Chocolate Frogs
The bell over the door rang as George and Lirum entered the confectionery shop. Sweet’s of all types scattered around the room. Lirum noticed Mrs. Flume was the one working the register today while Mr. Flume was nowhere to be seen. She looked at the couple and grinned.
“Oh it’s always a pleasure to have you back dear. Don’t let the chocolate frogs scare you if they start hopping with excitement!” She said waving to Lirum as they walked in.
“I don’t think I’ve ever gotten such a warm welcome coming in here.” George said under his breath before turning to Lirum. “Do you know what that was about?”
“Me? Oh not a clue!” Lirum sputtered out, embarrassed.
“I don’t know why you try to lie to me. You know your hair gives you away.” He teased.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Lirum lied, shrugging hoping to sweep this away as easy as he did. “She must’ve mistaken me for someone else. You know I don’t come to Hogsmeade much.”
“Oh, and be careful li! The sugared butterflies and peppermint toads are by the sugar quills!” Lirum covered their faces. There was no way out of this now.
“Scared of chocolate frogs and Peppermint toads? I don’t remember you having any problems with Trevor.” George said smugly. “Are you gonna explain why the owner's wife is so fond of you if you never come by?”
“I’m not scared of frogs, or toads for that matter. Candy that moves when it’s in your mouth just kind of freaks me out.” He was already giggling like a child. “You can’t tell me you’ve never had a chocolate frog kick a leg out while I’m your mouth! It’s disturbing at best! Utter nightmare fuel!”
“Hey careful, that's my favourite sweet your talking about.” George wheezed out between laughs.
“You’re laughing at me.” Lirum said, disheartened.
“No, no I’ll stop, I promise.” George said, fighting back his laughter. “I’m not making fun of you, I swear.”
“Yes you are!” George looked at them for a moment. He took their face in between his hands.
“No, I think it’s cute! Really, I think it is!” It didn’t make them feel better. He rubbed his thumbs back and forth around their cheeks. “It’s just silly to hear someone’s scared of a little chocolate, or peppermint with a spell on it.”
“They move around and try not to be eaten! How do you know It doesn’t hurt! They are clearly sentient! Would you feel bad if you broke an enchanted mirror?” Lirum asked, trying to prove their point.
“No? It’s just a mirror.” He said casually, not giving it a second thought.
“But it talks to you! It can see you move around and tell you how you look, give you advice, it might as well be alive!” They insisted. Why was everyone else so ok with this?
“But it’s not silly.” George said, almost patronisingly.
“Ghosts aren’t alive either! Neither are poltergeists! But you’re still friends with nearly headless Nick and Peeves!” Lirum insisted, but George just rolled his eyes.
“Oh come on. That’s different.” He looked back down at them, and for the first time it felt like he was actually looking down on them. On their first date no less.
“How?” They couldn’t pretend like they weren’t upset. It was the first time he’d ever disregarded their feelings. Treated them like they were silly after asking to hear them.
“Hey now, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to stir you up so bad. Why don’t you tell me what kind of sweets you do like then?” He said, gently working his fingers into their hair.
“I like sugar quills, doxi floss, and chocolate, or liquorice wands, and before you tell me I’m boring, I already know.” Lirum explained, trying to ignore his attempts to calm them as he oh so sweetly and gently played with their hair.. “I would even argue that chocolate frogs are a far more basic choice for most people our age.”
“You know we’ve been friends for years now and I’ve rarely actually seen this snarky version of you Percy says we created.” George teased, smiling down at them.
“And You know, I thought you were a bit Handsy back then. Little did I know how much worse you’d get the second I agreed to a date with you.” Lirum said, feeling one hand retreat back from their hair, and rest on their waist once more.
“I’d be a lot more handsy if I thought you’d let me.” He teased, leaning closer. “My love language is physical touch. I can't help it. You should remember I’ve always taken to holding you.”
“You’re the worst.” Lirum laughed, looking up at those big stupid brown eyes. “But you are quite pretty up close. So, maybe I can live with it.”
“Maybe you could learn to love it? Maybe even as much as I do?” They could feel his breath fanning their face. Lirum’s eyes fluttered closed, he pulled gently on their hair as he pulled them in.
They gasped at the feeling, which only encouraged George more. They could feel his smirk as his lips grazed his. He immediately and confidently began to slip his tongue into the opening he’d created by pulling on their hair. Lirum was nervous they’d never done anything of the sort. He was warm and sweet and they’d never felt so shy.
“The only sugar in this shop is in our sweets kids!” The voice came from Mr Flume. They’d been caught again. The universe, it seemed, was not a fan of their kissing.
“Sorry!” George said, as he pulled away instantly.
“How many times has this happened now?” Lirum asked, trying to stifle their laughter. “I think I’ve lost count.”
“Too many, far far too many.” George sighed, hanging his head again.
“Maybe it’s a sign?” Lirum teased, pulling him towards the stand of sugar quills.
“What kind of sign?” He humoured them.
“One that you should actually get to know me before we start snogging.”
