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Chapter Text

My sister's car horn honks for the second time while I close the door of my room in a hurry. My parents are in the kitchen and I yell "see you soon" before leaving the house and locking the door.

Mara waits for me in her husband's shiny Volvo 480 with her sunglasses on. Her house is only three blocks from our parents', where I still live. I get into the passenger seat and give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I thought you'd bring Zac" I tell seeing that she is alone.

"Shopping with Zac? I don't think so, sweetheart." I smile to see that she does too, and starts the car.

Zac is their four-year-old son. I became an aunt at sixteen, and she a mother at twenty-two. Mara married at my age, at twenty, with her boyfriend from her school, August. They were always a wonderful couple, they are both very beautiful and consequently my nephew is too. But if there is something that that child inherited from his mother, is energy.

You go somewhere with Zac isa challenge for everyone in the family, it is very restless, and his magical gifts do not help to keep him calm.

Oh, the magical child, that's how I call it.

When Mara was eleven, an owl left a strange letter on our doorstep. In it, she was informed that she had been accepted into Hogwarts, a school of magic and sorcery. Apparently she was the first witch in the family after a hundred years, as our grandmother's grandfather had been a wizard as well.

Years later, when I turned eleven, we realized that she was the only witch in the family, since my letter never arrived.

As expected, Mara and I stopped seeing each other for seven years, meeting again only on vacation if she wasn't going to spend a few weeks with her wizard friends. But once she finished school, she moved with August to our muggle neighborhood, as they call it, so as not to get away from her family. He works for a well-known newspaper called "The Prophet" and she, although he studied and graduated as "Bachelor of Muggles Relations" is not currently working.

Zac is also a wizard, or at least that's what he looks like. Without realizing it, he performs a lot of mischief that an ordinary child could not do.

In two weeks it's his birthday, and although I had planned to give him a soccer ball or a doll that talks when you throw the rope, the very cheeky asked me for objects that I cannot easily find: a fake wand, magic dice and an infinite ice palette.

I asked my sister to buy everything for me and at first she agreed, but when she checked her schedule she realized that she had to do a lot more that day and that she would need my help. So here I am, accompanying my sister to what appears to be a magical neighborhood and helping her buy her gifts.

I've never been to any of these places in my life, in fact, the little I know about magic is for the books that Mara left at home at the start of a new school year. Everything from home.

After passing an abandoned bar and walking through a brick wall that separated itself, we had arrived.

"This is Diagon Alley, Uma. Everything you need from the wizarding world is here."

The place is full of people and colorful shops. It is almost impossible to speak without shouting due to the noises heard everywhere. Many unusual animals flit through the streets and I try not to get away from Mara under any circumstances.
"What did you say it was called the store?" I ask her in a shout while I watch a man less than a meter tall pass me flying on a broom.

"It's Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, it's at the end of this street. You won't take long to recognize it, it's the brightest in the place and it's always full of children. Here's the list of what Zac wants, so don't forget it" she says quickly.

"Just this once, I'll bother to remind you how harmful it is to give a 5-year-old child infinity ice cream" I held up my hands to show her that I'm only telling the truth and she rolls her eyes.

"Let him believe that he can have it whenever he wants and I will take care of hiding it after an hour."

This time we both laugh. Mara exchanges 50 pounds for me for her strange magic money and she shows me the way to get to the store.

"See you here in an hour, I have to go to the bank and then buy everything I need for the party."

The noise reappears when she leaves me alone. I look around me admiring the people and products in the stained glass windows. Living this way must be a beautiful dream.

I start walking towards the end of the street only to find one of the biggest shops in the alley. It is reddish orange in color and there is a huge head moving atop the building. Mara was right, it is full of children.

I walk in and the door rings a bell that I can barely hear. Children yell and test the products without any supervision, the place is filled with smoke of different colors and sweet smells, laughter and music.

I can't guide myself in here, I've never come to this store before and I don't even know what the toys I have to buy should look like. I pay close attention to the grown-ups inside the place, hoping to hear someone say they are in charge and ask for what I need.

Just a minute later, a tall boy dressed in black pants and a purple shirt approaches a boy of about thirteen.

"Ernie I told you you couldn't go back to the store without your parents, you always break things that you can't pay for later" I hear him say sweetly.

For some reason, her voice is loud and clear amid all the noise. It is low and a bit rough.

"I'm sorry George, I come back in ten minutes with my mother," the boy returns a bottle he held in his hand and runs away from the shop.

Before losing sight of the boy, I go over to ask him for help.

"Oh, excuse me, George?" he turns around and smiles at me.

He has brown eyes and hair of an orange tone I had never seen before. He must be a foot taller than me, and to speak to him I have to raise my head exaggeratedly.

"Hello, do we meet?" he asks me still smiling.

