A/N: I usually wait until I have at least 10 reviews to update, but I already had part of this chapter written & I figured I might as well finish it off. Thank you to all of you who wished me happy birthday, it was a pretty fantastic day—I ended up with 3 birthday cakes from friends. So—fat & happy—I've decided to give you a quick update! Enjoy!
"You do realize that Katie practically lived with us our last year at Hogwarts, right?" asked Lee Jordan, who was currently leaning against the doorframe of his and George's bedroom, watching his best friend scourgify every square inch of the place and readjust the new third bed endlessly. "She spent the night with Fred all the time. She knows we're not clean."
"I do realize that," George replied distractedly, testing the mattress for what must have been the fiftieth time. "I just think it's time we turned over a new leaf, that's all. Started afresh. Began again, and all that."
"And," Lee continued, unconvinced. "You realize that Kates isn't exactly the world's neatest person either?"
"She's neater than you," George pointed out, now beating the dust out of the curtains on the bay window. "Anyway, I'm not sure what you're lecturing me for, mate, I was the cleanest one in our dorm room."
"That isn't saying much," the dreadlocked wizard muttered. "In our seventh year, you kept doxey eggs under your pillow until they hatched. Filch had to call in a team of experts, and you got detention for a week."
George merely shrugged. "Still not as bad as the time you and Fred kept old butterbeer bottles full of urine on our windowsills because you refused to unclog the toilet."
"Oh yeah," Lee recalled fondly. "I think we finally paid a first year to do that for us…say, how did you get out of that?"
"Combination of the early stages of You-No-Poo and a carefully regulated school hour bathroom regiment," the redhead proudly declared.
The two friends laughed at this and various other memories until Lee glanced at his wristwatch.
"Blimey, George, we'd better get going," he said. "We promised the girls we'd be there at 6, and it's five after. And you know how Alicia is about the time."
George waved him off. "Nah, you go ahead of me," he said distractedly, now sizing up the far wall. "I'll be along later, I want to see if there's a way I can create a third closet here…maybe that expansion charm…"
Lee considered his best friend for a few moments in silence before rolling his eyes and giving up.
"Fine," he said. "But you can be the one to deal with it when Leesh screeches that we're not starting on time…"
"Fair enough!" George called after him.
XxX
Katie Bell had been staying with Angelina and Alicia for the few days in between when she was evicted and when George and Lee had cleared out a spot for her in their flat. Most of her boxes were already stacked in the back room of the shop; they were now simply waiting for the okay from George, who had most recently promised that tomorrow would be the day. Before Katie left, however, the girls had decided it would be a good thing to have everyone over to their apartment for dinner. Unfortunately, two of their party was missing. George was still obsessing over making the flat presentable, and Katie was in a late work meeting. The others were using this time to tease Angelina about the fact that her best friend would soon be moving in with her boyfriend. Alicia in particular seemed to think this very amusing.
"You've spent years denying you were attracted to Lee, and now he's paying you back by sharing a room with your old roommate!" Alicia giggled uncontrollably, slightly sloshing the red wine she had been drinking out of her glass.
Angelina scowled. "Give it a rest would you, wino?" she snapped. "I should have known never to give you control of the bottle…"
Alicia, who had always had a bit of a low tolerance for alcohol, simply giggled louder. "Wino?" she mocked. "Who are you, my fifty year old parents??"
Before Angelina could respond, however, Lee pulled her down onto his lap from where he sat in an overstuffed armchair.
"Come on, Ange," he chuckled. "You know it's just a temporary thing. And it's mostly for George. He's really looking forward to this."
"Humph," Angelina pouted, still not giving up the point entirely. "Well I still don't know why she can't stay here, instead. It's worked out just fine for the past few days!"
"Angelina, she's been sleeping on the sofa," Oliver pointed out, who was sitting on the opposite couch and supporting Alicia who was balancing between his shins on the floor.