“Well, I know you were never very good at divination so-“ He started. He lived to tease.
“Rude!” Lirum said, bumping him in the shoulder. “I can’t believe I was about to kiss you!”
“I’m only joking.” He surrendered, putting his hands up.
“You’d better be.” They teased, giggling. They couldn’t believe they’d been caught again.
“I believe I know you quite well actually.” George started, pulling them towards the chocolate frogs and grabbing a hand full for himself.
“Oh really, tell me about myself then I’ll stop you when you say something wrong.” Lirum said, eyeing him suspiciously. “And don’t get any funny ideas with that frog.
“Me? I’d never! But let’s see, I’ve known you for years, so I know a good bit. I know how you like your tea, you like earl grey it’s a full bodied tea, but I’ve never seen you drink it Black. Instead you drink it with copious amounts of sugar and a splash of milk. I know how frequently you’ve had to restart assignments because you tap your quill when you’re thinking and you accidentally spill your ink because you were doing it in the edge of the well, or splatter ink all over your parchment because you did it at the end of a sentence a bit too much. I know you’re not a fan of ham. I know that you grew up here, but refuse to talk about it.” Lirum gave him a warning look, which he acknowledged. “I know you don’t like sharing your burdens with people. Even if we wish you would. I know you enjoy working on wands, and learning more about them. It’s written all over your face when you talk about it. You protect the people you care about. I think you should have been a Gryffindor, or maybe even a Hufflepuff-“
“I’ve told you I-“ Lirum started.
“hate defining people by what house they belong to because it’s archaic, and people can be more than one thing.” George finished their thought for them.
“It also-“ He joined them in finishing that thought as well. “Creates artificial conflict between students that would otherwise be great friends.”
“Unlike my brothers I listen when you talk. You have a beautiful mind. I know that’s why you were sorted into Ravenclaw. You’re an independent thinker, you don’t just accept what you’ve been told. You look into things and form your own beliefs.” He was genuine when he spoke. There was a look in his eyes that he believed every word“You’re right when you say no person is exactly any of the house archetypes. You are brave, loyal, ambitious, and incredibly smart.”
“I can’t tell if this is incredibly hot or creepy.” Lirum mumbled to themself.
“Why would it be creepy?” George asked, watching Lirum pick out a sugar quill.
“Well honestly, it’s kind of stalkerish. You’ve my schedules and mannerisms better than I have.” They explained, looking up at him curious about his reaction.
“But I need to know what you want? If I don’t know how you work, how am I supposed to take care of you?” He stared at them for a minute before continuing again. “I mean this in the nicest way. You’re not very forthcoming. When people ask you what you want, you're suspicious. When people assume what you want, you're defensive. People have to fight to get close to you.”
“That’s not true, ask me anything.” Lirum replied, boldly.
“Why did you stop hating us?” He asked. That was not the question they were expecting.
“That’s a complicated question, and also not one I was expecting on a date.” Lirum answered, wearily.
“You gave me the chance to ask anything. I chose something important to me that I don’t think you’d answer otherwise.” George replied, he was full of what was clearly fake confidence.
“Alright then, I’m assuming you mean why I gave you and Fred a chance in detention?” Lirum shrugged.
“That seemed to be the start of it.” He said, browsing through the confectionery shop with his arm around them.
“Well, you can Thank Cedric and Tonks for that.” Lirum joked, stopping to ponder if they were in the mood for the sweet fluffy doxy floss or not.
“Cedric, Really?” He said, dumbfounded.
“He wasn’t joking when he said he’s been cheering you on for years.” Lirum laughed watching the expression on his face. “Tonks is the one who told me to give you a second chance first though.”
“Tonks was your pink haired friend right?” George asked, picking up a bag of doxy floss and holding it in his other hand. “I thought she graduated our third year?”
“She did, she told me to give the people trying to be my friend a chance. Aka, you and Fred. Then after he told me you two were cuter than Percy, and that it didn’t have to be gay if I didn’t want it to be but that’s a conversation for a whole different time.” Lirum reminisced, thinking about the last two years. “I owe them both a lot, and I guess so do you.”
“I guess I was lucky to have people on my side. I’ll have to make nice with Cedric then.” He joked, pulling them towards the register.
“You’d better, he’s practically been begging me to snog you since third year!” It was George’s turn to blush at that comment. “Oh and his awful jokes about us shagging!”
“Shagging?” His voice cracked, and Lirum couldn’t help but enjoy watching him getting so worked up, especially given how much he enjoyed doing the same to them. “I-is that what the two of you t-talk about?”
“Oh yeah, he’s told me all about how fit the quidditch players are! With how much the Gryffindors practice, that must mean they’re so strong, right?” Lirum teased, George officially matched his Gryffindor robes. “He even encouraged me to invite you back to my dorm-“
“We should meet up with Fred and Lee!” He swallowed, making his way quickly to the service counter.
“Oh, and I was having so much fun?” They fake pouted. As he dragged them towards the counter with him they noticed how red his ears were. Revenge was sweet.