Harry Potter 1. Curiosity Killed Jacob Smith

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

**Curiosity  
Part One: Curiosity Killed Jacob Smith**

Jacob scowled in annoyance as yet another twenty dollar note was snatched from his hands by the greedy wind. If he didn't catch this one, it would be the second one he'd lost today at that this stage he couldn't really be affording to lose money. He groaned as the money fluttered around before him, like the note was teasing him. Jacob sighed, and broke out into a jog running after the twenty rubbing his cold arms as he went. He cursed the fact that he had forgotten to bring his favorite jersey on his trip to the bank this evening. Not like he had huge amounts of money to bank, just his lasted measly pay check.

The money was being flung this way and that on the arms of the churning wind; as he chased it Jacob made several grabs for it but missed and collided with a cluster of well-to-do looking ladies. He apologized over and over again, backing away from the unhurt but obviously disgruntled elderly women. _Old hags, _he mumbled to himself, _hogging the entire fucking footpath. _He had chased the money around corners and bends and was beginning to tire from the chase, he was seriously thinking of giving up. But he needed the money.

'Hah!' he cheered in triumph as the note finally settled on the ground. He jogged over and picked up the money. He set to work getting all the crinkles out of it, trying to make it look acceptable for the bankers and not bothering to look where the mad chase had led him. Jacob pocketed the note, yawned, and scratched the faint prickle of stubble on his chin and reminding himself he needed to shave set off down the street.

A small way down Jacob stopped, looking back in confusion. Had that building always been there? He retraced his steps, walking backwards, and stared at the structure before him. Cocking his head to one side, he surveyed the building before him. It was old, very old. The wood was dark enough to be called black or 'soot stained' and had two small windows facing out onto the street. His grey, border line blue, eyes finally reached the sign hanging above the building. It was made of the same wood as the rest of the place, but the words carved into it looked to be made of some kind of golden material. The sign read '_the Leaky Cauldron.' _

'The Leaky Cauldron,' Jacob repeated to himself, still staring at the building with a quizzical expression on his face. 'New pub?' he wondered. 'Can't be! The wood looks so fucking old.' Not that he was an expert on wood anyway, not _that _kind of wood.

There were lights on in the Leaky Cauldron, he noticed. Dim lights flickered behind the drawn curtains. Jacob stepped closer. It wasn't light emitted from a bulb, it was candle light. Jacob licked his lips, suddenly realizing how parched he was and decided he could do with a good cold glass of beer. Jacob nodded, this was exactly what he needed, so he walked towards the pub door and pushed it open.

His eyes widened at the sight before, and his mouth dropped open too, he was sure if he'd been carrying anything he could have dropped that also. A series of the most bizarre looking people Jacob had ever seen in his life were gathered around tables, alone of in groups. Some had hoods pulled over their faces so their features were hidden, one woman even wore a purple pointed hat – like some kind of witch out of a fairy tale. All people gathered wore billowing cloaks of assorted colours.

_Costume party? _Jacob thought to himself and tugged self consciously at the bottom of his normal shirt. _It has to be. _Even though there were only five candles and a fire place burning dimly in the corner the Leaky Cauldron was well light, but held a gloomy look. Jacob glanced around, careful not to make eye contact with anyone. Aside from the people there was really nothing interesting about the pub. He did see a set of stairs that led to another level.

'Oi, Sir!' a wheezy voice called from behind the bar. 'Are you just going to stand there all night and let the cold air in?' The person behind the bar was man of medium height, but a hunch in his back caused him to stoop over like he was frozen trying to pick something up of the ground. He smiled, revealing a few missing teeth.

'Sorry,' said Jacob, feeling flustered and out of place. If this was a costume part it didn't seem like much fun. He stepped forward into the room, shutting the door behind him. But he halted a small amount of steps in, unsure what of what to do or if even still wanted a drink.

'Come sit down!' the hunched over man that Jacob had to presume was the bartender beckoned him over to an empty seat. 'You must be freezing,' he commented, but before Jacob could reply hurtled on. 'Can I get you anything, lad?'

'Uh,' Jacob blinked, he couldn't see a bar list on show of any kind. 'Just an ordinary bottle of beer thanks, don't care which brand.'

'Oh,' the bartender smiled politely, baring his missing teeth. 'You ain't from round here, are you? We don't serve your "ordinary beer here"' he said, using gestures to illustrate his point.

Jacob's eyes narrowed in more confusion. The bartender must have noticed his look and silenced him with a shake of his head before he even had the chance to finish speaking. 'Not another word, Sir!' he said. 'I hope you had a pleasant trip coming to London, if you need any assistance getting into Diagon Alley, just give me a yell. The name's Tom,' he added, finishing off his well practiced speech.

_Definitely not a costume party,' _Jacob confirmed to himself. He opened his mouth to answer, but found himself speechless, lost for words. What he did want to say was '_Of course I'm from round here, I've lived in London for all my life, apart from the first ten years of my childhood, you great fucking retard.' _But what came out was a squeak of surprise as a burst of blue light flew right over his head, singeing a few of his blonde hairs. He assumed the earth quake position, leaning across the countertop with his hands over his head.

'Neil, Oswald! Stop playing with my wand!' Tom barked, glaring at two young boys who shared no resemblance to him what so ever. 'Sorry, about that sir, my nephews are always getting their hands on my wand, they won't be playing with it until they graduate from Hogwarts, nothing to worry about,' he finished speaking as he pried the short wooden stick from the hands of his nephews.

Jacob stuck his head out from under his arms, coughed awkwardly and gave the best smile he could muster after being shot at by something he couldn't explain. He wondered what on Earth was going on. The blast of blue light, had it something to do with electricity? But then Tom had told his nephews to stop playing with his – his wand. And what the hell was Hogwarts? Jacob didn't know what was going, and he didn't want to stay and found out, or he'd probably get killed by another bolt of blue light. He stood from the table, his eyes wide with shock and walked towards the door with short stumbling steps not uttering a single word.

'Sir?' Tom asked, hobbling after him. 'Most foreign wizards, sir, like to see Diagon Alley before they go elsewhere.

Jacob turned around. Tom was now holding something in his hands that bared huge resemblance to wands he had seen in Fairy tales – though the creatures in those weren't as ugly. Tom pointed the _wand _towards the back door, and it swung open, all by itself, no one had touched it. Jacob's eyes widened even more until he was sure they'd burst from his sockets. He was in a small state of shock and didn't react until Tom had grabbed his arm and was pulling him out the door.

Tom was now holding something in his hands something that bared huge resemblance to wands Henry had seen in Fairy tales. He pointed it towards the door at the back of the room, and the door swung open, all by itself, no one had touched it. Henry's eyes widened even more, he felt as though he was in a state of shock; he didn't even react when Tom grabbed his arm and pulled him out that door.

'Nice clothing, sir,' Tom beamed in a toothless grin. 'You look exactly like Muggles around these parts.'

_Muggles? _He thought to himself, _what the fuck were Muggles? Were they some kind of herb? _This was all too weird, he couldn't even bring himself to turn around and walk back to the sane part of London. The part of London that didn't have hunched backed weirdoes and wands that fired blue sparks. He simply let Tom lead out the back into a small courtyard with a brick wall.

'Now, sir,' Tom instructed as though he was departing a big secret. 'You tap these bricks using your wand, here in this order -' Jacob wasn't watching of paying attention, ' – and then the wall opens up, and BANG, you're in!'

Jacob nodded distantly; his eyes fixated to the red bricks and thanked Tom absentmindedly as he left him to it.

'"Tap the bricks with your wand"' Jacob repeated Tom's words to himself. 'I don't even have a fucking wand,' he said. 'I don't know what the hell is going on, there is no way this is a trick, I'm not famous enough to be Punk'd and I'm freaking out a little.'

He sank to the cold stone floor of the courtyard, his head in his hands. _I suppose I could just walk back out and say 'seen it!' and then leave. _Jacob considered his thoughts. _But then that Tom person would ask me what I liked about it, and then I'd be screwed all over again. Why don't I just go back out and leave? _He pondered his thoughts and came to a sudden conclusion, 'because I'm too bloody curious for my own good.'

He stood to his feet and grazed a hand along the bricks. 'Like my ma always said,' he said to himself. 'Curiosity either killed Jacob Smith or screwed him over royally.' He laughed. It was true, he was always getting himself into situations where his curiosity had gotten the better of him and got him in a right mess.

'I'll right,' Jacob muttered. 'I'll go in, see what the old nut is talking about and then get out of here, go home and have a beer! Damn this! Why I am even bothering.' He frowned. _I need a wand. _

Looking around, he found one that was leaning against a grey trashcan. He held it up and ran his hands along it, feeling the smooth and polished edges of the dark mahogany wood. 'What a stroke of luck,' he said sarcastically. 'Someone wants me to go in there. No what?' he wondered. _Do I tap the bricks? _

He tapped the wand against his palm, staring at the wall speculating if '_HOCUS POCUS!' _was an acceptable thing to shout. Jacob knew now that his state of shock and confusion had definitely passed, and his normal intense curiosity had settled in. Before he'd even moved the wand to the wall, the bricks had crunched in on one another and then disappeared. He gaped in new found shock as the wall vanished and a tall woman stood in its place. The background behind her was bustling full of life. And she just smiled at him and walked through into the pub like it was the most normal thing in the World.

Jacob quickly side stepped through the magically brick wall as it began to churn shut. He brushed himself down, a habit of his, and stared out around him. His breathe caught in his throat and his gazed unblinkingly at the sights around. All the colours, smells and sights were so different from any he'd ever seen or smelt before. His senses were tingling with anticipation for more. For some long moments he just stood, staring like a child before a candy store. People of all ages were milling around the entrance to what must be Diagon Alley. These people – who must be wizards and witches – were dressed in unusual and elaborate clothing, much like the kind he had seen in the Leaky Cauldron. Men, women and children all wore robes of some kind and he saw the occasional pointed hat bobbing along in the crowd. He looked down at his own clothing, a pair of tight fitted jeans, his favorite shoes and an old blue shirt bunched around the elbows, he felt very out of place … again. As far as he could tell only a few people were wearing attire similar to his. Ignoring his different clothes Jacob breathed in, a range of smells hurtling towards his nose. The smell of ink and sugar was all he could clearly distinguish. He hurriedly placed the want back where he found it in case someone came looking for it.

Suddenly he heard a grinding sound like sand paper over stone. He turned around and saw the last of the stones forming the wall, separating him and this whole hidden sub-culture from the Leaky Cauldron. Jacob had absolutely no idea what so ever how to get back through into London, and right now he didn't care. All he wanted to do was look around this new and exciting place. Jacob shuffled forward nervously, looking around for something that caught his attention. But all he saw where the people, especially the men. Jacob had always known he was gay; but he hadn't come to terms with it at first. He had told his mother and father by showing up on their doorstep after a hard night and told them straight up he was gay. The look on his mother's face was really quite comical; Jacob had struggled hard to stop himself from going into hysterical laughter. His father – on the other hand, didn't question him, didn't argue with him or try to tell him he wasn't and to go find an attractive looking chick and do her brains out. His father simply accepted him, after all, his father's sister was also gay, and so he understood. Jacob's old man was pro-gay for the sake of his son and sibling.

Jacob started to walk forward again, trying to stop himself from thinking about magic men waving their wands about. He walked this time with determined strides, hoping to look like he fitted into this world even when he knew nothing about it. He stuck out like a sore thumb amidst the colourful cloaks, robes and hats, and he began to wonder how long it would take before someone noticed he didn't belong here. _I'll make the most of my time until someone does realize, _Jacob decided. He started to look around for something other then the people that caught his attention. He suddenly noticed a large looming building. It was huge, and Jacob wondered why it wasn't the first thing he saw when he stepped into this strange place. The snowy white building seemed to be on an intersection to another street and the building leant a little awkwardly to one side, as if there were too many people in one side of it. The beautiful construction had the words Gringotts Wizarding Bank carved into the door above the entrance, and the title shone proudly out to passersby.

So his thoughts had been right. He grinned as excitement and adrenaline started to control his body again. _This is incredible like something out of a fairy tale, expect Wizards aren't like Merlin after all. Fuck! This place is really smack bang in the middle of London. How come I've never noticed it or heard about it before? _

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	2. Photos Always Move

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

**Curiosity  
Part Two: Photos Always Move**

After staring at the glistening white building until his eyes hurt and began to glaze over, Jacob turned his attention elsewhere. A dark shop with the words _Apothecary_ spelt out in linked silvery writing across the sign caught his attention. The Apothecary had many obscure things in the display window; this was what mainly caught his attention. Items like jars full of powders that he didn't know the names of, herbs and some kind of vegetables all littered the display stands. With his attention completely captivated, he pushed open the door and allowed himself inside the shop. 

As he entered a bell tingled, he coughed awkwardly as if expecting someone to come rushing out and assault him with words. Instead a soft voice called from the hidden back room,

'Just yell if you need anything, love!'

Jacob nodded and looked around, his mouth hanging open like a fish. The first thing that was noticeable was the smell. The shop stunk like a mixture of rotten eggs and very bad cabbage. He crinkled his nose in disgust and peered at the shelf closest to him. On it sat an assortment of herbs and spices much similar to the ones in the window. Jacob wondered if these people mixed potions and brewed spells like the Witches and Wizards in the fairy tales he remembered. He eyes widened as he saw the next shelf of merchandise. Things like bottled rat spleen, and toad's hearts were crammed into a single shelf. He didn't dare to rummage in any further, as he was quite squeamish and had been since he was a child. A quality he didn't like about himself.

He stepped inside the shop further, letting the door close with another tingle behind him. His blue seemed to be forever wide with surprise and interest as he looked up at the roof. Hanging along in strings were feathers, shiny claws and also fangs. Jacob reached up and pushed at a circle shaped claw and watched it swung to and fro, catching the small strip of light emitting from the window. Stepping forward again, he banged into a covered barrel. Seeing it he found it looked like a barrel from a brewery. As his want for a cold glass of beer had returned he pried the lid from the barrel and looked inside eagerly. He nearly gagged from the stench. The barrel held a green slimly liquid that Jacob had no intention of touching. He quickly pushed the lid back on and backed away into the middle of the room.

Just as he was about to leave the shop, in entered a tall man. Jacob dove back into the shadows of the shop, underneath the fangs, worried that this man might recognize him for who he was and demand that he leave this fascinating new world. He was, as someone might say quite paranoid.

The man walked forward easily into the room and stopped before the barrels. He lifted the lid but did not jump back like Jacob did, but took a long sniff and nodded happily. This man was wearing a long black cloak over what seemed to be a normal pair of jeans and a shirt. He had long ginger hair, covering his ears and cut so it was sleek and smooth, his skin was pale, and his nose had a sprinkling of freckles. He straightened up and turned to look at the counter. Jacob saw that his eyes were a brilliant blue, the colour was probably enforced by his red hair, but it was magnificent all the same. (Occasionally Jacob wished his eyes could be such an amazing blue, and had thought about getting contacts.) And the red head's cloak slipped around his shoulders by accident, Jacob saw that he wasn't just tall he was well muscled as well. It was the type of muscles that weren't over done, but just noticeable and the kind that came from keeping fit and playing a reasonable amount of sport.

'Eleanor?' the man called, looking around into the back room and tugging his cloak up. His voice had a humorous edge to it, like he could laugh at anything. Jacob found himself wanting to meet this man and perhaps try his hand at flirting with him.

A second after the red head had called the name of what must be the shop keeper an elderly woman bustled out. She had her graying hair tied up in a tight bun and she wore long robes, and a strange looking hat. As soon as she saw who her visitor was she beamed. 'What can I do for you, George?'

'Afternoon, Eleanor,' he grinned back at her. 'I want some slime.'

She sighed dramatically. 'It's not just slime; it's a mixture of …'

Jacob clamped his hands over his ears, pretty sure he didn't want to hear what made up the smelly substance inside the barrels.

'What ever you say, but I still maintain that it's slime,' George said, nodding. 'It's green, goopy, and stinks. Let's just call it slime. Anyway, how much for the barrel?'

'Ooh,' the old witch breathed out, clucking her tongue. 'For you, thirty Galleons.'

'Thirty?' the man named George asked, a fake incredulous expression crossing his face. 'Eleanor, lovely, Eleanor, you must mean twenty-five, or at least twenty. Thirty is a ridiculous amount for a barrel of slime!' he thought for a moment. 'After all, I could probably make my own slime, I'm sure the uneaten sandwiches in by rubbish bin probably produce bucket loads by the day. I swear I saw one move yesterday.'

'Then use their slime,' Eleanor said huffily. 'And clean out your rubbish bin.'

'But you have the best slime! It's so ripe and … slimy at the moment, it's brilliant.'

Jacob grinned, realizing he was sweet talking her and not doing a very good job of it. But somehow it seemed to work.

'Fine,' she said. 'Twenty-five, and!' she held a hand up, 'I want my barrel back.'

'Deal,' he said digging inside his robe and producing a handful of large coins, slapping them down on her counter. 'Will you help me take it back to my shop?'

'George!' she scolded. 'I am but an old woman! Find someone young and chipper to do it. There was a young man in here a second ago, I wonder where he has got to …'

'Still here,' Jacob said, stepping out from underneath the fangs understanding his cue. Looking to George he asked, 'want a hand?'

'Yeah,' George said looking quite confounded. 'That'd be really great, thanks.'

Eleanor plodded over to the door, reaching up the door handle and holding it open for them. Jacob picked up one handle tipping the barrel on its side, and George heaved it into the air holding it side ways between them.

'Heavier … then … I … thought …' Jacob panted as they literally waddled out the door with the weight between them.

Eleanor beamed again and waved as they left. 'Have fun boys!' she called, shutting the door with a slam between them, obviously glad she didn't have to help him with his great burden.

'I wish I'd brought my wand,' George admitted as they walked through the crowds of people, who where moving out of the way for them. 'But I've misplaced it, unfortunately. You wouldn't happen to have yours on you, would you?'

'Um,' Jacob said flustered. 'No, I left it in my other jeans …' he hoped this was normal.

'Oh okay,' George shrugged. 'Guess we'll do this the old fashion way then.' He smirked and shifted his grip on the barrel, nearly causing Jacob to drop it. 'I haven't seen you around here before,' George added, looking idly across at Jacob. 'Are you new here?'

'Haven't been here before, no,' Jacob said, his attention snapped away by an owl sitting in the window of a shop. His brow furrowed, was that usual?

'George Weasley,' he said. 'I would shake, but my hands are full.'

'Hmm,' Jacob nodded, laughing. 'So are mine.'

'What's your name?'

'Oh, Jacob Smith.'

'Jacob Smith,' George Weasley said, sounding like an announcer from a game show. 'Welcome to Diagon Alley!'

'Thanks,' he replied, grinning.

They walked along together, lugging the huge barrel of slime between them until finally they pushed through the dwindling crowds of people and stopped in front of a colorfully decorated shop. The name of the shop, Jacob always looked for this now, was Weasley Wizard Wheezes. On a golden and red coloured mat inside the shop window sat a variety of things ranging from Magician wands to Christmas crackers. Jacob smiled, though his arm was straining from the weight, George owned a joke job, how cute.

'Joke shop?' Jacob asked, though he knew the answer. George nodded.

'Yup,' George said pride in his voice. 'I make a truckload of Galleons from it too, you wouldn't know how much profit there is, massive amounts. I do quite well,' he added.

'Modest?'

'Always,' George replied with a smile. He set his end of the barrel down, allowing Jacob a much needed rest and pushed the door open, ignoring his own closed sign.

He held the door open with his hip and grabbed his end again, groaning Jacob grabbed his as well and they marched it through the door.

The inside of the shop was much the same as the outside window, with boxes and shelves full of joke items and also some useful ones. Such as ten second pimple remover, Jacob bit his bottom lip – if only he'd had some of that when he was a teenager. And the other items that interested him where the ones that looked like they could cause some harm and the ones which made a part of your body disappear. The shop had a colour scheme going, and that was red and a yellowy-gold.

'Just a little more,' George told him. 'Just into the back room.'

Jacob nodded. Once in the back room he saw a lot of what must be reject stock or spare, he was amazed. There was so much stuff here. 'Where?' he asked, referring to where the barrel was meant to go.

'Anywhere.'

And so Jacob promptly set down it where they were standing, growing tired of it. But before he had set it down, George's hand moved to the lid as he had lost his grip and was fighting for something to grab onto. When the barrel hit the ground on Jacob's end, the lid lifted right off and a wave of green slime engulfed Jacob's hand.

'Fuck!' he yelped, pulling his hand away. It stung, painfully. He wiped the slime away from his hand before it hurt him further with the end of his shirt. He inspected his hand. The lightly tanned skin was a dull pinky red and it looked as though he had held it under hot water for a number of seconds. 'Ow,' he told George who'd taken his hand and was running his fingers over it.

'I have some healing balm, works really well on burns like this,' George said and led him upstairs. 'From my dearest mother, concerned about the health of her lovely son,' George snorted. 'Just some excuse to get me home for Christmas last year, honestly surprised she didn't come and Imperius me.' George frowned a little when he saw Jacob was fuming.

'You're putting that in what you're selling!' Jacob asked shocked. 'Fuck that could hurt someone!'

George then looked relieved; he must have been worried about some thing he'd said. 'I'm only putting a little in some sweets,' he told him leading him into a flat above the shop. 'It won't hurt anyone, make their face swell up for a while, but they won't be taking as much as you got on your hand.'

Jacob ignored him and looked at the flat. It was nice, simple and homely. They room he had entered was a modest sized living area, with a couch, coffee table, bookshelf and pictures plastered on the wall. The next room was a kitchen and dining area all rolled into one. Near that there was a bathroom which was attached to a room that held two double beds. It was a simple apartment that didn't give away the hordes of money George said he had.

George grinned as he saw him looking around. 'Simple, but I like it.'

'It's nice,' Jacob said still clutching his throbbing hand to his chest.

George went away into the bathroom, rummaging through some cabinets, cursing as something feel to the ground with a smash.

'All right?' Jacob asked timidly.

'Fine, that was just my – never mind!' There were more noises of rummaging and then an ecstatic whoop of triumph from George. 'I found my wand! Cheeky bugger was under the sink … how in the name of Merlin did it get there?'

Jacob was amusing himself by listening to George speaking to know in particular, his constant chatter was helping him forget about the continuous dull thud in his hand.

'Found it,' George walking back out to where Jacob stood beside one of the couches. He sat down and reached up to pull Jacob down next to him. He opened the bottle of some unpleasant looking brown liquid and reached in, spooning some out with his fingers. 'Hand,' he demanded. 'It won't hurt,' he promised Jacob who was eyeing him uncertainly. 'Ok, maybe a little, ok, it'll sting, maybe it'll hurt a bit … I really don't know.'

Jacob couldn't help but giggle as he handed his hand out and George applied the brown balm. Jacob looked around the room, mainly at the pictures on the wall. He hissed out when he saw on, from the shock of what the person was doing and because his hand had started to sting. The person who looked similar to George, expect a much taller and lankier version had his arm wrapped around a busy haired girl and they were waving at him – actually moving – in the photo.

He blinked, thinking he was dreaming. Side effect of the balm, or was he going bonkers in this environment, this wizard filled place? 'G – George,' he stammered. 'You're pictures are … moving.'

'What don't yours?'

'Uh, no!' Jacob said, staring at the others. He saw one with George and someone identical to him, both smiling at punching each other teasingly in the arm, moving! 'Of course photographs don't move! They're made to capture a memory, not let it move about!' he said, flapping his arms about, and causing his hand to be wrenched from George's grasp. 'Why are they moving?'

'They do that,' George said looking at Jacob like what he was saying didn't make sense, like – Jacob realized – like he shouldn't be here. He gulped. 'Photos always move.'

'Not where I come from,' Jacob insisted, knowing his secret was partially blown so there was no point in hiding anything.

'Where do you come from?' George asked interested. ' Scotland?' 

'I lived there for the first ten years,' Jacob said wondering if perhaps his secret hadn't been spilled.

'Explains the accent. Where do you live now?'

' London.' Ah, crap, yes it had been spilled.

'You live in London and you've never been to Diagon Alley before?' George asked, his eyes narrowing. 'Squib?'

'What's a Squib?'

The red head let out a breath of air. 'Blimey, you don't know what a Squib is; you've never seen moving pictures -'

'Not true!' Jacob interrupted. 'I go to the movies all the time.'

'And you've never been to Diagon Alley before!' George said. 'Are you a Muggle?' he asked seriously.

'Maybe …' Jacob said, turning his face away.

'Seriously, Jacob, are you?' George asked. ''cause seriously, if you are I'm going to have to Oblivate you and send you back home.'

'Like that's going to make me tell you the truth!' Jacob stopped for a second. 'What does it mean to Oblivate?'

'Hah!' George said, in quite a winning tone. 'I was right, you are a Muggle.'

'What's a Muggle?'

'Someone of a non-Magical background.'

'Uh, well, that's me,' Jacob said raising his hand in feeble attempt in a joke.

'Nah, but that can't be true,' George said. 'I mean come on, you got into Diagon Alley right?'

'Yeah.'

'So you must have some magically blood in you, because normal Muggles can't see the Leaky Cauldron at all, let alone get inside!' George grinned. 'You, you're way different.'

'But why haven't I ever seen it before then?'

'I dunno, maybe the magic took a bloody long time to show,' George closed his eyes in though. 'I really don't know.'

'So,' Jacob asked after a long silence. 'You're not going to ovulate me, or whatever it was?'

'No, I won't 'ovulate' you.'

'Thank you, I appreciate that,' Jacob grinned at the handsome man. 'So, what are you going to do about me and my Muggle-ness?'

'I dunno, I really don't want to Oblivate you,' George muttered. 'I think you should go to the Ministry of Magic about this, it's unusual. Seriously, you must be some kind of mutant wizard whose powers haven't shown until – what how old are you?'

'Twenty-one,' Jacob said then added as if it might help, 'as of last Friday.'

'Oh, I'm twenty-two,' George said then continued. 'I don't think any Wizard has lived to be twenty-one without knowing they were a Wizard, its bloody unheard of!'

'You have a Ministry?' Jacob asked recalling what George had said earlier. George nodded. 'Wow, that's really incredible! Us 'Muggles' don't even know! Fucking incredible. So, what I'll go to the Ministry tomorrow or something?'

'Yeah, I suppose tomorrow is fine,' George said, grinning. 'You won't know where it is, will you?'

Jacob frowned and shook his head. 'You'll show me right?'

'Yup.'

'Thanks, thanks for everything, honestly, thank you,' Jacob said over and over again until George shut him up.

'Oi,' the red head said. 'You can thank me when you know what's going on. Right, so tomorrow's Sunday, yeah?'

'Yeah.'

'Meet you in the Leaky Cauldron at around 11am?'

'Sounds like a plan.'

George stood and stretched out his arms and legs. 'Come on then, I'll so you how to get out again, poor Jakey might get lost, poor defenseless Muggle.'

'Thanks George.'

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	3. The Talent

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

**Curiosity  
Part Three: The Talent**

When George walked Jacob back to the Leaky Cauldron, Jacob had almost thought that he was intending to walk him all the way home. Not that he would have minded, it was a cold and dark, it would have been nice to have some company. And he liked George, the man was funny, kind, wasn't afraid of Jacob being different to him and he was handsome. He especially liked George's red hair, it was so much more beautiful then his own dishwasher blonde hair. But to his misfortunate George stopped just outside the door of the Leaky Cauldron, standing inside and letting Jacob walk out into the normal roads and streets of London.

'What, can't you step into London or you'll vanish?' he asked in a teasing tone.

George smiled and stepped forward. 'I can go wherever,' he said. 'More places then you can, poor little Muggle man.'

'Is Muggle some kind of insult?'

'No,' George shook his head. 'Just what we call people with no Magic.'

'Well, I don't exactly qualify then do I?' Jacob said, rubbing his arms as the cold wind buffeted them. 'You said so yourself, if I didn't have some kind of Magic, I wouldn't be able to get inside this place.'

'True,' George said downheartedly. 'But I liked calling you Muggle; what ever will I call you now?' he asked in a fake dramatic voice.

'Jacob would be nice.'

'Fine, then Jacob Smith, I will see you tomorrow at 11,' George said, turning to go inside but before he did he turned around to look at Jacob again. 'Are you cold?'

'Fucking freezing,' Jacob replied with what he hoped was a smile not a grimace.

'Want to borrow my cloak?'

Yes he wanted to borrow George's cloak, if he didn't take it he'd freeze to death before he got home. But wearing a cloak through the student flats of London? Surely that would provoke a few a slurred statements from those who saw and knew him. Jacob quickly ignored this and nodded, he was trying to be more concerned with his health then his image. 'Please,' he said.

George shrugged it off his shoulders and handed it to him. Jacob eyed the soft white shirt he wore and noticed it was as thin as his.

'Won't you be cold too?' he asked, holding the cloak in his hands, not wanting to put it on until George made a decision.

'I only have to walk for about five minutes, where you probably have to walk about ten or twenty because no Muggles live near here,' George said knowingly.

'You sure?'

'Yeah.'

'Thank you, again, for everything,' Jacob said, smiling as he slipped the still warm cloak around his shoulders and was engulfed by a smell that was uniquely George's.

'No problem, you're interesting. I've never met anyone like you,' George told him with another glorious smile.

Jacob raised an eyebrow. 'I try to be interesting,' he said. 'I'll see you tomorrow?'

'Yeah, see you tomorrow. Don't get anything on my cloak,' he warned. 'Cost a right bucket. Its got a charm on it that always keeps it warm.'

And with that last comment George turned around and shut the door to the pub behind him, vanishing inside the dim room. Jacob looked down at the cloak around him, amazed. He had seen many and incredibly things today, but actually touching something that had magic charms on it was pretty darn cool. The cloak was so warm; it felt he was lying in a hot bath just without the water. He wanted one of these cloaks – in a pleasant blue to match his nearly blue eyes.

After staring at the door for a minute or so he turned and walked away, practically skipping down the street. He had never imagined that anything like this would have happened to him. As he walked he wondered if he should be scared of this new place, but with someone like George as a friend why should he be? Then another thought hit him. Would he tell people of what he had seen and encountered today? What would he tell his flat mates? '_Guess what guys? Today I stumbled quite by chance across a Magical world. No, I'm serious actual Magic. Wands, robes, potions the whole package!' _His three flat mates would probably just contribute his wild words to the drink, after Thursday nights were the nights he didn't work and could often be found in a pub watching the Football, glass in hand.

He shook his head, the blonde bangs shifting out of his eyes. He shouldn't tell them that he was a potential wizard, intending on how tomorrow went. If most of the world didn't know about this underground Magical world then he shouldn't enlighten them. He knew what happened to people who were different.

Sighing, he thrust his cold hands into the pockets of the cloak and increased his pace down the street thinking about what tomorrow could bring. George had something about Oblivating him and sending him home with no memory of Diagon Alley. Is that what the Ministry would do to him? Is that what they'd think would be best? His memory would be wiped clean; he'd have no recollection of George or anything. He didn't want that to happen.

Lost in his thoughts he nearly walked past his flat. Walking backwards he walked down the street, past houses with music blasting and others that were dead silent. He reached his flat, a small double storied brick complex and pushed the door open. He waved hello to Martha, Joan and Scott who were all sitting glued to the television as was part of their daily routines. They mainly ignored his entrance, except for Martha telling him there were some leftovers in the oven for him. He thanked her and headed upstairs for bed.

His room was small and barely qualified as one. He collapsed down on into the bed, burying his face in the white sheets and kicked off his shoes before falling into a deep sleep. He dreamt of George Weasley, Wizards, Witches and Diagon Alley.

* * *

Jacob walked through the wet streets the next morning, using George's cloak to avoid getting wet. Amazingly not a drop hit his head, the cloak was obviously more then something that was forever warm. As he rounded the corner and saw the old run down building, a stab of relief hit him. He had been worried that he'd never be able to find the place again and that his entrance yesterday was just a one off thing, something that would never happen again. His pace quickened, he was eager to see George again and to found out what was to come of him.

Inside the Leaky Cauldron only a few people sat at various tables, sipping mugs of a hot steaming substance. Jacob hoped it was tea or coffee. Tom, the bartender, was no where to be seen and for that Jacob was thankful. He didn't want a bombardment of questions about his day yesterday, he wanted to quietly wait for George and speak to no one.

He glanced down at his watch as he sat in a chair nearest the large fireplace, in which no fire burned. The watch face read 11:02am. He had arrived bang on 11. This surprised because punctuality have never been his specialty. He supposed his new found time keeping skills were because of his nerves, excitement and of course curiosity. Leaning back in his chair he watched the door, thrumming his fingers against the thick table top. He looked at his watch again; it had only been five minutes since he last looked. George wasn't late at all. Jacob was just impatient.

Jacob took the cloak of from around his shoulders, and folded it carefully. When he placed it on the table before him, George came in not from the entrance Jacob had but the courtyard one that led into Diagon Alley. George scanned the room and when he spotted Jacob he smiled, and came over. He was wearing a long cloak of some greenish material today, under which was a different plain white t-shirt and some simple jeans. He sat in the seat opposite Jacob.

'Hey,' Jacob said. 'Here's your cloak,' he pushed it across the table.

'Thanks,' George said taking the cloak and putting it on his lap. 'How are you?'

'I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to find this fucking place again or that you wouldn't come,' Jacob said. 'And how are you?'

George laughed, running a hand through his soft red hair. 'I'm fine, thanks.'

'Should we go now?' Jacob asked him.

Nodding George stood and walked to the front of the Leaky Cauldron. Jacob was puzzled for a second, as he thought they would surely be going back into Diagon Alley. He jogged through the tables to catch up to George who was walking out into the cold wet drizzle.

'Aren't we going back into Diagon Alley?' he asked.

'No,' George said. 'The Ministry of Magic is in central London, not Diagon Alley.'

'Really?' Jacob asked. 'Where is it?'

'Underground.'

Jacob crinkled in nose in disgust. 'Ew, really?'

'Not underground, underground, you git,' George said punching his arm friendly. 'There are lots of these buildings underground that make up the Ministry, its really big. So easy to get lost inside.'

'Oh,' Jacob said, feeling like a bit of an idiot. 'Who are we going to see?'

'Kingsley Shacklebolt himself.'

'Who is he?'

'The Minister for Magic,' George said and then added in a 'modest' tone. 'I know him, he was part of this order and I was kind of as well, so I asked a personal favor and he slotted me in at 11:30, good bloke he is. Looking forward to meeting you as well, never ever heard of anything like this either.'

'He doesn't want to Oblivate me?' Jacob asked with relief.

'Nah, he doesn't. He just wants to see if you really have Magic, and if you do make sure you get proper training, because untrained Magic can be bloody dangerous. He'll probably talk to a few people from the Muggle departments about you and see what they think.'

'So, no need to be worried?'

'Wouldn't think so.'

Jacob nodded and concentrated on walking, and not allowing his nerves to get the better of him. He was meeting _the _Minister for Magic. Of course he had no clue of the significance of that job but the title sounded important. He splashed through a puddle, soaking his shoes but ignored the damp and looked to George again, intrigued by his cloak.

'What's this made of?' he said.

'You ask a lot of questions,' George told him with a laugh. 'Promise you won't freak out when I tell you?'

'I promise I won't freak out when you tell me,' Jacob said placing a hand over his heart in a joking manor. 'Why is it something freaky?'

'You just might find it completely unbelievable,' George said. 'It's made from Dragon hide.'

'Fuck!' Jacob exclaimed stopping dead in his tracks. 'Dragons?' he asked.

'Yeah, Dragons. Come on, hurry up.'

'There are Dragons alive? But I thought they were just in fairy stories, like you know the dashing and handsome knight goes off to rescue the damsel in distress from the terrible fire breathing dragon?' Jacob's eyes were wide with shock as he scrambled after George who turned down a sharp corner leading him through central London.

'There are Dragons alive, and that did happen. But those 'dashing handsome knights' were usually young Wizards and the 'damsels in distress' were mostly stupid Witches who'd gotten into a spot of trouble while picking herbs or something,' George said. 'I've seen Dragons, my brother works with them. They're bloody terrifying.'

'Are there other types of things like Dragons or just them?'

'Nope, heaps and heaps of other Magical Creatures, I can give you my old school books if you want to know about them. There was a class on them.'

'A school?' Jacob asked. 'Is it a Magic school?'

'Yeah, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,' George said.

'Impressive.'

'You bet. I didn't graduate though, left half way through my last year, took a stand,' George said and then added with a smile. 'I'm a bit of a legend now.'

'I'm honored to be in the presence of such a legend.'

George snorted with laughter. 'You're funny, I like you.'

Jacob flushed a soft pink colour; he couldn't help it, for he liked the compliment. 'Thanks.'

'Here we are!' George said pulling him into a small blue telephone box. They crammed inside squeezing together, and Jacob was very conscious that his thigh was pressed against George's.

'Some Ministry this is,' Jacob grunted.

'Just wait,' George said and picked up the telephone and dialed, '6-2-4-4-2,' into the phone. He pressed it too his ear and waited.

'Hello, British Ministry of Magic, please state your name and purpose.' said a nasal female voice.

'George Weasley and Jacob Smith, we have a meeting with the Minister,' George said.

'Thank you, please wait and you will be taken to the Atrium shortly, please place these name-tags on your person and only remove them when you have left the Ministry.'

There was a loud clanging noise and two name tags fell into the change slot. George picked his up and pinned it to his jacket and handed the other to Jacob who did the same. Jacob was about to open his mouth and ask another question when George held his hand up, saying,

'Just wait.'

Suddenly, Jacob felt a lurch and stumbled against George. He quickly straightened up and apologized to George who cheekily muttered, 'knew you couldn't resist me.' Jacob flushed the dull pink again as the phone box began to descend into the street itself. George turned around, and Jacob copied what he did waiting for the box to stop and let them out. The box lurched to a halt and George stepped out, cloak billowing around him, into a room full of people.

Jacob followed, feeling bewildered. The people circulating around them were like the ones he had seen during his visit to Diagon Alley, so he paid little attention to them. What caught his eye was the vastness of the hall and what was in its center.

A fountain stood grandly in the middle of the room and people milled about it, some looking up in awe before quickly moving on. Jacob was now staring at it in awe as well, but he felt no need to carry on. The golden fountain showed two people – a man and a woman - standing in the center, holding wands up and jets of water shot from them. Behind them, staring up in admiration stood what looked to be like one of Santa's Little Helpers, but probably couldn't be. Standing in front of the man and woman was a Centaur, something Jacob recognized from his years of Greek mythology in school. It held a bow and arrow and was shooting a jet of water high up towards the roof. The last statue was of something very small with huge ears, looking up at the man and woman with an expression of utter devotion across its little face. Each of the creatures was looking up at the humans.

'The Fountain of Magical Brethren,' George said. 'Completely unrealistic of course, Goblins and Centaurs think they are much better then Wizards and Witches. Though I like the house-elf, he's adorable. Big ears though.'

'It's … shiny,' Jacob said saying the first word that came to mind.

'Come on,' George said pulling his arm. 'Don't want to keep Kingsley waiting.'

* * *

A swarm of flying paper followed them out of the lift when they exited at Level 1. There were hardly any people wandering this corridor, only hordes of flying paper zipping to and fro the different offices. Jacob gulped; there was something in the air that suggested this place was extremely important. But strolling down the corridor was a tall and lanky regal looking red head and George waved.

'Hello George and …' the man squinted at Jacob's name tag through his horned rimmed glasses, 'Jacob Smith.'

'Jacob, this is my brother Percy.'

Jacob nodded and uttered a small hi.

'The Minister says he will see you now, just down the hall,' Percy told them. 'Honestly,' he added. 'I have more important things to do then fetch my younger brother who has a meeting.' He walked off determinedly still grumbling to himself.

George laughed as his brother walked off. 'He will forever be a pompous git, no changing that.' He motioned for Jacob to follow him and they walked down the corridor.

George rapped on a door that had the words _Kingsley Shacklebolt _and then under those _MINISTER FOR MAGIC. _A soft deep voice told them to enter and the door swung open of its own accord, or as the case was someone else's accord. A large black man was sitting in a chair behind a desk laden with papers and inkpots. He was smiling, showing very white teeth as the two entered his office. And it was a grand office too; book shelves circulated the room each stuffed to the point of bursting with books with obscure titles. Two leather chairs sat before the Minister's desk and a huffy looking man stood next to him, polishing square glasses.

'George,' the Minister named Kingsley smiled even more brightly and rose from his chair to shake George's hand. 'You must be Jacob Smith,' he said extending a hand towards him.

'It's what the name tag says,' Jacob said attempting a feeble joke as he reached out to shake the dark hand.

'This is Tiberius Ogden, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot,' the Minister said, introducing the man.

As Tiberius smiled and shook each of their hands, George whistled and nudged Jacob in the ribs. 'You're getting some attention here.'

Tiberius, who was not all like his stuffy appearance, smiled again and said. 'There has never been a case like this before. I wanted to listen in,' he added.

'Please, everyone sit.' As the Minister said this they both sank into the plush seats.

There was a long silence as the Minister just stared at Jacob, his deep hazel eyes scanning his face. 'Jacob Smith,' he said. 'George tells me you came across Diagon Alley yesterday just by chance.'

He nodded. 'Yes.'

'What happened?'

Jacob gulped. 'Uh, yesterday, Thursday, I was going to the bank to bank some money when I saw the, uh, the Leaky Cauldron. I'd never seen it before and I take that path to the bank a lot, so I went inside.'

Kingsley nodded, and looked to Tiberius who seemed completely fused to the place by Jacob's words. 'Then what happened?' he asked.

'The um … Tom!' Jacob said, after struggling to find the right name for a moment. 'He wondered if I was a Wizard from another country, and I was really confused at that point, but also really interested so I just let him ramble on, talking about this place called Diagon Alley. Then I decided this was all really freaky so I left, but he caught up with me and demanded I see Diagon Alley. He told me how to get in and then a woman came out and I went in before the walls closed … by themselves.'

'Thank you,' Kingsley said. 'And then you met George and he offered to help you once he found out you weren't exactly a Muggle and might have Magical blood.'

'Yes,' Jacob paused. 'Do you think I might actually be a Wizard?'

'The Leaky Cauldron has many spells around it unable Muggles, or non-Magical people, to enter it, and so does Diagon Alley. You managed to see both the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley and you claim to have no Magical Powers?'

'I don't think I do.'

'We do,' Tiberius said, coming out of his trance like state. 'There is no way a normal Muggle would have been able to see let alone enter the Leaky Cauldron, and the fact that you are now in the Ministry of Magic proves you are not a normal person, you may be like us.'

Kingsley nodded. 'There are Muggle born Witches and Wizards, but they are chosen at age eleven to attend Hogwarts. They are noted to have some ability even when not being raised by Magical parents.'

'But I was born in Scotland, maybe -'

He was interrupted by Tiberius. 'The school is for all children with talent in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. It is also in Scotland. If you had had the talent then you would have attended the school. I think this is something that had very recently happened or surfaced in you.'

The Minister then reached beside him and picked up a pale wooden wand and handed it to Jacob who took it nervously. 'This is my wand,' he told him. 'Even though it will probably not work properly for you it will still react when you wave or move it, if you have the talent.'

'Go on,' Tiberius encouraged him. 'Give it a wave.'

Jacob looked across to George who was sitting next to him, legs crossed and watching with intense interest. 'Wave it!' he said enthusiastically.

Moving the wand in the shape of the letter S swiftly before him, Jacob saw the three Wizards in the room hold their breaths, waiting for something to happen. After he had finished waving the wand before him a loud crash echoed around the room, and the glass globe sitting on one of the Minister's book shelves had smashed into hundreds of pieces. A book shelf next to it had also fallen over and there was lingering trace of orange sparks in the air. Jacob's mouth dropped open.

'D-did I do that?' he stammered looking around at the Minister, George and Tiberius.

'I think you did,' Tiberius said smiling.

'Wow,' Jacob said, releasing a gasp of air. 'Oh, I'm sorry! I honestly didn't mean for that to happen!' he said, waving towards the book shelves with the wand still clamped in his hand. Then another thud could be heard and all the books from the shelf where Jacob had been pointing fell to the ground. He quickly put the wand back on Kingsley's desk apologizing again.

But Kingsley and Tiberius where smiling and George was having difficulty hiding his laughter. 'Don't worry about it,' Kingsley said in his deep calming voice. He picked his wand up and waved it in a half circle and the globe repaired itself, the book shelf stood upright and all the books returned to their rightful places.

'I think we can now safely say you have some Magic in you young man,' Tiberius said, removing his glasses to clean them yet again.

'You need training,' Kingsley told him, 'to control your new ability. If you do not you could be a danger to everyone.'

Jacob nodded. 'Do I need a wand?' he asked.

All three nodded quickly and Kingsley spoke. 'Only very powerful Wizards don't need to use wands to perform Magic. Using wands is a way to channel Magic and the spells you say soft of, oh this is difficult to word, the spells tell the Magic what to do, in a way. It is hard to explain.'

Tiberius ran a hand through his grey and thinning hair. 'Smith; the last name is so common he could be related to any Wizarding family.'

'Hepizah Smith,' George offered. 'The rich old Witch.'

'I wouldn't think so,' Tiberius said. 'She and her immediate family are very Pureblood; Jacob would have known from the minute he was born that he was a Wizard.'

'Do you think this is just something random then?' Jacob asked. 'I randomly have 'the talent'?'

'Oh no,' Kingsley smiled kindly. 'Not randomly, for it to have sprung up so unexpectedly on you, you must have some Wizarding background. It is unlikely that you suddenly possess the talent, it has only just chosen to show itself now.'

'Have your parents ever said anything about Magic?' Tiberius asked.

'Not a single word.'

'Well, let's not worry about that now. In the mean time you need training to see how much Magic you have and to shape it,' he said.

'I still have all of my old school books and notes,' George piped up. 'I could help …'

Jacob beamed, he'd like that.

'Minerva McGonagall, the Headmistress of Hogwarts would be quite willing to help, I'm sure. If not she'll find someone who would like to help you,' Kingsley said. 'I'll send her an owl and then relay the reply to you, George.'

George nodded.

'Thank you for seeing me,' Jacob said after the Minister said they could leave. As he shook both his and Tiberius's hand the Minister said.

'Good luck, Jacob. Be careful with your Magic.'

* * *

**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	4. Old and Tattered Hat

**

* * *

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

**Curiosity  
Part Four: Old and Tattered Hat**

Jacob woke the next morning to an insistent tapping on his window. He groaned and buried his face deeper in the pillow, trying to drown out the noise so he could get back to sleep. But the tapping grew louder and louder and when Scott yelled at him to 'Shut the fuck up,' from the room next door, he finally got out of bed. He tripped over his sheets that had somehow become tangled around his legs as walked the few steps towards the window. Grumbling, he used the window frame to pull himself up and peer outside, searching for what was making the noise.

'What?' he said as he saw an owl tapping its beak against the glass. The tawny owl had a piece of paper clamped under its beak. Jacob pulled back the bolts holding the window shut and pushed it open allowing the bird entrance. 'What?' he asked again.

The owl flew over to his bed and alighted on his pillow, dropping the paper there. Jacob hoped back over to his bed, still tangled in the sheets and then picked up the letter and opened it, breaking a golden seal. The letter read:

_Jacob, _

_Aren't you glad they decided not to Oblivate you and leave with you no memory whatsoever? My youngest brother Oblivated a bloke once – well no, the man tried to Oblivate him but my brother's wand was broken the curse backfired and hit him. Poor guy's still in Saint Mungo's (a hospital) with no clue who he is. A shame, he was quite famous. _

_ANYWAY; Kingsley sent an owl to Professor McGonagall as soon as we left. She is more then happy to teach you. You're in for a right slog, she makes you work hard. So have fun! Kingsley always wanted you to come back to Diagon Alley today, so I can get you a wand. We'll sort out your not having any Wizard money later. Just let me pay for this now. Then he also wanted to me Floo over to Hogwarts with you for your lessons. It's like I'm your minder or body-guard, I don't mind. It's fun. And I can just make Ron (my youngest brother) look after the shop for a while, so it's not a problem. _

_Come to the Leaky Cauldron at about 12pm. I'll be waiting for you inside. _

_Can't wait to see you and hear your charming accent again. _

_Ignore the owl; he's a little too friendly. Just give him a shove and tell him to sod off and he will. _

_George Weasley. _

Jacob looked at the owl and sure enough it was rubbing its head against his elbow, making strange crooning noises as it did so. Shoving the tawny bird away he told it to go away, like George had told him. Watching it fly out the window, looking as depressed as a bird could possibly look, Jacob caught sight of the clock hanging above the doorway. He yelped in alarm and searched for the time on the letter again. Both times read 12pm.

Throwing himself off the bed again, he sprinted out of his room and turned on the shower. He jumped inside, shedding his clothes before he did not caring that the shower was freezing cold. Side-stepping under the cold water he quickly lathered soap into a sponge and ran it up and down his body. He didn't let the soap rinse of properly as he jumped out of the shower and ran naked back to his room, pulling on underwear, jeans and a simple shirt – he only moved this fast when he ran for a bus, he was sure of it. He catapulted down the stairs, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl as he left the house. At this stage he didn't care nor remember who had brought that apple or who had claimed it for themselves.

It took him only five minutes to reach the Leaky Cauldron; he had run down at full speed. As he ran he looked down at his watch again, it read 12:30. Hoping George was still there he pushed open the door of the old pub and walked inside. Huffing, trying to catch his breath. Even though it was midday and the sun was quite strong outside, the Leaky Cauldron candles were still burning strongly. Jacob scanned the room and saw George sitting in the same place where Jacob had meet him previously. George saw him and smiled broadly.

'Sorry,' Jacob muttered as he came to sit in the seat opposite George. 'I was sleeping when the bird came. What's with that anyway?'

'It's ok, figured you'd be one for sleeping in late,' George chuckled, and seemed to make a move across the table, but then stopped letting his hand fall back. To Jacob it almost looked as though he was going to ruffle his hair. He smiled. 'The owl?' George asked.

'Yeah, why not normal post?'

'Owls are seriously clever, take the letter to whoever you want it to go to,' George said. 'It's a Wizard thing, you'll get used to it, don't worry,' he added when Jacob made a face.

'So, what's first on the agenda today?'

