Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: So, this is probably the last chapter, seriously. But do not fret my loyal 'Perfect Kiss' fans. I understand how much you all enjoyed the story and that is why there will be a sequel that starts off with the seventh book. It will be called 'Perfect Ruse' (unofficially). I'm still working out the kinks to the title. But you will know, my friends, when it comes out, which won't be long. Thank you all for your patience and your wonderful support. I'm really glad you liked this story because I enjoyed writing it. Thanks so much.
Careful George, old boy. One misstep and you'll blow yourself and this entire shop to kingdom come.
I sat in the workshop of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, developing a new candy that when eaten, would make smoke come from the consumer's ears for a whole day. A wonderful prank if I do say so my self, because you see, a wonderful prank does not have to have an actual point. Its main goal is to make people laugh and, seriously, you cannot tell me that you wouldn't laugh if smoke was coming out of someone's ears.
So here I was, using incredibly dangerous chemicals to produce a very delightful brand of candy when the lovely person I call my twin came barreling down the stairs crying, "GEORGE! GEORGE!"
Startled, the vial containing the potion that creates the smoke effect dropped towards the floor. Luckily, because of my awesome reflexes, I managed to catch it.
Cool, I could have made a great Chaser.
I turned to my brother, fuming. "Do you realize that our whole career could have gone up in smoke, quite literally if this had hit the floor?"
"That doesn't matter now, just –"
"DOESN'T MATTER? Everything we've worked for, gotten money from Harry for DOESN'T MATTER? "
"That's not what I meant, and you know it. Now will you just –"
"Just what on earth did you think you were doing, eh? You knew I was down here working with dangerous chemicals! Did you want to blow the place up?"
"Melody's in St. Mungo's!"
"One little mistake and – what?"
"Melody, your girlfriend of, what, five months now, is St. Mungo's."
"How? What happened? Is she all right?"
"I don't know. I just got a letter from mum, dated three days ago (stupid Errol) saying she's going to be at the hospital. Some how, Harry, Hermione, Melody, Ginny, and that thing we call a little brother ran off with Neville and Loony Lovegood to the Ministry of Magic, the Department of Mysteries and they fought with Death Eaters and the Order had to rush in there to get them out. . . . But, Sirius was killed. Harry and the rest of them ended up back at Hogwarts. But Melody. . . ."
"What happened, Fred?" I asked, frantically. "Is she all right?"
Fred shrugged, sadly. "Harry told mum that after Sirius was killed by that Lestrange chick, he ran after her and I guess Melody followed. They were dueling and Lestrange shot some kind of foul spell at Harry and . . . Melody pushed him out of the way. . . . They don't know what kind of spell it was but Melody's been out of it since they got back. They sent her to St. Mungo's because she's not breathing –"
"She's WHAT?"
"But her heart's still beating. They think she'll come out of it pretty soon . . . hopefully."
I plopped back down in my chair, half shocked, half scared.
Not breathing . . . ?
But her heart was still beating.
How was that even possible?
I decided, though, that I wouldn't question it. At least she was still alive.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked up, dazed, at my brother. He gave me a small smile and said, "Get out of here. She needs you. I'll watch the shop."
I stood up and gave my Fred a quick pat on the back (we weren't really ones for affection toward the other) before I Apparated from the shop.
I got a few nasty stares from some of the Healers as I hurried down the corridor towards Melody's room but I ignored them.
It took forever for the witch at the front desk to give me Melody's room number because I wasn't family. But when I finally shouted at her that she was my girlfriend, she had sighed annoyed and said, "Fine, whatever" and gave me the number.
I slowed my pace drastically at the sight of my mum sitting outside of Melody's room, sipping on a cup of tea. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy, acting all casual and calm when all I wanted to do was run in there and shake Melody until she woke up.
Mum looked up at me in surprise as I approached, a small smile on her face. "Fred dear, what are you doing here?"
I rolled my eyes slightly. Almost eighteen years and she still couldn't tell us apart. "I'm George mum."
"Oh," Mum said, laughing a bit. "I'm sorry dear. My nerves are all frazzled. I don't know what is with these children, always running off at a whim and getting themselves hurt. . . . You'd think they were actually trying to drive me off my rocker."
I sat down next to her, nodding my head at the door. "Is she going to be all right?"
"They don't know." Mum frowned and shook her head in disgust. "Each time they come out of that room, it's 'I'm not sure' or 'It isn't clear yet'. For Merlin's sake, I don't see the point in all of these tests they keep running on the poor girl when they aren't helping any."
