A/N: I'm sorry for the delay with this chapter. I've been across the country for a summer internship & my life hasn't exactly been my own. Also, once again, I have too much material & am going to have to stretch it across two chapters. I'm sorry that after the delay, the update isn't that exciting. But I promise you the next one will be!
Halloween morning dawned with a blazing crimson sun, promising a thoroughly authentic All Hallow's Eve. Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was alight with activity; dozens of fliers strewn all across Diagon Alley promised the biggest Halloween party in metropolitan London—free for those on the guest list, 5 galleons for those who were not—and a discount of 25 percent off all holiday-related items. Naturally, it was one of the biggest days of the year for WWW and George, Ron, and Lee had recruited their friends to help out.
Alicia Spinnet had had to lobby hard at St. Mungo's in order to get off the entire day; Halloween was also busy for the wizarding hospital. It was an endless stream of patients whose pranks had gone wrong, along with a few dozen who had simply eaten too much candy. Or trick candy, come to that. Alicia had also made the additional mistake of informing her supervisor where she was going. The austere man had practically had an aneurism when she informed him she was on the guest list for the single party which was anticipated to be the most responsible for filling the hospital wards. Luckily, she was saved by Ben, another junior Healer who had assured Mr. Pirowitz that Alicia could supervise the party as "prevention." He gave her a grin and a wink before heading down the hall.
Before Alicia had come to work in St. Mungo's, she had been by and large ignored by the opposite sex. Perhaps ignored was the wrong word—maybe overlooked would be better. Between Katie and Angelina's big personalities, the small blonde had simply slipped between the cracks. Now she was spending large parts of her day without them, and to her surprise, found herself being grinned and winked at by Ben and other various men. Still, she only had eyes for one of them.
Alicia managed a small smile as Michael Bell crossed the room with a handful of trick sweets and gave her a very suggestive look when the others' backs were turned.
"You wouldn't happen to be dressing as anything sexy tonight, would you?" he breathed down her neck as he passed her. She felt goosebumps form on her skin.
"Maybe," she replied coolly, keeping her attention on the display of Snake Streamers she was arranging. "Maybe not."
"Make that a yes, please," he grinned cheekily at her before continuing on. She smiled and felt herself grow warm in the face.
The day wore on and soon after the shop officially closed for the day, Alicia was interrupted from her musings by Angelina who showed up at her side.
Alicia stared at her friend, who was clearly having some difficulty summoning the fortitude required to say what she wanted to say. The tall girl heaved a great sigh and said, finally, "I think we may have been wrong about trying to break George and Katie apart."
"Yeah, I know," Alicia replied, unfazed. "We decided last night it was too early."
"I mean at all," Ange said firmly. The blonde girl raised an eyebrow. Angelina simply pointed a finger.
Alicia turned and followed Angelina's gaze to where Katie and George were filling large barrels with apple cider. George casually threw a fake spider on the shoulder of Katie's cardigan, causing her to jump, yelp, and spill cider over the floor. He simply laughed at her as she scowled and flicked the thing back at his freckled face. Lee, who was walking by, slipped and came crashing to the floor, and George offered him a hand up.
The blonde sighed. "Oh alright, then," she conceded. "But I still liked Oli for her better."
Angelina screwed up her face. "What? No…Alicia, I'm not talking about that. You know I'm against that. That was the point."
Alicia shook her head, not following. Her friend looked exasperated.
"All I'm saying is that clearly…they've got a friendship that works. And I guess we shouldn't try to meddle."
She paused again, looking as if she was having some struggle in admitting what she wanted to admit next.
"And?" Alicia prompted, knowing Ange's concessions always required a bit of encouragement.
"And I think we should probably apologize to them," she said very fast, the entire sentence contained in one breath. Then she waited, looking for Alicia's judgment. Alicia recognized this look—it was the one Ange wore when she knew she probably ought to do something, but wasn't going to do it unless Alicia told her it was absolutely necessary.
"I think you're right, Ange," she said cheerfully, to her friend's frown. "We'll do it after the party, though. Let's try not to ring a serious note before the night's actually begun, yeah?"
"Yeah," Angelina agreed, musing. Then she shoved Alicia in a mocking manner.
"You liked Oli for her better," she scoffed, as she walked away. "You're all content with your illicit love affair, and now you have to create one for everyone else…"
Alicia smirked slightly, and stole another glance at Michael who had been discreetly watching her from the corner of his eye all afternoon.
XxX
"She thinks she's so clever, hiding all of those goo-goo eyes and kissy faces at my brother all day," Katie remarked with a look of disgust as she mopped up the cider she had spilled on the floor.
"If it bothers you so much, why don't you just say something?" George asked, turning from where he was busy hanging orange pixie lights from the ceiling. The girls had suggested he add something a little less macabre to the décor hanging from the rafters, which had previously been filled only with shrunken heads.
