❝only fools rush in ❞
Georgiana Fortescue's father, Florean, was the well known owner of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, an extremely popular shop in Diagon Alley. Finally, two years after his passing, Georgiana manages to reopen the shop...
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14
GEORGIANA DUCKED as a bludger went whizzing past her head. It seemed as though Sydney Countberry, her teammate on the Holyhead Harpies, wasn't a fan of her. Georgiana knew that Countberry wouldn't be pleased when it was announced that Georgiana and Elizabeth Gates were the new captains of the team, especially since Georgiana hadn't even played professionally before, but she didn't expect Countberry to target her at every practice, whether she had the quaffle or not.
"Don't worry about Countberry," said Elizabeth one day after practice. "She's just jealous that you're more talented and that Wilda likes you more than her. She's going to have to get over her pettiness if she wants to play starter this year."
"It's fine. I don't have time for her anyways, I'm not worried about it at all," Georgiana said. "I've got to go, Ginny are you coming?" Georgiana asked as Ginny walked into the changeroom.
"Yeah, give me a second, Gia. I've just got to get my uniform off."
Tonight was the night: February twenty fourth: the annual Pasta Party. Georgiana, after consulting with Elizabeth, had ended practice early so she and Ginny could go and set up, and Charlie was meeting them at the shop. They were going all out this year: gold banners and streamers, black tablecloths, magic confetti that disappeared before it touched anyone; this would be the pasta party to top all pasta parties.
As soon as Ginny was ready, the two girls said goodbye to the rest of the team and apparated to Diagon Alley. They rushed into Florean's, where Hannah and Julian, her new shopkeepers, were finishing closing up.
"Guys, I know I haven't been here to train you, but thank you so much, from what I hear, you're both doing an excellent job. You can go home, I'll fill up the ice cream and mop the floors," Georgiana told them.
The two nodded and thanked her before leaving taking off their aprons and leaving the store. Charlie came out from the back and hugged Georgiana and Ginny in greeting.
"I'm really sweaty, Char," Georgiana laughed as she pushed him off. "I'll be back in a minute. I need to take a shower and then we can get started on decorating."
"No problem."
"D'you mind if we eat some ice cream while we wait?" Ginny Asked. "I'm starved."
"Go for it," Georgiana shouted back as she ran up the stairs to her flat.
As soon as she was done her shower, Georgiana rushed back downstairs, where, to her surprise, Charlie and Ginny had already finished decorating, and they had even enchanted the confetti so it would disappear halfway to the floor.
Georgiana smiled, "It's perfect!" She exclaimed. "Thank you so much, but you could have waited for me."
"It's not a problem, Gia. You've been so busy with the team and with the shop, I didn't want you to feel overwhelmed," Charlie replied.
"You take such good care of me. What did I do to deserve you?" Georgiana asked as she wrapped Charlie in a hug.
"Ahem," Ginny said jokingly from the other side of the room. "I am also here."
Georgiana and Charlie both laughed as they faced the younger woman. "Thank you. Both of you." Georgiana said. "You've both been such a big help over the past couple of weeks, I don't know how I would get through any of this without you."
When it was finally time for the party, Georgiana and Ginny both went up to the flat to change into their outfits. They had both gone shopping in muggle London for fancy dresses for the party, and it was there that they found out that they had the same taste in style. Both Georgiana and Ginny had come out of the dressing rooms with the exact same dress on, except in different colours. The tightly fitted cocktail dress looked stunning on both of them, Ginny's flaming red hair went perfectly with the forest green of her version, and Georgiana's blue dress complemented her pale complexion and her bright eyes.
When Georgiana and Ginny came downstairs, Charlie, who had disapparated to his flat when they went upstairs, was already back and was looking spiffy in a black tuxedo.
"Wow," he said, eyeing Georgiana's outfit. "You look amazing."
Georgiana's face lit up and she kissed Charlie on the cheek. "Thank you, love. You look very smart, yourself."
Charlie grinned as wide as a proud four year old. "Why thank you," he said. "What do we do now?"
"We wait," Georgiana said. "The others should arrive any minute now."
As if on queue, the bell rang on the front door of the shop, and Penny entered in a brilliant gold gown and a large casserole dish filled with her mouthwatering lasagna. Penny rushed towards Georgiana, and trapped her in a hug with her free arm. "You look great!" She squealed.
"Thanks, Penny! You look amazing, this dress makes your hair look as gold as galleons!"
Penny grinned before hugging Charlie amicably and moving to Ginny. "I don't believe we've met, I'm Penny Harwood."
"I'm Ginny, Ginny Weasley." Ginny took Penny's free hand and shook it lightly before asking if she wanted to put her pasta down and grab some of her homemade fruit punch. The two girls ventured off towards the food table as other guests entered the shop. Georgiana and Charlie remained by the door and greeted their friends, first Barnaby entered, then Bill, Rowan, André, Ben, and then eventually, Grace and Felix. Each of their friends brought a different kind of pasta, and eventually the table was full. Penne, lemon pesto pasta, lasagna, ravioli, macaroni and cheese, and many more mouthwatering dishes.
Georgiana stood in front of all of her guests and held up her champagne flute. "I would like to make a toast," she started. "First, to Charlie. Thank you for sticking around with me for these past three and a half months. I don't know what I would've done without you. And next, to all of you. You lot are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I'm so glad we continue to do this every year, because even if we don't see each other any other time of the year, we always have something to look forward to. To true friendship!"
Georgiana's friends held up their glasses. "To true friendship!" They chorused. Georgiana laughed as she hugged them all, and they began to eat.
§
"Wow, I'm stuffed," Georgiana groaned and she and Charlie made their way up to her flat, carrying at least a half dozen of stacked casserole dishes, each filled at least a quarter way with left over pasta.
"Tell me about it, I don't think I could eat another bite if I tried."
It was nearly two in the morning. The pasta party had ended a mere twenty minutes before, and the two of them had already finished cleaning up (thanks to the help of magic) and were nearly ready for bed. However, they still had to put away the pasta, and Georgiana wasn't sure she had enough room in her fridge.
"Are you a witch or not?" Charlie laughed as he used a shrinking charm on his pile of casserole dishes.
Georgiana scowled at Charlie. "You have a flat of your own, you know," she joked.
Charlie let out a gulp before placing his pile in the fridge. Georgiana copied him before closing the fridge and going to her bedroom and changing into her pyjamas.
Charlie followed Georgiana into her room and took out his spare pair of pyjamas from her dresser. The two collapsed into Georgiana's bed, exhausted, and fell into a soundless sleep.