"Yeah," agreed Lee. "And you and Leesh have just got the two rooms. Me and George at least have a third bed and closet."
"We could bring one in!"
"Where?" interrupted Alicia. "Both our bedrooms are small. And anyway, it's like Lee said…it's good for George! He needs company, and you've always got Lee over here…"
"And you're okay with this?" demanded Angelina, looking over at Oliver. "You're okay with Katie going to live with two blokes?"
Wood instantly flushed and looked away. "Why would it matter to me?" he said distantly.
"Oh cut the crap, Wood, we all know you fancy her," Ange said rather rudely, to which Alicia once more giggled. "You're not the least bit concerned she's staying in a bachelor pad…?"
"Well," Oliver said slowly. "It's like Jordan said, isn't it? S'only temporary…"
Lee laughed. "Yeah, well if I were you mate, I'd be plenty worried," he grinned. "Especially because of how George used to—"
But he was cut off by a very strong warning glance from Alicia, who had sobered up instantly.
"What?" demanded Angelina, noticing what was afoot. "How George used to what?"
"Nothing," Lee said quickly, retracting his steps. "Didn't know what I was saying…"
Wood looked curious in spite of himself. "What do you mean?" he demanded, suddenly snapping back into old Quidditch Captain mode. "Come on, out with it. Weasley didn't used to—you know—"
"Hello, everyone!" called a cheerful voice. The girl with whom the conversation had been concerned had just burst through the front door. Katie was flushed from the autumn chill outside, but looked particularly happy and was carrying what looked like a bottle of wine. "And guess what, Alicia? I've brought the red wine!"
"…What?" she demanded, crestfallen, when everyone groaned.
XxX
The next hour and a half found all six of the slightly inebriated dinner party gathered around the table and laughing raucously, while intermittently rubbing their stomachs and allowing their food to digest. George, who had finally managed to turn up a full thirty minutes late, was sitting with his arm friendly placed around Alicia, rocking back in his chair and discussing Quidditch with Oliver.
"But the point is, your Beaters are rubbish," George argued fervently, causing Alicia to jump. "Fredrickson isn't nearly fast enough, and Walters can't aim worth a damn. You're losing a valuable part of your team there—and you're having to block twice as many goals as you would if they were doing their jobs right!"
Wood simply laughed. "You think I don't know that?" he said, tossing back another glass of wine. "But I'm the Keeper, not the bloody captain anymore, and besides…it's hard finding Beaters who are as naturally good as you and Fred used to be…"
"Not the bloody captain, my arse," scoffed Katie, who was sitting beside him, examining the prongs on her fork with considerably more attention than she would have sober. "That never stopped you from trying to run the team when Charlie was captain…"
The table laughed, and Alicia giggled so long and hard that George had to grip her harder to ensure she didn't fall from her seat.
"I remember that, and I was only reserve that year," she cried gleefully. "You used to get Mike so riled up, he'd turn bright red and threaten to hang you from the hoops by your shoelaces!"
The table paused.
"Mike?" Lee asked, amused, and cocked an eyeball.
"Michael Bell," Alicia explained, flushing deeply. "Katie's brother…"
"I've never heard anyone call him Mike before, though, not even Kates," Lee said loudly.
Katie saw her friend exchange glances with Angelina, looking deeply frightened. George and Katie too looked at one another; George observed her questioningly, and Katie gave a small nod.
"Oh his friends call him that all the time," Katie lied blatantly, seeing Alicia relax and fall back into her seat. "Besides, Leesh is totally off her face."
After another burst of laughter, Wood turned to Lee and George. "So when are you two moving her in?" he asked. "Need any help?"
"No need to brag about your size, Ollie-wog," George smirked. "Just because you're twice as big as Lee or me…"
"Put together," Lee added. "Nah, we moved all her stuff in a few days ago. It's just sitting in boxes in the back room."
"Oh," Oliver said, looking slightly let down. "Well, good to hear."
