A/N: This chapter wasn't meant to be this long, but I felt I couldn't leave you without some sort of resolution to the cliffhanger I left you with last time. So you're welcome! And stay tuned…more resolution coming later. P.S. SushiLuvver, your constant reviews are wonderful and I'm sorry about your boy trouble. They can be really awful and unpredictable sometimes. Here's to hoping you find your George.

Katie propped herself up on her elbow to better observe the ClayMation adaptation of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer," which was currently playing on the television. George had somehow managed to tap into a Muggle satellite signal a couple of days previously, and Katie had been watching Christmas specials since the early afternoon. Said redhead now walked through the door to the flat.

"George," she said matter-of-factly. "How is it, do you think, that Muggles come to believe in Father Christmas when they don't believe in magic?"

George paused and observed her, putting his hands into his trouser pockets.

"I see you've taken that Pepper-Up Potion that I gave you quite liberally," he commented, a slight smirk on his face.

She frowned and sat up higher so that she could catch her reflection in the mirror across the room. She was, indeed, still steaming from the ears.

"Very funny," she returned shortly.

"Yes, well, at least I can understand you now," he grinned, making his way over to their small kitchen to start bringing out supplies to make dinner. "That's a blessed relief."

She gave him a look even though his back was turned. After this venting of her feelings was accomplished, she continued.

"Really, though," she pressed. "How do they rationalize it?"

"In case you've forgotten, Kay," George replied, turning around to again face her. "Father Christmas isn't real. So it doesn't much matter, does it?"

Katie shrugged and turned back to her movie, musing. "Still, though," she said, unwilling to give the subject up. "It would be nice if he was, wouldn't it? That Nicolas Flamel—the one who took the Elixir of Life—he might have done it. He had all that spare time, anyway. And he could have used a Time Turner from the Ministry for the one night bit."

George just shook his head in what he clearly intended to be an exasperated manner, but he was obviously amused by the subject. Katie knew she was playing her 'adorable but ignorant card,' but she didn't much care—she was sick, she could behave however she liked, couldn't she?

"I think he was using that spare time to do, you know, alchemy stuff," her friend returned. "Like turning metal into gold and all that."

Katie huffed. "Well, I think the world would be better served by free gifts once a year, rather than making one man extremely wealthy."

"He had a wife," George pointed out.

"Well, that's probably why she married him," she quipped lightly.

"Can't argue with that."

"How was your day, anyway?" She observed him suspiciously. He was looking rather cheerful for the 10-hour day he had just had. Lately, George had been so run down after work he would scarcely bother to change out of his clothes before he fell into bed.

"Good," he replied vaguely, obviously unaware of the scrutiny he was receiving from his friend. He was chopping vegetables at the moment.

"Why?" she asked accusatorily. At this tone, he looked up and seemed unaware of how to answer. She was about to press him further when Lee joined them.

"I'm afraid there's going to be a slight change of plans," he said immediately after walking through the open door. "Ange wants to go out to dinner instead—with me—to talk."

Katie raised her eyebrows, her attention claimed by the tone of his last word. "Have you two had a row?" she questioned curiously.

Lee turned, apparently only just observing her.

"Oh hello, gorgeous," he said saucily. "Fantastic bedhead."

She reached up unconsciously to try and smooth the unruly peaks and horns her hair had formed during the day.

"No, really," she pressed on. "Have you?" George now looked up curiously as well. Lee looked cornered.

"Might have done," he said in a rushed voice. "Anyway, it's her thing, not mine, so she'd better be doing some kissing up tonight is all I have to say."

Katie looked from one roommate to another and frowned. "The two of you are being very aloof and suspicious today," she stated. "If I was inclined to think these two things were related, I'd say George had shagged Angelina."

"What?" they both shouted at the same time, and then looked at one another. Katie grinned at this.

"I'm only kidding," she rushed on. "It's just George being so unusually coy about actually having a good day for once, and then you being upset, Lee."

"Ah," Lee laughed knowingly. "No, George is feeling good for an entirely different reason—still girl related, though."

Katie felt the familiar sensation of unwarranted annoyance rise in her stomach. "What?" she asked, turning to the redhead in the kitchen. "Again? And during work, too? That's just disgust—"

George backed up comically with his hands raised, while Lee laughed aloud. "No, no, none of that in the workplace," he said quickly. "At least, not yet. No, George just got a visit from the Ghost of…er…Halloween Past."

