise themselves set her nerves on edge. It was bad enough that someone had been sending her threatening letters, knowing that Death Eaters were still out there in some capacity caused her anxiety to hit an all-time high.

"I promise it's under control," Harry said softly.

Alicia realised her expression must have betrayed her thoughts and she forced a smile. "Oh, of course. With you and Ron on the case I'm sure there's no threat anymore. I suppose it's just unpleasant news to hear after all these years."

"To be honest, they never really went away in the first place. But everyone's been doing a good job of identifying the latest leader and neutralising them before they get too much of a following. Most of the activity is in eastern Europe these days so we only have to provide minimal back-up."

Alicia's heartrate spiked. "Wait. You said Slovenia? Lee's over there right now. Well, in Croatia at least."

"We know," Harry said quickly. "He's fine and so is his team. We've spent most of the day tracking down all the Brits who are in the region. Both to make sure they're fine and that they weren't involved in the incident."

"Oh God. I hope he doesn't start investigating that group once he's finished exposing the black market trade."

Harry shrugged. "I warned him to leave it alone. Since it's Lee we're talking about, I figure there's about a fifty-fifty chance he'll actually listen to me."

Alicia smiled fondly and replied, "I'd say forty-sixty at best."

"Potter! You done chit-chatting?" someone shouted from across the restaurant.

Harry turned around and held up a finger to his fellow Auror. "No. Another minute," he said curtly.

The other man nodded and stood back at attention, looking a little chastised. Alicia grinned to herself. He had Harry covered in both height and weight, but he clearly knew who he was dealing with.

Harry caught her look and gave her a little smile in return. "Doesn't always suck to be me these days. Anyway, I hope I haven't ruined your night. Say hi to George for me. And if Jake ever feels like spending time with Teddy just let me know and I'll arrange something. Teddy always asks after him when I visit."

"That would be fab, Harry. Jake's pretty enamoured of Teddy as well. Give Ginny my love, all right. Make sure she's resting up and taking it easy. It won't be long before you're both run off your feet."

"Will do."

Harry stood up and hesitated before leaving. Alicia hoped that he wasn't going to bring it up. She didn't want to have to lie to him again. But thankfully he didn't ask about her non-existent friend with the stalking ex-boyfriend. She wanted desperately to look back down at her magazine but she held his gaze steadily and tilted her head questioningly.

"You know, I'm always around if you ever need anything," was all he said.

Alicia swallowed and nodded gratefully up at him. As if she could go to him now. He was busy saving the world again by the sound of it. Her little bundle of nasty letters seemed stupid and insignificant in comparison to what he'd dealt with all day.

"I know. Thanks, Harry."

He said goodbye then went to help his colleague carry their dinner back to the Ministry. Alicia returned her attention to her magazine. She read the same paragraph at least three times before her dinner finally arrived. Suddenly she wasn't that hungry anymore. She took a few cursory bites then asked her waiter to pack the rest up in a container for her.

Harry hadn't meant to do it obviously, but he had inadvertently put a damper on her night. Now all she could think about was whether one of the other patrons around her was secretly a Death Eater 2.0. She wished she had George's steady, reassuring presence with her.

Alicia ended up hurrying to the nearest Apparition Point and going straight home. She turned just about every light on in the flat and settled down in front of the TV, resolving not to let her relaxing night go to waste. The mail she'd collected downstairs earlier and dumped on the coffee table was taunting her though. Doubtless it was mostly bills, but she shuffled through them anyway because at least these days she had enough money to pay everything on time.

Except they weren't all bills. There was a small parchment envelope with a red wax seal in the middle of the stack and she almost burst into tears at the thought that her nightmare wasn't over. Blessedly, the handwriting on the front was familiar, but in a good way.

My dear poppet,

I very much hope this letter finds you well. I find myself at my wits' end currently and felt compelled to write to you post-haste.