"But the big date is tomorrow," Katie continued pleasantly, trying to dispel the moment. Wood had never gotten quite used to the twins' and Lee's constant jabbing during their school days. "What do you say, you two? Pizza for dinner? Or maybe…tuna casserole surprise? My treat!"
"That doesn't sound like a treat to me," Lee groaned, giving Alicia a significant look, who once again collapsed into a fit of drink-induced giggles.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, Kay," George said suddenly. "Mum's having us all over for dinner. She insists," he added, noticing the expression on her face.
"I'm invited?" Lee asked, surprised. "Having you move in might be the best thing that ever happened to me, Kates. I normally don't ever get invited to the Burrow."
"Only because you nearly burnt it down with an illegal Dragon-Fire Jinx summer after Second Year," she pointed out, as George grinned at this memory.
"And besides the food, it's not all it's cracked up to be when everyone keeps staring at you to see if you're going mad," the redhead added, his own tongue slightly looser due to the effects of the wine. "Ain't that right, Kay?"
"Your mum's going to be having her eye on us all night, making sure we don't suddenly burst into tears at the sight of some old fork Fred may or may not have used once," Katie added, her speech too, slightly slurred, and the pair of them laughed merrily from across the table.
The others, however, did not seem to find this vein of conversation as amusing, and exchanged uncomfortable glances.
"Well," said Angelina, who had not spoken for some time, "before we let you all head off, we've got to give Katie her housewarming gifts!"
"Housewarming gifts?!" George shouted incredulously. "You never gave Fred or me housewarming gifts when we moved in…"
"Or me," Lee added, with a particularly poisonous look at his girlfriend.
"We knew you'd break anything we bought you," Angelina said simply, motioning to Alicia to help her with something from the back room. "Ollie, you can start with yours while we're getting ours."
"Well, let's see what you've got, Ollie-pop!" Katie said, grinning and folding her arms across her chest. "Dazzle me!"
"You know, I think I may have hit my quota on allowable 'Ollie' name calling for the night," Wood said grimacing, though his face was clearly cheerful. "Well, it's not much, but…"
But Katie was already ripping open the wrapping of the small gift Oliver had withdrawn from his coat pocket.
"This was from when we won the Cup!" Katie cried unnecessarily, extracting the framed photograph from its wrappings. Fred and George were carrying Harry on their arms, and all three Chasers were practically mauling Wood who had eyes only for the large golden cup he was clenching in his fists. "Oh, Ol, I love it! We'll hang it up right where everyone can see, won't we George?"
And without waiting for an answer, she leaned over and kissed Oliver on the cheek. He immediately flushed, and George cast a slightly darker glance between the two of them and said nothing.
"Here's my present, Katie Katie Kay!" Alicia giggled furiously, reemerging from the bedroom and flinging it on the table where it landed with a rather sickening crash. It wasn't wrapped.
"What in the bloody hell is this?" Katie asked, examining the boxy device.
"It's a television, you twit!" Alicia said, rolling her eyes. "A smaller version of the theater! And see, you can watch movies on it…"
"Thanks for spoiling my gift, Leesh," Angelina said ruefully as she dumped a pile of videos onto the table. Lee and George both crowded around Katie to examine both of these curiosities.
"Pride and Prejudice?" George said doubtfully, holding up a rather fat box with two Muggles in period clothing on the front cover.
"Alicia helped me pick them out," Ange said defensively. "And anyway, they're for Katie…"
"You'll share though, won't you?" Lee asked eagerly, poring over slightly more gender neutral titles.
"Course I will!" Katie grinned happily, turning around in her chair to hug her two girlfriends. "You lot are the best, I wasn't expecting anything…"
"Least we could do with your rotten luck lately, isn't it?" Angelina asked brightly, hugging her back. "You're welcome, Kates."