George eyed him curiously and asked his own question. 'Aren't you at all scared or frightened or anything?'

'Why would I be?'

'You just found out that you're life is going to be completely turned upside down, and you just go with the flow?'

'That's what I do, I go with the flow. You never know what's going to happen next, take one day at a time and go with it,' Jacob said. 'Works for me.'

'Good philosophy,' George said, leaning back in his chair to stare Jacob firmly in the eye. 'What makes you think that?'

'My family never really planned ahead, you always had to be ready to jump up and go somewhere,' Jacob said and snorted at a memory. 'This one time, my parents decided we were all going to go to the beach and my sister was still in the shower so she just jumped in the car with her towel on and away we went.'

'Oh,' George said grinning. 'Funny, but I thought there'd be some sort of tragic reasoning behind your view.'

'Hardly,' Jacob said. He stood to his feet, eager to get started. 'Can we go?'

'Yup,' George said, standing up and walking with Jacob to the back courtyard.

This time Jacob watched with interest as George tapped the bricks with his wand in a specific order. Jacob couldn't see what bricks where tapped because the red head's hand moved so fast across the stones and the walls had faded apart before he could even say, 'What?'

'Are we going to get me a wand?' Jacob asked as they stepped into the not so busy street. He was disappointed by the lack of people this time; he had enjoyed the plain difference of them.

'Yeah,' George said, rubbing hands together.

Nodding, Jacob found that a bout of irregular butterflies had settled in his stomach. He didn't usually get this nervous. 'Do you just go in and choose a wand you like?'

'No,' George said. 'No way! It's nothing like that. Merlin, no! The wand chooses you.'

'The wand chooses you?' Jacob asked incredulously.

'Yeah, Mr Ollivander – an absolute genius – makes all the wands and then when you come in he just gives you some and you try them out until a wand chooses you.'

'Huh, really?'

'Yeah,' George said kicking a stone along. 'It's freaky. There's the shop,' he added, pointing.

The sign above the dingy looking shop read _Ollivanders – makers of fine wands since 382bc. _Jacob stopped, letting George wander into the shop without him as he looked at the display window, something he had a habit of doing. All that was there was a wand atop a plush purple cushion and a number of collective dust balls. The shop obviously wasn't concerned about the image it was putting across, normally Jacob's eyes would have slid right past it. But by the way George said the name of the shop he could tell it was important and had some great significance behind it.

Hurriedly he stepped in after George. The inside of Ollivander's was no better then the outside. Dust was everywhere settled upon the stock, candle sticks and the other items that littered the small room. Jacob looked around him, behind the front desk were many shelves that looked like a miniature library but stacked with thin boxes. Sitting near the door was a group of pictures and portraits, gathering dust. A spiteful looking man, dressed fully in lemony yellow, glared out at Jacob from one of these portraits and stuck out a fat swollen tongue. Jacob recoiled slightly startled and turned his attention to the two other people in the room.

An elderly man was sitting behind the desk, his white hair a shock of colour in the dull room. His dark eyes stared out at George and Jacob behind as they walked into his shop. His thick eyebrows furrowed and then rose as they stood before his desk. Standing in the aisles of boxes a young chubby teenaged girl stood, staring out at them with the same heavy eyebrows and long nose as the old man. She was tapping her foot with impatience.

Before even greeting them or welcoming them the man stood and spoke to Jacob. 'Arms out,' he demanded. George had whispered his name to Jacob – Mr Ollivander – and then Jacob had complied sticking his arms out, wondering why this was important.

As Mr Ollivander pulled out a silver measuring tape and measured Jacob's arm span he began rattling on about wands. 'George Weasley,' he muttered, 'beech, springy, hair from a female unicorn, good for charms, identical to your twins if I remember rightly.'

'That's because we were twins,' George said.

When Mr Ollivander had stopped measuring his arms and stared at George with a morose expression on his face. As quickly as the look on his wrinkled face had appeared, it vanished and he asked Jacob which was his wand hand. To this question, Jacob stared blankly at him.

'What hand do you write with?' George supplied.

'Oh, right.'

Mr Ollivander clicked at the girl hovering amongst the shelves of wands and she immediately ferreted in them and pulled out a box and then squatted on the ground searching for another. When she found it she walked over, carrying the two long boxes and gave them to the wand maker. 'Ash, unicorn hair, rigid, 9 inches,' she said pointing to the first box and moving to the second, she said. 'Chestnut, Dragon heartstring, a little bendy, 10 ½ inches.'

'Hmm,' Mr Ollivander clucked his tongue. 'Very good, very good. Did you make either of these?' he asked her.

'Yes, the ash one.'

'My granddaughter,' he explained to them, 'the only one of my relatives whom I trust to take up such a complex and mysterious branch of Magic such as Wandlore.'

Jacob nodded, completely confused as to what was going on around him. He'd have to ask George later about why making a bit of wood was so difficult. Suddenly he was presented with the first wand of a fine ash colour and asked to wave it about as Kingsley had asked him. He took the wand and gave it a swish, not forming an S like he had the last time. Nothing happened except a soft pfft noise from the end of the wand and one pitiful blue spark.

'Perhaps not,' Mr Ollivander muttered, snatching the wand from Jacob's hand and looking at it in surprise. 'I would have sworn it would suit you.'

'I did too,' the girl said, pursing her lips and putting the wand back inside the box. 'Never mind, try this one.'

He was handed the chestnut wand told to wave it. As he did a warm feeling flooded him and a shower of red sparks shot out the end of the wand, he beamed knowing this was something that was supposed to happen. The sparks fluttered off like tiny birds before popping out of existence.

'Bravo!' Mr Ollivander cheered, half heartedly. 'Suits you well, a nice fit.' He took the wand back from Jacob who was standing quite stunned next to George, surprised he had even been able to make it do anything. But he supposed that the rightness he'd felt when his hand had clasped over it was normal and he had been able to 'channel' magic in him through the wand.

'Pretty colour, too,' George added as he took the wand from Jacob and inspected it. 'How much?' he asked Ollivander.

Jacob turned away, knowing he didn't have the right kind of money to pay for the wand and he thought that perhaps George wouldn't want him to over hear the favor he was doing him. There was the distinctive sound of money being handed across and George said thank you.

After they left the shop Jacob took the wand from the box that George handed to him, and looked it over. It was a thing of beauty as far as wood went. The deep creamy brown colour of chestnut was polished to a gleaming perfection. 'Wow,' he breathed out as he ran his hands over it feeling absolutely no bumps or blemishes.

'That's something,' George said, nodding to it. 'It's nice.'

'Thank you George,' Jacob said and without realizing what he was doing, he flung his arms around George's neck in a tight hug. 'Thank you,' he said again as the hug broke off quickly.

George nodded with no a trace of a blush, which annoyed Jacob because he was sure he had acquired the faint pink tinge across his cheeks. 'You're welcome,' George said.

'What is your money anyway?' Jacob asked. 'I know it's not normal pounds and such.'

'Galleons, Sickles and Knuts, in that order,' he added. 'I'll explain it later.'

'I don't have any kind of that money though, so I won't be able to pay you back at all.'

'It's ok; you can exchange Wizard and Muggle money at Gringotts. That big white bank,' he said when Jacob looked at him in confusion.

'Oh.' Jacob thought it best not to tell him that he had no money of his own, not even Muggle money at this stage. He'd exhausted the supply of money his parents had given him for University on his student loan.

'Do you know what the time is?' George asked him. 'We have to be at Hogwarts by 1:30.'

Jacob looked at his wrist and scowled when he remembered he hadn't put his watch on this morning after his rushed shower. 'No, sorry, I don't know.'

'Never mind,' trilled George. 'It's 1:15.'

'How do you know?'

'Magic.'

'Ha-ha, very funny,' Jacob said and then drew out his wand. 'Where should I keep this?' he asked.

'Always have it on you,' George instructed. 'Keep it in your sleeve or something, that's where I keep mine.'

'What if I'm wearing short shelves?'

'Stick it down your pants.'

Jacob laughed and nodded, pushing his wand back up his sleeve. 'Know any really easy Magic I could do right now?'

'Yeah, but I'm not going to show you until you talk to Professor McGonagall.'

'How are we going to get to Scotland in less than fifteen minutes?'

'Magic,' the red head said again, with a soft laugh.

'I wish you'd stop doing that, it makes me feel stupid.'

George didn't reply but pushed open the door of his shop. Jacob had hardly noticed they'd walked all the way there; he'd been too absorbed in his conversation. Behind the counter stood another red headed boy, who had to be another Weasley child. They were so noticeable. Jacob wondered how many brothers George had. This young man looked bored and tired as he took the money handed to him from a squabble of youngsters.

'Ron!' George barked. 'Try and look a little more interested.'

'Shut it, George,' Ron said sighing. 'You sound like Hermione.'

'And that's not a good thing for you?'

Ron didn't answer the question instead he asked his own. 'When will you be back?'

'In a couple of hours.'

'Any longer than that and I seriously will kill you, ok?'

'Ok, fine,' George held his hands up and rolled his eyes. 'This is Jacob,' he added, pushing him forward. Jacob had been standing safely behind him.

'Hi,' Ron said wiping his hands on his jeans and stepping out from behind desk to shake his hand. 'Wow,' he added. 'I've never heard of anyone like you before, seriously incredible. Actually amazing. George says you are going to meet Professor McGonagall and have your first lesson?'

'Yeah,' Jacob said, grinning. Ron, like his brother, was easy to talk to. He had an air of friendliness about him. 'Been a few pretty hectic days,' he added.

'I can imagine,' Ron said. 'I can't believe you're going back to Hogwarts.'

'Not back,' Jacob said. 'I've never been there before.'

'Ok!' George said loudly. 'Stop talking, we need to go.' He glared at his brother and pointed a threatening finger at him that must have meant something to them because Ron nodded and waved goodbye to them both.

George walked him upstairs, and into the flat above the shop.

'What are we doing up here?' Jacob asked confused.

'Using the fireplace.'

'Um, why?' Jacob asked. 'It's not cold or anything.'

George hit himself squarely in the forehead. 'I kept forgetting you're not a Wizard! We use fireplaces to get places sometimes.'

'What like Santa?'

George snorted. 'Yeah, I suppose.' He moved over to the tall fireplace standing beside one of the large double beds. 'Come here,' he said to Jacob.

Jacob complied and moved across the smooth wooden floor to stand beside George. Beside the fireplace was a bowl of green dust, George placed his hand in it and stirred it around a little. 'This is Floo Powder.'

'Floo Powder?'

'Yeah, Floo Powder,' George said grinning. 'You stand in the center of the fireplace and say where you want to go in a loud clear voice, careful about that, could end up somewhere completely foreign if you're hasty. And then you throw the powder up and you should whisk away to where ever it is you want to go.'

Jacob stared at him blankly. 'You travel through fireplaces?'

'Yes, do you want me to go first?'

'No!' Jacob said half terrified at the thought of being left alone and then forgetting what to do. 'I'll go first. What if he ended up somewhere completely different, like somewhere in China? No, he quite liked China. What if he ended up in Australia? 'What do I do?' he asked.

'Cleary say Hogwarts, that's all, simple and then just like that,' he clicked his fingers to show his point, 'you should be there.'

'Should doesn't sound very positive!' Jacob said as George grabbed his shoulders and steered him towards the hearth.

'You'll be fine,' George said opening his hand above Jacob's and letting the green dust fall into it. He pushed Jacob into the fireplace nearly causing Jacob to fall over his own feet. But he straightened up and shot George a frightened look.

'H-Hogwarts!' he stammered loudly and threw the 'Floo Powder' into the air.

It felt like the ground was being ripped out from under his feet and thrown over his head. He had a distinct notion that he was traveling but not quite sure how this was possible. He barely saw exits to what must be other grates but was being rushed by too quickly to take notice of these. Abruptly it seemed he was thrown from the connection and out onto a cold stone floor.

'Good morning,' a voice greeted him and a pale hand was extended down. He clasped hold of the hand and was pulled to his feet.

A tall stately woman stood before him, clad in a green dress and a pointed hat to match. She had round spectacles that hung on the bridge of her nose over which she looked down at him. Though her appearance showed she could be harsh and tough when required, her brown eyes were also kind and compassionate. She looked to be old and frail but her strength when she had helped him to his feet suggested otherwise. The woman had an air of importance about her.

'Am I right in guessing that you are Jacob Smith?' she asked. Jacob was thrilled, he'd come to the right place! And her accent was Scottish. He beamed.

'Yes, ma'am,' he said with a broad smile.

She returned his smile. 'Scottish blood,' she said surveying his face. 'You still have the accent.'

'I know,' he smiled.

'I'm Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,' she said, and then gestured towards a chair. 'Please sit, Jacob.'

Jacob nodded and sank into the chair before her large desk. Using the time he had while he got comfortable to look around the office. Her desk was tidy; a set of books sat on the right side and to the left a stack of papers. In the center was an ink pot with a graceful peacock feather arching out of it. Behind her desk was a large portrait with a purple background, the portrait was empty. Jacob gave it a quizzical glance before he continued to look at the room. On one wall was a set of book shelves filled to the brim with. One shelf was empty except for an old battered hat. His eyes slid past this and onto the next wall in which a huge window hung, outside a forest could be seen and the black dots that must be students were milling about the edge of a giant lake. Opposite her desk was a large gargoyle statue, and a single step. The rest of the room was an assortment of goods and belongings that Professor McGonagall had seemingly acquired over her years.

'Ow!' George's outcry could be heard as he too clattered into the room. Before either Jacob or the headmistress could rise to their feet and help him, he had risen and was standing before her desk, obscuring Jacob's view.

'For you,' he said and held out something that Jacob could not see.

'Sit down Mr Weasley,' the Professor scolded, though her tone suggested she was pleased. 'We are not here to discuss you, we are here to explain to Jacob some of the properties of Magic and perhaps teach him several small spells.'

'Just wanted to say hello my old head of house,' George grumbled and winked at Jacob as he sat down next to him. When George had turned to wink at him, Jacob saw the Professor wave her wand tiredly at the bouquet of flowers George had obviously presented her with and they turned into a swarm of dust which promptly vanished. She smiled at Jacob wirily as if daring him to tell.

'Professor?' George asked.

'Yes?'

'Can Jacob be sorted?'

The Professor clucked her tongue in thought and looked at the old ragged hat on the empty shelf and then back at Jacob. She narrowed her eyes and then nodded. 'I don't see why not. _Accio sorting hat,' _she said with a wave of her wand.

The old tattered hat flew gracefully off the ledge and landed in her outstretched arms.

'What is that?' Jacob asked, peering at it.

'This is the sorting hat,' the Professor explained. 'Let me tell you the story of our school. Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago, by four of the greatest Witches and Wizards of that time. They built the school together, far away from the eyes of Muggles. And at Hogwarts we have four houses named after the founders. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. -'

George made a face when the last house was mentioned.

'- Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin. The founders had different ideas of what sort of students should be allowed to attend Hogwarts,' she continued. 'Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw all thought that any one who showed the talent should be allowed to attend that school. But Slytherin would only take the students with the purest of blood to be in his house.'

'And so that's why the sorting hat was created,' George said. 'To find which qualities a person had and to put them into the house were their qualities would be used best.'

'Is the Sorting Hat Magic?' Jacob asked.

'Yes,' the Professor said straightened in her chair.

'What house are you two in, or were you in?'

'Gryffindor,' they both said at once.

The Professor added. 'Once sorted into a house and after you spend most of your school years in that same house you still come to think of yourself as a Gryffindor even after school.' She handed him the hat. 'Try it on.'

* * *

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	5. This is Normal

**

* * *

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

**Curiosity  
Part Five: This is Normal**

_'And so that's why the sorting hat was created,' George said. 'To find which qualities a person had and to put them into the house were their qualities would be used best.' _

_'Is the Sorting Hat Magic?' Jacob asked. _

_'Yes,' the Professor said straightened in her chair. _

_'What house are you two in, or were you in?' _

_'Gryffindor,' they both said at once. _

_The Professor added. 'Once sorted into a house and after you spend most of your school years in that same house you still come to think of yourself as a Gryffindor even after school.' She handed him the hat. 'Try it on.' _

With shaking hands, Jacob took the hat, not sure of what to expect. He ran his hands around the rim of the tattered brown hat, feeling where the patches began and the original hat continued. What was he to expect when he placed the hat on his head? Would it hurt? Would it be a test of his courage, for he had little of that quality.

'Don't worry,' George said kindly. 'It's not like the hat will bite your ear off or anything.' Jacob noticed Professor McGonagall giving George a curt look.

'Mr Weasley is correct,' the Professor said swiftly. 'The hat does not hurt anyone, and all its thoughts will only be heard by you.'

_Its thought's_? Jacob nodded feebly and placed the hat on top of his blonde hair. To his surprise the second he wore the hat a voice stirred in his mind.

'_Ah_,' it said to him. _'Jacob Smith, where to place you, hmm? A new Wizard, only gained Magical powers at the age of twenty-one. Not entirely unheard of, but you are special." _

Jacob glanced around at George and the Professor, both who were staring intently at the hat upon his head.

_'You have many qualities, curious man aren't you? Curious indeed, too much for your own good you've found a few times. Ah!'_ the hat continued in its throaty male voice. _'There's a spark of Gryffindor in you, you don't think before you act and there's the temper. But you aren't brave enough -'_

Jacob crossed his arms in indignation, a scowl on his face.

_'- You're true to yourself, and you let life carry you where it pleases. A Hufflepuff perhaps? Yes, you are trustworthy. You are loyal to the end, though not so patient I believe you will or would have made a good_ … HUFFLEPUFF!' the hat shouted the last words out loudly and audibly to the others in the room. The out cry was so strong that Jacob nearly fell off his seat in shock.

'Oh,' George said, pulling the hat from Jacob's head and mussing his hair. 'I thought that maybe you would have been in Gryffindor … Hufflepuff will take the rest,' he mused.

'Is Hufflepuff bad?'

'No, not at all,' the Professor said.

'Thank Merlin's pants it wasn't Slytherin,' George said seriously.

'But is there anything bad about being a Hufflepuff?' Jacob asked, turning to George as he knew he wouldn't get the type of answer he wanted from the headmistress.

George turned to face him as well, staring intensely at him. 'Hufflepuff,' he said, 'is boring.'

His hopeful expression drooped, he was boring. Not loyal, trustworthy and true like the Sorting Hat had said, just boring. 'Boring?' he asked. 'So I'm _boring_!'

'Mr Smith,' the professor said, coming to the rescue. 'Hufflepuff is not a boring house -'

'But it's for the spares! "Hufflepuff will take the rest!"'

'No, it is not,' Professor McGonagall said firmly, glaring at him. 'It is for people who show loyalty, trust and are true to themselves. As far as I am concerned you are not a boring person! Now, may we begin?'

'Yes, sorry Professor,' Jacob muttered, feeling a lot like a school-child. Right now, perhaps that was what he was.

George sitting next to him couldn't hide a snigger of amusement, but a quick yet deathly glare from the Professor shut him quickly. Jacob hit his knee sharply, adding a glare of his own.

'First year students learn Astronomy, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions and Transfiguration. Now, there is really no need for you to learn Astronomy or Herbology, and I will not teach you anything about History of Magic but I will supply you with books, am I sure you will find it interesting.'

'Yeah, I would.' Jacob was getting more and excited very minute as the prospect of learning some Magic, no matter how small.

'Firstly, I will be giving you books on Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions and Transfiguration,' the old woman said and waved her wand absentmindedly. Out of a shelf flew four books, that all landed in a neat pile on her desk. 'These will be your textbooks,' she said.

'Professor?' Jacob asked.

'Yes?'

Will I learn anything today?'

'Maybe a small charm after I go over some things you must know,' she said, stopping to smile at him and then George. 'You must now that since you have only just been introduced to Magic – and haven't done any Magic yet – that you are only permitted to use Magic when under supervision by me or some other Professor teaching you, is that clear Mr Smith?'

'Does George count?'

'No.'

'Damn it.'

'Has Mr Weasley offered to teach you?'

'Yes.'

'Not really,' George said briskly, covering up for himself when he saw the look the Professor gave him over her glasses. 'I just said I'd lend him my other school books, if he wanted to read them …'

'You must not let him perform any Magic outside of school,' the headmistress said firmly. 'I don't know if the Minister told you, but he has had the trace placed on Jacob and it will only break when we think that he was learnt enough that his Magic will be controlled.'

'What's the trace?' Jacob asked, fingering his wand impatiently.

'The trace is something that underage Wizards or Witches have on them to track whether they use Magic outside of school or not. It's really irritating,' George told him.

'Fuck!' Jacob exclaimed. 'Oh, sorry Professor!' he said hurriedly when the Professor stared at him. 'But that's not really fair.'

'Yes it is,' she said, smoothing her hands across her bun. 'It's to stop you doing Magic because in your case it would definitely promote a hearing from the Ministry and your wand may be destroyed if they think you should not be allowed to continue your studies. And because untrained Magic can be quite dangerous, spells can sometimes go out of control.'

'No Magic until the trace is lifted then?'

'Unless you are inside Hogwarts, or in the presence of me or any of the other teachers.'

'Ok,' Jacob said reluctantly. 'That's reasonable … I guess.'

'How long until it's lifted?' George asked.

'When we see fit,' the Professor said.

George shrugged. 'Tough luck, mate.'

'I'll live,' Jacob said, returning George's quick grin.

'No Magic today, I think Mr Smith,' Professor McGonagall said standing from her chair and handing the books out towards him. 'Please read these books and I promise you that when we meet next there will be some Magic.'

Jacob understood him and George to be dismissed, nodding in agreement he said: 'Thank you Professor, very nice to meet you and thank you so much, again.'

'Ah, so polite,' George said. 'Your mother raised you well, she would be proud.' He placed a hand over his heart and pretended to be emotionally over come.

Jacob laughed and playfully slapped his arms with the books.

'Don't do that,' George warned him. 'The Librarian is crazy.'

'She is just over protective,' the Professor said with a smile. 'Floo Powder?' she asked, producing a wooden bowl holding the tinkling green powder.

Groaning Jacob clutched the books closer to his chest, as if they would anchor him. 'Do we have to?' he asked with another pathetic moan.

'Yeah,' George said, a cheeky twinkle in his eye emerging. 'Thank you Professor,' he said with a wave and stepped into the fire place and shouted. 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!' And with a puff of green he was gone, a large empty hearth in his place.

Jacob stared after him for a moment, thankful he was in the company of a Witch who knew what her stuff and hopefully something about Flooing. He would ask her what to say later. 'When should I come back here?' he asked instead.

'I will send you an Owl,' she said with a smile. 'It's been a pleasure.' Jacob nodded. 'You simply saw what Mr Weasley said,' the Professor said gesturing towards the hearth. 'It's quite simple; surely that was how you got here.'

Jacob nodded again. 'Yes, Professor. Thank you again,' he said as he grabbed a handful of powder and walked over to the fireplace, stepping inside. He threw the dust up and shouted the name of George's shop before he was able to watch it waft down around him. Then he felt the horrid jerking sensation about his ankles and he was being thrown and whipped through some kind of connection.

Again he yearned to see what was flying past him, or he was flying past, at such a breakneck speed. Before he could even think of ways to slow himself down he was hurtled out of the connection and landed with a thud of the wooden floor of George's flat. A pale and freckled hand was extended down to him and he gratefully tugged on it.

'Hey,' George said with a grin. 'I'm just going to go close the shop up and tell Ronnikins to bugger off. Make yourself comfortable, you look absolutely shattered.'

Nodding absently, Jacob opened his mouth and was about to speak before strong hands pushed him down on the couch. Jacob sighed and slipped a smile at George who was walking down the stairs. He sat on the couch, running his hands over the leathery exterior of his new school books. The one on top was titled: _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, by Emeric Switch. _He opened it and found a long dull explanation of what role Magic had in Transfiguration and what the subject was about. Scrunching his nose up in disgust at how boring the book looked, he placed it on top of the pile and moved the whole thing to the floor. He hoped that the Professor would explain each subject to him – if not, he would ask.

He rubbed his eyes, trying to suppress a yawn, but failing. George had walked back up the stairs; Jacob thought that it had taken very little time to close the shop. Then he remembered: _Magic. _

'It's unfair,' he grumbled to George who sat on the couch opposite him.

'What's unfair?' George asked, kicking off his shoes and lying across the couch, blowing strands of hair out of his face.

'That I can't do Magic outside of the lessons until the "Ministry see fit,"' Jacob said this time not able to hide a deep yawn. 'How long do normal Wizards have the trace?' he asked after George attempted a sympathetic nod.

'From birth until we are seventeen – when most of us graduate school,' George said. 'You get used to it.'

'How many Wizards and Witches are there in the World?'

'Heaps, literally hundreds of thousands.'

'You do a damn fine job of hiding yourselves,' Jacob said, yawning _again_.

'You Muggles are just too blind to see,' George grinned and then added. 'Tired, Jakey-boy?'

'Don't call me that,' he said with a snap. 'And yeah, am I tired.'

'Cranky when you're tired, huh?' George said. 'You can kip here for the night if you want, it's a little late.'

'Cheers, that'd be good.'

There was a large pregnant pause between the two as George stared at the ceiling his arms behind his head, and Jacob stared at George, admiring his freckled and pale porcelain like face. God, that man was gorgeous. Jacob wondered whether he was gay also, but those thoughts quickly sprang to when it would be appropriate to tell George. It was only fair that he knew.

'What did the Sorting Hat say to you?' George asked suddenly.

'Oh, I thought it was going to put me in your house, Gryffindor I mean, at first, but then it said I wasn't brave enough,' Jacob said, scowling as he remembered.

'No wonder you looked pissed off. Did it say you had the common Gryffindor temper?'

'Yeah, but then it went on to add I wasn't brave enough. Then it decided that since I was trustworthy, curious and loyal I would have been a good Hufflepuff.'

'I think you would have been a bloody good Gryffindor – despite your lack of courage,' George said, twisting his head to look at Jacob.

'I don't jump at the slightest squeak, ok?' Jacob said crossing his arms again. 'I just try and avoid frightening or dangerous situations, I don't look for them.'

George smiled at picked at his sleeve. 'Hit a nerve there, hm?' he said jokingly. 'Don't blow a whole casket there Jakey-boy.'

Jacob childishly stuck his tongue at George, who snickered and went back to facing the roof again. He was far too tired to by thinking up clever comebacks; he didn't want to hurt his head. 'Hey, George?' he asked presently,

'Mm?'

'I don't actually have any money,' Jacob said. ' Normal or Wizard.' 

'What do you mean normal?' George asked indignantly, crossing his arms obviously mocking him. 'This is normal now, Wizard is normal. See, before you were abnormal now you're normal.'

'No, you were abnormal,' Jacob said. 'Get it flipping right!'

'No, Jakey, you were abnormal. And you're normal, so everything is fine.'

'You've got a strange idea of what fine is.'

'Let's save this little argument for later, it sounds quite fun and I'd love to continue it, but you were saying?'

'I have no money, of any kind,' he said to save another disagreement; however amusing George had found it. 'I actually can't pay you back for the wand at all …'

'Do you want a job then?' George asked briskly, without even thinking about it.

Jacob imagined that if they were together he would have crossed the small place between them and planted a searing kiss on those thin lips. It was a way he often said thank you, he kissed most of his friend's thank you on the lips. It was completely normal for him. But when he liked someone he didn't want to kiss them unless they were together. This was a weird way of his. He shook his head, breaking his small trance.

'Really?' he asked, perking up considerably and the sleep leaving his body.

'Yeah, you want one, I've got a vacancy, after I fire Ron, but technically he wasn't even employed, so yeah. A job!' George said. 'Want it?'

'Sure!' Jacob said. ''Course I want it. Money is money!'

'Can you start tomorrow?' George asked keenly.

'Well, yeah I suppose! Why the fuck not?' Jacob said. 'Thanks so much, boss,' he added.

'Don't call me that,' George warned, brandishing a quill at him that he had seemed to pull from no where.

'What are you doing?' he asked.

'Owling my brother to tell him he's been fired and replaced by someone with no idea what the shop is about, and is a Hufflepuff, but has fantastic people skills. Well, I like him anyway.'

Jacob flushed a light pink. 'I hope you're talking about me,' he said and then realized. They were _flirting. _Flirting. It was good, sweet and innocent. Jacob remembered that George often spoke like this, it was his humor. He sighed. Damn it.

'No previous Magical experience will be required right?' Jacob asked.

'No, you can be as dimwitted as you like.'

'Great!'

'I'll show you how everything works in the shop tomorrow,' George told him. 'Right now you need sleep.' He pulled his wand out and muttered something that Jacob didn't quite catch.

'What did you do?'

'I just changed the sheet of the spare double bed in my room,' he said grinning. '_Magically.' _

'Show-off,' Jacob said grimacing. 'I hate you, you do know that?'

'Not true!' George said leading the way. 'You can't resist my manly wiles.'

'Can you even say "manly wiles"?'

Whether you could say it or not, George's words were oh so true.

* * *

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	6. Roommates

**

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

**Curiosity  
Part Six: Room-mates**

Jacob walked into the shop and was greeted by the faint tinkle of the new charm George had put there. Sighing he trekked through the many shelves stuffed with merchandise towards the front desk, slipping his bag underneath it. With a quick look around the main shop he saw that George wasn't there. He was probably out back or upstairs. To get his attention Jacob slammed his hand loudly down on the 'get my attention bell' (as George called it) that sat on the front desk beside a collection of Spell-Checking Quills. He had now been working at Weasley Wizard Wheeze's for a week exactly but in that time had not been allowed to participate while George blew things up in the back room. While Jacob manned the register, George exploded things in the work room, Jacob felt like he was missing out. And during that whole week he hadn't yet received an owl from Professor McGonagall telling him to come back for more lessons.

As eager as he was for more lessons and to learn a simple spell for the first time, he hadn't found himself at all annoyed with the tedious wait. Nor did he feel bored. Working with George was fun, if not a little dangerous. In his first week he had had some of his hair singed off by a wayward Wizard cracker, thankfully George had grown it back pronto. And while peering into the cage that held the supposedly adorable Pygmy Puff's one had jumped up, further then he thought they could, and bit him tightly on the nose. He had also bloodied his toe and knee while trying to escape from a snapping book and a very angry tablecloth.

This kind of thing happened to the shoppers who came in quite a lot. When they bent over to look at some products or eyed a product up in a way it didn't like it usually resulted in some form of mild pain. But he got used to it in a matter of days. This made him amazed at the way humans got used to things so quickly and just continued on. His mother had been a Psychologist before stopping and working as a Librarian and she often brought up how fantastic that particular aspect of humans was that no matter what had happened to you, you always had it in you to carry on. Jacob was finding that now, he had only found out a week and several days ago that he was a Wizard, yet he was carrying on with things a little differently but becoming more and more normal.

Earlier that day he had finally decided that he was going to ask if he could stay with George in the flat as it was a bloody pain getting into Diagon Alley everyday and his friends were starting to ask questions about what he was doing in that part of town everyday. Jacob knew it would be easier for him if he lived with George in the flat above the shop and he would be able to learn more about this world he was being eased into. He just needed the right time to ask.

'Jesus flipping Christ,' Jacob irritably snarled to himself and tapped the bell once more with added urgency.

'Hold onto your panties, boy, I'm coming!' George called from a room he had hidden behind a bookshelf, for particular reasons, he simply thought it was secretive and a little cool. James Bond, as Jacob had said with a grin, to which George had replied with a 'who the hell is he?' Jacob had also seen George jumping out at unsuspecting customers from behind the door, scaring them senseless. That was another reason he had 'the door.'

George finally came out, wiping hair from out of his face and looked to be tucking it behind both ears but then stopped with a flush of red to his face. 'Yeah?' he asked Jacob.

'Any mail this morning?' he asked hopefully.

'You know if she were to send you something saying "come back" she'd send it to you, why would I have it?' George asked tipping his head to one side.

'How much sleep did you get last night?' Jacob asked automatically after the snappy response. That was his field, not George's.

'Enough.'

'I left at twelve when you started tinkering in your little room,' Jacob said and looked at the clothes he was wearing. He had been wearing them the day before and the shirt had a long line of white soot trailing across the chest. 'You wore that yesterday,' he commented raising an eyebrow.

'Your point being?'

'That you haven't slept at all today, dead on your feet,' he added.

'But I don't need sleep. Listen, I've been working on this thing, it's amazing, looks like a normal Muggle tennis ball, yeah? But when you pick it up it basically explodes and all these colours come out, like a bloody rainbow. It takes two weeks to wash off,' George said, looking down at where he had some green and pink stripes on his hands. 'Or at least it supposed to take two weeks to wash off; I dunno I haven't tried yet.'

'Aw, you're such a hard worker. Why don't they call you a Gryffindork?' Jacob asked pulling George away from the workroom, anyone could see he was exhausted.

'I'm a Weasley!' he yelped as Jacob shut the door behind him. 'I don't need sleep!'

'But you aren't resisting are you?' It was true while Jacob pulled George up the stairs towards his bed, he didn't struggle or pull away just let Jacob lead him.

George grumbled something and pointed to the kitchen table as they passed it. 'Oh, sorry I forgot,' he said. 'Something from Professor McGonagall did come for you, via me,' he said as if taking it like it was a compliment. 'She wants to know if you can go to the school today.'

'Yeah, when?'

'Afternoon-ish.'

'Oh ok,' Jacob glanced down at his watch. It was only 10:30am. 'Are you going to come with me?'

'Afternoon is the busiest time,' George said collapsing onto his bed and kicking off his shoes. 'I can't sorry, got a business to run.'

'You don't need any help this afternoon do you?'

'Nah, I'll be fine,' George smiled leaning back against the pillows. 'You go learn.'

'Cheers Gryffindork.' Jacob left the room leaving George to get some well needed rest.

'Huffleprat,' George shot back just before Jacob walked down the stairs.

As he walked past he picked up the envelope George had said was for him. It had already been open, so he flipped it over to look for the name. Luckily enough it said George's name on it, or Jacob would have had a real go at him for opening his mail even if sent to him first. Reading through the up right writing, he found that George was correct. The Headmistress had asked him to return to her office at 3pm for another lesson. He nodded to himself, knowing he could go and felt a rush of excitement fill him. Looking down to the letter again he scanned the script and read that she promised him at least one spell today. But just underneath that line was sentence reminding him that using Magic outside of lessons _could result in the removal and destruction of your wand, and possibly worse given your situation. _What situation? He no longer had a situation; it was getting better and better! He was spending most of his days with George. Life, right now was at its peek.

He laid the letter back on the table and returned downstairs to the shop, he could dawdle as long as he wanted, he only a small trickle of people entered in the mornings. Sitting in the chair behind the desk, he pulled out a fake wand and threw it up and down to himself, smiling when it changed shape the second he caught it.

The day wore on slowly, only a few people entered and only one brought something. As usual George's knowledge turned out to be true, just after 1 more people entered and shortly the shop was filling up. George thudded down the stairs throwing a quick charming grin at Jacob and set about answering the questions immediately bombarded at him. Jacob knew something's about the shop; he knew George had started it when he left Hogwarts with his twin, Fred and funding from someone called Harry Potter. George failed to mention where his twin was now and Jacob didn't want to ask. He knew a little about the products and he could show people where such an item was and what it did, but little else except work the register. It was all right though, Jacob could talk and he often stalled people who wanted to know more until George came down and rescued them from each other.

Jacob was surprised George never mentioned his twin much. He talked about his other family members when the subject was brought up though it rarely was, but never about his twin. Jacob thought that perhaps they had had a falling out and now didn't speak or talk about each other at all. It was strange; Jacob wanted to know about what had happened between George and his twin, yet had no pluck to ask. When George had asked him about his family, Jacob had told him this sister who was five years older then him, making her twenty-six, was expecting her first child soon with her partner Paul. Paul was a good bloke, though slightly dim-witted and was quite happy to follow whatever Anne wasked him to do. Which Jacob thought was a good arrangement. Anne was pushy and Paul got pushed.

He spent the next two or so hours looking between the clock and George who looked so natural here, just nattering away to the customers and taking money from those customers. Finally it was 5 to 3. Collecting the books the Professor had given him he left the desk. He moved out of his space behind the desk and stretched his legs wandering over to where George stood sending looks of longing towards his workroom.

'I have to go now, George,' he said with smile. 'Sure you'll be ok?'

'Perfectly fine,' he said with a grin. 'I ran this place for years without any help. Off with you then!' he said waving Jacob upstairs.

Jacob grinned and headed off up the stairs, knowing he'd see George later on today as he would have to Floo back here. He had become accustomed to Flooing though he had only done it twice it was enough times to learn how to do it. Grabbing a handful of the green tinged powder he moved into the grate, steadying himself with a deep breathe. Throwing the powder so it sprinkled down on his hair he shouted, 'HOGWARTS!' and felt himself moving through the connection. He was still not sure exactly how this thing worked; he made a mental note to ask George later on.

In a second he was standing in the office of the Headmistress staring around the bookshelves for the second time. He walked out of the grate feeling quite proud as this time he didn't fall over his feet and land face first on the floor.

'Good Afternoon,' a voice greeted him from the large chair behind the smooth wooden desk.

'Afternoon, Professor,' Jacob smiled standing a little awkwardly in the center of the room.

'Sit,' she said to him returning his smile.

Jacob sat into the plush chair before the desk and placed the books on his knees.

'Well,' Professor McGonagall slid her glasses down her nose and stared at him. 'Anything you'd like to learn first?'

'Um, well how is it even possible to do Magic?' he asked.

'Goodness dear boy! You mean no one has explained it to you yet?' the Professor looked quite shocked but still regarded him with a serious face. 'I shall explain. Magic is a natural force that is simply used to override the normal forces of nature. If you wish you can look on it as a different kind of science.'

'I was told that wands are just used to channel Magic, is that true?'

'Very much so. Just be weary that while is this all new and exciting for you, you shouldn't think that you can do everything and anything with Magic because that is not the case.'

'Ok.' Jacob nodded sincerely continuing the serious tone McGonagall had set.

'What subject would you like to start with?'

'Um …' Jacob looked down at the books on his lap and flicked through them observing the title. 'What are the Dark Arts, Professor?'

'It is a very serious and dangerous form of Magic used by some Wizards not to do well, but to do evil. I do not think it is wise that we begin on that subject, Mr Smith,' the Professor said curtly looking tense. 'What else?'

'What is Transfiguration?' Jacob asked, staring at the book he held.

'Ah,' the Professor seemed to straighten up in her chair. 'Transfiguration is a very complex branch of Magic; it involves changing things into other things. It was my subject when I taught here. Watch, Mr Smith,' she said and pulled out her wand and transfigured the quill on her desk into a duck. It quaked and waddled over to the edge of her desk and was about to jump down before she changed it back into a feathery quill again.

'Wow!' Jacob breathed out in amazement. 'How did you do that without you know saying anything?'

'Wizards and Witches can use non-verbal Magic to perform Magic. Some choose not to, others like to.'

'When will I be able to do that?' Jacob asked leaning forward enthusiastically in his chair.

Professor McGonagall eyes narrowed. 'Not for a very long time I should think.'

'Fine,' Jacob sank grudgingly back into his chair.

'Not to worry, Mr Smith,' she said smiling her eyes still thin. 'Would you like to learn some simple switching spells?'

'What do you mean by switching spells?'

'You will just switch one part of an object.'

'Oh, I'd like to do that,' Jacob said pulling out his wand keenly.

Professor McGonagall told the spell which was _Converto _and the name of the object in question. '_Converto goblet,' _and it transformed into a giant bottle of whiskey. She quickly transformed it back when Jacob began eyeing it up.

'How do you change it into something else without saying what you are changing it into?'

'You just think very hard about what you want it to change into. Try it, it's a short flick at the item, like so' she said demonstrating for him and then pushing the goblet forward.

Jacob clutched his wand tightly, nervously anticipating his first spell. 'Uh …' he gulped. '_Converto goblet,' _he stuttered thinking very hard of a toothbrush, as for some reason it just popped into his head. To his utmost surprise with a blink the goblet lost its fine gold stem and gained the pink plastic sheen of a toothbrush still balancing the cup of the goblet on top.

'Very well done, Mr Smith!' the Professor applauded him softly. 'Perhaps you would like to try transfiguring the whole goblet now?'

Nodding, he pointed his wand at the goblet and flicked it like the Professor, this time it transfigured fully into a pink toothbrush that looked clean enough to be used.

'Very good!' the Professor said again. 'Very well done, amazingly quick at learning,' she added with a smile.

They practiced this for some time, each time the Professor telling Jacob to transfigure it into something different. Jacob mainly managed to transfigure the goblet on the second try, but as the minutes wore on he was finally able to do it with only one try. By the end of that hour long session he was grinning from ear to ear.

'I'm immensely proud,' Professor McGonagall said as though trying to boost his ego. 'Here, I have a charm I'd like you to try.' She produced a small brown box with a golden clasp on the front. '_Alohomora_ is a charm that unlocks closed doors and can be used to lock something. Some doors are bewitched so this spell has no effect on them, but I doubt any time soon you'll come across a door like that. I would like you to point your wand at this box and say it, slowly as pronunciation is optimum!'

Jacob pointed and did as she asked, '_Alohomora!' _he said at the box a little louder then necessary. The box jumped an inch to the right but did not open.

'Try again,' was the urging response.

'_Alohomora!' _he said, fiercely imagining the box to open … and it did. The box flew open and some kind of fabric hurtled at his face hitting him squarely in the nose. He picked it off his face and looked at it. It was a tie, coloured gold and black with a small emblem at the bottom. 'What is this?' he asked. 'Is it yours?' He offered it back to her.

'No, Mr Smith,' she smiled. 'It as a Hufflepuff house tie and it is for you. One of the Professors suggested it.'

'Oh, well thank you Professor, thank you very much!' Jacob said beaming.

'You are very welcome,' the Headmistress said with a smile before glancing at the grandfather clock against the wall. 'Oh my, it is 5pm; we have been here for two hours. You may go; could I perhaps see you tomorrow at the same time?'

'Yes Professor. Thank you,' he added as he gently put the tie in his pocket stepping towards the grate.

As he Floo'ed back to George's place he felt a surge of pride, it was his first time doing Magic and he had managed to transfigure seven objects and unlock a magically locked case. He was eager to tell George all he had learnt today.

Crashing into the floor and tumbling out of the grate brought George running to the fireplace. 'You ok?' he asked squatting down beside Jacob.

'Fine, fine!' Jacob spluttered excitedly. He stood to his feet and sat down on the couch. 'I learnt Magic today George!'

'What did you learn?' he asked pulling himself up from where Jacob had left him and sitting in the couch opposite, staring at the younger man intently.

'A switching spells and Alohomora!' Jacob said smiling proudly. 'And look,' he dug into his pocket and produced the yellow tie. 'It's an honorary Hufflepuff tie.'

'Huffleprat, you mean,' George said correcting him.

'Gryffindork.'

'Ha-ha real mature,' George said but a smile was on his face.

'Hey, you started it.'

George quickly changed the subject. 'Is that all you learnt?'

'Yeah.'

'Blimey, you learnt more in a day then I did in an entire year at Hogwarts.'

'Probably because you never paid attention,' Jacob said, George had told him all about his years at Hogwarts, 'you were too busy making trouble.'

'That's true,' George said with a hint of glee in his blue eyes. 'I was a right pain in the ass. Oh no, don't tell me you're little Mr Perfect like Hermione?'

Jacob shook his head, remembering what George had told him about his brother and a girl named Hermione Granger. 'Nah, it's just interesting and like nothing I've learnt before! Not like science or maths,' he said with a shudder.

With a grin George stretched his arms out. 'Hey,' he said softly, 'do you want to stay here tonight? We could have a party, I want to show you what I've been working on, and it needs dark light.'

'I was going to ask you about that,' Jacob said finding this as his chance to ask him. 'Do you reckon it would be all right if I stayed with you?'

'Yeah, how deaf are you? I just sug - '

'I didn't mean just for the night, I mean for a long while. It will be so much easier for me with the whole learning and working thing. Is that … you know … ok?'

George considered this for a while and then looked curiously at Jacob. 'Don't you have a girlfriend?'

'What's that got to do with?' Jacob asked and no of course he didn't have a girlfriend.

'How would you ever take her home if you live in a place she can't get to?'

'I don't have a girlfriend,' Jacob said and then decided to come right out with it. 'I don't like girls.'

'Oh,' George looked slightly taken back but the bravely soldiered on. 'So I guess that won't be a problem then? What about men?' he asked.

'If they're Muggles I very well can't, can I?'

'Don't get snappy, Jakey,' George warned smiling at him.

'I'm not getting snappy,' Jacob said. 'So you don't mind?'

'That you're gay?' George asked and Jacob nodded. 'No, it doesn't bother me. I'm still deciding.'

'What's wrong with liking both?' Jacob asked him.

'I don't know I just want to decide what gender I like more I guess.'

'Makes a little sense I guess,' Jacob said with a shrug.

'How long have you known?' George asked him.

'Since my first year at high school, gym class,' he said and George shot him a knowing look. 'Of course I kept gym all the way through school.'

Jacob said this just as George took a sip of water from the glass he had conjured up, he spluttered from laughter. 'Reasonable enough. Have you ever been with anyone?' he asked.

'Yeah,' Jacob said. 'So much interrogation,' he added in mock frustration. 'Yeah but I have been, quite a few.'

'No need to show off,' George said.

'You show off about Magic, just give me something to show off about!' he retorted. 'How long have you been deciding for?'

'Oh, a number of weeks,' George said, shrugging his shoulders in a lazy way.

Jacob nodded and then asked his initial question again. 'So is it ok if I stay here?'

'Yeah! It'll make things a lot easier, you're right and as your boss I can make you work ridiculous hours because you live on site.'

'You wouldn't?' Jacob asked.

'You're right I wouldn't, but I'd love for you to move in,' he said unable to remove the grin from his face.

'Roomy,' Jacob said with a smile too. 'This should be fun.'

'Just don't molest me in my sleep, ok?' George said sternly but Jacob knew that he was joking.

It wasn't until Jacob was tucked away in bed that he realized he'd met George roughly a number of weeks ago. He felt flooded by a warm feeling and hoped that George meant _he_ had made a change on his sexuality. Though it wouldn't matter, Jacob had a way of making himself known to someone until they either wanted him badly or were curious. Jacob doubted it was just him though, there must be a number of other factors influencing George's need to decide – one of them probably was the handsome man Jacob had seen him chatting to in the shop several days before. They had talked a lot, and the man was striking. It was probably him more then Jacob, compared to that man Jacob was as pretty as a dead flower.

'Blow your stupid candle out,' George said from across the room, 'and go to sleep.'

'Night,' Jacob said with a smile as he did as he was asked, flooding the room in darkness. At least now that George knew he was gay he had hopefully understood that Jacob was also saying he was on the market and was also very interested in him.

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**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	7. Happy Ever After

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

**Curiosity  
Part Seven: Happy Ever After**

When he first opened his eyes he was half asleep and nearly jolted out of bed at the strange environment he found himself in. It wasn't his flat. No, his bed was on the floor not above it and he had a computer in one corner and a bookshelf and a closet in the other. This room simply had two hugely large double beds both occupied by people, him in one and the red head in the other – he didn't notice George was rousing - and a closet that matched the wood of the bed. He relaxed when he remembered where he was, but this did not cease the mild thud in his head.

Groaning as he woke up fully, he tried to shove his head under the pillow to cease his dull headache. He couldn't lift the pillow up far enough to shove his head underneath it, a weight was pressing down. George's pale and freckled hand.

'Good morning, sunshine,' he said with a cheery smile as Jacob looked up at him through dreary eyes.

'Go away,' Jacob muttered pushing George's hand off his pillow and finally thrusting his head under it.

'Why don't you use the pillow?' the ever persistent George asked, sitting on the edge of his bed nearly squashing his hand in the process.

'I'm using it now.'

'I mean when you sleep, you rest your head on the bed not the pillow, why do you that?' George said beginning to bounce on the bed.

'Stop it and go away,' Jacob snarled, slapping at George's hands.

'Why did I let a person who's cranky when they get tired and in the mornings, move in with me?' George asked standing up and shaking his head.

'Why did I move in with someone who is forever happy?'

'Ah, see, there's that moody tone I adore so much. Can it, you're putting a damper on my forever happy mood.'

Jacob grimaced and shoved his head further underneath the pillow, trying to drown out all sound, but then George started talking to him again, in a sultry sweet tone that Jacob yearned to hear more of. He was blabbering on about the shop and it being a weekend so all the snooty children would be in today. Jacob smiled, he loved young children but the nature George's voice gave away that he didn't. He wondered how George could talk about something he didn't like, make it apparent he didn't like it yet still sound sexy when he spoke.

Pulling his head out from under his pillow, mussing his hair so that it stood up like cat's hair next to a balloon, he saw George pulling off the over-large t-shirt he wore to bed and revealing a pale chest. One that would look like smooth porcelain next to his chest which couldn't decide if it wanted a nice olive like tan or just to be pale. As the shirt lifted around his shoulders and over his head it lifted his hair and Jacob saw that it was that long length for a reason. George threw the tee over to one corner of his bed, his hair settling over his ears again and he caught Jacob staring with a wide eyed expression on his face.

'Are you disgusted?' George asked sitting down on the bed and buttoning up the light blue stripy shirt he was wearing for that day.

'That you are, um …' he paused unsure of how to word this as it obviously pained George to speak off since he covered it up with his long soft hair. Jacob's thought process was beginning to teeter back to how good George looked sitting there, staring at him with a mixed expression. He snapped himself out of it and tried to decide what he thought of it.

'Missing an ear, earless, holey,' George added the last word with a reflective smile.

'No,' he decided, resisting the urge to be 'cranky' about it. 'No, I'm not. My uncle is missing his middle finger, used to show us his stump all the time. He was really angry he couldn't pull the finger any more …' he trailed off with a laugh. 'But anyway, how'd it happen?'

'It was cursed off,' George said dully, leaning back against his pillows.

'Really?' Jacob asked with intent interest. 'You can do that?'

'Yeah, but its Dark magic,' the red head said with a sigh.

'Who cursed it off?'

'Someone called Severus Snape.'

'Ooh, sounds ominous,' Jacob replied with a grin. 'Was he a Dark Wizard?'

'Nah, it was confusing. He was a good Wizard who was on our side, pretending to be a Dark Wizard so he could get information.'

