Dusk Till Dawn: A Fred And George Story

November 16, 1999

"Thanks, Anita!" I said as left the Apothecary with bags of miscellaneous items to help with health, beauty, and just plain cooking. I had to stop by to get the spices I needed for the dinner I was supposed to start an hour ago. I rushed down the cold November street and back up to the flat. I quickly set the groceries on the counter and started the boiling water for the meal of loaded baked potato soup I was making.

"There you are, Izzy," George said from somewhere behind me. "I've got some ideas for our project."

"Right, just give me one second," I answered. I got the first steps done and turned around.

George had disappeared, and so had the groceries. I heard him yell, "Where do you want your new perfume?"

"Just put it on the counter near my sink," I replied, unable to stop myself from smiling.

"Alright." He returned moments later with a paper in his hand, looking excited. "Okay, so I was thinking we use an Undetectable Extension Charm, and then we figure out a way to limit the Doubling Charm. I've got a couple ideas for that as well - "

I listened, nodding and agreeing and providing input when necessary as he went into detail about all of his ideas, smiling widely and waving his hands around excitedly to illustrate them and his eyes twinkling, and again I couldn't help cracking a smile of my own. This was a man who lived his job. He cared so deeply about his craft and about bringing it into the world.

"That's lovely, George," I told him. "Really, it is. I totally agree."

"You do?" He grinned. "That's great!"

I nodded. "Hey, would you set the table while I finish up?"

"Of course."

I finished what I needed to finish and brought the meal out to the table. George sat at the end of the table, and he'd set my place to his left.

"It smells delicious," he said.

I smiled. "Thanks," I told him as I sat.

George, impatient as ever, began to eat his soup before I could stop him.

He gave an "Ow!" and his hands flew to his mouth.

"What did you do?" I asked, trying not to roll my eyes.

"I burned my lip!" he answered overdramtically.

"Aww," I said, putting on fake pouty lips. "Would like me to kiss it better?"

He stopped trying to nurse his lip, hands dropping to his lap. He looked at me with eyes as serious as Hermione Granger during exams. "Would you, really?"

Before we knew it, we'd leaned over the corner of the table and pressed our lips together in a simple, pure kiss.

I leaned back a second later and opened my eyes. George smiled back at me.

Then I got hit by the Hogwarts Express. What in the world had I just done?

I stood. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." I grabbed my bowl and headed for my bedroom, where I would eat dinner alone.