Chapter 16. The price
Anna felt dazed and confused, she slowly opened her eyes. She felt warmth beneath her and looked down, finding a naked George also with his eyes closed breathing heavily, clearly in the aftermath of his release. Her body reacted instinctively turning into a white barn owl and fleeing towards the washroom, before her brain caught up with her remembering the spell was cast.
"Anna?" George called out concerned.
Anna turned back human and shut the door, abruptly. "Just give me a minute George!"
George was stunned, he knew the spell would take all her feelings for him, but he didn't expect her fleeing from him the second it was over.
He felt slightly bummed before he reasoned with himself to get dressed and bring her her things to the washroom.
Anna meanwhile was sitting on the loo, paler than usual, trying to regain her cool, breathing in and out slowly. This was the second time in her life feeling like a piece of her mind was ripped out of her and it was as disorienting as the first time, she could remember every single memory she had ever made with George but it was stripped of feelings, there were no emotions tied to the images. She knew rationally that he was her friend, but she felt like she had just woken up from a drunken one-night stand with a total stranger.
George softly spoke from behind the door. "Your clothes, wand and fresh towels are just outside the door, I'll be downstairs in the shop whenever you are ready to talk."
She then heard the flat's door shut.
Anna let out a relieved sigh, she cracked the door and found her things quickly, pulling them inside the room. She showered again, while retracing her memories of the last 24 hours, recalling her plan to obliviate George once Fred came back.
As the water washed over her she slowly recalled all her memories of Fred, they seemed so much more intense now compared to the ones with George, she found herself smiling at the thought of their previous activities and couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness at the briefness of their tryst.
She found George sitting on a desk looking over some numbers, she approached him apprehensively.
"Hey" She weakly said.
"Hey" He said slightly concerned, forgetting his papers.
"I'm sorry, for flying off like that, the spell kind of disorients me for a second." Anna said stiffly standing next to him at arm's length.
"That's perfectly understandable. Are you okay?" George said turning his body towards her.
"Yeah, I'm physically fine, it's my mind that feels…absent." Anna said with crossed arms.
"Anything I can do to help?" George asked earnestly.
"Not really… But don't worry about me…Once Fred gets back, I have to obliviate you, we should probably leave everything in the flat as inconspicuous as possible."
George's eyes lowered to the desk and took a couple of seconds before replying. "Can I say goodbye to Fred?" His voice broke as he said it.
"Of course, you can." Anna's voice was soft, and she reached to squeeze George's hand hesitantly. She knew an hour ago she would have hugged him fiercely, but it didn't feel natural anymore.