"Parvati?" she shouted disbelievingly.

"Calm down, Kates, you're ill. You don't need the extra exertion, I know," Lee continued. "No, not Parvati…a Magda Perkins, who was ogling George all during that Quidditch match a couple of months ago. She was supposed to show up to the Halloween party, actually, I don't know what happened there…"

He trailed off, and Katie blushed herself into a deep look of consciousness. Turning her face aside, she sincerely hoped neither of the boys were looking at her, and if they were, that they were attributing the redness to her illness. That girl had shown up? And talked to George? What could she have said? Did she mention—could she possibly have mentioned—their interaction at the door? She chanced a quick look at George. He looked amused, but she wasn't entirely certain if it was for the reason she dreaded, or if he was just enjoying the remembrance of the interaction. She had to know.

"So you, er, talked to her then, did you?" she asked, trying desperately to sound casually unconcerned.

"Yes I did," he returned in the same manner. It might have been her imagination, but it looked as though he was regarding her with a knowing look. "But as to what went on, you can forget it, I'm keeping mum."

Oh, God. So he did know then. Typical George, to tease her with a stupid pun. She tried her best to appear unrattled, and simply smoothed the comforter and sipped some more of her Pepper-Up Potion. She felt additional steam escape her ears. He could only find it amusing, right? There was nothing to read into there, surely…that had been Charlie's reaction, anyway, and she'd always thought the two were quite similar…

"Anyway," Lee continued, failing to notice the interaction between his roommates. "I guess I'd better dress up. Ange always wants to go to these fancy places…"

"Hold on now," George stopped him, abandoning his games with Katie. "You're saying it's just going to be me and Kates and Alicia tonight, then?"

"Well, no," Lee replied. "I mean, for dinner, yes—but we'll still do gift exchanging and all that together, and chat for a bit."

"You realize we've had this planned for a week now?" George continued. "I bought groceries for it."

He just shrugged guiltily. "Hey, I'd rather stay myself…take it up with Ange. Actually, you may not want to do that," he added with a swift glance in Katie's direction. He obviously hadn't meant to catch her eye, because when he did, he quickly retracted.

She instantly perked up. "What, Lee?" she demanded in a more sober tone. She had a strange feeling that whatever their disagreement had been about, she had been involved.

"Nothing," he said perhaps too quickly. "I was just thinking that it might be good, anyway, you being sick and all."

"Right," she replied, perfectly unconvinced. He disappeared, however, off to change.

XxX

Angelina Johnson sat on the edge of her day bed, staring intently at the floor. She had just hired someone to lay hardwood panels in her room, but she was now wondering vaguely if she would miss the feeling of the old lavender carpet under her bare feet in the mornings. It was not the absence of the old flooring, however, that was keeping her from standing up. It was another thought entirely—and one far worse. She had been wrong.

As much as she would have liked to escape the fact, there had really been no excuse for her to tell Lee what she had told him. That was, unless you counted drunkenness as a reason. When they had gone out two days ago, Angelina had drunk far too much wine, and when they came home and lay together in her bed, this worked against her. Alicia was off shopping for her upcoming ski trip and Lee had really been particularly sweet that evening, so when he asked her why she looked so far away, she had told him the one thing she had sworn she would never tell anyone.

"I used to be a little bit in love with Fred Weasley."

And then the words had just hung there, like flakes in a snow flurry when the world was on pause. She could hear a faint ringing in her ears. Lee had said nothing—at least not at first.

She wondered if he had known, or at least ever suspected. He claimed to have been in love with her since the age of eleven, so surely something must have been apparent even if he did not know the particulars. In his silence, she had quietly filled him in on these.

It had started slowly enough. It was the beginning of their sixth year at Hogwarts, and everything about the place felt different. Quidditch had been cancelled—a huge blow to their set of friends—but it had been replaced with the TriWizard Tournament, which promised excitement at every turn. It brought with it an onslaught of new students, however, and classes were overrun and new friends and crushes were made, and jealousies were formed. They had all adapted easily, however, except for Katie.