"Have you been in there?"
"Only once, a couple of days ago, but I didn't stay long. I couldn't stay long. Dear girl looks so peaceful, almost as she were –"
Mum cut herself off but I knew what she was going to say.
Almost as if she were dead.
Almost as if she were dead.
I closed my eyes for a minute, trying not to think about that, keeping myself focused on the fact that her heart was still beating. And if her heart was still beating, than she was okay.
"They're worried though," Mum said, suddenly, shaking her head again. "They're worried that her heart might stop soon, seeing as how she isn't getting any oxygen. That's why they keep running in there every ten minutes or less to check on her. . . . I can't stand to imagine how we'd all feel if we lost little Melody . . . how Ron, Hermione, and Harry would feel. . . ."
How I would feel.
I swallowed the huge lump in my throat as mother wiped tears from her eyes. "Is it all right if I go in there?" I asked.
Mum, once again, looked incredibly surprised. I did my best to smile and roll my eyes at her. "Aw, come on mum. She's – she's like a little sister to me."
Okay, gross.
But mum fell for it. She smiled sadly, more tears in her eyes, and nodded her head, saying, "Oh go on, then. She probably could do with hearing a familiar voice."
Giving my mum a quick kiss on the cheek, I got up and walked into the room, closing the door behind me.
Thankfully, there were no Healers in the room. Just me and my girlfriend.
I walked towards her, my whole body trembling with a queer sort of anticipation as I sat down in the chair right next to her bed.
Mum had been right. She looked peaceful . . . calm. Her wild honey brown locks wisped around her head and her hands lay, fingers intertwined, across her stomach.
I leaned forward slightly, pressing my ear against her chest. The sound of her heart beat repeated in my ear as I leaned back taking one of her hands in both of mine.
"Hey," I said, placing my head next to hers so I could whisper in her ear.
For a second, I half excepted her eyes to open, half expected to see her smiling at me as she said 'hey' back.
I lifted one of my hands, letting it twirl and rest in her hair. "You didn't listen to me you know. I told you stay out of trouble or at least not get caught. But, I guess being friends with Harry Potter means you always jump right in front of trouble. It's just bad luck that that trouble seems to hit you like a flying troll."
"Might I say you look really pretty right now. . . . Not that you don't look pretty all the time, just . . . you should wear your hair down more often.
"I can't wait to show you all the changes Fred and I've made to the shop. I think you'll like it. . . . I forgot to mention that being our assistant though does come with some downsides. For instance, you kind of have to be our test subject for our projects. I'm sorry I waited until you were out to tell you this but . . . hey, at least asleep you can't slug the crap out of me like you usually do . . . even though I kind of miss that.
". . . . They're not sure if – when you'll wake up, but I know you will. The Melody I know is one of the toughest girls I've ever met. The Melody I know will fight this curse. The Melody . . . the Melody I love isn't going to go down without a fight because she's just the fighting type and she's got dreams that she's got to go for. . . . She's got a boyfriend who's going insane because all he wants to do is kiss her and hold her and just hear her laugh again. . . ."
I laid my head down on the bed as my eyes started to sting. "I can't lose you, Melody," I murmured against the sheets. "I can't lose you . . . not after I've just found you. Please Mel, you're stronger than this. I know you can wake up but you've got to know it too. Do it for you. Do it for my mum, Ron, Harry, and Hermione. Do it for me. . . ."
Lifting my head I pressed my lips against the palm of her hand before turning back to her ear. "Please Melody. Just wake up."
The seconds, the minutes ticked by but there was no movement, no sound.
Wiping my eyes quickly with the back of my hand, I stood. Mum would probably be wondering where I was.
I went to move Melody's hands back the way they had been when I felt it: her hand had twitched.
Now I didn't actually know if that meant something or not, but it was a lot more than what she had been doing.
I plopped back down in my chair, excited now, and whispering, "Come on, Mel, come on. You've almost got it. Come on, move again."
Her hand twitched again in mine and her eyelids fluttered slightly.
"That's it, love. Come on, fight it."
I held my breath, anxious, but she didn't move again. I leaned forward again, pressing my lips against her ear and I whispered to her.
"Just wake up."
Melody shot up into a sitting position as I hopped up from my seat, watching as she breathed in great gulps of air and almost choked on it. I wrapped my arms around her small body, laughing and crying at the same time as I kissed her lightly all over, on her cheeks, on her lips, on her nose, on her eyelids, on her neck.
