A different beginning (George Weasley)

Chapter 6

Flashforward almost 3 years, June 30th, 1994 (summer after 3rd book)
"Dad, can I meet up with Angelina at the record store?"
"Depends. Any boys?" My father asked, looking like he had aged decades in the past year.
"Nope. I was just going to ride my bike down there, it's only a few minutes." I said, playing with my hands.
"Ask your mom, but I don't mind." I started for the door, but he stopped me. "Bring your wand please!"
"Of course dad!" I shouted back at him, practically running to my mum, who was in the kitchen, working on something.
"Hey Rose, what's wrong honey?" My mother asked, seeing the nervousness on my face.
I smiled brightly. "I was wondering if I can go to main street with Angelina? Theres a record store we both wanted to go to."
She returned my smile. "Sure honey. You'd only have to be back by sunset. You know, if you wanted, she could stay the night. I don't think you've ever had a friend stay over before."
"Sounds good, love you!" I practically sprinted to my room and went to my newly-installed phone, which hung just beside my bed. I quickly dialed Angelina's phone number, and waited impatiently while the phone rang.
As soon as the clicking noise went off, I started talking. "Hey angie!"
"Hey Rose, what did your parents say about going to main street?"
"They said we can, so long as I'm home by sunset."
"Great! See you in 15?"
"Oh! I almost forgot. My mum said you can stay the night if you want, maybe we can watch a movie or something?"
"Oh my god I would absolutely love to! One sec, let me put you down while I ask my mum." I heard the phone get set down, and less than a minute later, angie's voice was back on the line, full of excitement. "She said I can come! I'll bring a bag with me to mainstreet, but I'll need to pack up my stuff so meet up at noon?"
"30 minutes? Sure, I'll see you there!"
"Can't wait!"
"Bye!"
It wasn't until I put the phone back on it's hanger that I realised how shaky my hands were. Angie and I were close, but we've never had a sleepover, and she's never been to my house. It didn't help that I've never really had a sleepover before, not that I can remember. I mean maybe when Harry was really little and he used to sneak into my bed at night, but he hasn't done that since I moved rooms 7 years ago.
I ran to my closet and threw on ripped black mom jeans and a black-and-white tie-dye cropped tee I made a few years ago. I put on some lip gloss, mascara, and shaped my brows a bit. Since I still had 10 minutes, I pulled my hair into a half-up, half-down situation with a white scrunchie and examined myself in the mirror. I actually looked pretty, and it had been a while since I'd dressed up for something that wasn't a dinner.
I ran downstairs to find Harry sitting at the kitchen table with a pen and quill. "Who're you writing to Harry?"
He looked up at me, "Ron. Mum said I could invite him over for this weekend."
My head lit up with an idea. "See if Fred and George can come along! I haven't seen them since we visited the burrow a few weeks ago."
"Alright, I will." He noticed my outfit. "Where are you going?"
"I'm hanging out with Angelina. She's staying the night actually." I said, the excitement pouring out of me.
"So I'll need to hide away all day basically is what you're saying?"
"Yep, love you little bro!" I said, grabbing a banana on my way out to the main garage, where my bike sat, along with it's small basket mum made for me.
I pulled on my black backpack, put a few essentials like money, makeup, and my polaroid, just in case, and started on my short trip to mainstreet, where I was meeting Angie.
I enjoyed this trip, because my house was so secluded, the majority of my ride was filled with empty fields, some with crops or fruit, but most of them had some sort of flower, which meant the air was filled with the sweet scent of fresh flowers most of the year.
By the time I made it to downtown, Angie was already there, sitting in front of the record store with her bike leaning against the shop window. I waved as I got closer and put my bike so that it was leaning against hers. "Hey Angie! You ready to find some good records?"
Her bright smile was my answer. "Yep!"
We walked into the small shop, my favorite worker, a kid who was a bit older than us, maybe 15 or 16, sat behind the counter. "Hey girls! What are you looking for today?"
I looked at Angie, who started laughing, making me explode in laughter. "Depends, got anything new?"
He grinned and pulled out a basket of vinyls. "Of course, I never disappoint."
I looked at the square basket with admiration. Most of the vinyls were obviously well taken care of, and knowing this place, they would be at a great price too.
Angie must have noticed too, because I heard her mutter. "No, you don't."
I started filing through the basket, pulling out a queen record that was in amazing condition and only had a price tag of $5, a duran duran vinyl that had virtually no scratches for $7, and the newest beach boys album that usually went for $20 that had no price on it.
I held the vinyl to Steve. "How much?"
He looked it over. "Not sure, I guess the owner forgot to put a price tag on it."
I started putting it back in the basket. "Oh well.
Steve stopped me and took the vinyl back. "If it doesn't have a tag, then it must be free."
My mouth hung open. "You're kidding. These go for like $20, and that's used. This must be brand new."
Steve examined the record again, a grin on his face. "If it doesn't have a price, then I can't sell it. So it's yours."
I took the beautiful vinyl, which had an amazing cover. "Seriously?"
"Seriously."
I wanted to hug him, but I couldn't reach over the counter. "Thank you so much. I owe you one."
"No problem. Did your friend find anything good?"
I looked over to angie, who was looking mindlessly at the walls of vinyls, at least 5 records in her hands. "Yeah."
We checked out, Angie managing to find all 5 vinyls for barely $15, and put the vinyls in our baskets.
"Want to go back to my house?" I asked, feeling a bit awkward.
Breaking the awkwardness, she smiled brightly. "Sure, lead the way!"
We took off down the paved road, which quickly turned into dirt as we went farther into the countryside. I regretted inviting her as soon as we reached my driveway. I forgot that she has never seen my house, and people tend to treat me a little differently when they realise I live in a mansion.
"Here it is." I said, pulling up to the driveway.
"It's beautiful!" Angie said, a hint of awe in her voice.
We walked inside, where my mum was still sitting, coffee in hand and newspaper in the other.
She stood up, setting down her things. "Hello Angelina! It's so nice to meet you." She went in for a hug, which Angie took with a smile.
"Thank you Mrs. Potter! Your house is beautiful."
"Thank you! And please, call me Lily." My mum said, making it clear that she was a fan of Angie.
"Can we go in the pool?" I asked, feeling the sweat on my forehead.
"Sure hon. Angelina, do you know how to swim?" my mum said, looking to Angelina.
"Yep! I used to swim competitively actually." Angelina said, a proud grin on her face.
"Great, have fun girls!"
I led Angelina up to my room, giving her a short tour as we went. "This is my room, and up there's the loft."
"It's really pretty." Angie said, setting her bag down on my chair.
"Did you bring your swimsuit? I forgot to ask." I said, realising she might not have one.
She gave a shy smile. "Sorry, I didn't think we would be swimming. We can just start a movie?"
"No worries. I have a ton of swimsuits, you can just borrow one if you want."
Her smile brightened. "If you're sure you don't mind..."
"Not at all." I led her to my closet and brought out a few swimsuits, showing her my favorites. "I'm going to be wearing this one, but you can choose any others!"
I walked into my bathroom, closing the connecting door while I got into my swimsuit. It was a triangle bikini, white with a marbled gray. It was by far my favorite swimsuit, and I loved the matching bottoms that went with it.
When Angelina came out of the closet, I was surprised by her choice. She had put on a red bikini that had a cross back, and it's matching bottoms. It looked really good against her brown skin, and made her dark hair pop. "You look great angie!"
"You too Rose!" she exclaimed, truth in her face.
I took her arm and led her down the stairs. "Let's go have some fun!"