Her family had been in a huge row over whether or not her grandfather Artemus was starting to need full-time care after living on his own for more than fifteen years for most of the summer. Add to that the fact that Katie had gotten caught out with the twins (which her father had read as "Fred") way past her curfew and was now being closely monitored by her father, and she was more than a little stressed. She was being pulled between her aunt and her mother's differing opinions, and her father was not so subtly asking about the extent of her relationship with the Weasley twin at every available opportunity. Angelina had seen the letters she had tried to hide, and her frustration levels which she strove to conceal became obvious. By early October, she had taken her frustration out on Fred and the two were having full-out rows almost every other day.

The day Angelina had put her name into the goblet of fire, Katie accused Fred of making a play for one of the Beauxbatons girls for what must have been the tenth time that week and he had lost it, telling her not to come talk to him until she could prove she wasn't completely mad. Katie had stomped off to the Quidditch pitch to vent her anger and George, ever Fred's one-man clean up crew, had gone after her. That night after Lee and Alicia had gone to bed, Fred came and sought Angelina out. She had been sitting by the fire studying for her arithmancy exam scheduled for the following day.

"I hope you know I'm rooting for you for Hogwarts champion," he had said with a grin after sidling up next to her. "Given that Diggory is the most likely competition, I know that's not saying much, but there it is."

"Nice to see you've come around to the rational way of thinking," she had replied without looking up from her book. It was just Fred, after all. She figured he was feeling reckless after his fight with Katie and was looking to do something stupid. His senses must have been really impaired because he knew she would never go along with his little plans and pranks.

"No, I mean it," he said seriously. This was what had surprised her, and what made her look up from her book. He was regarding her in a thoughtful manner, as though he had never really taken the time to see her before. "You're the only one who hasn't seemed to lose their head over all of this."

She had paused. "Well, given that you and George were sporting full beard earlier this week, that's not saying much—"

"But there it is," he finished with a grin.

"There it is," she had echoed.

He looked at her a moment longer, and then stood up, extending his hand to her. They had gone down to the kitchens, eaten pie, and talked for what felt like hours. From that moment on, she knew she had fallen for Fred Weasley.

Angelina had never said anything, however. She knew how it would be received. She knew, along with the rest of their friends, that he and Katie were meant to be together and that there wasn't possibly another person for either of them. She also knew her reluctant feelings for Lee were growing; they were always waxing and then waning again, but they had become harder to deny. She knew it was wrong. She knew it—but she felt it.

As Fred and Katie's relationship began to deteriorate further, he took to coming to see her more often. They talked about Katie, of course, but only as an idle complaint he would throw out and which she felt was her duty as a friend to dismiss. He told her about the late-night snogs he had been having with forgettable girls, and which he instantly regretted afterward. And more than anything, he praised her for her levelheadedness and started asking about her own love life. When he teased her about Lee, she thought she could almost sense an ulterior motive—was he gauging if her feelings were claimed? One night, frustrated with the double role of supportive friend and secret admirer, she had sat close to him on the couch by the fire and placed his arm around her shoulders and cuddled into him. He seemed surprised, but he never pushed her away.

This became frequent. They were always together when their friends were away. Then December came and he and Katie broke up for good. She waited with baited breath until the night he had asked her to the Yule Ball. Alicia, Lee, George—everyone was upset with her, but she could not repent her decision, and the Yule Ball couldn't come quickly enough. Katie unexpectedly went home and Lee rebounded and found a Beauxbatons girl for a date, and Alicia and George forgave her, presumably because they thought it was part of a plot to make Lee jealous. In a way, this was an added bonus, but it was by no means her intention.

The day before the ball, Fred took her to Hogsmeade to go shopping for a dress. They had stayed out all night, flirting and holding hands. It was thrilling, the secret of it all, and knowing that their friends would hate them forever if they knew. Then, at midnight on the ice rink, he had kissed her. It surprised both of them, but once it had happened, there wasn't any going back. They snogged until morning out in the icy air, and Angelina had slept late into the afternoon the day of the ball.

When she woke up, Katie was back. She was horrified, thinking somehow someone had told her what had happened. But it was impossible, she and Fred had been entirely alone, and it turned out George had convinced Katie to come back and abandoned his own date in order to take her. Out of guilt, Angelina had earnestly praised George to the skies for this act of gallantry and told Katie again and again just what a good bloke he was. This had unintentionally made Alicia cry, knowing her Durmstrang date would never measure up to her long-time crush. It had been a heavily emotional day, something Angelina had never dealt with all that well.

