As a thank you for taking on the extra shift of boxing day, Iris had been given New Years Eve off work. The witch she had subbed in for had been told that she would be working the day as she had just not turned up to work on the 26th. Iris did not mind this after all she had been turning down plans for the new year for a little while now considering she was supposed to be working. And this year was a big event considering they would be entering the new Millennium. Iris had been invited on two very similar sounding nights, in two different places and was torn on which event she was going to.

That was until the morning of the 31tst December 1999. When she got a rather frantic visit from Lisa. Lisa had originally offered to host the celebrations at her flat she had recently moved into with Hector. However, that morning she had woken to see the kitchen had flooded. Though they had been able to fix most of the damage with magic the house still needed a little time to naturally dry out as no matter how many drying spells they used the kitchen walls just did not seem to dry. And now she was unable to host. 

Iris' place was way too small to hold a gathering much larger than four people, of which there would be barely more than but without a proper kitchen it seemed rather pointless using her place. And they couldn't ask Padma's parents to host on such short notice. So as the two sat on the sofa in Iris' place contemplating what they could do, it would appear that Lisa suddenly recalled something Iris had told her. 

"Were you not invited to George's place for New Years? Do you reckon he could take four last minute guests?" Lisa's face lit up as if she had solved every problem in an instant. 

"I suppose we could ask, might feel like we're crashing a Gryffindor party again though." Iris was not completely against the idea, she did feel bad asking however as the invitation had only been for her not her two best friends and their partners. 

"I've missed doing that. Let's go ask him now." Lisa was up and heading out of Iris' room before she could be stopped. And all Iris could do was follow behind, stopping shortly to lock her door before following her friend into Diagon Alley and on the way to the shop. 

George had kept Weasleys Wizard Wheezes open for a normal working day, taking advantage of some of the kids who could not control begging their parents to let them spend their Christmas money already. Therefore, when the pair entered the shop, Lisa a good minute or so before Iris, he went straight to greeting the two. Though he often greeted many of his customers personally, the shop had become very busy making it harder to do so than it was when he first opened a few years back. However, he always made sure to personally welcome Iris or any of her friends to the store. 

"Weasley, just the man I was looking for. A birdy told me your having a party tonight. Mind if a couple of us gate crash? My place looks like a whale took a piss all over it." Iris sent George a sheepish look as Lisa spoke, remembering just why Lisa was considering the most outgoing of the group.

"Anything for my Rizzo. It starts at 8 bring your own bottle. Iris can bring you up." George waved the two off as if they had not just asked to bring many more people over to his place than he had probably planned for. 

"Great we'll see you then. Any dress code?"

"Not particularly, just maybe dress a little warm my heating's shot." George added after an initial pause and Iris had to agree his heating sucked and no matter how many electric heaters they put in the rooms there wasn't much of a change and the pair had resorted to just wrapping themselves up in many blankets as the room got colder. 

Lisa left soon after, off to tell Padma the change of plans first before returning to her own flat to see if Hector had any further advancements on the result of the flood from the morning. They had agreed to meet up at Iris' place at about 7:50pm giving them a little while to get ready and then walk over. And Iris realised at half past six that she had spent a little too long returning to her favourite muggle off licence and should start to get ready. Mainly because she knew just how early Padma could arrive on occasion and did not want the witch turning up when she was not yet dressed. 

It did not take her long to get dressed, and Iris was impressed with herself considering just how nicely she had gone. The satin slip dress was a gold colour, and one she had owned a very long time but had not yet got around to wear. And finally, she was wearing it, her favourite leather jacket matching well to give her that grunge look. And luckily she was dressed when Padma turned up 35 minutes early dragging a rather nervous looking Roger Davis with her. 

"Padma, why are you so early? We're only going to be sitting about waiting forever for Lisa." Iris commented as Padma was already busy making herself comfortable in Iris' room sat on her bed Roger left to wait about outside. 

"What time did you tell Lisa when she called back earlier."

"How do you know she called me earlier?"

"She said to me she had forgotten what time but thought it was about ten to."

