"I wonder if you think I'm wasting time
I bet you got it all figured out.
But must we try to break the ice
beneath this heart of mine"

"Deadly Conversation – State Champs"

⭑*•̩̩͙⊱••••✩••••̩̩͙⊰•*⭑

Using the Floo network for the first time in four years had turned out to be a success. Aurora was surprised, to say the least. But it had helped that George followed right after her, and as soon as he had stepped out of the fireplace he had moved to set boxes down and rest his fingertips, stretched out, against her lower back. They had stayed for a little over one hour, Aurora helping Ginny unpack and tidy up the bedroom a bit. George had taken a cup of tea with Harry in the kitchen as they watched the girls flitter back and forth with boxes and little knick knacks. The place most certainly needed a woman's touch and Ginny would have no problem being the woman providing that 'touch'.

Taking the Floo to George's flat above the shop, Aurora found herself collapsing onto his couch and stretching out her legs as she kicked her shoes off. George glanced down at her with a grin. "What? Are you tired? Come on, we've got some fun in store today!" He told her, moving to lift her legs and sit himself down on the couch before resting her feet on his lap. There was something intimate about this and George found himself enjoying the way her toes curled in at the sudden touch of his hands on her feet. "You're not ticklish, are you?" He grinned, almost deviously, as he went to run his fingertips along the flat part of her foot.

"No!" She screeched, pulling her feet out of his grasp, and almost falling off the side of the couch as she moved to sit up, pulling her feet beneath her as she laughed. "I'm not ticklish... Not at all." She cleared her throat, brushing away strands of hair that fell into her face as she looked over at him, sticking her tongue out. In all honesty, Aurora was scared that this friendship with George felt so natural and came so easy. She didn't want anything to happen that would destroy the bond of friendship, not only between herself and George, but with Ginny too.

George was still grinning. He watched Aurora hide her feet now, scooting to the edge of the couch now, leaning back against the side. He then moved to stand, moving back down the hallway before entering a room off to the right. Aurora glanced over and watched him disappear, assuming he had gone to grab the product before returning to her on the couch. "Are you going to tell me absolutely everything about this before I test it out? I'm getting really nervous, George!" She called out to him, chewing on her bottom lip as she watched him walk back out, a small vial in his hands.

"Don't be nervous." He told her.

Aurora rolled her eyes, moving to sit closer to the middle of the couch now. She took the vial from his hands and inspected the bottle, shaking it a bit and looking at the liquid sloshing around inside the glass. "That's much easier said than done, you know. Especially around you." She joked, a small laugh escaping through her lips before she chewed on her bottom lip again. She held the vial and turned to face him where he was seated now, beside her on the couch. He had moved his long arm to the back of the couch, gently brushing against the side of her upper arm as he did so.

"Ok, please keep an open mind." George began, chewing on his lower lip as he looked over at her. "This is a love potion –"

Before George could even continue, Aurora let out a loud, dramatic grown. She shoved the vial into his hands and laid back again on the couch. Her arms crossed tightly over her chest and she then burrowed her feet beneath his thigh after she had given him a swift push. "You are a prat, George Weasley. I am not testing out a love potion. You are out of your bloody mind." She told him, her eyes narrowing as she looked up at him.

George let out a laugh, glancing down as her feet burrowed beneath his thigh. He raised an eyebrow as he watched her, scooting further away from her so now her feet were out in the open. "You didn't even let me finish." He sighed, leaning on the back of the couch as he held the vial back out to her. "It's not aggressive, or anything." He began again, shaking the vial a bit before moving to set it in her hands that were now outstretched to accept the vial. "This is going to help enhance your sense of taste. But in a good way. Everything that you find enjoyable, it will just make it... better." He shrugged. "And to test it out, I made sure I brought a few things I know you love."

George let his hand rest on her knee before giving it a tight squeeze. He pushed himself up from the couch and walked into the kitchen. Within a few minutes, he returned with a bottle of wine and a plate full of brownies. "Wine and brownies?" Aurora gasped, a small smile appearing on her lips as she sat up again, letting one leg hang off the side of the couch as she tucked the other beneath her. Aurora started firing off question after question, the fact that she was nervous was pretty apparent now as she chewed on her bottom lip.

"How does this work? Have you tested it yourself? What about side effects? I'm not going to, you know, like rip my clothes off and try to seduce you, am I?"

