my inheritance (g.w x o.c)

chapter twenty-five: 93 diagon alley

I hummed as he set me down. "Sounds like you're quite successful. You just get hotter by the second."

"Keep saying things like that, and you're in for a long night." Some forty five minutes later, he fell beside me as we tried to catch our breath. "Merlin's sake, you're amazing."

"Right back at you, Weasley," I smiled, looking over at him. He was already looking at me. "What's on your mind?"

"This is just..." he shook his head, looking back at the ceiling. "I've got the business Fred and I have talked about for years, we're making the money we never got as kids, and I've got you." He sighed. "I know we're in the middle of some crazy war, but right now, at this moment, I just don't know what more I could want."

I studied his features for a moment. He was so relaxed, happy. He had no idea what was going to happen in the coming weeks, no idea why I didn't come with him yesterday. I couldn't ruin it with honest pessimism, but I couldn't find it in myself to share his blind optimism when I knew all Voldemort had planned. Instead, I just leaned over to kiss him. He pulled me onto him as I held his face in my hands. After a moment, I leaned back. He smiled up at me.

"What was that for, princess?"

I smiled at the nickname before shrugging. "I just like being here with you." He rubbed his thumb against my bare hip. "I want to remember this." Before it never happens again.

He smiled, capturing my lips in a kiss once more. I tried to memorize everything. The way his hands felt on me. The way his hair felt between my fingers. The quiet groans that escaped his mouth as we fought for dominance. I never wanted it to end.

Then there came footsteps.

"Georgie, you'll never believe how much I got these for," Fred yelled as we quickly pulled the covers over us, and I got off him. "Some clueless bloke was selling them for..." he trailed off as he got to the top of the stairs. He looked between us before smirking. "Well, well, well, I didn't know we were this friendly with visitors." He bowed slightly. "Good evening, Ms. Prince. Lovely of you to join us." George and I both threw pillows at him. "Geez, okay, okay, I'll be downstairs. Don't let me stop the fun." He shot George a thumbs up and a wink before heading downstairs. For a moment, we didn't say anything. Then we burst out laughing.

"Well, I suppose that's our cue," I smiled, giving him one last kiss before reaching for the sweatshirt he had given me earlier. We both got dressed before heading downstairs. Fred was down on the first floor, taking things out of boxes. "Knocking is always a great choice, just for future reference."

"At least I didn't apparate into the room," he pointed out. I rolled my eyes, going back to paint the wall. "Nice shorts."

"Hey, maybe you should do a few more tests on the Jinx-Off kits. I'd love to offer a few of my own jinxes for testing," I offered. He smiled in amusement.

"Oh Larissa, always so giving."

"Okay, so what did you buy?" George spoke up, stopping me from speaking. Fred showed him everything he got while I worked on the painting. They came up to the second floor to set some things out. As I was finishing the sparks around the logo, George wrapped his arms around my waist and gently kissed the side of my head. "How about you take a break so we can eat, darling?"

"I'm almost done," I replied, getting a little more paint on the brush. "Where'd the invader run off to?"

He laughed lightly. "He's gone to meet a friend at The Leaky Cauldron."

"Lovely," I mumbled, looking at the sparks I'd finished. "They need more of an outline, don't they?" Before he could answer, I nodded. "Yeah, I think I'm going to add-"

"Darling, take a break," he encouraged, grabbing my arm when I went to get white paint.

"I just wanted to finish before I left, and if I don't finish before we eat, then-"

"Wait a second, princess, you know you're more than welcome to stay the night," he interrupted.

"What about-"

"If Fred's annoying, we can kick him out."

I smiled up at him. "Well then, I suppose we can take a dinner break."

We ate dinner and talked about whatever came to our minds. Fred soon came back, and we all spent the evening finishing up the painting and setting up displays. Eventually we all laid on the floor and started shooting off random fireworks. I laid in between them, laughing at the shapes they managed to make against the ceiling.

"Well, despite the fun we're having, I'm off to bed. I've hopefully got another pick up in the morning," Fred sighed, standing up. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," George and I responded as he walked upstairs. After a few more fireworks, George sat up.

"I want to show you something." I raised an eyebrow, taking the hand he offered.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we walked up a different flight of stairs on the second floor.

"You'll see," he smiled back at me. "You like the night. You say it's calming and full of more magic than the day. I never really saw it until I went up here the other night." He opened the door at the top of the stairs, leading to the roof. I smiled, looking up at the stars. "And look, you can see the entire Alley from up here." He pulled me over to the corner. He talked about how I'd mentioned people watching and shop windows and hills in the distance. I couldn't tell if I was even taking in my surroundings. I was just blown away by the fact that he actually remembered things I'd said. Cared enough. Actually cared. Not in a "I need to remember everything to get on You-Know-Who's granddaughter's good side" kind of way, but in a "this girl is someone I really want to love" way. In a way that made my heart beat a million times faster, but also made me nauseous. I told myself not to get in this deep. For both of our sakes. I warned him.

He said he wanted to be a part of it.

"And if you want, we could come up here really early because you can see the sunrise right between those two mountains over there. It's-"

"How do you do that?" I interrupted, looking up at him.

"Do what?" he asked.

"How do you remember everything I say like that? I've only said most of those things once, maybe twice."

He smiled softly, pushing my hair behind my ear. "How many times do I have to tell you that I truly care about you? Which, in case you didn't know, includes learning the little things that make you, you."

I searched his face for a moment before resting my head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and for a few moments, we just stood like this. He soon conjured up a couch, and we sat down, watching the stars. I was curled into his side with my legs over his lap. He randomly talked about the stars or a neighboring shop or random muggles they had seen on their endeavors for more supplies. Somewhere between a story about cat hair and the box of sweets the lady at the shoe shop had sent them, I fell asleep. And the only thing I dreamed of was fireworks on the ceiling.