"Told her to get here for half past." Iris shrugged knowing full well that Lisa would get there at best fifteen minutes after the time she was supposed to. 

"And you scold me for being really early. I'm only fifteen minutes early to the time you told Lisa."

"Okay it's not that much of a big deal I'll join you and Roger outside in a second. Just going to put my heels on now and pray I can break them in before we get there."

"You brought new shoes for tonight. How cute." Padma teased before following Iris' wishes and joining Roger in the second part to her room. Iris played around with the strappy shoe before joining the pair in the room. This was the first time Iris had properly spent time around Roger since they had left school, since the older boy had left two years prior. 

"What's happening Roger?" Iris greeted the man watching him intensely to see how he was going to respond to her appearance.

"I'm good cheers, thanks for sorting this out."

"To be fair it was mainly Lisa, I just got us an ticket in." Iris shrugged it off allowing the group to talk between themselves as they waited for the others to join. It would not take too long for Lisa to arrive, the woman having appeared with not one but two bottles of wine in her hands. One of which was open and the witch was slugging mouthfuls of the second she was stood still enough to lift the bottle up. The now complete group of 5 slowly walked their way over to the joke shop in order to reach the flat above. There was two ways to enter the flat, the first one through the shop was actually the entrance Iris did not have a key to, not that it bothered her she often only really visited the shop as an honest customer now anyways. She did have a key however, to the side entrance the one of which would most likely be unlocked anyways. The walk between the two places could not have been normally more than 10 minutes at most, on a bad day. Iris often having completed it in five. Yet as the group left off earlier than they needed to, miraculously they managed to stretch it out to 15 minutes, meaning they would be on the dot for the time they had been given by George to arrive.

The side door to the flat was unlocked, as Iris suspected considering the owner was expecting guests and would therefore, find it rather stupid to lock the door. There was a moment when the group pondered whether they should knock or not, considering they were guests. Until Lisa had reiterated George's words from earlier about Iris letting them inside. And therefore the group of five opened the door to the flat. 

Music was blaring from the second the door opened, the silencing spell not being effective the moment the door was open, and Iris laughed as she heard the familiar sound of 'Keep On Moving' by Five the song George had recently become a little obsessed with floating down the stairs and to the newcomers. 

"Suppose we might be a little late?" Iris turned to her friends with a sheepish smile. She knew that they had been asked to come for 8pm but by the sounds of things the party was pretty much already underway. Though she got a shrug in response as the door was shut and the group made their way up the narrow staircase until they were in the hallway. Iris pondered where they would head first, knowing that the flat did not enter directly into the living room but the hallway. But she knew that she should probably give them a little tour of the basics, or let them know at minimum where the toilet was for when they needed to break the seal. However, just as Iris turned to give the mini tour, she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders as another person joined the group.

"Hello you lovely bunch. Welcome! Bathrooms through the door on the left there, living room is through the right kitchen's attached to that. Any rooms you can't go in are locked please do not attempt to unlock them, the surprise won't be very nice. Have a drink and enjoy, we're going to watch the fireworks and then will probably call it a night? Sound like a plan?" George had acknowledged the groups arrival earlier than Iris thought he would have but she was happy he was around her. The truth was that Iris knew that many of his friends would be here tonight, many of who she had never really talked to she only knew one of his friends, and having her own here as well definitely eased some of the nerves she felt about meeting these people who were important to him. 

"Sounds wonderful George. Where do we place the bottles." Iris responded watching as his eyes cast down to the familiar brown paper bag she was carrying with an overfamiliar bottle neck peeking out. 

"Kitchen, there's glasses and stuff in there if you want, Lee brought a load of mixers or you can just neck it from the bottle no judgement here." George responded before his eyes caught a sight of the pack of cider that Roger had brought with him

"Hang on for a second, dark fruits Davies? You brought dark fruits?"George's attitude was light, Iris knew he would never force someone to drink if they didn't want to but he wouldn't hold back from making a lighthearted comment here and there. 

"Don't hate the drink Weasley some of us have work in the morning." Roger responded, the cheeky tone had been present in both of the men's voices as the old school acquaintances and sporting rivals having a joke between themselves. 

