Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}

Chapter 48 - Bubbles

We've got a little bit of fun George time!! Thanks for reading!! :)

 Al let her head drop onto the desk as she closed yet another potential book. She was never going to find the answer - how was she supposed to breathe underwater for a whole hour? Surely if it was possible people would spend more time swimming about in the lake?

 "Maybe it isn't a charm we're looking for," Daphne suggested, slamming her own book shut, "Maybe it's a plant."

 "I already checked the herbology section of the library," Theo told her, "I couldn't find anything useful on water plants."

 "Maybe it's a property of a land plant?" Al suggested, "Has anyone checked the potions section?"

 "I'll do it!" Draco said, dropping his quill that he'd been doodling with and jumping up. He was clearly getting bored of being stuck in the library, especially with all the snow. Thank God for her bi-weekly Duelling club, which had slowly become more and more popular. She had twenty advanced members now and about forty regular amateur members, with the odd one popping their head in to see if it looked fun.

 "I'm never going to find anything!" Al complained, feeling close to tears. She was in the library practically every waking minute that it was open, aside from when she was in lessons. Her breakfast sizes had reduced in size so they took less time to eat, she often skipped lunch, and she never spoke at dinner because it wasted time. She frequently found herself being dragged out the library, and she only ever saw George when he came into the library to visit her. But he was her new favourite study-buddy.

 "We'll find something, Al," Theo promised, "They won't have set you an impossible task."

 "What about transfiguration? Maybe I can get gills?" Al said suddenly.

 "I'm on it!" Daphne said, jumping up from beside Theo.

 "Boom!" Draco whispered as he slammed an enormous pile of potions books on the table. Al saw Theo sneak off from the corner of her eye, "There has got to be something in here."

 It was quarter to eight by the time Madame Pince walked over to tell her - where she was sat alone after the others hadn't returned from dinner - the library was closing, "How many can I take?" Al asked, packing her things away.

 "Five book limit," Pince told her. Al put the biggest book that she couldn't carry back on the shelf and checked out the rest of them to take back to her common room. She yawned, exhausted. Yes, it was only eight, but she'd been in there as much as possible from opening until closing and it really was getting quite tedious.

 Al was walking along the deserted transfiguration corridor when someone grabbed her shoulder, "Boo!" She yelped in surprise, dropped her bag on the floor, and walloped the person behind her with all her might. It was George.

 "Oh, George, I am so sorry!" she said, feeling very drained and getting quite worked up. She pulled her wand out and pointed it at his wonky and bleeding nose, "Here, let me...episky." It snapped itself back into place and he shuddered. "And, tergeo," the blood flaked away from his face.

 "So," he said with a slight smile, "How are you?"

 "Stressed," she admitted, "I haven't found anything that might work yet. And when I do, I'll have to perfect it and make sure I can get it right. It's a nightmare."

 "Well, maybe you need to take a day off," he suggested. Al laughed, thinking he was joking, but then realised he wasn't. "It's Hogsmeade tomorrow," he told her, "Would you want to go with me?"

 "I..." Al began, about to say absolutely not, "Are you not going with Fred?"

 "Well, Fred's got a business thing that he's said he can deal with," George explained, "which leaves me with a bit of free time. So, what do you say?"

 Al smiled for the first time in days, "Go on then. But I want to look in the bookshop - see if there's anything useful."

 "Deal."

*****

 Al's teeth chattered in the cold as she walked through Hogsmeade, huddled into George for added protection from the wind. They'd just come out of Zonko's, which was a first time experience for Al. George had made her very nervous by buying a fair few dung bombs and fanged frisbees, two of the banned items on Filch's list.

 They now entered the bookshop, and for the first time, Al approached the owner. "How can I help?" the small balding man asked her kindly. The shop was quite empty (unsurprisingly) so he looked glad for someone to talk to.

 "I was wondering if you had anything on underwater exploration?" Al asked, not wanting to ask outright. She soon gave up on this, "Like breathing underwater?"

 The man, who had been fingering through some books on a nearby shelf, turned to her and shook his head, "I...don't think so," he said to her, "And I didn't do NEWT charms either, so I don't think I could help you there anyway. Sorry."

 "Oh no worries," Al said with a smile, while secretly wanting to yank her hair out, "Thanks anyway." And she left the shop, hand-in-hand with George towards the Three Broomsticks, "I need a drink," she told him with a grin as they entered the pub and she pulled her gloves off.

 "Two butterbeers please," George ordered at the bar, "Do you want to get us a table?" he asked her.

 "Sure," she said, but not before pressing a galleon and two sickles down onto the bar so as to avoid the argument about who paid.

 She sat down at a table next to some sixth year Hufflepuffs, one of whom was blowing bubbles into her pumpkin juice. Al began to pick at the wood on the table when George found her and placed a tankard of butterbeer in front of her. She took a sip, allowing the warmth and sweetness to wash over her. "Ahhh," she said.

 "Good?" he asked, taking a sip of his own.

 "Yeah," she replied, still fiddling with the wooden table and watching the bubbles of the pumpkin juice. One bubble in particular became too full with air and popped splashing the Hufflepuff. She began to laugh - bubbles were brilliant. "Bubbles..." she whispered. Why was she thinking about bubbles? What was so great about them?

 "What?" George asked, "Sorry, I can't hear you - it's too loud in here."

 "Bubbles!" she said, raising her voice, "They have air in them!" She must've looked insane to the Weasley, as she sat their, telling him about air pockets, and grinning like a madwoman.

 "So...?" he asked, clearly a little bit concerned for his safety.

 "So you can breathe air!" Al watched as the realisation dawned on his face.

 He glanced down at the two thirds full tankards in front of them, "Race you?" he asked.

 "You're on!" Al said, grabbing her butterbeer and gulping it down. She thumped her glass back on the table moments before George did.

 "I'm impressed," he said, grinning, "Library?"

 "You bet," she said, wrapping her scarf back around her neck and pulling on her gloves. They hurried out the pub and up the winding country lane as fast as they could.

 "Come here," George said from up ahead. His legs were much longer than Al's, so he was much faster. He hauled her onto his back and set off again. "You're a nightmare," he told her as she leaned round to give him a kiss on the cheek.