"I do not think so, I heard a child say your name. I'm not from around here" even though I wanted to stay and talk, preferred to return as soon as possible with Mara. Not knowing where she was standing puzzled me.

"Well hello, I'm George, nice to meet you" he extends his hand to me and I shake it smiling at him.

His grip is firm and his hand is warm. Mine, however, is starting to shake.

"I'm Uma, do you work here?" I slowly release his hand and the feeling of warmth stays with me.

"How did you know? Was the replica of my two-ton head outside?"

I find the comment funny and I laugh. It is the first time that a wry comment does not make me angry, not like August's, which he uses to annoy me.

"You're right, I'm a bit lost. I have to buy some things for my nephew but I have no idea what they are ..." I look in my pocket for the paper that Mara gave me on the street and I show it to him.

"Let me see..." I give the paper and smiles. "Come, I have everything you are looking for"

George starts walking towards a bookshelf and I repeat his last sentence in my head as I start to blush. I have everything you're looking for... I think so. From the outset I can assure that I like him, his broad shoulders combined with his height began to electrify me. I didn't know him anyway, but I hoped he wouldn't say anything with double meaning again or I'd have to hide my red face inside a paper bag.

"Everything in this store looks amazing" I say reaching for him.

"Thank you, my brother and I opened this place about three years ago. We manufacture nine out of ten things you see here." He seemed proud and satisfied.

"Do you make them? That's impressive. And tell me, does everything here have magic?" George turned to look at me with a frown of confusion. He smiled again.

"Well of course." He lifts his shoulders.

"Fabulous."

I must look like a fool, or my face will be betraying me, showing how amazed I am to be here; because George lets out a low laugh and keeps walking.

He stops in front of a floating shelf, grabs a pair of dice the size of my fist, and starts walking again. Only three steps to the left and we stop again, he takes a kind of wand and looks at me.

"What flavor do you want the ice pop?"

He looks at me closely but I don't know what to say. What if here in the magical world the flavors were different? My sister used to tell me about some disgusting lozenges with a snot taste, she couldn't buy that from Zac.

"Um ... what flavors do you have?" That sound convincing.

"I'm sure I have the perfect flavor for you" I don't know if it shows with the naked eye, but my heart almost leapt out of my chest. "Tell me, what is his favorite?"

Oh sure, Zac's favorite flavor.

I have no idea.

"Lemon?" George laughs in my face.

"He's a boy, I don't think his favorite flavor is lemon. How about grape?" I smile and nod. Luckily, there is one person who can think clearly in this conversation. "I'll be right back."

He walks toward a door behind the cash register and I entertain myself looking at the products on the shelf. Everything seemed to move or glow, although I had no idea what each thing was. A child ran after me and hit my legs causing me to moan slightly.

"Colton, be careful!" someone behind me said. "All good?"

I turn around and see George, albeit in a slightly lighter shirt than the one he was wearing before. I smile at him.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you."

"Have you been attended?" He ask me. He frown, maybe he was doing me a joke.

"In fact, I'm pretty sure you did" I laugh but now the one who seems strange is him.

"Oh, my brother was probably with you before. I'm Fred, you don't usually come around here a lot do you?" He doesn't extend his hand to me since he's carrying some boxes, but he smiles kindly at me.

"A pleasure, I'm Uma. It's the first time I come here."

"Uma, your things are done!" Now I listen to George. I see him behind the cash register and wave at him that he was on his way.

"Well, Uma, I'll see you soon." Fred says to me next to me.

"See ya" I say and walk over to George.

Like I said before, they are exactly the same, but now that I was paying more attention to them, George had his hair a little longer and tousled, unlike Fred who had it very short over his ears.

George shows me the grape ice cream pop, which is huge and the color of his shirt. He makes some accounts and gives me the total of the purchase. I pay him and put everything in my bag under his watchful eye.

"Hope to see you around the store more often," he says smiling. I don't want to sound confident, but he seemed to be flirting with me.

About me, I would love to follow the charm, but I don't really know how to do it. Flirting is not one of my talents.

"Thanks for the help, George"

I leave the place and the cold wind hits my face, waking me up. I felt like I had come down from heaven, as far as I was concerned, George seemed to be an angel. In some way that I don't understand, Fred didn't feel the same.

I walk to the meeting point and see Mara with at least eight bags in hand.

"Give me that" I say grabbing four bags. "Did you get everything?"

"Everything but the miniature Gryffindor scarf. What bad luck! I'm completely sure Zac will go to Gryffindor like me, even though August wants him to be a Ravenclaw like him. He wanted him to have his first themed scarf."

"I thought you would stop throwing tantrums at this age, but here we are..." Mara slaps my arm with some bags and we start walking towards the car.

