O to the W L-zzle

[mischief_george]

It wasn't often that George Weasley waffled over something. He might sit back and let a lot of things wash over him, but he was far from indecisive. And yet, he found himself going back and forth over what he should send out with an owl to a girl

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[mischief_george]

Ah, yes. The Great Hall. He'd been here often.

Never quite like this. Sure, he'd had his share of Hogsmeade trips, but accompanied by a girl? Not exactly a common occurrence. He'd been a bit too preoccupied with other things - namely getting into as much trouble as humanly possible, creating things a bit more worthwhile than any of their schoolwork had attempted, and generally enjoying himself as much as he could - to really focus on the fairer sex.

Now, it seemed, he was falling victim to the very same affliction he'd often teased his brothers and mates for. Bloody girls. Getting under your skin, making you dress with a bit more care and generally acting as if you actually looked in a mirror once in a while.

Tugging absently on his jeans and adjusting the neck of his sweater, George scanned the room for Stephanie. Bloody hell, why was he nervous? He'd played Quidditch in front of hundreds of people, he owned his own business, for Merlin's sake. And it wasn't exactly as if this was his first non-date date. And still...

Shifting side to side a bit awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do with his hands, George waited.

[busty_robin]

Okay. Great hall. Pretty easy to find, when the staircases weren't being all schizoid. And today of all days, they were being completely sane and staircase-like. Figures.

It's not that she was nervous. This wasn't a date, so there was no reason to be nervous. Heck, even if it was -which it WAS NOT- that was still no good reason for nervousity. Which was totally a word, shut up. She was Steph Brown! Steph Brown didn't get nervous - she jumped off of buildings! She kicked bad guys in the face! And so on.

She pulled a thread off of her shirt and walked into the great hall. She saw George, and waved.

"Hey. Um, I'm not late, am I?"

[mischief_george]

Wow. Okay, right. Still pretty. Good to know. Grinning at her, George pushed off from the wall and walked over, hoping he didn't suddenly trip over his own feet or have his face spontaneously burst into pimples (which wasn't as odd of a fear as one might think - most people didn't live with Fred).

"No," he smiled at her, gallantly offering his arm with a flourish. "Just on time."

Heart thudding in his ears, George's smile was more than a little nervous. But he had an evening planned - hopefully something Stephanie would enjoy.

Oh, Merlin, what if she hated it? What if it went horribly wrong? WHAT IF HIS SHOES DIDN'T GO WITH HIS BELT? Okay, deep breaths, Weasley.

"Hope you're not afraid of heights."

[busty_robin]

She didn't have anything in her teeth, right? She'd brushed right after lunch. And what about the breath? Too late to do a breath check! She'd been sighted!

His arm? What was she supposed to- oh. right. Sigh. Steph was with it. She took said arm, trying not to blush. Now what? "I like your sneakers."

I like your sneakers? The hell?

She actually laughed at the heights thing. Very welcome tension breaker, though poor George couldn't know why. Steph grinned, and nodded. "I'm good with heights."

[mischief_george]

Heh, okay. Laughing was good, right? Yes. He hadn't a sodding clue why she was laughing, but hey, he'd take it. Trying to to swallow nervously when her hand rested on his arm, he gave her what strove to be a cocky grin and headed out the doors into the early evening air. The sun was starting to descend, bathing everything in a gloriously golden light.

Glancing over at her, he laughed. "Finest Muggle footwear." He leaned forward so he could click his heels together. "Ready for any sneaking that need be done." Then he blushed slightly and stammered, "Y-you look brilliant." Merlin, and she did. The weight of her hand was light and yet it seemed like every nerve in his body was focused on it.

Right. Clearing his throat slightly, he lead Steph down towards the Quidditch pitch. His broom was waiting and he mounted it smoothly, holding out his hand to help her on board. "Good," he grinned about the heights thing. "Because I've got a treat for you."

[busty_robin]

"Oh, I'm bright, at best." She made a seesaw motion with her free hand. "Hopeless at geometry." Yes, that was a joke. An utterly lame joke, but a joke all the same!

Hey! A broom! Yay brooms!

"Oh, do you play? I just got a Cleansweep for tryouts." Thank you, Pickles fund! She took his hand - heeeey, that was kind of some hand-holding going on there - and effortlessly hopped on the broom. Then she let go and gripped the handle, because hey, they were on a friggin' broom.

