George awoke to the sound of a shower being turned on downstairs. He sat up, wide awake, and looked at the digital clock on Lyra's desk. Not even six yet, her parents must be up early. He debated just aperating back down into the room below, but it would difficult as there wasn't much space.
Lyra who had been curled up into him stirred. She grumbled something he couldn't quite understand and wrapped her arms around him, placing her head on his stomach. He blushed, his heart speeding up. Of course, she wouldn't make it easy for him to leave.
He ran his hand through her hair and sighed. "Lyra Love, you're going to have to let me up."
She didn't respond, must have still been asleep. The thought of her reaching out for him not even awake made his heart speed up again. He gently unlocked her arms and placed her back on the bed then looked around for his shirt.
Lyra raised her head now, reaching out and tugging on his PJ bottoms. "Come back." She said her words slurring together with sleep. "I don't want you to leave."
Why did she have to be so god damn cute? "Go back to sleep love."
"Mmmm" she grumbled and tried to pull him back to bed. He wasn't even sure if she was really awake.
He took a step closer to the bed covering her with the blankets and kissing her on the forehead. "It's too early for you to be up. You'll see me in the morning." She stretched and rolled over facing the wall, completely out. He chuckled, wondering if she would remember when she awoke.
Checking to make sure the water was still on and that there were no other sounds in the house. George crept from Lyra's room and back downstairs.
Fred was already awake when he entered the room.
"Cutting it a bit close there don't you think?" He said smirking.
"Nah, plenty of time. Could have just told them I got turned around looking for the bathroom."
Fred snorted and then stretched out. "And how's the sleeping princess?"
George leaned against the door, "out like a light, I doubt she'll even remember me leaving."
"She tell you what she wrote in her notebook?"
George went red and he glared at his brother. "I bet you got a real laugh out of that."
"Oh yeah, she's never living that one down. How corny is she?"
George rolled his eyes but said nothing.
"Bet you loved it though. You're just as lame as she is. Your both disgustingly perfect for each other." Fred said grinning.
George shook his head though. "You wait brother of mine. Someday your gonna meet some girl and she's gonna drive you half-mad. You'll be cornier than me just to make her smile."
"I'd have to be crazy for that to happen. Or seriously hit in the head."
"Your right, maybe you'll just end up with Lee for the rest of your life."
"Piss off!" Fred laughed and chucked a pillow at him.
George was about to retort when there was a knock on the door silencing them both. They shared a look before George stepped away from the door and opened it.
It was Lyra's father standing there. Freshly dressed and hair wet from the shower.
"I thought I heard voices," he said cheerily.
"Sorry," George said quickly, "We weren't being too loud were we?"
"What? No of course not. To be honest it's nice to have such lively company in the house. It's rare that we do. I just wanted to let you know the bathrooms free if you'd like to wash, and the wife's starting breakfast."
"O-oh, thank you," George said a big taken aback. "We'll get changed and be right out."
Lyra's father, Walter, was sitting at the table reading a book, and her mother Amelia was up at the stove. A radio was playing on low in the window above the sink. Her father turned and smiled at them as they entered.
The boys slid into their seats awkwardly.
"You boys sleep okay?" Amelia asked not looking away from the stove.
"Like a rock," Fred said, "right George?"
"Right."
She turned and slid two plates full of food over to them. "Hungry?"
George beamed. "starving."
"You can say that again," Fred added.
They began to dig in. Amelia slid into the chair next to Walter with her own plate of food. She watched the boys closely as they scarfed down their food.
"It's really good," Fred tried to say, but his mouth was full.
"Any plans for today?"
"Dunno, we've gotta talk to Lyra."
"You ought to have her take you boys to the pond," Walter said not looking up from his book.
"That's a good idea," amelia agreed, "we can call the Taylor's I bet they'd have some extra skates."
Walter chuckled "Lyra won't like that."