"Did you meet the Weasleys?" She asks me once we are coming home.

"Who?"

"The twins, Fred and George Weasley. They are the owners of the store you went to today."

"Ah, yes. George attended me today and Fred introduced himself for a minute. They seem to be very nice" I try not to show in my voice how much I was thinking about George's ear piercing that was adorned with a black ring.

"And did you see how cute they are?" Mara speaks abruptly and I open my eyes, bemused.

"They are handsome, yes." I turn to look out the window so that my rosy cheeks are not showing.

"I remember Charlie Weasley, in school he was even sexier than those two" I hear her sigh and look back at her puzzled.

"Oh for God's sake, what are you talking about?"

"Charlie is their older brother, we used to go to Hogwarts together and he was in Gryffindor like me. We were good friends and when he finished school he moved to Romania." Mara was smiling like a fool.

"And you were in love with him?" Let it go sister.

"Of course not!" She seemed convincing. "We were very good friends, nothing more. I never saw him again. He must be paunchy and bearded..."

"Like August?"

That cost me another blow on the arm, but I no regrets.

Chapter Text

That Saturday we arrived at Mara's house and August was waiting for us with dinner. The four of us shared a beautiful night, Zac was restless as always, he asked me about his gifts and, after a few hours, I went home.

My parents were already in bed so I made as little noise as possible. I crossed the corridor that led me to my room and shut the door, locked.

I took off the shoes, jeans, and shirt that I had been wearing for nine hours and sighed in relief. Everything in the room was in order and it was very quiet, which made the climate even more relaxing.

I threw the clothes on the desk and threw myself in my underwear with my back to the bed. This one was covered in a soft winter quilt that contrasted with my cold skin making me smile.

I closed my eyes and the first thing that went through my mind was the face of George, the guy from the magic shop.

He was smiling at me and instead of wearing the purple shirt he wore when I had met him, he was wearing a black round neck shirt that fitted closely to his chest and arms. He had unkempt hair like when I met him and his eyes grew smaller as he laughed.

It seemed like a dream, but I was awake.

I brought my left hand to my belly and slowly lowered it to my underwear, putting my hand inside.

I put my index and middle fingers on my clit, parting my full lips. I opened my mouth slightly at the touch, my cold fingers began to massage my hot area.

I didn't allow myself to open my eyes, George's face became more and more real.

He was talking, but I couldn't hear him. It seemed like he was trying to explain something to me that he found funny that I didn't understand and he didn't stop.

I kept moving my fingers but with a little more intensity and a silent moan escaped my lips.

I could feel how wet I was and I brought my right hand towards my breasts, starting to stimulate one of my nipples. I was trying my best not to make sounds, but I was panting heavily.

Without even controlling what I was imagining, the image of George was completely distorted and I began to see two figures that, as they became clearer, I realized that it was George and me, kissing.

He wasn't wearing his shirt and had one of his hands in my hair, pulling it, and the other on my waist. One of my hands was on his chest and with the other I was trying to unbutton his pants. The zipper of his jeans brushed my navel and his erection grew larger on my belly.

I introduced one of my fingers inside me and when I was about to start moving it, I heard a noise in the hallway.

The noise made me alert and I pulled my hand out of my underwear as I opened my eyes, causing George to disappear.

"Uma, is that you?" I heard my mother say.

"Yes mom, I'm about to lie down" I crawled under the covers with my heart racing with fright and in minutes I fell asleep.

***

Sunday passed faster than I would have liked and today, Monday, I got up early to go to college.

Two years ago I started studying Psychology at a local university, so I continue to live with my parents until I have my degree.

After a quick breakfast, I put on my coat and leave home to go to the train station. It is a few blocks from my house so I walk.

Next week I have an exam that I have been preparing for for months. The semester is coming to an end, which means that I have to pass at least three finals in order to keep up with the career. The other two exams are in two weeks. Then we have a two week winter break and in January the nightmare continues.

I love studying, but this career is very tedious.

When I get to the building I meet one of my classmates, Riley. I give her a kiss and we enter the warm place.

She is a little taller than me and has long dark brown hair, just like her eyes.

"Luckily we can study this week, since we have days off," she says.

"Do we have days off?" Lately I was so focused on studying that I was not paying attention to the classes.

"Yes, Thursday and Friday. The teachers will give us the long weekend to catch up with the exams and final assignments."

That sounded great, especially because I have no overdue tasks. I turned in all the work last week and I have been studying for the exams for months, this weekend I would be calm.

After a long four-hour class, I go home. The boots I decided to wear this morning weren't a good choice, they were hurting my heels.

August's car is parked on the street and I walk home excitedly. Surely the three of them came to eat.

Yesterday I couldn't stop thinking about George all day. After Saturday night, remembering him made me blush, and at the same time, want him more.

