Thicker Than Blood

True to her word, Lavinia was much better the following day at work. She was courteous and polite to all the customers, and had begun sorting through the school books and the fiction, like she had been told to when she first started. Flourish was visibly impressed, which made all her effort very much worth it. When the shop had begun to slow down, she set her mind and devoted all her attention to putting up the school books on the display shelves.

It was comforting, in a methodical sort of way. She could allow herself to go on auto-pilot. To just focus on the colors of the different books, and the way the sun shone through the window, casting the mahogany wood in a much prettier light. Most would have found it mundane, but it was nice to know there was a specific system and way to do things.

After putting up over at least two hundred books from the looks of the shelves, she heard the bell sound, letting her know there was a customer in the shop. A slight sigh escaped her as I abandoned her task to go take care of whoever had come into the shop. As she rounded the tall shelf, Lavinia stopped short in surprise. George stood before her, and as he saw the expression on her face, he grinned.

"Why, hello. You seem a bit shocked that I'm here. I can read, you know," he said cheekily, and she couldn't help but smile, albeit a small one.

"May I help you?" she asked quietly, and she could have sworn she saw a flicker of emotion cross his face, but it was gone before she could analyze it.

"As a matter of fact, you can," he said simply. "I need a book on more progressive transfiguration. Some ideas I have for the shop need some research done before I can go any further."

Lavinia nodded and quickly moved to the back of the store, knowing exactly what kind of book he needed. She heard his quiet footsteps behind me, and she wondered if he had thought any more about their conversation yesterday, or if it was just her that was obsessing over it like an idiot. Shaking her head slightly, she approached the book shelf, her eyes combing over it. After a moment, she smiled triumphantly and plucked a rather thick book off the bottom.

"This one here should be a lot of help," she explained softly, handing it to him. "It's got a lot of theories that could be useful to you, because it kind of encourages you to make your own spells. It has a spell encyclopedia in the back of it, and the proper ways to execute each one. The laws of transfiguration are in the front, and the side notes are very neat to look at."

George had flipped through it as she had been talking, pausing here and there to examine a paragraph. Nodding, he snapped it shut and smiled at her.

"It sounds like you know exactly what you're talking about," he said and she gave a small shrug.

"I've done my own research, and McGonagall gave out extra credit if you read it in seventh-" she slowly stopped as she noticed his expression growing more and more bemused. Warily, she asked, "What?"

He seemed to be debating whether or not to say what he was thinking, but finally asked, "Can you not take a compliment?"

Lavinia blinked, thoroughly taken aback. She hadn't realized that was a compliment until he pointed it out, but now it was rather obvious. Her eyebrows furrowed as she seriously thought of how to answer. George waited patiently, and she finally said, "I guess I don't know how."

This seemed to sober him up, and she didn't say anything further, but walked back to the front counter to tally up the total of the book. She felt very stupid. She couldn't even communicate with another person her own age without sounding like... like, she didn't know. As if she were socially inept and awkward and just all around freakish.

"It'll be nine galleons," she murmured, and he reached into his pocket. Lavinia was inwardly beating herself over the head with the very book he was holding, when he leaned on the counter, looking at her rather directly. He was smiling, but it seemed more genuine than his usual cheekiness.

"How about you and I go out sometime?" George asked. Her entire body froze up, and she felt her eyes widen a bit. A blush managed to creep over her cheeks as he waited for an answer, but he didn't seem to notice, or didn't let on that he did. She was flooded with a thousand thoughts, most of them bewildered. Why would he want to spend time with her?

Knowing she was taking too much time, Lavinia nodded. "Sure. That sounds fun." Her answer must have surprised him; he blinked and then nodded.

"Alright then. I could come to your place and pick you up, if that's alright with you?" he asked, sounding oddly formal. She smiled, nodding quickly, before giving him her address. "Alright then. Does eight sound good?"

"Eight sounds fine," she replied, and then the bell sounded behind George. A harried middle aged witch with two coltish looking boys walked in, and he quickly handed her the money, before backing away from the counter. As he opened the door to leave, a rather wicked smile crossed his face. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, but she didn't have to wait long to see what he was up to.

"I'll see you then, Lavinia," he called loudly and she had to fight to keep the embarrassment off her face as the woman looked at her with a rather knowing smile. He had done that just to embarass her. Her lips twisted in a rueful and begrudging smile.

"Cute lad," the woman observed, and they both watched him walk down the alley.

"That he is," Lavinia remarked under her breath, still unable to grasp that George Weasley had just asked her out on a date.