Magical Mugwort

*Notes: Sadly, I will never be J.K. Rowling nor ever possess the knowledge that these characters, apart from those of my own creation, belong to me. At least I can play with them.*


Meeting Lee Jordan had been utterly crucial to our plot. I adored him and his game sense of adventure. He was totally hooked on the idea. I'd contacted Ginny after Lee had left that day to let her know how things were going, and that Lee and I planned to meet regularly, at least once a week if we could help it, in order to get our part of the plan straight. Ginny wrote back, ecstatic at the news, and inquiring as to whether her brothers suspected anything.

Lucky for us, Fred and George were not exactly looking for anything suspicious. Their prior concern of my retaliation seemed to have vanished in the wake of being accepted back into my good graces. It worked out well for all of us.

If I was honest with myself, I was actually quite happy to have Fred and George back in my life. Now it seemed to be more the point of us getting to know each other properly, delving into previously unexplored categories of our lives. The great part was that, while there was still a tiny undercurrent of discomfort, we were able to start moving in a whole other direction, and I was starting to feel quite comfortable.

In all honesty, my generous libido was starting to give me some issues. I hadn't forgotten Oliver Wood and what he had given me when I needed it. With Fred and George back in the picture, I was, however, taking it a little slower this time. Trust, of course, was a big issue. With that, however, meant controlling my hormones. And, let's face it, around those two it was getting harder and harder. While some hot and heavy snogging sessions were becoming fairly standard once more, I was drawing it out before I crawled back in the sack with either of them. If it bothered them, neither one said a word. I think they both respected the fact that when (not if) I got into bed with either of them, it would be on my terms. And that was fine with me.

Still... it was starting to wear on my nerves. After spending the day with one or both the twins, I wound up in my flat with them still on my mind, and I had to alleviate my pent-up sexual needs somehow. Sex had always been my outlet for dealing with quite a range of situations, from stress to the basic need for it. At the moment, however, my own little toys were getting quite a workout. And it wasn't enough. I'd come this close to taking up Michael from the Golden Knight up on his offer. The fact that I hadn't was strange to me.



About three weeks after my first meeting with Lee, I was heading to the Leaky Cauldron. I'd gotten off work not long before, and wanted to surprise Fred at Wheezes. George was on his way to a meeting in Hogsmeade about expanding their business, and he'd agreed to let me into the Alley.

October had come on something fierce, the weather steadily growing chillier. Halloween would be here before I knew it. Normally I went out with friends on Halloween. There was always some sort of party to go to. This being my first year in England, and dating wizards no less, I wasn't sure what to expect.

I'd just received an owl from Lee that morning with some more snippets of information for me to digest. It was all fascinating, some of it making me laugh out loud, some of it giving me a very good insight into not only Lee's character but into Fred and George's as well. Ginny sent me regular updates as to her end of the deal; another couple of weeks, and we should be nearly ready to go. The knowledge that soon, soon, we would be attempting to pull off a prank of epic proportions was enough to make me near giddy with excitement.

The rain of the morning had happily cleared off, but the air was cold. I had a feeling that we might see some frost that night. Huddled in my coat, I entered the Leaky Cauldron, glad for the warmth of the roaring fire. Tom gave me a semi-friendly wave, and I returned the gesture. It was busy today; all the witches and wizards keeping out of the soggy day. I made a mental note to get a cloak at some point; I was getting tired of all the pointed looks.

I spotted George chatting to a wizard in green robes. Making my way over, I caught his eye. George smiled, and said his goodbyes to the other wizard. He looked yummy in a mustard suit that somehow managed to capture the highlights in his hair.

“Maggie.”

I couldn't help but grin. “Hi, George.”

He reached for my hands, and he kissed me on the cheek. “How was work?”

Rolling my eyes, I said, “A little brutal today. There was a huge mess in accounting that we had to fix, and someone's head is going to roll.”

“Not yours, I hope.”

I shook my head. “No. I was one of the top people working on the problem, and my boss knows it wasn't my fault. It's only going to get worse once the holiday season kicks in. But, that's the way it goes.”

His brown eyes watched me carefully. “Want me to come by later? I'd be happy to give you a massage, help you ease out the worries of the day.” His thumbs rubbed my hands, a subtle touch that nonetheless had the desired effect on me.

I looked up at him. There was nothing covert in his gaze, but it still sent a tingle right through my body, my breasts tightening up. His hair was falling just to the sides of his face, creating a subtle shadow that made his freckles stand out. I had to resist the impulse to reach for a fistful of hair and drag his mouth down to mine.

“I thought we were getting together later this weekend.”