It had occurred to me that I could convince my sister to take me back to the alley so that I could see him again, even from a distance. The problem was what excuse to give Mara, she is very clever and she always knows when I am lying.

When I enter my house, Zac welcomes me with a hug and the smell of the sauce that my mother prepared for lunch.

"They already ate?" I tell them while I put my bag on the armchair at the entrance.

"We were waiting for you" answered my father.

"I'm on my way!" Zac runs into the dining room and I take off my coat and scarf to put them on the couch with my bag.

The scarf, of course. Finally an idea.

When we finish eating and washing dishes, Zac goes to play with my father in the living room and I stay with my mother, August and my sister alone.

"Mara, will you try to get the Gryffindor scarf again?" I try to be disinterested in the subject, but inside I need her to say yes.

"In fact, I sent an owl this morning and asked them to have one ready for me to pick up this week" she replies proud of herself.

"And one of Ravenclaw, so that there is diversity at home," adds August earning him a look of disgust from my sister.

"That's great!" they both look at me confused by my emotion and I relax. "I have Thursday free, do you want a companion?"

"Do you want to go to Diagon Alley with me again? That's strange" my mother shakes her head as she laughs, accomplice. "And you, do you know something that I don't?"

Mara confronts my mother as I get up from the table to get out of this awkward conversation as soon as possible.

"Well, it's clear that she has a good reason to go..."

"Mother!" I say indignant.

"Explain! Remember, I haven't lived here for more than six years!" Mara seems desperate to know what my mother is talking about, and I honestly do not understand it, or want to. That woman has a dangerous tongue.

"Maybe a guy?" my mom looks up to see me and Mara follows her. I'm most likely red and with a face that cries out for help.

August tries not to burst out laughing at seeing me have a bad time, damn it, and Mara still doesn't understand the situation.

"A guy? What guy?" my sister asks.

"There is no guy" I say quickly wanting everyone to leave and leave me alone. "Mara, you were there, I wasn't with anyone the other day."

"That's true, you only went to the..." Mara stops talking to look at me with wide eyes and smiles from ear to ear. "The Weasley's store! Incredible!" now she is screaming. "Ha! You like the Weasley twins, who else could it be."

"Oh, shut up." I say in a vague attempt to sound disinterested.

"It can't be, the Weasleys?" August says. "Doesn't that family have an end? I still remember when Mara was in love with Charlie Weasley, that conceited one."

"You said you didn't like him! What a liar!" I say trying to change the course of the conversation.

"It's because it's true, I didn't like Charlie Weasley!" she says serious as she looks at her husband.

My mother is about to drown on her own laughter.

"Oh please. You were dead with him." August stops looking at her and speaks directly to me. "Your sister and that guy did it in the Quidditch locker room during a game in seventh grade."

Mara opens her mouth wide and looks at August wanting to pounce on him and strangle him. My mother screams with excitement and laughs out loud again.

I just want to go to my room.

"I can't believe it" I say before Zac enters the dining room with my father.

Chapter Text

Thursday came after a long week. Mara and I went for coffee on Tuesday to discuss what we would do this weekend, and we arranged to go to Diagon Alley today and pick up Zac's scarves.

Regarding the Weasleys, she continued to deny what happened to Charlie in her seventh year, and I continued to deny my desire to see George again.

As always, Mara picked me up at my house to go to central London. The day was sunny and finally, after three long weeks, I was able to leave my coat at home. I put on jean flare pants and a blue wool vest that had the sleeves of a white shirt. It felt like we were in spring, my favorite season of the year.

My sister went all the way telling me how the owner of the uniform store always had a cold. According to her, it was a curse from her stepmother for behaving so badly as a child.

The Alley was not crowded with people like Saturday, but it was still loud and the shops were full of customers.

"Are we going to hunt the scarves before or after taking a pumpkin ice cream?" Mara asks me. I had to find a way to escape at least five minutes and go through Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, maybe I could see George from outside.

"Definitely after."

We walked down the street until we reached an ice cream parlor called "Florean Fortescue". Upon entering we found a row of five people and, luckily for me, Mara was reunited with an old friend.

"What is a married woman like you doing around here? Are you looking for an adventure? " A purple haired girl came up to us and spread her arms to hug my sister.

"Don't even hesitate, whenever I'm looking for an adventure, you'll be the first to call." They hugged for a few seconds and then separated when a man came up behind Mara's friend.

"Long time no see, Mara." He greeted him and they hugged each other.

My sister couldn't stop smiling. "Tonks, Remus, it's been years! She is Uma, my sister. " She said pointed at me and then heading towards me. "Uma, do you remember them? They were at my wedding. Tonks and I studied together at Hogwarts. "

"Hello how are you?" I greeted them both with a kiss and smiled kindly. The truth was that I did not remember them.

