A/N: Hey everyone. It's been a while, hasn't it? First off, I'd like to just say sorry. Junior year is a lot of work, and doesn't leave me much time for writing but I'm going to try to change that. Secondly, the time has come to say goodbye to George and Alicia. This is the last one-shot I will be writing in this story. However, I will continue to write fanfiction as I am inspired and think up more ideas. I'm hoping that my next fic will be a Ron/Hermione fic (my favorite ship) but who knows when I'll have to time to write it. Next month begins NaNoWriMo in which all of us who are crazy enough to participate will attempt to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Obviously during that time I will not be writing any fanfiction. I hope you guys enjoy this (I know it helped me to write it) and I hope that I'll be writing more soon.
Strawberry-Flavored Icing
"Hey!" Alicia called to George as he slowly made his way over the smooth stones sitting on the edge of the great lake toward where Alicia had set up a small blanket for their weekly picnic. Alicia was sitting on a red and white checkered blanket with her long brown hair flowing gracefully over her shoulders. The brown woven basked stuffed with food sat beside her. She was wearing her usual school uniform, as was George, but she had removed her shoes and was leaning back, taking in the warm glow of the sun overhead.
George looked up at her but didn't smile as he usually did during his approach. In fact, Alicia thought that he seemed almost sad. Instead of asking him about his lack of affability, she unpacked the bulging first layer of the basket, and spread it about in the unoccupied areas of the blanket. She had packed small, moist cakes, slathered generously in strawberry-flavored icing. George looked down at them, but didn't reach for one as he normally did. This didn't make any sense to Alicia. These cakes were George's favorite, and this, coupled with his ravenous appetite, didn't add up. Alicia swallowed and lifted herself up to sit straighter.
George knew that Alicia could tell that something was wrong, but he said nothing. He knew that this wasn't going to be easy, but he never imagined that it would be like this. He had talked it over with Fred, Angelina, and Katie, and all four had agreed that this was his only choice. He drew in a deep breath, closed his eyes, and let the air out slowly. He remained silent.
"George? What is it? What's wrong?" Alicia questioned slowly. George's eyes crept open.
"Leesh, I… I need to talk to you," George said shakily. Alicia nodded and stared at him with wide eyes. As George watched her, his gaze became lost in the waves of hair that wreathed her head. Finally, after a few long minutes, George spoke again.
"Leesh, you know that I think you're really amazing, and that you're my best friend, but…" George's voice trailed off. He could feel tears fighting forward, eager to rush down his face, yet he grappled with them until the threat of them escaping had subsided. Alicia sat as still as a statue, hardly even breathing as she waited for George to finish what he had started. Both of them knew what was happening now, but George still fought with himself to finish it. Eventually, George seemed to find his voice again and said, still unsure of himself, "I think that it would be best if we were just friends."
Alicia let out a long sigh as a tear rolled down her pale cheek.
"You're, breaking up with me?" Alicia asked steadily.
"Yes," George almost whispered. Alicia felt her insides go cold but nodded anyway, her brown hair momentarily covering her face.
The pair sat in silence for a while, neither moving. Eventually, George spoke.
"You know that I still want to be friends with you, right?" He prompted. Alicia nodded but couldn't bring herself to speak. After some time, she responded.
"You know, I was considering this as an option myself." George nodded in response. Alicia had seen this coming. George had been acting differently throughout the past week. He had almost been avoiding her. She knew that he probably hadn't realized it but he had done it all the same.
They sat in silence for a while longer but then George abruptly stood up and left. It was longer yet before Alicia moved, but when she did, she reached down, picked up one of the cakes she had brought, and threw it as hard as she could into the lake. She watched as the strawberry icing swirled on the surface of the water, until it was completely eaten by the fish inhabiting the lake. Then the tears started. They flew down her face as she lay curled up on the blanket. Her hair was sprawled out in every which way and she grasped her knees and pulled them closer to her chest. She lay like this until it was dark, and then longer still until she was found by Angelina and Katie, both of whom had heard what had happened and had come to look for her.
* * *
After George had left the lake side and Alicia, he managed to drag himself into the nearest bathroom before his tears started to flow. He knew that it was him who had broken up with her, but that didn't matter to him at the moment. All George knew was that he and Alicia were no longer together. For the first time in two and a half years, George was single again. He didn't know what to think. He knew that this wasn't going to be easy. On the surface, he believed that it was possible that tomorrow, everything would be the same as it had been before the break up, just with less kissing, hugging, cuddling, and holding hands, but underneath this superficial hope, he knew that things would not be that way. He knew that they were in for a rough ride and he would do everything he could to make things go as smoothly as possible, and to not lose one of his best friends.
It seemed like ages before Fred came to find him. George knew that he would eventually, but he'd expected it sooner. When Fred did finally push the door of the bathroom open to find George standing over the sink, the last of his tears slowly dripping away, he walked over to his brother and put an arm around him.
"Hey," he whispered. George didn't respond. "How are you? I know that this is hard, but you'll get through this," Fred continued. George shook his head. He felt empty inside, as if some vital part of him was missing.
"Katie and Angelina just left to go find Alicia. They'll talk her through this. It'll be ok." Fred continued to talk to his brother. He told him funny stories of his past break ups, some drawing a smile to George's lips, others not. Eventually, Fred was able to persuade George out of the bathroom, and up to the Gryffindor dormitories. There, George quietly pulled on his pajamas, and crawled into his bed.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this one-shot and the rest of the story now that it's done. But wait! I actually might write more of this one-shot. I started, but it didn't seem right, so I decided to publish this as it is but there may be a part two sometime in the future. (I wouldn't get your hopes up though.) Hopefully you'll all be hearing from me soon!