George set everything down on the table before him. "Relax, Aurora. No, you won't rip your clothes off and seduce me... Unless you want to." He joked with a smirk, earning a shove from Aurora and a glare. "But yes, I have tested it myself. It made the glass of fire whiskey taste like absolute heaven. I didn't experience any negative side effects, either."

Aurora sighed, eyes bouncing between George, the vial in her hand, and the plate full of brownies. "Should I take a sip and a bite before I drink the vial? Maybe to see the difference?" She questioned, moving to set the vial down before pouring herself a glass of wine and picking up a brownie. "Yes," George agreed, "That's a good idea. I just want to make sure the potion is complete and not missing anything... Which I think it's good, but I wanted someone other than me to test it before heading to production." He told her with a soft smile.

Merlin, even the way she bit into that brownie is making me all hot and bothered. George thought to himself, eyeing her lips as they parted, teeth as the bit down into the brownie, and her tongue as it darted out along her lower lip to pick up any of the crumbs that had fallen off. George shifted a bit in the couch, pulling down at his jeans to provide some relief between his thighs.

"Well, for starters," Aurora cleared her throat, setting the brownie down and taking a sip of the wine. "The brownies are much better than what you baked last time." She joked, a smile forming on her lips as she set the glass down and looked over at him. She pulled the cork out of the vial and gave it a quick sniff before downing it. The taste was much more pleasant than the sobering potion she had taken a few weeks ago. She closed her eyes and let the liquid run down her throat, warming her insides as it went. She let her tongue dart out and run around on both her top and lower lip. She could feel her fingertips start to tingle and wondered if that was supposed to happen. She couldn't quite place the flavor, though. It tasted sweet and a bit tart. Perhaps it was elderberries, even though the liquid was clear.

"The taste is good," She began, opening her eyes as she looked over at George. "Much to my surprise." She giggled, pushing the cork back into the opening before setting the vial down. "It tasted like elderberry, to me. Is that the flavor you were going for?" She questioned, genuinely curious about his method of creating a new potion.

George smiled, "Actually, the taste is different to everyone who takes it!" He beamed, absently tapping his fingertips on his thigh as he watched her. "It took me a while to figure it out. I had to take a few methods from Amortentia and strip it down a bit to make sure it worked." He made a mental note to remember that she enjoyed elderberry.

George had so much passion about his products. Aurora found herself smiling back at him as he spoke about what he did to make the potion taste different to whoever was drinking it. "That's brilliant, George!" She told him, moving over now to pick up the glass of wine. "Does it take a certain amount of time to take effect?" She questioned, swirling the wine around and taking a small whiff of it to see if it had smelled any different to her.

"No, it should be almost instant." He replied, urging her to take a sip of the wine and another bite of the brownie. He really wanted to watch her bite that brownie again. Lucky for George, he got his wish. Aurora took a sip of the wine. Her eyes closing for a moment before opening widely. "Bloody hell." She said, looking at George from over the rim of the glass. "It...tastes better. Almost stronger?" She said, moving to take another sip before setting the glass down. It was now empty.

"Stronger how? Good or bad?" He asked, leaning his head down against his hand that was propped up on the back of the couch.  "Definitely good. Not too strong that it like changed the amount of alcohol I can taste if that makes sense." She picked up the brownie between two fingers, her mouth almost watering at the sight of the chewy dessert making it's way closer to her mouth. "Merlin, I love brownies." She sighed happily, licking her lips before taking another bite. She threw her head back and let out a soft moan. "George, you are a fucking brilliant wizard. Do you know that? Is it safe to take this potion every day? If my food always tastes this amazing..." She trailed off, "Actually, never mind. I would never stop eating. And that would not be good for my waistline." She laughed, taking another bite of the brownie before setting it down. She stuck her finger into her mouth, gently sucking off the crumbs that were leftover.

George kept his eyes on Aurora. They were wide as her finger disappeared between her lips. Bloody hell, what are you doing to me? George held in a groan as he chewed on his bottom lip. "I'm going to take that as a good thing?" He laughed, shifting himself again on the couch as he turned a bit more inward.