"Fair enough, I'm shutting the shop will be way too hungover to deal with that." And as George finished the conversation off with Roger he turned to the one man in the group he did not recognise. His eyes squinting immediately as he took in the obvious age gap between said man and Lisa who was stood very close to his side. 

"George Weasley, don't think we've had the pleasure to meet." George held his hand out for a shake and Iris watched on intently for Hector's reaction. She did not know the man very well, Lisa had been keeping him a little bit on the secretive side having barely introduced her two friends to him, and only giving them the basics.

"Hector Melvin, I'm a huge fan of your work." The two men shook hands though Iris could tell George was a little apprehensive regarding the mans overall presence. Though she did not blame him, the very first time she had met Hector she had wondered why him and Lisa were put together, but know she could consider that he might be good for her. She was not sold on the whole situation but Lisa seemed pretty happy and as long as that persisted she would have no problem that was obvious with the man. 

"Careful Hector, you don't want to stroke his ego even further." Padma joked trying to ease any tension before it fully developed. 

"Me big headed? That's a lie if I've ever heard one." George rebutted falling into easy conversation with Padma he had seen much more of her than the other guests that Iris had brought as the two women were very close and therefore he had started to work on getting to know Iris' best friend. 

"I'm not sure about that Weasley." Padma responded and suddenly George had moved so he was properly looking at Iris. 

"I'm not big headed am I Iris?" George wanted her opinion and she knew he was in a good jesting mood otherwise she would have answered differently.

"I don't think you want me to answer that." 

The evening developed well, Iris was thoroughly enjoying herself. She knew George could throw a party, he had a bit of a reputation for being able to do so when they were teenagers. Therefore, him being able to do so as an adult was not a surprise. Not expected in the slightest but it had been the first time he had thrown one on his own, and she was proud that he was able to do so as well as this one had gone so far. Everyone was mingling the different friendship groups mixing well to the point that it would have been strange that they weren't all friends when they first walked through the door. George was being a wonderful host flicking between groups to check on everyone whilst also having time to spend with each guest individually. 

Though Iris did note he spent much more time around her than anyone else, constantly coming to check on her. Especially when she was talking to his own friends, he was coming to check to ensure that they were indeed getting on. However, part of her did wonder if he was coming over to try and prevent any embarrassing stories about him being shared. His efforts would be for nothing considering the person she got most of the stories off was Angelina Johnson. 

Angelina had been another person Iris had heard of whilst at school but barely had any interactions with. And she knew just how much Angelina meant to George and how involved in the woman's life he felt he needed to be. For Angelina had been Fred's girlfriend at the time of his passing and the loss had greatly impacted on the charming woman. And just because things had changed, with the Ministry's decree, did not mean that the support George offered was going away. And the longer Iris talked to the woman the more she could see why George wanted her as a friend past the obligation he felt to her. Angelina was an incredibly smart and strong woman, if her achievements in sport were something to go by she truly was great. And Iris could see why Fred was absolutely smitten with her, after just one conversation Iris could feel that had things been different she too would have left just a little bit in love with Angelina. But her heart had already seemed to have found its owner. 

"Are you two lovely ladies okay?" George was once again by Iris' side and she had noticed as the night carried on he was drinking more that he was becoming more and more touchy. For this time his arm snacked around her waist and he was almost cuddling into her, resting his head on her shoulder. Swapping the drink she held into her left hand Iris then brought her right hand to his hair playing with it as she waited for Angelina to respond. 

"We're bonding. I'm a little offended it took this long for you to introduce us both. You've been withholding a best friend from me Weasley." Angelina replied as she sent a smile towards Iris, one of which showed she meant every word she spoke. 

"If I had been in the same year as you both I'm sure we would have been best friends." Iris replied feeling as George gave her side a little squeeze. "I've not forgotten you Georgie had we been the same year I'm sure we'd have been together much sooner." Perhaps it was the alcohol which made her more confident as Iris was sure she would have never spoken those words aloud sober but she had said it now and there was no turning back. 