"She'll be fine," Amelia said waving him away. "With these two strapping young lads with her, I'm sure nothing bad will happen."
George shared a look with Fred. What on earth was that about?
Time seemed to crawl as they finished breakfast and waited for Lyra to wake up.
Amelia finally got sick of watching George fidget anxiously and told them to go wake her.
Lyra was still fast asleep tucked under the covers when they went up to wake her. Fred sat up on her desk as George went over and bent down by her. He gently shook her. "Time to wake up love."
She rolled toward him gently grabbing his hand and pulling it to her face nuzzling it. George blushed and almost fell over. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at him making his heart clench.
"Morning Weasley." She said her voice still full of sleep.
"M-morning Stone. Sleep well?"
She let go of his hand and stretched "yes. Was I keeping you waiting?"
"Every time your not with me."
Fred hopped off the desk and walked over. "Rise and Shine Stone lots to do today!"
"Oh yeah, what do you two want to do today?"
"Your parents said you should take us to a pond," Fred said skeptically. "They do realize that we do have ponds in the Wizarding world right?"
Lyra grinned. "Have you two even been ice skating?"
"Can't say we have." George said, "but now that you mention it I think your mom said something about someone having extra skates?"
"Is it like Skiing?" Fred asked. "Ron was going on about this wild thing Hermione does with her family called skiing."
"Not really."
George sensed a shift in Lyra's mood. He climbed up onto the bed with her. "Your dad seemed to think you wouldn't be too happy with the idea?"
She faked a smile. "Oh, no it's a good idea, especially if you guys have never been."
"Your sure?"
Her smile a bit more genuine now. "definitely, it may be the only time I'm actually more graceful then you."
George couldn't shake the funny feeling though that something was up with Lyra. Even as she scarfed down breakfast and quickly got ready. She did seem genuinely excited to go ice skating, but there was a worry underneath it all.
They bundled up, as Lyra's mom packed them some lunches. Lyra went to grab the backpack off the floor after zipping up her jacket but George quickly snatched it up.
She rolled her eyes. "I could have carried it."
"Yeah, but then what kind of boyfriend would I be?"
The walk to the pond wasn't too far. Lyra walked ahead of them, a bit of pep in her step. George was glad to see it, she was too far away for him to be able to feel her emotions though, so if she was still nervous he couldn't tell.
Soon they could hear the sound of people shouting, and the woods began to clear. They stood on a hill looking down on a large pond. A little more than half of it was taken up by what appeared to be some kind of sport. People moved across the pond with lightning speed, sticks in hands, and crashing into each other.
Lyra sighed watching the intense game.
"Is that ice skating?" Fred asked not being able to keep the excitement out of his voice.
"It's ice hockey, but you need to be able to ice skate to play."
"Do you know the kids playing?"
"Probably. If I had to guess a good chunk of them are Taylors. They're one of the bigger family's in the neighborhood. The closest to the pond beside us."
George could feel her nervousness outweighing her excitement now. He grabbed her hand. "what's wrong? Nervous to be on the ice?"
She smiled up at him, but again he could feel it was a bit forced. Why was she even bothering to try and hide it? "No, I'm actually a decently good skater. It'll be interesting to see how you two do."
Before he could push her on it Lyra let go of his hand and started down the hill. One of the players spotted them and called the game to a halt.
"Who goes there?" He yelled coming to the edge of the pond at a rapid speed. The other boys followed, curious about the arrival of someone new.
"Bloody Hell, is that Stone?"
Lyra shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah. Don't act surprised Mac, I know my mom called your parents about the extra skates."
Mac was a medium height kid, with a squared build, a perfectly ordinary-looking guy. But for some reason, he set George on edge a bit.
"Yeah," Mac said cockily, "But I didn't actually think you'd come. Who's this with you then? Cousins from your mum's side?"
"Friends actually," Fred said. George wondered if he felt it too.
"Right, I'm sure." He snorted a bit sarcastic.