I ventured out to the owl post office this morning and discovered I have received several disturbing letters over the last two weeks. Truthfully, it is not the first time I find myself the recipient of angry correspondence. After all, it wasn't at all the long ago that allying yourself with Headmaster Dumbledore and Mr Potter put a large target on your back with certain factions.

But this feels different. The author of the letters only ever writes in French for a start. You taught me very well over the years, poppet, so I only struggled with a few words. Nothing that my old French dictionary couldn't handle. The contents was nothing short of inflammatory. I have been accused of stealing money of all things!

I do so fervently hope that you are safe and well. Perhaps I am being paranoid, but it occurred to me today that you requested weeks ago that I no longer use owl post to communicate with you. I didn't think to question it at first because it was none of my business. Now I can't help but wonder why you are no longer receiving owls at your address.

Has something happened? You need not answer in a letter, my dear. I will be in London imminently to get to the bottom of this. My portkey is arranged for Monday the 20th and I will be arriving at 10am your time. My hope is that you will be able to meet me at the Ministry that morning.

As noble as my work at the French Ministry was, I would hate to find it caused you any undue harm. I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. Jake as well. In the meantime, you are lucky enough to have a personal relationship with one of the country's pre-eminent Aurors. Please go to Harry if you feel worried at all.

I will see you soon.

Yours,

Tiberius J. Ogden

Alicia blinked rapidly and let the letter fall onto her lap. The thought had definitely occurred to her that her work with Tiberius could have been the catalyst for the whole death threat thing, but she hadn't considered that they would go after him next. That appeared to be what was happening. But why? Tiberius was almost one hundred years old and he was an Ogden, for God's sake. He didn't need to steal money off anybody.

Her head was swimming. Months ago she would have given anything to stop being the target of this person, now she wanted them to focus back on her and leave Tiberius alone. It was bad enough that he was having to travel at his age, the stress of it all wouldn't do his health any favours.

At least it seemed as if it would all be over soon. Tiberius would be back on Monday and he'd have the entire Auror department at his disposal. He hadn't been a member of the Wizengamot for a long time now but he was still well-respected and well-liked. Kingsley Shacklebolt would undoubtedly do everything in his power to help his old friend.

Tiberius wanted her to go to Harry, of course. He'd always assumed they were closer friends than they actually were. Mind you, Alicia hadn't exactly gone out of her way to dissuade him of this assumption so it was her own fault. Her supposed closeness to Harry was one of the reasons she got the job in France in the first place, so she had to keep up the ruse somewhat.

She had no doubt Harry would help her though. Any number of people would. But dragging her friends into the mess now wouldn't really achieve anything. George would just worry and fret for no reason.

George.

Alicia folded the letter up and held it to her chest. The sudden need to see him was a visceral pull in her stomach. Her night was officially ruined and all she wanted was to have him there beside her. He always managed to calm her down, even when he didn't realise he was providing any comfort.

And the safety factor was there as well. She was on edge enough after talking to Harry, then the letter from Tiberius sent her hurtling out into the void. As much as she was all for female empowerment and equality, there were still times when it was handy to have a big, strong man around.

A driver honked their shrill car horn right below her window and she jumped about a foot in the air. Flustered and jittery, she stood up and snatched her dinner off the table and turned the telly back off. Concentrating on George's house, she Apparated straight into the living room. He'd changed his wards so that she could Apparate directly into the house. It was basically as if he'd given her a key and she was infinitely grateful for it at that moment.

She was starting to feel at home up in Hogsmeade. George had made a point of telling her she was welcome at his house all the time, even when he wasn't there himself. This was the first time she'd be taking him up on that offer. He'd definitely gone out of his way to make her feel at home, even keeping red wine around for her. That seemed like a good start. Unfortunately, there wasn't a television in the house, but there was an obscenely beautiful claw-foot bathtub.

