eight
{Thea’s POV}
|September 7th, 1995|
I am going to murder my best friend. It’s confirmed. They’ve gone too far. I’m not emotionally ready for this today.
I thought being left alone for a few minutes with him was enough mental straining for the month. But then he trapped me on the shoulder in Honeydukes.
He pulled me to the side while Kit rushed off. They were smiling evilly. I resist the desperate urge to hit them with a chair.
“Thea,” George says carefully. “Tomorrow’s your birthday, right?”
I take a second to process. “Yeah. It is.”
He smiles. “Good. I heard correctly earlier.” He pulls something out of his pocket. “I made you a card.”
Oh God. This is not real. “You didn’t have to-”
“I know. I wanted to, Mallard.” He can’t see my heart growing, right? That’s just me?
I accept the envelope. “Should I open it now?”
His eyes widen. “No, no. Please don’t! It’s a birthday card, so you should open it on your birthday, right?” A pink hue starts taking over his cheeks. “Don’t open it, please.”
“Okay, fine. Make me wait. I’ll wait until midnight.” That seems to be satisfactory enough for him, because he nods in appreciation.
“What is it that you and Kit were arguing about?” he inquires.
I snort. “They were making fun of me for being blind.”
He tilts his head to the side. “You wear glasses? I’ve never seen you wear them.”
“I do technically need them, but I don’t like them. I just squint and do my best to figure it out on my own.”
“You should show me them sometime. I’d love to see you wear them.”
I almost drop dead in the middle of Honeydukes. “I- okay. Yeah, sure.”
His smile is so bright it almost makes me actually blind. “Cool!” he exclaims. “This might be a little random, but can I have a hug? I’m a big hugger. It’s cool if not.”
I almost drop dead in the middle of Honeydukes again. “I’m also a hugger, so yes.”
George encircles my shoulders in his arms. My arms wrap around his back. Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit. I feel the desperate urge to never move my body again. I can die happy right now, in his arms. My head is on his shoulder. I can see Kit and Fred smirking at the two of us.
“I’m going to kill them,” I mutter.
“What?” George asks.
“Nothing, sorry. Kit and Fred are just laughing their asses off at us.” He turns his head and looks at them. He rolls his eyes. They’re so pretty when he smiles.
“I think they’ve had their fun,” he says. “Let’s go on a little walk. They can go crazy together.”
I smile and nod. The embrace drops and we hurry out of the shop together. George grabs my wrist and we run down the street so the others can’t follow us. I don’t think I’ve been down this road very much.
There’s only one shop. The sign reads ‘Vesters and Venum.’ Never heard of it. George opens the door for me. When inside, I have to stop to catch my breath.
“Welcome to Vesters and Venum!” says a gruff voice. I whip my head around and see a house-elf sitting on the check-out counter. “My name is Zonrey.”
“Hey, Zonrey!” George says cheerfully, walking up to the creature. “This,” he gestures to me, “is my dear friend Thea Mallard.” I smile and wave. “Is Elton around?”
He shakes his head. “Not today. But Mr. Raine is.”
George’s jaw drops slightly. “Seriously? He survived the summer,”
“Of course I did.” I jump at the sudden comment. It comes from the back room. An older man enters. “Morning, George.”
My friend must sense the confusion on my face, because he introduces the new arrival. “This is Raine Talpin, the very young, full of life owner of this quaint little shop.”
Talpin kicks George in the shin. “How rude, not introducing your girlfriend” He turns to me and puts out a hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, madam.”
I accept the handshake, trying not to start hyperventilating at being called George’s girlfriend. “Dorothea Mallard.”
“Hufflepuff, I assume?”
“How did you-”
He unzips his overcoat to display a Hufflepuff quidditch shirt. “Graduated in ‘93.”
My eyebrow raises. “Two years ago?” I question.
The man laughs. “102,” he corrects.
I slap a hand over my mouth. “No way you’re over 100.
George interrupts. “Talpin here is older than Dumbledore.”
The old wizard doesn’t let the conversation continue. “Is there something I can help you two with today?”
“Just getting away from some people for a little,” he explains. He picks up a strange looking pair of glasses from a shelf. He balances them on his face. The eyes are kind of like an owl but in a very unsettling way.
“Well, feel free to stay as long as you’d like. I’ll be back in the Manor. But I reckon Zonrey can help you with whatever. Isn’t that right, Z?”
The house-elf nods in agreement. “Yes, sir.”
Talpin’s eye twitches. “What’ve I told you ‘bout callin me that, boy? It’s Raine or Talpin to you, kid.”
Zonrey rolls his eyes. “Sure thing.”
The old man bids us farewell and walks back into the back room. I hear a heavy chest opening and closing. Then the sounds of any life in that room are gone.
I rush over and peek inside. Talpin is gone. “Where did he go?”
George appears at my side. “There’s a chest in there that leads to an old mansion. It’s technically owned by an angry poltergeist, but Talpin’s made it more or less his own over the years.”
I make a face. “Ick. Who would want to live with ghosts?”
“Thea,” George says. He has a hint of disappointment in his tone. “Hogwarts has dozens of ghosts roaming the halls at any given moment.”
