When they arrived at the bar, it was bustling with people, the voices chattering was quite overwhelming to walk into, but created a warm, lively atmosphere. The creation of the Three Broomsticks Bar in Diagon Alley, had shaken things up. It was aimed at young adult witches and wizards, who were bored of sitting in grubby pubs, and just wanted a place to dance, chat and unwind. Hermione pointed out Ron and Harry from across the room, they were sat at a round table casually sipping firewhiskey. The girls pushed their way through the small crowd at the bar to go and join them. Deborah noticed when Ron's eyes fell onto Hermione, they lit up and he broke out into the biggest grin she had ever seen on him. She hoped one day that someone would look at her like that. Hermione jumped into Ron's arms as he picked her up and twirled her around. Ginny smiled and sat down next to Harry, giving him a peck on the cheek.
"Well hello girls, aren't we all looking lovely tonight." Harry began, as Deborah and Luna sat down, and Ron and Hermione took their eyes off each other long enough to take their seats too. "Is Rolf joining us tonight, Luna?" He turned towards her.
"Not tonight, he's away trying to find a giant squid, there have been sightings all around France." Luna spoke dreamily, Deborah wondered if all Luna and Rolf talked about was magical beings, dreaming together of what could be out there in the magical forests of the world.
Quickly, the group exchanged full greetings, catching up on everything that had happened since they had last seen each other. Harry was very interested in Deborah's current work in the Department of International Magical Cooperation, and Harry was starting to give her valuable advice and his own point of view - Harry was always so helpful with her work. Luna was showing Ginny a new spell she had created to help with her embroidery, and the newly engaged couple were too captivated by each other to know what was going on around them. Five minutes into their conversation, the waitress came over with their first round of drinks. Deborah had joined Harry and Ron in a nice glass of firewhiskey, while the other girls had chosen nice cocktails.
"Cheers to the happy couple!" Deborah shouted as they all clinked glasses in the middle of the table.
"Starting without us?" A voice behind them joked.
"Ickle Ronniekins is all grown up, and has forgotten about his two handsome older brothers." An almost identical voice jibed. Ginny had sprung out of her seat with a squeal and was hugging her twin brothers. Deborah was sure they were bantering back and forth with Ginny as they sat in the seats between her and Luna. But she wasn't really listening.
This was the closest she had been to the twins in years. She had seen them from a distance, in the street, through the window of their shop, at the battle, on the pages of the daily prophet, but that was nothing compared to this close proximity. She had thought they looked good at school, but now they were grown men. Seemingly taller, but no longer lanky. Their suits fit perfectly both matching but different, not like their old hand me down school robes, and were in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes colours. It was easier to tell them apart just from looks now. George only had one ear, and wore his hair much shorter than his brother. Fred now had a scar on the left side of his neck, and another through his left eyebrow up onto his forehead. Ginny had told her that he was embarrassed of the scars, but George had convinced him not to cover them, and to be proud of being a war hero. His hair was longer than George's, and flopped into his face constantly; Deborah wondered if he wore it like that so it would hide his scars. She studied him. The way he brushed his hair out of his eyes. The way he looked when he was laughing with his siblings. The way his eyes looked like sunshine through firewhiskey. She must have been looking a little too long, because suddenly their eyes met.
Deborah snapped her eyes down to look at her glass. She stopped breathing for a second. Her stomach swirled, she couldn't tell if it was the firewhiskey, or the fact her heart was pounding slightly. Swiftly, she shook the feeling off, and looked back up, taking a big swig from her glass.
Ginny must have realised she hadn't spoken in a few minutes. "Oh yes!" She interrupted Harry. "Let me reintroduce you! Fred, George. This is Deborah Walker. You wouldn't have seen her since, erm, DA meetings I assume." She motioned towards you.
You held out your hand, "Everyone calls me Dee." George shook it first.
"I thought I remembered you from somewhere." Fred smirked at her as he grasped her hand, shaking it slowly while looking into her eyes. Deborah held her breath for a second, slow eye contact and hand shaking had been the most contact she'd had with a man for over six months.
"Hufflepuff!" George almost shouted, snapping them out of their almost moment.
"Yes?" Deborah looked at him, slightly confused.
"Ha! I knew it! You're the one that disarmed and jinxed Fred at DA duelling practise! I've never seen him so flustered, got his knickers in a twist for a couple of weeks over that!" George laughed, and Ginny, Harry and Luna quickly joined in. Deborah giggled too, remembering the moment George was talking about.
"Thanks mate, I had forgotten about that." Fred said sheepishly.
"Oh come on Fred, you have to admit it was hilarious to see you trapped in that giant bubble!" George tried to convince him.
"It wasn't hilarious to be inside the giant bubble!" Fred retorted.
"Gave us a great idea for a new product though didn't it, all worth it in the end!" His twin replied, before getting interrupted by the waitress bringing over another round of drinks. The group held another toast with the twins included and all clinked glasses. Ron pulled Hermione up for a dance, and Harry asked Luna if she would like to dance with him, as he saw her swaying along to the music in her seat. Without hesitation, Luna stood up and swayed to the dance floor. Batting away Nargles as she went.