George shrugged. “Nothing says I can't come over later. Unless you don't want me around.”

“You know I'm going to see your brother right now.”

He clapped a hand over his chest. “Ah, yes. Choosing my dear old brother over me. I understand. It wounds me, Maggie.”

“If it really wounded you, you wouldn't be letting me into the Alley. But if you'd like to come over later, that's fine.”

George smiled, but there was something behind it, something I couldn't quite place. “No, I'll leave you and Fred to yourselves tonight. I'll find some other way to spend this cold night.”

I rolled my eyes. “Poor, poor George. However will you survive?”

Taking my hands again, he brought them to his chest. “Oh, and before I forget. Mum's starting to pester us. I think she worried that we ran you off.”

I couldn't help smiling. “How is your mum? I'd love to see her again.”

“I'm glad you said that. She's threatened to hex us both unless we can prove that we haven't been completely dishonorable with you.” He raised an eyebrow.

Laughing, I said, “I'd love to come back out to the Burrow. When's a good time?”

“Anytime. I'd take you out there right now, just to get her to calm down.”

“All right. Just let me know, and we'll go see your folks.”

A tiny voice cried out, “Hurry! Hurry!”

Startled, I looked around. George simply reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold pocketwatch. “Blast, I'm going to be late. All right, luv, let's get you into the Alley.”

I held George's hand as he led me into the back room. He pulled out his wand and began tapping the bricks. “There you go,” he said, as the bricks began to shift and the doorway appeared. “You should be all set.”

“Thank you, George. I hope your meeting goes well.”

“We're excited about it, especially in these times.” George gazed down at me with a twinkle in his eye, and that half-smile he had that tended to melt me into my socks. “Be good, now.”

“Me, good?” I teased.

His eyes narrowed. “True. You've been remarkably well-behaved for awhile now.”

There it was. At long last. I knew the tension was getting to him, and he had finally vocalized it a bit. If he only knew how difficult it was for me to keep my hands off of him. I almost told him to come on by tonight, but I wasn't sure what was going to happen.

“Good-bye, George.” I stood on my toes and kissed him. A soft, gentle kiss, so much more subtle than some of our other more intense snogs. I felt the tension between us like a quivering string, anxious to be cut. My stomach was doing some interesting flips, and even lower was a squirming sensation of desire.

Damn, they will be my undoing.

As we parted, George gave me my favorite smile. Before either of us could linger longer, I quickly turned and headed into the Alley.

Darkness was falling, and lanterns were lit all up and down the row. The atmosphere seemed to change every time I came down here. Witches and wizards were becoming more paranoid, more cautious. The faces of Death Eaters glared down at me every so often. Some of them were downright terrifying.

I made my way quickly towards Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The shop would be closing in just a few minutes time.

As I found the glaringly bright windows, I smiled. This was truly the bright point in Diagon Alley these days. The fact that it made me smile just to see it probably said a few more things than I was ready to admit.

Entering the shop, I wasn't surprised to find only a couple of straggling customers still in the store. The witch behind the counter, Verity, looked up. “Good evening—oh, hello, Miss Charleson,” she smiled.

“Hello, Verity. How are you?”

“Very well, thank you. Would you like me to tell Mr. Weasley you're here?”

“Please.”

The blond witch smiled at me again, and turned to head towards the back. I watched a thirty-something man chortling over a trick wand, and a twenty-something woman perusing the love potions. Glancing back at the window, I watched, entranced, as the products whirled, spun, fizzed.

“Miss Charleson?”

I turned around. “Yes?”

Verity was behind the register as the man approached with the wand. “Mr. Weasley will be right out. We'll be closing shortly, but he said to wait anywhere you like.”

“Thank you.”

I watched as Verity rang up the customer, then moved over to ask the woman if she needed any help. I walked slowly along the rows, noticing how the shelves were a little ragged looking; it appeared as if business had been good today. Edible Dark Marks, the Muggle magic tricks, bins and bins of trick wands... I was tempted to pick up one of the Pygmy Puffs for Andy, just to see what his reaction would be. He'd been hinting that he wanted the DayDream Charms for his birthday, but I was contemplating something more useful. Like a new broom.

“Thank you, Verity, I'll close up. You can go home if you like.”

The sound of Fred's voice made me turn. He smiled at the young witch, who promptly handed over a piece of parchment and made to leave. With a wave of his wand, the sign went from Open to Closed.

“What a lovely surprise this is,” Fred said with a smile. It looked as if he'd already gotten out of his magenta robes, leaving only his surprisingly sexy suit.

“What, I can't just pop in to surprise you?” I asked, moving over to the counter and sliding around the corner.