Katie and George in particular continued to examine the television and the accompanying videos for the next half hour, heads bent together, speaking in low voices and laughing excessively. The rest of the party retired to the living room where they played a rather ridiculous game of Exploding Snap. Wood, who had been observing Katie and George with somewhat of a frown, finally stood up.
"Well," he said in a rather forced pleasant voice. "It's getting late, and I've got Quidditch in the morning. Thanks for inviting me, Johnson. Er—I mean, Angelina…Alicia…"
They laughed and hugged Wood goodbye, but exchanged glances as he headed to the entryway. Noticing he was going, Katie leapt up from her chair and dashed over.
"Thanks again for the photo, Ol," she said sincerely. "It's the best copy I've got. I swear, it's going right on my night stand." She grinned and gave him a tight hug, standing on her tip toes to kiss him on the cheek once again. Seeming slightly heartened, Wood grinned and shook hands with Lee and George—who had just come over—pleasantly.
Soon afterward, Lee and George filtered out, hugging each of the girls.
"I'll come get you tomorrow afternoon," George told Katie, grinning, as Lee and Angelina behaved stupidly in the corner. "We'll have whatever adventure awaits us at the Burrow, maybe stage some sort of a meltdown…"
But Katie, having sobered up slightly, frowned at this.
"Yeah, I know," George agreed quietly, sighing. "But it won't be bad. And then maybe we can watch one of Ange's videos, eh?"
She nodded fervently. "Yeah, let's do that," she said smiling. The pair hugged a final time, and the boys disappeared through the door.
It was only then that Katie and Angelina noticed that Alicia, who had headed over the couch after bidding the boys goodbye, had passed out and was now drooling on one of the cushions.
Rather than get exasperated as they would have only a few hours earlier, the girls simply laughed.
"God," Katie said, heading over the form that was obscured by a pile of blonde hair. "She'll never learn to hold her drink, will she?"
"Not while we know her, anyway," Angelina agreed, rolling her eyes good-naturedly.
The two ex-Chasers hefted up their small friend quite easily and carried her form to her bed in the back room.
"She won't be happy when she wakes up," Katie remarked, beginning to laugh, but Angelina didn't join in.
"Katie," she said, suddenly looking at her friend seriously, her face half-obscured by darkness.
"What?" Katie asked, slightly taken off-guard.
"Are you sure about this?" the other girl said. "Moving in with them, I mean?"
The brunette rolled her eyes. "Come off it, Ange, I'm not after Lee…"
"It's not Lee I'm worried about," Angelina said seriously.
"What?" Katie asked again.
"It's George. I don't know, Katie, the way you two were tonight…well, it made Wood uncomfortable at least…"
"And…?" she prompted, not quite grasping what her friend was trying to say to her.
Angelina simply shrugged uncomfortably. "I dunno, from his view it looked kind of suspicious I guess," she said. "I just wonder if you might be becoming too dependent on each other—and from something Lee was saying earlier it sound like—well, anyway, Katie. Be careful that…just be careful that that dependency doesn't turn into physical dependency. You know."
"What?!" Katie exploded, causing Alicia to grunt slightly. "Sorry," she muttered to her unconscious friend. "But seriously Ange, what? God, George and I are just...you don't even understand, do you?! He's Fred's twin brother, for Merlin's sake! It's not physical, romantic, emotional, or anything you or Oliver might be thinking! I mean, yes, we may have gotten a little drunk tonight, but come on! Really? God, Ange, I thought you of all people would understand…"
"Okay, okay," Angelina said, backing off immediately. "I misread things then. I'm just worried about you, Katie. Both of you."
Katie sighed. "I know. Listen, is it okay if I use your shower tonight? I don't want to get up early tomorrow…"
"All yours," Angelina replied, watching her friend disappear through the door and sighing. Though she didn't know everything—or at least as much as Lee or Alicia knew—she had a feeling she might know a little more than Katie Bell did about where complicated grief and sharing living space with George Weasley was bound to head.