Salvation came that night however, and three-quarters of the evening was perfect. She and Fred had made everyone stare with their outrageous dancing, and she had managed to pull him away twice for another kissing session. He was distracted, however. Katie's coming back had unnerved him and she knew he was watching her out of the corner of his eye for most of the evening. In her sadness, she observed Lee and his date, wondering if it would have been better if she had just gone with him.

At the end of the evening, he took her aside and said very seriously, "I'm sorry, Angie, I can't do this." It was a statement, not a question, and Angelina knew all too well the truth of it.

"I know," she had said quietly.

And then she had retreated, pulling herself together and endeavoring to be the mother hen she always was. She gathered George and led him out with her, made a couple of comments about Lee, and then went to bed. She had cried most of that night—something Angelina Johnson never did.

It was at this point that Angelina had stopped in her narrative to gauge Lee's reaction. He was staring stone-faced at the wall.

"Lee?" she had prompted quietly.

After a pause, he finally spoke. "Was that the only time?" he asked in a low voice.

"No."

That summer, the attraction had been revived. Katie's brother had been sent off on a mission and her family had gone under the radar for a time. Angelina, on the other hand, was often at Order headquarters with her parents, having asked to come along to see the twins. When George and the other Weasleys were off somewhere in that dank and drafty house, she and Fred were snogging repeatedly. It stopped once the school year began, but their last year at Hogwarts had been punctuated with two lapses—two lapses that they had never spoken about again.

Lee was now completely unreadable, apparently lost in his own thoughts. He actually took her by surprise when he spoke next.

"And did you ever…?"

He trailed off, but Angelina knew what he meant to ask.

"Yes," she said honestly. "Just once. Before the twins left school. It all happened in a total of eight minutes and we both regretted it immediately afterward and never talked about it again, but it happened."

"And you were, apparently, 'a little bit in love with him?'" he asked, a very small note of contempt in his voice.

"I was," she answered hollowly, now joining him in staring despondently at the wall. "And tonight, standing under the snow, I thought of that night at Hogsmeade—the first time we kissed. I know it's wrong, I know it's awful, but I did. And I just can't believe he's not here now. There's never going to be another Christmas with him for us. And when you asked me what was wrong, I just…"

"Why did you tell me this?" he suddenly snapped. Anger was an unusual characteristic for Lee, and it made Angelina slightly startled. "I didn't need to know. I wasn't even your bloody boyfriend at this point, was I? So why would you tell me that? So now every time I see you I can picture the two of you together? You with my best friend? That's just great, Ange, thank you for that…I suppose Katie doesn't know, you haven't gone that far? You haven't been that depraved?"

She was completely at a loss for words. "Of course not," she stammered out once she found her voice. "I would never—"

"Good," he said shortly. "I'm glad to know you have respect for someone, at least."

"It would kill her," Ange had said seriously.

"Yes, I think it might," Lee agreed, standing up now. She moved to stop him, but he was already heading toward the door. "It's Christmas. We have enough to deal with without dragging up pointless regrets from the past."

"Lee," she had pleaded.

He had just shaken his head. "You know, Ange, some things are a secret for a reason." And with one last long, penetrating look, he headed out the door.

And Angelina now knew he was right. But she couldn't unsay it, and she couldn't agree that her past with Fred had been a matter of regret. It was wrong, that she knew, but she couldn't regret it. And now she sat here on her bed, trying to formulate what she could say that night to save her relationship with Lee. She loved him, really. She always had. And she should have never unloaded her guilt and her sadness on him. She just had to convince him that she knew that. Unfortunately for Angelina, apologies had never been her strong suit. Taking a deep breath, she flicked the tiny braid hanging in front of her face to the back of her head and stood up.

The floor felt cold underneath her bare feet.

XxX

More than she had ever been before, Alicia was annoyed with Michael Bell. When she had walked into the flat, he had been seated by his sister's sickbed and attempting to shove unwanted spoonfuls of soup into Katie's tightly pursed lips. As soon as she had entered, however, he immediately abandoned this pursuit and leapt up to greet her, spilling the hot liquid onto the bed.

"Damn it, Michael!" Katie shouted as she leapt backward. At the exact time, Michael was hugging Alicia and shouting, "Spinnet! What a surprise…didn't know you would be here!"

Rolling his eyes, an unusually somber Lee had siphoned out the soup with his wand while George helped Katie up and handed her a new pair of pajamas. The younger Bell disappeared into the bathroom and Alicia prised herself away from her boyfriend.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" she snapped as Angelina came over to help her with the pile of presents in her arms. "Do you honestly want your sister to know about us?"