"The extra skates?" Lyra asked again.
He pointed up over to the right. "in my bag on my snowmobile."
"Right. Tell your older brothers I said thanks."
"What no thank you for me? I brought them here for you."
"Thanks," Lyra said coldly.
He turned his attention back to the boys. Looking them up and down. "You like hockey?"
"Never played," Fred said.
"Never played?" Mac said disbelieving, "do you know how to skate?"
"Afraid not," George said.
"I'll be right back," Lyra said, and started up the hill to where Mac had pointed.
"Not to worry, we'll get you on the ice in no time... I don't think I caught your names though."
"Fred Weasley," Fred said sticking his hands in his pockets.
"George Weasley." George added, "And you?"
Mac grinned, "And your really not Stones cousins?"
George shared a confused look with his brother. "No... Friends from school, why?"
Mac shrugged, a grin still on his face. "Well come meet the gang." He gestured back to the other players, who had been pulling around fairly close by. "Oi, you prats! Come introduce yourselves."
They all came over, and after going through every one's name, Lyra was right in her guess that they were mostly Taylor's.
"Big family you got there." Fred joked.
"Yeah, no kidding."
Just then Lyra reappeared two pairs of skates slung over her shoulder. She handed a pair to each of them. "here you go." She said smiling.
"What about you?" George asked curiously.
Her smile grew. "Mine are in the bag on your back silly."
He smiled back and began to sling the bag off his shoulders. He handed it to her, taking his skates in return. The two hadn't noticed Mac watching them closely.
Fred slung an arm around Lyra, making her jump. "Alright Stone, how do I put these on?" Fred said touching his finger to the blade. "I wanna get in on this whole Hockey thing."
Lyra rolled her eyes but smirked. "Let's walk before we can run huh Weasley?"
This seemed to snap Mac back into reality. He returned to the game as Lyra helped Fred put his skates on.
Fred could feel the air around them lighten as that Mac kid left. He looked up at George meaningfully as Lyra was focused on the skates.
"They're really not that hard to understand Fred." She said exasperatedly "You've just got to make sure they're tight."
George put his on, and then helped Lyra with hers. "Nervous at all?" He asked her.
"Nope. Do you doubt my skills?'
"Can't say I blame him you can barely handle walking."
Lyra pulled herself over to the ice, and up on her feet. "You're about to eat your words, Weasley."
With that, to George's terror. She took a step out onto the ice. He had to stop himself from reflexively reaching out for her. But she was surprisingly balanced. She steadied herself, and the next thing he knew she was gliding across the ice. She skated across the edge of the free half of the pond and then glided back towards them, when she got close enough she turned her body and slid into a harsh stop in front of them.
"You two coming?"
George just stared at her in awe. She stood confidently, a smile on her lips, her cheeks pink from the cold, her eyes full of excitement. She was not the timid girl he had fallen for. Here, she was someone else entirely.
"Oh hell yeah!" Fred said. "It doesn't look all that hard."
She came closer to the edge reaching a hand out to Fred.
He didn't take it though and instead decided to go straight out onto the ice like her. George was pulled back to reality by the sound of his brother crashing to the ground.
"Bloody hell." He groaned with a grin and Lyra let out a musical laugh. Causing George's heart to speed up even more.
"Not so easy huh Weasley? You'll have to go slow at least at first."
She held her hand out to George, "wanna try?"
His stomach swirled with Nervousness, and Excitement all in one. He took her hand.
"Are you always going to be full of surprises?" He asked.
"Maybe."
George took a step onto the ice a lot more gracefully than her brother did. Lyra helped steady him, before turning back to Fred.
"Would you like some help up?"
"Duh." He said grinning.
Lyra rolled her eyes and skated over to him. She attempted to haul him up almost falling in the process. George ended up having to slowly inch his way over and help to pull him up.
Once they were both up, and Lyra's giggles had subsided. She demonstrated how she moved on the ice. She also pointed out a couple of the boys playing, to show how they moved.