“That’s-”
“Not different.”
I turn back to the main room of the store and start browsing the collection of clothes and accessories. “Shut up, Weasley.”
He follows closely behind me. “Whatever you say, Dorothea.”
He needs to stop. I can’t take it anymore.
After walking around for a little, I’ve figured out that this place is basically a thrift store. Everything is on the cheaper side and in pretty good condition. I hadn’t been planning on buying anything except the book and some tea later at the Three Broomsticks, so I decide not to get anything today.
“It was nice meeting you, Zonrey!” I say to the house-elf as George and I leave.
“See you next time, Miss Dorothea,” he responds.
Again, George holds the door open for me. The sun has gotten further up in the sky. It’s warm and the light feels nice on my skin. “Where to next?” George prompts.
I look around the street. There are no students in the vicinity. “I’m in the mood for tea.”
“The Three Broomsticks?”
I nod. “If it isn’t too busy right now.” We don’t run this time, and I’m glad. Running sucks. Unfortunately, I can tell that the line for the popular cafe is very long. “I think I’ll be fine without-”
“Madam Puddifoots shouldn’t be crowded at this hour. Especially since everyone’s over here.” I don’t get the chance to insist otherwise because George holds on to my wrist again and pulls me along. And he’s right; there are only about half a dozen Hogwarts students in the famous tea parlor.
My breath hitches as George Weasley opens the frilly pink door for me. I almost drop dead. He leads me to a table in a corner, the furthest away from anyone. Passersby probably can’t see us through the windows either. I do not want to see anyone I know. He pulls out the chair facing away from the windows for me, as if he knew what I was thinking.
“What would you like?” The question takes a minute to fully register in my brain.
Puddifoot’s does not have authentic chai, unlike The Three Broomsticks, so I pick the only other tea flavour I drink. “Peach green with honey.”
He smiles and skips to the front. I can’t hear what he says, but two minutes later he returns with two cups of tea. He sets one down in front of me and takes the other seat. He brings it to his lips and takes a careful sip. “Mmm! This is really good!”
I stumble over my words. “Wha-what did you get?”
“Peach green with honey.” He says it like it isn’t a big deal. I stop breathing momentarily. “You like it, so I knew it must be good. And I was right!”
I am 100% speechless. This man is not real. There’s no way. All I can do is take a drink myself. My brain isn’t letting me say anything. This is not happening. I’m dreaming. Someone drugged my breakfast.
“Are you okay, Dorothea?” I look up at him. His eyes hold a bit of concern in them.
“I’m okay, yes. Sorry. Just- You didn’t have to do this. You already gave me a card.” Oh my god. I’m so pathetic.
“Because I wanted to. People deserve nice things from others on their birthday. Is the tea to your liking?” He takes another sip. His pinky finger is sticking out the same way all the Slytherins drink tea. I’ve never seen any of the Weasley’s hold anything with this kind of grace. Not even the fancy one, Percy.
He’s acting like this whole situation is normal. It isn’t. At all. This is the most time I’ve ever been alone with George. Why is it in the most romantic place in Hogwarts Valley!
I manage to respond. “It’s good, really good. Thank you so much, George.”
“Anytime. I think this drink alone is converting me to tea as opposed to coffee,” he chirps. The light from the stained glass windows makes his freckles almost glow on his pale skin. His hair is also shiny and beautiful.
“Good.” I continue sipping at the hot beverage.
A few minutes pass. The silence is comfortable. But it’s broken by George. “What are you doing for your birthday?”
My brain whirs. I think about what to say. “We’re having a little party tonight,” I end up saying. “My friend group and some of the Slytherins.”
He nods in approval. “Kit’s friends?”
“Technically yes? They’re basically just an extension of Kit. They can join us whenever Kit feels they should join us.”
“Do you have any other friends outside that group?”
“I’m friends with most of my year. And most of Hufflepuff,” I explain. “For parties and stuff I only like specific people, though.” A very random thought pops into existence. “You can come, if you want. And Fred, if you want. I can tell you where it is.”
He grins. “I’d love to come! Can I really?”
“Yeah, of course.”
He gets up and walks behind me. His arms wrap around me from the back. “Thank you, Ro!” He sits down as quickly as he got up. “I think I’ll keep this one a secret from Freddie.”
I do my best to hide my expression behind my teacup. What the hell is happening today?
{Kit’s POV}
Fred and I have walked around practically the whole village twice now. We’ve poked our heads into every non-residential building in town. Until we reach Madam Puddifoot’s. My gaze moves quickly through the large windows.
“Oh my god. Frederick.” I grab his arm, squeezing tightly. My eyes don’t leave the sight I’ve just seen. “Look in the back right corner.”
I can tell that he does when he inhales sharply. He grabs my arm and squeezes in response. “Oh shit, Kristian. Did we do it?”
“I think we did.” I drag him away from the window so the lovebirds inside don’t see us. “Let it simmer for a little,” I say. “Don’t mention it to either of them yet.”
“Agreed.”
We do a business-type handshake. “Pleasure doing business with you, partner,” we say simultaneously.