When she was breathing regularly again, I just held her, rocking back and forth. After a moment I held away from me at arm's length, shaking my head. "Melody Travis if you ever scare me like that again –"
"You're not going to do anything about it," Melody said in a hoarse whisper.
I grinned at her. "No, I guess your right. . . . Here, lay down, I've got to go tell mum that you're awake."
I went to turn around but Melody grabbed me by my shirt, pulling me back towards her and pressing her lips against mine, quite passionately. I think I've been a bad influence (yea!).
Smiling against her lips, I gently pushed her back down on the bed, still kissing her. Merlin I missed this.
"I don't really think you're supposed to be involved in such rigorous activity coming out of recovery, Miss Melody," I said, grinning.
Melody simply smiled the, running her thumbs over my cheeks, wiping away the tears I had forgotten. "Thank you," she said, quietly.
"For what?" I asked. "I didn't do anything."
"I heard you talking to me. Every word. Thank you."
I bent over and kissed her forehead. "Anytime. I love you Melody."
"I love you too George."
Giving her one last kiss, I hurried back towards the door.
"But I will not be your test dummy," Melody said, just before I opened it.
A little over a week later, Melody was released from the hospital after the doctors got tired of trying to figure out what had hit her in the first me. I suppose like me, they figured that at least she was alive, though I was probably way happier than they were.
Melody, from now on, would be staying at the Burrow at least until after her seventh year. Her stuff was already there, picked up from Hogwarts, which she wouldn't be going back to until after the summer (doctor's orders).
Mum, after a whole lot of badgering and a day, let Melody Apparate with me to the shop so I could show her around and so she could start working, if she wanted.
Fred was almost as happy as I was to see Melody doing okay. As soon as we appeared in the shop, he dived at her, hugging her and spinning her around. "Here's our little counter girl!" he cried, setting her down. "Are you ready to get to work?"
"Only as your counter girl," Melody said. Her hand jabbed out quickly, twice, catching mine and Fred's shoulder.
"What was that for?" Fred and I said at the same time, rubbing our arms where she had punched us.
"I can't believe you guys actually thought I'd be a test dummy for you! Are you nuts?"
"It was just a thought," Fred murmured, with a smirk. "Are you sure? It'd be extra money on your part."
"No thanks. I'd rather not live with side-affects of a bad potion . . . like waking up with a purple face or something."
"Purple face . . . I think we have another candy idea, Fred," I said, taking Melody's hand.
"Right, I'll get right on it."
"Come on Mel, I'll show you how we kind of redecorated the apartment." Grinning, I'll pulled her towards the back room towards the stairs.
"Don't do anything nasty! I live there too!"
"Sod off, Fred!" I called, still smiling at Melody.
Upstairs in our apartment, Fred and I had had the walls painting a dark, comforting red, in honor of the Weasley family and Gryffindor house. Charlie and Bill, for a house warming gift, had helped out with paying for some of the furniture, so now we had this nice dragon hide sofa and a mahogany coffee table. Mum, of course, supplied the kitchen ware and also made sure to check on us every week to make sure that we had enough food. And then, our bedrooms (separate finally) were decorated to our own liking, complete with everything that we had in our room back at the Burrow.
"I love what you've guys have done," Melody said, giving me a warm smile.
I smiled back at her, thinking to myself about how . . . natural it seemed for her to be here.
She walked over to the window, rubbing her arms as she sighed. "There really is going to be a second war, isn't there."
I took a deep breath, stepping up behind her and wrapping my arms around her waist. "Seems like it," I replied.
It was crazy to look out on the calm streets of Diagon Alley, watching as people bustled by doing the shopping, seemingly as if they didn't have a care in the world and know that somewhere out there, an evil wizard was planning on taking over our world, mowing down whoever was in his way.
"I'm going to do something this time," Melody said, in a soft voice. "I'm not just going to stand by and let the 'adults' take care of it. Not after Sirius. Not after my parents."
I nodded, kissing the top of her head as a small smile came to my face.
Like I've said before . . . my girl . . . she's smart, kind, shy, beautiful, and an all around no-nonsense girl. I think I already knew she wasn't going to just do nothing . . . she made that point real clear when she became friends with Harry Potter. . . .
But she'll make it because I know she will.
Because my girl . . . she's perfect.
A/N: Thank you all for reading. Keep an eye out for that good old sequel. Either titled 'Perfect Ruse' or 'Acting It Out'.