The three of them started talking as we were still in the row and Tonks mentioned something like "let's sit down together and catch up." This was my chance.

"Oh, I don't mean to be rude, but would you mind if I went for a walk while you guys talked? I didn't have time to visit the place the other day and I would like to enjoy it more" I said referring more to Mara.

"Are you sure?" I nodded. "Stay out of Gringotts or Knockturn Alley, it's dangerous. You want to change money?"

She said everything with inexplicable speed and in an older sister tone that I knew very well.

"See you later, it was nice to see you." I told the couple after Mara change me some money and I left there.

As soon as I left the store I threw the pumpkin ice cream into a basket, it was not what I thought at all, on the contrary, it was disgusting. I was not made for magical flavors.

I walked the same path that I had done on Saturday until I reached the orange store. I combed my hair a bit with my fingers and pulled up my jeans, ready to head to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

When I opened the door the bell rang slightly. There were kids, but not as many as the other day. The colored smoke and sweet scents were still there and the background music was mixed with the products that the customers activated.

The place had high walls, they crossed stairs that led to new artifacts, and at the end of the highest staircase, there was a closed door. There was also a door behind the counter, which is where George went to get the palette of grape.

George.

Because of him I am here today and I didn't even know what I am going to say or do. I took a quick look at the people in the store and couldn't see him with the naked eye.

Well, we tried.

I turned around ready to leave the store when a child holding a metal goblet collided with me.

The entire contents of the container fell on my vest and I saw the boy open his eyes in fear. The instant the liquid touched the fabric, it began to melt like acid, punching a hole in the fabric above my chest and getting bigger and bigger.

"Oh God, what is this?" I asked in a high tone of voice, starting to freak out and leaning down to prevent my clothes from directly touching my skin.

The goblet had fallen to the floor and drops of liquid that had spread on it began to stain the wood of the floor.

"Fred! George! " the boy yelled, he was about twelve years old. "Please help!"

After a few seconds I felt how someone grabbed me by the shoulders and took me to the door that was behind the counter.

I could see one of the twins using his wand to clean the hardwood floor, and just as he started scolding the boy, the door closed. I was in a hallway that had three doors. Two of them were open: at the back you could see a bathroom, and on the right side, an office. I guessed that the door to the left side would have a deposit.

The sound of my clothes melting became clearer now in the silence of the hall, and the twin behind me took me by the shoulders again.

"Come in here," he said, leading me to the office. He turned on the light and when I turned to see him I could recognize him as George, by the longer hair of him that he now wore with a thin black cloth headband that held the locks threatening to collide with his forehead. "Quick, take off the clothes that are stained." He said and left the room without even giving me time to object.

I was going to stand still and wait for him to come back, but the hole in my vest now completely occupied my bust and belly and was starting to produce a sour smell. Afraid the fabric would touch my skin, I pulled the garment off as fast as I could, just in time for George to return with a gray towel in his hands.

I was only in a bra, this was also dark blue and contrasted with my pale skin, which was chicken thanks to the cold and the shame of the situation.

When George saw me, he slowed his steps and approached me carefully. As he did so, he ran his gaze across my body until it ended in my eyes and stayed there, staring at me. When he was in front of me only 8 inches away, he unfolded the towel and wrapped it around my shoulders.

He didn't take his eyes off mine as he did, and his fingers brushed my arms as he covered me with the towel. Again, his hands were warm and ignited my frozen skin.

I smiled at him taking the ends of the towel to cover myself a little better. He smiled back at me and breathed out the air that he seemed to have been holding.

"Thanks George." I said to prevent the silence from continuing to hug the room.

"It's nothing. Sorry, actually. Phillipe shouldn't have taken that goblet, it was in hiding to test with Fred later. I don't know how he came to take it. " He looked very sorry as he scratched the back of his neck.

"What exactly was... that?" I asked, pointing to the piece of cloth that kept melting into a metal bucket on the floor.

"We haven't named it yet" I laughed slightly at his slight negligence. They both seemed to take their work seriously, but they had been careless and guilt showed on his face. "Don't laugh." I saw him smile too, calmer now.

"I guess you owe me a blouse." The heat began to return to my body now that I felt more secure and comfortable. I had stopped shaking. George smiled.

"You look better without it."

I didn't have to look in a mirror to know that my face had turned red in a second. I looked down to hide and heard him laugh.

"Yeah well, I'll have to wear something to go home." I looked up and saw him biting her lower lip. "Or not?"

"Would you wait for me here?" He said and left the office. I heard another door open and thanks to the noise from the store, I realized that he had left the hall.

He had left me alone in his office and at some point the fireplace had lit behind me.