'Then why did he do that?'

George shrugged. 'He was with a group of Death Eaters at the time, he probably wanted to show them he was loyal or something.'

'But at your expense,' Jacob said with a frown and then looked at George. 'What are Death Eaters?'

'Do you want me to tell you the whole story?' George asked laughing. 'It'll probably be easier.'

'Yeah, ok, is it a long story?' Jacob asked with a look at his watch.

'A little, but it doesn't matter, I'm a good story teller.'

'Don't mind me if I fall asleep then,' Jacob said leaning back against the wall.

George grinned at him ran a hand through his hair and cleared his throat getting ready to begin. 'Ok, a few years back there was a Wizard who was a half-blood, his name was Voldemort. His followers were called Death Eaters. He basically wanted to rule the world, Muggle and Wizard - '

'Like pretty much every evil person,' Jacob interrupted.

'Yeah, kind off. Anyway Voldemort killed a lot to get power and he killed anyone who stood in his way. In 1980 a boy was born called Harry Potter and a prophecy said that he would kill the Dark Lord and blah, blah, blah so on. In 1981 Voldemort killed Harry's parents but when he tried to kill him he couldn't. No one knew why he couldn't then, but now we know that because his mother sacrificed herself for him he was protected by love - '

'Wait,' Jacob interrupted. 'This sounds like a fairy tale, does Harry get his happily ever after?'

'The final battle started and ended in 1999, so he's still having his happy ever after with my sister,' George added with a grin.

'Ok,' Jacob said smiling because he knew now that the story had happy ending. 'Sorry, just wanted to know.'

'So the poor bloke was raised by Muggles,' George continued. 'He had no bloody idea everyone thought he was the savior of the world because after Voldemort couldn't kill him he vanished. He lived with the Muggles until he was 11 years old and then went to Hogwarts where he met my brother, Ron and a girl called Hermione Granger.'

'You told me about her,' Jacob said when George stopped for a breath.

'I did too; Ron's completely smitten with her now, its kind of pathetic.' George rolled his eyes and continued the story. 'Over the years Harry had lots of encounters with Voldemort but when Harry was seventeen Voldemort took over the Ministry and things started getting serious, really serious. Do you remember all those accidents, people dying in the Muggle world around that time?'

'Of course.'

'None of them where accidents, Voldemort did it all or his followers did.'

'You're kidding?'

'No, and what he did in the Wizarding world was worse. Heaps of Muggle-borns died and they began rounding them up and it was just terrible.'

'Are you Muggle-born?' Jacob asked.

'No, pureblood but the Weasley's were considered blood-traitors because we don't mind Muggle-borns and being a blood-traitor is nearly as bad as being Muggle,' George said sighing deeply and looking across at Jacob with dark and clouded eyes. Jacob suddenly realized how serious this was and to think this had actually happened only a few years ago was incredible.

'What happened then, when Voldemort took over the Ministry?'

'Harry was on this kind off quest thing, being the noble prat that he always has been,' George said but in a fond way, 'the old Headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore had started looking for these Horcruxes that had bits of Voldemort's soul in them. He spilt his soul seven times and hid them in objects so it would be harder to kill them.'

'That's disgusting!' Jacob cried hugging his arms around himself like the room had suddenly filled with cold air. 'Is that really Dark Magic or something?'

'Really, really dark,' George told him and then hurried on. 'After Dumbledore died Harry took up what he'd been doing, finding and destroying the Horcruxes, of course Ron and Hermione went with him. He found most of them but it was really dangerous as all of Voldemort's followers were out looking for them and just making life plain difficult. We – my twin and our friend Lee, and some others started up a radio broadcast updating people; it was mainly for the three to know what Voldemort was doing.'

Jacob sat up straight and looked at George intensely. It was the first time he'd ever mentioned his twin in front of him or at all. Jacob wondered if George would tell him what happened between them, but now after hearing half of this story Jacob wasn't sure he wanted to know. If it had been a simple argument and a promise to never ever see each other again, why would his living room host a picture of the two looking quite happy? It had to be something more.

'When Harry had found most of the Horcruxes apart from one, Voldemort and his followers invaded Hogwarts and there was a huge battle. Harry still hadn't found the last Horcruxe and Voldemort killed him - '

'Ah!' Jacob interrupted with an exclamation. 'You said it was a happy ending!'

'Shut up and listen,' George told him. 'Voldemort killed him and it turned out he was a Horcruxe so he came back to life and killed Voldemort and everyone lived happy ever after. Apart from some, quite a few people died and there are still some of Voldemort's followers out there determined that he had the right idea. They're a bunch of nutters though. That's a really rushed version of what happened.'

'What about you?' Jacob asked. 'Did you get your happy every after?'

George bit his bottom lip and looked away from him and at the roof, studying the whiteness of it. He was silent for some time, just chewing on his lip. Jacob rose of his bed and walked over to George's and sat down at the end of it. George looked down at the movement on the bed saw him and smiled widely. Without knowing quite what he was doing, Jacob placed a hand on George's knee, squeezing gently and encouragingly.

'What happened to you, George?' he asked again. 'Did you have your happily ever after?'

'No,' the reply was harsh and sudden like it had flown out of George's mouth without him realizing it. 'I didn't.' He sat up properly and crossed his legs, dislodging Jacob's hand. He didn't look Jacob in the eye which was strange because George was so confident with himself and sure of what he was doing. 'I didn't,' he said again.

'Who'd you lose, George?' Jacob asked softly not wanting to touch him incase he stopped talking and regained his happy nature. Jacob thought that George should tell them so that there weren't any secrets or untold stories between them. But maybe this was just Jacob being selfish again, he did want to know.

George ran a hand through his red hair and looked at Jacob, regaining a bit of confidence. His blue eyes were sparkling like tears threatened to spill. 'My twin, Fred,' he said quietly.

Jacob couldn't look into George's eyes a second longer or he was afraid he'd cry as well, he tugged his stare away and George coughed awkwardly standing from the bed and walking hurriedly to the door.

'Do you miss him?' Jacob asked before George left the room. It was a stupid question but it had George stopped in the doorway, swaying backwards and forwards

'You're the first person who hasn't said "I'm sorry," or "I know how you feel."'

'I am sorry but I don't know how you feel,' Jacob said truthful, resisting a huge urge to run to George and hug him tightly. 'You miss him, huh?'

'Yeah, a lot. He was my best friend and brother,' George said softly and left the room. Jacob heard him running down the stairs probably on his way to the hidden room to blow more things up.

Jacob decided he would take a shower and then go down and help George with the shop. It would give George time to vent his – whatever he was feeling – by blowing up whatever he kept down in the room. Then Jacob had lessons with Professor McGonagall who could hopefully give him more information on the Horcruxes, because even though he hadn't told George, he was interested in them. It was completely impossible to split your soul let alone once, but seven times? He wanted to know how that was even remotely possible.

After he'd showered he padded softly down the stairs and entered the shop seeing people of all ages admiring the stock that George created. George smiled halfheartedly at him and Jacob got the distinct impression he wanted to be left alone.

After that the day wore on slowly, it was a normal day, working, having a quick lunch somewhere in Diagon Alley and then working some more. Jacob wondered when he'd be getting his first pay check as he'd been working so much it must be huge. He vaguely wondered what his flat mates thought when he told them he was moving out and getting a new job but wouldn't tell them where or who for. He'd guess they probably thought he was a prostitute or something along those lines. He had already been over to collect his clothes and what little belongings he had and then quickly stole back to George's house. He didn't mind if he never saw his flat mates again, they weren't very good friends anyway. He still hadn't yet told his best friends about what had happened to him and wasn't sure if he should, he'd ask Professor McGonagall today if he could.

Finally his lesson wore around and he couldn't see George in the shop anywhere but heard his voice. He left a note and walked upstairs and grabbing a handful of powder he did what was slowly becoming completely normal for him. Though he still hadn't found out how it worked.

In a second he had arrived in the headmistress' office only to find another person sitting on a very cushioned chair beside her to give added height. The small man had a wrinkled face, a shock white hair that cradled his face and large brown eyes that were focused in on Jacob, giving him an unsettled feeling.

'Mr Smith!' Professor McGonagall said in quite a delighted tone. 'Sit, please sit!' As usual she summoned a chair out of nowhere for him to sit on. 'This is Professor Flitwick,' she said nodding towards the small man.

The Professor stood up on the cushions and reached a hand across the desk for Jacob to shake. He had thought the man was small sitting up but standing he proved to be tiny. Jacob clasped the tiny hand and shook gently, horrified as to what emotion his face might be showing. He was bad at masking his face.

'Don't be so alarmed,' the Professor said with a chortle. 'I have some Goblin blood in me, nothing to be frightened off.'

Jacob nodded, flushing from embarrassment and sat down, suddenly remembering he hadn't brought his books.

'I'm sorry that we haven't been moving at a quick pace,' Professor McGonagall told him. 'But you are just getting used to all of this and it is a good idea that we don't bombard you with new things. So just a couple new spells each day until we think you are ready to expand and learn a lot in one session.'

Jacob frowned. It was always about what they thought never what he wanted or thought. He was about to open his mouth and be very rude about when the short Professor interrupted him.

'Today, Jacob,' Professor Flitwick said calling him by his first name when Professor McGonagall didn't. 'I want to teach you some charms. A summoning one and one that makes objects fly. Minerva here has told me that you are very capable of learning and we don't need to teach you to the yearly schedule.'

He nodded again, unsure of what to say if anything.

'But before you begin,' Professor McGonagall said, 'is there anything else you'd like to know?'

'George told me about Harry Potter and Voldemort,' he said suddenly. 'And about the Horcruxes, but I don't understand. How is it even possible to split your soul seven times?'

Both Professors looked at him sternly. The smile and laughter as gone from Professor Flitwick's face as he spoke, 'we were wondering how long it would be until you found out about what has happened in our dark history,' he said solemnly. 'I don't really think it is wise for us to tell you but after the war that kind of information has become a lot more accessible mostly in books and books can be dangerous. So I think we must tell you.'

'Presumably George told you that Voldemort hid the seven bits of his soul in items?' Professor McGonagall asked. And when Jacob nodded she continued. 'To split your soul you must commit a crime so terrible it destroys your soul.'

'You must murder in order to create Horcruxes,' Professor Flitwick told him sadly.

'Oh,' Jacob said shocked. 'And you could find that out all in a book?'

'Only if you knew where to look,' the Professor said. 'Anyway, enough of this depressing topic, I must teach some charms, lad!'

Over the next hour or so the small Professor taught him a spell called _Accio_ which summoned whatever item you were in the need of to you and a charm called _Wingardium Leviosa_ that lifted things into the air. After a couple of tries and a bruised eye when a heavy candle stick had come flying at his face he got the hang of _Accio _but the other spell proved harder to master. Apparently mastering _Wingardium Leviosa _was all in the movement of the wrist not how hard you thought about wanting to make the object float. He got so bored of 'swishing and flicking' that when he finally caught on the book zoomed up higher then he had intended and he gotten stuck on the chandelier. Professor Flitwick had told him not to worry and retrieved the book in an instant. He tried the charm several more times but always made it fly to high, after a while the Professor said they would practice that one later.

Professor McGonagall said she wanted to go over the transfiguration she had taught him yesterday so he would remember them for his exams.

'Exams?' Jacob spluttered. He'd done enough exams in his lifetime and he didn't need anymore.

'Yes, exams. Without passing your exams you will never get the trace lifted and you will never be able to perform Magic outside of this school,' Professor McGonagall told him calmly.

'But I haven't got any notes!'

'I wouldn't worry,' the small Professor said and gestured to the headmistresses desk where a quill that Jacob had never seen before sat poised on parchment ready to write. 'That is a quill that writes down all the spells you need to know and the theory of them so you have notes for your exams.'

'Oh,' Jacob heaved a sigh of relief. 'When are the exams?'

'Whenever we think you have learnt enough to pass one we will write up for you especially.'

'Really?'

'In your circumstances there really is no need for you to learn everything our students here learn,' the Professor told him. 'Haven't we already discussed this, Mr Smith?'

'Oh yeah, sorry.'

Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick looked across at each for a fleeting moment before the headmistress dived into the drawers of her desk, pulling out some bottles and banging them loudly on the wood. Professor Flitwick drew his wand out and muttered, '_Accio cauldron.' _Literally two seconds later a heavy brass cauldron flew up the curled stairs and crashed to the floor in front of Jacob's chair. He had an amusing image of said cauldron flying through the corridors behind screaming children trying to get away.

'What this for, Professors?' he asked peering into the depths of the cauldron below him.

'For Potions,' Professor Flitwick said. 'We apologize that our head of Potions is not here to teach you, but frankly she said she had better things to do and refused.'

Professor McGonagall scowled. 'Even when I threatened to fire her, she still wouldn't come and of course I couldn't fire her, she is very good at what she does.'

Jacob nodded absently, still staring the ingredients and what looked like spices Professor Flitwick was laying out on the table. He groaned inwardly, this was going to be like cooking and he was so impatient and lazy when it came to cooking; it was almost guaranteed he'd be bad at potions.

Suddenly there was a soft crack but loud enough and unexpected enough to make Jacob jump out of his seat. A small creature was tugging on the sleeve of Professor McGonagall's robe, a letter clutched in its spindly hand. The creature was a grayish colour, had insanely large ears and a big head compared to its small body. It was wearing a loincloth and a shocking purple hat on its head and gloves to match.

'Thank you, Nells,' Professor McGonagall said without looking down at the thing, she took the letter and the creature scurried off.

While she read the letter, Jacob turned to the other Professor. 'What was that?' he asked timidly.

'That is a house elf, I don't personally have one but apparently they are very helpful. Hogwarts has a few that run the kitchens and clean the dorms. Having them as servants is very normal amongst Wizards, though thanks to a former student they are getting more rights.'

'Merlin's pants!' Professor McGonagall cried angrily and threw the letter across the room. 'Now she says she can, now! But not for another hour, or she can be here tomorrow. Jacob,' she said turning to him swiftly. 'Would you like to have someone who knows what they are doing teach you the basics of potions or me?' she asked. It seemed like a silly question.

'Um …' he thought. He wanted to learn this properly. 'The Potions master woman, if you don't mind,' he added.

'Wise choice,' Professor Flitwick piped up.

They spent another twenty minutes practicing the spells he knew and then ones he had just learnt. After the Professors were sure he knew them off by heart he was told to come back tomorrow for the first potions lesson. He was also told to spend a sort amount of time each night to read through the books he had been given. Before he stepped into the grate, Professor McGonagall gave him the notes the Magical quill had written down for him.

'Learn the theory,' she told him.

'Professor McGonagall?' he asked before he flooed away.

'Yes?'

'Can I tell my friends about this, only the ones I trust the most?'

'I don't know, Jacob. Only if you are sure they won't tell any other Muggles.'

Jacob nodded, thanked them and left in a flurry of green.

He reappeared in George's flat to see him standing in the kitchen with a thoughtful expression about his face. When Jacob stepped out of the grate his eyes flashed up at the noise.

'Oh, hey,' he said softly.

Jacob smiled and walked down the stairs into the main shop. George followed him down. 'Where are you going?' he asked.

'Fresh air,' Jacob said. 'I'll be back in a bit.' He wouldn't be back in the bit though; he wouldn't be back until the morning. He wanted to return to his old flat and spend the night there to let George think in privacy. It would never have occurred to him that perhaps George wanted someone there with him; he had seemed pretty sad and moody today. So Jacob immediately thought that he should spend some time alone, to get his thoughts straight and boot Jacob out when he returned the next morning if he decided he didn't want him living there anymore. After all Jacob was sleeping where his twin used to sleep. Jacob thought that if he had just told someone something that he changed his life momentously he'd want a bit of time alone. George, Jacob thought, just wanted time to think about his twin. Everyone needs time to think back on the bad things after all. It was a stupid reason to leave without telling George properly, but he had the feeling that if he left and said why George would hate him for it and demand he stayed put. Jacob too wanted some time alone to wonder if it was a bad thing that the ideas of Dark Magic intrigued him so much.

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	8. Found

**

* * *

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

**Curiosity  
Part Eight: Found**

Reaching his former flat he stopped, unsure of whether he could stroll right in or if he had to knock now. Deciding he should knock, he rapped twice on the door and then stood back as he waiting for his ex-flat mates to open the door. He hoped they where home. He had only come here because it was the closet place to Diagon Alley and he only intended to be gone for the night. He wrapped his arms around his waist and heaved a sigh of relief when the door swung open.

'Jacob,' Joan said in a surprised voice. 'Didn't you – uh – didn't you move out?'

'Yeah,' Jacob said. 'Already rented my room, huh?'

'Sorry,' she added with no hint that she really meant it. 'You know this area, cheap and heaps of students or people wanting to move in because of that. You weren't thinking of moving back were you?' she asked tapping his fingers on the glass of the door obviously annoyed. Jacob didn't mind, it was how Joan was.

'Uh, no, just wanted to kip on the couch or something, that's all right isn't it?'

'I suppose its ok, you'll have to kick the other two off, they're watching TV,' she said and allowed him entrance.

'What's the new person like?' Jacob asked as he stepped inside, shrugging off his brown coat.

'He's nice, quite a looker too,' she added. 'He's upstairs fiddling around putting new shelves up or something. I like handy men,' she licked her lips as they entered the living room.

'Jacob!' Scott said thrusting his beer into the air. 'Got kicked out of your new place?'

'Nah, just needed to sleep here for the night, its ok isn't it? The two on the couch shuffled across making room for him to sit between them. He gratefully sat and Joan left to go and interrogate the new guy more.

'How long do you reckon it will take before she's got him in her bed?' Jacob asked the others with a laugh.

'About two minutes if she's lucky,' Martha said. 'They've been hitting on each other the moment he arrived; he's a horny git as well, tried to hit on me.'

'Oh the horror,' Jacob teased taking a swig from the bottle Scott offered him. 'Don't want to tarnish your perfect record do you?'

Scott put his hand over his heart mocking Martha. 'I solemnly swear never to do anyone who comes across as a git and hits on me the minute he arrives.' It was a joke they'd had for sometime and Jacob laughed. And it was even funnier because Martha was always like that. Martha elbowed him in the ribs and smacked Scott around the head.

'Yeah, well since I've sworn that oath I can never sleep with either of you,' she said proudly.

'Thank god,' Jacob added which earned him another slap.

'Ah, how sad,' was Scott's contribution.

'Jacob?' Martha asked abruptly.

'Yeah?'

'Why are you back here when you only moved out a couple of nights ago?' she asked.

'Just 'cause. I want to think about some stuff.'

'Ooh!' Martha exclaimed excitedly. 'Who'd you move in with?! Did you move back in with Gareth and his roomies?'

'What? Ew, no!' Jacob said slapping her lightly around the head. 'He really was a git.'

'Then who'd you move in with?' Scott asked. 'And what's this new job?'

'I can't say,' Jacob said. 'It's in the contract,' he added hoping they'd buy this.

Martha apparently took as sensible and reasonable, but Scott narrowed his eyes at him as if he wasn't sure. Jacob took another long drink out of the bottle before handing it back to him.

'Pretty stupid job, then?' Scott asked, 'if you can't tell your friends about it.'

'No, it's a good job. I love it, I just can't tell you. Pretty insane contract you know.' Jacob sighed and looked away from them. He couldn't tell them without telling them about Magic and he honestly didn't trust Joan, but he trusted Scott and Martha. He knew from experience that the minute he told Scott and Martha something they couldn't resist telling Joan. The three were childhood friends, very close in interesting ways.

They watched the TV for nearly two hours after that conversation, most of it spent in silence apart from a few chuckles at the antics of the actors and actresses in the soaps. After the movie had finished Martha stood up and straightened out her shirt before bidding both boys a good night. Scott stood too and offered Jacob the remainder of the beer, but Jacob refused and Scott too went to his room.

Alone in the now dark and desolate room, Jacob kicked off his shoes and sprawled across the couch, resting his head against the pillow. He instantly forgot he had wanted to think when his eye lids began to droop and sleep bombarded him. Sleep was now his best option. He really needed some, he had gotten plenty last night and the night before that but his job and schooling left him exhausted. He fell asleep in almost an instant.

He must have slept through the whole night without waking up once because when he woke sunlight was streaming in through the windows, blindingly bright. He groaned as his mind and body woke up. Suddenly he was aware of a consistent tapping on his shoulder. Turning over he stared up groggily at the face of Martha. She was standing over him tapping his shoulder softly then sharply in a pattern; her short boy cut hair stuck up as awkwardly as Jacob's did in the mornings. Her sharp brown eyes bore into his grey ones as he blinked up at her.

'What?' he asked.

'There's someone here to see you,' Martha told him pointing in the direction of the kitchen.

'Tell whoever it is I've moved,' Jacob said with a groan.

'He says he knows you're here and he doesn't appreciate you running off last night and something about … Oblivation,' she added with a shrug but then beamed down at him. 'Why didn't you tell us you moved in with whoever he is?'

'George!' Jacob yelped ignoring her talk and firing himself off the couch and into the kitchen. If George had come looking for him, perhaps it hadn't been such a good idea to leave without saying.

Walking hurriedly into the kitchen and trying to straighten his shirt which had become terrible a skewed during his night on the couch, he saw George sitting at the table surrounded by Scott, Joan and of course the new guy. The attention of all three Muggles was completely caught up by the fact that George was extremely interested in the toaster that sat in the center of the table. Martha walked behind up behind him and prodded him in the back.

'Would you stop poking me?' Jacob asked shrugging her off.

'Excuse me Mr Sensitive, I was just wondering about him,' she pointed to George. 'What's with him, is he you know – coo coo?'

'No,' Jacob snapped. 'He's just not from around here.'

Jacob must have raised his voice because George looked away from the toaster and up at them, he scowled at Jacob. As he stood up from the table, Jacob turned around and walked back into the living room retrieving his coat from the couch and pulling his shoes on. Martha followed him and he thanked her quickly before George caught up to him just before he left the flat.

'Running away again?' he asked gruffly holding Jacob by the arm so he couldn't get out the door.

'No, I was just leaving so they wouldn't catch on to anything,' Jacob said and George let go so he could leave the flat and he did with a wave to everyone left inside. George followed him outside and they walked down the street towards the Leaky Cauldron.

'Why'd you leave?' George asked him.

'I thought you might have needed some time or something,' Jacob said truthfully.

'Time?' George asked sounding angry. 'I've had two bloody years of time and that doesn't make the fact that he's gone any better!'

'You should have told me you didn't want me to go or come with me!' Jacob retorted.

'Like I knew that you were going to run off, you sodding git,' George said lowering his voice but still looking sullen.

'You ran off just after you told me about Fred!'

'I don't like talking about it,' George said.

'George,' Jacob said softly as they walked. 'I'm sorry, ok? I didn't know how you were going to react to telling me, so I just left incase you wanted time alone. I wasn't running away or anything.'

George glanced at him and then smiled. 'Over reacted,' he said and kicked a stone along the footpath. 'It was difficult when he died, you know. Not just because he was gone but because I kind of always followed what he did and I had to come into my own, you get it?'

Jacob nodded.

'I'm not as funny as we were before and I never thought I'd get worried – not worried, more apprehensive, - as much as I did when you didn't come back, we were a little more laid back,' he paused suddenly as if surprised he had told Jacob all of these things. 'But Merlin's balls!' he said seizing Jacob around the shoulders.

'What?' Jacob asked staring wide-eyed at George who still held him firmly by the shoulders.

'Don't just go off like that, for you knew you could have gotten into Knockturn Alley, and then you would have been screwed,' George said his voice faltering a little. Jacob saw his blue eyes look over his face. 'Really dodgy place down there,' George finished his sentence finally.

'George,' Jacob said in a teasing voice. 'Are you trying to tell me you were worried about me?'

'Big Wizarding place and you don't know squat about Magic,' George said and then gulped.

'You were worried?' Jacob asked again trying to move under the strong weight of George's hands. But George wouldn't let him move away.

'Yeah, I was worried,' George said pouting somewhat. 'Happy?'

Jacob smiled. 'Very,' he said his smile widening but then drooped as George began leaning down closer to him. Jacob gulped as George face came closer and closer to his. The red head's thin lips pressed against his really softly as if George was afraid of hurting Jacob. It was a sort and chaste kiss that left Jacob nearly begging for more, when George pulled away Jacob let out a soft moan.

'That wasn't that bad, was it?' George asked him where they stood, his hands still pressed against Jacob's shoulders.

'No, it wasn't bad at all,' Jacob assured him.

'You just looked a little shocked to begin with,' George said with a laugh.

'Oh,' Jacob said mentally cursing himself for letting that show. 'I didn't think you would kiss me …'

'Well I just did,' George said and walked ahead beckoning for Jacob to follow him.

'It's just I've liked you for a while now -' Jacob was about to hurtle into a full blown explanation but George cut him off.

'You were dropping hints, Jakey,' he said.

'Is that why?'

'No, I like you as well.'

'That's good,' Jacob said his smile returning.

Suddenly George pulled him off the pathway away, gripping tightly to his arm. 'Is there anyone watching?' he asked his voice so quiet it was barely audible.

'Why, what are you going to do?' Jacob asked looking around at the houses and streets but both where empty. 'No one's watching,' he added.

'Good, I'm going to Apparate us back to my flat, ok?'

'No, what does Apparate mean?'

'It's like a teleport,' George said. 'It comes in handy a lot; you can vanish just like _that.' _He clicked his fingers.

'You can do that?' Jacob asked in awe.

'You're so adorable,' George said and ruffled his hair. 'You really have no clue about anything.'

'I bet I know a damn slight more then you do about the 'Muggle' way,' he said to George. He smiled up at George who had clasped his hand.

With a small popping sound Jacob felt as though his body was being squeezed through a very small tube. It was unpleasant whatever it was and he felt his stomach revolting and the squeezing and spinning stopped.

His feet touched solid ground again but he could not see where they had alighted because his vision was so blurred from the spinning. He could feel George's hand in his though, and the feeling made his already churning stomach dance with something that wasn't sickness or the urge to throw up; it was butterflies. As the room appeared before him, his stomach churned dangerously in the sick way and he wrenched his hand out of George's and staggered off the bathroom.

Grasping the side of the sink with his hands he threw up what he had eaten yesterday, and grimaced as he washed it away. Splashing his face with cold water, he got a fright when George offered him a towel to whip his wet face down with.

'Was that Apparition?' he asked shakily.

'Yup,' George said.

'I want to learn how to do that,' Jacob replied studying his flushed reflection in the mirror.

'Apparition?' George asked him causing him to freeze as he ran his fingers through his blonde hair.

'Yeah, how do you learn? Is it a spell or something?'

'Wait, but why do you want to learn when it makes you sick?'

'I just do, it seems like you said, handy.'

'So you can run off again?'

'I don't want to run off again,' Jacob said firmly.

George smiled at him and waved his wand so that a spurt of water shot from it and filled a cup sitting beside the taps. 'Rinse your mouth,' he said to Jacob. 'I want to kiss you again.'

Jacob obliged with a blush and swallowed some water, swirling it around his mouth before spitting it back into the sink. He turned to George and grinned. George immediately caught his mouth up in a harder kiss then the first one they had shared. This kiss had a lot more passion and perhaps even lust in it, but neither man tried anything except to deepen it.

'You know,' George said after the kiss had ended, 'this could be really good.'

'This whole me and you thing?' Jacob asked.

'Yeah, I think it could be good.'

'Let's give it a go then,' Jacob replied still bushing though it had faded a little.

'Ok,' George agreed and they both walked down to the shop together opened it up and sorted everything out before the customers stated to arrive.

Jacob couldn't concentrate on work after that, his gaze and attention kept sliding over to George and sometimes he almost felt as if he could still feel his lips. He wished he had run his hands through the soft red hair before as know he kept fantasizing about it. When no one needed any help he'd stare at George, taking in the pale complexion, small dots of freckles and his lips slightly red from the action they had just had before. He sighed, wondering how he'd be able to pay attention during his classes that afternoon. Perhaps he just wouldn't pay attention, but it was basically a one on one class so he couldn't exactly fall asleep at the back of the class effectively. He had a feeling Professor McGonagall would bite his head off if he tried to fall asleep or skive off her class. They were doing an awful lot for him by arranging this, so at the end of his mental debate he decided it was better if he did go to the class. Plus he wanted to learn.

When the time for his class came around he had managed to flush all thoughts of George from his head as he headed up the stairs towards the fireplace, but just as he did, George caught his hand stopping him.

'Are you going now?' he asked.

'Yeah,' Jacob said and then narrowed his eyes at him. 'Do you want to come?'

'No,' George said and shook his head. Jacob admired the way his hair caught the light. Jacob snapped out of it as George kept talking. 'I just wanted to say goodbye, Jakey.'

'I'll be back in a couple of hours,' Jacob said reminding him.

George pulled him into a tight hug before he left. 'Jakey, you're hints were so easy to pick up on, did I mention that?

Jacob stuck his tongue out at George will he climbed the stairs.

'Even an immensely thick troll could have figured it out!' George called after him.

After stepping into the grate and doing what he normally did, including reminding himself to ask someone how it worked, he found himself in Professor McGonagall's office. This time Professor Flitwick wasn't with her instead standing beside her looking across at him, glaring daggers stood a middle aged woman with hair already grey. The woman coughed throatily and nodded towards the seat Professor McGonagall as usual had summoned for him.

'Mr Smith,' Professor McGonagall greeted him. 'This is Professor Simmons, she is the Potions mistress.'

Without even waiting for Jacob to greet her and shake her hand the Professor straightened up fully, she had been slouching and now at her full height she looked ominous. But Jacob guessed her grey hair was something that the students laughed about often, it really did look quite comical.

'Potions,' Professor Simmons said in a deep sleepy voice, 'are a combination of Magical ingredients, not your usual herbs and spices, which are used to create an effect on whom ever drinks the potion. I doubt my subject will much to your liking as barely anyone finds it so but unfortunately you will have to learn to pass the tests the other Professors are making up for you.'

She paused and during this gap Jacob nodded just so she knew he was following her slow deep voice that could put even the most alert to sleep.

Professor Simmons then began directing Jacob in how to make a Forgetfulness Potion. The only part he actually remembered about it was adding something called Jobberknoll Feathers to the bubbling cauldron and letting it simmer for three minutes during which Professor Simmons turned to him and said, 'This should be very simple for you, first years make this potion in their first year examinations and you are a good ten years older then them, this should be a breeze.'

Nodding absently Jacob stirred the potion as directed, feeling like he could nearly fall asleep over the cauldron. Suddenly the Professor announced the potion was finished and she told him that if he could follow instructions like that he'd have no problems with this subject apart from finding it deathly boring. At this Jacob couldn't help but laugh, she smiled a little at him and left the room bidding good afternoon to Professor McGonagall, who Jacob had forgotten had been in the room.

'Professor, I thought you said she was good at her job?'

'She is, apart from being incredibly boring, and somehow the students learn and they learn well,' the Professor said to him and cleaned the bottom of the cauldron for him.

'Well, Jacob I think that was enough for today,' she said with a smile. 'I know how tired you get after you've had a lesson with Professor Simmons, its strange isn't it?'

Jacob nodded. 'Yeah, it is, Professor.'

'Any quick questions?'

Jacob was glad she asked this at every lessons, she must know how much questions he had all the time. 'Apparition,' he said quickly. 'How does it work?'

'Have you traveled by Apparition?' she asked.

'George took me.'

She nodded. 'It's very simple, a Wizard or Witch just imagines themselves to be a certain place and they apply the skill of Apparating and they are there. If they have had the training,' she added with a warning glance at him.

'Ok,' Jacob nodded and stood from the chair. 'Thanks again, Professor.'

'Remember to read those books we gave you.'

Jacob nodded for what seemed like the twentieth time that day, he wondered why his neck didn't hurt, and stepped into the fireplace and vanished from her office in a puff of green smoke.

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	9. When You Aren't Allowed

**

* * *

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

**Curiosity  
Part Nine: When You Aren't Allowed**

Jacob stepped out of the grate and onto the carpet leaving a trail of sooty green dust as he wandered across to the kitchen, cursing and wondering why there was never any food in this place. Then he remembered the George did something with his wand and the just appeared on their plates, complete and ready. But he also remembered Professor McGonagall telling him when they first started Transfiguration those few short days ago that it was impossible to create something that wasn't already there. Jacob added it to the growing list of things he didn't understand. 

Hearing George plod up the stairs he jumped out of the kitchen and sat on the couch. He looked outside as he waited for George to enter the room. He was amazed of how quickly time went when he was having the lessons, it was just beginning to get dark outside and though it seemed he was only inside the headmistress' office for half an hour in reality it was a much longer time.

George sat down on the couch beside Jacob, kicking his shoes off and stretching out his head on Jacob's lap. Jacob was quite surprised by how forward the red head was, he was just lying across him but he seemed so comfortable. He didn't actually mind, it was nice, it was just refreshingly startling.

'Hi,' George said eventually looking up at him from his position. 'How'd it go today?'

'Good,' Jacob said trying very hard to resist the urge to run his hands through George's hair. 'I learnt about Potions today.'

'Boring?' George asked.

'Very, very boring,' Jacob said and succumbed and ran his fingers through the soft red hair. He sighed in content. It really was as soft as it looked. 'Professor Simmons is absolutely terrifying.'

'Why?'

'She doesn't speak enough,' Jacob said. 'All the other Professors talk to no end and she just sits and watches. It's fucking terrifying.' His stomach rumbled and he blushed deeply pulling his hands away from George's hair.

'Hungry, Jakey?' George asked sitting up and walking towards the kitchen.

'Yeah,' Jacob said and followed him. 'Why is there so little food in here?' he asked.

'I've just got bits of things that are necessary,' George told him and with a wave of his wand food flew out of the fridge and cupboards. 'Because I can make them grow in quantity.'

'Wait, don't tell me, I know this one,' Jacob said. 'Magic, right?'

'Ah, he is clever!' George said with a laugh. 'Yeah, my darling mother taught me that trick when Fred and I moved out but only after screaming at us for an hour. Charming woman she is.'

'Sounds like she knows her stuff though,' Jacob commented and leaned against the counter top while George rummaged around the kitchen probably more for effect than anything else.

'Yeah, brilliant Witch she was and apparently still is,' George said with a good natured laugh. 'You should meet her, she could teach you a thing or too when the Trace is lifted.'

'Why don't you teach me some of your tricks when the Trace is lifted?' he asked.

'You'd want me to?'

'Yeah, I mean if you'd want to …'

'I would! Yeah, it'd be fun,' George said.

Jacob grinned and when George had halted in the kitchen before him looking at a jar of something and muttering 'Muggle crap,' Jacob wrapped his arms around George's neck and kissed his cheek first before moving to his lips. George seemed surprised by the kiss at first but then put down the jar of sauce and responded by tipping Jacob backwards a little and deepening their kiss.

'Mm,' George remarked after the kiss had broken. 'I thought little Jakey would be too shy to do something like that.'

'Not as shy as you think,' Jacob told him seriously.

'A true Huffleprat!' George exclaimed. 'Always surprise you when you least expect it.'

'Do all the other houses at Hogwarts really dislike Hufflepuff?' he asked taking the steaming hot plate filled with pasta that George handed him. 'Thanks,' he said before tucking in.

'Nah, it's just that all the other houses are for the sly and cunning, for the intelligent and whimsical, I guess, and of course for the brave and daring,' he added with a wink, 'and Hufflepuff is just for everyone else. I mean no house had major issues with Hufflepuff, it was kind off considered to be the quiet house, the nice house.'

'But I got placed there because of all the stuff the Hat said about virtues, that I am loyal, kind and whatever else it said. It said I would have been in Gryffindor, I was just lacking.'

'Has this been bothering you?' George asked him raising an eye brow.

'I just wondered,' Jacob said defensively.

'Blimey, it's nothing to worry about. Hufflepuff is a great house. I like you being there,' George told him. 'I reckon Hufflepuff doesn't get enough credit.'

'I wish I could have gone to Hogwarts!' Jacob said feeling better from George's compliments. 'I would have met you a lot sooner,' he added.

'Maybe, you might not of,' George said.

'I would have made sure I met you,' Jacob said forking some more pasta into his mouth. 'I'm a pretty persistent person.'

George smiled at him and ran his fingers through Jacob's hair. 'You're hair,' he said. 'It reminds me of my brother's wife's hair, just not as long. You don't dye it do you?'

'Is that a good thing or bad thing?' he asked leaning into George's touch. 'No, I don't dye it.'

'Yeah, definitely good. She's part Veela, or is it less then part? I dunno, but she's bloody gorgeous and I just wondering if you could have a little bit of Veela in you.'

Jacob flushed a light shade of pink. 'I'm from Scotland, is that where the Veela's are?' 

'No, but you don't exactly look like a traditional Scotsman do you?'

'Or I'd have red hair like you,' Jacob said. 'What is a Veela anyway?'

'They are normal Magical people but they have this ability thing to just be really charming and gorgeous, comes in pretty handy for them I'd say,' George said. 'But I haven't even heard of Veela men so maybe it's just the women.' He shrugged.

'I doubt it,' Jacob said, 'that I'm Veela or whatever.'

'Does the rest of your family have blond hair?'

'No Sherlock, just me and my sister. I think my dad had blond hair when he was a kid but it got darker. I dunno, is it really important?'

'I want to you where you got your Magic from at such an old age!' George said putting his empty plate down and shooting a jet of water at it from his wand.

'McGonagall said that I could tell people I trust about this Magic thing, so I was thinking I'd tell my parents over Christmas and see what they know,' Jacob said and then snorted. 'They'll probably send me to a loony bin though.'

'I'd come visit you every day,' George said wistfully. 'I'd smuggle in a chisel and hammer so you can get out. But if that took to long I'd just Oblivate everyone there, and then we could run away to somewhere tropical together.'

'That sounds so inviting I must just get myself locked up in a loony bin.'

George smiled and took Jacob's plate kissing him again and excused himself for bed while Jacob had a quick shower.

Jacob woke early in the morning, very early in the morning. In the dark he peered across at the window trying to see out. All he could see through the closed curtains was a slither of pale light. It looked like the sun was just beginning to rise. A soft snoring could be heard from George's bed and Jacob had an urge to climb into the bed next to him and snuggle up in his arms, but he refrained. Deciding it was too late to try and get back to sleep again, he pulled his wand out from under his pillow where George had suggested he put it while he slept. George had said that it was a good idea to get into habits like that so you always knew where your wand was. It was working well so far he'd already gotten into the habit of keeping his wand in his sleeve or in the loop of his belt during the day.

Also under his pillow was his first paycheck. George had taken out what Jacob owed him for the wand. Jacob had also wanted him to take out his part of the rent for living with him. George had refused saying that from the success of the shop he was ridiculously wealthy and needed something to spend his money on. At first Jacob had been a little spectacle towards that but George had shown him without care how much profit the shop made compared to its upkeep and he was startled. It was a huge amount of money.

He sighed running his fingers along his wand, it seemed to be tingling in his hands like it itched to do magic. Jacob was now feeling the urge to cast a spell as well. But to keep his mind occupied he thought about what George had said about his possible heritage. It was highly unlikely that he could be descended from such people. True he did have the blond hair that George described and it still made him flush when George had hinted that he thought him gorgeous. He just found it so unlikely. He made up his mind that he would most certainly ask his parents what they knew about magic.

He felt several sharp jabs to his fingers and scowled looking down at the wand in his hand. Like him it was probably itching to do some magic. Being stuck doing Potions all day yesterday had left him bored and restless for more spells not brewery. It was a big thing they were doing for him but sometimes he felt restrained by how little he seemed to be learning. To him it seemed as though he had bucket loads of potential stored up inside of him and they were just teaching him the small things. Magic he could probably learn on his own. But he was grateful and eager to learn so he would wait and if it got too boring and dull he'd just have a word with the headmistress. She had taught at the school so long she'd probably understand his urge to learn more.

Smiling to himself he decided that was a good idea and he should just go with that. He was certain things would start getting better in his lessons soon, they were bound too. God fucking damn it. He wanted to learn. Suddenly he remembered the books and wondered how stupid he could have been. Reaching down under his bed he felt around for the hard covers. His fingers rested on one and he pulled it out, examining the cover using the strip of light that was growing brighter and brighter.

The book he pulled out was the _Defense Against the Dark Arts_ book. He smiled down at it. The Dark Arts sounded very interesting and what wanted to know more about them not how to use spells to defend him from them. It was like when you read something in the paper about a person who had committed such a heinous crime it was disgusting, and they've done it again and again and again, but yet you still read the article because you want to find out why they did and what their motivations where. For Jacob it was like that, he wanted to know what made the Dark Arts so intriguing that people used them and committed crimes using them.

He flicked through the book and found a forward on the first page explaining something about Dark Magic. The forward read: _The Dark Arts are different from other forms of magic. Most magic is neutral as the spells can be used for evil or good but the magic used in the Dark Arts is purely (or impurely) designed to create evil or inflict harm. These spells are known as curses and are mostly used to inflict pain on others. However just casting a curse doesn't automatically make the person involved with the Dark Arts, it all depends on the true intention of the caster. _

_Dark Magic is more then just curses and tricky jinxes. There is magic that involves tampering with the will of another person. There are three Unforgivable Curses that fall under this category. The Imperius Curse which is used to bend the will of a victim and allows a Dark Wizard to control them, the Killing Curse which does as the name suggests, and lastly the Cruciatus Curse which inflicts intolerable pain on the victim. _

_This book is designed to help the reader counter the curses of Dark Magic. The reader will find helpful counter-jinxes and some counter-curses and useless hints about how to avoid Dark creatures and get away from them safely … _

Jacob stopped reading the forward as he saw that the writer was beginning to babble on. It sounded terrifying to him but still so intriguing. He hurriedly put the book away as he heard George stirring, if Dark Magic had killed his twin Jacob didn't want him knowing that he found it interesting.

Just as he had put the book away there was weight on his bed and George was sitting on the edge smiling at him. 'Good morning,' he said.

'Morning,' Jacob replied feeling a little guilty that he was interested in that now that he saw George's smiling face.

'Still not using the pillow I see,' George said with a frown. 'If I slept next to you would you share the same pillow as me?'

'I'd probably use you as a pillow,' Jacob said grinning widely.

'Doesn't sound that uncomfortable,' George said wrinkling his nose.

'I dunno you look pretty comfy to me.'

George widened his eyes and looked down at Jacob and then nudged him. 'Move over,' he demanded.

'You're actually going to get in?'

'Don't you want me too?' George asked pretending to look hurt.

'No, come on.'

George grinned like an excited child and slipped under the covers next to Jacob. George settled his head on Jacob's unused pillow and ran his fingers through Jacob's hair again. Jacob's eyes fluttered closed at the attention he was getting, it was soothing and would possible send him back to sleep. He yawned as if to prove his own point. The hands in his hair didn't cease save for one that strayed down to his face, touching his cheek and cheekbones. Jacob sighed from all the caressing and moved his head so it rested against George's chest. They remained like that without talking for some time before George eased Jacob off him and stood but bending low again to kiss his lips.

'Hungry, Jakey?' he asked as he headed for the bedroom door.

'A little,' he said trying to cover his cheeks as he was unable to hide the faint pink glow from before.

After a scant breakfast as neither man was hungry, George and Jacob went down into the shop. George picked up one of the toy wands and began slapping it against his palm watching it change as Jacob went to feed the Pygmy Puffs. He thought they were absolutely adorable though he'd never want one for himself. As Jacob was watching the little pink bundles George came up behind him and put one of the large top hats on his head. In an instant George was laughing and Jacob scowling as he removed the hat from his head.

The top hats made your hair change to a different colour for however long you wanted it to stay that tone for. Jacob hated them.

'How long?' he asked George as he examined his bright green hair. 'Urgh, it looks like I've tried to bleach it and didn't work!'

George laughed. 'Only for ten minutes, I promise,' he said. 'And if not I can reverse it.'

'Good,' Jacob said crossing his arms as George waltzed over to the front door unlocking and pointing his wand at the sign and gold letters burnt in it that stated the shop was open.

George walked back over to Jacob. 'Sorry,' he said though still trying not to laugh. 'Just needed to test that one out, it has been playing up.'

'It works,' Jacob scowled.

But he couldn't stay mad for long as George kissed his lips softly in way of apology.

About an hour later Jacob got another urge to do some magic when he saw a Witch outside the shop cast a spell and whatever she had dropped flew straight back up into her hand. He knew that spell! _Accio. _He scowled and returned to work. There was little business today so George left for lunch with a friend while Jacob minded the shop. He didn't mind, sometimes quiet was good.

He sat down in the chair behind the desk and leaned back. Just as he had gotten comfortable and relaxed, his wand twitched in his grasp again. He grimaced as he saw something on the top shelf he wanted to get at and look at; basically just because he knew he could get it down with magic.

'Fuck,' he cursed softly. He really wanted to do some magic outside of that office and that school. Holding his wand up just to inspect it, he ran his fingers along the wooden shaft and groaned thinking about all the things he could do but wasn't allowed because of restrictions that were unfair. He was older and more responsible than most school children; he frowned as he thought this because it wasn't that true. But shouldn't he be able to do some magic! He lived in a place where magic was all around him and it was hard.

Suddenly there was a loud crack, followed by a huge smashing sound. He stood up quickly the chair flying out from under him and he looked around what had happened to the shop. The windows had smashed as well as everything glass. All the items flew off the shelves and discarded themselves across the room some breaking and others going off like miniature bombs. He looked at the wand in his had and dropped it suddenly as if trying to hide the evidence of what his anger and resent had done. But as he dropped the item he had wanted to look at from the top shelf flew down and hit him in the forehead.

He stood in the shop, surrounded by fragments of broken glass and groaned audibly. What the hell had he done!? How was he going to fix this? As if in an answer to his prayers, he saw George standing outside the broken windows with his mouth gaping open. Jacob ran outside being careful not to step on any glass. George turned to him his mouth still gaping.

'What did you do?' he rasped.

'I don't know!' Jacob said grabbing at his normal hair. Jacob felt stupid for what he had done and frightened of what George's reaction was going to be. The Trace hadn't even crossed his mind yet. 'I was thinking about how annoying it is not being able to do magic and I was holding my wand and then everything glass just smashed and everything fell of the shelves! I'm so sorry! I don't know how … I'm so sorry! I don't know how it happened!'

George recovered from the shock faster then he did though he still locked shocked. '_Reparo,' _he said waving his wand and to Jacob's huge relief the glass flew back into the panels and looked as if it had never been broken. George stepped inside the shop and Jacob followed trying desperately to hold back tears. George cast the same spell inside the shop and everything returned to the state it had been in before. The items that had fallen from the shelves repaired themselves and flew back to where they came from.

Jacob sank into the chair behind the desk as George _accioed _the Pygmy Puffs to him and put them back in their revamped cage. Jacob picked up his wand looked at it and had the urge to yell and scream at it. George came to stand beside him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

'It's ok,' he said. 'Nothing is broken, well nothing is broken now,' he added.

'I don't know how that happened!' Jacob said angrily finally able to the stop the flow of tears.

'Were you angry?' George asked.

'Yeah, that I couldn't do magic!'

'It probably happened because you were angry and annoyed.'

'How does that -' Jacob's speech was stopped by a large owl that had landed on the desk and hooted at them loudly.

George tore the letter from its beak and his understanding expression fell. 'It's a letter from the Ministry,' George said handing it to him.

'Why is it for me?' Jacob asked wiping his eyes.

'Because you just preformed magic when you weren't allowed to. It's the Trace, the Ministry knows straight away if you do magic.'

'I didn't know that was an offense or something,' Jacob said prying the letter open.

'Remember what Kingsley said, Jacob. Under-age Wizards who do magic outside of school either get a letter of warning or if they keep doing it they get a hearing a small thing. But Kingsley said that if it was you they'd had to do a full scale hearing because there hasn't been anyone like you in ages.'

Pulling the letter out of the envelope Jacob sighed and handed it to George so he could read it. 'Looks like you've got a full-scale hearing,' George said solemnly.

Jacob gulped, fright surging through his body again and looked at the line in the letter that scared him most: _A hearing will be held for all members of the Wizengamot to discuss your case and decide the appropriate course of action. _

'_Course of action?' _he repeated to George. 'Oblivation?'

'I hope not,' George muttered seriously and then his expression turned to one filled with kindness. 'I'm not mad at you Jacob, ok?'

Jacob nodded. 'Thanks, George,' he said then added. 'I'm sorry about your shop.'

'Don't worry; it needed a bit of cleaning anyway. It's back to normal now.'

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	10. The Trial

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

**Curiosity  
Part Ten: The Trial**

Jacob was in trouble and he knew it. As he patiently sat in the Minister's office – Kingsley had wanted a word – waiting for the time of his trial to come around or the Minister, his hands were shaking and his heart pounding in his chest. He was so nervous and so scared about what would happen to him if they found him guilty or if they decided he was unfit to continue his lessons in magic. They would Oblivate and just dump him back home with no memory of what had happened over the past few weeks and he'd never see George again. 

As he sat alone in the big cold office he thought of how much he had learnt and how little he knew of the world before he had discovered this place. It was unfair for them to just chuck him out of it for one little slip up. But it could happen again, if Jacob didn't control his temper it could very easily happen again. Yet he wasn't about to tell them that.

What George had told of the Department of Improper Use of Magic was that they monitored the Traces on all underage wizards and witches in England. When a normal underage wizard or witch used magic all they got was a warning letter and if they received too many warning letters perhaps they'd get a trial. But the trials held for them were small and just in the Head of the Department for Improper use of Magic's office. Jacob was different and so many people wanted to attend his trial to give their opinion so it had been moved out of the head's office and down to one of the old court chambers that hadn't been in use for over two years. It was frightening. 

Suddenly the door of the office opened and in came Kingsley looking very important dressed in the black robes he wore that blended in with his skin tone. He smiled at Jacob and sat down behind his desk leaning back in the chair and observing the young man in front of him. Jacob felt relief flourish over him; he had forgotten how nice and open-minded the Minister was and seemed. He relaxed just a little.

'Good morning, Jacob,' the Minister said calmly with a smile that showed off two rows of very white teeth.

'Morning Minister.' It was hard for him to not stutter when he spoke. When he glanced at the clock it showed there was only thirty minutes until his trial and George still hadn't showed up, Jacob needed him there for support and to make him calm.