"You do," he pointed out, shrugging easily. "You said so this afternoon."

Alicia sighed and rolled her eyes.

"The man does have a point, 'Lic," Angelina pointed out rather unhelpfully. "You've been saying for ages now that you're tired of the secrecy."

Alicia frowned. "You look nice," she stated, observing her friend's fancy black cocktail dress. "Are you going somewhere after this?"

"Erm, well Lee and I are going to dinner," she said with a sidelong glance at her boyfriend. "At the Paper Dragon."

"What?" Alicia wailed rather sadly. "I thought we were supposed to be having dinner together."

"So did I," George threw out from across the room. "That's why I made this ruddy stew that's now all over the flat."

"Sorry, mate," Michael said easily. George just threw up his hands in indifference while Lee remained quiet.

"It will just be me and Lee gone," Ange said bracingly. "You and Kates and Michael and George will have plenty of fun, I'm sure."

"Yeah, sick me, my idiot brother, you, and the earless wonder," Katie drawled sarcastically, once again emerging from the bathroom in new jim jams. She collapsed onto her bed and moaned. "A real barrel of laughs."

"You know, I'm not actually earless," George pointed out in somewhat of an annoyed tone. "Just because I'm missing one doesn't mean I can't hear."

"Then turn your head around so I can talk about you some more," she shot back. This actually made Alicia laugh, and she relaxed a little.

"Well alright then, let's have some of this soup and exchange gifts," she said pleasantly as she sat down at the bar. Michael immediately joined her, placing his hand about her waist as he slid in. She glared at him and he backed away, hands in the air. Alicia now actually groaned.

To her complete surprise, Katie let out a bark of laughter. The entire room turned to stare at her.

"Oh, give it up, you two," she said, throwing her hand in the air in dismissal. "You've been at it for months, and I've known it the entire time."

"What?" Alicia and Michael shouted simultaneously, followed by a distant echo from Angelina and Lee.

"Oh come on!" Katie continued. "How thick do you honestly think I am? Merry Christmas—that's your bloody gift. My blessing."

Michael and Alicia turned to stare at one another, and Michael soon let out a hearty laugh. This was infectious and soon Alicia joined the entire room. After a moment, however, she noticed George quietly smirking in a corner and suddenly realized something.

"You!" she said accusatorily. "You knew? You knew she knew?"

"What?" George asked in a very bad impression of surprise, throwing his hands up in surrender. "I knew nothing…"

"You liar!" Alicia cried, getting up to pummel him with her fists. He laughed and easily held her at bay until Michael came and grabbed her around the waist.

"Come on, Spinny," he said affectionately. "No more of that. Now at least we can snog in public and make them regret they ever hid it from us."

This was met with a collective groan, and the gift exchanging began. Alicia was very careful not to examine any of her presents too carefully as she wanted them to be a surprise, and took pleasure in bestowing one to everyone except, of course, Michael. Besides the fact that she hadn't known this would be an acceptable gesture tonight, she was currently in a rather interesting dilemma of not actually having picked him out anything. She had wanted it to be quite good—she was certain he had gone out of his way to do something nice for her judging by his looks, and she didn't want to be shown up.

Soon, however, the exchanging was over and Angelina announced that their reservations wouldn't tolerate lateness and that she and Lee had to go. A sudden feeling of sadness descended over the party and Alicia was taken by surprise by the tight embrace Ange suddenly enveloped her with.

"Merry Christmas, 'Lic," she said in a fierce whisper. "Think of me, will you?"

And as she pulled away, Alicia was startled to see what looked like tears forming in her best friend's eyes. She chanced a quick glance at Lee who once again looked unusually quiet. She desperately wanted to ask if everything was alright between the pair of them, but within an instant, they were out the door.

If the others noticed anything, they said nothing. George wordlessly returned to the kitchen and began serving the soup. As Katie wasn't yet feeling well enough to sit at the bar, they came to her and enjoyed one another's company for the next half hour. Just as Alicia was again beginning to feel comfortable, George asked Michael if he was planning on taking Alicia out before she left in the morning.

"'Course," the curly top grinned devilishly. "Going out for drinks, aren't we, 'Leesh?"

"Ooh, where?" Katie asked brightly.

Alicia smiled at this easy acceptance of their relationship. It seemed she had been worried for nothing. "At that new bar down the street," she said excitedly.

