The Extraordinary Lessons Life Taught George and Felicity

Lesson 19: Embrace What is Coming

"Love her, but leave her wild."
~Atticus

George dropped by Felicity's flat a day after the whole debacle with his family, only to find her in the living room, standing with her back to the wall with a black dog jumping up at her.

"Shoo! Shoo. Go chew that stupid toy Jan got you." She growled at the dog, and the dog promptly growled back.

George stepped into the living room quickly, pulling the dog back by its collar gently.

"Easy there, come on, leave the mean girl alone." George's voice was soft and soothing and the dog seemed to calm down. Felicity still stood against the wall, her lips curled in a sneer, and George turned his face to her, his eyes teasing.

"Not a word, Weasley." Felicity spat, pushing herself off the wall.

"My lips are sealed." George promised, a devious grin gracing his features as he stood up from his crouched position. He gave the unfamiliar dog one last pat before turning his attentions fully to his girlfriend.

"I thought you liked being pressed against a wall." George's eyes glinted with humor, but his voice was low and suggestive.

With an aggravated grunt, Felicity pushed past the annoying redhead and stormed toward the room.

"Go snog the puppy." She spat.

"At least tell me the name of my new partner, Fel." George couldn't contain his laughter as Felicity slammed her door.

"Stanley."

"Well, Stan, you really know how to annoy Felicity." George spoke to the dog that now sat looking totally innocent, his tail wagging back and forth across the wooden floor.

"Little devil." The insult came from Felicity as she exited her room, pulling on a leather jacket. "Come on, let's go." She handed George a leash and gestured towards the dog.

"He clearly won't let me do it." She explained with a roll of her eyes when George's amused expression morphed into one of bafflement.

"Oh. Is that what you were trying to do when I got here?"

"Yes. Though I wasn't expecting you to show up." She pecked him on the lips, and it seemed all was forgiven.

He pulled her back by her hips, not letting her get away with just a peck, and drew her into a lingering kiss.

They pulled apart when Stanley barked loudly.
"Well hello, Felicity." George grinned, then released her fully and bent down to put the puppy on its leash.

"So what's the story behind this little guy?" George asked.

"Jan brought him home last night and then decided to leave me with the thing all day. She's working at the hospital."

George laughed at Felicity's unimpressed tone, and intertwined their fingers as he pulled her and the dog out the door.

***

Felicity had been silent for most of the walk, and George grew more and more concerned as time wore on.

"You okay, love?"

"George, do you think-I mean, do you suppose I'd be allowed to visit them?" Felicity asked quietly in answer.

The first people that George thought Felicity might have been referring to were his family, and, unable to understand why she'd want to visit his family after the debacle the night before, asked rather incredulously, "Why?"

Felicity tugged lightly on Stanley's leash, "Well, they're my brothers, you know, and well, I don't...I mean-"

George realized his mistake rather quickly, and stopped walking, pulling Felicity to a halt next to him.

"I don't know if you can visit your brothers Fel, I mean, before, once someone wound up in Azkaban, you'd more than likely never hear from them again. Now...it might be different. Maybe you could." George rested his hands on Felicity's shoulders, but Stanley tugged impatiently at the leash wrapped around Felicity's hand, and the two shared an awkward laugh before resuming their walk.

***

"Is your family angry?" Felicity asked, later that evening, as the two sat on the couch in Felicity's flat.

"I wouldn't know. I was too angry with them myself to even consider their emotions." George responded flatly. Stanley raised his head and let out a low whine.

"No, it's bad enough you've invaded my home. You're not sitting on my boyfriend's lap too." Felicity snarled, and the poor puppy whimpered as he lowered himself back down onto the wooden floor.

"He has a ruddy bed." Felicity grumbled, and George chuckled. The two lapsed into an easy silence again, they had never needed words like so many others had.

"Darling, you'll speak with your family again, won't you?" Felicity finally spoke.

"Of course I will. It's not like I hate them, I'm just angry with them right now." George responded, and Felicity felt a weight lift off of her shoulders.

She didn't want to come between George and his family. Not like that, not ever. "Speaking of family, though, were you serious about it earlier?" George asked.  "About wanting to see your brothers, I mean."

"No, I was joking." Felicity scoffed. "Wondering about the possibility of seeing my last remaining family members who might not hate me is the first joke of many that I'm practicing for my stand-up comedy show."

"No need to get all grouchy, Fel. I was only going to say that you really should ask Percy about it." George pulled Felicity closer to him, and she cuddled into his side. "Speaking about asking Perce, he actually mentioned something about a job he might have for you, you know, one day, if you ever decide to fully come back to the world you were born into."

"George, I-I don't know..." Felicity pulled away from his embrace to face him.

"It's just an idea Fel, you have plenty of time to think it over. Percy just said that he thought it would be good to have a squib working in the ministry, you know? Represent and help others like you. It's not easy for any of them, you know. You could help fix that." George explained.

"Yeah...I, I actually think I could do that. I could stop others from turning out like me, and like Alabaster's girlfriend." Felicity smiled softly, and George had never felt luckier to be the man she chose to share that smile with.

"I love you, Felicity Nott, more than you could ever imagine."

"George Weasley, you've shown me the world and offered me the universe. There's no way I could ever love anyone or anything more than I love you."

19 October 2016
1081 words