[3]A is for Accident//George Weasley\\B is for Blind[3]

The next morning I stumbled down the stairs clutching my head. I plopped down at the table as Molly placed a mug of coffee in front of me.

“That bad huh?” Ginny asked sympathetically.

I let out a mix between a mix between a moan and a groan.

“That’s why you never do shots.” Harry commented sagely.

I glared across the table at him. “If it were anything but vodka, I’d be ok.”

“What’s wrong with vodka?”

“I always think it’s a good idea, and it always fucks me up. Now shhhh, no talking.”

“Want some food, Evie?” Molly asked.

“Not right now, thanks. A small trash can would be nice though.”

“Why…oh right.”

I grimaced at the table through my arms. “Thanks though.”

She put a large salad bowl next to my coffee. I heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs.

“What time is it?” George moaned. “I’m never drinking muggle booze again.”

He heavily sat next to me, and accepted a cup of coffee from his mother.

“George, here’s something you can invent.” Charlie muttered, coming down the stairs. “A hangover cure.”

“I’ll get on it as soon as I get back to the shop.”

“Why don’t you just use Gilderoy – “ Molly began.

“No, Mum.” Everyone chorused.

“Well it works.” She huffed.

“Mum, it gives you the worst nausea.” Ginny said. “Might as well just live with the headache.”

“Gurdyroot.” I muttered.

“Eh, what?” Harry asked.

“Gurdyroot.” I repeated. “Brew it with a little powdered spine of pogrin and quintaped blood. A few drops in your morning coffee should do the trick.”

Harry frowned at me. “Isn’t that the crap the Lovegoods are always picking?”

George was looking at me in awe. Or, as close to awe as he could get with a hangover. “You sure about this?”

“Yeah.”

“How do you know this?”

Lie. I reminded myself.

“It’s a trick I developed in school.” I said airily, sipping my coffee.

“Ok, all of you out.” Molly said, snapping her dishtowel. “I need to clean. I’ll make a big lunch for you.”

We all stood up and trooped into the sitting room with our coffees. Harry and Ginny sat on the loveseat while I curled myself up on an armchair. George and Charlie sat on the couch together.

“So what are we doing today?” Ginny yawned. “And I love Quidditch and all, but please, not today.”

“Maybe we can go into town.” Harry said, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. “It’s a nice day out. We can fly. Or walk. Whatever you prefer.”

“I should pack.” Charlie yawned. “Gotta get back to Romania tomorrow.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “How’d it go with that friend of Hermione’s last night?”

“Could have gone better.” Charlie said. “But she said to call her if I’m ever in town.”

I nodded and everyone but my and George left. we sat in silence, drinking our coffee.

“I’m sorry.” He said, looking at me. “For last night on the grass. I don’t know what came over me.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I said. “Worry about mass producing that hangover cure I gave you.”

“Friends?”

“Friends.”

He smiled. “So, are you good at potions or something?”

“I’m good at a lot of things.” I smiled.

“Ok, what are you best at then?”

I thought for a moment. “Potions I guess. I’ve always been told that I have an aptitude for it. You?”

“Charm work.” He said comfortably. “Only class in school that I never flunked once.”

I laughed. “I’m sure your parents are very proud.”

“Eh, they weren’t until the shop opened up and they realized I could make a living off of fucking around.”

We sipped coffee.

“So what do you want to do today?” he asked me.

I shrugged. “What is there to do out here?”

“Well, we can visit the Lovegoods and get some gurdyroots, and you can help me with that hangover cure. Otherwise, I’m bound to screw it up.”

I laughed. “Ok.”

***

After the large lunch promised by Molly, George and I headed down the road to what looked like a single solitary castle tower. “Now I don’t know if you met Luna or her father last night.” George told me. “If you did, they were wearing yellow. But I’m going to warn you right now, they’re a little…well…they’re absolutely bonkers.”

I snorted.

“No, really, they’re loopy. Mr. Lovegood edits the Quibbler, and Luna is a naturalist who believes every crackpot theory you can imagine.”

“What’s the Quibbler?”

“The magazine that’s full of all the crackpot theories.”

He led me up to the door of the tower and knocked. “Brace yourself.” He muttered out of the side of his mouth.

The door swung open to reveal a girl with waist-long blonde hair. “Oh, hello George.” She said in a dreamy voice. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Evie. She’s a friend of Hermione’s. Evie, this is an old school friend of mine, Luna.”

“Oh, yes, I saw you two dancing at the wedding.” She said. “You’re cute together.”

“Erm, right.” He said awkwardly. “I didn’t see you last night.”

“Oh, I had to leave early.” She said. “My father had a fit. He hasn’t been the same since Azkaban, you know. Those damn death-eaters. Shouldn’t have put an old man through so much stress.” All of this was said in he same dreamy voice.