It didn't take long for George and Fred to get the hang of it. Soon Fred was gliding towards the game of hockey asking to join. Which Lyra found very amusing seeing as he was still quite a bit clumsy on the ice and did not really know how to come to a full stop.
George wrapped an arm around hers, and she slowed her pace so he could keep up.
"Why don't you go join the game?" She asked curiously.
"Hmmm go fall on my arse a bunch with Fred, or skate around with the most beautiful girl in all of the wizarding and muggle world?"
Lyra blushed a deep shade of red and looked down at her feet.
He leaned closer to her, "You are really quite brilliant." He whispered.
Lyra's skates seemed to slip out from under her, and she lost her balance. George attempted to keep hold of her, but she ended up pulling him down with her. They landed on the ice with a hard thud.
George winced rubbing his arse. He looked over at Lyra worriedly "You okay?"
She let out something that sounded partly like a laugh and partly like a groan. "Yeah. Sorry, you just surprised me."
George leaned over close to her. "Did I?"
She was about to close the gap between them when Fred skated back over. He looked upset.
"What's wrong?" Lyra asked, George, turned and looked up at his brother.
"They won't let just me play." He said. "They say it'll make the teams uneven, the prats."
Lyra sighed, but she didn't seem surprised. "George, you ought to go give it a try. I think you'd really like it."
"And what are you gonna do if we're playing some muggle game?"
"Cheer you on, maybe ref if they need one."
He sighed. "Alright. I'll play."
"Yes!" Fred yelled pumping his hand into the air and almost falling. He turned back to the other kids "He's in!"
They all cheered.
The game seemed fairly simplistic, and after a brief rundown of the rules, and an extra stick being given to George, they began to play.
Lyra took to the edge of the pond to rest for a bit and watch. She munched on one of the sandwiches her mum packed for lunch as she watched them play.
Fred and George surprised the boys at how good they were for beginners. Being beaters for most of their lives had given them a good sense of balance and a strong build that translated over to hockey fairly well.
After a few rounds and their team pulling into the lead, Mac the kid who had talked to them earlier seemed to be growing irritated.
"You know, it surprises me how normal you are." He said quietly to George when the teams had stopped to take a short break.
"What do you mean?" George asked a bit more on edge than he meant to be. He scanned the pond for Fred and Lyra. They were chatting Merrily where she had been spectating from.
Mac smirked. "Oh come off it. You know what I mean. Because you're with Stone."
Georges eyes narrowed, "Look if you've got something to say about Lyra just say it."
Mac put his hands up Smirking. "No, No. I mean, she's just a bit odd ya know? Although she seems to be a bit more normal now... When we were kids though, god she was such a freak-"
George grabbed the front of Mac's jacket roughly "Lyra is not a freak!"
Mac still smirking "Hey man no need to get physical, if that's what your into who am I-"
George thought of Lyra. How nervous she had been to come here. How she tensed up at the sight of Mac. The way she avoided his questions about what was wrong. His fist collided with Mac's nose, making a loud crunching sound.
Mac staggered back, almost falling on his skates. There were shouts all around them, but George was too angry to even register them.
Mac glared at him, "oh you'll regret that carrot top."
He launched himself at George, and the next thing anyone knew they were rolling around on the ice together. Mac managed to get the upper hand. He started wailing on George.
"Fuck." Fred said stumbling up. But Lyra was quicker. The minute she saw the fight she was on her feet and on the ice. Fred watched in both amazement and Horror as she skated full speed to the boys, and launched herself at Mac full force. Body slamming him off of George.
Mac and George both yelled out in surprise. But Lyra had such fury in her.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" she yelled hitting Mac with all of her force.
Mac reached up and swung, sending her reeling back.
"LYRA!" The twins yelled together as she hit the ice with a thud.
George, who had been getting to his feet went to launch himself at Mac, but the other kids had reached them now. They hauled George up holding him back.