'As you're case is a very unusual one we have had to move it down to the old courtrooms,' Kingsley said. 'Lots of wizards and witches are interested to see you and give their vote, though it will not count.'

'I know about the courtroom thing, Tiberius Ogden told me this morning.' Jacob had come to the Ministry about an hour ago by himself and had run into Tiberius as he was getting into the lift to go to the Minister's office and Tiberius had told him the news. 'Uh, Minister?' he asked.

'Yes?'

'Who will be at the trial and honestly what are my chances?'

'The entire Wizengamot court will be there and they will be the ones who will vote on what happens to you, which is lucky because you and Tiberius have already met and he has no problems with you. I will be there and many other Ministry of Magic workers who want to see the outcome, they have a chance to vote amongst themselves but it will not count towards you.' Kingsley paused and scratched his chin. 'I think you will be just fine, Jacob.'

Jacob nodded relieved. 'So, I'll be great and everything, no Oblivation or whatever?'

'I don't think anyone in the Wizengamot is that spiteful, though some do still think that Muggles should be treated very cautiously when it comes to magic. It is an old way of thinking nothing else.'

Jacob nodded again feeling his nerves subsiding a little.

'Now, Jacob,' the Minister said in his deep soft voice. 'Can you tell me what happened?' he then added, 'you're going to have to get used to telling people this story today.'

'Ok,' Jacob said and then hurtled into his tale. 'I was at Weasley Wizard Wheezes and it was lunch time, George had gone out to lunch and I was basically minding the shop. I'd been wanting to cast some spells for ages and my wand kept twitching and stuff, I think it wanted too as well, I'd only done Potions at the lesson the day before so I was a little bored wanted to do some proper magic,' Jacob paused for a breath. 'Then it just kind off happened, all the windows smashed and everything fell of the shelves, most of it broke. And yeah … that's it.'

'Were you angry at the time?'

'Yeah, I was angry,' Jacob said feeling like he was in a councilor's room. 'That I couldn't do anything because of the Trace, and then … _boom.' _

Kingsley nodded. 'It happens a lot to wizards and witches who haven't had the proper training yet, the magic in them just explodes out and things very similar to what happened to you occur.'

'It happens a lot?' Jacob asked hopefully, if this was so it would probably help his case along that much more. But he was no lawyer.

'Occasionally but not as explosive as yours.'

Jacob nodded. That was good, if it happened a lot then that fact would be on his side since it had happened to him and many others.

He remained in Kinsley's office for another twenty minutes before the Minister rose and left his office beckoning for Jacob to follow him. They walked down the corridor and at the end Jacob saw George getting out of the lift. He rushed towards him and George engulfed him in a hug. It just seemed like the best thing to do and all he needed had a hug (aw). George pulled away from Jacob after a short embrace and looked to Kingsley with a flushed face. The Minister was holding the door of the lift open wide for the two to get inside.

The doors clanged shut as the lift began hurtling downwards. George shot Jacob a reassuring glance as the lift stopped on another floor and let a couple of gossiping witches in both who greeted the Minister with a giggle as the lift moved down again.

As they all ground to a halt on the ninth floor and the Minister strode out followed by the two witches, George and Jacob bringing up the rear.

'Where are the courtrooms?' Jacob asked wringing his hands together from the doubt of nerves that had revisited him.

'Tenth floor,' George replied sounding a little nervous but it was hard to tell. 'You have to walk down some more stairs to get to them.'

'Ok,' Jacob said. 'T – That's great.'

'Are you all right?' George asked him as they followed the Minister down the stairs

'I'll be fine,' Jacob said strongly but he felt himself shaking from nerves again.

Jacob found himself walking down dungeon like corridors and at the end was a small stone door, from that door he could hear voices and the clanging of chairs being moved around. Kingsley pushed the small door open and walked forward, immediately the silence in the large hall dimmed. And Jacob walked forward after a nudge in the back from George.

Inside it was more like a dungeon than anything else. The walls were bare apart from the small black door from which he had entered. There where absolutely no windows and the only light in the room emitted from candles that burned strongly on the rows of seats which to Jacob's horror were filled. Fifty people sat in the front two rows wearing plum coloured robes with a large silver W on the front of them. In addition to the entire body of the Wizengamot there sat three people not wearing purple robes. One was the Minister and one he recognized as Percy Weasley, the other he did not know. In the center of all these people he saw Tiberius Ogden's face smiling down at him. Jacob waved back uncertainly.

George left him standing in the center of the room and walked up the stairs past the first two rows and settled himself on the edge of the third next to someone who supported a head of curly locks. The three third rows behind the area where the Wizengamot sat, they had to be members of the Wizengamot, were filled with ordinary witches and wizards who had wanted to be present.

'Mr Smith,' Kingsley said surprising him by not using his first name as he normally did. Jacob's attention snapped from the rows of wizards and witches to him. 'Would you please take a seat?'

Jacob looked behind him to where Kingsley was pointing with his wand. A large high backed chair sat in the center of the room with a plump purple cushion the same colour of the Wizengamot robes. Shuffling nervously across to the chair and rubbing his hands across his face, Jacob sat in the chair where he had a perfect view of everyone in the stands and they all had an equal view of him. He shifted uncomfortably.

'Firstly,' the Minister said. 'I need to make Jacob Smith's case clear to you all you for anyone who doesn't know. He only discovered his magically talent several weeks ago when he stumbled across Diagon Alley quite by accident. He has been receiving training from the Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and various other Professors' teaching there. He is perfectly aware of many aspects of our society but still learning.'

Jacob rolled his eyes at the introduction which made him seem rather dimwitted.

'Now,' Tiberius said sounding more general then when he had greeted him this morning. Jacob understood he had to sound like he was on the side of the Wizengamot's, though Jacob had already begun to hope he had chosen his side. 'Is it true that on Wednesday the 17th of December, this month,' he added as if he thought some in the audience to be incompetent, 'you performed magic outside of the set arrangement the Minister and the head officials of the Ministry had organized for you?'

'Yes,' Jacob said with a nod wondering vaguely what would happen if he refused.

'Can you tell us the spell you performed?'

'I don't know …' Jacob said honestly.

'Could you tell us what happened then?'

'I was angry,' Jacob stuttered feeling the eyes of a hundred or more people piercing into him. 'And I wanted to do some spells, try out what I had learned when … uh … everything in the shop – Weasley Wizard Wheeze's -, just suddenly smashed or fell over or broke.'

'Are you certain?' an elderly woman with pitch black hair pilled on top of her hair who was sitting on the edge of the first Wizengamot row. 'Are you certain it was you performed that spell?'

'His Trace detected him using magic, didn't it?' a sour looking short woman demanded of the one who had just spoken.

'Yes, but -' the black haired women began before she was interrupted.

'The Trace has changed,' the sour one reminded her. 'It only goes off when the person it is attached to uses magic.'

The black haired woman fell silent and the sour faced one looked smug as she sank back into her chair.

'Was anything broken beyond repair or anyone hurt?' Tiberius asked and must have seen Jacob's puzzled expression as he wondered why this comment was relevant as he quickly said. 'Just for us to judge how powerful the magic you used was.'

'No, everything was fixed and put back to how it was.'

'Excellent,' Tiberius said as if that fact would help Jacob. 'Do you think this sort of thing could happen again?'

'I don't know,' Jacob said with a shrug.

'With more magical training I don't think it should happen again,' Kingsley said. 'It is surely all he needs?'

Tiberius nodded. 'I too think so, but abiding to the old laws we must all take this to a vote. Is there any more questions?'

'Yes,' a man asked with a huge amount of shaggy hair. 'Did Mr Smith just randomly come by this ability, or does someone in his family already posses the talent?'

'Mr Smith,' Kingsley said, 'has no idea if any of his family members are wizards or witches.'

The shaggy man nodded and then Tiberius called for a vote, during which Jacob held his breath and caught George's eyes. Was the trial extremely short or was it his imagination? Jacob decided it must have been very short because some people in the stands also looked quite surprised by the quickness of the trial. Jacob thought it would span on for a lot longer but then again there wasn't much to say. He had explained what had happened and the Wizengamot had asked questions and that was it. It was simple and quick. And now there was suspense as Tiberius called for those he thought Jacob would be Oblivated and sent him home without so much as a goodbye or allowed him to stay. Jacob thought the answer was obvious.

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	11. The Burrow

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

**Curiosity  
Part Eleven: The Burrow**

Jacob sat in the high backed purple cushioned chair in front of hundreds of people with his knuckles turning white because he was balling his fists so tightly. The thoughts 'Fuck, fuck, fuck,' were constantly playing through his mind like a jammed cassette that would never stop. Someone had failed to tell him that before a vote all the members of the Wizengamot, including the three extra, gathering together in the rows, squashed up like mashed peas and discussed what had been heard in the trial. Jacob resisted the urge to grab at his chair, stop the jammed cassette in his mind and scream: 'Very little evidence has been shown! Can't I just go home?' That thought surprised him because he found he was referring to home as the flat above George's shop.

He thought the Wizengamot had suddenly taken to chatting amongst them rather then about his case when he saw a short man through back his head in a laugh and several others joined in with slight snickers. But Tiberius shook hands with the Minister and a few other people before turning to face Jacob and addressing the people behind him as well.

'Now, we shall have our vote!'

Jacob's insides were screaming out in terror and he shot a frightened look to George who didn't notice it because he was talking in a low whisper to the woman sitting next to him. Jacob couldn't see his face since he was so far away from him and his mop of red hair and slanted forwards as he cocked his head to one side to listen to something the curly haired woman whispered to his good ear.

'All in favor of Mr Smith staying here in our world and learning more to suit his eagerness, please raise your hands,' Tiberius Ogden said.

Jacob fumed because Tiberius' face had no hint which path he had chosen to take on this. Slowly about half the Wizengamot's hands rose, including the dark brown one of the Minister's, the Weasley sitting next to him and lastly Tiberius' rose. Jacob breathed a sigh of relief thinking that if the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot (as his official title was) was in his favor maybe more people who idolized him or wanted to get in his good books in the court would raise their hands. His assumption was right and he would be very annoyed if it wasn't, he was amazed by his ability to be frightened but then still get angry at some things. Surely enough several more hands shot up after Tiberius'. Jacob heard the faint mutterings of someone talking to themselves, probably counting up the votes. When the soft murmurings had ceased and he received a nod from the Minister, Tiberius spoke again.

'All in favor of Mr Smith's Oblivation and return to the Muggle world with no knowledge of his past experiences here please show a count of hands.'

The remainder of the Wizengamot's hands rose and the one unidentified man who must be the Head of the Improper Use of Magic Department thrust his hand into the air also. The man with the incredibly shaggy hair put his hand up also and Jacob glared at them both. He understood why the head had put his hand up, he had to enforce the Proper use and what Jacob had done was certainly improper. But the shaggy man had just done it because Jacob didn't know where his magic came from. He wondered if magicist was a word, if so that man was magicist. Judgmental towards people who weren't Pureblood as George put it.

The dull mutterings reached his ears once more and apparently the audience's too because after staring at those who had raised their hands for the last vote all eyes wrenched towards the person counting up the hands.

Jacob held his breath feeling both angry and frightened at the same time. He saw a small piece of brown paper being handed to the Minister who nodded and did not show any emotion on his dark face letting Jacob not know the results. The paper was then passed to Tiberius who nodded also and stood, clearing his throat. The small ripples of talk died down immediately and heads turned towards the old man.

'I have the votes,' he said shaking the paper in the air, 'right here. It was a close vote, with the Wizengamot spilt down the center.'

Irritably wondering why people didn't just spit things out Jacob began tapping his fingers on the arm of the wooden chair, impatientally waiting. Worry had been taken over by his need to know what was to happen to him.

'A few votes turned the tides,' Tiberius said who had suddenly turned to being metaphorical. 'But I am pleased to announce that Jacob Smith will be remaining with us.'

He let out the long relieved sigh and sank down in the chair, he hadn't noticed he had been sitting bolt upright like an eager child. A few in the higher rows cheered and others looked disappointed but eventually they all began to file out of the court room after waiting for the Wizengamot and the Minister to leave first. But Kingsley didn't leave the court room and looked as if he wanted another word with Jacob before he left. He came over to Jacob's chair and stood beside it calmly waiting for everyone to leave the room.

'Not what you expected?' he asked while they waited.

Jacob rose from the chair wiped invisible specks of dirt from his sleeves. 'Not at all what I expected,' he said staggering a little from the intense weight of his relief. 'It was over really quickly,' he added as an afterthought.

'Yes,' the Minister said. 'There really wasn't much to say though. These old trials sometimes used to last for days and days and once the accused is in here they can't leave until the trial is over. But most are short like you have just experienced.' He rounded off his explanation with a short nod to a wizard who was exiting.

Finally after at least fifteen minutes of waiting and having to shoo some people away who wanted to stop for a chat in the corner, the Minister was able to speak to Jacob in the large empty room. Now with the absence of the large crowds of people the courtrooms looked most forbidding, with the tall ceilings laced with black shadows Jacob thought anything could be hiding up there. He shivered and looked to the vacant rows. The black door slammed shut and the candles lighting those rows snapped out from the gust of wind, leaving the rows looking like they were simply dark steps towards and even dark arched roof. Kingsley grunted something and suddenly the lights from the candles were burning again this time with a bright blue glow that flickered strongly against the walls and seemed to stretch out towards him.

'So it is nearly Christmas,' Kingsley said. 'I'm sure all the family visits will get in the way of your lessons and most students take a break on Christmas. I have spoken to Professor McGonagall and she is quite happy for your lessons to resume just after the New Year.'

Jacob nodded; he could go without doing some magic for just over a week as it was Christmas Eve tomorrow.

'Can you cope without lessons for that long?' Kingsley asked.

Jacob was about to answer seriously until he realized that the Minister was teasing him. 'I think I can, Minister,' he said.

'Careful,' Kingsley warned. 'You might not be so lucky next time,' he paused, '_if _it happens again.'

'It won't,' Jacob promised him.

'Merry Christmas, Jacob,' the Minister said to him and smiled as he left the large courtroom, his shoes tapping noisily across the stone floor.

Jacob followed after once quick look at the courtroom and exited through the door not wanting to stay in that place any longer. The blue flickers gave it an eerie look.

When he left the room the Minister was far ahead of him, he began to walk forward looking for the lift when someone grabbed his elbow. He yelped and probably jumped about five feet but he relaxed when he saw it was George who'd grabbed hold of him and was laughing his head off.

'Don't do that,' Jacob hissed. 'You gave me a fright!'

'Sorry,' George said after his laughter had subsided. 'Thank Merlin, huh?'

'Yeah, thank god that half the Wizengamot had the good sense to keep me around.'

'Why?' George asked coyly. 'What would they gain from keeping you around?

'Shut up,' Jacob told him sticking his tongue out. 'I'll find something for them to gain. Who knows, maybe after my training I could turn about to be fantastic at something.'

'All right then, I feel a bet coming on. Should we make a bet out of this?'

'No you'll lose.'

'Oh testy,' George said holding his hands as they began to walk down the corridor.

'I've had a very stressful day, do not cross me,' Jacob responded.

'Oh guess what?' George said as if he hadn't heard Jacob's comment.

'What?'

'You can come to the Burrow for Christmas Eve with me.'

'Why would I want to go to a dirt hole?'

'It's not an actual borrow, you twit,' George said smacking the back of his head lightly. 'It's what my old house it called.'

'Oh, sorry,' Jacob said meaning it and then asked. 'What, don't you think it's a bit early to be meeting the family?'

'Yeah but you need to learn about normal magical people and how they live and things. All the sports and the stuff you'd never even know about if you still lived in the Muggle world.'

'Did the Minister suggest it?' Jacob asked.

'Yeah and my mum,' George said. 'But that doesn't mean I only want you to come because they suggested it. I want you to come as well.'

'Ok,' said Jacob quickly. 'I'll come. Should be fun,' he added. He did want to go, the meeting the family part sounded a bit daunting but the learning how a normal Wizarding family operated and how they did things in contrast to a normal Muggle family would be interesting to say the least. And from what he had heard about George's family he was in for an interesting time.

'Could you please not mention us to my family though?' George asked him as they continued to walk down the stone corridor before turning to walk towards the lift.

'Why not?' Jacob asked as George pressed the button for the lift and they waited.

'Mum's known to explode over small things and she keeps trying to set me up with girls all the time, sometimes I'm interested, yeah. But tomorrow I'm sure she'll give me the run down of all the eligible girls that I could marry,' George said. 'And she'll definitely explode if I told her.'

'Why don't you just tell her about you and me, would she stop then?' Jacob said hoping he didn't sound to upset that George wouldn't tell his family.

As the lift arrived he and George stepped inside and some perky eager looking bloke left hurrying off down the corridor and Jacob had just enough time to see him turn down a corner he hadn't even noticed before and rush out of sight.

'Just wait until you met my mother then you'll understand why it's better not to tell her these things,' George advised him and looped his arm around his waist pulling him close as they were the only ones in the lift. 'Jakey, it's not because I don't want to tell them it's because my mum is crazy.'

Jacob tipped his head to one side to rest it on George's shoulder. That seemed reasonable, he knew how annoying and nosey crazy family was. His parents weren't that bad but his sister was a complete nut and the hormones from her pregnancy made her even more insane.

He felt cool fingers under his chin and George lifted his lips to his and planted a soft kiss on them which Jacob deepened without delay by pushing his tongue inside George's mouth. He heard George moan quietly and his hand moved to Jacob's back pushing him so that they were pressed together. Jacob instinctively wrapped his arms around George's neck kissing him strongly. Suddenly the lift doors clanged open and they sprang apart like frightened cats. Jacob knew that other members of George's family worked full time at the Ministry and after what George said he didn't want anyone to see them kissing for the red head's sake. Luckily it wasn't someone George or Jacob knew – not that he knew many people around here.

That night just before Jacob was about to get into his own bed, George grabbed his arm gently and pulled him across to his. They didn't do anything except sleep closely together and at one point when Jacob rolled away from him in his sleep George pulled him back with a hand over his chest and they remained like that for the rest of the night.

Early the next morning, the day of Christmas Eve, they departed for the Burrow taking nothing them because George assured him that they wouldn't be staying the night. This worked out well for Jacob because he needed to stay with his own family for Christmas. His father got really annoyed when his children didn't come home. He was intensely thankful when George told him they wouldn't be Apparating there but Flooing; he didn't want to throw up again over the Weasley's carpet not matter how much he desired to Apparate again. As normal George went first, stepping into the grate with ease and throwing the green powder on the ground and yelling the name of his home audibly. Jacob followed deciding that he didn't feel nervous because he'd already used up his entire stock pile of nerves at the trial yesterday.

With a burst of green flame Jacob found himself standing in a small cramped room. He brushed green powder from his coat and stepped from the grate looking around the room. Before him was a table that was surrounded by eight chairs, made from the small light brown wood. Nearby a door a long passage way that lead to a stair case which probably lead to the rest of the house. Suddenly he was seized around the middle by a plump woman in an apron who smelt strongly of cinnamon. She was obviously George's mother.

'Mum, let him go!' George said stepping forward to pry his mother from Jacob. 'You're suffocating him. Merlin, woman! Don't hug so hard.'

'Sorry, dear,' his mother said stepping away from Jacob and wiping her hands on her apron. 'Jacob, dear, how nice of you to join us! We've heard all about you naturally, from what George has said and because of the trial. Don't let that worry you, happens to the best of us. Once I set a barn on fire by mistake.'

'Mum,' George said, 'you're rambling.'

'Am I?' she asked looking a bit flustered. 'Sorry, dears, Jacob, you can call me Molly.'

'Thank you, Molly,' Jacob said with a smile.

'Just a simple dinner tonight I'm afraid boys, but I'll be going all out for Christmas!' she said happily and then excused herself and went back into the kitchen clattering around with pots and pans.

'Hey,' George said and tugged on the sleeve of his coat. 'Come meet everyone else, they are already here for Christmas.'

George led him through a door that was near the long corridor and they entered a room bathed in heat from a burning fireplace. Oil lamps lit the room and even though it wasn't night time the clouds had covered the snow, so the light was needed. There was a saggy yet comfortable looking armchair and a couch with people squashed into both and some lying on the floor with there backs against people's knees. One wall was a sideboard filled with bottles of some kind of beer and class bottles. There was also a fireplace in this room and on the mantle above that sat a large wireless radio. Jacob looked at the people in the room again. One supported circular glasses out which green eyes stared at him and the man also had messy black hair and the girl sitting next to him on the couch had red hair so Jacob knew she'd be a Weasley. The black haired man held a toddler with blue hair in his arms; Jacob wondered who in their right mind would dye a two or three year old's hair. He saw Ron with his arm around the bushy haired girl he'd seen at his trial. There was another Weasley sitting on the floor in front of the fire with a girl with muddy brown hair in his arms. Sitting in the armchair was a man with red hair – another Weasley – but he had a badly scarred face, Jacob tried not to stare it. On his lap sat a woman with long following blonde hair and in her arms she held a baby wrapped in a pure white blanket. Jacob stared at the woman's perfect face and then hair. This must be the person George was talking about when he said Jacob might be the same race as her.

All eyes had turned towards the door when it opened and shut; they had all ceased their quiet talking and looked towards George and Jacob.

'This is Jacob Smith,' George said and pushed him forwards slightly. There was a collective hi from amongst the people present and some waved. 'Jacob,' George said, 'this is Harry Potter, my sister Ginny, Teddy's not their son, you've met Ron, this is Hermione Granger, Charlie my brother, his girlfriend Sammy, that's my brother Bill, his wife Fleur and their baby Victorie.'

Jacob smiled. 'Hi,' he said wondering if he could remember all those names.

George looked around for a place to sit and then sat against the couch pulling Jacob down with him. Jacob made sure to sit a little apart from George so as not arouse any suspicions.

'Eet es good to 'ear zat your trial went well.' The accent was French and Jacob looked over to see it was Fleur who had spoken; her name wasn't so hard to forget.

'Thanks,' Jacob said wondering how blunt and harsh his Scottish accent sounded next to her elegant French one. 'But how does everyone know about it?' he asked a little shyly when he felt all of their eyes on him again.

'It was in the Daily Prophet and the Quibbler,' said the one with the bushy hair, something beginning with H, 'and also everything else about you. Muggle until a few weeks ago, that's interesting.'

'Scottish?' the dark haired green eyed one asked him, Jacob flushed because he'd forgotten his name.

'Yeah, lived there for most of my childhood.'

'Blonde's a bit of a strange hair colour for a Scotsman,' the dark haired one said which earned him a slap on the knee from Ginny sitting next to him.

'Harry's,' she said. 'He's not here to be interrogated! Hair colour is determined by your genes not where you come from.'

'Not in little Teddy's case,' Ron said. 'Look, he's so much like his mummy!'

'I wonder if he'll ever do the pig impersonation when he's older,' Ginny mused. 'I'd liked that one.'

'What?' Jacob asked George softly as the others carried on talking about what impersonations they'd like Teddy to do.

'That little kid is a Metamorphous,' George said. 'Like his mum, he can change his appearance when he wants to.'

'Is that a magic thing?'

'Yeah, you Muggles would lock some one who could do that up and do crazy tests on them,' George said and shuddered.

After George had finished explaining this to him, Harry – whose name he now remembered – stood up and stretched. 'Anyone for a game of Quidditch?' he asked. Ginny stood instantly and so did Ron, George, Charlie, his girlfriend, Bill got slowly to his feet as he had to move Fleur off first.

George looked towards Jacob asking the question with his eyes. 'I don't know how to play,' Jacob said. 'But I'll come and watch.'

They all trooped outside, with Fleur and Hermione coming too, Hermione was handed Teddy to hold and shelter outside. 'He's a trouble maker,' she told him. It wasn't that cold and there was no snow or rain at all, but the spectators and players where all bundled up in cloaks, coats or jackets. George came hurrying through the snow to where they all stood carrying a heavy looking box.

'Three aside,' Bill said and then added after everyone realized there was uneven numbers, 'I'll ref.'

The teams divided evenly with George, Ginny and Charlie's girlfriend in one team and Harry, Ron and Charlie in the other. Charlie and George both received large sticks from the box he had brought out.

'Just the one Bludger?' George called out to Bill who was marking the playing pitch with his wand. He looked up and nodded.

A red ball was handed Charlie's girlfriend who Jacob remembered as Sammy and she and Ron walked to the center of the field that was newly outlined in a golden glow. Bill held his wand up and said something and six brooms flew out of a small shed near the neatly trimmed garden. Everyone took the brooms except Bill who hadn't summoned one for himself and sat on them. George unlocked a struggling ball from the box and walked with some difficulty over to Bill whom he gave it too. Ginny let out a tiny golden ball and threw it up into the air and in an instant it zoomed off where no one could see it but she and Harry seemed to be watching it fixatedly. The red ball that Sammy held was thrown in the air and the struggling ball released and everyone flew up into the air.

'The brooms fly?' he asked Fleur and Hermione in total surprise. 'The brooms fly like in all those stories about witches!'

'What were you expecting?' Hermione asked him hugging Teddy closer to her as a gust of wind swept by. 'For them to all walk around with the broom between their legs?'

'Zat would 'ave been very funny,' Fleur as she watched Bill walk around underneath all the action.

George and Charlie's job was apparently to chase around the struggling ball stop it from hitting there own players and whack it towards someone else. Ginny and Harry's was to watch for that little golden ball Jacob had seen before. And Ron and Sammy's was too chase each other with the red ball and try to knock it out of each other's hands and if they had a clean run to throw it into the trees and the end of the large pitch.

'In a proper game,' Hermione said, 'there's a lot more people, and it runs a lot more smoothly than this. Though everyone who is playing is pretty good at the sport.'

'What's it called?' Jacob asked.

'Quiddeetch,' Fleur said. 'Eet is a good game, I just don't like brooms very much.'

'Why aren't Harry and Ginny staying in the pitch?'

'No one is,' Hermione and Jacob saw she was right; nearly everyone was flying across the lines. 'I think that's just so Mrs Weasley doesn't bother them all the time.'

Fleur nodded her golden head. 'Eet is a shame Bill es not playing too. 'e is very good.'

Suddenly there was a tussle with the sticks and the wild ball and Charlie managed to push George aside off his broom and onto the snowy ground below where he landed with a soft thump. Charlie hit the ball away and was about to chase after it when Bill blew a whistle he had acquired from no where. When the game was safely stopped Jacob ran forward and to the center of the pitch to see if George was all right. Hermione and Fleur followed as fast as they could while carrying an infant and a trouble maker.

'George,' Jacob said standing over him and then squatting down beside him. 'Are you all right?'

'Owww,' George commented and then looked around wildly at the faces before him until his eyes finally rested on Charlie's. 'That's foul play!' he said. 'You knocked me from my broom!' He turned to Bill. 'That's a penalty!'

Jacob offered his hand to help George as Bill was throw angry comments from both the small teams. George took the hand and heaved himself to his feet.

'What do you think of Quidditch?' he asked shaking snow of his clothes.

'Brutal,' Jacob said. 'Does that ball go around and to knock people off their brooms?'

'Yeah,' George nodded gleefully, 'and it usually does quite well unless another player knocks you off first.'

'You'll have to explain it to me later,' Jacob said. 'I don't get it.'

George nodded as he got back on his broom ushering Jacob off the field, the game was about to start again. He went back to the sidelines to stand beside Hermione and Fleur to watch what might be a penalty or just normal play.

'So,' Hermione said, 'you don't know where your magic is from?

'No idea.'

'I'm Muggle,' Hermione said again. 'But there must be some magic in you because for it to turn up this late and for you to be just a Muggle, it doesn't make sense. You must have some magic relations.'

Fleur picked up a strand of his hair. 'The colour,' she said. 'Eet es like mine.'

Jacob looked at her very golden hair and shook his head. 'Mine's a dirtier blond.'

'No, it isn't,' Hermione said. 'It's the same colour as Fleur's.'

It then occurred to Jacob that maybe he just saw his hair as an ordinary blond colour because he didn't like it much. But having his hair compared very closely to Fleur's was great. She had gorgeous hair.

'Maybe you are part Veela,' Fleur said.

'I don't think so,' Jacob said shaking his head.

'Why not?' Fleur asked. 'You are 'andsome enough.'

Jacob was about to reply when Hermione ordered them to 'DUCK!' as the wild ball came hurtling straight at them and zigzagged towards the house. There was a crash and splintering of glass that they all heard.

'Right,' Hermione said. 'I think this game's over.'

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	12. Home for Christmas

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

AN: Sorry about how short this chapter is!

**Curiosity  
Part Twelve: Home for Christmas**

The sky's glow was fading in a distant swirl of colour as twilight slowly took over, the blaze of the sun dissipating as the moon slowly began to take its place in the blue, deep shadows were beginning to fall over the orchard as they crunched through the old snow and dead leaves. The clouds that had been present in the beginning of the day had left with the arrival of temperamental winds, which now were starting to fade. Jacob pulled his coat closer to him to stop the remaining bitter wind piercing through, it was cold out here walking through the Weasley's orchard and garden and looking back to see the fire's blazing warmly in their grates. But he was out here with George and that was nice. 

There were no apples or fruit of any kind of the trees as it was the middle of winter, the height of winter and the snow had poisoned any fruit lucky enough to make it through their season. Jacob stopped tramping through the snow to look at the dead and skeletal trees, it must look very beautiful here in summer or spring when everything was starting to blossom again. He stretched out a hand and touched a leaf that remained on one of the branches before him. It broke off in his hand and turned to dust as he clenched his fist around it. As he dropped the ground up leaf George's footsteps slowed to a halt and he stared back at Jacob. They had been walking in circles around the grove for some time.

George was going to Apparate Jacob home as Molly had accidentally closed off the Floo connection and lit the fire in the grate. It wasn't convenient as Jacob threw up after Flooing but there was no other way he could get back to the flat and pick up some things for his parents and himself because he was spending the night at home. Jacob had then arranged to met his sister outside his old flat because he couldn't say 'Met me outside the Leaky Cauldron,' and then they'd drive to their parents place just outside of St John's Wood.

George stood at the end of the path that led out of the orchard and back towards the house, waiting for Jacob to catch up. Jacob thrust his hands into the pockets of his black coat and jogged forward to walk beside the red head.

'Ready?' George asked as he slung his arm around Jacob's shoulders.

'To Apparate again?' Jacob inquired and George nodded so he shook his head erratically. 'No.'

'Too bad, little Jakey,' George said with a smirk and then there was a sudden tight sensation like Jacob was being squeezed through a tube far too tight for any normal person to fit. He remembered this was how Apparating felt and relaxed a little but still felt like he was choking and his stomach revolting against the strange feeling.

Suddenly it all stopped and Jacob breathed a shy of relief as the flat solidified around them. They were standing in the bathroom with the crystal white toilet just before them and the pale blues walls darkened by the lack of sun standing around them. Jacob noticed with a faint blush that he saw reflected in the mirror to his left that George's arm was still tightly around his shoulder.

'Uh, George,' he asked. 'Why did we come out in the bathroom?'

'Because you threw up last time remember?' George responded and led stood with his hand in Jacob's hair playing with some strands on the nape.

Jacob felt his stomach rise into his mouth and he hurried to the sink. When he had finished George trapped him in a tight hug and whispered into his ear, 'Feeling better?' With some difficulty Jacob managed to stop himself from gasping aloud as George's groin pressed against his. George must have known he was doing this because a small chuckle escaped his lips.

'A little, thanks, George,' Jacob said softly.

'Out,' George commanded. 'I need to use the bathroom and clean the sink.' He pushed Jacob out the door.

Jacob, alone in the kitchen wandering into the bedroom and dived under his pillow case bringing out a small present, he tugged at the blue ribbon before walking over to put on top of George's pillow. It was a box was a single piece of the best chocolate Jacob had ever tasted; the catch was that it never ran out. After you had finished the single piece inside all you had to was whisper a small spell and the chocolate reappeared. He had brought it because he was at a loss for what to get George for he thought that he had all the fun that he would ever need in the shop below and he also didn't know what George would want or need. He heard the toilet flush and hurried out of the room.

Strong arms caught his waist as he walked back into the kitchen and he was lifted and dropped onto the couch with a soft thud and another one as George sat down next to him. George ruffled his hair in the Jacob hated and he quickly set about trying to flatten it respectively again, not that his hair ever really stayed flat. He just liked to have some feel that it was at least tame.

'When will you be back?' George asked.

'Tomorrow after lunch definitely,' Jacob said. 'I don't know how much of my sister I can take.'

George looked at him inquisitively so Jacob explained. 'She's pregnant and crazy, so anything I say earns me a smack around the head or a punch in the shoulder.'

'Understandable,' George said. 'I'd want to get away from that too, pregnant women are so hormonal it's scary sometimes. Well, thank you for being able to come back around lunch,' George added with a hearty grin.

'Why is that so good?' Jacob asked.

'That way I can get away from my mother by saying we need to do some Christmas accounts together for the shop or something.'

'Oh come off it,' Jacob stretching his arms out. 'Molly isn't that bad.'

'She attacked you the moment you Flooed in, don't you remember?'

'That was a hug, George.'

'She's honestly like the mother from hell.' George shuddered. 'I'm glad you're coming back tomorrow though, we can spend a miniature Christmas together.'

Jacob smiled and nodded thinking that spending a Christmas day no matter how small with George would be amazing. Looking to the clock on his wrist, he jumped from the couch. It was five o'clock and he had to meet his sister outside his old flat at 5:15. It would take fifteen minutes to walk there.

'Got to go,' he said rushing back into the bedroom and throwing some of his clothes into a small back pack and thanking himself that he'd remembered to at least put his toothbrush in before he left for George's that morning. When he grabbed the bag and walked out again George was waiting for him by the stairs.

'I'll walk you to wherever,' he said and jogged down the stairs.

'I'm meeting my sister outside my flat, and she's incredible punctual.'

George shuddered as they left the shop and fell into step beside each down Diagon Alley. 'It's the punctual ones you've got to watch out for,' he teased.

They talked quietly and George waved at some people as they made their way down the street and to the stone wall that separated the Leaky Cauldron from Diagon Alley. As the barrier slide open George looped his arm around Jacob's shoulders and they walked through the nearly deserted pub. Inside it was stuffy and as suffocating as usual and also as dark. Only one witch sat inside in the darkest corner looking like she was drinking herself into oblivion. The two ignored her as she shouted out for them to grab a drink with her being 'the two fine youngsters' that they were. George shook his head answering for both of them.

Outside the Leaky Cauldron the cold air hit Jacob as a blast of relief. The sun had finally managed to slip behind the hills and thatched houses and now the moon was struggling to gain a place in the sky, not that it would take long. Jacob shrugged George's arm from his shoulders and took his hand instead. Together they walked down to the street where Jacob used to live and saw at a distance the white of his sister's car. Jacob stopped in the center of the footpath with a hiss and George stopped behind him.

'Look!' Jacob said in annoyance. 'She's already here; can't she be late for once?'

'Well, she's here on time,' George said looking at the white people carrier car. 'Surely that's a good thing, more time spent with the folks?'

'I just want to say goodbye to you properly,' Jacob said spinning away from his sister's car and leaning into George's chest.

'Oh,' George said with a grin and leaned down to plant a soft kiss on Jacob's lips. But Jacob quickly pulled back not letting George kiss him.

'No,' he said. 'Let me.' Jacob pressed his lips softly against George's allowing the taller man to add the pressure as he wanted. But as George started to gently push his tongue inside Jacob's mouth he pulled leaving George scowling at him.

'Little tease,' he said but smiled as Jacob let him kiss him softly once more. 'I'll see you tomorrow, right?' George asked again as Jacob walked off towards his sister's car.

'Yeah,' Jacob said behind his shoulder and with a wave jogged down the street. He opened the door of the car and slide in the back seat staring at the back of the heads of his sister, Anne and her husband, Paul.

Anne turned around to face him, her blonde hair falling over her face as she pushed it back. 'Who was that?' she asked instantly as Paul began reverse the car out of the park and drive off down the darkened road.

'A friend,' Jacob replied buckling his seatbelt knowing they would see through that lie.

'You don't kiss your friends,' Paul remarked from the front, his eyes on the road.

'Maybe I kiss mine,' Jacob retorted.

'Who was that?' Anne asked again leaning further around in the seat. Jacob nearly flinched away from her; at that close range she could certainly punch him hard. 'I'm not going to hit you yet, idiot,' she said. 'Now tell me who that was.'

Jacob had always been mildly frightened of his sister and she was older then him so that gave him very right to be scared of her when they were growing up. She hit hard and her words were possibly even harder. But still he loved her like a brother, even if half of that love was forced because they were related.

'Just someone,' Jacob said. 'I'm not going to tell you.'

'I'm pregnant,' Anne said her eyes narrowing. 'I already had a temper before and now I'm pregnant and hormonal, tell me.'

She often used the 'I'm Pregnant' excuse to get her way at the moment. 'No,' Jacob replied frowning at her.

'Oh god,' Paul groaned from the front of the car. 'Why did I ever agree to spend Christmas with a bunch of mad Scotts,' he asked himself.

'Because you love me, hunny,' Anne said using her sickly sweet voice she used with Paul. 'Jacob, tell me.'

'No.'

­_Whack! _

'Ow! Fine,' Jacob growled rubbing his arm where she had hit him. 'Fine, I will. It was George Weasley.'

'I don't know him,' Anne said and then looked across at Paul, 'do you?' Paul shook his head and Anne turned back to Jacob. 'Are you two together?' she asked.

Jacob shrugged wanting the conversation to end but Anne held up her fist up. 'Ow!' Jacob cried even though she didn't hit him or touched him. 'Ok, yes fine! We are!'

'Do you live together?'

'Yes.'

'Do you _love _him?'

'It's getting there.'

'Hmm,' Anne commented before twisting back around in the seat to face the road again. She muttered something to Paul which Jacob didn't hear and Paul turned a corner speeding up a little as they took a back road to St John's Wood. 

Christmas day with the family was usually an enjoyable event but with a hormonal Anne and his dotting mother it was tedious. Paul and his father spent all there waking moments talking about cars and sports (Jacob joined in when the sport changed to Cricket – he loved Cricket) which he mostly found completely and utterly boring. He found himself yearning for George to be there, for someone to talk to and to fall asleep next to. The only exciting thing that happened all through the day and the night was when Anne barged into his room and four in the morning shouting that the baby was kicking and he needed to feel it. Not caring much for it but being forced to put his hands against the swollen stomach by his bully of a sister, he did feel the kicks and jabs of the baby.

'Nice,' he'd yawned. 'It'll either be a soccer player or really good at martial arts.'

His sister scowled at him and left the room letting him return to his sleep and dreams to his amazement and delight and been about George but not at all sweet or innocent. He ended up not getting much sleep as he lay awake thinking about George over him, touching him, and in him and he woke in the morning tired yet happy.

His mother wandered in on him as he was drying his hair in the bathroom. 'Anne tells me you have moved in with someone,' she said while she leaned against the shower in her dressing gown.

'Yeah.' Jacob put the towel away.

'Who is it?'

'George Weasley, mum.'

'How long have you been together?'

'A couple of weeks,' he said wincing at how bad that would sound to his mother. To her it was far too soon to even romantically think about the person.

'"_A couple of weeks",' _she quoted. 'Jacob, don't you think that's far too soon?'

'I really like him, mum.'

'How do you know he isn't just using you?'

'Because we haven't had sex yet, mum.'

She seemed to flinch back at the harshness of the words but her blue eyes bored into Jacob's. 'Hmm,' she said sounding like Anne. 'Don't be surprised if it all finishes in tears, Jacob.' She looked at him once more before she left the room.

'Jesus,' Jacob scowled. 'I'm not fifteen years old.'

Christmas day was filled with Anne being shitty, his mother squealing every time Anne said something about the baby and shooting him glances that were supposed to be warning ones, Paul and his father talking about cars and sport and Jacob lying across the couch. His presents were lying across his stomach – two expensive bottles of wine and several other expensive items of clothing, according to his parents it was more about expense than quantity. While the blabbering talk bubbled on around him he thought of George and the dreams and thoughts he had had the night before.

Yes, he wanted George. It was that simple. But things were moving quickly between the two and Jacob wasn't sure if he wanted George at this instance no matter how hard his dreams countered him. Later would be better for them both he decided. He looked down to his watch seeing what the time was, hoping that it was late enough for him to leave. Not that he didn't love his parents but he couldn't stand his sister at the moment. Thankfully the time was just a little past eleven thirty and he could leave the Christmas celebrations, as his family had a large Christmas breakfast rather then a dinner or lunch.

'I have to go,' Jacob said standing with a yawn and grabbing his bag and new things.

He was yanked into a suffocating hug by his mother who had a habit of patting him on the rump after giving him a hug. 'Thank you for spending Christmas with us this year, Jacob,' she drawled as she let him go. 'Remember our little talk,' she hissed in his ear.

'Last year he was too wasted to even remember it was Christmas,' Anne droned from her place by the tree.

'Shut up,' Jacob said scowling at her.

'He's got the one too many problem,' Anne said again hoping to infuriate him further.

'Anne, Jacob's right, shut up,' his father said and Jacob was grateful. The man patted him on the back as they headed for the door together. 'Like mother like daughter, hmm?' he asked with a laugh and Jacob nodded.

'See you soon, dad,' Jacob said as he waved goodbye to Paul. 'Merry Christmas,' he added as he stepped outside the door hailing a cab.

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	13. Straight as a Post

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

**Curiosity  
Part Thirteen: Straight as a Post**

Jacob nearly hit himself in the forehead as he stepped out of the cab, he remembered that he had been meaning to ask his parents what they knew of magic and slowly ease them up to his confession. Their reaction probably would be to freak out though, his mother would most definitely have a minor apoplectic fight and his father would look at him like he had suddenly declared to the world that yes, magic did exist and there was an entire secretive community that they had no idea about. Maybe he'd just drop subtle hints when he got a chance. He sighed as he pushed at the thick wooden door of the Leaky Cauldron and was greeted to quite sight inside. 

A collection of people stood crowded around the bar shouting and wishing Christmas well, Jacob pushed past them not wanting to be swept up their celebrations. As he neared the rear door after being shoved in the stomach and pushed about by accident several times he saw a sour looking blonde haired man sitting talking quietly to another blonde haired woman beside him. It wasn't the attractiveness of the man or woman that caught his attention but the colour of their hair. A bright blonde like Fleur's and apparently his (though as he dried his hair in the bathroom of his parent's house, he did look at his hair and just didn't believe it was that shining colour everyone described it as). When he passed their table the man looked at him with grey eyes and watched him walk through the door attempting what Jacob thought to be a smile but it looked more like a sneer. He smiled back and the woman looked up and smile halfheartedly too before returning to the drink in her fist.

He needed to find out about the magic in him. As people had said it was just too weird for it to suddenly pop up in his twenties and he had to have inherited the Talent from a family member. Jacob couldn't believe he was a Veela either or else at least one of his parents would have the same blonde hair as he and his sister did. He made a promise to himself (as he often did but they were hardly kept much to his shame) that he would confront his mother and father about what they knew about magic. What did it matter if they thought him a raving loony, as if it would make a different of what they thought of him now?

Stepping towards the brick wall that led into Diagon Alley he stopped dead in his tracks. How stupid could he be?! Opening the entrance to the street involved magic; magic that he couldn't use, let alone knew how to perform. He groaned pulling out his wand from the same black coat he was wearing to stop the harsh wind freezing him to death. He wanted to tap his wand heavily against the wall to see if something would happen, but what if something did happen? He'd be straight back to the courtrooms for doing more magic outside of the school. Jacob wouldn't let that occur again. Pacing along the short length of the wall he heard soft steps behind him and turned slowly seeing the fair-haired man from the corner table clutching his wand.

'You can't get in, can you?' the man asked as he walked forward and Jacob saw he walked with a very self important swagger.

Jacob shook his head. 'No, I can't, I can't do magic …' he drew off his sentence as the man approached looking a little sinister underneath his strut and attractive looks.

'No need for introductions, I really hate those,' the man drawled. 'I know who you are anyway; Jacob Smith. The Wizarding's world newest obsession, more interesting than Harry Potter some say.' He shrugged and his eyes clouded over darkly as if remembering something and Jacob knew it must be the war that George had told him all about. It seemed very wizard and witch had been involved in some way and that they all remembered it. The man shook his head as if shaking his thoughts away and crossed over to the wall and tapped his wand against the bricks in a pattern Jacob couldn't see.

As the bricks rolled into each other and the deserted – bar some – street came into view Jacob found himself looking at the man's hair again and wondering if he could be Veela. The thing he just couldn't be himself.

'Hey, just one question,' Jacob said quickly.

'Make it quick,' the man said.

'Are you,' he paused wondering if the question would sound rude then he decided he didn't really care and hurtled on anyway, 'with your hair, like mine, are you Veela?'

The man looked almost touched and complimented from these words and suddenly Jacob wished he could take it back when he saw the smug expression on the man's face. The grey eyes glinted and the corners of his mouth twitched into a smile. 'No, but what a compliment,' he said and the smile widened. 'Why, are you so confused about your heritage, little Scot, that you need to ask strangers?'

'I want to know,' Jacob said with a shrug. The bricks began to rumble shut and Jacob just had time to yelp 'Thank You!' before jumping through and landing safely in Diagon Alley.

He glanced back briefly at the stone wall behind and let out a sigh of relief, knowing that he man had said he wasn't a Veela which meant Jacob was probably normal as well. Which he wanted to be, in this world anyway. He turned away from the wall his thoughts now occupied with the image of George and what remained of the Christmas day they would spend together. It wouldn't be much but it would be fun. George was always fun and Jacob was beginning to think that he could definitely fall in love with him and perhaps he was falling now. For him that was great, George was great and it would be great. His pace hastened along the cobbled and snow ridden streets.

He let himself inside the shop which was closed for Christmas day and nearly tripped over some tinsel. Picking himself up again, he walked briskly up the stairs in search of George. The red head was lounging back on the couch looking sleepy and relaxed but he sat up as he heard Jacob enter the flat and walk into the living room.

'Hello,' George said standing up only to pull Jacob down onto the couch. Jacob fell down onto the soft cushions and in a second George was sitting next to him. 'How was it?' George asked.

'My sister, Anne, picked on me as usual,' Jacob grumbled but not complaining when George roped his arms around his waist. 'Mum interrogated me, and honestly, I was glad to get out of there. How was the rest of Christmas at the Burrow?' he asked.

'A lot like yours, I reckon. Families, huh?' George said with a grin and a soft chuckle. 'The food was fantastic; does your mum or dad cook?'

'Yeah but not well, during Christmas we end up eating all this processed crap because neither of them can do a good Christmas dinner.'

'You should come back to the Burrow for Christmas next year,' George said. 'Great food, it's amazingly good. I forgot how much I missed it. But anyway,' he hurried on, 'Ron and Ginny had a blow up about Quidditch – quite exciting really, I thought she was going to punch him but then of course Bill stepped in, bloody noble twit. Everyone else wanted to see how much they'd hurt each other. Oh, and Hermione and Fleur know about us.'

Jacob laughter at George's recount of what happened between his siblings stopped in a second when he heard that last comment slip from George's lips. He didn't care who knew but it was George who cared and Jacob supposed he just had to respect that until he was ready to come out to his family. 'Oh,' Jacob said his voice sounding like a mouse's. 'How'd they find out?' He raked his brain, thinking back to what he had said to them and he couldn't have let any hints slip at all.

'Hermione's seriously the brain of Britain and Fleur … well; she just knows when it comes to things like this.' Jacob could feel George shrugging against his back as he lay against his chest. 'I don't mind though,' George continued, 'they said that they wouldn't tell anyone but if he kept swaning around together like that someone else was bound to find out. Apparently it was a little obvious, good thing everyone else is completely oblivious and mildly stupid, I reckon. But they won't say anything until I'm ready to tell my mum.' 

'Is it just your mum you're worried about telling?'

'I used to be worried about telling her but now I want to tell her at a really awkward time for her,' George said and grinned, 'more fun for me.' He tightened his hold around Jacob's waist and sighed sleepily. 'And Fleur said that she doesn't think you are from Veela background, not even a little bit.'

'But she said to me that I might be,' Jacob said puzzled and confused.

'She asked the girl's about it,' George said, 'and if you were even a little Veela every single one of them would have been tripping up over you. It's a Veela's charm,' he added with a smile.

Jacob frowned, he didn't think that he was even a little Veela but when Fleur had spoken to him she had said he might have been. All this jumping about between ideas and knowledge was starting to annoy him. All he wanted to know was how he'd come by his magic at this age.

'Hey,' George said. 'Don't look so down, she said they all thought you were gorgeous, they just weren't swooning over you.'

'It's not that,' Jacob said. 'I want to know where my magic came from.'

'I know,' George said quietly. 'You'll find out, don't worry.'

Jacob nodded and yawned. 'I'm so tired, my stupid bloody sister woke me up so early in the morning because the baby was kicking and she wanted me to feel it.'

'Sleep properly tonight then,' George said as if the solution as a simple one. His eyes lit up like he'd just remembered something and he spoke, 'I got your present!'

Jacob twisted around to look at George's face but then blushed pink when he found moving like that had made their chests press together and he was now lying on top of George. He tried to sit up and move down the other end of the couch thinking how embarrassing to would be for them both if he continued to lay there. But George seemed to have other ideas, as Jacob tried to move he tightened his arms again and Jacob was pinned against him. He flushed an even brighter pink when George bit his own bottom lip and smiled at him. This reminded Jacob of some of the dreams he had had on Christmas night and he struggled to keep those arousing thoughts from his mind.

'Thank you for the chocolate, Jakey,' George said kissing Jacob's chin before his lips found his. 'Its expensive stuff that,' he added with a smile and an even longer and more physical kiss. 'Thank you,' George said again once the kiss had ended.

'You're welcome,' Jacob spluttered, after the assault on his mouth he was panting and the blush on his face would not reside.

'I got you something as well,' George told pushing Jacob off much to his relief and running off to his room.

Jacob sighed thankful for George leaving then because if they had stayed like that any longer, in such a comprising position, Jacob surely would have had a _little visitor pop up from down below_. That would have been horribly embarrassing. But he was sure George knew what them lying like that was doing to him and Jacob thought that George had even ground against him a little just to tease.