Fred took my hands and kissed my cheek. I pressed my lips to his cheek, inhaling his scent. Today there was a hint of something muskier than normal, something that sat like chocolate on my tongue.

“You're welcome to pop in anytime, Maggie. You know that.”

Maybe it was the first contact I'd had with George already, or maybe it was the prolonged contact I had with Fred now. But I could suddenly feel my blood running thicker through my veins, and the smallest touches—his nose on my cheek, his hands around mine, the brush of his hair over my forehead—were all driving me mad.

Slowly pulling back, I met his surprised and pleased expression with a smile of my own. “I wanted to see you. I knew your day was ending. It all seemed to fit,” I explained. “I thought if you were free, you might like to go out tonight.”

Fred squeezed my hands before pulling one free. “Sounds brilliant. Just let me finish up here.”

I watched as he flicked his wand a few more times. The shades fell down over the front windows. The constantly moving items fell still and silent. Lights began dimming. I removed my coat and set it aside as Fred began counting out the register. It was oddly silent now.

I watched Fred in the dimmer light. His hair fell around his face, but I could see his lips moving as he counted. His long fingers moved quickly, counting coins and then scratching down numbers on parchment. The trousers he wore hugged his backside, and the shirt and vest were fitted to him perfectly. I couldn't help staring. There were times when it felt so wrong to want him so much, and the rest of the time I rationalized that it was unavoidable.

Before I realized it, I found I was taking shallow breaths, working to control the heat that was building inside of me. Maybe I had been good for too long. Maybe it was time to get a little more physical again. After all, if I was suffering from lack of sex, then I knew both the twins were too. Well... I had to amend that internally. For all I knew, they were actually seeing other girls. And that was perfectly within their rights. But at the moment, here and now, all I could focus on was the way Fred's arms were looking.

Swallowing hard, I had to look away and try to distract myself. I began studying some of the love potions, and realized that wasn't helping either. I shook my head. I had to get control of myself somehow; this was becoming ridiculous.

“All right.” Fred snapped a few drawers, waved his wand and everything went into their proper place. “Everything's set here. Oh, by the by, mum's been asking about you.”

“I know, George told me. Said your mum's wanting to make sure you haven't scared me off.”

“Right. I practically had to swear on the soul of my unborn child that I would make sure you came round. If I didn't know better, I'd think my mother believed you were a good influence on us, and would rather like to keep you around.”

I chuckled. “If she only knew,” I said softly. My eyes were following his every movement, tracking him.

Fred finally turned around, and moved towards me. “So what did you have in mind for tonight?” he asked, then stopped.

Tilting my head, I asked, “What is it?”

His eyes were reflecting the last few lights in the shop, sparkling. He was studying me very hard right now, gaze roving over my face. It made things low in my body twist and flow. “I think I should ask you the same thing,” he said softly, taking a couple of steps forward so he could reach for my waist.

Blinking slowly, I found my gaze shifting to watch his lips move first, and then the way his broad shoulders moved. Slowly raising my eyes back to meet his, I said, “I'm sure I don't know what you mean.”

Fred raised a hand to my cheek, brushing his knuckles over my flesh. I automatically leaned into his touch, half ready to purr. As it was, I reached for his hand, and in the same movement turned my face so I could kiss the palm of his hand.

“Your eyes, luv,” he whispered. “They're quite golden at the moment.”

I smiled. Guess there was no hiding what I was feeling after all. The downside of having a physical attribute that was affected by my mood. I met his eyes again, enjoying the way his body was momentarily frozen, that tension singing once more. The heat he generated was enticing.

“Ah, that. Well.” I shrugged slowly, turning my lips to his palm again, and lightly flicking my tongue over it. He inhaled sharply. “You've seen my eyes turn before.”

“Not quite like this.” He paused, raising his other hand to brush back my hair. “What's going on in that head of yours, Maggie?”

I reached down for the top of his trousers, and pulled him closer to me. Sliding fingers up his vest until I found the buttons, I watched his face as I slowly began unfastening them, one at a time. Fred's eyes widened a touch. “Quite a few things are going on,” I replied. “I thought you might like to help me explore some of them.”

As I finished with the vest, I slowly went for his tie, and began unfastening that. Once that was untied, I reached up for the buttons on his shirt. Fred swallowed hard, eyes never leaving me. “Thought this was against the rules now,” he said, voice lowering.

Slowly but steadily his chest was exposed, and I could feel the anticipation building. Licking my lips, I replied, “It was never against the rules, really. But I'm tired of playing it cool. At some point, you either have to give in or go insane.”