"I've heard it's great!" her friend responded. "Jaq's been and she said it was completely chique."

"Er…about that…" Michael interrupted, causing everyone to look up. Alicia raised an eyebrow. "I'm a bit tight on funding at the moment…" he began hesitantly.

"You bought that broom, didn't you?" Alicia suddenly snapped. She saw Katie and George exchange uncomfortable looks out of the corner of her eye, but she ignored them. She herself couldn't explain why she was feeling so annoyed. He had told her that afternoon that he was planning on buying the broom.

"Er, yeah," Michael said. "I'm playing in the league championship game next week."

"It's Christmas in one week," she responded tersely.

"I know," he said defensively. " I already got your gift."

"It doesn't matter."

They sat for a few minutes in silence, their friends staring alternately at the floor and different corners of the room.

"If we could just go some place a little less expensive…"

"Fine," she said shortly. "I know a pub down the road from the hospital. Some of my friends are meeting there for a drink…"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Alicia regretted it. She looked up to take back this statement—seeing Ben was not the answer—but Michael already appeared to be on board, obviously reassured by the fact that she hadn't cancelled entirely.

"Great," he said with a grin. "George, I see you've got what looks like a girl's address on your hand. Why don't you owl her and join us?"

Alicia noticed that Katie's head jerked quickly up that this, observing George carefully. She seemed in no danger of being left alone that night, however.

"Oh, no, I don't think so," the redhead said easily, beginning to rub the ink off the back of his hand. "It was just a silly thing…I'm just going to stay here and look after Kay tonight."

Katie smiled and sank back into her pillow.

"You sure?" Michael continued. "Could be fun, and Kates can take care of herself, you know."

"Thanks a lot, drongo," Katie scowled, pushing her brother away with her foot. "Not like I'm seriously ill or anything."

"You're not!" her brother retorted. "I've seen you much worse than this! When you had dragon pox, you were actually spurting puss from your—"

"Okay, okay," Alicia said in what she felt was a calming manner. "Let's just go, okay, Michael?"

"Sure thing, babes," he said easily, shrugging and getting up from his spot on his sister's bed.

Alicia turned from where she was hugging Katie and then George, and eyed him. "You think you can pay for this one?" she asked.

He frowned. "Yeah, yeah, don't be so uptight, alright…?"

"Fine," she said, heading toward the door. Maybe she had made the right decision in meeting Ben.

"Alicia, what on earth…?"

"See you, guys!" George said loudly, rather obviously ushering them to the door. "Happy Christmas!"

XxX

"Happy Christ—"

But Michael's voice was drown out by the shutting of the heavy oak door. George let out an enormous sigh and put his back up against it. He caught Katie's eye and they both exchanged bewildered looks.

"Oh my God," she said slowly.

"I know," he returned, letting himself slide down the door.

"We're, like, the only normal ones."

"And who would have thought?"

"No kidding."

They continued to regard one another from where they were sitting on the bed and on the floor, respectively. George was considering something when Katie spoke again.

"George," she said in a voice he recognized as one she used when trying to appear nonchalant.

"Yes?" he replied patiently.

"Are you really not going to owl that girl?"

He smiled just slightly and showed her the back of his hand to prove it. "Nope."

She returned the smile. George gazed at her fondly, and perhaps for what was slightly too long, before he made his decision. Tonight was not the night. He wasn't sure when it would be, or if it ever would be, but he knew it wasn't this night. Let his friends flounder in the uncertainties and angst of the Christmas season. For now, he was going to enjoy this feeling of being superbly, blissfully normal.

"Want to finish that Christmas special?" he asked cheerfully, getting up from the floor.

She grinned. "Love to."

"Right." He kicked off his shoes and lifted the covers to her bed. "Budge up, then."

"George," Katie said bewilderedly. "What are you doing?"

"Your Christmas tree is blocking the view from my bed," he explained playfully. "The least you could do is let me share yours."

The look of confusion on her face was really quite hilarious. "But I'b sick," she stated obviously.

"I know that. But didn't I tell you I never get sick?"

"Your body is dot a finely-tuned idstrument of perfecshun," she glowered, but moved over. "You're too skinny."

"Be that as it may, I'm still not the one drinking this shit," he said pleasantly, passing her the bottle of Pepper Up Potion and placing his arm around her. "Here, you really need this."