Katie shrugged. "More fun this way, I 'spose," she answered casually.
George shook his head and laughed, not bothering to answer. The last few days with Katie had been fragile, but ultimately good. As much as he had tried, he had not been able to retain his cool attitude around his friend when it was so obvious she was attempting to melt it. Whenever he remained silent, she laughed, and when he frowned, she smiled. He seemed doomed to be on good terms with her. Not that George was complaining. In fact, he was in quite a good mood with the prospect of a fantastic party that evening and was even beginning to think that maybe she hadn't met up with Oliver Wood at the club after all—Lee could have gotten his facts mixed up, it wouldn't have been the first time it would have happened. And besides, Wood himself was off helping to dust out the corners of the shop with Michael Bell and had scarcely spoken a word to Katie all day.
"Okay!" he suddenly shouted, calling everyone in the shop to attention. "I think we're set. I want everyone out—immediately. That includes you two, my pathetic excuses for roommates. Totter off o to Ange and Alicia's rto get ready. I've got a few things of my own to see to."
Everyone laughed and Lee shouted, "Oi! I'm your sodding employee, Weasley. What gives?"
"Don't care," George answered, without skipping a beat. "No one gets to see my costume before tonight except me. Speaking of which, I think I need to lay down a few rules. No girls will be allowed in without skirts above mid-thigh."
Angelina, Alicia, and Katie laughed and decried the remark.
"Oliver Wood, you'd better not be turning up dressed as a Quidditch player or you'll be thrown out—"
"Hey now!"
"And all of you are expected to be something very clever indeed, or I shall take your name off the guest list and you'll be paying me 5 galleons. Understood?"
There was a general mixture of laughter and retorts as the friends moved toward the door.
"Good," George grinned. "Now out! Oh—all except Alicia. 'Lic, I need your help with something."
The blonde stopped and looked up at the redhead in slight annoyance, but followed him up the stairs nonetheless.
XxX
"What do you think George needs 'Lic for?" Katie wondered aloud once she, Angelina, and Lee had made it back to the girls' apartment.
"Dunno," Lee answered, flopping onto the couch. "Perhaps he's fallen in love with her again and wants to have his merry way with her before the party."
Angelina rolled her eyes, and smacked her boyfriend upside the head.
"Don't be a moron, Lee," she said, glancing slightly at Katie. "I thought you said George wanted nothing to do with girls."
"He doesn't," Lee conceded, rubbing the back of his head where Ange had hit him. "That's the problem. Though he'll be in for a surprise tonight when he finds out I've invited that cute blonde bird from the match over for the party."
"What cute blonde girl?" Katie asked suddenly.
"Oh, didn't he tell you?" Lee asked curiously. "There was this beautiful blonde girl across from us at the Quidditch match that was practically undressing old Georgie with her eyes, but he was too much of a wimp to go over and talk to the girl. Dunno what's happened to him, he's gone soft…but he'll talk to her tonight, mark my words. Nothing like Halloween to make a bloke want a little action."
Katie sniffed and fiddled with her thumbs.
XxX
Oliver Wood had always hated apparating. It was strange for someone who had spent life on a broomstick, in a constant state of motion, since the age of three. And yet, Wood despised it—the feeling of suction, the instantaneous deliverance. No, he preferred to walk. He had patience. It was required for a Keeper—you could never charge the field, dart toward the middle of the battle, or be a part of the immediate and decisive action of the pitch. You had to hover, wait, and act quickly and strategically at exactly the right moment. Years of keeping had taught Wood how to wait. And so he walked back to his team's house from WWW instead of turning on the spot and disapparating as everyone else had done.
Wood strolled along Diagon Alley silently, shoving his hands inside the pockets of his jeans. He observed the day, the smells of Autumn, and the general bustle of the Alley as it prepared for the night of mischief that lay ahead. He was prepared to go back home, collect his teammates, dress, and return himself for whatever the night held in store. He had in general no expectations for the night—save one.
Ever since the night he had missed Katie in Victory's Villa, Wood had been musing over his situation with her. That what was happening between them was very unbalanced, he admitted, but Oliver was not prepared to concede that it was one-sided. There was a part of him, maybe a very small part, but it was there, that believed Katie felt something for him. He reflected on everything from the night she had spent nestled in his arms on the floor of Alicia's flat to the many lunches they had shared to their walks and talks all over Diagon Alley. He didn't believe she was aware of it, but he was sure it was there. Wood wasn't sure how long it would take for him to have her realize this either, but if there was one thing he knew about himself, it was that he was a man of patience.
So when he entered Puddlemore House to the relentless taunting from his teammates over "the bird he couldn't bag," he treated them good-humoredly, endured their catcalls, and even dished out a few of his own. He had a plan—and it would all begin tonight.
XxX
Katie lay bored on the couch in Angelina and Alicia's living room, watching Ange put the finishing touches on Lee's costume. They were dressing as a pair—Lee as a mad scientist, Ange as his—admittedly rather scandalous—assistant. She was currently frizzing out his dreadlocks a little more and adding a few bits of fake brain to his scalp.