George came back holding a bundle wrapped up in his arms, he sat down next to Jacob and pulled him close again (not like before, just so their sides were pressed together). He handed Jacob the present. Jacob ripped away the decorative paper surrounding what was inside and saw a dark material inside. He lifted it out and found it was a cloak, like many of the wizards and witches wore around Diagon Alley. It was trimmed with a blue similar to that of his eyes but not nearly as sharp a blue as George's were. The cloak felt soft and slippery beneath his fingers yet as though it could be very warm and comforting.

He stood up with a wide smile of thanks to George and pulled his coat off and slipped his arms inside the cloak. It was warm without being too hot and it fitted him perfectly. As he was about to sit back down next to George he felt strong arms wrapping himself around his waist as they had been before, and he was pulled into George's lap, basically sitting sideways on one of his legs. He blushed.

'I like it when you blush,' George said into his ear. This made Jacob blush even more like he couldn't control the temperature of his own body.

'Thank you for the cloak, George,' Jacob said smiling shakily when he felt George's hands slip underneath the cloak and run along his covered chest.

'Not a problem,' George said huskily as he then began to kiss and suck on Jacob's neck. Jacob froze in an instant when he felt that his pants were beginning to get tighter then they should be. George obviously noticed this because he laughed into Jacob's neck and stopped stroking his light blonde hair as if he was settling him before he continued to suck and lick at his neck again.

'Calm, Jakey boy, calm,' George said. 'Anyone would think you hadn't done this before.'

'I have done this before, George,' Jacob replied in quite a snappish tone after a gasp emitted from his throat. 'Just … just not with you.'

'Does that make a difference?'

'Yes, of course it makes a difference!' he said. 'You're you.'

'Mm,' George said to himself pushing Jacob so that he was pinned against the cushions and quickly climbed on top of him. 'I'll take that as a compliment.'

'You ought to,' Jacob said regaining some of his original confidence and smiling brightly up at George.

George smiled back himself and to Jacob's surprise and glee he too broke out into a blush. 'You're so gorgeous,' George told him and before Jacob had time to say that he was too George's mouth was on his again and seemed to be sucking all the air from his lungs in a heated kiss.

There was a stamping of feet on stairs and George's hand had traveled to his Jacob's zipper and he barely had the seconds to pull it away before Jacob saw another red head standing at the top of the stairs with a shocked look on his face.

'G –George?' he spluttered. When George moved on him Jacob sat up and was able to see the speakers face properly. It was Ron.

'Hi, Ron,' George said smoothly remaining calm and cool as he flattened his hair down which Jacob had made a mess of. George sounded like he didn't care that Ron had stumbled in on them, but Jacob cared. He frowned at Ron and crossed his arms hoping Ron saw his annoyance and would fuck off and let them get back to it. At first he was nervous but when he had eased into he had found that he wanted it. He had always wanted it from George, but this soon was always his question. Now, he didn't care.

'So, um,' Ron said looking very unsure of himself in this place after seeing what he seen and he was shifting his weight nervously from foot to foot. He looked down at the huge plate of food his hands and seemed to find some topic to speak about. 'Mum wanted to bring you food,' he muttered thrusting it forward. 'I couldn't Floo here, you have the connection off.'

'Thanks, Ron,' George said and left Jacob on the couch crossing over to where his younger brother stood and pried the food from his hands.

Ron still looked slightly shocked as he stared from George and then back to Jacob. Jacob sympathized with him, after all he had just seen his older brother who he must have thought was as straight as a post making out with the man who didn't know who the hell he was.

'Jacob Smith?' Ron asked him. They had met many times before but Jacob didn't mind if the boy was forgetful.

'Yeah,' Jacob said looking across at George who'd just sat back down next to him.

'You and Jacob Smith?' Ron croaked to George who nodded. 'But I thought you were …'

'So did I,' George said reasoning with them. 'I did too, but I suppose now it doesn't really matter.'

Ron looked at him once more and then headed for the stairs saying, 'Well, I'm going to go, Hermione's waiting at home,' he said and then added, 'have a good Christmas.'

'Thanks, Ron,' George said, 'you too!'

Jacob watched Ron retreating down the stairs and then when the door of the shop slammed shut, George groaned. 'Stupid prick's going straight home to tell mum what he saw!'

'How do you know that?' Jacob asked, thinking that Ron would do no such thing.

'He so will,' George said. 'He gossips.'

'Saves you the job of telling Molly though, doesn't it?'

'Yeah, it does,' George said with a smile and then kissed Jacob again, pressing a finger to his chest and trailing it downwards. 'Can we do this another time?' he asked the regret easily showing in his face. 'I don't feel like it anymore.'

'Sure,' Jacob said and then his mind was full of images of what was to come whenever they got another chance like that. 'Sure,' he repeated softly.

George left the couch and went to the plate of food his brother had delivered and pulled the wrap of the top. His eyes widened as he went about dumping the food into separate plates giving Jacob time to think.

He didn't mind that Ron knew and was going to tell Molly; in fact he was a little glad that was going to happen according to George. He didn't want George's family to be left out on what was happening with their son and sibling. He hoped they wouldn't mind that he played for both teams, or was still trying to decide (George hadn't as yet given him an update on that situation). Jacob honestly, and as cheesy as it sounded, wanted George to be happy.

He was also excited about the start up of his magical training again in a few short days. On New Year's Day, at 10:30am he would be going to Hogwarts to spend all day learning new spells, jinxes, charms, counter-curses and plenty of other things. But they scary thing was he only had a very short time until his exams that Professor McGonagall had told him would be a combination of what he knew and what the first and second years would usually sit. He had a lot of work to do in a short amount of time.

It was daunting but he was sure he could manage it.

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**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	14. You Keep Trying

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

**Curiosity  
Part Fourteen: You Keep Trying**

Jacob woke to a line of sunlight pouring across his face. He groaned and turned over in bed to face the wall and away from the brightness. He wanted George's bed because George did have to face the blinding light every morning and because George was in it. Thrusting his head under his pillow he groaned again, cursing the fact that it had been New Year's Eve the night before and as was his custom he had gotten royally off his face. The ache that was assaulting his head was pounding in every corner and no matter how much he twisted and how hard he pressed the pillow into his face it would not go away and leave him be. Was getting that pissed really worth it? After he thought this he shuddered, it made him sound old.

'You should have seen yourself last night,' George accosted when Jacob finally swung his legs over the side of the bed and was about to make his way to the bathroom. George was standing in the doorway blocking his escape. Jacob wasn't in the mood for comments about how wasted he had been, he wanted a shower and some breakfast to relieve the headache. But a sweet smell reached his nostrils and he found George was holding something in his hands.

'Here,' George said offering the cup to him. 'It's a potion, should stop that headache.' He said pushing it forward into Jacob's hands.

'Have you already had some?' Jacob asked as he accepted the cup and looked down at the mixture inside. As he remembered (if his memory could be trusted after what he had drunk last night) George had also gotten fairly wasted after he had taken Jacob to a place called the Three Broomsticks in an all Wizarding village known as Hogsmeade. He looked back down inside and saw that the potion inside was a dark earthly green colour and looked completely inviting. 'You want me to drink this?'

'Yes, and yes,' George said and putting his arm up against the door frame when Jacob tried to duck past. 'I have had some and I didn't turn into something nasty, not that I'd do that to myself. It's been approved by the Ministry and blah, blah, blah,' he said with a wave of a hand but caught Jacob around the middle as he tried to run off towards the shower again. 'Just drink it, it really works.'

Jacob stared down at the cup in his hands. It smelt delicious but lacked a lot in the looks department. Sighing over dramatically he lifted the rim to his lips and took a short sip, his eyes forever watching George. The potion tasted as disgusting as it looked.

'What?' the man asked. 'I'm not trying to poison you! If I had been, I'd have done it a long time ago,' George teased and Jacob downed the last of the drink.

'That stuff is disgusting,' he said pushing the cup back into George's chest. George grinned as Jacob held a hand to his head when the ache gave one sharp pang and then was gone. He looked up at Jacob misty eyed. 'That's incredible.'

'I told you,' George said. He wiped the small amount of tears from Jacob's eyes. 'Don't worry about that,' he said. 'It's just a side effect, goes away in about thirty seconds.'

Jacob nodded and didn't feel the need to rush off for a shower right this minute. He smiled up at George who beamed back down at him.

'So, last night was fun,' George said tracing his finger along Jacob's jaw line.

Flushing pale pink, Jacob watched the finger out of the corner of his eye and closed his eyes, letting out a flustered breath when George let it trail down his neck. 'I ... uh ... can't really remember what happened,' Jacob said. 'What _happened_?'

George pulled the finger back and placed his hands on his hips staring intensely at Jacob. 'You don't remember?' he asked in a shocked tone.

'No, sorry, George, I don't.'

'Well, we ... um ... we had sex,' George said nodding his head when the wide eyed expression came on Jacob's face.

'_What?' _

George remained serious for some more seconds before shaking his head and laughing, ruffling Jacob's hair. 'We didn't,' he sang out. 'Nice reaction though!'

'That's not funny,' Jacob said pushing past George and walking towards the shower, arms crossed across his chest. He heard George following him and spun around. 'What if we actually had?' he asked.

'It would have been great,' George told him, 'and I'd make sure you'd remember it.'

'We didn't actually, did we?' Jacob asked. Sometimes it was difficult to tell when George was joking and when he wasn't.

'No, we didn't,' George assured him walking over and taking his hand.

'Good,' Jacob said quietly, 'because if we had, I'd want to remember.'

George grinned at him and leaned down to kiss his lips softly. Jacob smiled and leaned into the kiss, letting George's arms around his waist supporting him. He then broke the kiss off as he remembered that Molly, along with her husband, had been at the New Year's Eve celebration and had spoken briefly to George before leaving suddenly. It had been a short and awkward meeting between mother and son, though afterwards George looked like he had enjoyed it very much.

'What did your mum say?' Jacob asked.

'Just all this crap about how she has to find out stuff about my life through Ron and she should know about important things like that and then she got shitty at me and left.'

'Are you proud of that?' Jacob asked. George did look proud with himself for making his mother angry at him for that seemed to forever be one of his goals in life.

'Yeah,' George and with a short grin but then his expression fell sour. 'She's really not happy that I didn't tell her and that Ron did, but she'll get over it eventually.'

'I hope she does, because then it's on account of me that you won't be speaking to each other.'

'It's not on account of you at all, Jakey,' George said. 'She thinks you're – oh, what did she say? Oh yeah, "_a charming young man who shouldn't have gotten himself involved with a cauldron of mischief like you George Weasley," – _She's just pissy that I didn't tell her sooner.'

'Does your dad mind?' Jacob asked him after laughing at the expression and voice George put on when imitating Molly.

'No, you could run over him with a bus and he wouldn't mind.'

'Huh, could you really?'

'Well, he'd be a bit peeved but nah, he wouldn't mind that much, easy going bloke he is.' George took away his arms from around Jacob's waist and looked down at this watch. 'It's 10, aren't you supposed to be Hogwarts soon?'

'Bugger,' Jacob hissed and then pelted off to the shower. It would have to be a quick one, which was annoying for him because he always found it difficult to pull himself away from the warm water.

He was excited about the lesson today as it was going to be a long one. When Professor McGonagall had sent him an owl on Christmas day she had said that'd he could stay at Hogwarts all day today if he wanted because she had nothing else to do and some Professor's _may_ also be stopping into to help him. Today he would be learning a lot about the properties of ingredients that went into standards potions, several more spells first years needed to know, revising the ones he had already learnt and learning about some Magic Creatures. Professor McGonagall said she might be able to introduce him to some people he'd surely like to meet. He was extremely curious by that comment and couldn't wait to find out who he would be meeting. But she had been adamant when she said it only might happen there were no promises.

After a quick shower and having to tear himself away from the warmth, he wrapped a fluffy towel around his waist, dumped his clothes into the dirty clothes basket and walked back into the room. George had opened the curtains wide so that all the sun streamed in and the windows were open letting fresh air flush the stuffy room. George was lying on Jacob's bed in the glow of the sun, as the sun never reached his bed.

Clutching the towel around his waist, Jacob walked over to his closet and began ferreting inside it for something to wear. He heard George move off the bed and the soft padding of feet across the floor as he pulled out a plain white shirt short sleeved shirt followed by a pair of black shorts. George came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Jacob's bare chest.

'George,' Jacob said sternly at first but then groaned when George kissed the sensitive spot behind his ear. He felt George's fingers over his that were holding the towel up and when the red head began to push his fingers away, Jacob stepped away shutting the closet door. 'I have to go,' he said sadly.

'Really,' George whined. 'Do you have too?' he asked and pouted. 'I don't have to work today so I'm not going to, couldn't you stay here with me?'

'I can't,' he said disappointedly while he pulled his clothes on, making sure George wasn't watching. Why did he have to go when George was being like this? It was fucking annoying, and he did really want to stay. 'I've got to go, sorry.' He hoped George knew he really meant it.

George shrugged. 'Ok then,' he said resignedly but then put on a huge smile as he led Jacob towards the fireplace. 'See you later,' he said as he pushed Jacob forward into the hearth.

A powdering of green dust fell into his shoulders as he stepped inside and he groaned, brushing it off with unenthusiastic swipes. He sneezed when another layer puffed up from the floor when George stepped forward wiping it from his shoulders for him. 'Thanks,' Jacob said pinching his nose and shaking his head after the single sharp sneeze.

'No problem,' George said and then suddenly soft lips were on his and Jacob was pushed up against the back wall of the fireplace, George's hand clamped around the collar of his shirt. Jacob gasped when George pushed him back against the wall harder and continued to attack his mouth with kisses. He kissed back, adding the pressure that George wanted and moaned softly when George's lips left his.

'Now,' he panted. 'Will you stay?'

'I can't,' Jacob repeated. 'I can't, George, I have to bloody go.'

George stepped out of the hearth with a glowering expression on his face.

'It is touching,' Jacob said, 'that you want me to stay that much.'

'I see I'm doing terrible things for your ego,' George shot back grabbing the bowl of green powder sitting on the mantle. 'Get out of here,' he said jokingly and threw a handful of the dust at Jacob and shouted _Hogwarts _for him.

Jacob didn't have the chance to reply to that because he was he was being shot through the Floo connection, feeling that familiar squeezing sensation. The feeling of Flooing and Apparition was so similar that they really could just be the same thing.

All of a sudden he was thrown out of the connection and onto the floor of the Headmistress' office. He stood groggily, embarrassed by falling out of the fireplace like that, he had become quite good at Flooing and rarely fell but there were times. Looking around he saw that Professor McGonagall wasn't even in her office yet and that the chair was waiting for him before her desk. He sank into the chair brushing more dust off his shirt and deciding that he or George or both of them should really take the time to sweep that place out, it'd barely take two seconds.

Sighing, he tapped his fingers on the arm chair and looked out the window at the Scottish countryside that was visible. The lining of trees that started off a dense forest could be seen and the shimmering edge of a lake was in the corner of the medium sized window. It was not until that a splash of rain hit the window that he realized the sparkle of the lake wasn't from the sun or that Hogwarts was home to some kind of freaky shiny lake but the soft sprinkle of rain. He sighed and stuck his tongue out at the window and the landscape outside. Of course it would be a dreary day in Scotland, bloody typical. He grimaced when he remembered the tee and shorts he was wearing. He had dressed for the warmth and sun of inner London and had forgotten he'd be travelling home for the lessons. And it never seemed like he was going far anyway as it only took about twenty – if not less – seconds to get to the office. He shook his head, it didn't matter, and it wasn't like he was going outside.

A deep clanging and rumble brought him back from his thoughts. He snapped his head around in the direction of the noise and saw the stair case in the far corner moving upwards. Standing on the stairs as they twisted around was Professor McGonagall looking rather wet and grumpy, she stepped off the stairs her eyes narrow slits and slunk over to her high backed chair, sitting down.

She seemed to stare absently at her desk before looking at Jacob and smiling politely, 'I'm sorry for the wait,' she said. 'We had a bit of trouble with our residence poltergeist Peeves, worst manifestation if there ever was one,' she muttered under her breath.

This had Jacob sitting on the edge of his seat. 'I'm sorry ... what?' he asked staring intently at the sodden Professor, 'a poltergeist, as in a ghost?'

'Oh yes, Mr Smith, a ghost,' she said it like it as if she was reciting a grocery list or something of that simple nature.

'You've got to be kidding me, a ghost?' he asked amazed, 'really?' He had heard all about ghosts through stories intended to spook and frighten young children but he'd never really thought those stories might actually be telling a true story of what had happened between spirits and humans.

'Yes,' the Professor said casting a spell on herself and all the dampness in her clothing and hair vanished as she was left looking as dry as a lizard. 'Hogwarts has a number of ghosts that live in it, even the houses have their own ghosts. Peeves is just a particular nuisance, none of them cause as much trouble as he does.'

'But aren't ghosts supposed to frighten people?' Jacob asked. 'You know, because of the expression 'Ghost Stories?"'

'Not all ghosts are like that, Jacob, some are but most have just chosen to remain behind in our world because they have unfinished business or for other personal reasons.'

'Ghosts,' Jacob said astounded, 'you're joking?'

'No, Mr Smith,' she said sternly but a smile still on her face, 'I am not joking.' She looked at him with concern. 'What else do you know about Magical Creatures?' she asked.

'I know something about Dragons,' he said. 'George told me.'

'Did you ever take History or Classical Studies at your Muggle School?'

'Yes, I took Classical Studies.'

'Well, creatures like Centaurs, Giants, Chimeras, Unicorns and Phoenixes really exist, along with a wide variety of other creatures.' She waved her wand a book flew off the shelf and into her outstretched palm. It was red book with golden clasps on the spine holding it together, the book looked well read and loved as it was falling apart in places. 'Here,' she said and the book flew out towards. 'You'll read about Magical Creatures plenty in that; you just need to know about the basics for the test and most of that you probably already know from Classical Studies.'

'What do I need to know for the test?'

'I have a list for you, the exam has been written up and you do know you'll be sitting it in two weeks don't you?' Jacob nodded and she continued. 'It shouldn't be very hard and there won't be much in it because as you know we are just teaching you the basics. After you've passed all the tests we give you and have the Trace lifted you may learn whatever else you like without our forever present guidance.'

Jacob nodded again and smiled. A list flittered out from under a pile of books on the Professor's desk and danced around in front of his face before he grabbed at it, the parchment went limp in his hands. 'Is this the list of what I need to know?' he asked.

'Yes, please read it.'

Jacob turned his eyes towards the parchment and saw many different styles of writing on it as if many of the Professors had taken turns to write down what they thought Jacob should know to pass a first and second year (combined) exam. More than three different styles were on the page and it read:

_Transfiguration: _

_Switching spells (to turn something small into something else and then back again) _

_Charms: _

_Wingardium Leviosa _

_Accio – summoning Charm _

_Alohamora _

_Growing Charm _

_Shrinking Charm _

_Silencing Charm _

_Cleaning Charm _

_Potions: _

_Boil Cure Potion _

_Forgetfulness Potion _

_Properties of ingredients that go into each potion _

_Defence against the Dark Arts _

_Counter curses _

_And ways to avoid for expel Hinkypunks _

_Kappas _

_Red Caps _

_And three basic points about Werewolves and Vampires _

_Magical Creatures: _

_Three basic points about Centaurs _

_Giants _

_Chimeras _

_Unicorns _

_Phoenixes _

'Why so much about Magical Creatures?' Jacob asked putting that list in his lap. 'I thought I wasn't going to be learning much about them in the beginning.'

'It has been decided that you probably should know a lot about them so you can understand why the Wizarding world hides them away from Muggle's and so you know more about our world. Learning these spells and charms, Mr Smith, is just a way for you to control your magic because left untrained it can and probably would be dangerous.'

'Oh ok,' Jacob said thinking that it made some sense. He knew he needed to learn more about this world and probably should be asking more questions rather than just going along with what happened. 'How much of this will I be learning in the lessons?' he asked, another good question because he could only study the theory of them away from Hogwarts and he'd just have to read over the practical again and again in order to perform well in the test.

'We will be going over all the magic portions here and the Magical Creatures, if you could study that at home, it would be very good. There would be more time for you to learn your magic and get it right for the test.'

With a quick bob of his head and a grin, Jacob pulled out his wand. 'What are we learning today?' he asked eagerly.

It seemed barely an hour later when Professor McGonagall looked at the time and hissed through her teeth. It was well past three o'clock and they had been practising for a long time. They had gone through the spells he already knew, tried out all the spells he didn't know. The only ones he had success with were the ones he knew, three counter curses he tried and the Silencing Charm. The other Charms and two other counter courses and jinxes he learnt were tough and he continually failed to grasp them. He and the Professor had also gone over the properties of the ingredients needed in the potions he would be brewing in the exam and Jacob had jotted down the notes for this and for Defence against the Dark Arts they had talked about the dark creatures and how to get away from them and Jacob had learnt two spells to help him in that. If he kept learning at that rate he'd be more ready than ever for the test and now he found himself quite looking forward to it as the learning proved easy.

Overall, after a thoroughly exhausting lesson, he was feeling well learnt and ready to return home. He thanked the Professor took his notes and Flooed home.

He felt good about what he had achieved today as he stumbled into the fireplace, never mind what he couldn't get now, he had plenty of time to learn it later. And wasn't that what learning was all about? Making mistakes so you could learn how to do things properly. And he had certainly made some mistakes today! While attempting a Shrinking Charm he had accidently enlarged Professor McGonagall's desk so it took up half the room and knocked her belongings from the shelves. But she had set it right in an instant with just a simple flick of her wand, the desk and shrunk back to its original size and her items had corrected themselves.

Yawning and stretching as he walked across the living room carpet he left a trail of dust. Looking behind him, he decided he didn't care about that and kept walking trying to find out what the delicious smell was. It was emitting from the small kitchen/dining room area and as he entered he was greeted to the sight of George lazily lounging in one of the chairs at the table, his wand pointing across to the kitchen. He jumped up when he heard Jacob enter the room and immediately something he was cooking boiled over.

'Are you cooking?' Jacob asked as he came closer. George had had to run off into the kitchen chasing down what had happened. 'Do you even cook properly?'

'I'm not _cooking,' _George said. 'Just heating up the stuff my mum left me when she sent Ron round. I think it's gone off though.'

'Oh,' Jacob said walking back into the living room and falling onto the white couch kicking his shoes off and wanting to fall asleep then and there. 'So, you aren't trying to seduce me?'

'Why would I try and seduce you by cooking for you?' George asked when he into the room and sat down next to Jacob.

'Because people do that for me,' he said with a shrug. 'I left home literally the instant I turned 18 and moved in with my boyfriend at the time and he always made me dinner and breakfast – partly because I'm a useless cook but partly because he was always trying to seduce me.'

'I moved out young too,' George said, 'and Fred always cooked as well, not because he was trying to "seduce" me or anything - ew,' he added with a frown, 'but because I can't cook for Merlin's trousers.'

'Being cooked for is great isn't it?' Jacob said with a grin leaning back against the cushions. 'Not that I'm not some spoiled brat or anything,' he said quickly in case his last words had made him sound like one. 'I can cook; he just knew how to cook better.'

'So,' George said with a sly smile. 'This seducing plan of his – the ex's – did it work? Did he always have you after he cooked for you?'

Jacob flushed. It was all well with the fearless and normal talk before but when George had that expression on his face and when he talked like that; Jacob was rendered speechless and looking quite like a fool. 'Sometimes he did, yeah.'

'Maybe I should try my hand at cooking for you,' George said and after taking a long drawn out look at Jacob he added, 'maybe not tonight though, you look exhausted.'

'You keep trying to seduce me, George,' Jacob said. 'You don't even have to try; you're so gorgeous I'd have you anyway.'

'Are you saying you like me for my looks only?' George asked in mock shock, 'for shame, Jacob!'

'No,' Jacob said sitting up. 'Not just that. You're very charming, completely adorable, amazingly funny, wonderfully kind to me, and you are just the best boyfriend type person ever. I couldn't think of a better person to live with.'

'I think you're trying to seduce me now,' George said but grinning all the same.

'Is it working?' Jacob asked unable to hide a yawn.

'I don't want to shag you and then have you falling asleep half way through,' he said. 'Merlin, how embarrassing would that be? I couldn't even tell my mates how lucky I got, so you need to be fully awake throughout the whole thing!' George told him seriously.

'Ok, ok!' Jacob said 'You need to be awake too though; we both have to be completely awake, deal?'

'Deal,' George said. He leaned across the small space between them and kissed Jacob's cheek. 'Am I really the best boyfriend type person ever?' he asked.

'Yes, George, you are.'

'Good!' he said with a wide smile. Jacob sat up properly with the urge to kiss George and caught George's face in his hands before kissing his thin lips firmly, enjoying the soft moan that emitted from the red head's throat.

* * *

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	15. Encounters

**

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

**Curiosity  
Part Fifteen: Encounters**

Over the next week Jacob had been studying hard and learning all he needed to know. He had been doing well too, he now practically knew everything in that test off by heart, even the difficult potions and the charms he hadn't been able to master earlier. And he often wandered around the flat and shop mumbling the properties in the Potion ingredients, muttering facts about dark creatures and the better ones. In fact, he'd been doing so well that Professor McGonagall told him she'd pushed the test forward to Monday of that week instead of the Friday it was supposed to be on. Jacob didn't mind that much, it would stop him fretting unnecessarily about the test. Not that he was one to fret, but he did occasionally and when he did he ended up making himself so nervous he forgot everything he had learnt in order to pass. He had done that once and had vowed to never worry himself sick again. 

It was Sunday night now; the evening before the test and Jacob was just going over some notes about spell theory and nothing more. Since he couldn't cast the spells for fear of another hearing he just had to study the wand movement, read over the correct pronunciation and pray he got it right tomorrow. The exam was basically first thing in the morning, 9am sharp it began in the Headmistress' office with her watching over him to make sure he didn't cheat. He wondered why he would even contemplate cheating as learning about this stuff was so much fun it didn't bother him to look over it again and again. He quite enjoyed it.

He quickly put his notes away when his head began to ache. He'd been staring at the words and reading them for nearly an hour and it had made him weary and sick of it. Wondering he had looked like a right swot, he folded up the notes and stuffed them into the back pocket of his jeans. The back pocket of whatever pair pants he was wearing that day had become a permanent home for the notes. _Oh god, _he thought to himself, pushing his head into his hands, he was a swot. He had never been so eager to learn before and this stuff he was learning was fantastic so he supposed anyone in his situation would be a bit nerdy too. Jacob could be as swotty as he liked and no one could put it past him.

The chair at the table next to his was suddenly inhabited by George who was holding two cups of hot tea. He put one down in front of Jacob and took a sip from the other, looking at Jacob over the rim of his cup.

'So, I was thinking,' he said. 'That after your testy, exam-y thing that I come to the school and met you and then I could give you some flying lessons after it. Sound ok?'

'What type of flying?' Jacob asked spinning a finger around the lip of his cup but not taking a drink.

'Flying,' George repeated. 'Like the kind you saw at the Burrow, on brooms.'

'On br_oo_msticks?' Jacob asked drawing out the vowels and cringing as his accent extended those vowels further. But George just grinned at him and leaned a little closer. George had told him before that he loved his accent and he being from Scotland was great because in his opinion they had the best accents in the whole of England.

'Flying is bloody brilliant,' George said. 'I'm not kidding, don't laugh! It's amazing. If you don't want to do it on your own at first, I could take you up.'

'I can learn on my own ... with some guidance,' he added when George arched his brows. Jacob leaned closer to George so their noses were almost touching. 'Is that what you Wizarding folk do?' he asked smiling widely at George. 'Take each other out on broomstick rides? Is it your idea of romance?'

'What gets me, Jakey,' George said immediately jumping off to something else with a faint blush across his cheeks. 'Is that you keep saying _you _but never _us. _Aren't you one of us now?' he asked.

'You answer my question then I'll answer yours.' Jacob grinned again.

'Yeah, I suppose it is a romantic thing we do. Ron used to do it a lot with Hermione because she's a shocker when it comes to flying and he'd tell me about it all the time. Yap, yap, yap, that bloke never shuts up.'

'Sounds like someone else I know,' Jacob said patting George's hair. 'What I really meant to ask was: have you ever taken someone out like that before?'

'No,' George said plucking at the tea bag in his drink. 'I haven't, why? Do you want me to take you out on a moonlight broom ride?'

'I want to learn how to fly myself before I get on a broom with you,' Jacob said with tease.

'Didn't you see how well I flew at the Burrow?' George asked glaring at Jacob but amusement still in his eyes.

'You fell off, George, don't you remember?'

'I didn't fall, I was pushed,' George said. 'There's a difference! And anyway, I played for the Gryffindor Quidditch team at Hogwarts and I was bloody good. Where do you think I got these muscles from?' he asked.

'Ok, ok, fine,' Jacob said. 'Have it your way, take me out for a fly to show your immense skills. But,' he added, 'only after you've shown me how to. So if you fall off I can save myself.'

'Charming,' George mumbled, 'that's what you are.'

Jacob smiled at George leaned in closer and pressed his lips to his mouth. 'I was only teasing,' he said quietly. 'I'd bet all my money -'

'- which isn't very much,' George interrupted him with a gleam in his eye and Jacob knew, he too, was only teasing.

'I'd bet all my money that you're a fantastic flyer,' he finished. 'You will still teach me, right? I want to learn how.'

'Merlin, Jakey, what don't you want to learn about?'

'Everything I learned about at the Muggle schools, complete waste of time,' he said shaking his head. He stood and collected up one of the books he had been looking at, drowned the last of his tea and turned back to George. 'Good night,' he said kissing him again.

'Night, Jakey.'

He was woken the next morning by the soft movement of sheets and some muffled words he couldn't understand, and then the warm feeling of someone lying next to him woke him fully. Blinking the sleep from his eyes he rolled over finding George beside him, staring at him with a smile on his face. He groaned when he caught sight of the watch George wore in his wrist. It was already 7:45am, he had to be there, ready for the test at 9. He couldn't be bothered getting up right this instance, he'd save the joy of that for later.

After George had realized he was awake, he pulled Jacob close to him and swung his arm around his shoulders. The hand with the watch on the wrist was softly pressing against his cheek as Jacob snuggled into George's shoulder. He'd noticed the watch before mainly for its uniqueness but he'd never really taken the time to look at it.

It was a simple slivery colour, but yet it couldn't be described as being silver, it was more than that. The face of the clock was normal and the numbers the same as any watch he'd owned, but in the centre of the face there was a small racoon but the image wasn't solid. It was the same silvery colour as the watch and seemed to fade out like it was ghost like. The racoon in the centre of the clock was tiny and barely noticeable unless you looked hard enough, and looked even harder to identify what it was. Outside the racoon the watch was completely ordinary apart from looking quite lavish and expensive.

'George?' he asked letting go of his wrist.

'Mm?'

'Why is there a picture of a racoon in your watch?'

'It's my Patronus,' George replied pulling his arm out from around Jacob's shoulders so he could also stare at the watch face. Jacob must have made a confused noise because George looked at him quickly before explaining what a Patronus was. 'A Patronus is a spell that protects you and it comes out in the form of an animal. It's a hard spell and you only learn it during the last year at Hogwarts. It's mainly used for getting rid of Dementors which are sort of guard things that watch the wizard prison.'

Jacob nodded trying to take in that information but another question seemed more important to him. 'Why a racoon?' he asked.

'You can't choose,' George told him, 'whatever your Patronus is, it just is that, unless it changes because of some experience. Mine changed.' He sighed and stroked a finger around the watch. 'It used to be a monkey, identical to Fred's – no surprise there,' he added with a grin. 'But then after the war in changed into a racoon, I don't know why. The watch,' he tapped it, 'shows the owners Patronus in the centre. Pretty cool, huh?'

Jacob nodded and hugged up to him closer because after the day when he had run off after George had told him about the war, Jacob knew that he was ok with talking about it now. 'What do you think mine would be?' he asked George, 'if I ever get to learn how to do that, that is.'

'I dunno,' George said placing his arm back around Jacob's shoulders, 'something curious probably, a cat maybe? Or some kind of baby animal, you know because they're always learning and curious.'

'But I don't like cats.'

'It was just a guess,' George said.

Jacob looked sideways at the watch again, it was now just five to eight and he wanted to shower, eat something and do some revision before he went to the school. He shuffled over George and slipped out of the bed, yawning and stretching before walked off to the shower. He stepped inside the warm water, sighing as it rushed down his body, caressing him as well as cleaning. He soaped some of the shampoo onto his hands. It was his shampoo and it smelled like berries and fresh rain in the countryside, a smell he adored. He had often had to tell his flatmates that the shampoo was just one of his metrosexual tendencies, but they had all agreed it was quite fruity yet it suited him well nonetheless. He grinned as he reached for the body wash that smelt like berries also, minus the fresh rain. He lathered it over himself and washed it off staring at the shower handle. He wanted so much just to bask in the warmth running down him but he knew he couldn't. He had to get out, he was busy today.

Groaning he turned the shower off grabbed the towel that was hanging on the door, wrapped it around him and breathed in the smell of his washed hair. He pushed open the opaque, fogged up shower door and stepped out.

He squeaked. George was standing outside the shower in all his glory frowning at Jacob. Jacob held the towel tighter around himself as he stared at the tall, stocky man in shock.

'Couldn't you have stayed in just a little longer?' George asked him with his hands on his hips. 'I was going to get in and surprise you.'

Jacob couldn't think of a formidable sentence to say. He wanted to say some witty retort but all that was running through his mind was the fact that just by pulling the towel down they would both be naked, in the same room, naked together. He opened his mouth hoping that some remark that was the height of wit would come out but all that did was a kind of blocked squeak. He blushed, looked to the floor and walked out of them room feeling a right fool.

He was sitting at the table fully clothed munching on an apple and looking at the notes before him when George waltzed in, smelling like soap and clean from his shower as well. Jacob blushed as his eyes slid uncontrollably to George's crotch. His covered crotch, he hastened to think when he looked back down at the paper, his face was burning from the extent of the blush.

He heard George chuckle to himself as he rummaged around in the cupboards for something to eat. While he searched Jacob found himself wondering why he was so shy around George when it came to talk about sex or nakedness. He had to force himself to say witty and funny things when all he really wanted to do was blush innocently and perhaps hide like a small school girl. He had never been quite like this around anyone else, apart from a girl (he had once liked the feminine gender) at his primary school but they didn't talk about things like this. Jacob had never been so shy about that in front of anyone but George, it was probably because the man was so insanely beautiful. When it came to the actual sex he wondered how much coaxing George would have to do to get him to format a simple coherent sentence. He couldn't believe that he had seen George like that with himself only a stone throw away from being as equally naked and all he'd done was squeaked and choked on his words.

The scraping sound of a chair across the floor snapped him from his thoughts; he looked up, the apple halfway towards his mouth and frozen there. George had taken the seat opposite him and was chewing thoughtfully on some cereal but every thirty seconds or so he'd look up at Jacob and smile before returning to his food. Jacob finished his apple quickly and threw the core in the direction of the bin, cheering inside his head when it landed perfectly.

'I'll meet you outside of Professor McGonagall's office,' George said when Jacob stood gathered up his notes and headed towards the fireplace.

'Wh – what?' Jacob asked. He couldn't remember for what reason George was doing that.

'Flying lessons, remember?'

'Yeah,' Jacob nodded and left the kitchen.

He eased himself into the hearth grabbing a handful of Floo powder. He was glad that George hadn't kissed him goodbye or said anything in that unbelievably cocky manor of his. If he had, Jacob would probably have exploded then and there.

'Good luck!' George called from the kitchen.

Smiling feebly, a response the other man wouldn't be able to hear or see but it didn't matter. He threw the powder up and said 'Hogwarts!'

He found himself in the headmistress' office staring at a completely different environment. The background of the office was still the same but in place of Jacob's normal comfortable chair, a wooden table and desk sat with a black as night cauldron next to them. On the desk a sheet of parchment sat along with a quill lying diagonally across it. Bottles of ingredients he would need for the potions were stacked up in one corner of the desk. Jacob nervously fingered the wand in his sleeve and handed his notes over to Professor McGonagall when she stuck her hand and waggled her fingers.

'Good morning, Jacob,' she said smiling quite brightly at him. 'No time for a chat,' she said when Jacob opened his mouth to bid her a good morning also, 'you have plenty of work to do. Please sit.'

He sat pulling his wand out of his sleeve and putting it across the parchment next to the quill.

'You have two hours to do this test in. You will be doing the spells before me and I will mark them according to accuracy, strength and if the spell, well, if it actually does what it's meant to do. The potions will be done on your own. Once you have finished the potion, bottle some of it and hand it to me before emptying your cauldron and starting on the next. The written work will be done on the parchment,' she said and smiled at him. 'It shouldn't really take two hours, an hour at the most and when you're done you are welcome to go to the school library.'

'Ok,' Jacob said with a nod and then they began.

She asked him to perform all the spells he had learnt and the only one he had trouble with was the shrinking charm. He had used a growth charm to enlarge the heavy book on Professor's McGonagall's desk and when he had tried to shrink it back down to normal size he only made it larger. All the other spells went by well and correct as they were supposed to except some took two or occasionally three tries before anything happened. But that was fine, it was ok, when something did happened, it happened correctly. To the Professor's and his own joy he didn't mess up a single thing in the Transfiguration section.

After all the spells had been performed he sat down at the desk and sought about writing down the properties of the ingredients that lined the edges. He remembered all of them to his great joy. The potion part was slightly more difficult, it took a great deal of his effort to remember and follow the instructions he saw in his mind. But in the end he was certain he had produced a great Forgetfulness potion and after that he made the simple boil cure potion which was easy as pie. He bottled each potion in the small, clear bottles and put it before him to hand in with the completed test.

The only part left to finish was the Magical Creatures part and the small dose of Defence against the Dark Arts. He blitzed the sections about the Magical Creatures that were depicted in legends since he had already known a great deal about them. The questions on the dark creatures were harder because he hardly knew a thing about them and had had to learn. He had stupidly decided they were not the most important thing he had to learn and therefore studied them very little. No he was racking his brains for anything he could remember about them and how to repel or avoid them. Hinkypunks proved particularly hard to write about but slowly he combed his mind - resisting the urge to bang his head against the desk for information – before he remembered that Hinkypunks had one leg and carried a light that they used to lure travellers into their bogs with at night.

And then he found he was finished, it had taken little under an hour. He checked over his work, looking for any mistakes he could have made and when he decided it was as good as he could get it; he collected the bottles and headed up to the Professor's desk.

Professor McGonagall raised her grey head and looked up at him from her work, smiling. 'You have finished, Jacob?' she asked taking his work and scanning it briefly showing no emotion on her face as she did so.

'Yeah,' Jacob said. 'And, uh ... I would like to see the library but I have no clue where it is.'

'Don't worry,' Professor McGonagall said rising from her seat and taking one last look at the parchment before striding over to the stair case and stepping on it, beckoning for Jacob to join her. 'Hurry!' she said, 'before it descends without you!'

Jacob didn't question her and jumped into the stone spiralling stair case. Naturally he was not surprised when it began to move barely a second after he had stepped on. It made a loud grounding noise as it circled downwards. Jacob watched slightly bemused as the pole that the stairs were entwined about moved before his eyes. When the stairs finally ground to a halt, Professor McGonagall stepped off with Jacob close at her heels.

A dull grinding thud made Jacob jump and spin around to face the wall they had emerged from. A large bird like statue had moved over the hole in the wall and was now blocking the entrance to the Headmistress' office. They had entered out onto a bright corridor and several students were milling about talking to each other. They all turned to stare as the Professor and Jacob walked down the corridor, some said good morning to the Professor and others stared at Jacob.

'They know you,' she said in explanation to him as they turned into a stairway. 'Your trail was featured in the Daily Prophet as was your picture.'

But her comment was lost in the wonder of the staircase. Four tall walls surrounded the area all dotted with portraits and paintings going up as fair as the eye could see. A series of stairs all inter joined, apart from some which seemed to be rouge and going where they please, reached up, parts diving off to connect with other floors. So this was everything outside of the Headmistress' office. And it was amazing. The stairs he was most interested in seemed to just do their own thing, like going somewhere mattered very little to them. They started where they please and ended where they please and from what he saw the students stuck on them only seemed bothered and irritated at first before getting off and hurrying away to where they should be going.

Jacob was hardly aware he was standing in awe staring at all these things until Professor McGonagall called out his name. She was standing at the foot of a stair case that did connect somewhere, it connected several floors up.

'Now,' she said as they walked up the stairs. 'Rita Skeeter is snooping around the school today, I have given her permission for reasons I don't quite know myself but nonetheless she is here. I have gained more confidence over the years when she actually got the story of Harry Potter correct, which was an amazement to all of us. She'll probably want to interview you.'

'Who is she?' Jacob asked with confused as they finished climbing the stairs and turned into a dully light, stuffy corridor.

'She's a reporter,' Professor McGonagall said with a slight smile. 'She's very infamous for her work, good or bad. But now, after the war she has returned to her true self and is doing proper and true reporting, even if her personality hasn't changed in the slightest. The last I saw of her this morning, she was sulking around the library and she may still be there. I suggest you do talk to her; the Wizarding world is very keen on hearing what you'd have to say. You've become something of an interest to them.' She stopped and smiled at him, running a hand over her tight grey bun.

Jacob stared back at her. He knew he had been in the newspaper called the Daily Prophet but he had no idea that people were interested in him at all. 'Why are they interested in me?' he asked staring around at the students milling about them. 'I'm not very special.'

Professor McGonagall placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. 'Oh but you are, Jacob,' she informed him. 'There has never been anyone quite as interesting as you for a number of years.'

'But I don't want all this attention!' Jacob said starting to feel alarmed. People needn't be so interested him and in the future he wanted to be told before his story was featured in a popular newspaper. He wanted to know before he became everyone's top most interest. 'I'm just someone who stumbled across this place and doesn't really know who they are anymore! That's no reason for me to be special.'

'You might just have to deal with it, Jacob,' she told him with a shrug. 'This is the library,' she said gesturing towards a tall oak door Jacob hadn't even noticed they were standing outside of. 'Plenty for you to look at,' she said pushing the door open. 'If Ms Skeeter is in there and demands you have an interview, Jacob, I advise you to just do it.'

Jacob nodded and thanked the Professor telling her he'd see her soon. He stepped inside the library and looked around the room. Book shelves were in every single corner stuffed to the brim with old and new books alike. Tables were dotted randomly around the room and straight before him was an old rickety desk, behind it sat a woman barely visible behind the book in front of her face but Jacob's assumed she was the librarian. As he walked further in, looking around like a lost duckling, he saw that candles were burning brightly providing the only source of light in the room. Because of all these candles the room had a stuffy and humid air to it which Jacob thought reinforced the library scene. He liked the small, sort of dingy packed to the brim room. Even though it was far too hot for his liking and he could barely breathe, he liked the room.

Only a few people sat at the tables in the room, most of them wearing Hogwarts robes and only looked like they were a few years younger than he. One of the students was wearing Hufflepuff colours and he had to resist the strong urge in him to go and speak to her and ask what the house was really like. But somewhere in the depths of the library and cough could be heard, a distinctly woman like cough.

A head full of dyed blonde curls poked itself out from behind a bookshelf and snapped the book shut, a smile gleaming on her made up face. Jacob groaned inwardly, he knew exactly though out introduction that this was. The women put the book back on the shelf with another blinding smile and walked over; she was dressed in such a tight dress that her walk had been reduced to something of a waddle. Rita Skeeter was holding a long feathery quill in her hand and as she approached Jacob she twirled it around his face and smiled once more.

'Who knew you'd be even more handsome in person,' she said laughing before grabbing Jacob's shoulder and pushing him softly but firmly over to a chair. The reporter eased him down into it before walked stiffly back over to her own and sitting down. Suddenly out of nowhere she whipped out a notebook and poised the quill over the page.

'Rita Skeeter,' she said. 'Reporter for the Daily Prophet, no need to introduce yourself Mr Smith, I know exactly who you are,' she smirked and looked at him over the top of her glasses, winking. 'Fancy a chat?' she asked and without waiting for a reply she said, 'lovely.'

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**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	16. Time and a Place

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

**Curiosity  
Part Sixteen: Time and a Place**

'Now,' the blonde said pulling off her glasses and looking at Jacob through deep brown eyes, 'naturally everyone has heard of you, the trial, your situation, but we don't know the _real _Jacob Smith.' She smiled. 'Do indulge us.' 

'Uh,' Jacob said and looked to the quill poised in her hand, ready to write down whatever he said. 'What do you want to know?' He felt like looking away from her for a second, she was rather full on in appearance and personality. He had only been speaking to her for less than two minutes and already he felt he needed a break.

'_Everything,' _she said with an excited shake of head adding emphasis to the word. 'But let's start with the basics shall we, Jacob?' Rita Skeeter smiled across the table at him. 'You were born in Scotland, where about?'

'Inverness,' Jacob said watching the woman scribble that information down.

'Ooh,' Rita Skeeter said excitedly, 'isn't that near the Loch Ness?'

'Yeah,' Jacob said and nodded. His family used to go up there for day trips quite often when he was younger.

'Have you ever meet Nessie?' Skeeter asked. 'They say she's quite charming.' But before Jacob had a chance to answer that question, the reporter had hurtled on, asking another question. 'So you moved to St John's Wood after spending eight or seven years in Inverness?'

'Yeah,' Jacob said again feeling completely uncomfortable in this whole situation. He didn't like asking questions, he liked to ask them.

'You then went to the University of London and studied ... what exactly?'

Jacob wanted to say _the art of doing nothing, _because that was what his university studies were basically. 'I studied Classical Studies and English Studies as well as looking into some Law and History.'

'Well,' Skeeter said. 'That isn't much use to you now, is it?'

Jacob smiled. It was nothing to him now, studying there and spending money doing that was a complete waste of effort and time. 'Not much, no.'

'Mr Smith,' Rita drawled flicking the feather of the quill out across his face again. 'Any luck on the finding out where you got your magic front, because as I understand it you must have magical blood in you for it to _pop _up so unexpectedly?' When she said "pop" she used hand expressions as well as going wide eyed making Jacob jump a little in his seat.

'I don't know,' he said putting his elbow on the table and resting his head against it. 'I really don't know. It's weird that I don't know. My parents are completely oblivious to all of this stuff out here; they just haven't got a clue. Before I found Diagon Alley, I had no clue either.'

Rita hummed to herself as she scribbled that response down. She looked up at him and tipped her head to one side, smiling sweetly. 'Mr Smith,' she said drawing those two words out. 'Our female readers want to know ... is there a special someone for you?'

Jacob flushed. 'Ah -' he was about to speak but Rita Skeeter cut in front of him again.

'There has been gossip that you have been seen around Diagon Alley with the owner of Weasley Wizard Wheezes, a highly successful joke shop.' She sounded like she was quoting an advertisement. 'Some reports have told us of some ...' she paused and looked around her shoulder and then the other way, 'slightly interesting positions,' Rita said and curled a lock of hair around her finger, 'like the arm around the shoulder, surely that wasn't friendly?'

'Purely friendly,' Jacob squeaked out and then cleared his throat. 'Purely friendly, we flat together, good friends.' He didn't want everyone who read the Daily Prophet knowing he and George were together and an item. Family, friends and acquaintances were enough.

'Is that so?' the reporter asked with an intrigued pout as if by using that face she hoped to wheedle more information from him. But suddenly she switched from that intensely prying mode that was making him uncomfortable and into one that was simply interested. 'So, Mr Smith, what do you intend to do to find where your magic came from, because surely, that's a necessity for you?'

'Ask family members if they know anything, I suppose,' Jacob said. 'Get the family trees and have a look for anything unusual I guess.'

'Well,' Rita said with a smile on her face, 'if you need any help just send me an owl, no one gets information like a class A reporter. Someone like me,' she added in case the hint hadn't cemented itself well enough.

'Thanks, I'll ask if I need it,' he said.

'Just two more questions,' Rita beseeched him. 'What do you think you'll do after the Trace is lifted, what line of profession are you interested in going into in the magical world?'

Jacob shrugged, he couldn't think of what would happen that far ahead, if he'd still be working for George or what, he didn't know. 'I don't know,' he said honestly. 'There's still a lot I don't about this place, so we'll see.'

'Fantastic,' she said and beamed brightly at him. 'What is the best thing about the magical world to you?'

'Magic,' Jacob said. It was an easy question. Magic was amazing. 'Magic,' he repeated.

'Don't get carried away now,' she said with a smirk this time, 'we don't want a repeat of the last trial. It's been great talking to you, Mr Smith and I have all I need. Thank you very much.'

She remained seated and looked over her notes for a few minutes before it became apparent to Jacob that he was supposed to be the one leaving. He eased out from the chair and looked around the library finding it still empty and deserted apart from that small scattering of students. He'd had enough of the library and wanted to explore some more and head down to the Entrance Hall where George was supposed to be meeting him. He left the stuffy room and found himself standing in the middle of an empty corridor. He hadn't been watching when Professor McGonagall led him here now he supposed it would have been good if he had been.

He chose the left way and walked back towards what he hoped was the staircase. The walls were decorated with even more portraits of strange and bizarre things but also normal people, some smiled and waved down at him as he passed. He looked up them in amazement. He hadn't realized paintings were like pictures as well.

After having to double back and the take the right corner, Jacob now found himself standing at the foot of the massive staircase, unsure of which one to take. There was one that went down one level, one that went down two levels, and one that went down three and more. He took the staircase that went all the way down to the bottom floor. He hoped that was where the entrance hall was.

He hurried down the stairs, taking them two at a time. He reached the bottom floor in no time. The area he was standing in was massive; he could have easily fitted the entire section of property his parents owned inside plus more. The room was beautiful even if nothing occupied gigantic amounts of space. Jacob had just descended down a marble stair and was now standing in the centre of the wide room, looking at shiny, well polished floor below. He could see his face in that floor. It was impressively shiny, the floor not his face.

'Jakey.'

Jacob spun around to face the grand oak doors that had been behind them. The doors were so tall and sturdy it was a wonder anyone could push them open. Standing in front of the doors was George with a smile across his face. Jacob walked forwards towards him, stepping across the slippery floor.

'Hello,' George said giving Jacob a hug when he was close enough. 'How'd it go?'

'Fine,' Jacob said finding that he was blushing again as he remembered what had happened this morning. 'It was alright, not too bad.'