Aurora nodded eagerly, "Yes. Very good." She told him, her lips stretching up into a smile. "How long does it last?" She asked curiously. Without thinking, she moved to pour even more wine into the glass and finish off the brownie she had started eating. Stopping for a moment as she set the bottle down, Aurora inspected the label. This was her favorite muggle wine. It was sweet and had subtle hints of citrus flavors throughout. She shook her head, choosing to forget about the possibility that George had inquired about her favorite wine and dessert to Ginny. The female redhead probably had a field day if that were the case... Aurora could only imagine the thoughts Ginny had when George had asked about what wine and dessert her favorites were.

George never took his eyes off her. Following the movement of her hands as they poured more wine and picked up the remaining bite of brownie left on the plate. "For me, they lasted about three hours. I think that seems to be fairly baseline. Do you think it should last longer?" He leaned forward and picked up a brownie to eat, finishing the entire piece with two bites.

"Three hours?" She repeated, tapping her fingertip against her chin as if she were deep in thought. "I think that seems fair. Especially if it's going to be used for special occasions." She nodded, lifting the glass again and taking another sip. A soft moan escaped her lips as she leaned her head back against the couch, a smile lingering on her lips. "I love wine."

George laughed softly, stretching his arm out across the back of the couch again as he leaned back. "I can see that." He responded with a smile. "See? I told you that you had nothing to worry about. Are you feeling better now?" He asked, looking down at her as he waited for her response.

She opened her mouth to respond before closing it again. George could see the figurative wheels turning in her head as he studied her face. Before long, she was going through a fit of giggles. "Oh my god, George. It's like..." She covered her mouth and leaned over to whisper closer to his ear, "You made like... a viagra...but for food."

George's face twisted up in confusion. "A what?" He asked, not knowing what she meant. Was it a muggle thing?

"VIAGRA!" She basically shouted the word at him between another fit of giggles, drinking down the rest of the wine before she picked up another brownie. She broke it in half and moved to hold one half out to him. He went to take it in his own hands before she pulled it back. "What the hell is a VIAGRA?!" He exclaimed, making sure to raise his voice as he said Viagra, looking over at her and pouting as she teased him with the brownie.

"It's a medication that muggle men use when they can't ..." She trailed off, clearing her throat, and peered down at his lap. "You know. Get it up." She giggled, finally letting him take the brownie from her hand.

George's cheeks flushed red, "You're not just saying this because of the story I told you the other week, are you? Because if you are, that's just cruel." He groaned, instantly regretting the vulnerable... deadly conversation that they had.

"No! George...No!" She sighed, licking her fingers again as she finished the brownie, moving to gently cup the side of his face with her hand – the one she kept clean from brownie dust. "Please don't think that. I'm sorry, don't get all embarrassed now." She sighed, shaking her head. "I would never make fun of you. It was just a similarity I thought of with the potion, that's all. I promise." She smiled weakly as she let her thumb brush against his cheek. "And now that the giggles have left my system, it's not so much a Viagra and more like an...enhancement lubricant."

George eyed her, "Merlin... so you mean to tell me all muggles are sick and twisted in the bedroom?" He joked, not breaking eye contact with the woman sitting before him with her hand on his face.

"It doesn't make them sick or twisted." She slowly pulled away and shrugged her shoulders. "You'd be surprised at all of the gadgets that have been created to have sex feel better than it already does."

George cleared his throat, looking down at his lap as he tossed the brownie into his mouth. "Well now I know why you've been living as a muggle." He teased.

Aurora gave him a playful shove before standing up and cleaning up the table, walking into the kitchen as she put away the wine and brownies. "Speaking of sex," She began as she walked back into the living room. "Have you and Angelina ever tried to give it another go?"

George sighed and shook his head. "Not since that night. I mean, we've kissed a bunch but never gone any further than that. I don't think she's looking to settle down with a man like me. She deserves better."

"Don't sell yourself short, George Weasley. You're a catch."

She was too sweet to him. George didn't deserve the kindness, or friendship. The dark thoughts in his head continued to swirl around rapidly as he watched her move around his living room, picking things up and moving them around a bit after inspecting whatever it was she was holding. He didn't deserve any happiness. And he most certainly didn't deserve any kind of love. Whatever was blossoming between himself and Aurora wasn't love, he told himself. It was purely physical. And it was something he already told himself he was never going to act on again, especially after she had rejected him on Christmas. He knew he was in the wrong when he went to kiss her - so why did he constantly try to remember the feeling of her lips against his? He needed to get laid. Maybe after taking Aurora home tonight he could stop by the Leaky Cauldron and find someone.

Lately, nothing had been working out in his favor.