So that was how Alicia ended up spending her evening – sitting in the bath eating tikka masala and sipping on wine. She'd even used a new Wonderwitch product George had that smelt of raspberries and cherries and filled the bath with an abundance or scarlet bubbles. All in all, not a bad way to finish off the day.

George returned home not long after she'd finished eating. He and Fred had been wining and dining a Japanese wizard who was considering stocking their products in his stores. She hadn't expected him to be home that early, but she'd made it clear she was there just in case. She didn't want him to worry there was an intruder in the house.

When he appeared in the doorway to the bathroom, she turned to smile at him. He had her underwear dangling from one of his fingers. "The trail of clothing leading in here was a nice touch," he said appreciatively.

Alicia sipped at her wine and shrugged. "I knew you weren't expecting me tonight, so I didn't want to alarm you when you got home and found the lights on."

"Don't worry about it. I told you that you're always welcome here."

"I know. I just wasn't sure what time you'd be home so I had to come up with a way to let you know it was only me."

"I'm very much on board with your line of thinking." He tossed her knickers side with a flick of his wrist and dropped to his knees beside the bathtub. He gave her a quick kiss then said, "And I'm very happy to see you. What happened to your relaxing night alone though? I thought you were looking forward to it."

"I wanted to see you," she said, the naked truth in that statement making her cheeks feel warm. Or maybe that was the wine.

George beamed at hearing this and sat down on the floor beside her. "I'm glad you're here. It's nice to have someone to come home to."

Alicia groaned impatiently and flicked some bubbles at him. "So come on already! Tell me how it went tonight!"

"It's a done deal," he answered, his smile somehow becoming even wider.

"Yes! I knew you two would win him over!"

"We'll sign the contracts in a few days then Wheezes products will officially be sold in Japan. It's only half a dozen stores, but it's a foot in the door."

"It won't be long till your products are sold all over the world," Alicia said.

"I hope so. It's going to be a lot more work for us though. I wish you weren't leaving us so soon."

"I don't start at the wireless office for another two weeks. I'm still a Wheezes employee till then. Even after that I'll always help out on weekends if you need me. Or if you have paperwork and stuff to do at night."

George waved her offer away. "You've got enough on your plate already. We'll just hire a few new people."

"This is amazing. I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks. I really am glad you decided to change your plans and come over. I don't think I could have stayed home all night and kept the news to myself." He leaned over and blew some of the bubbles away. "Not to mention, you being here opens up new possibilities for celebrating."

Alicia swept a heap of bubbles back over to obscure his view of her beneath the surface. "I actually wouldn't mind finishing up my bath if it's all the same to you."

"Absolutely. I wouldn't dream of disturbing you," George replied gallantly.

"This bubble bath of yours really does smell divine," she sighed wistfully. "You should definitely sell this stuff in Japan."

George shook his head. "Can't, I'm afraid. We had to pull it all off the shelves last week. Turns out it permanently stains your skin red."

Alicia shrieked and hoisted herself out of the tub halfway. Her skin was perfectly normal though and George started laughing.

"Sorry. I couldn't resist," he said quickly, holding up his hands apologetically.

"You bell-end!" She splashed a couple of handfuls of water at him and he just started laughing again. "I almost had a heart attack!"

"You've completely soaked me, woman!" George stood up, water dripping down his front. He shrugged then, looking unrepentant. "I got to see your tits though so it was worth it."

Alicia turned to rest her forearms on the side of the bath. She brazenly eyed the way his wet shirt was clinging to his body. Death Eaters were officially the furthest thing from her mind now. The world was suddenly a lot less dark and threatening. She didn't know why she had been so worried in the first place. It would all be over in a few days.

In the meantime…

"So are you joining me or what, Weasley?"

George grinned and pulled his shirt over his head and threw it aside swiftly. "I thought you'd never ask."


A/N: I'm so sorry that took so long to post. But the good news is that the next chapter is finished. I skipped ahead to it because this one gave me such a migraine. I'll update again in a few days. Thanks so much if you're still reading. I really appreciate all of you!