[mischief_george]

Out and out laughing, now, George reached back to take her hands, wrapping them around his waist. "Don't want you to fall off." Yeah, that was the reason. Smooth, Weasley.

With a quick kick they were off, zooming quickly up off the ground and banking effortlessly. "Yeah," he grinned over his shoulder as they shot around the hoops at one end of the pitch. "I'm a Beater. You're trying out?" Merlin, she was the perfect woman! "So are my brother and I. What position are you hoping for?"

He let the broom rise higher and higher, until the castle looked small below them. Then, turning them towards the sunset, he stilled the broom. They hung there, suspended between heaven and earth, bathed in the light of the setting sun. The sky directly above them was already creeping with the dusky blackness of night; a few brave stars daring to shine.

"What's geometry?"

Yes, George. Sodding brilliant. That is exactly what you should be talking about now.

[busty_robin]

"Suuure, Mr. Weasley." She had to roll her eyes at that one - while George was looking forward, because she was too amused to actually be put off. Come on, man! She'd been using that line since she was 12. Bikes, skyscrapers, narrow couches...it was a very all-inclusive line.

She didn't even blink at the broom’s speed, carrying on the conversation as if they were sitting down to dinner. "Yup! I took to the flying thing pretty quickly. I've had lots of gymnastic training, and the skills kind of transferred over." She grinned, cheeks just a bit wind-chapped. "I'm going to be a Chaser." Because why on earth wouldn't she make the team?

Steph closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Up here, she felt at home. Like maybe it okay to say the hell with it and-

Geometry? Okay. Sure.

"It's um-" she bit her lip "hmm. You know, I took it for a year, and I'm still not sure. There were shapes involved. Mostly circles and squares. Oh, and dots! Lots of dots. I got a 'B' in the semester on dots." Dots ruled!

[mischief_george]

Hey, she was definitely making the team if he had anything to say about it. Which...he didn't, but still. Fred got to ogle Angela all those years. It was only fair he had something more to look forward to during practices than Olivers rousing speeches. "You'll be good at it," he smiled. Wasn't just an idle compliment - for someone Muggle born, she was bloody comfortable flying about on a broom. And George wasn't holding back at all.

He felt her relax slightly behind her and the smile grew. It was nice seeing her like that. Not that it wasn't nice seeing her any other way, but he now realized how much tension she must be carrying around.

"Dots?" he repeated blankly. Muggles were so weird. "And shapes? Sounds like bloody Arithmancy to me, and that's a rubbish subject." Taking a quick dive, he circled the top of the Astronomy tower. There, on the slats of the roof, was a white blanket and a picnic basket. No one wanted to know what kind of bullying was involved in getting house-elves to crawl out onto a roof to put such things together.

Landing smoothly, George dismounted and then held out his hand to her. Candles were floating above them and the sky was rapidly darkening. "Your dinner," he laughed, ducking his head and praying that everything was all right. He was no good at this sort of thing. "I hope you like steak and kidney pie."

[busty_robin]

Aw, candles. That was- hold the freaking phone.

Steak and what now?

Kidneys?

Oh dear God.

Those were two things that did not belong in a pie. Fruit belonged in a pie. Pudding belonged in a pie. Cool whip belonged in a pie, if she was being really, really lazy. But meat did not go in a pie!

Heck, forget the pie. Kidneys did not belong in her stomach altogether!

"Oh, yeah. Who doesn't? Mm-hm." She nodded, and tried to pass the pursing of her lips off as a smile, instead of an attempt to ward off nausea. "Them’s good eats."

[mischief_george]

Hey, steak and kidney pie was good, solid British food! And George, being a good, solid British man, totally did not notice any discomfort on Stephanie's part. Food was far more interesting. "My mum makes the best," he grinned, pulling the food out of the basket. "But the house-elves aren't half bad." There was also a container of baked potatoes, dripping with butter, as well as a cheese and veg casserole, bread, and jam.

There were also two innocent looking mugs which were actually part of the Prank Your Picnic line - they were charmed to make you dribble whatever you drank down your chin. Perhaps this wasn't the best thing to use on a date-that-hadn't-admitted-she-was-a-date, but it was George, and he found such things hilarious. Handing Stephanie one, he then pulled out a large flask. "This," he said, settling back with a slightly smug smile, "is something I've been working on. A self-fermenting container. You put in some innocent grape juice, easy to procure from your parents, yeah? Twist this bottom part like so..." he demonstrated. The flask shook slightly in his hands and there came the sound of liquid bubbling.

