Chapter 10 Chapter 10 Chapter 10
Ok, I hope you like :3

And, if anyone can tell me why Alicia's brothers are called what they are - you will win a supply of eternal virtual cookies and brownies for being as much of a geek as I am


Rain poured heavily the next morning, as a red-eyed, sleep deprived George Weasley stood outside the red door, Fred next to him, concealed under a trusty invisibility cloak. The muggle street was almost deserted, with the exception of an occasional car or dog-walker, but George realised that standing there any longer would draw a lot of unwanted attention. With a look at his invisible twin, he knocked sharply on the door as Fred dived behind a bush.

Noise sounded inside, the sound of people running up and down the stairs while others yelled back and forth. It sounded just like The Burrow on a quiet day. George would have tried to get rid of the memory, but every sad thought made the thing look a whole lot more real.
Suddenly, the door opened, a little too fast, and George found himself facing something that came as a bit of a shock. Only the quiet hiss from Fred stopped George exclaiming out loud as the door opened to, not the short, blonde woman he had expected, but two men, rather a lot taller than him, who were completely identical.
‘Who is it guys?’ called a familiar voice from the top of the stairs. A little part of George sighed with relief. At least they had the right house.
‘I dunno,’ one of the twins replied, as they both looked George up and down curiously.
‘He’s ginger,’ the other one shouted rather unhelpfully,
‘-about six foot-’
‘-and with only one ear...’ one finished, with a slight smirk. Why had Alicia never said she had brothers? Or whoever they were...
The ear thing was the trigger though, with a slight scream, and a muffled sob, Alicia came flying down the stairs, half dressed for work.
‘Move,’ she muttered, glaring at the boys, who shrunk a little despite the way they towered over her. ‘George, oh George,’ she sniffed, a tear leaking from her eye.
George was doing all he could not to laugh, cry and gaze in wonder at the way Alicia was having a slight breakdown in front of him, but he had to accept he was supposed be used to this given the situation he was meant to be in.
‘Yeah.. hi,’ he croaked, deliberately hoarse.
‘I’m sorry,’ Alicia burst out, dragging him in by the arm. ‘These are the twins,’ she said, ‘my twins... Callum and Finlay.’
Upon realisation of George’s identity, both Callum and Finlay stopped staring and back away a little, after all, they’d probably even been at Fred’s funeral, and being twins in front of a man who’d just lost his twin wasn’t the best thing.
‘How are you? You look so... ill... I’m sorry George, what can I do?’ Alicia burst out at once, looking as though she wanted nothing more than to crumple up on George’s shoulder and cry. George reckoned he should probably look the same. With a small movement, he gave Alicia’s brothers a rather pointed glare, as though signalling them to leave the room.
‘Guys...’ Alicia said, shunting them along the corridor and up the stairs, ‘go, I need to talk to George.’

She led the twin into a room that definitely didn’t belong in a muggle house, for it was filled with cauldrons, spellbooks and broken wands. Sitting him down as his own mother had done after the Weasleys had returned from the battle, Alicia Spinnet summoned a teapot and what looked like week’s worth of food, after scrutinising George and deciding he was too thin. But he really didn’t have time to pretend he was interested in food, and headed straight to the point.
‘I need,’ he started, making her jump, ‘a portkey...’
Alicia stared, looking unsure of whether she had just imagined the words leaving George’s mouth.
‘A-are you sure? A portkey? You need to go home George, you need to eat, and sleep, not go off gallivanting in some foreign country...’ she trailed.
George sighed, he couldn’t say he hadn’t been expecting it. Women could be like that, fussing over you and not actually realising what you need. George gave her such a Weasley-esque glare that she recoiled a little.
‘B-but where?’ Alicia now looked on the verge of tears again.
Trying very hard to be patient with the woman, George casted his mind back to the planning with Fred. Scotland, they had decided, Scotland to start with.
‘Scotland...’
Thankfully, Alicia seemed to find some hidden meaning in George’s need to go North, and nodded slowly.
‘I – really... well... I’ll see,’ she began, as George suppressed a slight grin. Maybe his acting was great, or she was very easily persuaded, but, whatever it was, they got to Scotland. It was when George remembered the reason of the trip to Scotland that his heart sank again, and Alicia probably saw this, because she took his slightly open mouth as an opportunity to fill it with a large spoon of hot soup.
‘Eat it all,’ she commanded, getting up and pulling her wand out. ‘Or no portkey.’
George gave a fake sigh and started spooning the liquid into his mouth. He could have told Alicia everything, she may have given him the portkey anyway, along with extra advice, but on the other hand, knowing the way she had treated George, she would probably go straight to the Ministry, and that meant trouble.
The twins appeared back downstairs a few moments later, not speaking as they watched their older sister pottering round the house and George eating. It was weird, he had never met them, or heard about them before, but they looked right as a pair, as though one of them would just look weird on their own. Maybe he and Fred looked like that to strangers too, but they probably didn’t freak people out the way these twins did to George. Their tall, lean figures and the way they started intimidated him a little, although he’d never admit it to anyone, he always felt a lot more defenceless without Fred next to him.
‘Callum, Finlay,’ came Alicia’s voice as she appeared again, holding an old toothbrush. ‘I said to leave him alone,’ and as she handed George the portkey, the twins skulked off again. ‘It’s going to leave tonight, if that’s ok. 10.30.’
George nodded, getting up to leave.
‘Thanks,’ he muttered.
‘No problem,’ Alicia smiled slightly, ‘but be careful, won’t you? And looking as though she had been trying to stop herself ever since he walked in, Alicia stood on her toes and gave George a kiss on the cheek, opening the front door again.

George smirked in satisfaction a little as the door shut with a click, and as he tucked the toothbrush into a coat pocket, his twin emerged from the invisibility cloak, joining George’s walk down the garden path.
‘I saw that,’ Fred winked, poking George in the ribs, ‘ she kissed you, I saw.’
George poked Fred back in retaliation, rolling his eyes at the childish reaction. ‘How did you?’
‘Aaaah. Fred Weasley never misses a trick,’ Fred replied, almost as though they were twelve again.

A flash of blonde and a scream that was audible even through the windows caused both twins to jump that moment. Alicia had seen something. She had seen Fred.