Since it's a new year and these two chapters are so short, I'm posting them at the same time! Happy new year and I hope you leave some reviews!
.
Over the next two months, Angelina spent more and more time with George. He would call on her to have dinner after work most nights, where they would share the details of their days and bemoan their daily responsibilities. Sometimes he accompanied her to Quidditch matches that she reported on, often placing bets on which team would win. Being the professional Quidditch reporter, Angelina won these bets more often than not. They went grocery shopping with each other, she brought him lunch at work, and slowly but surely, they helped each other back towards normal life.
A few days before Christmas, Angelina woke up and realized that she was actually felt alright. She didn't wake up dreading the day, and she didn't look at the picture of herself and Fred with sadness. She looked at it with a sort of calm. It was overwhelming. She felt like she should want to cry, to throw the picture away, but instead she set it back on her nightstand and went to take a shower.
She didn't talk much about Fred to George still, nor did he have much to say. Instead, they enjoyed each other's company and used their friendship to move on. There were times when Angelina wanted to say something, to thank him or to talk about a memory of Fred, but she usually caught herself. She found that she was afraid of bringing up misery that might kill their momentum and throw them back into their funks. She wasn't sure when she'd realized it, but she knew that they had both needed that catharsis in the beginning, to cry and curse their loss, but it wasn't something they needed every day. So much of what they needed was to find a way to live their lives from day to day.
She spent Christmas with her family, and he with his. New Year's Eve rolled around, and naturally her friends had to ring it in with a bang. Katie almost fell out of her chair when George actually offered to provide fireworks for her and Oliver's shindig. It was meant to be a classy affair—they all put on their pretty dresses and snazzy suits and toasted champagne to the year 2001.
"You and George have been spending quite a bit of time together," Katie commented to Angelina as they poured themselves drinks in her kitchen shortly after Angelina arrived with George. "I'm glad to see it. I'm really glad you seem to be getting on well." Angelina smiled and took the drink that Katie poured for her.
The night began with the air of class they'd strived for, but soon became an evening of drunken shenanigans. The boys entertained themselves with jokes while the girls giggled. There would be photos in the morning that they'd all want to be rid of, but none of them would forget when Oliver climbed on top of Lee's shoulders and ended up floating upside down when he tried to stop his fall with a spell.
When midnight struck, they lit up the sky with the fireworks George had brought from the store. It was the most fun Angelina had had in a long time. She fell asleep on Katie's couch sometime near four in the morning, nestled under the crook of George's arm with a drunken smile across her face.