Forget Me Not || George Weasley

Chapter 39

"Thats alright, Liv," He interrupts quickly, dropping his arms from her to awkwardly scratch his cheek. He was growing stubble, a blonde scruff that she couldn't resist reaching up to touch curiously. Her nose crinkles slightly at how scratchy it feels. She raises a brow, teasing, "Has a frenchwoman caught your eye? You look rather handsome for a trip just to see me." 

If she didn't turn to head back towards the counter, she would have seen the frustration, the longing. But then again, maybe she'd forgotten what that looked like. A man, longing for her. She could never really place what George was feeling when he looked at her. She just remembers him looking at her with honeyed eyes and a smile that felt specially conjured just for her. 

"Actually," Nigel clears his throat, and Olive lifts the door to duck back behind her counter, "I was hoping that--"

"SPECIAL DELIVERY FOR A MISS OLIVE MURPHY!"

Olive can't resist shrieking in excitement at the sudden shout, pure joy causing her to wriggle around behind the counter and flap her hands wildly, "Come in, come in!!"

Lee Jordan looks almost as hyper as she is feeling, throwing open the door with one hand, a box leaning heavily on his shoulder. Olive gasps happily when a flash of red hair follows behind him, her eyes quickly taking in the dangling earring before she professes without thinking, "Charlie!"

Lee and Charlie Weasley stop short in the middle of the shop, both staring at her with round eyes. She feels her cheeks turning to flames under their silent stares. She's slightly embarassed, but secretly thrilled. She remembers. She remembers that this Weasley, the one that everyone found to be so fit, the one with the earring. This is Charlie. Lee gapes slightly, but a grin slowly works it's way onto Charlie's face, "Yeah, half-pint. Did you miss me?" 

Olive grins at the nickname, rolling her eyes. She presses her fist to her mouth to stop anymore laughter. She turns to look at Nigel, explaining away his confusion, "Nigel, you remember Lee? And this is Charlie Weasley. Charlie, this is my friend Nigel."

Lee claps Nigel on the shoulder, smirking slightly at the bewildered look on his face. He turns to Olive and asks, "Where do you want these, love? My shoulder's getting sore and Charlie only agreed to give me a backrub if I buy him an ice cream."

Charlie waggles his brows at Olive, earning a bubbly laugh from the witch, "Alright. Just set them down there, Lee." She ducks out from behind the counter again, hurrying over to the table the boys have set the boxes on. Lee chuckles at her excitement, saying warmly, "Go on then. Open it."

Olive's hands shake slightly when she tears open the cardboard, her jaw dropping at what lay within. Stacks of napkins, wrappers, spoons, and hundreds of other supplies all with a new and improved logo of the ice cream shop. She would never change the name, it was still Florean's. But there was more color, more vibrancy. She claps her hands over her cheeks, whispering, "Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant." She turns and jumps into Lee's arms, squeezing him tight and laughing, "How on earth did you manage to pull this all together so quickly? I barely mentioned it to you." Lee laughs and pats her on the back, sharing a look with Charlie before replying, "Let's just say I roped in a certain businessman just down the road that knows all of the best vendors."

Olive drops down onto her feet from his arms, staring at Lee with round eyes. George. She couldn't remember telling George. And yet, Lee had evidently talked with him about it. And he did it, without asking questions. Her heart melts in her chest like a scoop of ice cream on a hot day. She turns from Lee and Charlie's knowing smiles, hurrying back behind the counter before they can see her obnoxious tears. She wipes her face on her shoulder before releasing a shaky breath and saying with a wobbling voice, "Okay, who wants ice cream?"

"Me!" Charlie groans loudly, slipping past where Nigel is standing awkwardly with his fists in his pockets. Lee's attention slides to the uncomfortable boy, his eyes narrowing slightly at the way he's watching Olive. She might not recognize that look. Lee certainly did. He clears his throat, offering up a smile that feels forced, "Sorry for interrupting, mate."

Nigel splutters, waving his hands and stammering about how it was no problem until Olive looks over from handing Charlie Weasley his cone, one of her brand new wrappers fitted neatly on the bottom of the wafer, "Were you going to tell me something, Nigel? I forget what we were talking about."

Nigel's smile looks as fake as Lee's feels when he mumbles, "Of course." She wasn't meant to hear it. She was most definitely not meant to hear it. But it hits her low in the gut, melting away her smile. She turns her eyes back to Charlie, whispering, "Here you go." His eyes are gentle, kind, and it alleviates some of the guilt. Fix. Nigel, her grandfather. They wanted her to be fixed, to be the way she was. She shakes her head to rid herself of the thought, an apology poised on her lips when Nigel finally says in a firmer voice, "I was going to ask about celebrating, Liv. See if you wanted to get drinks. Dinner."

Lee's eyes nearly bulge from his head, jaw dropping to tell this bloke that he had no business treating her poorly and then asking her on a sodding date. But Charlie stops him with a pointed look, and Olive is too busy looking at Nigel to notice. Her brows furrow, "Celebrate...Celebrate--Oh! Your apprenticeship ending. Of course, Nigel!! Why didn't you ask earlier?"

"Just didn't want you to forget," He jokes, but his eyes look weary. Nervous. Olive forces a grin and nods, "Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. Let me just get my planner--"

"Thats alright," Nigel interrupts, glancing sideways at Lee and George's older brother observing silently. He squares his shoulders, and his smile turns into that familiar boyish one she had swooned over back at Hogwarts. She softens, listening closely when he says, "I'll just come by here and pick you up. Seven okay?"

"Sure," Olive finally notices how quiet Lee has gotten, and she suddenly feels like something is going on. Something she can't place. Maybe she's just hungover. Maybe she's forgetting something. She has a strong urge to scratch at her scar, but she knows Nigel would comment on it if she did, so instead she says distractedly, "We're celebrating you, so you can pick the place--"

"We'll go somewhere nice," Again, he interrupts and the train of thought, the one that was beginning to make her nervous, disappears from her memory that quickly. Nigel scratches his cheek again, backing towards the door with a new sort of emotion in his eyes. Olive wants to know what it is. Why Nigel looks happier now than he had when Lee and Charlie came in, why he also seems...excited. She wonders why he hadn't been excited looking at the new products George had helped her get. And more than that, she wonders why Lee looks like he has a brain-freeze when Nigel says offhandedly as he leaves, 

"It's a date."