George broke the hug and took Jacob's hand pushing open the doors again with a grunt and leading him outside. Outside was a cobbled path leading up the entrance of the school and the path ran down to a set of pillars which presumably marked the gateway. They didn't go down that way, George led him along the side of the tall stone walls that stretched up for miles and looked incredibly imposing when Jacob looked up. George was leading him towards a large grass area that at the end began to slope down and some distance away at the end of the slope a forest began and a lake to one side also. This was the view that could be seen from Professor McGonagall's office.

The lawn was wide and the grass soft underneath his feet, if Jacob were to fall of the broom here he wouldn't mind so much. Jacob was glad because as they got closer he saw a single broom lying in the middle of the lawn. George dropped Jacob's hand and ran over to the broom picking it up. And to show off more he mounted it and flew back to Jacob, using no hands. He flew circles around Jacob causing him to keep twisting around in order to keep George in sight.

'Stop it!' he finally cried. 'You're making me sick!'

George chuckled and stopped, getting off the broom and not staggering at all he was so used to it. He came quickly over to Jacob's side and the lesson began that instance.

'Do you know anything about flying?' he asked.

'I know how planes fly,' Jacob said.

'Really?' George asked, 'wow! I never understood how you lot put big great hunks of metal in the sky and they actually go places. Anyway!' he said quickly. 'Flying,' he said and beckoned Jacob to come closer. 'Grip the handle.'

Jacob put his hands on the wood that George offered to him. He held it away from him like he was frightened it would bite him or something.

'Hold it properly,' George instructed. 'What hand do you write with?'

'Right,' Jacob said holding it up and giving it a little wave.

'Ok,' George said and grabbed that hand before he had the chance to put it back on the broom. 'Your right hand goes here,' he said placing it softly below the left. His finger's stroked Jacob's before George moved his hand and rubbed against Jacob's left. 'Move this hand up higher,' he instructed.

Jacob wasn't paying much attention as he had butterflies in the pit of his stomach when George's hand had brushed against his. He shook his head and snapped out of it when George repeated what he had said. 'Sorry,' Jacob murmured and moved his hands up like George had asked.

'Hop on,' George told him.

'What, now?'

'Yeah – hop on.'

Gingerly Jacob swung one leg over the broom and stood awkwardly over it. 'Wow,' he said looking to George with a smile, 'it's comfortable.'

'Cushioning charm,' George said, 'its good, isn't it?' As Jacob nodded George stepped closer to him and pressed a hand on his lower back and held the head of the broom with his other hand. 'Just kick off from the ground.'

'What, now?' Jacob repeated feeling a little alarmed.

'Yes, now,' George said putting on a stupid voice as he said. 'Don't worry; you won't fly off or anything. I'm holding the broom too.'

'Ok,' Jacob said and heaved a sigh, 'but if you let me go you're dead.'

'I won't, Jakey,' George said with a grin. 'Now, kick off from the ground!'

Jacob did as he was told and pushed his feet against the ground and then – slowly – kicked off. His grip tightened on the head of the broomstick as his legs hung uselessly below him, he let out a deep breath and looked below himself cautiously. There was now a few feet of space between him and the soft ground, beside him George still had a strong grip on the broom as well, he also had a hand against Jacob's back. He was flying, actually hovering but if George were to let go he'd be flying. It was a weird experience and he didn't quite know what to make of it. In one sense it was terrifying having to control this household item beneath you but it another it was exhilarating.

Suddenly Jacob saw George taking his hands away. 'What are you doing?' he snapped at him.

'I'm just going to walk slowly,' he said stepping away from Jacob and in the direction of the forest. 'Just follow me. It's alright; this is how my dad taught me to fly.' He began to walk of faster, forcing Jacob to follow him.

The broom was proving difficult to move but as Jacob leaned forward it lurched with him. Carefully, as the jolt had given him a shock, he leaned forward again slowly and then the broom moved with him at a small pace. He leaned further forward and the broom sped up and soon he had caught up to George.

'It's not that hard, see?' George said jogging a little, his red hair streaming out behind him. Jacob kept flying in a straight line, enjoying the feel of the wind against his face. 'Do you want to go faster?' George asked.

'Yeah,' Jacob said, if he could still hear George speaking next to him he obviously wasn't going as fast as he could be.

'Lean forward!'

He did just that. With a sudden jolt of speed the broom flew out at an excitingly fast past. Flying at this speed was incredible. Even though it sounded corny it felt exactly like he could go anywhere he wanted on this broom, it was like he was free. The wind against his skin was now implying a hard almost battering force, and he had to close his eyes against it. But the overall feeling of flying was fantastic. As he flew along, heading towards the forest at the edge of the green, a thought hit him. He hadn't learned how to turn corners or stop at all. As the forest came closer and closer the tree trunks became bigger and bigger, Jacob twisted around, hoping the broom could follow him. It did but it was too late for it to turn around successfully and he skidded into the trunk of a fat tree. He broom fell beneath him and hit the ground without damage, but Jacob hit his head against the firm trunk before he fell to the ground next to the broom where he hit his head again.

The last thought that ran through his mind before he blacked out was: bugger.

When he came around he was in the flat and his head throbbed something terrible. Jacob blinked, trying to adjust to the bright light in the room but before his eyes became accustomed to it he felt a stroking on his abdomen. Soft fingertips were running back and forth along his skin and the rim of his shorts. Though he didn't need to sight to tell who was touching him. He blinked his eyes harder and the blurry room came into vision, sharp as ever.

'George?' he asked groggily. 'I hit my head.'

'Blimey, I know,' George said smiling but not pulling his hand away. 'You haven't been out long, just about an hour. Madam Pomfrey just told me to take you home, she said it wasn't serious at all.'

'If it was serious I'd probably still be out,' Jacob said shifting under George's hands and blushing when George looked at him with a smile. Boldly Jacob put a hand around George's neck and brought his lips to his. 'You probably should have taught me to how to stop first,' he said after the kiss had broken.

'You should have turned sooner,' George countered.

'Yeah,' Jacob agreed. 'I should have. But you'll still teach me how to fly, teach me properly?'

'Come with me one day,' George said, 'and you can watch what I do then have a go.'

'Ok,' Jacob agreed. 'When?' It was fun and he wanted more. He wanted to learn how to do it properly.

'Not today,' George said. 'You just knocked yourself out, Madam Pomfrey said you need rest.'

'Who is Madam Pomfrey?'

'The healer at Hogwarts, she's like a nurse,' George said. 'You know,' George added. 'You're rubbish at flying.'

'I didn't think I was that bad!'

'You sit wrong, your hands always keep sliding down, you push too hard on the broom, you aren't very good, but,' he added, 'thankfully you have a bloody wonderful teacher like myself.'

'Aw, really, you're that good then?' Jacob asked with a smile. So what if he was bad, he could get better.

'Yes, I am,' George said moved from the spot he was sitting in beside Jacob's bed and climbed in next to him. George moved over Jacob and kissed him, sitting up on his waist.

'So, you're utterly amazing at flying and you think that you can teach me to be utterly amazing as well?' Jacob said trying to hide the blush on his face by running his hands through his hair.

George sat back on Jacob's legs and pondered this for a few seconds before leaning back down and kissing Jacob's neck, saying: 'Yes, you can only get better at flying, you're rubbish.'

'Thanks, George,' Jacob said and gasping out when George nipped at his earlobe. 'George,' he said pushing him off, 'I was just knocked out. Time and a place,' he added.

George sighed and rolled off Jacob and lay beside him, and went back to stroking his abdomen. 'You're one weird man to say no to sex,' George said and before Jacob could retort he quickly continued, 'but I agree, it should be perfect when it happens.'

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**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	17. Restricted Areas

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

**Curiosity  
Part Seventeen: Restricted Areas**

Dim lighting flickered through the corridors, illuminating only certain circles of carpet where the candle light fell, like a spot light. The corridors and classrooms were empty giving the castle the most frightening and surreal feel. All the students were in the Great Hall, supping on delicious food that could be smelt all around the castle, it was no special occasion just an ordinary feast. The slight murmur and moan of words that could be heard issuing from the large hall sounded like the breeze through trees. The wind howled underneath the windows and through unclosed doors and the rain battered against the roof and the walls of Hogwarts as Jacob walked through. He was stepping carefully, not too sure of this place yet. He wasn't sure of it, it wasn't his territory and he knew very little about it. But he knew enough to know that it was easy to lose yourself inside the long corridors, empty rooms and stony dungeons. 

He followed the only path he knew, not wandering away from it, not even stepping a toe off it. He was walking back to the library after his session there yesterday had been interrupted by the reporter. He wanted to spend a long time looking through the books to find what he wanted. And he could take anything home with him for a while because Professor McGonagall had given him a note saying that he was allowed in the Restricted Section – whatever that was – and he could take home any book he wanted. She had given him this note along with his results. Jacob hadn't wanted to look at them yet as he wanted to find out his results with George so he'd stuffed them in his back pocket and thought no more of them.

Finding the door to the library he stepped inside, glad that he had remembered the way and hadn't got lost because who knew where he could turn up or who would find him. He hadn't wanted to get lost because the idea of the ghosts – dead and well – scared him, he would have jumped out of his skin if one had appeared before him. Out of all the things in this new, strange world, ghosts spooked him the most. Even though Professor McGonagall had explained to him that all wizards upon death had a choice which was to depart earth and be forever dead or to stay in this world for forever. Jacob still thought it scary even though she had explained that to him and her words had brought up even more confusion and fright in him. Why would anyone want to stay behind? Wouldn't you have had enough by then?

He sighed, banishing these thoughts with a shake of his head. The warmth of the library was beckoning him in, so of course he stepped in. It was so warm in the room that he barely needed to wear his black coat, but he still kept it on. He felt like he was in unfamiliar space and wearing his coat made him feel a little more secure. The library was as warm as ever, and much brighter than the rest of the school outside. The only one in the room was the librarian, reading as usual, but when Jacob entered she looked up over her book at him and glared through sharp eyes. She was like a hawk, and now that she had seen him her eyes did relinquish their gaze until she decided he wasn't going to cause any trouble.

He found the restricted section quick enough. A door was baring entrance to that area of the library and above that closed door a sign read: restricted section. Looking around the library and scanning the spines and titles of the books nearest to him, he decided nothing here was of interest to him, so he put a hand on the knob of the restricted section door. It burned red hot and Jacob jumped back and pulled his hand with him, emitting a quiet yelp.

A chair scraped back and it was obvious the librarian had been notified of his attempts somehow as she had shot over in a second. She was now standing beside Jacob bearing down on him and once again Jacob was reminded of a hawk watching its prey. It's was very unnerving the way she was staring at him like she thought he would run away and she would have to chase him at any second. 'What do you think you are doing, boy? Going into the Restricted Section without my permission, without even asking beforehand, it's no wonder the door burnt you! You know we used to have a single rope there, but no, apparently rules and restrictions don't stop the youth of nowadays.'

Jacob coughed awkwardly. The poor woman was rather old but she had moved over to stand beside Jacob quicker than lightening so her physical health couldn't be deteriorating in anyway. She was bending down into his face as if waiting for the appropriate answer or one that would suit her. Jacob didn't even want to reply in case what he said wasn't good enough for the librarian. 'I have a note,' he finally muttered and dug into his pockets bringing out the now very crumpled note Professor McGonagall had written him.

As the librarian scanned the note, her face tugged into a frown, Jacob remembered something the Professor had told him before he left. She had said, "thank god that old trout Madam Pince will be retiring soon. I don't know if I could stand being shouted at once more for leaving a book open and stretching the spine by accident."

So the 'old trout' was retiring soon. Jacob smiled; he liked this library and wanted to explore it without the librarian's beady eyes watching him. It would also nice to have someone helpful because Madam Pince certainly was not. When he had come in here the other day she hadn't even recognized him as someone not from the school and asked if he needed some assistance of some sort.

'Fine,' the librarian said handing Jacob the note back with a sour expression on her face. She tapped her wand against the handle of the door and it swung wide open, revealing a short passage way and at the end of that more shelves stuffed to the brim with books.

Jacob stepped forward, eager but Madam Pince grasped a hold of his arm and held him firmly in place. 'If you rip, tear, shred, bend, fold, deface, disfigure, smear, smudge, throw, drop or in any other manner damage, mistreat or show lack of respect towards any book in this library, the consequences will be as awful as it is in my power to make them.'

Nodding fervently and just wanting to get inside the Restricted Section and actually have to a chance to look at any of the books in this library, he wrenched his arm out of the librarians grasp and headed off down the small corridor. Madam Pince was old and probably becoming senile yet it still seemed to Jacob that she was more of a guardian of the books than someone at all helpful. And she was scary as well.

The small, incredibly short corridor towards the books stored in the Restricted Section was dimly light by torches mounted to the wall. It was freezing, the library had been very warm and it was a shock to come out into this corridor. His shoes were the only sounds accompanying his breathing which he could see before him sitting on the air.

The actual Restricted Section was just as cold as the corridor he had walked through. But all feeling of cold was blocked away as he was finally alone with the books, and the need to learn flooded through him. He wanted to learn badly about everything that had happened to the Wizarding world, and everything that had made it what it was. He wanted to learn all the spells he could and he wanted to be good at the magic he learned. The books were all crammed into shelves, and there were only ten in the small stone dungeon like room. Stone made up the walls and stone made up the floor, there were no windows only torches on the walls to provide light and that was probably why the air was stuffy.

Before he went to the shelves he walked across to the far wall beyond all the books and stopped. Supported on the stone were two wands, crossed over each other like something off a pirate flag. Jacob tenderly reached out and touched the wood of one of the wands. He was disappointed when the wand didn't respond at all to his touch and was resigned to thinking the crossed wands were just there for decoration.

He strolled back over to the first bookshelf and crouched low to examine the books on the lower shelves. Boring titles struck him such as _Your Perfect Potion Pal: A must have potion book for all seniors. _He wondered why that was restricted and shook his head as he stood thinking that it must have been moved into this section by a woman. Because only they would hide such a dull sounding book that probably had only one slightly dangerous potion.

His mother was exactly like that, always taking away the things that were just a little dangerous. Jacob's father had built him and his sister a tree house back in Inverness when Jacob was five. He had fallen out of the window because he'd been chasing a butterfly and broken his arm. His mother had immediately said that they could not use the tree house anymore because of the danger. It was ridiculous. He knew all women weren't like that; his sister for instance was a very courageous brave person. She always used to swimming in the Loch Ness when he wouldn't, (just to name one thing). She was ten times braver than he would ever be. He supposed that he was being a bit bigot by thinking that and he hadn't even read the book so perhaps it was quite restricted and only seniors could use it. He shook his head and hit himself in the forehead. Why was he thinking about completely irrelevant things right now?

Scanning the room again he saw a very empty looking shelf that housed books with completely black covers apart from the writing on the spine and the cover. He looked back down at the shelf he was standing before was full of potions book. He knew that the shelves were organized by topic now which made things easier and probably a lot simpler since the Restricted Section was small. He wandered over to the dark and lonely shelf.

Again he squatted down to look at the lower rows of books near the floor. He sniffed as the collected dust under this shelf puffed up as he disturbed it and he sneezed. Rubbing his nose and groaning he looked along the titles at the bottom. Nothing that interested, he was looking for a full history of Dark Magic and he wasn't proud of it but his curiosity had been lit. And that was like a fire that couldn't be doused.

He straightened with a groan after looking at the bottom three rows and finding nothing but how to counter Dark Magic. When he stood and stretched his eyes caught on the title of a book splayed out sideways. He picked it up and found there was no dust to brush of it as it looked pretty damn new. He smiled at the title, _A Complete History of Dark Magic. _It was spot on, exactly what he'd been looking for. He opened the first page. No useless forward notes, no authors comment, no words about how Wizarding kind had been devastated by the use of such a magic. Nothing, it just jumped straight into the first chapter: _The origins of Dark Magic and the First Dark Wizards. _It was just what he'd been looking for.

Suddenly he was struck with a bolt of guilt. What would George think of him reading this? George probably wouldn't like for Jacob to be reading about this kind of thing, Dark Magic was involved in the movement that killed his brother after all. Jacob knew that, he felt sorry for George, but to fully understand the Wizarding world and actually be able to fit in properly he should know as much as he could. And he was starting with the bad things that had happened just so everything could get better. Also because he interested in this bad kind of magic, not that he'd ever use it at all.

Frowning involuntarily he sat on the dusty stone and flicked to the first chapter. He didn't have to share everything with George, when he took this book home he wouldn't hide it but he wouldn't show it to George either. If it wasn't really secrecy then why was the little nagging voice in the back of his head getting so irritated about this? He shrugged it off and began to read the first page.

He had been sitting quite still on the stone floor for some time when he heard a soft padding of feet coming down the corridor. He hurried to put the book away but didn't have the time as the person had entered the room before he'd even fumbled around with it. Later he wondered why he even tried to hide the book.

The blonde haired man who Jacob had spoken to outside of the Leaky Cauldron walked in and scanned the room looking quite content but when his eyes fell on Jacob, they lit up with surprise. He crossed his arms and stared down at him, Jacob flushed slightly because he was still sitting on the floor.

'What are you doing, little Scot?' the man asked with a smile.

'Book,' Jacob said back returning the smile faintly.

'What book?' the man asked and crossed the room and quickly pried the book from Jacob's hands. His looked down at the front cover and his expression fell from one of surprise and interest to one of gloom. His eyes flickered back up to rest on Jacob's. 'What are you reading this for?' he asked.

'I'm interested,' Jacob said reaching back for the hardback.

'Well, you shouldn't be,' the man snapped at him and threw the book back so it landed sharply in his lap. 'Trust me,' he said, 'you shouldn't be interested.'

'Why?' Jacob asked with a frown. 'I just want to know what happened to your world.'

'Trust me,' the man repeated. 'I know about what happened first hand, you don't want to know. And I figure your precious Georgie wouldn't be so happy if he knew what you were reading about. Didn't his twin die because of the war?'

'Yeah,' Jacob said feeling guilty again but how did this man know about him and George? 'How do you know about me and George?'

'Everyone who has eyes knows,' the man retorted. 'But, Jacob,' he said earnestly. 'You don't want to know.'

'It's not like it can hurt me if I know, everyone else knows what happened, why can't I?'

'I never said that you weren't allowed and it wouldn't be bad for you or something, I just meant that you probably don't want to know.'

'I already know some of what happened; I think it would be good if I knew the rest.'

'You're not just meaning the war are you?' the man asked running a hand through his blonde hair. 'I can tell you first hand from the wrong side of the war, if you want to know that is. But it's best if that Dark Magic stuff is left alone now.'

'What's your name?' Jacob asked. The man's words were beginning to confuse him.

'Draco Malfoy,' the man said and smiled, 'I've just got a new post here at the school. Defence against the Dark Arts teacher,' he added with some pride.

'Well, Draco,' Jacob said, 'this stuff is just interesting,' he said deciding that even though he didn't know this man he would tell him his feelings anyway. 'George and Professor McGonagall and everyone treat it like it's out of bounds, like you shouldn't even mention it and I guess that's why I find it interesting. It's like wanting to take the biscuit from the jar because you can't.'

'I understand that,' Draco said. 'I suppose if you want to know I can't stop you, and it's stupid of me to even try because I don't even know you,' he added with a slight smile, 'if you do want to know about the war though, the other side of the war, ask Professor McGonagall were my office is the next time you see her and then come find me.' He saw Jacob's confused expression. 'I know I'm not making sense, but I don't want someone telling you the wrong story because there are several variations on what happened now that it's over.'

'Ok,' Jacob said unsure why the man was offering to do this. What actually happened must mean a lot to him or else he wouldn't offer to do this. 'Thank you,' Jacob added for good measure.

'I'm only doing this because you need to hear both sides of the story,' Draco said, 'no other reason.' He said it seriously and Jacob believed him entirely. Draco walked over to the other side of the Restricted Area and looked through a shelf.

Jacob rose, brushing dust from his pants. He picked up the book and walked from the room. 'Thanks,' he said again to Draco, 'I might actually come by your office for the whole story, so have an interesting one ready.' Without waiting for the man's reply he walked down the corridor and into the warm library.

It was a relief to be out of that freezing room and back into the warm library. Jacob sighed and looked around at the slightly fuller room, plenty of students obviously came up here for some study time after dinner. It was quite full with only one or two seats at each table free. The room was buzzing with quiet talk though and Madam Pince was looking quite bothered by this but when she saw Jacob and the book in his hand, she frowned.

'I have the note!' Jacob said, holding his hands up like he was under inspection. 'Do you want to see it again?' he asked politely.

'No,' Madam Pince said crossly. 'Remember my warning though, if that book comes back in some way harmed.'

Jacob nodded and proceeded towards the exit of the library. He would have to go back to Professor McGonagall's office to Floo back to George's place. As he opened the library door he caught a hushed whisper from the table beside it.

'Can you believe that they hired him?' a small boy clad in blue trimmed robes asked his companions. 'After everything he did they've hired him as the Defence against the Dark Art's Professor, it's unbelievable.'

'He'll know his stuff though,' the girl sitting next to him muttered before taking to her book.

Jacob looked at the edge of the table they sat at for a second processing the information before stepping out into the corridor and shutting the door behind him. They were talking about Draco Malfoy, hadn't the man just told Jacob he'd been hired for that job? He had also said Jacob should now both sides of the story and that he knew about the war first hand. Perhaps that was why his hiring was so unbelievable; it was something he had done. But Jacob had an offer to talk to Draco Malfoy about the other side of the story during the war, he didn't need to rush up and solve this mystery. Over time it would solve itself.

With a yawn he stepped out of the fireplace, brushing the green powder from his black coat where it stood out like a flame. Flooing didn't bother him much anymore, it was like a second nature now that he did it so much, half the time he didn't even think before Flooing anywhere, he just said where he wanted to go, threw up the dust and that was that. He was happy about, it meant magical things like that were becoming normal to him.

It was late in the afternoon when he had departed Hogwarts, about 7:30pm when he had left Professor McGonagall's office so he wasn't surprised to see George emerge from the shower with a towel around his face looking quite relaxed. Jacob blushed and pulled the results from his back pocket, trying to find something else to interest him apart from the naked chest area of George Weasley.

'Hey, Jakey,' George said with a huge smile as he flopped down onto the couch, his wet hair plastered to his face. 'Did you do well?'

'I don't know,' Jacob said pulling his coat off, putting it on the table and placing it over the book. He hurried to sit down next to George and handed him the letter.

George took it with slightly damp hands and looked back to Jacob. 'Do you want me to open it?' he asked turning it over in his hands.

'Yes,' Jacob said, 'please, I'm useless at stuff like this. I chicken out half way through, I haven't even opened it yet.'

'Aw,' George said with an even bigger smile across his face, 'you want me to open it? That's really adorably Jacob like.'

'George,' Jacob said. 'Just open it please.'

George nodded and kept his eyes locked on Jacob's while he fumbled with the Hogwarts seal on the back. Only when the seal popped off did George pull his eyes away from Jacob's and look down to the results on the thin bit of parchment in his hands. He scrunched the envelope up in one hand and threw it towards the bin, not caring whether it landed inside or not. George scanned down the page, nodding at points but without smiling at all. Jacob felt incredibly nervous, was it really that bad?

Suddenly George coughed and looked up to Jacob his face still unreadable. 'Do you want to know now?' he asked waggling the paper in front of Jacob's face.

'Yeah, tell me,' he said.

' ... '

'George! Just tell me!'

'Ok, ok, ok,' George said with a smile. 'You did fine! You passed everything, you're better at Transfiguration and the Magical Creatures bit more than anything else but you passed everything.'

'How'd I do at Potions?' Jacob asked leaning over George to look at the parchment. 'I just passed.'

'Apparently the Forgetfulness Potion needed a little more forget,' George said hugging Jacob to him. 'That's really good, congratulations! You have kind of but not really and not formally either just passed 1st and 2nd year at Hogwarts!'

Jacob grinned and pressed his lips against George's. 'Yes,' he murmured happily. 'I was wondering how I did in Potions.'

'You're so strange, Jakey,' George said curling a hand in Jacob's hair. 'You didn't worry at all before the test but afterwards you wouldn't even look at the results until you were back here.'

Jacob didn't reply, he only pushed his lips against George's again and forced the man's mouth open. George hummed happily into the kiss and pushed him down against the cushions of the couch. Jacob didn't fight this, he let himself be pushed down and didn't object when George climbed onto his lap still kissing him. He wrapped his arms around George's naked back and ran his hands over the soft and soap smelling skin, enjoying how truly soft and smooth his back was.

George broke the kiss and moved from Jacob's lips to his neck and began to lick, nip and suck lightly on the skin there. Jacob groaned from the pleasure and whimpered even George tipped his head so that his eyelashes battered against the side of his neck. Jacob's arms wrapped tighter around George until it became too hot to wear his tee shirt. He sat up dislodging George who looked surprised but then understood when Jacob began undoing the buttons on his shirt.

'It's too hot,' Jacob said as the shirt slipped off from around his shoulders and was thrown to the corner of the room carelessly. He was about to say something after that but it was lost when George lay back over him, their bare skin touching together. George groaned somewhat as Jacob slowly and rather shyly reached up a hand to trace his finger tips down George's chest.

'Oh, Merlin, Jacob,' George breathed out after sitting up on Jacob's waist to look down at him. 'You're gorgeous.'

Jacob leaned up to capture his mouth in a kiss again and when that ended he whispered, 'you're amazingly handsome, George.'

'You're just saying that,' George said with a brilliant pout.

'I'm not,' Jacob said running his hands along George's chest, 'you really are.'

'Merlin,' George ground the words out, 'I want you.' His hands were at the belt around Jacob's waist, undoing it and then moving onto the zipper. He successfully pulled Jacob's pants off around his ankles and then right off along with his shoes and suddenly Jacob was left wearing just his underwear and George, just a towel.

Jacob let out a breathy sigh as George pulled at the towel around his waist, letting it fall him his body and revealing a completely naked George. It was a sight Jacob had seen before but then the completely naked George hadn't been lying on top of him pressing his hardness into Jacob's leg. Jacob was sure his face was pinker than a rose but he couldn't help it, who could help it with a man that attractive lying over them?

'_George,' _Jacob whimpered when George dug his hand inside his underwear and grabbed hold of him.

'Shh,' George told him. 'It'll be ok.'

'I know it'll be bloody ok,' Jacob retorted squirming in George's grip, 'just move your hand! Not away,' he said when George pulled his hand back completely.

'Demanding are we?' George asked teasingly but stopped to moan when Jacob ran his hands down his back and back up again, tickling his spine. George did begin to move his hand along Jacob's erection, up and down he began to pump. This nearly caused Jacob to come on the spot but he stopped himself by latching his lips onto George's and causing the red head to moan again and increase his hand speed when Jacob assaulted his mouth with his tongue.

Suddenly George's pulls and strokes became harder and faster and Jacob came within a matter of seconds, completely in awe that this was George doing this to him and George could make him feel so magnificent. His come splattered across George's chest and he lay there, panting for some time with George lying on top of him breathing deeply as well. It seemed, judging by the sticky wetness Jacob felt against his leg that George had come too without evening needing anybody to touch him.

Jacob finally sat up a little bit so he was able to swirl his tongue across George's chest and find the splashes of come and lick them up before they dried over.

'Well,' George said in between gasps. 'That wasn't full sex but it was a start.'

Jacob stopped to laugh for a second and say, 'we definitely will do the full thing, George. That was just a slice and I want more.'

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	18. The Big One

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

**Curiosity  
Part Eighteen: The Big One**

It was early morning and Jacob was sitting up in bed letting the light from the candle above him shine down across the pages. He was reading the Dark Arts book at about 6am, it was a level of secrecy he'd never used before and that feeling of guilt kept sweeping over him whenever he turned a page. But the book was so interesting he could hardly help himself. He knew that George wouldn't be too impressed with him wanting to know about this type of magic but it wasn't like he was going to start practising it. He wasn't a type of person that liked to put other people in the situations he was reading about. 

He had woken earlier when he felt a cold wind across his face. The window was open and had probably been left open last night, he had crept over to George's bed and knelt carefully across the sleeping man so he could close the window as rain was pounding down on the roof. He had absently touched George's cheek before blushing furiously and heading back to his own bed. After lying down and not being able to return to sleep, he had lit the candle above his bed and dived under his pillow. His wand was lying across the book as was his pay for the last month, not that he was doing much work at the present. (George just invented things and Jacob worked the register in the mornings. It worked out well for them both and having only two staff in his shop never seemed to be a complication.)

But as Jacob had lifted up his pillow, his wand was lying across the book and he pushed his wand off and pulled the book out. The first wave of guilt swept over him then but his curiosity peeked that and he started to read from where he had left off part way through the first chapter about the origins. Of course everything had to originate from somewhere but this book didn't tell how magic became warped to use like that. Instead it talked about the first known users of magic for dark purposes.

He had been so caught up in reading that he didn't notice George had woken. It wasn't until George let out a sigh and stretched swinging his legs off the bed that Jacob noticed and hurriedly shoved the book under his pillow.

'Morning,' he croaked to George who was already walking over to his bed.

'You're awake early,' George commented and pushed Jacob so that he moved from the centre of the double bed and made room for him. 'I thought you weren't a morning person.'

'I'm not,' Jacob agreed, 'but the window was open and it was cold.'

'Thanks,' George said nodding towards the window. Quickly, catching Jacob quite by surprise, George pushed Jacob down against the mattress and sat up his waist. George leaned down and kissed Jacob softly before Jacob moved his hands to the side of George's head where his ears where and forced him to press his mouth against his harder.

George froze and pulled his mouth away from Jacob's an inch so they weren't touching anymore. He was staring down at Jacob in surprise; slowly he lifted a pale hand to the side of his head and touched Jacob's hand that was covering his missing ear.

'What's wrong?' Jacob asked pulling his hand back.

'Nothing,' George assured him, 'nothing.' He smiled at Jacob and leant down to kiss him again, properly this time with plenty of force. Jacob let out a small moan as George delved his tongue into his mouth. Jacob wrapped his hands around George's neck but George didn't seem to want that and moved Jacob's hands and used one hand to pin them above his head on the cushion. Jacob groaned both from George's kiss but in dismay as he felt his hands and George's bump against the hard cover of the book, pathetically hidden under his pillow.

'What are you hiding this time?' George asked with a grin and he let go of his hands and picked the pillow up. He slid of Jacob's waist and rested his back against the wall as he picked up the book, staring at the title.

Jacob had the urge to hide under the blankets but instead he stared down at his hands and chose not to look at George who was still staring at the words across the cover.

'What's this?' he asked though the tone of his voice let Jacob know he knew exactly what it was.

'A book,' Jacob said still staring at his hands and gulping.

'It's not just any book, is it, Jacob?' George and slammed the book down on the mattress. 'Why do you have it?'

'I was ...' Jacob paused not wanting to tell George why he really had it but he saw no other way of explaining. 'Because I am interested,' he said rephrasing his words.

'You're interested in _this?' _George asked glaring at Jacob and stepping off his bed and hurrying back to his own as if he didn't even want to be near him.

Jacob shifted his eyes from George's piercing gaze and stared at his hands again. 'Yeah,' he said in a pathetic tone. 'I know I shouldn't because of everything that's happened because of it, everyone who has died because of it,' he said and looked to George who's stern glance told him not to mention his twin, 'but I want to know. It's interesting,' he continued tearing his eyes away again as George was beginning to turn a livid shade of red.

'Bloody hell, Jacob,' George said in a breathy voice. 'You have no idea do you? No bloody idea about what this stuff has done to everyone. Merlin, you should not even be interested.'

'I know, George, and I'm sorry but it is interesting and I want to know.'

George stood and walked over to the door, the red shade gone from his face but his eyes were still terrible and glaring at him. Before he left the room he said, 'you damned well shouldn't be.'

Jacob stared after George for many minutes before sniffing and scolding himself on his stupidity. He'd known all along that George wouldn't like it and he'd basically let his curiosity decide that learning and knowing more was better than George. Which it wasn't, Jacob felt terrible for doing that to George and making him think that he might be interested in something that had caused him so much pain. It wasn't like that, Jacob felt bad for even seeing that book and would take it back the second he had the chance and he'd apologize to George first thing, right now.

He wasn't going to Hogwarts today, it had only been three days since his test and Professor McGonagall had basically forced a break on him as he'd been working so hard. He didn't want to come stumbling out of her fireplace just to return a book. Jacob sighed and stood from his bed not caring that he was only in a pair of boxers. He left the book on his bed and glared at it before he walked out the door.

George wasn't in the flat upstairs; Jacob checked everywhere, the bathroom, the kitchen, everywhere upstairs. Eventually he walked down the stairs and into the shop. It was a Sunday and early in the morning so the shop would be closed all day. George's hours were confusing even to Jacob, sometimes he kept normal hours and other times he didn't even open at all. But it never hurt his business. He also did a lot of owl orders which raked in a lot of money as did everything about the shop. As Jacob looked around the shop he couldn't see George anywhere, he even checked in the room hidden behind the bookcase, which was empty too. Sighing with sadness and disappointment, Jacob headed back upstairs presuming George had gone out to wherever he went in times like this. It pained Jacob to know he'd hurt George but he couldn't do anything if he didn't know where George had gone, so he crawled back into bed and closed his eyes.

When Jacob had run off George had been right on his heels and had found him the next morning, but that had been different. Jacob was merely giving George some space, space he thought he needed. This time George had left of his own accord and if he had wanted to talk to Jacob he would have stayed, he was sure of that. Perhaps George did want him to follow but George was a very straightforward and upfront person if he had wanted Jacob to follow him, he would have suggest a walk to talk things over or something of the sort. When George wanted something he was very open about it and the only thing Jacob could make out from him leaving like this was a sure sign he wanted to be left alone for the time being. He'd come back when he was ready. But Jacob was still scared he'd gotten the signs mixed up and George actually wanted to follow him so they could talk. After a while he convinced himself that if George wanted to talk he'd be here now or Jacob would be somewhere with him.

Shortly sleep regained its hold on him.

When he awoke he could hear someone clattering around in the kitchen. George was back. All the remnants of sleep shot from him and Jacob hurtled out of bed, looking quickly at the time. It was just a little after 12am; George had been gone for about four hours unless he'd come back sooner. He pulled a shirt on and walked quickly through the living room and into the kitchen.

George was standing with his back turned to Jacob mashing something with considerable force. He was taking his anger out on the food he was either preparing or just assaulting. Jacob saw that when George heard him padding softly up behind him the man's shoulder's tensed and smashed the spoon down into whatever it was harder and sharper.

'George -,' Jacob said beginning his apology but the red head cut him off sharply.

'- I don't want to talk about it.'

'George, please,' Jacob begged.

'Jacob,' George said still not turning around to face him, 'I don't really want to talk about it, not yet again. Just give me a bit, all right?'

'I just want to apologize.'

'Just give me some time and then you can apologize,' George said a harsh and scathing tone.

'Um,' Jacob said uselessly as he wasn't sure what George wanted him to say here, 'ok,' he supplied and was glad he'd agreed to that when George's tensed shoulders relaxed and he stopped attacking the food with such venom.

Jacob nodded and though his stomach rumbled loudly didn't feel like walking around past George to take an apple from the bowl. Instead he turned and headed down the stairs to do some accounting work for the shop that needed to be done, and Jacob could see no better time than the present.

'Jacob,' George said.

Jacob swiftly turned around but saw, much to his disappointment that George didn't look like he wanted an apology just yet. The red head was holding an apple in his hand and when Jacob had turned around he threw it at him. Jacob caught it but fumbled with it for a few seconds before it finally decided to stay caught. As Jacob turned away in a glum mood he was sure he saw a hint of a smile across George's face from his apple antics.

'Thanks,' Jacob said softly and hurried down the stairs.

After working on the accounts for a very long time, he heard George coming down the stairs. Jacob jumped to his feet and when George came into view at the foot of the case, Jacob asked, 'Do you want an apology?' he asked in an almost pleading voice.

'No,' George and pushed past Jacob and into the room hidden behind the bookcase.

Jacob sighed and settled down to finish off the accounts. Not long after George had entered his room there was a loud bang followed by a string of curses and then silence. Minutes later another loud bang nearly made Jacob jump off his seat in shock; this bang was accompanied by a whoop of joy. This carried on until Jacob had finished with the accounts; bangs followed by noises of joy or annoyance. Once Jacob had finished the accounts he went upstairs to drown out the noise of the constant explosions. Jacob settled into the couch after plucking a book from his stash, it wasn't the Dark Arts book – Jacob didn't even go near that book – instead it was the book of Transfiguration.

Barely a few minutes after Jacob was reading quite happily, George came along and shot a glare at Jacob when he saw him reading. George bent low as passed Jacob's place on the couch to see what he was reading and seemed a little more relaxed when he took note of the title.

'Do you want an apology, _now?_' Jacob asked George with the same pleading tone in his voice. If George refused his apology for the third time he would do what George had done earlier in the day: get away for a while. He didn't care where he went as long as when he came back George would accept his request for forgiveness.

'No,' George stated and helped himself to an apple before heading back downstairs.

Jacob groaned loudly and abandoned the book, striding into the bedroom. He plucked his black coat from the cupboard and buttoned it up, checking his hair in the mirror before he left the room and skipped down the stairs. He slammed the shop door loud enough so that George would know he had left.

The instant he stepped outside he regretted it. The cold air buffeted him in the face and the rain pounded down on him. He thrust his hands into the pockets of his coat and ran, not caring how silly he looked, to the shelter of the Leaky Cauldron. He splashed through puddles as he ran, completely soaking his shoes and jeans but he didn't care.

As he reached the stone wall, he cursed himself again. Firstly for his stupidity, and secondly because he had even left the warmth of the flat, he had yet again forgotten that he couldn't get through to the pub. Groaning and kicking his shoe through the puddle, he was quite surprised when a witch came up beside him and tapped the bricks letting her and her shopping through. Jacob couldn't believe his luck as he quickly slipped in behind that woman.

The pub was absolutely warm and was sheltering a lot of shivering wizards but as much as Jacob wanted to stay, he couldn't. As he had been running through the wet street of Diagon Alley he had decided to pay his parents a visit. He didn't want to go back to his old flat as he hadn't spoken to his ex-flatmates in ages and he had a question that he needed to ask his parents.

It was the inevitable, the big one, and the one that had been bugging ever since he'd stumbled across Diagon Alley. He had to know and perhaps his parents would, he hoped they'd know something. Even a little titbit of information would be enough for him, just for a little while anyway. If they couldn't tell him because they didn't know anything they must know about some family member, a family member that would probably be known as the "strange one" or possibly a rude nickname knowing his family.

He walked in between the tables and out the door of the pub with no interruptions whatever. Outside he was blasted with the same cold air and rain as the first time he had left the flat; he grimaced and set out against it. While he walked along the street he felt in his pocket for the long neglected cell phone which had remained off for nearly a month. That must be some kind of record he thought proudly to himself. He pulled his phone out and protected it against the wind and rain; once it had turned itself on he called for a taxi. Luckily the wait for a cab wouldn't be long as there was one in his area; the man had said it would take two minutes to reach him. So Jacob doubled back to stand outside the protective shelter of the Leaky Cauldron, he stood under the doorway.

Promptly the cab came and Jacob ran out into the rain to reach the door. He slid inside and onto the seat, barely wet at all.

'Weren't you getting wet out there, buddy?' the man asked and turned to him. 'You aren't wet at all, not even a little damp.'

'I was standing under shelter,' Jacob said.

'No you weren't, mate,' the driver said, 'you were standing under nothing. God must be smiling down on you if you can stand in the rain and not get wet.'

Jacob coughed nervously and looked down at his coat finding that the driver was right, he wasn't even damp. That was strange, before he had sheltered in the doorway of the Leaky Cauldron he had certainly felt wet right through.

'Where do you want to go, Blondie?' the driver asked as he pulled the car away from the curb.

'St John's Wood please,' Jacob said and gave the address to his parents' house. He slid the phone back in his pocket and felt for the Muggle money he always had on him now, George had exchanged some of his pay for him a week ago.

Shortly, Jacob was amazed at how well this driver knew the back roads and all the short routes to get to St John's Wood; they arrived outside Jacob's old home. He paid the driver and hurried off to stand under the doorway as he knocked on the door. Not waiting for it to be answered, he twisted the door knob and was relieved when it opened.

'Mum?' he called into the house, 'Dad?'

'Kitchen, Jacob!' his father called to him and Jacob took off his wet coat and threw it over the nearest chair. He walked through the corridor and entered the kitchen at the end.

His father was standing over the oven, staring inside at whatever he was baking. Leftover ingredients littered the surfaces of the benches and the floor, as Jacob entered he had nearly slipped over some flour. It looked like his father was baking chocolate chip biscuits.

'You're baking, dad?' he asked when his father turned around to hug and greet him. 'Mum is really slave driving you then?'

'She has book group tonight, and you know how everything must be perfect for that,' his father said reasonably. Jacob shuddered as he remembered the horrors of book group, his mother always ran around like a mad women hours before the club even started. 'Anyway,' his father continued looking up from what he had in the oven, 'what brings you home, have we forgotten your birthday again?' he teased.

The year Jacob had moved out they had forgotten his birthday and Jacob had arrived, rather angry and infuriated on their doorstep demanding to know why they had forgotten. Jacob shook his head, 'you know bloody well that my birthday isn't until the end of the year. I wanted to ask you something.'

'Fire away,' his dad and ducked down to look at the biscuits after a dull fizzing noise could be heard from the oven.

'What do you know about magic?' Jacob asked firing into the question and not bothering to start with the normal um-ing and ar-ing.

'The fairytale kind of magic?'

'No, the wizard and witch kind of magic.'

'Oh,' his father responded not thinking much of the strange and unusual question, after all Jacob was one foe questions of all types. 'Not much, sorry, Jacob, why do you want to know?'

'Just curious.'

'You remember what your mother always used to say to you?' his dad asked. 'It wasn't the cat that was killed by curiosity, it was Jacob Smith.'

'I know, I know,' Jacob said picking up the spoon and licking the remainders of the mixture off it.

'Don't you think you're a little too old to do that?'

'What? Of course not! It tastes fucking delicious, good job old man.'

'Language, young man,' his father said pulling the spoon away from him and Jacob pouted, 'that face only works on my sister and your mother,' he stopped and looked like he had suddenly remembered something. 'Your great Aunt, on your mother's side,' he added, 'is completely off her rocker, whenever she used to visit you and Anne when you were little she'd always blabber on about magic. She stopped visiting us when we moved from Scotland, we haven't heard from her since. But I think she's still alive, last we knew was that she was living in your Grandma's old house still in Scotland, but she might know something about magic.'

'I don't remember her,' Jacob said in excitement, 'what's her name?'

'Carlota Sheere,' was the reply, 'she married into that name but she has always been odd. If you want to know something about magic, ask her. Look her up in the phonebook. I'm sure your mother would like to know what happened you her, she used to be very fond of you and Anne.'

'Thanks dad,' Jacob said. 'I'll do that definitely.' The timer on the oven beeped. 'Want a hand?' he asked.

'Please.'

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	19. Carlota Sheere

**

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

**Curiosity  
Part Nineteen: Carlota Sheere**

Diagon Alley was quiet; the only sound was the steady drip of water into puddles. The shops were all closed or closing down for the day, only Gringotts was still open and that was generating very little activity. The rain had eased off and the sun was beginning to peak through the clouds as it set behind the hills, shining rays of light across the deserted Alley. The rays of light lit up the puddles and made the stone paving of Diagon Alley look like someone had left behind a sprinkling of diamonds. The strong wind earlier in the day that had buffeted everything in its path had also yielded its powerful blow. All that was left of it now was a soft, rather pathetic puff that pushed gently at the lone person walking down the Alley and splashing through puddles. 

Jacob had his hands thrust in his pockets and was looking over the direction of the fading sun. He was disappointed that the weather had chosen to turn back to normality right before the sun was about to set. After basking in the evening glow and staring around the street while he walked at a slow gate, he had completely forgotten that he was in somewhat of a hurry. His intention after leaving St John's Wood was to hurry back to the flat beg George to forgive him and then go off to talk to his Great Aunt. But walking along the street and seeing the sun settling behind the hills in the far off distance like that made him wish he was an artist, it made him want to stop and pretend he _was_ an artist. He had stopped his frantic speed to slow and look anyway. Shortly, he picked up his pace and broke into a run, splashing heavily through the puddles and wetting the ends of his newly dry jeans again thinking about Scotland. If George didn't want to come with him he would go by himself because this was the closest he had been in a long time to figuring out something about his magic. If George was still mad at him perhaps it would be best if he went to Scotland for the night and gave the man more space. He couldn't fathom George still being angry at him, maybe just a little annoyed still but anger would be pushing it. He'd barely spoken to the man since morning and it was now well past 6 o'clock. Jacob still felt terrible for what he had done with the book, he should have known better, he was a grown man he should be able to control his curiosity better than that. But curiosity was his driving force. That was why he couldn't wait until morning to go and speak to his Great Aunt Carlota Sheere, he needed to know _now. _

When he reached the entrance to the shop, seeing it dark inside, Jacob took a deep breath steadying him before he put his hand to handle and pushed. Inside of the shop was even darker then it looked outside, the setting sun was beginning to shadow the structure and put it in darkness. Jacob hurried up the stairs but not before peeking inside the hidden room to see if George had gone back to hiding in there. He wasn't there and the room was void, everything in it had been taken out, which surprised Jacob immensely. He frowned and headed up the stairs at a quick trot.

George was sitting on the couch, his feet propped up against the small coffee table between the other white couch. He looked up when he saw Jacob but quickly turned his eyes away to stare at his feet. 'You ran away,' George commented, 'again.'

'I went home to talk to my parent's,' Jacob said. 'I asked them what they knew about magic.'

George simply raised an eyebrow at this but nothing more. Usually he would have been enthusiastic about it and encouraged Jacob to tell him all he had found out but today ... nothing. It was a little upsetting for Jacob to think his silence was because of what he had done.

'My dad doesn't know anything,' Jacob continued awkwardly. 'But he did say something about my Great Aunt, Carlota Sheere, he said she was completely bonkers and she used to babble about magic a lot but they haven't heard from her in ages but she is still alive.' He paused to look at George who was staring back at him, his face as blank as a white cloth. 'I'm going to talk to her, _now_,' Jacob added. 'Do you ... um, do you want to come?'

George frowned and had the expression of someone obviously wondering. 'Where does she live?' he eventually asked.

'In my grandmother's old house, but she died ages ago and so now her sister lives there,' Jacob said and then hurried to give exact location, 'she lived in Inverness too, just a few streets away from where we used to live.'

There was silence for a few seconds and Jacob saw George's fingers curl over the side of the couch. Finally he spoke. 'Yeah, ok,' he said waving a hand dismissively. 'How long do you think we'll be gone?'

'I really don't know,' Jacob said truthfully. He didn't know how long it would take to get information out of his Great Aunt and how long the catch-up she would inevitably want would take either. They could get back later tonight or tomorrow, who knew? 'You don't have to come if you don't want to, I just asking because I ...' he stopped and shook his head. He decided when George said nothing to undo the horrible and bland silence to speak again. It was the best thing to do, someone had to do the talking or else life would get very boring.

'I just didn't really want to go without you,' he said blushing softly not caring wither George could see it or not.

A flicker of a smile darted across George's face before he resumed today's disappointed and angry face. 'I'll come,' he said definitely. 'I might just owl Ron and ask him if he can look after the shop tomorrow, open it up for a few hours tomorrow, just for customer flow. If he can't that's ok too,' George added hurriedly, 'Yeah.'

'Ok,' Jacob said feeling really uncomfortable at how awkward their conversation was; he hoped things would relax over time. 'George,' he said hopefully. Really, really hopefully like a dog begging to be fed even though it wasn't time for its tea yet. That pathetic, yearning type of hopeful.

'I don't want an apology yet, Jacob,' the red head said rising from his seat and going into the kitchen where Jacob knew all the writing equipment was kept.

Jacob groaned and slumped down onto the couch knowing he would be in a for very forced trip conversation wise. He stared at his hands and with a finger traced some of the lines of his palm; he had never had his fortune told. If he had he wondered if the fortune teller would have been able to tell him about this whole magical experience. He wondered if even a proper fortune teller would have believed it if they had seen it. But if they were a real honest to god one wouldn't that mean they had magic blood? Jacob supposed that was correct and sighed as he looked at his palm again. Would he even have believed if some fortune teller had told him that, he doubted it? He would most definitely – before all of this – shrugged them off and called them insane the second he was out of ear shot from them. Before this he didn't really believe in magic (or being able to tell someone's future from the palm of their hand), he just read the stories when he was younger for a laugh but he read them a lot. He was surprised coming into this hadn't been a very big shock for him but he figured that was simply because of how he was. If he had been uptight or not flexible to new ideas he would have shunned this place and never stepped foot near the Leaky Cauldron around.

A padding of feet against the carpet announced George's return into the room. There was ink on his hands so Jacob knew he had written the letter and probably sent it off. George smoothed a hand through his hair and looked down at his clothes, a shirt and jeans. 'Do you think we'll need a change?' he asked Jacob but before Jacob could answer he did himself, 'nah, if we will be there for a night only, tops,' he added. 'I'll just take a jacket.'

'You'll tell me when you're ready to accept my apology, won't you?' Jacob asked as he watched George retrieve his coat from over the couch where it usually lived. 'I understand that you might not want to hear it for a while but that's ok, I can wait,' he said even though he knew that having George annoyed at him would start to really piss him off in a while. He wasn't exactly the most patient of souls. Patience was for the bored; Jacob certainly did not find life boring in any sense.

'I'll tell you, yeah,' George said. 'Ok,' he muttered to himself. 'Owl's been sent to Ron, I've got my wand, have you got your wand, Jake – Jacob?' George flushed a bright red, the colour of his copper hair, at his mistake. He looked appalled with himself and it seemed to Jacob that he too was having trouble trying to stay mad.

'No,' Jacob said with a puzzled look, 'why would I need it? And I can't do magic anyway.'

'You can use magic in self-defence, they will understand that,' George said. 'If your dad said your Aunt was crazy – completely nuts – she might be crazy enough to hurt us. Bring it just in case,' he said sharply when Jacob was about argue that he didn't need it if George had his, he was gutted he'd been cut off as well he was going to layer on some compliments in hope to get George to accept his apology sooner.