“Is he in?” George asked.

“Oh, no. He’s perusing something for The Quibbler. Why don’t you come in?”

She led us inside the house. The sitting room was crammed with all sorts of odds and ends. A strong smell was coming from the kitchen.

“We were hoping that you had a few gurdyroots lying around.” I said, looking closely at a small metal structure on a table.

“Why? Did you read Daddy’s article on their powers – “

“No, I need to teach him how to make a hangover cure.” I said quickly.

“Well I don’t know how that will work.” She said. “Gurdyroot is known for its strong aroma. It’s said to bring back the very ill just by the smell of it – “

“Do you have any?” George asked.

“Sure, I’ll go get them for you.”

She turned away and I sat down on the couch. On the table was a photo of a smiling blonde woman who was hugging and kissing a tiny baby. She waved at me from her frame.

George stood above me and looked at the picture. “Luna’s mother.” He supplied.

I nodded and poked at a hole in my sweat pants. “She’s not that bad.” I said.

“Her father’s worse.”

“How many do you need?” Luna called.

“Uhm, five please.”

“You know these things are pretty big right?” George asked.

“Well you need a lot of juice. It needs to thicken. Trust me, I know.”

“I trust you.”

Luna came back with a wicker basket full of gurdyroots. I smiled as I stood up and took them from her. “Thank you so much. I’m just sorry I don’t have anything to give you.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it.” she smiled, seeming to be delirious. “I’m sure something will come up.”

George and I said our goodbyes and left, heading back for the house. George took one of the gurdyroots out of the basket and held it up. “Never thought one of these things would actually be useful.”

“People under-estimate crazy people.” I said. “Generally they have good ideas, they’re just going about it the wrong way.”

“Hmm. Never really thought about it that way.”

We walked up the road towards the Weasley’s house.

“So, we should probably do this outside.” I said. “Just incase something goes wrong.”

“I thought you were good at potions.”

“I am. But with you around, it might get fucked up.”

“Hey, I’ve made it this long in the joke shop business. I test all my products myself.”

“Yeah, and how many times have you ended up in St Mungo’s? Or just with a difficult condition?”

“…Too many to count.”

“My point exactly. So opposed to blowing up your parent’s house, let’s just play it on the safe side, ok?”

“Yes, Mum.” He said, rolling his eyes.

“That’s Mom to you.”

“Mom.” He said, trying the word out in his mouth. “Mom. Wow, what an ugly word.”

I hit him in the arm.

“Ok, ok. Sorry, your accent isn’t ugly.”

“Thank you.”

****

Five Days Later

Everyone had left. George had written a letter to me, explaining he was looking into mass producing the hangover cure. He was curious as to where I got the idea from, wondered if he’d get in trouble for any copy right laws. I wrote him back saying there wouldn’t be any problems, it was my own original recipe, he just had to name it after me.

Yesterday, Arthur had told me at breakfast that he had talked to the property people at the Ministry. A representative would meet me today at the Leaky Cauldron to show me the open places in the neighborhood of downtown magical London. I had no idea where the Leaky Cauldron was, and could not apperate to it. Molly told me she would take me, she needed to go shopping anyway.

Now I was standing outside of number 92 Diagon Alley, looking up at the small brick building. The front windows were boarded up, but I could tell they were filthy. People pushed around me and the representative, Millie James, getting to where they were going.

“Doesn’t look like much.” I commented.

“The outside is fixable.” She said. “You just need to clean off the brick a little bit.”

She unlocked the door with her wand and showed me inside. The inside was much nicer. Hardwood floors and paneled walls. There were glass deli counters set up along two sides of the room, and an ancient register was stationed near the door.

“Now this one used to be a bakery.” Millie said, turning on lights. “So I think you’ll find all the appliances to be in order. I believe some of the old tables and chairs are still here as well.”

I nodded and slid around the counters to look into the kitchen. It was a decent size, and was equipped with everything I could possibly need. I went back out to the main room and saw the staircase along the back wall.

“Is this to the apartment?” I asked.

Millie looked up to see where I was pointing. “Oh, yes, that goes up to the flat.”

I started to climb the stairs to inspect. The apartment was loft style with different levels. The sitting room and kitchen were what the stairs opened up to, and on the other side of the building from me was a raised area for a bed and had a closet. The bathroom was off next to the kitchen, and there was wall entirely covered in book shelves. The wall that was the front of the building was covered in floor to ceiling windows, stretching from the living room to the bedroom. I walked over and looked out. across the street was a bright building covered in posters and advertisements.

I pulled out my wand and pointed at the window. “Scourgify” I muttered. The window was instantly cleaned, and I looked out to see,

Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes.

How could I not have noticed that before?