Forget Me Not || George Weasley

Chapter 16

Olive can't describe her mood as anything other than giddy.

She loves ice cream. She always had, from the first time she had ever had a triple scoop cone with her grandmother in this very shop. It hadn't been her dream, to open an ice cream shop. But she couldn't really remember what her dream had been anyway. Not since the war.

Olive sings quietly to herself, no words, just the notes of a song that had been stuck in her head for nearly a week. She loves music too, but she was never really destined for that. Her grandmother and grandfather used to dance to muggle music in the living room of the A-frame home he still lives in, and while she'd picked up the knack for dancing...she was a bloody awful singer. 

"Is someone murdering a cat?"

The shout is faint, but not so quiet that she doesn't recognize it. Olive grins, slowly pouring the last of her newest concoction into the old muggle churner she'd purchased months ago. Technology didn't often mix well with magic, but the beauty of this machine seemed to thrive around it. Maybe it was her imagination.

"Olive," She glances up when Jackie pokes her head through the kitchen doors, an unamused look perched perfectly on her face. Olive has a strong urge to hug the older witch, but decides against it. "You're obnoxious friend is here."

Olive hurriedly washes her hands in the sink before patting them dry and hurrying over to Jackie's floating head. Again, intrusive thoughts beg Olive to pinch her cheeks or wrap her up tight in a hug, but she manages to refuse the instinct and simply follow her grumpy employee out into the shop.

"Lee," Olive says happily, leaning over the counter to peck his waiting cheek. Lee Jordan had always been friendly with her, at least since they met when she started renovations of Florean's. He seemed even warmer now, like the human equivalent of a shout of excitement. She thinks it's because she and George Weasley are friends now, but it doesn't really matter. She'd always liked making new friends.

Lee grins at her, propping his elbows up on the counter and slumping against it dramatically. She has half a mind to make a joke about how exhausting flirting with customers at George's shop must be, "Liv, tell me how to win over this beautiful bird."

Olive bites down hard on her cheek, following Lee's gaze to where Jackie is standing with her arms crossed over her chest. Her scowl has only grown, and it continues to when Olive says cheekily, "She loves poems, Lee. Sonnets really."

Jackie merely raises one hand, brandishing her middle finger with an elegant flourish before disappearing in the kitchen without a single word. Olive turns back to Lee, finally laughing when he says hopefully, "I think she likes me."

Olive pushes off where she's leaning on the counter, using her wand to accio an ice cream scooper. She slides open the display, biting back more laughter at the way Lee is now crouching on the other side of the glass. She decides to ignore the prints his smushed face would leave. Ice cream. It brought out the best in people.

She carefully piles two scoops of cream colored ice cream on a cone before passing it over the counter. Lee looks about as giddy as she feels today, a stream of loud cheers leaving him. He had probably consumed most of the honey-vanilla batches she'd made over the summer. It was one of her favorites too, but seeing Lee get all excited over it was better than indulging in the treat alone. 

He closes his eyes at the first taste, groaning, "Merlin, Olive. Why weren't we friends at Hogwarts? You could've snuck down to the kitchens with me and the twins and made ice cream while we planned how to piss off Filch."

She pauses. And Lee does too, his eyes snapping open. For a moment they stare at each other, frozen, like they're waiting for a certain someone to get broody or explosive. She'd never heard Lee refer to the twins. Not that she could remember.