'Ok,' Jacob with not wanting to argue even though his argument had been stacked full of compliments towards George. He went into their room and plucked his wand out from under his pillow and slipped it up the sleeve of his coat. He didn't want to admit it but automatically he felt better with it near him. 'How are we going to get there?' Jacob asked when he came back into the room.

'Apparition, probably, it's fast, it's easy and it's free,' he said with a grin. 'Scotland has a series of safe Apparition points for wizards where Muggle's can't see us come and go. We'll Apparate to the one closest to Inverness and walk from there.'

'It's clever,' Jacob said. 'How you do things, how you Wizarding folk always manage to get around and the Muggle's never even suspecting a thing. It's clever,' he repeated. So what if he was sucking up to George?

'Again with the "you" and never the "we", when are you going to learn, Jacob,' George asked, 'you are part of the "we" now.' He walked across the distance between them and placed his arm on Jacob's shoulder and squeezed slightly before coughing awkward and releasing the tight grip on Jacob's shoulder but his hand still remained there. 'Ok,' he said hesitantly, choosing not to look at the blonde. 'Are you ready?'

'To Apparate?' Jacob asked and cringed, could anyone ever be ready to do that? It was horrible, he hated it but he wanted to do, he hated it as much as he enjoyed it. He was getting better and resisting the urge to throw up afterwards but he still felt queasy. He just needed to get used to the feeling and then maybe his stomach would relax.

'Are you ready?' George repeated and when Jacob nodded he squeezed the hand on his shoulder tight again.

Suddenly – or not so suddenly – they appeared on a hill. Jacob looked around in surprise he hadn't even felt that movement and yet here they were. It was bizarre but he shrugged it off and looked around at the environment. They were standing on the ridge of a hill that travelled along either side of then for about twenty metres each way before dropping down again to follow the flat yet bumpy land. Jacob could see out before them the roofs of the buildings in Inverness and a terrible wave of homesickness shock him. He regarded Inverness as home and he missed living here, he missed it a lot. He had always wanted to move back. Looking around, Jacob saw a well trodden dirt path lead down the hill and met up with the river that wound its way through the spacious land. He sighed and took a deep breath of the fresh and undisturbed air, the air always smelt so clean around here. He set out; right foot first down the path which typically had gorse growing along side.

He looked behind him for George and saw the man hurrying down the path behind, Jacob smiled softly to himself. The sun had set fully now and in the patched light of the moon they found their way down the path. Once at the bottom the trickling noise of the river was a guide to Jacob, he lead the two of them right since he knew that following the path he could still faintly see they'd come out into an old over-ridden lot soon which belonged to his grandmother and now his Great Aunt.

God he missed this place. An aspiration of his had always been to move back to Scotland and he still intended to return here. There was something about the Scottish air that he found irresistible or maybe he just extremely patriotic. Born and bred in the land of the Scots with the accent to prove it. He grinned to himself as he took a sharp left and jumped over a fence that he knew was there by memory and instinct.

Behind him he heard George swearing, Jacob blinked and flushed he had almost forgotten about George in his sense of homeliness. He turned around to see that he had walked right into the fence. George was surrounding by a faint blue glow emitting from his wand and it made him look twice as gorgeous as normal. The blue light lit up his hair and the freckles dotted across his nose stood out more, making him appear childlike and sweet and his red hair looked so silky in that light that Jacob really had to fight with himself to stop from reaching out and stroking it. He shook himself of the god like vision of George and offered a hand so George could jump the fence with a little more ease.

'How far now?' George asked. 'Usually I quite like a little frolic through fields of gorse and whatever the hell was back there but in case you haven't noticed I'm in a pretty rotten mood.' At least George was regaining some of his humour which meant that soon he might accept Jacob's apology for the stupid thing he had done.

'Not far, that Apparition spot is really good, it comes out basically right next to her house,' Jacob said gleefully.

'Jacob, we've been walking for twenty or even more minutes.'

'What, really?' Jacob asked with surprise, it hardly even felt like it had been five minutes. 'I guess I was just caught up in being home. We used to come to grandma's a lot when we were kids.'

'I swear you being home has made your accent stronger,' George commented lazily as they trotted briskly through the over grown garden. 'Should I hide my wand?' George asked as the giant house loomed before them. 'If she's not a witch she'll freak out.'

'Mm?' Jacob asked absently as he was staring up at the house he remembered, memories flooding him. He could remember so much about living in Inverness but hardly anything about the first few years in England. He supposed it was because he hadn't been so chuffed when his family had packed off to St John's. 'Oh, yeah,' he said as what George had said sunk in.

A light flickered on as they found the path towards the front door. The stone path was slowly becoming overgrown from little care, and the plants were beginning to creep along towards the front door like they wanted to enter the house. Where the path ended was a small porch type structure made of dark wood on which sat a single rocking chair made of the same old wood. A pot plant that was growing gloriously free inside the pot arched up around the door which had a huge brass knocker in the centre. Jacob didn't remember this feature of the house but nevertheless he knocked on the door and stepped back to stand perilously close to George as they waited for it to open.

'I'm coming, I'm coming!' a sharp voice from inside yelled out to them. There was a shuffling inside and the soft click when the door swung open. Standing in the door staring out at them was a very tall elderly woman. She was wearing her hair up in a loose bun and strands of grey hair hung around her face and framed her soft chocolate brown eyes. The woman who was peering out at Jacob with an interest look upon her face was wearing a robe similar to the ones George and the other wizards and witches sometimes wore.

Suddenly a look of recollection crossed her face and she smiled widely revealing a set of very straight teeth. 'Jacob! Oh dear, Jacob is that you?' she asked and clutched at the top of her robe. 'Oh my goodness, I haven't seen you since you were about this high,' she said using her hands to show the height of a toddler.

'Carlota Sheere?' Jacob asked a little nervously.

'Aye,' his Great Aunt said with a huge beaming smile. 'Please dear boy, do come in!'

Jacob nodded and stepped inside. The small entrance was different to how he remembered it but the walls were the same soft, dark red and the wooden floor looked more polished then when he had seen it last. A table that was decorated with envelopes sat to his left and above that hung a mirror. In the corner of the mirror a black and white photograph was stuck of two young girls. One of whom Jacob recognized as his grandmother and the other he now knew to be his Great Aunt Carlota Sheere.

She led them through to the living room which was very empty spare three couches taking up the large void spaces and one comfortable looking armchair that was sitting dangerously close to the fire. His aunt motioned for him and George to take a seat opposite her in the large sitting room.

His aunt was smiling at him in a way only a mother or a relative could. 'You know,' she said softly. 'I used to be very fond of you when you were a child, you were the sweetest thing but one always had to keep an eye on you, as you always used to get into plenty of trouble. I see you kept your grandfather's good looks about you; you do look so similar to him. The same blonde hair and striking blue eyes, my sister really did snag a keeper. Oh, Jacob, I haven't seen your family in ages. How are my niece and little Anne?'

'Mum's fine,' Jacob said, 'Anne got married and she's pregnant now.'

'Oh, that's really something isn't it? I've missed so much,' she said, 'it's a shame really. What's the name of your friend here?'

'George Weasley,' George spoke first and extended his hand for her to shake.

'Weasley,' she mused, 'now that's a familiar name. Anyway,' she said suddenly, 'what is it you have come to find out, Jacob? I suppose all this trouble of getting here is not just because you fancied a visit?'

'Uh, well, I came to find out about the family-' he was about to continue on and ask what she knew about magic but she cut him off at that point.

'Well, my parents and your grandmother's parents died when we were very young, I was about 11 and your grandmother was about 15. We naturally grew very close after that, we were sent here to live with a sponsor family. Your grandmother fell in love with the village bread boy and married him at a young age of 17 – your grandfather, you look so like him. Same features, identical eyes, same hair colour. She had your mother much later and then of course as you very well know your mother had you and Anne. Anne has the same colour hair as your grandfather, doesn't she?'

'Yes,' Jacob said, 'but what about you?'

Aunt Carlota coughed nervously.

'It's all right, Mrs Sheere,' George said to her, 'tell him you're a witch, it's definitely what he wants to hear. It's why we came, to find out how he got the Talent.'

His great aunt spluttered as she looked at Jacob, she looked shocked and completely taken by surprise. 'What? You – you have the Talent?'

Jacob nodded.

'For how long?' she asked. 'I never saw any hints of it when you were a child.'

'I found out about it near the end of last year.'

'But that's unheard of,' she said, 'that doesn't happen. How did you find out?'

'I started seeing things normal Muggle's wouldn't see, like the Leaky Cauldron.'

'Oh my,' she breathed out. 'Jacob, dear, this really is a shock. But congratulations dear boy, it really is a treasure to have such a gift.'

'If you have the Talent, why didn't my grandmother or my mother have it?'

His aunt looked puzzled. 'I really am not sure. I got my letter for Hogwarts after my parents died. We didn't know our parents very well; we weren't raised near them at all. They always had business in strange parts of the world doing god knows what. They could have easily been a witch and wizard without us even knowing about it. When I got my letter your grandmother wasn't very impressed, she didn't understand why she hadn't gotten one, she was a little jealous and never mentioned what I was to anyone else, she never spoke about magic at all and tried to pretend I didn't practise it. Your grandmother was quite content that she would inherit the small yet tidy fortune of our parents so she barely bothered with anything I concerned myself with, she just valued our friendship and never spoke that I was a witch. We never talked about it.

'The man she married was not a wizard either, I would have known. I married a wizard yet we had no children. He died long ago; you only met him once when you were a child. When he visited you for the first time we were very disappointed that you like your sister, showed no signs of the Talent.'

'But if you parents could have had it and you had it and now I have it, how come it skipped generations like that?'

'I said before, Jacob, I really do not know about that. It could be that the reason you discovered it only now is because the Talent was so faint in you because of how it didn't show in your mother or grandmother.'

'So it ...' he stopped looking for the right word, 'jumped generations and only showed in me now because it was so faint?'

'I would believe so, and it only chose now to show itself because it was building up power,' his aunt sighed. 'It is a very vague assumption but Jacob; it is the only one I can offer you. It seems the only thing likely to have happened.'

'It still doesn't make much sense,' George piped up, 'isn't that kind of the same with Squibs?'

'Squibs are from very magical families, families whose magical line is very strong and has not been broken, or least that's what I thought they were.'

'Oh, yeah,' George mumbled.

'It is definitely possible, dear boy, that the magic in our family had dwindled so much that it couldn't be in each family member and had to gather itself before it could reveal itself in family members.'

'But you're not sure?'

'I'm sorry, Jacob, but I'm not sure. That is the only possibility that springs to mind, but I can say that somewhere along the way there was certainly magical blood in our family. That may have contributed towards you finding the Talent in you now; if not then you are a truly remarkable person.'

After that they talked about memories for a long time, nearly an hour and his aunt shared some embarrassing stories she remembered from her days with them which led Jacob to another question. She even had some photos of her with him and his sister. They were wizard photos as well so they moved. In the picture Anne was sitting at the feet of their great aunt pulling at her long flowing skirt and in the background a very young Jacob was prodding at the books on the shelf quite happily until one fell out and hit him on the head. He started to cry and his great aunt pulled him up into her arms and calmed him. It looked like a sweet and happy picture, a very family like sight that made him wonder why Carlota had never come back to visit before.

'Why didn't you keep visiting us?' Jacob wanted to know, 'if you enjoyed spending time with me and Anne so much, why didn't you ever visit again?'

His aunt flushed a deep red colour and looked away nervous, again. 'Some people had felt I said too much.'

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**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	20. Genetics

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

A/N: Thank you to anon reviewer HolyH for saving my behind by pointing those things out for me. Cheers! It really helped. Also I didn't mean that Jacob's sister was gay, I meant that his father's sister was gay in that first chapter. So Jacob's dad is pro-gay for the sake of his sibling and son. 

**Curiosity  
Part Twenty: Genetics**

'What do you think she meant by "some people felt had felt I said too much"?' Jacob asked. George was walking a few feet ahead of him as they trudged wearily back along to the Apparition point. George had been a few feet in front of Jacob the entire way and he had taken to following the glow of George's wand like a bug attracted to light. 

After his aunt's she had told him that perhaps it was best if he left as the time was late and she wasn't as young as she once was. A big excuse if Jacob had ever heard the like. When Jacob had asked why she stopped visiting she had said nothing else except goodbye and an offer for another visit after her last sentence. And Jacob was sure the air around her had changed, like she was embarrassed about something. But he couldn't tell, perhaps she was just tired and sick of his company. It had just seemed strange how quickly she had shooed them out of her house after that, but if she had something to hide Jacob was sure he or George would have picked up on it a lot sooner. His aunt Carlota was, and Jacob was sure though he'd only known her for a short time, the type of wear her heart on her sleeve. After all she had spoken very freely about his family and she wasn't very good at hiding the fact she was a witch, she had been wearing a cloak in Inverness – a very Muggle place and she had spoken of knowing George's last name.

'I reckon,' George said, 'that someone stopped her from seeing you.'

'Genius,' Jacob remarked dryly.

'Hey, keep up that attitude and I will never accept your apology.'

'Sorry,' Jacob said jogging a few paces before he fell into step beside George as they tackled the hill up to the Apparition spot. 'But she just kind of stopped talking to us after that, like she was embarrassed by something or had some kind of secret.'

'I was about to say before you interrupted with your rather rude comment,' George said using his pompous tone that he often used to tease Jacob, 'that the 'some people' who stopped her from seeing you could have been the Ministry officials. You said that your dad said that she used to talk – Merlin, this could get confusing - to you and Anne about magic a lot?'

'Yeah,' Jacob asked expectantly.

'A department at the Ministry is the Department of blah, blah, Enforcement,' he said waving off the fact he hadn't forgotten the proper name with his hand and not letting that become as issue. 'They handle stuff like ... say if a Muggle saw a witch on a broomstick and went and reported it to the Muggle police, they'd come along and Oblivate their memories just so they wouldn't remember what they saw and the memories of whoever they told just so they wouldn't remember what they heard. Wizards are pretty good at hiding away from Muggle's but every now and then one of them sees something so that department has to come in.'

'Why do wizards even hide from Muggle's?' Jacob asked.

'It's easier, imagine how jealous all the Muggle's would be, they'd want a piece of our magic so they'd try and get at it or the extremists would all burn us at the stake's like they used too. In case you haven't noticed they are a lot more Muggle's than wizards.'

'... Anyway,' Jacob said after he'd processed that information, 'what has that department go to do with my aunt?'

'If she'd been telling you about magic they probably gave her some order not to see you again, they might of even Oblivated you an Anne, I don't know.'

'But my dad remembers her talking about magic.'

'Jacob, I don't know what happened, ok?' he said gruffly. 'I tell you what though, we can go to the Ministry tomorrow, not today,' he added warningly, 'and ask to see her file.'

'They'll let us do that?'

'I don't see why not.'

'Great, shall we go tomorrow?'

George nodded and lowered his wand arm so the light was pointing directly at the ground and not ahead of them. Jacob felt George's freezing cold hand at the back of his neck and it pushed him forwards so he collided with the trunk of a sturdy tree. Jacob gasped clutching at his nose as he staggered away from the tree.

'What the hell did you do that for?' he asked sharply, pinching the bridge of his nose as it felt ready to bleed. 'Put your wand back up so I can punch you!'

'You ask too many questions and I'm just venting some anger, oh come on! It's not like it hurt or anything,' George said and he sounded like he was just a few feet away from Jacob. 'And anyway, what's the matter with a bit of a fist fight – or tree fight – between more than just mates?'

'Does that mean you forgive me?' Jacob asked out into the dark hopefully.

'No,' George said. 'I'm not going to forgive you until at least tomorrow evening.'

'You're just stringing me along,' Jacob called out to him. 'You're just teasing me now.'

There was a long gap of silence and Jacob was starting to feel uncomfortable when he finally heard George's voice again. 'No, Jacob,' he said. 'I am really angry at you. You shouldn't have done that, or at least told me, secrecy isn't a good start to anything,' George said adding that in like it was an afterthought. 'I would have accepted your apology ages ago if I was ready too. Come over here now before I Disapparate without you,' George said in a threatening tone.

Jacob sighed and rushed up to the crest of the hill and found the blue light under which George was standing. He had thought all this fun had meant George was ready to forgive him. The light teasing talk this evening had been a refreshing change from the hours of silence earlier in the day. He supposed he could wait longer though he did miss George being really friendly with him, though just before had seemed very close to it, and he wanted to kiss George.

As soon as he reached George the man grabbed his arm tightly and they Disapparated away from Inverness. Jacob's last look of the small town that day was a burl and a whirl of dark colour. But he couldn't dwell on that because in an instant they appeared in bathroom in the flat. Jacob collapsed down onto the toilet seat and sat as he waited for his stomach to react to the Apparition effects. He hadn't felt the need to be sick when they left for Inverness just hours before and had thought that was a hoax and that he would probably this time.

'I don't think you're going to be sick,' George commented mordantly. He looked at Jacob and touched his hair softly. 'I'm going to bed,' he said.

Jacob nodded wanting to lean into the touch on his head but George had pulled his hand back quickly. 'Good night,' he said watching George leave.

'It's 12:15, it's morning,' George commented having to raise his voice so that Jacob could hear him. 'But sleep well.'

Jacob sighed and kicked at the white base of the toilet, hurting his heel in the process. He stood and waited for a few seconds, trying to see if standing would have started the prolonged up chuck sequence. It hadn't and it seemed that his body had got used to being dragged through the air and appearing elsewhere. He didn't know if that was something to be proud of but he felt a little superior that he could now do that; but superior to what? He shrugged to himself, he didn't know but he did know that this constant completely random babbling in his mind meant he was tired.

Trudging wearily out of the bathroom he thought about what his aunt had said to him. It was a little confusing, especially for someone as tired as him. It had gone something like this, roughly: "your grandparents might have been magical, but I don't know," and "the reason magic might have developed in you so late was because our magical line was so faint and had to jump before becoming strong in one person." Jacob didn't know, he didn't know and he was tired, it wasn't a very good mix. He shuffled through the bedroom door and fell down onto his bed, burying his face into the mattress and groaning. God, that woman was confusing, he felt like he should have taken notes throughout her explanation. Perhaps in the morning he'd be able to concentrate in on what she had said. He kicked his shoes off and pulled the covers up over his head, throwing his hands onto the cushion and when he finally felt comfortable drifted off to sleep.

The next morning he woke with a start with the horrible feeling he had forgotten to do something the night before. Within seconds he realized that he had just forgotten to take his jeans off before he went to sleep and now had to suffer that horrible stiff and stuffy feeling that happened after you'd slept in your clothing. He literally flopped out of the bed and into the floor, crawling along the wood for a few seconds before he reached the door frame and pulled himself up. Was it acceptable to have a beer at about eight in the morning? In some societies yes, bugger it all, he wanted a beer.

'George,' he groaned as he slumped into the room to see George sitting at the table looking quite alert and comfortable.

'What?'

'Can we go to the Ministry soon?'

George looked up at Jacob absently and then laughed. 'What, with looking like you've been on the drink all night or run into a brick wall about ten times, I don't think so. Have a shower and then we'll go. You look terrible,' he added.

'I feel terrible, can I have a hug?'

'No.'

'Damn it.'

In little under an hour the two men found themselves standing outside the Ministry, standing inside the bustling hall and staring at the wondrous fountain before them. The huge fountain depicting a witch, a wizard, a centaur and a house-elf was spraying water out through the tips of the wizard's wands and some who walked too close would get a showering of water. The first time Jacob had come here he had spent a long time staring at the fountain as many first timers did. But George seemed to be in a hurry and he grabbed Jacob's arm pulling him through the crowds of people, either milling around or making their way to the offices or departments they worked in.

'Shouldn't we go to the reception desks here?' Jacob asked as George led him away.

'But they'd have to go and get the files from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for the records we are looking for, plus the witches and wizards who work reception down here are useless. It's better to talk to one of the head of offices about your aunt or just ask for the file from one of them.'

'Ok then.'

They jumped into an already packed lift just before the brass doors clanged to a heavy shut. They were only going down to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Office to see if his aunt had a record of anything. The doors opened to a deep purple carpet dotted with MoM. George wrinkled his nose as he pulled Jacob out of the lift.

'Ew,' George commented gesturing around to the purple carpet and white lettering that was spaced out in random places on it. 'They've redecorated, I haven't come done this corridor in years. Nasty, isn't it?'

Jacob could do nothing but chuckle softly as he saw that the entrance to the department also had a receptionist that George hadn't quite noticed yet. So, doing the man a favour, he elbowed him in the ribs and pointed out the middle aged man sitting behind the desk and looking through stacks of paper. Jacob had seen the man look up at them when they stepped out of the lift so he knew he had heard what George had said.

George frowned and walked over to the desk, leaning against it. 'Since when did this department get a secretary?' he asked toying with the paper the man was looking through.

'Since they got sick of doing all the filing themselves,' the man said fixing the glasses on his face and pulling the paper out from George's hand. 'Anyway, what can I do for you, Mr Weasley?' he asked looking up at them through light brown eyes.

'That's the problem with being a Weasley,' George said to Jacob and he laughed, 'easily recognisable.' He turned back to the man with a huge smile across his face. 'Do you keep files of wizards and witches if they have crimes listed?'

'Naturally, but why?'

'Because we need one,' George said. 'The file of -'

'- Carlota Sheere,' Jacob cut in front of him pushing him aside so he could speak to the receptionist. 'We need to know if she did anything. Do you have it?' he asked hopefully.

The man looked from him to George again before pulling his glasses off, placing them on the desk and strolling over to an area hidden from sight by an obstructing wall. There was a series of loud clangs that sounded like cabinets being opened and his aunt's name said. Seconds later the man returned holding a thin file in his hands and handed it to Jacob.

He took the thin file in his hands and thanked the man before turning back to George and showing him the pale brown folder. Before they could open it and look through his aunt's personal information the man behind them said,

'You'll get cursed if you use the information in there for the wrong reasons. There's a pretty horrible curse on all of the files, so just watch out,' he said informatively. 'Oh, and do you want some chairs?'

Jacob was staring shocked at the man. 'You actually put curses on these things?' He was holding the file gingerly now and holding it out at arm's length.

'Yeah, chairs would be good please,' George said ignoring Jacob's shock.

The man behind the desk nodded and pulled out his wand, summoning two plush chairs for Jacob and George to sit on. 'It's not a big deal, just as long as you don't use the file to black-mail someone for instance. And it's more of a nasty jinx than a curse. You get boils all over and your nose does a Pinocchio, not very pleasant at all. But if you're not using it for things like that, it's fine. You're just checking something are you?'

'Yeah, just checking something,' George answered and sat down in the chair taking the file from Jacob. Jacob eased himself down into the chair and shuffled closer to George so he could see what he was doing.

George opened the file and the first thing they saw was a black white stone cold picture of his aunt, glaring at the camera dressed in an olden day type dress. The photo wasn't a moving picture so Jacob just suspected that the photographer had got her at the wrong the moment. Underneath the photo was the usual was written out in writing that imitated one from a type writer amazingly well. The first leaflet of the file just contained simple information like name, date of birth, etc. George turned over to the second sheet of paper; at the top of the page it stated Convictions. This was what they had been looking for.

'I told you so,' George said proudly pointing to a sentence. It said in bold ink: talking of magic to two young Muggle children (niece and nephew). Children Oblivated and Mrs Sheere banned from seeing them.

Jacob clutched his head and moaned. 'I was Oblivated! Jesus, how much?' he asked terrified.

'Just once.'

'No, I mean how much did I forget?'

'I don't know, you probably wouldn't have even remembered it back then but your sister might have, precautionary you know.'

'They can't do that!' Jacob cried hands still clutched in his hair. 'That's – but they can't do that!'

'Yes, they can do that. It has to happen. Imagine who you could have told what she had said to you?'

'I was a child,' Jacob hissed lowering his voice when the receptionist started to give them strange glances. 'They would have based it all on imagination and I had said "Aunty told me",' he mimicked a high child's voice, 'they would have told her not to tell me stories because I thought it was real.'

'It's already happened, and you can do squat about it.'

'Yeah,' Jacob groaned slumping forward and resting his head on his hand. 'I still reckon I was young enough for them not to have bothered.'

'It's not like they can undo it or anything, I don't reckon it affected your mental health much,' George said to him scanning down the rest of the page and patting his back comfortingly. 'You're pretty much crazy anyway.'

'Cheers, you're such a charmer.'

'Ooh, look at this,' George said shoving the file under his nose. 'Your aunt was in liaison with Goblins during the first war.'

Jacob took the file. 'Goblins?' he asked and was immediately reminded of the small with rather long feet and hands that had been working throughout Gringotts when he had visited. 'They run Gringotts don't they?'

'Yup, bunch of tricky blighters,' George said, 'you're aunt must have been a tough one to put up with them.'

'Is it a bad thing to be in "liaison with Goblins?" They've written it down like it was an offence.'

'Being in liaison would mean that she wanted Goblins to get more rights because they have hardly any enough though they are way smarter than normal people. Some people would see her helping them as offence and if she staged any protests the Ministry probably would have seen it as very, very offence. But I don't know, it all depends on year she did it in. She could have been completely ignored.'

'Oh,' Jacob said, 'I reckon that she was just embarrassed by the fact she got us Oblivated though, that must have been what she meant by "some people had thought I said too much."'

'Yeah, I guess,' George said taking the file back from Jacob and tracing his finger over the points he had already read until he came to the last. Jacob saw that his finger froze on the page and that his mouth dropped open a little.

'What?' he asked scooting even closer and peering over the red head's shoulder so he was able to read the words on the file. 'What?'

'Read it,' George said and pushed the file back towards him, he then leant back in the chair looking dumbfounded and slightly lost.

Jacob took the file gingerly wondering what could be written since hardly anything fazed George (apart from the use of Dark magic). He looked down and found the brief information about the Goblin liaison on and skimmed through that before he too gaped in shock. 'No way,' he said shakily. 'No.' He decided that it wasn't possibly. He stood to his feet taking the file with him and returned it to the receptionist.

'Find what you were looking for?' he asked with a kind natured smile.

'Yeah, but are these files 100 correct?' Jacob inquired his voice trembling as he spoke. It couldn't be true.

'Completely, they are updated yearly.'

'Oh,' Jacob said faintly. 'Thanks.' He didn't look at George as he hurtled towards the lift, catching it after a witch stepped out, George was right behind him and slide in just before the doors snapped shut. Inside he listened to the doors clang as he hurtled downwards towards the Atrium on Level Eight. 100 true, why couldn't it be 100 bullocks? That would be so much of a relief rather than what he had just learnt about a family member, who until just seconds ago he had quite liked. He thought he had found out someone his magic could be linked too and his aunt had described someway – however confusing – for him to have magic. Now he wasn't sure if he wanted to be related to her. Not after what he had read.

The lift doors clanged open at the exit for the Atrium and Jacob practically sprinted out planning to run for the visitor's entrance and exit and just walk before George tugged on his shirt and tugged him back. They were standing just in front of the lifts and the few people moving to use them milled around them, not at all bothered by the fact they were stationary in a mildly busy area.

'It's ok,' George said softly.

'You can't talk!' Jacob said. 'You freak out at the mere mention of it; you can't tell me it's ok.'

'It's fine though, really, all that stuff is over, it's past. And she can't remember any of it, the file said she had had her memory Oblivated so she can't even remember is now.'

'It was doing it of her own free will, she wanted to do it.' Jacob crossed his arms. 'I don't ever want to see her again.' His aunt had asked for Jacob to return so they could catch up some more while she suddenly kicked them out yesterday. He didn't want to know, he didn't want to see her again, not after what he had read. Could be really be related to someone like that? Someone who was involved in that kind of thing? Sure he was interested in it; he had been, but not anymore.

'It's not like she still uses Dark Magic, it didn't say she used it in the first place, Jacob,' George said and Jacob crossed his arms, a movement which George countered by putting his hands on his hips. 'She won't remember what she did. She'll hardly even know.'

'They should have locked her up,' Jacob muttered ruthlessly. 'She gave him information that led to heaps of people dying. She murdered them. I'm related to her?' he groaned.

'She must have had her reasons,' George said.

'Maybe she liked it,' Jacob muttered bitterly nearly spitting the words out.

'Blimey,' George said looked horrified. 'She would have done worse if she liked it! You've read what Dark Magic can do.'

'Don't bring up the book please, George.' He looked down at the ground and scuffed his shoe in front of him. 'She was just ... so nice and what she said sort of made sense. It feels like I have to start all over again because I don't want to be related to someone like her, I really don't.'

'You don't have to start all over again,' George promised him. 'You sort of know where you get the Talent from; you don't have to let this change it.'

'What if that's why she never saw her parents much, because they were always away helping him? That Voldemort guy, Jesus, what if that's why? Is that stuff genetic, the wanting to be evil, can that even _be_ genetic?'

'Of course not, you're just being really stupid now. It's not genetic and it won't happen to you. And I doubt that why she never saw her parents much, it's a bloody stupid thing to think. It's not true and it's not genetic. If it was genetic for your family, your aunt would have been brought up around that kind of thing, she would have done more. Believe me; I know what it can do it families.'

'I'm taking that book back,' Jacob said determinedly. 'I'm taking it back first chance I get. I'm way too interested, I shouldn't be. God, George, she killed them! She told him – Voldemort, where they were hiding. She betrayed them and he killed them. Why would someone do that?'

'Pressure,' George suggested. 'Kill or be killed, don't scowl at me, it's a possible reason. It is ok, Jacob, it's not genetic and you won't go the same way, I'll make sure. Just relax. Come on, you can scream all you want back at the flat.'

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	21. Love

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

**Curiosity  
Part Twenty-one: Love**

The flat was quiet except for the wind whistling outside and brushing against the windows and doors of the house as if begging to get in. Jacob was sitting cross legged on the couch simply staring out into space. When they had returned to the more private environment that was the flat, Jacob hadn't even yelled or screamed like George had suggested he do. He had been sitting in this chair, like this unmoving and thinking for about half an hour. The only thought rolling through his mind was how he couldn't believe that he had found an answer to the mystery of his magic and now he didn't even want to be related to that answer anymore. 

George had made him a cup of tea, but it sat untouched on the table. Jacob was beginning to get stiff from sitting still for so long and just staring out into space. He vaguely wondered why he hadn't actually shouted and screamed like he had wanted too at the Ministry. He didn't know, maybe the shock had just died away over the short amount of time and now he just felt disgusted in his aunt for doing that. Perhaps he was taking this a little strongly and should just forget about it and move on but he reckoned he was allowed to freak out like that. It was how he was: he'd freak out about certain things and then seconds later shrug them off and act like it never happened. Maybe he should start acting like that now.

The smell of tea flooded to his nose and for the first time since he had noticed it was there, he actually wanted some. He uncurled his legs and let him hang over the side of the couch in the normal way and leaned forward to pick up the cup. He wrapped his hands around it and was glad to find that it was still warm and smelling delicious. As he took a long sip, ignoring that it was still quite hot.

George entered the room as if on cue that Jacob was up to talking again.

'Nice tea,' Jacob commented when George crashed down beside him.

'Thanks,' George said with a wide grin and the compliment. 'So, when your upset I guess I should leave you alone for half an hour and then come back and talk to you?'

'If you come back before half an hour you get your head bitten off,' Jacob joked back a little half heartedly but still coming back to the norm. 'Can I make that apology now?' he asked. It was something he had wanted to do for the last two days and had thought that perhaps in his 'time of weakness' George would feel sorry for him and give in.

George looked down at the cup in Jacob's hands and took it taking a long sip himself before handing it back to him. He sighed and nodded. 'Sure, go for it.'

'I'm sorry,' Jacob said starting off. 'I really shouldn't have hidden the book from you given what has happened to you in the past involving that kind of thing. I shouldn't be interested in it, George, I'm just really sorry.' He hoped that would suffice because he had no other things that really needed to be said.

'Apology accepted, Jakey,' George said instantly reverting to the use of the nickname. 'I'm sorry I took it so seriously, I probably shouldn't have got so annoyed at you. We were both a little stupid, I reckon,' he paused and coughed nervously before making sure Jacob was looking right at him. 'But I also think that the reason I reacted so weirdly and insanely was because I maybe might just love you.'

'You didn't need to apologize, George,' Jacob said. 'I was at fault and ... wait, hang on. What did you say?'

George flushed and looked nervous and Jacob was suddenly aware that this was the first time he had seen George so flustered and put on the spot like this. It was kind of cute the way a small blush sprinkled across his cheekbones. 'I love you,' George repeated slowly.

Jacob looked across at George feeling quite overwhelming and of course completely delighted. 'Ok,' he said with a wide grin. Of course he loved George too, of course he did. Anyone would be stupid not to love him, the man was amazing. And he loved him, George loved him! Jacob felt like standing and rushing to a window to shout it out to everyone in Diagon Alley, but he didn't.

Suddenly he realized George was looking at him expectantly and that he wanted more of a reply than "Ok." Jacob smiled, letting George know that the reply would be a good one as he gathered his words. 'I love you too, George,' he whispered softly.

'Good,' George said and leaned forward touching his lips to Jacob, their lips lingering before George pulled back and smiled and him again before leaning back in and pressing their lips together with more pressure. George opened his mouth and gently nudged Jacob's with his tongue. Jacob immediately opened his mouth, feeling butterflies in the pit of his stomach as he placed his hands gently on George's shoulders, and George's arms moved to circle his waist.

Once the kiss had broken it left Jacob wanting more but instead he buried his head into the crook of neck sighing contentedly. He didn't want to move from this spot, having George's arms tightly around was more comforting and relaxing than usual. He let out a soft sigh when George's hands massaged the small of his back, making him feel even more comfortable.

'George?' Jacob asked quietly after a short time of sitting like that together just enjoying the feeling of being so close.

'Mm?'

'I'm scared of being like my aunt,' he said simply finding it best if he just spat his worries out. 'I'm scared that because I'm so interested in this kind of thing that I'll be like her. I don't want to do what she did.'

'Come on, Jacob, as if that will ever happen. You're far too good and set on track for that to happen to you,' George said pushing Jacob out of the tight hug so they could see each other's faces.

'But when we met Carlota she was really nice, really nice. You wouldn't think she'd ever do something like that, but she did. What if it happens to me?'

'Why would it, Jacob?' George asked. 'It's not genetic or anything.'

Jacob groaned. 'I should take the book back,' he said staring across to the bedroom where it still lay on his bed. 'I'll take it back this afternoon.'

George cupped the side of his face with a large pale hand. 'Jakey, you're being really silly. Take the book back of course, but do you honestly think that because your aunt was involved with that kind of stuff you will be too?'

Jacob stared into George's eyes and then smiled feebly. 'I suppose I am being stupid,' he said, agreeing with George. He was freaking about a little because he was scared that maybe he would be like her, it was a little ridiculous as he could decide whether he wanted to follow her path or not. And Jacob definitely did not want to be like her. 'Sorry, George, I am being really stupid.'

'Yes,' George with a smirk. 'You _really _are. But I love you anyway.'

Jacob blushed and felt the butterflies in his stomach take flight again. 'I love you,' he said back unable to take the smile off his face now.

'For how long?' George asked stroking his cheek with his thumb.

'I don't know,' Jacob said. 'I hadn't really thought about it, only how much I really, really liked you. I'd really liked you ever since we met. But now I think I had probably loved you for a long time. What about you?' Jacob asked tipping his head to one side as George took his hand away.

'Oh, it was the same kind of thing. I didn't really know for a while, I just knew that I liked you more than I'd liked anyone before but when we were walking back to the Apparition point in Inverness, I was thinking about how sexy your accent sounded and how gorgeous you looked and then how lucky I was for you to be with me, and it just clicked that I really loved you.' George said smiling.

Jacob scowled. 'You figured out you were in love with me and then pushed me into a tree?' he asked George who was grinning from ear to ear at him.

George nodded. 'Yeah, you were being annoying with all the questions.'

'Oh,' Jacob said. 'I'm going to keep asking you a lot of questions then,' he teased.

'I'll dock your wages,' George threatened.

'You wouldn't,' Jacob said.

'You're right, I wouldn't,' George said running his hands through Jacob's hair and chuckling. He stopped suddenly and looked at his watch. 'Got to work,' he said apologetically. 'You have to come and help this time or I really will dock your wages.'

When the shop had been opened the day had been quite busy. Plenty of people trekked in and out, most of them brought things. Ron turned up rather peeved that George hadn't bothered to send him an owl to say that he didn't need to come anymore. He stormed out after buying something to frighten their older brother, Percy, who was currently at The Burrow for a brief stay before returning to his own house. George had gladly given Ron the best thing to scare Percy with after hearing that. Apparently Percy had now become a lot more observant to the pranks that still hadn't settled down even though their childhood years were over. And because of that a lot of the items George sold were Percy-proof and he could see right through him.

Ron had been fairly awkward around Jacob at the counter and hadn't made eye contact at all. Jacob was sure that image of him and George kissing on the couch together was probably still rather fresh in Ron's mind. Jacob didn't mind that Ron had told his mother and that Molly now knew. It was probably a good thing that she did. Even though Ron didn't look at him the eye fully Jacob did smile at him and didn't resent him for being a little nervous about his brother's new male lover which must be a slight shock for him.

After a many hours of working steadily in the shop and a quick stop for lunch, Jacob left his post behind the counter and stole quickly over to George. He wanted to go and return the book today and perhaps see if Draco Malfoy was around so he could talk to him quickly. It didn't matter as his short break would be over soon so he could catch Draco anytime but he particularly wanted to talk to him now. He hoped that Professor McGonagall wouldn't mind him Flooing into her office completely unannounced.

'George,' he said catching the red head's hand as he passed and pulling him behind a shelf of stock. 'I'm going to go and return the book and talk to one of the Professor's.' He was also going now because the afternoon rush was over and the amount of customers coming through was beginning to slow.

'Yup,' George said pleasantly. 'That's alright; I'll see you later then?'

Jacob nodded and smiled at George before turning away. He smiled even brighter when George stopped him by touching his arm and pulling him back around to face him. George wrapped him into large hug and kissed the skin around his ear before letting him go and kissing his lips softly.

'See you,' George said quietly before letting him go.

Jacob smiled feeling a little fluttery from the kiss as he wandered up the stairs and ventured through the lounge towards the fire place. He was still grinning as he grabbed a handful of powder and stepped inside the hearth and saying the words.

After being sucked through the connection he was spat out into the grand fireplace in Professor McGonagall's office. Thankfully she was there and she looked up in surprise and amusement when Jacob clambered out covered in soot.

'Jacob!' she said her tone back to serious after she'd had a short laugh at him. 'What can I do for you today?' she asked dipping her quill back into the ink pot on her desk and letting it hang over it, dripping. She looked impatient yet entertained by Jacob's antics as he tried to get out of the fireplace without tripping over anything.

'Just coming through to return the book,' he said flashing the cover before she could see it properly and question why he had taken that book out in the first place.

'Very good timing, Jacob, I congratulate you,' she said with a smile. Obviously, she was in a very silly mood today. 'I have a collection of books that need to be taken down to the library, if you'd please. They are just on my desk,' she said pointing towards the stack of teetering books perilously on the corner of her desk.

Jacob smiled and trotted forward to pick up the books. Before he did he stopped and looked at the Professor. 'I think I found out a little bit about where my magic might be from,' he said.

'Oh,' Professor McGonagall let the quill fall gracefully from her hand. 'And what have you discovered?'

'An aunt who has the Talent,' Jacob muttered. He didn't want to tell the Professor about what she had done just yet. 'And she said – my aunt – also that her parents may have been wizards but she didn't know them well enough to tell. They weren't around very much.'

'Do not let your search stop there,' Professor McGonagall said needlessly. 'There has to be more of an answer to your magic rather than just one or perhaps three relatives.'

'But she said that my magic could have manifested itself in other family members before coming strong enough in me to show – is that possible?'

'I have never thought of that,' she said truthfully. 'It is possible. We shall see.' She left the conversation about Jacob's magic at that and waved her quill towards the books on the end of her desk. 'If you will, please,' she added.

Jacob nodded and was glad that he wasn't asked to go into great detail about his aunt because he would have definitely let slip what she had done and he didn't want to do that. He picked up the books in his arms, with his securely hidden at the bottom and staggered towards the door under the huge weight of the books.

'Oh, Jacob,' the Professor said idly just as he began to descend the staircase. 'Come back tomorrow at 3pm.'

Jacob nodded once more before leaving the room and carefully manoeuvring down the stone stairs and out into the bright light of the corridor. The candles were burning brightly along the stone walls as he plodded along, watching the candle light dance softly against the walls. He did pass some students and he didn't know whether they would notice him because of all the publicity around his trial weeks back and was glad for the stack of books covering his face. He wasn't certain that he wanted a whole bunch of people knowing who he was but so far he hadn't been hurt by it so he could see no harm.

By memory he took the path that he knew towards the library, along the corridor until he reached the large moving staircase and then he walk up to the floor the library was on before entering. But before he managed to get the door open some of the books on the top toppled off and fell to the crowd. He cursed softly; it had been going well so far. Not a single book had fallen until now, he wondered if that could possibly be some kind of record. A world record for extreme book carrying, he laughed quietly as he knelt to pick up the dropped books. But a pale hand clothed in a black robe darted out to take the book before he could get it himself.

'You're lucky Madam Pince is not around anymore,' the drawling voice he'd heard before spoke quietly while placing the books back on Jacob's insane pile. 'If you'd dropped when she was still here, she'd have killed you with hesitating.'

Jacob peered out from around the stack at Draco Malfoy and smiled. It was just the person he had wanted to see. Since he had forgotten to ask the Professor where Malfoy's office was running into to him like this was a rather handy coincidence. 'Thanks,' he said when the man put the book back on the pile.

'Need a hand?'

'No, it's only a few more steps, I just have to return them,' Jacob said heading towards the door. 'Hey,' he said stopping to face Draco again. 'Do you think you could wait outside, I'd like really quick word, if that's ok with you, of course?'

'I haven't got anything better to do,' Draco said leaning against the door frame and motioning for Jacob to return the books so they could get to their quick chat.

Inside the book filled room it was as hot and stuffy as ever and completely packed with students. He quickly crossed to the desk and placed the books on there, coughing loudly to get the new librarian's attention. The woman looked up somewhat startled from her book like she hadn't been expecting anyone to speak to her or interrupt her at all.

'Yes?' she asked in a high nasal voice that made Jacob cringe.

'Just returning some books,' he said pointing to the pile.

'I don't object,' she said before ignoring him and returning to her book.

Her apparently uselessness for her job made Jacob laugh a little as he walked back to the door. Again he heard the hushed whispers and subtle comments about Draco Malfoy; everything that he was hearing was a bad thing or bad press for the man. He had only heard one reasonably good comment and that was "they say he's a changed man, maybe he is?" but the student who had asked was told she was wrong by her pack of friends.

Jacob shrugged off these words thinking that he should perhaps tell Draco when he had the time but now he wanted to talk to him about his offer. When Jacob had been in the Restricted Area of the library sitting on his rump in the dirt Draco had found him and caught him reading the book. Draco had told him he shouldn't be reading it and had then said that if he wanted to know what the war was really like he should come and talk to him. Now, Jacob was taking him up on his offer.

'My office?' Draco asked as Jacob exited and found him leaning on the frame in the exact same place.

'Yeah, sure,' Jacob said and followed Draco as he started to walk off. Soon Jacob was lost in the twists and turns the blonde kept making but he didn't mind much, at the moment he was just following and he could find his way back to the Professor's office to Floo home eventually, even if finding it did require a little help.

Shortly he found himself standing in a very simple and unexciting office. No portraits hung on the walls like every square inch of the rest of the school seemed to be. In the centre of the room a desk made from elegant dark wood sat with only a set of parchments and two inkpots on it. Behind the desk was a chair made from the same wood and in front of it two more chairs of the same kind sat. The walls were covered in off-white wallpaper and the floor in a mahogany type wood. Candles sat on the walls in place of portraits in a desperate attempt to lighten the room's dark interior. But even the candles didn't seem to help the spacey room's lack of a decent sized window and natural light from the sun.

As Draco sat behind his desk, Jacob sat in the chair closet the door and took one longer look around the room before settling in.

'What did you want to have a little talk about?' Draco asked resting his elbows on the table which took away the noble and upper class look he had about him. Jacob saw now that Draco did have sophisticated air to him. He had a delicate arched nose, a very pale complexion, was tallish, thin and moved gracefully and short yet charming blonde hair. He had probably been brought up in a very rich family. Surprisingly, Jacob didn't fancy his look. He was usually attracted to men – well, any man who was attractive – but to Draco's type quite secretly. But at the moment, no matter how corny it sounded, George was his ideal man: in looks and personality.

'Oh, um,' Jacob said snapping out of his thoughts, 'you said you experienced the war first hand, right?'

'Yes.'

'Did you know anyone named Carlota Sheere?' he asked.

'Aw,' Draco trilled to himself. 'Has the little Scot found his roots?'

'I think so,' Jacob replied with a smile at the baby voice Draco used. 'But do you know the name?'

'No, I don't,' Draco said. 'Why, what's in a name?'

'She's my aunt,' Jacob said. 'And George and I went to the Ministry this morning and looked her file up because she wouldn't tell me something and got really embarrassed when I asked why she stopped seeing us. But we kind of found more then we wanted to know. And you said you said you could tell me the real story of the war so I was wondering if you knew her, that's all.'

'What did you find out?' Draco asked prying.

'That she spoke about magic in front of Muggle's too much,' Jacob said, 'and ...' He decided he'd tell Draco as maybe it might trigger some memories as he may have completely forgotten that he knew Carlota. 'Well, she was involved with Voldemort and lead to him to a bunch of people he had wanted to kill for a long time.'

Draco raised an eyebrow, if he was affected by this news he wasn't showing it at all. 'That must have been a little shock for you,' he said. 'But the name doesn't remind me of anyone. What war was she involved in, the first or second?'

'She's old now, so I suppose it must have been the first,' Jacob said. 'She was captured by the Ministry and she was Oblivated, so she can't remember what she did to those people, good thing too,' he added. He was finding it easier and easier to talk about what had happened over time. He had already had the hard, coming to grips with it conversation with George who had treated him very well the entire way through. So, now he just guessed that the more he spoke of it the easier the concept was to think about. Not that he ever wanted to think about what she had done, he just wanted some more answers.

'Maybe she was under the Imperius curse,' Draco said as if it was the simplest answer ever.

'What's that?' Jacob asked.

'One of the three Unforgivable Curses,' Draco said and Jacob remembered the Professor telling him about them in the company of Professor Flitwick.

'Is it the one where people can control the person the spell is cast on?'

'Yeah, that one.'

'I don't think she was under that,' Jacob said. 'If she was wouldn't the spell have broken sooner or later?'

'Depends on whether the caster wanted the spell to be broken or not.'

'So, you don't know her?' Jacob asked after some time of staring around the room again and awkward silence.

'I don't, no. Why did you want to know if I knew her?'

'I don't really want to believe the Ministry file because that means I'm related to a murderer, and I was hoping that you knew her and could tell me that it hadn't happened and she was framed or something.'

'Just be thankful that they only Oblivated her and didn't send her to Azkaban, she was lucky. She got off a lot easier than some.'

Jacob narrowed his eyes, unsure of what to do with this new information. Draco was a mystery but his offer to tell Jacob about the war still stood. Unfortunately, Jacob had to leave now as he had promised George he wouldn't be gone to long and he had already been away for nearly an hour. Plus, he did desperately want to get back to George. The proclamation of love was still fresh on his mind and gave him butterflies whenever he thought of what George had said to him.

'Could you still tell me about what happened in the war, what really happened?' Jacob asked as he stood to his feet. 'I can't stay to hear it now, but thanks for the chat,' he added with a grin.

'You still want to hear it?' Draco asked looking a little amazed. 'Even after finding out what your aunt did?'

'Yeah. I have to come in at 3pm tomorrow for a lesson with Professor McGonagall.'

'That'll work for me,' Draco said. 'Just come here after the lesson and I'll spill what I know. It'll be fun to have a new audience for once as well and someone who wants to hear it.'

'Thanks,' Jacob said in response to Draco taking time out to basically listen to his problems about his aunt.

'Not a problem,' Draco said as Jacob left his office.

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	22. Fish & Chips

**

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

**Curiosity  
Part Twenty-two: Fish & Chips**

Professor McGonagall's old, tired face was staring him seriously. Her playful tone from yesterday had been gone and her expression clearly proved that it was time to get to business. As he watched her grave, stern face Jacob realized how much he liked her. She was a really great teacher and he enjoyed learning from her. She was a guide to him in this confusing world, and it helped to have someone who took questions seriously and gave the right answer. George liked to tease Jacob when he asked questions and Jacob often had to struggle to get the answer he wanted from the man, it was fun but sometimes you needed a straight up reply. 

He wondered how long this lesson would take today, it wasn't that he didn't like them but he wanted to talk to Draco about what he knew about the war. That was most intriguing to him at the moment but only because the Professor hadn't actually said anything to him yet. She was just staring at him and then looking down at the paper before her. She hadn't spoken yet and that was slightly unnerving to Jacob. All she had done was just nod her head at him and conjure the seat so he could sit. Then she had proceeded to glance between him and the paper in her hand, like she was doing a double take.

He did want to talk to Draco and he was slightly nervous about what he was about to hear as well. He wondered what side Draco was on, good or bad. He kept saying he would tell Jacob the true story, what really happened. This would be good for Jacob to hear as George had only given him a very brief description, yet Jacob did understand how much it hurt George to speak off it, so he understood. He also knew that he should definitely tell George that he had met Draco in case George found out and got annoyed at the secrecy again.

Something that did worry him was what if he did hear the full and proper story and have an urge to do the dark things Draco spoke about. Jacob shook his head, reminding himself of what George had said yesterday about his thoughts on that. That wouldn't happen to him and he just needed to drop the idea that it might, because it wouldn't. And it wasn't like there was anyone for him to follow if that did happen. He'd be like a one man army, slightly useless, hardly affecting anyone and a plain nuisance. He was just being stupid if he thought he'd follow that path. Like George had said he was on track and nothing should really throw him off. Wanting to do Dark Magic could hardly be genetic. Jacob was just frightened because of his original interest. He rarely fretted over things like this.

