As One

Handling It

"Lila," Hermione called through her bedroom door, "Ron, Harry, Ginny and I are going out for drinks tonight. Do you want to come?"

Lila was face-up on her bed, staring at the ceiling, in the same position she'd been for the better part of the last few days as she wrestled with her emotions like some kind of besotted schoolgirl. The fact that she'd been this thoroughly undone by one night with Fred and George Weasley made her frustrated beyond belief. She just couldn't reconcile how she felt about the whole thing with herself. The way everything happened was just so strange and dreamlike.

I have been pining after the two of them for over six years, she thought, and I finally got what I wanted. The sex was amazing. I should be happy. It's not like I have a right to be upset that Fred shagged me, I asked him to do it. So what if I was just another conquest? They're big boys. I'm a big girl. I can handle that.

She most definitely was not handling that. 

"Lila?" Hermione called again, shaking her from her racing stream of consciousness.

She thought about it, and decided that a nice night of getting piss drunk could be exactly what she needed to deal with this whole train wreck.

"I'll come." She called back, sitting up in bed and heaving a sigh.

"Can I come in?" Hermione asked from the door, and Lila walked over to the door to open it for her, letting her into the room, "I know you've been feeling a bit--"

"Don't even worry about it, 'Mione. No need to even speak of it. We're going to get dressed, look lovely, and go out for drinks with the mates. I will get absolutely plastered, put the whole thing behind me, and we'll never have to mention the events of the past week again. Deal?" Lila asked, looking at Hermione with an expression of pure determination.

Hermione laughed weakly, "Deal. But not too plastered, I don't want to have to carry you home."

-          -          -           - 

The Leaky Cauldron was bustling as Hermione and Lila walked in, the bar cramped with witches and wizards, almost every table full. Hermione spotted Ron flagging them down from a booth in the corner, and the pair slid in, Hermione with Ron, and Lila next to Harry and Ginny.

"It's right busy tonight," Ron said loudly over the noise of the pub, taking a sip from his pint, "Not sure why, on a Wednesday."

Harry continued, "It's been a bloody nightmare trying to get drinks. Can barely get up to the bar."

Lila groaned, and Hermione let out a laugh, "That conflicts with Lila's plan for the evening."

"And what plan is that?" Ginny asked, looking at Lila quizzically.

"Lila here plans to do everything in her power to get absolutely properly sloshed." Hermione answered matter-of-factly, grinning, and Lila pointed to Hermione in confirmation.

"Exactly right! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to fight my way through to the bar to do just that." Lila stood up from the table, hearing Harry and Ron resume normal conversation as she walked up to the bar, jostling herself between two older wizards who were engaged in a heated quidditch debate.

She leaned up against the bar, waving her arm to get the barkeep's attention, but he was down on the other end and nonresponsive. Rocking back on her heels with a huff, she tapped the bar top impatiently, looking around at the other patrons while she waited. She had scanned the majority of her periphery when she spotted him. One of the Weasley twins -- she couldn't tell which from this distance-- was leaned up against the wall with a pint in his hand, chatting up a girl who's back was turned to her. Lila's ears were burning and her tapping intensified as she stared at them, engrossed in the interaction.

"Do you need something, miss?" Her head snapped to see that the barkeep was standing in front of her.

"What's the strongest thing you've got?"

"That'll be firewhiskey. We've got Bishen's Fire Cinnamon flavor as well if you need a little sweetener." He said, gesturing to the bottles on the shelf.

Lila immediately thought of the smell of the twins' flat and shivered, "Not the cinnamon. Two double shots." He nodded, pouring her drinks, and slid them to her across the bar. She knocked one of the shots back quickly, shuddering as the burn traveled down her throat, and her gaze drifted back to where one of the twins had stood, but she found it empty.

 "Matter of fact, let me have a pint of wizards brew as well. While I'm here." She grabbed the pint from the bar as he set it down, knocking back the second shot of firewhiskey and slamming the shot glass to the bar top before putting down her money and moving back towards the table, but she froze in place when she saw Fred and George standing next to the booth, chatting up the group, the girl from earlier hanging off one of their waists.

'I'm so sorry,' Hermione mouthed, her face clearly communicating that they had shown up without her say-so, and Lila took a deep breath, the whiskey's heat in her body giving her the courage --or recklessness-- to keep walking, and she slid into the booth without a word.

She looked at the ebony-haired girl who seemed to be cursed to be attached to Fred's hip--or was it George? At this rate, Lila didn't care. Her irritation mixed with the alcohol was not a recipe for pleasantry. She took a hard swallow of her stout as she looked at the girl's face, which was turned up towards him in rapt attention. She followed her gaze and noticed that blasted freckle. So it was Fred. Lila gripped her glass so hard she thought it must be enchanted to have not shattered.

"Lila," George said, shock coloring his voice as he noticed she'd sat down, his face looking like that of a scolded dog, "I didn't realize you were here tonight."

Fred's attention snapped up from the girl at his side, and his mouth fell agape, at least having the decency to look embarrassed. Lila took another hard swallow of her drink, steeling her nerves.

"Funny, I didn't realize the two of you were here either. Or, three of you, as it were." Lila retorted, her tone more biting than she intended. Ron let out a cough, and Harry's eyes went wide at the chill to her voice.

The girl at Fred's side didn't seem too bright at reading rooms, as she held out her hand to Lila, smiling sweetly, "I'm Giselle. Giselle Laurier." Her accent was tinted French.

Lila found herself on the verge of laughter, "Giselle. You wouldn't happen to have attended Beauxbatons, would you?"

"Lila--" George interjected in a cautious tone.

"Oui! I did." Giselle replied excitedly, "I only moved here quite recently, I haven't managed to make many friends yet, besides these two." She gestured to the twins.

The rest of the gang watched the exchange in shock and confusion, sensing the obvious tension radiating off Lila and the nervousness emanating from an uncharacteristically quiet Fred and George. 

"Pity!" Lila responded. Her head and stomach burned with the shots she'd taken so quickly, and she felt the overwhelming urge to get as far away from the situation as possible. She turned her attention to the group, "Hermione, I'm afraid I've already managed to overdo it tonight, I think I'm going to head back to the flat."

Hermione's eyes were as apologetic as eyes could be, and she moved to stand up, "Come on, Lila, I'll walk you home."

Lila silenced her, throwing up a hand in objection, "No need, 'Mione. I can make it home on my own. Stay."

Hermione would've objected, but she knew from the look on Lila's face that she really just wanted to be alone, so she just nodded and sat back down.

"Goodnight, Lila." Harry and Ron called, still baffled at the whole exchange. 

"Goodnight." Lila responded, taking one last glance at a still-dumbstruck Fred and George before walking out of the pub and onto the street.