I started to walk to the desk and saw three picture frames on it: one of them had a picture of Fred and George in front of the store. They looked younger and were waving towards the camera. Unconsciously I smiled.

In another there was a family photo, there were at least ten people in this one, most of them were redheads like George, except for a raven haired boy wearing glasses and two girls: one blonde and one with brown hair and curly. They all looked very happy and could not stop moving.

In the third photo was the curly-haired girl with one of the twins. He was hugging her from behind and kissing her cheek as she giggled to the camera.

I couldn't tell if it was Fred or George, but from the way George had been flirting with me, I hoped it wasn't him.

I concentrated on looking for my sister's famous ex-crush on the family photo, but I didn't recognize which one he was. I heard the door to the hallway open and then George walked into the office with two pieces of clothing in hand.

"Come." He said as he placed the red cotton sweater on the desk chair and held only the short-sleeved shirt in his hands. "It's cold, get dressed."

"Thanks." I said in a whisper as I took the shirt from his hands and began to dress.

"Were you looking at the photos?" he approached the desk to see them himself, as if he never tired of remembering those moments.

"Yes, you have a big family." I finished putting on the shirt and grabbed the sweater to put it on as I walked up to George and looked at the photos with him.

"That's how it is." He smirked. "This was the store's opening day." He pointed to the photo with Fred. "And this is from the day that Fred and Hermione finally started dating" he rolled his eyes and laughed pointing to the next photo, "we came to believe that they would never confess, those fools."

I smiled when I heard him talk about his brother, he looked beautiful and completely tender talking about his family.

"Which one of them is Charlie?" I said bringing my face closer to the family photo.

"Do you know my brother? He is this one here. This photo is from a few months ago, the last time we were all together. " He pointed to one of the red-haired men in the photo, he was a little taller than the twins, had very broad shoulders and a marked jaw.

I laughed as I shook my head. "Amazing." I said amused and George looked at me confused. "My sister went to school with him. She keeps repeating how sexy he was back then." I spoke in a mocking tone, imitating my sister. He laughed and nodded.

"Who's your sister?"

"Mara Berrycoth." George raised his eyebrows and intensely river. "Please don't say you know her."

"Not exactly ... Charlie almost got kicked off the Quidditch team in seventh year because they found him fucking her in the locker room." He couldn't hold back laughing and I burst out next to him. So what August had said was true.

"She's going to die when I tell her you told me."

"I was a freshman at the time, it was quite an event." If my low math level didn't fail me, that meant George was now 20 or 21 years old.

"Yes, I can imagine." I adjusted my clothes and George looked at me intently.

"My clothes look good on you." He said winking at me.

"It looks huge on me, George. At least it's warm, thanks for lending it to me."

"And you? You were not in Hogwarts at that time? How old you?" He seemed eager to know more about me and I suppose he was intrigued that he didn't know me from school.

I did not know what to say. What if when he found out I'm a muggle he stopped being interested? I mean, I'm not sure he's interested in me either, but he always tries to flirt with me and I didn't want him to stop.

"I'm 20 years old, but I didn't go to Hogwarts." It was the only thing I could think of to say to avoid confessing that I was not a sorceress.

When I noticed that he was going to keep asking me questions, I heard the door to the hallway open and Fred walked into the office.

"All good?" He asked when he saw us. "God, what about that smell?"

"It's Uma's blouse, it completely fell apart." George said looking at the bucket the sour and strong smell came from. "We will have to improve the smell." Fred nodded.

"I'm sorry about the incident Uma, Phillipe doesn't know how to behave when he comes to the store." I smiled at him.

"He's just a boy, It's fine." He nodded. "I think I should go now, my sister must be looking for me."

"I'll walk you to the door." George said.

"Thanks." We walked past Fred and I said, "See you soon Fred. By the way, how cute Hermione is." He smiled at me and when I named her, his eyes shine.

As I left the store I turned to see George and say goodbye, we kissed each other on the cheek. I didn't want to leave yet, I wanted to stay with him all day, listen to his family anecdotes, his stories about magic, to teach me what each of the products in the store was for. I just wanted to be with him a little more.

"I'll see you soon." He said but it sounded more like a question.

"Take it for granted."

Mara was looking at a display case when I found her near the ice cream parlor. She had two bags in her hands, so she had already gone to get the scarves.

"Where you were?" She asked me happily, then she looked me from head to toe and her expression turned into a totally accusing one. "And those clothes?"

"An accident happened..."

I tried to be as careful as possible when telling the story to Mara, any unusual detail, for example being in a bra in front of George, could unleash the beast.

"And may I know what you were doing in the Weasley store?" She asked, trying to fool me.

"Umm, well, I was just passing by and I craved some pills." I hoped she would believe me and change her question, I couldn't think of what else to say.

