Elusive // The Weasley Twins

8. Cinnamon Gin

//t.w. - alcohol consumption

Cosette cupped her hands against the window of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and peered inside. With nothing but the few streetlamps and a couple slightly dimmed signs to aid her visibility, it was hard for Cosette to even see inside. The 'closed' sign had been placed in the door, but Cosette knew that George was inside.

For the fifth time, she rapped her knuckles against the door and peeked through the glass on the other side, trying to see if there was any sort of movement behind some of the shelves.

She pressed her finger against the buzzer built into the bricks and she could faintly make out a low ringing sound coming from the inside in the shop. However she had to press it two more times until the lights switched on.

From where Cosette stood on the outside, the staircase in the far corner that led up to George's flat wasn't visible but with the lights being turned on, she expected to see him turn down an aisle and towards the door any second.

George was rubbing his eyes as he made his way over and Cosette slowly backed up from the door, waiting for him to open it, but when he looked through the window and saw her standing on the other side, he rolled his eyes and started to turn around.

Cosette hit her palm against the glass a few more times, trying desperately to get his attention, "Don't, please!" She had to yell in order for him to hear her through the barrier.

    She was half expecting him to continue walking away, but took a breath of relief when he turned back around instead. George stepped up to the window and raised his eyebrows at the sight of her, "What are you doing here?"

    His voice was muffled but she still could make out the ever present disappointment. Cosette was probably the last person he wanted to see, "I want to apologize."

    With a tilt of his head, it became clear that George didn't catch what she said.

    "I'm here to-" Cosette cut herself off when she heard a door slam in a nearby back alley. She wasn't necessarily scared of the dark but it was almost midnight and Diagon Alley wasn't as welcoming when everything was closed. She grabbed the doorknob, attempting to turn it again even though she knew it was locked. She raised her voice again, "Open the door, George."

    He definitely heard that.

    Cosette could see the hesitation in his face but was thankful she saw him raise an arm up to unlatch the few locks that were bolted to the door. George only pulled it back a few inches, leaning against the frame as he stared at Cosette.

    "What are you doing here?" He asked her again.

    "I shouldn't have left," she admitted to him at the exact moment the nearby streetlamp went out. She knew that it would only be a few minutes until someone would come by to fix it, but with the only light now coming from the shop behind George it was hard to make out his expressions.

    "Which time?" He asked her with a hint of sarcasm, causing her stomach to drop.

    "Both," Cosette answered anyway, "I shouldn't have left after the funeral and I shouldn't have left the burrow the other day and for both of those things, George, I'm truly sorry."

    From his stiff body position alone, Cosette could tell that he didn't quite believe her. He scanned over her quickly and then nodded his head towards a box sitting on the ground by her feet, "What's that?"

    The sound of bottles hitting each other could be heard as she lifted it up. Cosette pulled out one of them and held it towards George so he could make out the label that read Cinnamon Gin.