Elusive // The Weasley Twins

11. Veritaserum

Cosette was alone again when she woke, but it wasn't as alarming this time. She recalled George asleep on the couch but when she thought about what happened downstairs in the shop it seemed like a dream. It was hard to believe that only hours ago she came across that ring.

But sure enough, when she looked to the bedside table the purple box was there, along with the piece of paper with Fred's handwriting scribbled all over it.

It didn't help that as soon as she looked at it, the realization of what today's date hit her, feeling as though someone was plunging a dagger through her chest.

It had been three years since Fred died.

And she woke up in the bed belonging to George.

Cosette wanted to get the hell out of there. A conversation with George was still necessary but maybe it didn't have to happen today. If she was lucky, he wouldn't bring it up and she could go back to her home and crawl into bed.

Cosette found her jeans at the end of the bed and pulled them on. She grabbed her shirt and her bra and tucked them under her arm, not having the energy to change back into them at this moment. She picked up the items that she found in Fred's desk before heading out into the hallway, hoping to see George still asleep.

However, he was gone.

The only sign that indicated he was ever here was the blanket that she had tossed over him was left hanging off the end of the couch. Cosette looked around the area for a minute before drawing the conclusion that he had left.

Again.

George had clearly gotten up in the middle of the night for a reason and now here they were, hours later, he still wasn't around. It seemed to Cosette that he was trying to avoid her.

"That little bastard," Cosette muttered to herself. She wasn't going to sit here and wait for him and she certainly wasn't about to go searching for him again. This was what she wanted, right? She wanted to get out of there without talking to him. Cosette slid on her shoes that had been left by the couch and then started to look around for her wand.

She remembered having it when she bought the alcohol and she would have noticed if she dropped it on the way to the shop. Cosette racked her brain trying to recall where she left it and it finally hit her when she noticed the box on the kitchen counter with the unopened bottle of firewhisky still in it.

When she walked over to it and looked inside, she found the wand leaning up against the bottle and Cosette rolled her eyes at herself for leaving it somewhere so stupid. She grabbed it and tucked it under her arm as well and started to make her way towards the door.

Right as she reached for the handle, the door swung open and Cosette stumbled backwards.

"Where the hell are you going?" George stood in the entry way with two to-go cups in his hands as he looked Cosette up and down. He let the door shut behind him and raised his eyebrows at her, waiting for an answer.

"Where was I going?" She repeated, immediately feeling all of that frustration from earlier in the night started to build up again. The plan of escaping back to her house unnoticed completely vanished from her mind as she glared at him. "Where the hell did you go? You left, twice."

"I woke up in the middle of the night because I remembered that I forgot to lock the door to the shop when I let you in," George quickly defended himself. "I went to my office after and started to look at the order forms but I was gone for maybe ten minutes, Setty. And I left this morning to get you some earl grey tea because I ran out and I know it's what you usually have after a night of drinking."