"Tonks and Remus will be staying at the Weasley house for a few days, they want to announce the pregnancy on Saturday." She tells me when we are about to get home.

"That's beautiful, I didn't know they were expecting a child."

We kept chatting until Mara dropped me off at my house. I didn't mention anything about Charlie Weasley. I would save it for another time.

Chapter Text

"I'm going to ask you a favor, but it's just because you're the only wizard I know besides Mara." I tell August quietly.

"Oh no, please don't make me do something secret from your sister, you know that if she finds out she'll make me pay."

"You sound like a complete chicken. Besides, you don't have to worry, she won't find out."

August washed the dirty dinner dishes while Mara bathed. Zac was already in his room sleeping, and I, after spending the day with them, was about to leave.

But when I passed through the corridor of the house, I saw myself through a mirror that hung on the wall. I was still wearing the shirt and sweatshirt George had lent me earlier. So I turned around and started talking to August, trying to convince him.

"And what are you supposed to do with my help?" he said without looking up from the sink.

"I need you to take me to Diagon Alley tomorrow afternoon. Mara is going out with my mum for coffee and that's when you're taking me to central London."

"Diagon Alley? Again?" I nodded. "Are you going to see the Weasleys?" He asked now with a mischievous smile on his face, looking at me.

"I have to give George his clothes back, idiot." I replied rolling my eyes.

"Well, ask your sister, I'm not your driver." I made a sound in my throat in complaint and crossed my arms.

"Of course not. If she finds out I'm going to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes again, she'll start pestering me." He shook his head.

"Uma, you're twenty, go by yourself."

This boy couldn't be a Ravenclaw.

"I don't have magic, remember? How do you expect me to open that damn brick wall, hitting it with my head?" August smiled, considering. "Come on, you know I never ask you for anything, it will be just this once."

"I don't know, I'll need something in exchange."

Well, it was a breakthrough, and I had just what I needed: the truth about Mara and Charlie Weasley. With me as an ally, August could expose Mara in some casual fight like the one they had at my house on Sunday.

This time, he accepted satisfied.

***

On Friday morning I tried to study a little so as not to lose my rhythm, it was four intense hours of reading and reviewing but that helped me keep my head busy.

August picked me up at 4:05pm, five minutes after Mara and mom left together.

"Do you need me to wait for you?" he asked as we crossed the brick wall and the strong smell of spices hit my nose.

"Could you? It won't take more than twenty minutes, I promise." I put on my best face and he accepted resignedly, after all we were already there.

"I'll go for a walk. See you here in twenty minutes, twenty-five if I'm in a good mood." I smiled and nodded quickly, starting to walk towards the twins' store with the cardboard bag with George's clothes washed and ironed in my hands.

I could see the big head moving outside the tent and my heart began to pound wildly.

Breathe, Uma, he's just a boy.

I only hoped that this time no child would collide with my legs, the only thing missing was having to take off my pants in front of everyone to avoid flaying my skin.

I opened the door and entered the wide space that was full of children, again. I browsed the shelves of products, buying time and looking for George. I was like that for maybe five minutes but I couldn't find him anywhere, in fact I couldn't see Fred anywhere either.

I was very surprised to recognize the girl who was found in the box, behind the counter. She apparently was in charge of charging and smiling kindly at everyone.

Hermione, Fred's girlfriend.

I approached her without thinking twice, I didn't have time to lose. I waited for her to finish serving the people in front of me and then I talked.

"Excuse me, Hermione?" She looked at me smiling but a little surprised for not knowing me.

"Good afternoon, welcome to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, have we met before?" How precious she was.

"No, my name is Uma, it's nice to meet you." I saw that her eyebrows rose just a few millimeters, something almost imperceptible, but she gave me to understand that she had become alert when she heard my name. "I was looking for George, is he here?"

"He's upstairs with Fred. They're checking out some products…" I nodded a little disappointed. "Do you want me to call him? What did you need?"

"Oh, I just came to return some things, you don't need to make him come here." Now I felt a little embarrassed, the most logical thing would be to leave the bag to Hermione, after all she was his sister-in-law, I wasn't leaving her belongings with a stranger.

"Easy, wait." The brunette didn't let me continue talking and touched a button that was on the wall behind her. The button was blue and made a slight sound, like a bell. "He'll be here in less than three minutes." She said, coming back to stand in front of me.

"How embarrassing, I could have left the bag with you. Thank you very much." I smiled at her and sincerely thanked her.

"It's nothing, I'm Hermione, although you seem to know that already..."

"Yes, I recognized you from a photo, but we didn't really know each other. You're Fred's girlfriend, right?" She smiled more than before.

"I am, four hundred forty-three days ago exactly." My eyes widened.

"Wow, that's very specific."