They weren't quite quick enough to stop Fred though, too busy holding George back. Fred launched himself onto Mac before he could get up. Getting three good solid hits in before the other kids managed to pull him off.
"Christ Mac." One of the kids said who was hovering over Lyra now. "why do you always have to start shit?" He reached out and turned her head causing her to wince and George noticed red coloring the ice by her head.
"DONT TOUCH HER," George yelled beginning to fight against the people holding him back.
The kid stepped away from Lyra a bit shocked. "S-Sorry."
"Let me go." George said, "Let me go I need to make sure she's okay!"
They let him go and he ran towards her. Falling to his knees by her side. "Lyra?!" He asked panicked.
Lyra turned her head wincing and looked up at him. "Are you okay?" She asked her voice riddled with pain. "You don't look so good."
Fred was at his side now. "She pass out?"
"No." Both George and Lyra said at the same time.
Fred grinned at her. "That was quite a hit you took Stone."
She went to sit up, but George forced her back down. "don't you move." He ordered sternly.
"Don't order me around looking like that."
"Your heads bleeding Lyra. Don't move."
"It's okay." Lyra said, "it's not from Mac hitting me, I scraped my temple on the ice when I fell."
"It is quite a bit of blood," Fred said taking off his scarf and pressing it against her head.
"It's because it's my forehead. Don't tend to me tend to your brother."
"Can you stand?" Fred asked George.
"Yeah. I think so."
"Good. I'll carry Lyra then."
"Your gonna hold me up on ice? Yeah right, Weasley."
Georges's head swirled. If they didnt have all these muggles around they could have just aperated home... Other kids shouting caused George to look up. They were pointing to the edge of the Pond where a man stood and a woman stood.
"Lupin???" He asked out loud squinting.
"Can't be," Fred said, "who's that woman with him?"
"Probably Tonks." Lyra sighed.
The Taylor's who were in the process of leaving the scene of the crime stopped at the sign of adults.
Fred stood slowly, "I'll see what's going on."
He skated over to the adults talking quickly, one of the other kids went over to join them.
The kid who had been hovering took Fred's place. George glared at him.
"You okay Stone?" He asked.
"Yeah. No thanks to your brother."
The kid sighed. "Sorry about that. I never in a million years thought he'd take a swing at you."
"Peter right?" George asked, calming a little bit now.
"The one and only. I really am sorry mate."
"It's fine," Lyra said trying to sit up again. George glared at her fiercely and with an eye roll she laid back down. "You can't control who you're related to."
Fred was back now. "It is Lupin and Tonks. They said to clear out once everyone else is gone."
"What are they doing here?" George said under his breath.
"Isn't it obvious?" Lyra asked.
"I take it you know those two then?" Peter asked.
"Yeah," George answered.
"You ought to let us take you up on the snowmobiles..."
"It's fine," George said coldly. He stood, wincing his left leg hurting anytime he put weight on it. "Fred Help Lyra will you?"
"On it. Come on Stone."
Fred got to his feet and helped her up.
"You should be helping him." She muttered.
"Don't argue Stone."
She broke away from Fred, despite the throbbing in her head and ringing in her ears. She skated over to George slipping under his left side and taking some of his weight.
"Shut up." She said before he even spoke. "We both know right now you don't have it in you to fight me. We can have a proper row about it later."
Soon they were in front of Lupin and Tonks. Bloodied, bruised, and smirking.
"Can't let you three go anywhere can we?" Tonks said smiling.
"Nah," Fred said, "muggles sports are just that way sometimes."
"It's my fault," Lyra said helping George off the ice.
"Somehow," Lupin said, "I doubt that."
"You're not gonna tell Mum are you?"
"Have to won't we?" Tonks said, "How else are we supposed to get you healed?"
"We can heal ourselves... And Lyra." George grunted.
"Fine, Fine." Lupin said, "but if she asks if anything happened I'm not lying to her."