George only looked vaguely alarmed. "It's supposed to do that." He hoped. Then he poured them both a healthy portion. "And just like that - you have your own alcoholic beverage!" He held up his own mug, the dribble charm turned off of his. "Cheers!"

[busty_robin]

Thank goodness for potatoes. Potatoes were completely manageable. She'd just do the ol' distract-and-toss when it came to the pie. And the casserole. Anything that contained vitamins was getting chucked. "My Mom's...really good at ordering out." Yeah, cooking was not really done in the Brown household.

She settled in across from George, and eyed the setup. Even in the midst of a date-that-was-still-totally-not-a-date Steph was, above all else, a bat!kid. While she was less socially-retarded than most of her vigilante peers, she still possessed an unhealthy sense of paranoia. And a plan for retaliation, should the need arise. Coupled with that was the fact that she was a prankster. Quite frankly, they knew their own. She raised an eyebrow, and waited to see which item George singled out.

The cups. Naturally.

"Actually, I don't-" Normally, Steph tried to keep her parents from drinking. Turned one off to alcohol. But if this was going where she thought it was going... "-never mind." Steph took a drink, and sure enough, there was liquid everywhere. George Weasley, you brought this on yourself.

"Oh! My sweater! It's new! " Steph jumped up, and started exaggeratingly patting at her shirt. "I got it just for tonight." Oh, the lies! She'd had that sweater for months. Steph took another swipe, 'lost' her footing, and 'fell' off the roof.

Landing very comfortably on top of a wide ledge not four feet below. She had to crouch down to keep the top of her head below George's line of sight. Hehe. She’d give it to the count of ten, and pop back up. What could possibly go wrong by the count of ten?

Okay, she'd give it to the count of five.

[mischief_george]

He'd started to laugh, grinning impishly at her and pulling out a cloth napkin from the picnic basket. "Here," he said, moving to help. "Let me..."

And then she fell off the roof. Bloody hell, she fell off the roof. For a split second he stood, frozen, before he lept onto his broom and shot off in one smooth, practiced motion. But this was no Quidditch match. Hands trembling and heart pounding in sick fear, he dove steeply.

"STEPHANIE!" he shouted, frantic, voice cracking in terror. His eyes searched the sky for a plummeting body and he cursed himself. He had to find her, had to catch her.

Oh, God.

[busty_robin]

"George, indoor voice please!" She grinned and waved, sitting crossed legged on said very-wide-ledge. "I mean, yeah, we're outdoors. But we're near the dorms, and some people are probably trying to sleep! You need to learn to mind your manners."

She held her composure for one breath, before breaking into laughter. Oh, this was beyond laughter. This was guffaw-worthy. She was guffawing.

[mischief_george]

The sound of her voice made him jerk around - something not very well accomplished on a broom. George very nearly fell off, his eyes wide open with shock. For a second just stared, waiting for the heart attack he was quite sure she'd just given him.

Then, before he could even think of what he was doing, he was next to her, one hand on the back of her head, pulling her lips in to meet his. It was over almost as soon as it started as George's brain finally engaged and screamed at him to abort before he got slapped or, worse, she made the 'face of disgust'. Pulling back, he then stared at her, lips warm from where they'd touched, face turning a steady red, and a silly grin settling in to stay.

"You're nutters," George informed her, voice cracking again, this time less from fear and more from the constant refrain of 'oh shite' that was going through his head. But then he started to laugh. "And I fell for it." Shaking his head ruefully, he leaned back on the broom, tipping his face up to the sky and grinning. "Merlin, I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

[busty_robin]

Steph's guffawing was only momentarily interrupted by the kiss - which, while she was on the subject, was just fine, thanks. The second George pulled back, the laughs started up again. She couldn’t help it!

"I'm fantastic," she informed him. Nuts, but fantastically so! She shook her head and gave a small cluck of the tongue. "Not a friggin' chance. 'I got it just for tonight'? Now, have you ever met a girl, Weasley, or did Hogwarts just switch over to a co-ed institution?"