"Why don't I get to put brain in your hair?" Lee asked. "You're my assistant, after all. Surely you get a little messy as well?"
"Because I'm supposed to be hot," Angelina answered, beaming superiorly. Her boyfriend just rolled his eyes.
"Clearly Ange only sees to the paperwork," Katie commented dully, to Lee's laughter.
"Shouldn't you be dressing yourself, missie?" Angelina asked, raising her eyebrows.
Katie shrugged. "Haven't decided what to be yet," she answered.
Both of them stared at her.
"But Katie, you always spend months working on your costume," Angelina said.
"Almost as long as the twins," Lee added.
Still, she shrugged again. "I just can't really think of anything this time. And anyway, not anything clever like George wants…but apparently a short enough skirt can always make up for that…"
"Nonsense," Angelina said, dismissing her friend's comment with a roll of her eyes. "You're always clever. Remember when you came as Professor Umbridge On Painkillers?"
All three laughed at this memory.
"I got detention for that one," Katie commented, holding up her hand which still faintly read, 'I will not undermine authority.'
"Better than 'I will not make sexually suggestive remarks to young women,'" Lee joked, holding out his own right hand. "Helped pick up the ladies afterward though, I have to admit…"
Angelina scowled.
"Before you, my dear, before you," Lee laughed.
Katie lapsed once again into silence, dully pondering what she ought to put on that night. She had been planning on coming up with a fantastic costume; it was her signature, after all. But somewhere in the last couple of weeks she had lost her resolve. There was her friends' campaign to split her up with George, the awful night at the club, and then…that night. She had seen Fred. Not really Fred, but some part of him. A memory, maybe, applied to what she was then feeling—something she had created to help herself through the night. She knew it was wrong to dwell on it, and had ever since attempted to keep up such a lively string of conversation with her friends that no one suspected she went to bed every night secretly hoping to meet him again. It hadn't occurred again, but it had lessened her attention on things like Halloween costumes. It seemed like such a trivial thing to care about.
And apparently George, her most constant ally, was going to be bombarded by women that night. Why did she care? She ought not to care…
"Alright Katie, come look through my things," Angelina called from down the hallway. Katie slipped off the couch and ventured after her.
XxX
"I can't believe I'm actually being allowed a sneak peak at the Great George Weasley's Halloween costume," Alicia said facetiously as she followed George up the stairs and into his flat.
He rolled his eyes at her but said, "Well if there's one person I trust to keep a secret, 'Lic, it's you. Besides," he grunted, hauling some large and heavy looking cloth from his closet, "you're the only person I know who was ever decent with a needle."
Alicia's brown eyes widened as she stared at what George had drug out of the closet. Then she laughed. "George, this is brilliant…even for you," she said. "Well done."
He smirked, obviously pleased with himself. "Thanks," he replied. "But it's all wrong in the back, see? I need your fantastic needlework."
Now it was Alicia's turn to roll her eyes. "Just because Lee always poked himself and Katie's stuff all managed to look like wooly hedgehogs…"
"And mine fell apart," George added.
"And yours fell apart," she confirmed.
"Fred was good, though," the redhead commented.
Alicia smiled wistfully. "Yeah, Fred was good…"
The silence hung in the air for a few moments before Alicia commanded George to pull on the fabric, and she set to work. A half an hour later, George's costume was nearly complete and Alicia was removing the pins from the fabric.
"You're brilliant," he said once again. "I knew there was a reason I fell in love with you at school."
Alicia scoffed ruefully. "Yes, I believe it was because you were pressured into it."
George looked slightly guilty, and then laughed. "Okay, well maybe at first," he admitted. "Still, I think we were pretty fantastic at one point, though, didn't you?"
She smiled up at him. "Yeah," she agreed. "Pretty fantastic. But there was always a Bell between us."
"Still is," George pointed out. "But now it's your fault."
Alicia colored and looked away. "What makes you think I like Michael Bell?" she asked unconvincingly.
He laughed at her discomfort. "Oh, give it up, 'Lic, I heard him telling Charlie about at my parents' place months ago."
"You did?" she asked, now smirking a little.
"Yes. And I think it's smashing. Though it's still ruining our chances at being together."
He said this last bit cheekily, but Alicia looked at him penetratingly as she gathered the last pin and then stood up.
"Is he really the only Bell between us?" she asked quietly. George furrowed his brow.
"Yes, 'Lic," he answered firmly, returning to his reflection in the mirror and scrutinizing it carefully. "That stopped when I told you it did."
"Which time?" she prompted further.
He frowned deeply.
"The last time."
Alicia nodded. "Okay, George. I've got to go change…see you later."
She exited quietly, and George scowled. It was an odd contrast to the costume he was now wearing.
XxX