"We'd have a baby on the way already." George voiced his opinion and Iris tried to pretend she wasn't shocked by his words but she knew that it was very much obvious. Neither of them had spoken about that part of their future, they hadn't even come to an agreement of what they were to each other at this moment in time. 

"Don't you mean babies?" Angelina's words caused Iris to look visibly confused, as she did not know what the witch meant. 

"You're both twins, the likelihood you'll have twins will be significantly higher than normal." Angelina expanded and Iris wondered why she had never thought of that. 

"Oh gosh, the thought never crossed my mind." Iris finally responded as her brain finally started to sort through the information she had just been told. It almost then confused her as to why she had never personally thought of that before this moment. Maybe it was because that was a distance in the future her brain could not work through at that moment, but now she knew she would constantly be thinking of that option. However, before they could continue the conversation any longer Lee's voice rang through the flat gaining the attention of the whole group.

"Oi fuckers, they start the countdown in a couple minutes." His words were slightly slurred and Iris knew he would not remember this moment when he awoke in the morning, if he could recall most of the night. She was not sure she had seen him without a drink at all that evening. However, she did follow his words as the group gathered around the sofa in the middle of the living room, the space they had suddenly feeling very small for the group of 12 adults who had joined. George had claimed the middle of the sofa, considering it was his flat, pulling Iris down beside him for the countdown. He took a moment to collect the bottle of whiskey Iris had brought with her, and for some reason had left on the coffee table only coming to refill her glass on occasion, refilling her glass and his own. And soon enough the group were watching as the countdown was displayed on national TV waiting for the moment that the fireworks were set off. And as the River Thames, was lit up shouts of 'happy new year' echoed around the flat. Though the one of which meant the most to her was the one where George clinked their glasses together a small whisper of 'Happy new year Iris' leaving his lips before he took a chug of his glass. Iris whispered her own greeting back taking a drink of her own. 

And as promised very shortly after the fireworks were finally finished the flat did start to clear out. With many of the party goers disappearing within 30 minutes. Padma was one of those, dragging a very much pissed Roger along with her stating how much of a wimp he was going to be in the morning when he awoke with a hang over. The woman using the floo system to safely get the pair back to her parents house in Birmingham. Lisa was carried out by Hector as the two were going to walk back to their own London flat, the woman drunk enough that she could not really stand yet alone walk in a straight line the two bottle she had brought empty and she had been pinching off fellow party goers for the last hour or so. And eventually all that was left in the flat were George and herself. She could have left early but there was something about helping him to clear up that felt like something Iris needed to do. 

"Thank you for letting us gatecrash your party." Iris spoke as the pair added bottles to the recycling pile knowing that neither could be bothered to take them down and outside to the actual bin. 

"I wanted you here Iris, though an inconvenience to you guys what happened yesterday morning, for me it was perfect." George shrugged as he stood there surveying the room, wondering if he could just leave the rest for when he woke up. 

"And for me tonight has been perfect." Iris felt the dopey smile she knew graced her features and found herself watching George as he was very much caught up on her smile. 

"You are perfect." And with four strides George had crossed from the other side of the room he had been standing on to being barely inches in front of Iris. And Iris took in just how tall he was in comparison to her. George was at least six foot tall she knew that, and she reached 5 foot 8 maybe, yes she was taller in her heels but those had been discarded the moment the rest of the guests had left. But the four or five inches between them felt much larger in that moment. And with the way he was staring at her, Iris felt her breath hitch. Her heart was beating much faster than she had ever felt it do so, and her anxiety was sky rocketing. She knew what he was silently asking her, as he paused before moving further. 

"George please." Her voice was barely loud enough that she could hear it, and she watched as he hesitated just a little more. Though when he seemed to have decided that he had heard her correctly he moved once more finally closing the distance between the pair and after 12 months of knowing each other they finally shared their first kiss. 

"Stay here tonight?" The question was asked the second they parted and though it held promises Iris was more than clued into the fact that it held no expectations. They would not go any further tonight but they would not separate. And that she was more than okay with.

"I'm not going anywhere."