Deborah was already feeling a bit tipsy. "I bet I could still beat you in a duel, you know." She interjected into Fred, George and Ginny's conversation.
"What was that, Dee?" Ginny asked. Deborah repeated herself, pointing towards Fred. Ginny's eyebrows shot up, before she gave Deborah a suggestive smirk. They both looked to Fred. He was already gazing at her.
"I'm sure I was going easy on you back then," the eye contact was intense, "you know, to preserve a lady's honour." He licked his lips and smirked.
"I doubt it," she replied, taking a sip from her drink, "but even if that were true, doesn't mean you would have to go easy on me now." She raised her brows at him, knowing that all her confidence had come from the firewhiskey she was drinking. George and Ginny were silent witnesses, both too interested in what was happening in front of them to break the tension by speaking.
"Is that a da" Fred was cut off by Luna sitting down on the chair next to Deborah. She was laughing dreamily and breathing heavily.
"Dance floor full of Nargles! I definitely need another drink after that!" She panted, as Harry sat down next to Ginny. Ginny was looking rather annoyed at Luna, almost as if Luna had stopped her watching a quidditch match just as the snitch was about to be caught. They all ordered more drinks. Ron and Hermione sat back down as the tray of cocktails arrived at the table. Conversation was flowing, as was the alcohol. They chatted about all their ideas for the wedding, everyone contributing their own thoughts and skills. The conversation moved to their jobs, Hermione and Deborah retelling amusing stories about the witches and wizards they had met from around the world. Ginny talked about the upcoming quidditch season, and new tactics her team - the Holyhead Harpies - were considering. Luna decided she was going to do a big piece on Fred and George in the Quibbler, and got out her diary to find a date to interview them. More and more empty glasses piled up on the table. They laughed and chatted for hours.
Every so often, Deborah would look to Fred, and he would always catch her gaze. Sometimes he would even have the nerve to wink back at her.
Slowly but surely, the night drew to a close. Luna had left first, saying she had to do a write up on an 'unusual theory' in the morning. Ginny and Harry left shortly after that, Ginny giving Deborah a cheeky wink before they walked out the door. Now, Ron had been talking about Chudley Cannons for the last 20 minutes, drunkenly slurring how 'this would be their year', so Deborah took this as her cue to leave. She doubled checked if Hermione would be coming back to the flat, and gave her a long winded farewell. Ron was a little shocked when she gave him a tight hug, and a big congratulations. In an attempt to be casual, she gave the twins a quick handshake goodbye, saying how it had been nice to be reintroduced and get to know them. And she left, giving one last look over her shoulder as she walked out the door. When she hit the fresh air, she realised how drunk she truly was. Mentally, she told herself that she only had to walk to the Leaky Cauldron, and then she would be a floo away from her bed. But with her head spinning, the Leaky Cauldron felt like a million miles away.
"Wait! Dee!" Someone shouted behind her, she turned to see Fred running towards her. "You aren't going to disapparate while this drunk are you? You'll get yourself splinched!"
"No, I was just going to walk to the Leaky Cauldron and floo from there. I'm not that much of an idiot!" She slurred back.
"Oh, you can just floo from the shop, it's only round the corner, much quicker for you." They were close too each other now. Although the alcohol had given her courage earlier, she felt self conscious, and nervous to speak.
She took in a deep breath of summer air and looked up at him. "Yeah, that would actually be really helpful."
"Great, I'll let you in!" He replied thankfully, almost like she were doing him a favour, rather than the other way around. Being alone with him made everything heightened. Her head was spinning more, her blood ran hot, her stomach felt like it was full of tiny fluttering snitches. When she had moved, he put his hand on her lower back to usher her towards the shop. She knew she should try and make some sort of conversation, but decided trying to keep upright was her number one priority. Within minutes, she heard keys jangling, and the door to the shop unlocked. She stepped inside, it was incredible. It had been a long time since she had been in the shop. Brightly coloured boxes on fully stocked shelves, on multiple floors, was beautiful to look at without all the extra fireworks and tricks they had flying around on a daily basis.
"Wow, it is wonderful here! All this came from a suitcase of tricks you used to carry round Hogwarts!" She gasped.
"Well, we have tried our hardest." He was smiling at her reaction the the place. She looked up, forgetting her drunkenness, and instantly toppled to one side. But he caught her. "You okay?" He whispered. Their faces were close now, the look he gave her set her skin on fire. She panicked.
"Yeah, I should be getting home." She stuttered as she jumped up, moving towards the fireplace. "Thank you for helping me." She spoke as she stepped into the fireplace. He walked towards her and leaned on the mantelpiece.
"You are very welcome, and if you ever want to see if you could beat me in a duel, you know where to find me." He winked, sweeping his ginger hair away from his face.
She blushed, and disappeared into green flames.
At home, she ran into her room, and leapt face first into her bed.
"Fuck!" She moaned into her pillow. Fuck, her school girl crush was now a full blown adult attraction. Fuck, it was on her best friend's brother. And fuck, what was she going to do?