"Fred made this bracelet for me on our one year anniversary together." She extended her arm towards me and I could see the beautiful metal. It was gold, braided, and with a small oval in the middle that had the number 443 engraved on it. I gasped at the beauty of this one. "It changes number every day that passes."

"That's so cute and romantic." I really meant it, I felt jealous in a way, but in a good way, it would be nice to find someone who loved me like that. "You make a lovely couple."

"Thank you Uma, how cute you are."

"I didn't know you worked at the store, I hadn't seen you before."

"I'm just helping them today. I don't even live here in London, I'm studying in France, but the Weasley family got together this weekend and here we are…" I nodded.

"All of them? That's a lot of people." She laughed

"You're right, they're too many. But sadly not all of them will come. Bill and Ginny couldn't stop their activities and-"

Before she could finish speaking, the twins jumped up after Hermione, scaring us.

"Hello Uma." He greeted me briefly and turned his attention away from me. "Hello puppy." Fred hugged Hermione from behind her, passing his arms around the girl's waist and kissing her cheek loudly, having to bend down thanks to the height difference.

"How disgusting they are." George said this time turning to see me, leaving the couple behind. "Nice to see you again, Uma."

George had that brilliant smile on his face that would take my breath away, I had a hard time thinking straight if he stared at me and his closeness gave me goosebumps.

"Hello George." His smile was infectious, I couldn't close my mouth even if I tried. I held out the bag to him and he looked down to see it. "I brought your clothes."

"How cute you are, you didn't have to." There was his lopsided smile again, and as he looked up from the bag to my eyes, a lock of his long bangs fell in front of his eyes. Too sexy to be real.

"I meant to, it's alright."

"If this was an excuse to see me before tomorrow night..."

"Tomorrow night?" I frowned and he tilted his head slightly to the right. "What happens tomorrow night?"

"Oh, maybe the owl hasn't arrived yet. You'll find out later then, precious." My damn cheeks must have been red as a tomato.

Don't call me that George, I'm not strong.

"You won't tell me?" I asked smiling and he shook his head laughing at himself.

"I couldn't do it, it's easier with paper."

Maybe the way my belly felt wasn't normal, but the tickling and my pounding heart affected my quickness to reply.

"How scary."

"Don't be scared."

"What were you guys doing up there?" I asked changing the subject before my cheeks burst.

"We were… Working." It seemed doubtful.

"Why that tone?" I said laughing. He looked absolutely cute with the misaligned clothes he was wearing, you could tell they were working, both of them.

"We were dealing with that yucky potion that stripped you naked yesterday." He said casually, shrugging her shoulders.

"Damn, why do you say it like that?" I covered my face with both hands, embarrassment now unavoidable.

“I just remember the facts…”

"At least tell me you guys are improving the smell."

"We improved the smell and named it." Now I was interested. "Flay."

***

"Twenty-seven minutes." August looked at the watch on his wrist.

"Shut up, I'm already here, aren't I?" He rolled his eyes and started walking. "Besides, I told you that I would reward you."

"Ha, I'd like to hear how." How little faith this idiot had in me.

"Well, yesterday George Weasley told me something about Mara..." August stopped walking and turned to me, intrigued. "He confirmed what you said, she and Charlie fucked in the locker room in seventh grade."

"Yes, but I already knew that, what do I gain if that fool confirmed it to you?"

"Well now you have an ally for when Mara wants to deny it again."

When we got to his car, a brown owl was on the roof of his car, a letter in its beak.

"Nice." I said seeing how the bird almost hit August in the face with its wings as it flew away after leaving the letter in my brother-in-law's hands.

"Who sends owls to a car?" He asked when we got into the vehicle and turned on the heat.

"Shh, open it up." I got impatient.

August opened the envelope and it began to float in front of him.

"Dear Mara and August..." The paper began to speak for itself, surprising me. Also disappointing me somehow. I thought maybe it was the letter George told me about, but this wasn't for me.

"Damn howlers." he whispered. The voice that came out of the letter sounded familiar to me, it belonged to a woman.

"It really has been a long time since we last saw each other and when Mara and I met yesterday my heart broke into a thousand pieces, I miss you!" It was Tonks. "Remus and I came to London to stay at the Weasleys' this weekend and we're having a family dinner tomorrow night, I really wish you and Zac were here. Mara…you know." Sure, the pregnancy announcement would be tomorrow night. "You are officially invited, I don't want excuses, you can't miss it!"

August didn't seem convinced, in fact even he seemed to be in a bad mood. I understand, it must not be to his liking to have to go to eat at the family table of your wife's ex, although so many years had passed that perhaps this matter was already ancient history.

The message didn't end there and a male voice joined in.

"Mara Berrycoth? Invite her sister as well, we know her."

Damn, George, dinner with your whole family, really?