BLEED OUT ━━ george weasley

ii. regular order

Deciding it was best to skip her morning walk, Keegan ducked into the bathroom to do her business and to tie her hair away from her face with a ribbon. Deeming her appearance acceptable for work, she gathered her things together and apparated straight to Diagon Alley, landing with a loud crack across from Emery's Cafè.

Emery's was one of the only stores in Diagon Alley that did not look dark and gloomy. So many shops had been ransacked by the Death Eaters, but not Emery's. Keegan narrowed it down to two reasons; sheer dumb luck or Emery's status as a pureblood. Either way, Keegan wasn't complaining. Yes, it sucked to look through the café's windows to a practical ghost town, but at least the cafè was making enough money to keep Keegan employed. She tried to keep that in mind as she saw yet another store had been destroyed overnight, people crowding around to stare at the ruins with horror in their eyes.

"Good morning," Keegan shouted into the kitchen as she made her way behind the main counter, ducking into the adjacent staffroom to dump her things before coming back with her usual brown apron tied around her waist.

Emery had just stepped out of the kitchen with two steaming plates balanced on a black plastic tray. She greeted Keegan with a breathy 'good morning' before rushing over to two women who were seated by the windows. Then she came to stand by Keegan's side, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear as she smiled. "How's your morning been?"

"Alright," Keegan shrugged before smirking at the memory of her mother's letter. "My mum sent me a letter quizzing me on how I'm settling in, asked about my neighbours and everything."

"She sounds a lot like my mum," Emery giggled. From what Keegan knew about the woman, she knew that Emery wasn't kidding.

"I guess it's just a motherly thing to worry," she said, a fond smile tugging at her lips. Her mum had always been overprotective, but Keegan loved that about her.

"I can agree to that," a familiar voice declared as he appeared by the counter, bright red hair and casual muggle clothes.

His presence in the store had gone unnoticed by the two women, who immediately stood from their casual positions to greet him.

"Hi, George," Keegan beamed at him. "No Fred today?"

"He's got his hands full back at the store, I'm just here to grab coffees to keep us going," he grinned before adding with a cheeky wink, "And one of those grilled cheese's you make."

The wink made Keegan's heart flutter, reminding her of simpler times, of their Hogwarts days. It brought a fond smile to her lips that didn't go unnoticed by George.

"So you liked it then? I knew you would," she chuckled as she jotted down his order, ripping the piece of paper from her notepad to hand over to Emery. She shot Keegan an amused glance before making her way over to the coffee machines.

"No, it was disgusting," George joked, leaning his arms on the bench in front of him. "Of course I did, Keegan. It might just be part of my regular order from now on."

Keegan paused before quickly covering her surprise with a mocking gasp, "Oh, really? So you plan on coming back then?"

"What can I say, the food is good," he smirked.

Keegan scoffed, backing away from the counter, "Be right back, Weasley."

Much like the last time George had been at the cafè, she entered the kitchen to a humming muggle radio. But instead of the music that Emery liked to listen to, the station was listing off news in the muggle world.

"Another family, two adults and two children, have been found dead in their home this morning-" Keegan reached for the dial, switching the radio off with a gulp.

Keegan knew more than any muggle would about these deaths. Since You-Know-Who revealed himself to the ministry two months ago, the Death Eaters had been ruthless with their treatment of the muggles. Deciding suspicion was worth their horrible acts, poor muggle families were dying right alongside the muggleborns, blood-traitors and people supporting the Order. It made Keegan's chest tighten with fear, terror for her "blood-traitor" mother and her muggle step-mother and stepsister. Keegan didn't know what she would do if something happened to them.

"Keegan?" Emery called as she stepped into the room, frowning at the sight of Keegan frozen by the oven. "Keegan, are you okay?"

Keegan was silent for a moment, before she blinked out of her daze and nodded quickly. "Yeah, I was just-"

She wasn't sure what to say. She gestured towards the radio with another gulp, her pale expression telling Emery everything she needed to know. The dark-haired woman sighed, offering Keegan what she thought was meant to be a smile but bordered on a grimace. "Take your time, I'll tell Mr Weasley we're having trouble with the oven."

Keegan took another minute to collect herself, squeezing her eyes shut and forcing the terror from her chest. Then, with a sigh, she switched on the radio and quickly clicked on the indie music channel before anymore news could be heard.

"Sorry about the wait," she said a few minutes later when she came back out front to hand George the rest of his order.

"It's okay," he shrugged, reaching into the pocket of his jeans for his wallet. "Did you fix the oven?"

"Huh?" she frowned, before remembering Emery's excuse and quickly nodding. "Oh, yeah. It was only a minor problem."

She accepted the money he handed to her, avoiding his gaze as his eyes swept across her face. She hoped her expression was no longer as stricken, but she wasn't so sure by the way his look lingered. Reaching into the register, she took out his change and dropped it into his waiting palm, mustering up a polite customer service smile.

"See you next time," she chirped her usual closing line.

"Tomorrow," he corrected casually, a tiny smile tugging at his lips.

Keegan paused again, smothering a grin as she nodded, "Tomorrow then."

He hesitated for a moment, then muttered a quiet goodbye as he spun on his heels and rushed out of the cafè. Much like last time, Keegan watched him go, ignoring Emery's inquisitive stare as she stood by Keegan's side.

She broke the silence after an instant, pursing her lips as she leant towards her and whispered, "Are you okay now?"

Keegan nodded slowly. "I think so."

Emery accepted her answer easily, then it was back to business as usual.

If Keegan was being completely and utterly honest, she didn't expect George to keep his word. But the next morning when she came in for her regular shift, George was sitting on one of the leather padded stools at the counter with the Daily Prophet open in front of him. He looked up when the door opened, grinning at the sight of her and waving. She froze, returning his wave with a chuckle and a smile.

That was the first of many days George spent at the cafè with Keegan.

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A/N: Okay it's official, I love Keegan and George with my whole damn heart. They deserve the world and more, but will I give it to them? Who knows. Anyway, I have so much planned for them, both happy and sad, that I hope you freak out over just as much as I did when I first wrote out Keegan's plot. You're in for one hell of a ride.

Also, for those of you who are wondering, when I mentioned Keegan having dizzy spells at the beginning of the story, it's because of a storyline that is going to be set up throughout the book. Keegan has a condition called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (a condition I have myself) that you're going to see a bit more of as I go. It doesn't effect her whole plot, just pieces of the background if that makes sense? It's something she has learnt to live with which is what I was trying to convey through small details like the jellybeans, extra salt with meals, etc.

Anyway, I'm gonna end this way too long author's note here. Feel free to let me know what you thought of the chapter, of the book altogether, I always enjoy reading your feedback! And yeah, thank you for reading!