Suddenly the Professor threw the paper in her hand in the corner of the room, the great fluttering sound grabbed Jacob's attention and he stared at the Professor as she stared back at him. She smoothed a hand over her bun and nodded to herself like she had made a decision – important or not alone.

'Jacob,' she said smiling. 'As you know, we have said this before, but I am going to say it again. There is very little need for you to learn every single thing that our students learn; we have little time for you to learn everything they do as well. And it would take years for you to graduate from the school and we are trying to accommodate what's best for us and what's best for you. As your trace will probably be removed soon -' she was interrupted by an ecstatic Jacob.

'Soon?' he asked, 'how soon?' Now! His mind was screaming to him. Let them take the trace off now! So I can do whatever I want with my magic!

'I will have to talk to the Minister about that but it is my wish that it be removed soon. I think you are ready to learn things outside of this office without our constant supervision. That is another point for speeding up your learning process; once the trace has been removed it will be easier for you to learn spells as you need them rather than face the intensive seven-year training program the others face. You have already been through Muggle schools and I highly doubt you want to do it again here,' she said and chuckled when Jacob nodded quickly. 'Since you are a lot older and _hopefully_ more mature than anyone still learning magic – even though one does never really finish learning the secrets – I have decided that we should just train you and learn you in the essentials of magic. The spells which come in handy and ones that are important to know so after your trace is removed you can learn what you use to satisfy yourself.'

Jacob was slightly puzzled by this long winded confusion of words and he hardly caught most of it and was difficulty transferring the words into a phrase he could understand. 'So, you – you just going to -'

Thankfully Professor McGonagall interrupted him before he made an arse of himself. 'What I mean is that we are just going to teach you the essentials and then when the trace is removed you probably no longer need to keep coming back here to learn under guidance because you'll be able to learn in your own time.'

'Oh,' Jacob said. 'Yeah, I didn't catch most of that the first time.' He smiled as the corners of her mouth broke into a smile too. He thought that she was becoming a lot more relaxed and informal around him even though her speech was still very correct and precise. 'Hasn't that been the plan for a long time, though?'

'Not as such,' the Professor said. 'It was more of an idea to see how much learning you actually needed to do. You're pretty good with magic so we can be sure that you won't cause any major accidents learning by yourself. And I'm sure George will be around when your trace is lifted so if anything goes wrong he will be able to help,' she said and shot him a knowing look.

Jacob flushed wondering just how much the Professor knew but wouldn't let on. Jacob was stupid to think that she spent all her life in Hogwarts because that was an unfair assumption of character. Though when Jacob was younger he did use to think that teachers slept at the school and he had been really freaked out when he had seen one in the town.

'That's good,' Jacob said. 'I won't do anything stupid with magic,' he assured her but for reason she looked at him with a coy look in her face, like she almost didn't believe him. 'What?' he asked feeling a little cornered by her expression. 'I won't do stupid things.'

'I'm sure, I'm sure,' she said. 'You will have a small test sometime around March and then we shall see what will happen with the larger one, it will be sometime before the end of the year, I assure you.'

'Ok,' Jacob said. March was a just a month away but it would be only a small test, so that was fine. He could cope with that easily. 'So, lots of work then?'

'But let's not forget about the fun side of it,' Professor McGonagall said adjusting her crooked hat and spectacles at the same time. 'Oh, and Professor Malfoy asked if he could teach you some of the finer points of Defence Against the Dark Arts. He said that you haven't been learning much about that and that you probably should learn about them. He classed it under magic "you had to know." He's changed a lot since the war and his school days,' the Professor said. 'Somehow I had always thought he would remain an arrogant, pompous, typical Slytherin but people change, some more than others.' She looked slightly startled by her words but then spoke again. 'He wanted me to ask if you could meet him after this.'

'I can do that.' Jacob was happy for Draco's reminder but he hadn't forgotten.

'Good, great, I'll show the way after this, you'll have to bear with me. It's rather difficult getting to his office.' She straightened up in her chair, coughing and clearing her throat. 'Today, Jacob,' she began with an edge of superiority in her voice, 'I am going to teach you about larger Transfigurations and Animagi.'

'Animagi?' Jacob asked. He understood larger Transfigurations, changing large things into something else, the concept was easy to grasp. 'What is that?'

'What are they, is the appropriate sentence there, Jacob,' she said with a smile. 'Animagi are wizards or witches who can change themselves into animals, observe.'

She moved out from behind her desk in one very graceful movement and suddenly it looked like her body was collapsing in on her. But as the tight bun on her head burst and her hair began to cascade down her shoulders engulfing her whole body and turning to a tabby colour while she grew ears and a tail. Professor McGonagall was now a cat. Where her glasses had been on her face was now two circular silver marks surrounded her amber cat eyes. She was a glossy tabby cat and when Jacob extended a hand to touch her, he just wanted to make sure she wasn't an illusion or anything; she rubbed against his hand and felt entirely real.

Jacob was amazed. He had never would have dreamed this to be possible at all. He pulled his hand away as Professor McGonagall in cat form turned tail and walked away from him, jumping down behind her desk. In a few seconds the normal Professor McGonagall appeared, looking a little flustered and tattered: her hat was even more askew. But she brushed herself down and frowned to herself.

'Goodness,' she croaked like the transformation had taken a lot of her. 'I haven't done that in a while and it's getting considerably harder, I must be getting old.'

Jacob felt a little gobsmacked at the whole presentation he had seen before him, but he quickly recovered. 'So, can any wizard do that?' he asked eagerly. Of course it would be fun to do that, it'd be the ultimate party trick. He wanted to learn how to do it.

'No, Jacob, it takes a lot of practise and a long time to prefect it. It took me a long time to get it right. It's not for all people; some will abuse the skill and use it for the wrong reasons. I learnt how to, to complete my seventh year, I wanted to show off my skill,' she said shrugging her shoulders.

'Oh,' Jacob said disappointed. He had hoped it was a thing that could click just like that. 'How long did it take you to learn how?'

'Many years, it's very difficult and takes more willpower than magic, though magic does make the initial transition.' She cleared her throat again. 'Anyway, shall we go over how to transfigure larger things? You show a lot of talent in Transfiguration, it really is a lot of fun teaching you about that topic.'

After a long and somewhat tiring Transfiguration lesson Jacob found himself abandoned by Professor McGonagall standing outside Draco Malfoy's office. He had had to pay extra careful attention so he could get back through to the Headmistress' office to get back to the flat. He cautiously knocked on the door and waited for the "come in" before he entered the dull and dark room. The room was still very bland and uninteresting and the candles still weren't providing much lighting but Draco's hair lit up the room because it was so blonde Jacob wondered if his hair had the same effect.

He took the seat that Draco nodded towards and looked around to the man who seemed more occupied with whatever was in his hands instead of the torturing he had promised to do. But suddenly he stuffed whatever he had been looking at into the drawer of his desk and turned to Jacob.

'How much do you know about Lord Voldemort?' he asked without introduction or anything and just jumping straight into what Jacob wanted to know.

'I know he was evil,' Jacob said reclining back in the chair.

'He hated non-pureblood wizards,' Draco drawled while picking at his nails from behind his desk. 'He wanted to give the magical world a comeback of sorts, he hated Muggle's and he hated half-bloods. And he hated himself because he was half-blood as well. I think that he was also scared to die that's why he became so wrapped up in the Dark Arts, because he was afraid to die.

'In the early 70s he had gained a following of wizards and witches, mostly pureblood who thought the same about half-bloods or Muggle-born wizards. Some people joined for the power he was gaining, others were forced and some truly believed in his kind of policies. His first kind of reign like thing lasted eleven years during this time he attacked everyone and anyone who protected the rights of Muggle's and Muggle-born wizards.

'Professor Dumbledore – an old headmaster – created this kind of group called the Order of the Phoenix to counter Lord Voldemort but they were so outnumbered it wasn't really funny at all. You know the part about Harry Potter, don't you?' Draco asked.

'Yeah, George told me a lot about what happened with Harry when Voldemort tried to kill when he was year old and how Voldemort couldn't kill him and nearly killed himself instead.'

'You've got the basic idea of it. After having his power basically sapped from him by a one year old, Lord Voldemort went into hiding as he thought many of his faithful Death Eaters would be looking for him,' Draco scoffed. 'And because he was afraid the Aurors would find him. In 1991, Harry Potter and my first year of Hogwarts,' Draco added, 'he managed to possess the body of that year's Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. His aim then was to get the Philosopher's stone because it was hidden in Hogwarts. The stone brings about an unnaturally long life. You see?' Draco asked. 'He wanted to live forever, stupid man.

'You know about the Horcruxes?' Draco asked and Jacob nodded. 'He had made them a long time ago and was certain no one knew about them but eventually Dumbledore started to figure out something wasn't quite right,' Draco said and added, 'took him long enough. And when Dumbledore died he had to recruit Harry Potter to finish his job for him and finally kill Lord Voldemort, and he did. Two years ago, surely George told you how glorious it was when he was finally killed?' Draco asked sourly.

'He didn't say anything about how it was,' Jacob said urging Draco to go on.

'I was supposed to kill Dumbledore,' Draco was going to his own tale, Jacob realized but that still didn't stop the gasp that slipped from his throat. Draco looked at him and Jacob saw that he didn't have any pride in his face at all and that these were all bad memories for him. 'Promise you won't judge me when I tell you my story?' Draco asked.

Jacob nodded. 'I'll try my best.'

'Ok, good,' the blonde said, 'Anyway, it was Voldemort's orders that I was supposed to kill the old man. Yes, I was a Death Eater. But it was in the family. Dear daddy was an avid supporter of Voldemort but he lost faith when Voldemort had him locked in jail and used me a threat to make him do things. I was supposed to kill Dumbledore but I didn't, I couldn't so Severus Snape did – he was a double agent and he was working for Dumbledore as well. It turns out the old man had to die for some reason.

'But my father was in disgrace because he was captured when he broke into the Ministry. His failure made Lord Voldemort so angry that when he broke him out of Azkaban he took his wand for his own use and turned our home into the headquarters as he came back into power, he was starting to regain the power he had had in the 70s and it was slowly becoming a total takeover. Because of my father's failure Lord Voldemort made me a Death Eater in his place and thought up the plan for me to kill Dumbledore, thinking that I would be killed in the process, but no.

'But Voldemort didn't realize how far he could push us, my family already had one foot over the edge and we started to push back when he made me torture other disgraced Death Eaters. Merlin, I hated that man by then and I was ready to do anything to stop and so were my mother and father.

'It was my mother during the battle of Hogwarts that let Harry survive and people always think that it was his own cunning initiative. Death Eater Narcissa Malfoy let him live, she lied to the Dark Lord. And therefore she saved the Golden Boy. But of course valiant Harry never bothered to tell anyone that and let people think that he survived because of his abnormal amount bravery. But I respect him because he killed Lord Voldemort and that needed to happen,' he paused to take a deep breath.

'That what's being involved with the Dark Arts does to people, you're either really involved in them because you like what the magic can do – like Voldemort and a few of his more insane followers and some people get strung along because they have no choice – like my family in the end. That's why I wanted to teach this subject, because I have some history with it and I really want to grind it into their heads that there is a reason they are trying to defend themselves against it, because they all treat it like another class that they can fall asleep in.'

'That explains what all the students say about you,' Jacob said absently after his awe from what he had heard has passed. It was a more in depth version of what George had told him. It was a story from the wrong side of the fight; George had been on the right side so he didn't know much of what Draco had just told him.

'What do they say?' Draco asked tipping his head to one side.

'They think you're here to do the opposite of what you want to do. I've heard the students saying things like "he can't be trusted", and "he's a Death Eater." You should tell them what you told me, or at least tell them what you actually want to do and that you're not there to hammer the Dark Arts into them.'

'I thought so,' Draco said twisting some of his hair around his finger. 'Ah, well, it doesn't bother me. If they don't want to pass their exams they don't have to listen or do the spells we learn. I might tell them that, it's a good idea,' Draco added.

'Professor McGonagall said you wanted to teach me Defence,' Jacob asked. 'Obviously there is no better teacher.'

Draco snorted. 'Don't inflate my ego again,' he said. 'Just come back next time you see Professor McGonagall. And you do need to learn about that kind of thing, it's important. Sometimes I think even Muggle's should know something about it.'

Jacob nodded and rose from his chair walking over to the door of the office but before he walked out he stopped. 'Thanks, Draco,' he said. 'Thanks for telling me that story.'

As he walked back to the Head's office he had a lot to think about. Mainly what Draco had told him about his influence in the war, Jacob thought it sounded as though Draco had left a lot out. He didn't actually say whether he enjoyed being a Death Eater but from the way he spoke about it Jacob thought the answer was clear. Initially he had seen it as something to boost his family's status in the world but then he discovered how truly wrong it was. George had said something about families being involved in it and it sounded like the Malfoy's had been right up to their necks in it until they found kin were more important.

Draco's speech had made Jacob see that what had happened was not something he should be interested, everyone was right, even himself. But only a small portion of his curiosity had been satisfied by what Jacob had told him, maybe he should just forget about it. As whenever he thought of it, it scared him. It was a confusing thing; he wanted to know more but the idea of learning about it scared him. Maybe he'd just keep talking to Draco about it.

After saying a brief goodbye to Professor McGonagall accompanied by a promise to return tomorrow to try his hand at transfiguring much larger items, he stepped into the fireplace. And with a _whoosh_ he Flooed back to the flat, stepping out of the hearth in a puff of green smoke. He groaned as he stepped out and found that he had to shake all the dust from his shoes because it was gathering in the fireplace so much. He wondered if you could clean things using magic because that would be brilliant, you wouldn't need to do any house-work type stuff ever again, not that he really did much house-work anyway. His washing and that was pretty much it. The house did stay pretty much spotless and George never did any cleaning and he didn't have anyone to do it for him so some kind of magic must be involved.

He looked out the window as he approached the bedroom; the weather had changed dramatically since his visit to Hogwarts. It had been warm despite the slight breeze and thick layering of clouds and now a drizzle of rain was wafting down from the clouds and the sun had dropped. Though he was inside Jacob could feel the cold radiating from outside. He grabbed his black coat and sighed, knowing he should get another as this one got a lot wear. He felt quickly in his pockets for the small collection of Muggle money he kept in his pockets. It was sitting alongside his cell-phone which he had little need for at the moment so he chucked it onto the bed and left the room.

He was on a mission for Fish 'n' Chips something he had a bit of a craving for right now. He hadn't had them in ages and if he got them now neither he nor George would have to prepare anything for dinner. He trudged down the stairs and saw the shop was shut but heard the noises from George's hidden room so he didn't bother disturbing him as he figured George would be shut in their for a long time.

He had a way of getting through the barrier at the Leaky Cauldron, he'd hang around by the wall long enough until someone came through or someone recognized him and found out that he couldn't do magic so went forward to help him through. It worked very well and his longest wait to get into the pub had been five minutes. Coming back into the Alley he often just got Tom, the bartender to help him out. It was a good system even if it did render him slightly useless.

Jacob smelt the Fish 'n' Chip shop before he got there. It was just across from where he used to flat so he'd go there often and he and his flatmates used to have an account there that they paid off every month because of their constant use of the place. He considered using that account but he figured his old flat-mates wouldn't be very happy with him if he did.

After ordering and getting his order Jacob trudged back through Diagon Alley after getting Tom to open the barrier for him with the warm bundle of fatty food in his arms. When he opened the door to the shop it was almost like the smell of food lured George out of his room.

'Fish 'n' Chips,' Jacob told him as the red head followed him upstairs.

'Great,' George said enthusiastically crossing into the kitchen and washing his hands before taking the package of food into the living room that wasn't separated by any doors from the kitchen. 'I haven't had takeout in ages,' George mumbled his mouth already stuffed with chips as he sat down onto the couch.

'Do you have any tomato sauce?' Jacob asked and scowled when George shook his head. He abandoned his search for the sauce and came to sit on the couch opposite George. He looked sideways across at George, watching the gorgeous man eat and flushed a little.

'What happened with the lessons today?' George asked pushing Jacob's hand out of the way as they both battled for the chip they wanted. George, however won, and proudly ate his prize.

'She told me about Animagi and showed me, it's really kind of impressive. And she talked me through bigger transfigurations and the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor met with me and just told me some background stuff on the topic,' Jacob said.

George scowled and muttered viciously, 'the new Professor is that stupid prick Malfoy, isn't it?'

'Yeah, he knows what he's teaching.'

'Of course he bloody knows that, he was a bloody Death Eater. They say he was reformed. Reformed my arse,' George said ripping a piece of fish off. He suddenly he softened, 'but who knows, he hasn't been giving anyone any trouble and if Professor McGonagall chose him for the job she must have some kind of faith in him. What's he like now?'

'He wants to teach the students to defend themselves properly, none of this half hearted stuff. I reckon he'll be good. He wants to teach me Defence,' Jacob said.

'Should I feel threatened in anyway?' George asked cocking an eyebrow in a manor Jacob had to laugh at.

'No, of course not, last time I checked I was in love with you,' Jacob said with a grin.

'Ah, Mr Smith, you really can layer on the charm sometimes.'

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**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	23. Person for the Job

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

**Curiosity  
Part Twenty-three: Person for the Job**

Over the next three weeks, taking them well into February and near the end of the month, Jacob had been learning at a first and furious pace. Professor McGonagall had been teaching him new spells at an intense rate, calling him out to the school every day where she taught him more. Jacob was enjoying this new speed, it was really satisfying his need to learn. But the speed at which he was learning was slightly exhausting. He'd go to her office and get his head crammed full with new spells and charms that he had to remember how to perform. When it came to the test that would determine if his trace would be removed, he would need that knowledge. For that he was very thankful for the quill that jotted the correct pronunciation of the spell and the movement of the wand needed. That quill was really a godsend. It had saved him in the last test and he was certain it would save him again in the exams to come. He wasn't worried about his exams; as long as he did a certain amount of study before them he would be fine. 

As he was spending a lot more time with Professor McGonagall he realized how much he liked her, as a friend and a role-model. In the beginning it was their Scottish heritage that had struck a chord between the two of them but as time wore on it was Jacob's thirst to learn and the Professor's desire to teach him what she knew that forged their friendship further. Sometimes they found each other laughing over a pathetic attempt at a spell Jacob had tried. As time wore on how exhausted the constant lessons made him became less of a facture and it was just fun to learn with her teaching him. She was like a grandmother to him, a fun one at that. If she had been younger he might have even thought of classing her as a sister.

She was a good witch and Jacob learnt so much from her. And she seemed eager to teach him everything she knew about Transfiguration because it was the only subject that Jacob showed a lot of promise in apart from simple and easy Potions which was just about following a recipe (it boggled him when he heard students in the corridors muttering about how tricky the subject was). He had difficulty in Charms because the preciseness of the spells was a little daunting to him. They relied on accurate movement of the wand and sometimes if the movement wasn't right the spell could go disastrously wrong, as Jacob had found out several times. Transfiguration was a relief because even though the spells in that did require wand movement it was either just a short jab towards the item he was changing or a quick wave. None of this fancy swirly stuff.

The Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons had ground to somewhat of a halt, somewhat because they had never really started. Jacob and Draco just ended up talking now about anything and everything. The man was easy to talk to once you got past the arrogant exterior he was quite a genuine person. Jacob had told him of how exhausting the lessons with Professor McGonagall were so Draco had proposed that until they calmed down he should just use the time in which he was supposedly learning how to defend himself against Dark Arts to relax.

This whole system worked well for Jacob. In the mornings he'd work with George in the shop and in the afternoons (about three) go for his lessons and get back around seven. The relaxing time with Draco was good because he hated going back to George tired. He liked to talk and joke around with George until sleep claimed them both. In the past few weeks they had come closer to sex than they ever had before but it still hadn't happened yet as something had either ruined the moment or happened at the wrong time. They both agreed it would happen though.

Jacob did want to sleep with George, that need/want was becoming quite strong as time went on as he was subjected in a fantastic way to George wandering around the flat with just a towel around his waist. It did seem like they were waiting for the right moment do this. Each time they had been caught up in a frenzy of passionate kisses something had stopped them. It wasn't like Jacob to wait like this, if things were normal he and George would have already done it by now. Perhaps this waiting game meant that there was more in the cards then just a one off romance. Maybe there was more to this. That thought thrilled him; he wanted this thing with George to last. For a long time, maybe forever if it worked.

He blushed as he thought about this, snuggled up in the warm bed next to George who was sleeping soundly. Jacob's head was right next to his upper body on the mattress so he could hear the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. Jacob didn't normally wake up this early in the morning but he woke when George had shifted in his sleep kneeing him quite painfully in the leg. Jacob had kindly restrained from punching George in the shoulder for that as he had seen the peacefully look the red head's sleeping face. George's soft red hair had fallen about his eyes and Jacob had gently pushed some behind his lone ear and hummed happily as George murmured something in his sleep and hugged Jacob a little closer to him.

That was when his train of thought had come about his lessons, what he had just been thinking about. Content with his thoughts he closed his eyes, determined to get back to sleep as it was some really bloody ridiculous hour in the morning. If he didn't get a decent sleep now he would be extremely temperamental in the morning and he liked his sleep. It did him good. The soft tickle of George's breath of his forehead and the rhythmic thudding of George's heartbeat lulled him to sleep.

When he awoke much later in the morning he was faintly aware of the burst of sunlight in the room and the rustling of paper above him, plus the cold absence of blankets around his legs. He flipped over onto his back to see George kneeling on the bed with the blankets at the end of the bed over his legs, depriving Jacob of them. But his chest was bare and absent of blankets whereas Jacob's was covered so it was a fair distribution.

George was staring at the paper in his hands with a solemn expression on his face and his eyes were heavy. He looked to Jacob suddenly as he moved around in the bed. 'Oh,' he said distantly, 'you're awake. You need to read this.' He handed the letter to Jacob who took the crumbled parchment.

Jacob looked towards George who was leaning back against the window frame above his bed and running his hands down his face, obviously distraught. Jacob reached out before even looking at the letter and took George's hand, stroking the palm with his thumb. He looked down to the letter in his other hand and with a shaky breath, apprehensive about what he would learn, began to read.

_Mr Weasley, _It read. Jacob recognized it as the writing of the wiry and energetic Professor Flitwick and he hastened to read what it said.

_There is no easy way to inform you of what has happened this day: the 28th of February. But I am afraid I must for I know Professor McGonagall was very fond of Jacob Smith and he needs to know what has happened. I hope you will show him this letter. _

_Minerva McGonagall passed away at 5am this morning, she was found by a house-elf after requesting a drink of water. The elf came with her request to find that Minerva had suffered a heart failure and nothing could be done for her. She died of natural causes and went peacefully. She passed away in her school, the place where her heart was, in Scotland and in the school she had rebuilt. _

_She was old and perhaps it was her time to go but that doesn't stop the feelings of grief we have for her passing. She did Hogwarts a great honour by becoming Headmistress and there was no better person to reform the school and rebuild after the war, she was one of the better Head's this school has seen and will be sourly missed by all who knew her. _

_Her passing is a great misfortune and sad time for us all, especially those who knew her. You and Mr Smith are welcome to come and pay your respects if you so wish at any time. However there will be a funeral –equal to the size of Professor Dumbledore's we hope, a funeral fitting for a Headmistress of Hogwarts. _

_Sincerely, _

_Professor Filius Flitwick. _

Jacob didn't quite know what to do with this news. He was sure it couldn't be possible so he reread the letter at five times before letting it fall out of his hand and flutter to the floor. He looked uncertainly to George as his mind and body tried to figure out what he should be doing. He heaved himself into a sitting position and let go of George's hand. He didn't know what you were supposed to do at a time like this, he wasn't even sure that he wanted to believe what was written down on the blotchy parchment.

He was unexpectedly pulled into a great hug by George and kissed on the top of his head. He could feel dampness on hair that wasn't just from George's lips, the man was crying silently. Jacob wrapped his arms around George's waist and pressed his head into his chest. As he heard the quick crying breaths from George he suddenly found that he too was crying, short, racking, and audible sobs.

It simply wasn't fair. Jacob didn't care that her age was a factor. She couldn't die, she shouldn't have died. She had seemed invincible. She had been so energetic for someone of her age and it wasn't fair that she had died when she could have easily lived for many more years. She had so much she could have taught him. He wanted to learn and she wanted to teach. Jacob didn't want her to be dead; they had grown so close in the time he had spent with her. Just like week she had introduced him, shaking and quivering like a five year old to the Hufflepuff ghost – the Fat Friar - just because Jacob was too scared to go by himself. And after that she had told him to toughen up while handing him a cup of tea. That was part of her brilliance. He hadn't just lost a tutor, he had lost a friend.

Professor McGonagall had such a strong personality and Jacob now found that the tears couldn't stop flowing. It wasn't fair, she shouldn't have passed away, she still had so much to teach him and she had she was looking forward to it. Jacob was just thankful she went peacefully in her sleep.

George's hands were clenching in his hair as he hugged Jacob closer to him. If it was any other situation, Jacob would be feeling butterflies in his stomach because of how they were holding onto each other, like they'd never let go. But now both men were holding on so tightly it was starting to hurt, but neither of them let go anyway. George sniffed and tried to calm him down by stroking a hand down his back. It kind of worked; it just made Jacob tighten his hold on George's waist.

'Are you alright?' George whispered and Jacob could hear a soft hiccup in his voice, signalling that he wasn't quite alright either.

'I don't know,' Jacob said solemnly. 'How are you?'

'I don't know, either,' George said. 'Do you want to go see her today?'

'Not really, can we wait for the funeral?' Jacob asked and then added, 'unless you want to go today, I'll come with you, if you want to go.'

George shuddered and shook his head. 'Let's wait for the funeral, I don't want to go, I'd cry,' he added solemnly.

'She was your Head of House, wasn't she?'

'Yeah, I can't believe she's gone.'

'It's not fair.'

It took the coordinators little less than two days to organize the funeral of Minerva McGonagall and in that time news of her death had spread like wildfire through the Wizarding community. People out of England who had known her were flocking to Diagon Alley and other inns in Hogsmeade. The latest Jacob had heard was that all the rooms in the Leaky Cauldron were completely booked out and so was all the accommodation in Hogsmeade. Somehow Jacob had expected a much smaller affair but when he thought back to what a great person she was, the size of the funeral was perfect.

He quickly learnt of the next few days more about her and he felt honoured to have even been taught by her let alone be in the same room with her for more than ten minutes. She was a fantastic witch, he learnt, very skilled in Transfiguration and very, very brave and noble. He also learnt that some people were very interested in him (again) because of how much time he had been spending with Professor McGonagall before her death and some people even seemed to think that she had told him some hidden secret of her life. The Daily Prophet had sent Rita Skeeter out to corner him again but George had bluntly told her to sod off.

Something else that had created much buss was that Professor Flitwick and Kingsley had said the other day that Professor McGonagall had left a will. That caused much excitement amongst people who hadn't known her well; they all wanted to find out who got what. But the people, who did know her and well, just didn't care. Jacob was starting to think that this amount of coverage of her death was ridiculous and that she should just be left in peace. But he thought about what she would think of this. She would have found it amusing and let the reporters continue to speculate into her life not bothered by it in the least.

But mainly Jacob was cheerless; her death had sparked a chain reaction. She had died leaving him miserable and what made him even more miserable was that George wasn't in his usual cheerful moods either and the news that Hogwarts would need to find a new Head who would take over his learning made him pretty depressed as well. He didn't want someone else to take over his learning; he had liked learning from her and hadn't wanted things to change. But they had so he knew that Hogwarts needed a new Head so he'd just have to bear with them. He was glad that Draco would still be in charge of part of his learning.

He wasn't sure he liked the idea of Hogwarts getting a new Head. He had asked George why Professor Flitwick shouldn't be given the job or one of the other Professors. George had said that Professor Flitwick was older, older than his personality gave away and he would probably die soon as well. Hogwarts needed someone young and whole to continue it on. Someone who was used to having to deal with a lot on their plate, George had said they would probably be choosing someone from the Ministry to take over. And Jacob would just have to put up with whoever was chosen and carry on his magical education.

Shortly the day of the funeral arrived and Jacob and George found themselves standing in the great hall of Hogwarts with the magical sky above a bright blue, much the opposite to the real weather outside. Jacob had barely said anything all morning but when he saw the splendour of the hall he couldn't help but utter a low 'wow' of appreciation.

Over a hundred pure white seats sat in rows with a gap down the centre for people to walk. The centre walkway down the seats was decorated with brightly burning candles. Students were already taking up one side of the hall, chattering amongst themselves and every now and then sending mournful glances towards the front of the hall. Jacob followed their glances and saw a coffin made from deep, dark wood standing on a slab of marble.

'That slab,' George said, 'was from the staircase, they couldn't put it back on because it had been cursed off so badly, they had to get a new piece in all together. Bloody ridiculous, huh?'

Jacob nodded absently. The whole effect of the coffin mounted high on the neatly carved marble was a nice effect and it looked grand. The sprig of holly, combined with other flowers that was perched on the lid of the wood made everything look just that bit more respectful. He spotted every single one of the Professor's sitting up the front of the hall and some people he had recognized from the Ministry. Professor Flitwick was dabbing at his eyes even though the ceremony hadn't started yet. Jacob felt a great ripping at his heart as sadness flooded him again. He and George took seats near the back as they both agreed neither of them wanted to sit up the front, close to her. They both wanted to pay their respects after the funeral was over and that meant they might be here for a long time as many people would want to do the same. But Jacob didn't mind and he was sure George didn't either.

Eventually all the seats were filled and George's friend, a black boy with a handsome smile had spotted them and sat down beside them, along with George's older brother Percy, and Ginny and Harry. The first person to speak was Professor Flitwick who gave a wet speech about how much she meant to the school and what a precious asset she had been to Hogwarts. The poor man looked like an insect next to the large coffin but his voice was loud and he could be clearly heard amongst the people blowing their noses and dabbing at their eyes.

Then the Minister, Kingsley, spoke. He addressed the audience in his deep, booming yet calming voice and spoke about Professor McGonagall's life and her traits, mainly her bravery. Standing behind Kingsley and behind the coffin Jacob saw a small band of small creatures with huge ears, all clutching at the ragged clothing they wore – Jacob couldn't tell from his distance but he swore one of them looked to be wearing a tea-towel for a dress and another a shoe for a hat. He was puzzled by the small creatures but didn't follow up his curiosity with any questions, he just let it rest.

'Why does the word funeral have fun it in?' George asked glumly and sighed as he stared around the gathered crowds in the hall.

Kingsley finished off his speech by saying something about her help to the school and how difficult it would be trying to find someone to match her ability. And then suddenly it was over. The main funeral was over. People stared around blankly at each other, not sure if it was truly over yet.

But then Flitwick suddenly jumped to his feet and lurched up beside the coffin. He whipped out his wand and began waving it around, looking like he was conducting something. 'The school song!' he said loudly and joyously, though tears were running down his wrinkled face. 'Sing loudly if you know the words!'

The hall suddenly erupted into a chorus of noise. The vast majority of people present jumped to their feet, in much the same eager way Professor Flitwick had done and began singing along at the top of their voices to a song Jacob had never heard the likes of before. But with all the people in the hall either shouting the words out, singing in tune or humming along happily, it sounded good. Like for that one moment all the worries in the world were gone and it was just the song of a great school left.

When the song ended students and adults alike turned to clap each other on the back solemnly, or share a hug. People spent time milling around the hall and walking up to the Professor's coffin to speak softly to her. Jacob was sure he saw some of the students hang their heads guilty like they were apologizing for a failed exam or any grief they may have caused her.

He grinned and his smile widened just as inch as George wrapped his arms around Jacob's middle and rested his head on his shoulder. 'How are you feeling?' he asked softly.

'Better,' Jacob decided and said. He was feeling better after that school song. For some reason it wasn't like a farewell it was more like a see you later. And it had made him feel better. 'What about you?'

'Fine, still a little sad, but that song: phwoar, it cheers you up,' he said and kissed the side of Jacob's before suddenly jumping away like he had been struck by lightning. 'Minister,' he said respectfully.

Jacob turned around to see brooding large form of Kingsley standing over their aisle of seats.

'Mr Smith,' Kingsley said roughly. 'Could I please speak to you?'

'Sure,' Jacob said falling into step beside the Minister as they left the hall and into the foyer of the castle.

'Such a great tragedy,' Kingsley muttered when they were outside and out of earshot of those still in the castle. 'She was a brilliant witch, you know. I believe we all forgot how old she was and thought she would live forever, I certainly did.'

'So, did I,' Jacob said kicking at a puddle. 'We got very close recently.'

'I know,' Kingsley said. 'I'm sure it has been a great shock for you,' he assumed rightly and kindly. 'It has been one for us all.'

'Do you think she knew her time was up soon?' Jacob asked. 'I mean she was cramming information into me and teaching me spells really quickly, do you think she must have known?' he pondered. He was greatly amazed at how well he was taking her funeral. But then he supposed he had done a great deal of crying and doing nothing, just blankly thinking about how it wasn't fair that she had gone at the flat.

'She may have,' Kingsley said and dug deeply into the pockets of his robes drawing out a scroll type parchment that's edges were decorated with a silver lining. 'She gave me this a week ago, it's her will. You have heard a lot about her will, have you?'

He must have asked because Jacob's eyes had widened after learning what that paper was. 'Everyone's talking about it,' he muttered tearing his eyes away and looking back to the castle with gloom. It was funny that it took her will to send him back to the sadness he had felt the last few days. Her passing had been heart wrenching for him.

'Your name features quite a lot on it, Mr Smith,' the Minister said his brown eyes looking intently at Jacob. 'It seems you were not the only one to think you had developed quite a friendship.'

Jacob nodded with little care as he looked around the school grounds. He didn't want anything one to think that he was excited by what she had left, he didn't want people thinking that he would take her belongings and run off with him. He grimaced as he looked down to the lake that bordered the forest and remembered that was the view from her office. He was grateful she had left him something, it meant she cared. Jacob was pleased that she had thought of him when writing this will but he wouldn't open it now, not now.

'Take it,' Kingsley said offering the parchment to Jacob who took it gingerly. Kingsley then smiled widely but somewhat unenthusiastically. 'It is my duty to help look for a new Head for the school. It will be tough job but in her will she wanted it done right away, for the schools sake and your sake, Jacob. She said it is vital that you carry on your studies as soon as possible. She also demands that your trace be taken off soon, but we shall see.'

Jacob nodded. 'Don't feel you need to rush on my account,' he said staring down at the parchment. 'Find the right person for the job.'

'Oh, I attend to find exactly the right person. I am not sure how long it will take but I believe we need someone younger and I might have to force – nicely and politely of course,' he added with a soft smile, 'some of the other staff members to retire. I don't think they realize how old they are. It will be a big effort doing this.' He looked around the school grounds and then back inside towards the school. 'But Merlin knows these children are worth that.' He took a step forward to Jacob and placed a hand on his arm. 'Thank you,' he said, 'for giving her someone who was interested to implode all her knowledge on before she passed.'

'I don't think she was even close to telling me everything she knew but she tried,' Jacob added with a smile as the Minister bowed to him, excused himself and walked back to the castle.

He didn't open the will immediately as it didn't feel right to open it right away. He wanted to mourn and remember for a little longer. Suddenly he couldn't stop the tears that rolled down his face. He carefully put the will in his pocket so not to wet as the rain started to pat down a little stronger. _How appropriate, _he thought to himself as he tried to ebb the flow of his own tears. _That it's raining. _

'Jacob?'

Jacob turned to see Draco standing beside the school walls under the shelter of the overhanging roof. Draco looked forlorn but he still stood tall and held his high.

'You do know it's starting to rain, don't you?' Draco asked staring at him but not coming forward out of his position protected from the rain.

Jacob looked up at the dark clouds that had gathered during their time in the hall. 'I was just thinking that it's kind of appropriate that it's raining.'

'Poetic,' Draco grumbled sticking his blonde head out and looking around the grounds before scowling as a drop of water hit his face. 'If you're going to freeze yourself out here by all means go for it but I think Weasley is looking for you.'

'Oh,' Jacob said sighing deeply and holding his hand out so it gathered the soft patters of rain. 'Did you know her well?' he asked.

'No,' Draco said. 'I didn't. I know that back in school she gave me a lot of detentions and now she's given me a job. I didn't know her very well but still, it's a little depressing if you're the sentimental type. Did Kingsley say who was going to replace her?'

Jacob shrugged. 'He doesn't know. But he said they are going to try and find a replacement soon. Why, are you interested in the job?'

Draco snorted and shook his head. 'No, it's just there's a lot more work for us until they find a new Head.'

'Is the school going to go straight back to normal even though ...?' he drew off and just left the question hanging, not finishing it properly but he was sure Draco understood what he meant.

'I think so, the plan is to have a few days off and then get right back into it.' Draco stopped and looked around down into the entrance hall where the great oak doors lay open. 'It's Weasley,' he said informing Jacob raising his eyebrows.

As George came out of the hall he spotted Jacob first and trotted forward to his side pulling him into a hug before he saw Draco. His eyes narrowed and Jacob felt his body tense up a little. Jacob figured it was probably more because of the fact that Draco had been on the wrong side during the war because George didn't strike him as the type to get overly jealous.

'Malfoy,' George said his arm gliding around Jacob's waist as he acknowledged Draco with a nod.

'Weasley,' Draco said back and gave a smile that was caught between a sneer and an actual grin. 'I'll see you later, Jacob,' he said briskly and walked off. 'Told you,' he added as he ventured back into the castle.

'He said you were looking for me,' Jacob said as the look on George's face told him he was interesting in knowing what that little exchange had been about.

George dipped his head in a nod and wiped from the wet hair from Jacob's forehead. 'There isn't many people left in the hall, you should probably "pay your respects" now.'

Jacob nodded and rested his head on George's shoulder. 'I love you,' he said as the pair of them walked back towards the entrance way.

* * *

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	24. Condom, Lube?

**

* * *

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize.**

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, PEOPLE! I love you guys for reading but it really brings me down when no one reviews.

**Curiosity****  
Part Twenty-four: Condom, Lube?**

The circular room felt somewhat void now that he was standing in it alone, missing the comfort of the chair and staring out at the view the large windows offered. A blank portrait had appeared behind the enormous claw-footed desk and it had been the first new thing Jacob had noticed when he entered the room. The blank portrait was a little unnerving as the other people who occupied the other picture-frames were watching it and occasional they looked back to him and collectively clucked their tongues. They had never spoken to Jacob, they had always been alert and watching but they had never spoken to him.

He had never asked who the portraits were of and he hadn't been told either. He had noticed their strangeness; on occasion some people depicted in them would just stand from their position and leave the frame. They all seemed to be excited about the new frame that had joined them though, there painted but frighteningly life like eyes were glued to the empty picture. Jacob had little interest in what the people were waiting to happen in the picture; he couldn't careless at the moment. They could speak though, he had heard them talk amongst themselves but he didn't ask them what they were waiting for. Eventually he chose to ignore them.

To tear his eyes away from the pictures surrounding the room he looked down at the crumpled will in his hand. When he had first read the will he had been quite surprised at the amount he had been left until he had come to her office. As she had lived in the castle she owned little and obviously didn't bother herself with many possessions. She had left Jacob basically whatever he wanted from what little she had. Everything in the office (apart from the desk which was a permanent fixture in the room and the portraits) could be his, if he wanted it. He knew she had been buried with her wand and other things that were very precious to her, according to Professor Flitwick. The only things left in the room for him to take were the books. There was a lot of stuff he thought she would have wanted to leave for the next Headmaster or mistress.

The room was practically over flowing with books though and choosing what to take was a daunting task. She had wanted him to take something. It had stated in her will that she wanted Jacob to have something, even just one thing. He wanted to leave the collection books with vast subjects to the next Head. The books fitted the room and even if they did belong to Professor McGonagall they looked like they suited the office. He really thought that was where they should stay. He glanced along at the titles on the shelf near the fireplace. There wasn't much there that would interest him anyway, the titles were all serious and meaningful. He would have loved to have something that would help him in his studies.

He straightened from the shelf and took one last long look at the blank portrait before sighing dejectedly, certain that whatever all the other portraits were waiting for probably wouldn't happen while he was in the room. He felt another bout of tears coming on as he remembered her and all that had happened in this room and he didn't want to cry in front of the people in the pictures who were still watching the blank frame with fierce focus. Jacob figured they had little to do apart from watch blank frames. He chuckled to himself and stepped towards the blackened fireplace.

But before he had the change to leave the office and get away he heard a loud _bang _and quickly turned around, thinking a book had fallen off the shelf. As he scanned the room for the fallen object he saw nothing and sighed again, glaring at one of the portraits who was staring back at him intently and stroking his beard with an air about that clearly stated that he though Jacob to be stupid. Crossing his arms and determined not to let anything else stop him from leaving this room he sniffed strongly, trying to ebb a small trickle of a tear. He still hadn't gotten over the fact that she had gone and it had only been five days since she had passed and Jacob thought he was most definitely entitled to some mourning, he didn't have to cartwheel right back into normality, like he had been known to do before. It wasn't fair.

As he walked back to the grate, something tugged on his sleeve. He groaned and turned around expecting to see it caught on lose nail or protruding piece of uneven wood. But instead he was entirely unprepared for what was staring up at him. His eyes widened and he found himself staring down and gaping at the little being before him. It was one of the creatures he had seen at the funeral. It was a lot smaller up close and was staring up at Jacob, beaming, with large bright orb-like eyes. Jacob was aware that was probably staring rather rudely so he blinked and tried to put a normal expression on his face, at least he had stopped crying.

The little creature only came up to just above his knee and its ears were far bigger than the rest of its head, Jacob thought it looked a little like the Goblins at Gringotts. Yet this thing looked a lot nicer and less likely to pick your eyes out with its fingers than the Gringotts Goblins. The creature was wearing a lampshade with tassels upside down on its head so that the tassels fell forward over its big eyes and created a sort of veil. Along with the upside down lamp it was wearing an overlarge shirt that covered its spindly body and a blue tie that was designed with small bows around its neck. In its hand it held a large square parcel – though it probably looked a lot bigger than it actually was in the small things arms – wrapped in brown paper.

'I is Lampy, sir,' the thing piped up eagerly and shifting the parcel into its hip so it could wave at Jacob. It wasn't actually a wave, Lampy just wriggled its bony little fingers. 'I has been sent by Headmistress McGonagall to give Jacob Smith a present!' Lampy said it like it was the greatest thing to do ever.

'But Professor McGonagall is dead,' Jacob said choking out the words. 'She couldn't have sent you.'

'Lampy was very sad when she heard that the Headmistress had gone, she liked the Headmistress very much.'

'Oh!' Jacob said suddenly remembering. Professor Flitwick had told him of these things, they were called House-Elves. And they were servants that worked for wizards and witches, for little or absolutely nothing. 'You're a House-Elf aren't you?'

'Yes, Jacob Smith!' Lampy said adjusting the lampshade on her head that probably spawned her name. 'And I has a present for you.' She said pushing the parcel forward to Jacob and waiting eagerly for him to take it.

Gingerly Jacob took it from the small elf, whose smile widened as she was revealed of her burden. But Jacob still had an unanswered question. 'You said Professor McGonagall told you to give this to me.'

'Yes, Jacob Smith!' Lampy repeated again loudly, saying it like she was a recruit in the army. 'Headmistress McGonagall asked Lampy many days ago if she give this to Jacob Smith at the right time. Headmistress McGonagall trusted Lampy, very much, sir. Headmistress McGonagall trusted Lampy to give this to Jacob Smith at the right time, Lampy got to decide when the right time was.'

'What is it?' Jacob asked looking down at the parcel. He couldn't feel what it was as a box was encasing the actual item, unless she had actually wanted to give him a cardboard box.

'It is a present!' Lampy said, patting his arm. 'I is sorry, sir, but Lampy must go. I is needed to help for the students lunch, the students cannot go without Lampy's very nice gravy, they say it is very good and that Lampy should be proud of herself. Goodbye Jacob Smith,' she called again with a wave. 'Enjoy your present!'

For a moment they both stared at each other, Lampy with her big eyes and Jacob with his blue ones, then Lampy clicked her fingers and disappeared loudly from the room with a resounding _bang. _Jacob stood before the grate for several seconds, blinking whilst trying to decide whether that strange encounter had been a figment of his slightly warped imagination. But the "gift" in his hands proved otherwise. He shook his head. Lampy was weird but she was a good weird, he liked her. He grinned to himself before adjusting the parcel in his hands. He took one more look around the room and decided the books would be best left here for the new Head as he was sure they would prove useful in some way.

He took a handful of the green powder and let some waft down through his fingers as he looked around the room again. It wasn't fair that she was gone, how could it be fair? It wasn't, it just wasn't. He couldn't reverse what had happened. He had to cope. He grimaced, holding a hand up to cover his clouding eyes and he stepped into the grate throwing the powder down with a little more anger than he had intended and Flooed himself back to the flat.

Jacob entered the flat with a puff of green smoke and he inhaled some by accident. Coughing and spluttered he put the parcel down on the table and staggered to the bathroom where he splashed his face with cold water. He sighed and pushed the lid down over the toilet so he could sit down. He leant his head against the rim of the cold sink, enjoying the refreshing feel of it. He desperately wanted a shower so the smells of the soaps and shampoo he used would calm him. The products he brought did that to him, calmed him and made him relaxed.

Standing to his feet with thoughts of how unfair life was he opened the shower door and shoved his hand inside, turning the water on. As the water warmed threw his clothes and jumped inside. The warm water soothed his body and immediately he relaxed, slumping against the walls of shower. Then suddenly, he let himself cry. It was something he had needed do to for a long time, a good proper cry. It was true, you always felt better after a good tear jerk. He pressed his head against the wall, letting the tears flood from his eyes and mingled with the water already pouring down him. His blonde hair was sticking to his forehead and the wall of the shower but he didn't care, the state of his hair wasn't even an issue to him. He let the tears flow, free and private forever thinking how unfair everything was, how much he missed her though she had only been gone for a few days but he would never see her again ever. He didn't believe in the life-after-death stuff, he liked to believe there was something but deep down he knew he didn't believe in it. But for the Professor's sake he hoped there was something.

'Oh, Jacob.'

The voice was forgiving and it made Jacob look around from the nook of the shower he had been staring at for ages. George had opened the shower door and was holding a towel watching Jacob with sympathy on his face.

'Come here,' George said holding the towel out. 'You've been in here for over an hour, I was starting to worry. Come on, out,' he demanded holding the towel out wide and motioning for Jacob to step into it. 'Stop wasting water, out with you, come on, Jakey.' George turned the water off so Jacob was left shivering in the corner. He had no choice but to oblige and step out, dripping wet into the towel. George wrapped it around his arms and hugged Jacob to him. 'I knew you shouldn't have gone to her office by yourself today.'

'I was fine,' Jacob mumbled his lips pressed into George's neck. 'I was fine until I came back. I don't know what happened, I just started and I couldn't stop.' He was talking of crying.

Suddenly everything before his eyes was a rush and blurred but slowly everything came around again and he found that they were standing in the bedroom. George had Apparated them here and for that Jacob was grateful, he didn't know if he could have managed the walk, his legs were shaking. He collapsed down on the bed, heaving a sigh and rubbing his raw and red eyes. Jacob had stopped crying and his outburst of emotion that wasn't usually had blown over. He wasn't sure that he had been taking her passing very well but still, he could have been worse. It was the first time he had to deal with something like this so he had no idea how he should have acted. It was a little confusing.

'How is someone supposed to act when this happens?' he asked George who had crashed down on the bed beside him.

'However they want to,' George murmured. 'People take it differently – it's a complete pile of bullocks the way people act in stories and crap. There's no bloody set way to cope, you just have to. It's ok,' he said to Jacob who had sniffed. 'Shit happens.' He said that in such a strange tone that Jacob had to laugh. 'You'll be alright,' George said soothingly reaching out to stroke Jacob's still damp hair.

Jacob leaned into the comforting strokes of George's hand, so close that he found suddenly that he pressed right up against George. George gave Jacob a grin that made him warm up to and snuggle forward further to George. George pressed a soft kiss to his lips and Jacob responded by adding a slight amount of pressure. The red head smiled into the kiss as it broke and softly nuzzled Jacob's neck in such an affection way that Jacob actually let out a soft purr.

'What was that?' George asked sitting up and looking down at Jacob with intense amusement on his face. 'Merlin, Jacob, did you just ... _purr?' _

Jacob flushed and tried to pull his eyes away from George's ones that showed laughter in them. George quickly put his hands on both sides on Jacob's face and leant down to kiss him again, slowly touching his tongue along his lips forcing and begging Jacob silently to open his mouth. Jacob closed his eyes as the kiss became stronger and suddenly George rolled Jacob onto his back and pinned him against the sheets. Jacob's eyes snapped open when George ran his hand down Jacob's chest stopped where the towel gathering around his waist.

'Problem, Jakey?'

'No,' Jacob shook his head zealously. 'No problem, none,' he said feeling like he desperately needed more of George's touch. George chuckled as Jacob grabbed his hand and pulled it down to touch his face again; George instantly obliged and stroked Jacob's cheek. But using his other hand, George quickly reached down to the towel again and tugged at it. Jacob lifted his hips and George quickly pulled the towel away in an instant. George looked Jacob up and down and sighed happily, grinning broadly at Jacob as he leaned over him and sucked softly on his neck.

'No, wait,' Jacob said pushing George off him. George looked puzzled as he observed Jacob's face. 'It's not exactly reasonable,' he said and George tipped his head to one side trying to decide what Jacob meant but before he could asked, Jacob hurried on. 'You're wearing a lot of clothes and I am wearing ...'

'... Nothing,' George finished for him. 'Right,' he said rubbing his hands together. 'What do you want me to take off?' George said this as he leaned back down, his mouth by Jacob's ear.

Jacob closed his eyes as George's breath tickled his ear. 'Everything,' he said hopefully.

'Everything?' George asked sighing and shaking his head.

'I'm wearing nothing!' Jacob grumbled loudly. 'And you've got me pinned as well, the least you can do is take everything off.'

'Eager, are we?' George asked licking the spot under Jacob's ear. Before he could say another thing George had sat up on his waist and pulled his shirt off and pulled Jacob's hands up to the zipper on his pants. Jacob nodded vaguely and pulled his hands along the small bugle in his pants and then as George groaned a little he quickly undid his pants. George rose up on his knees and let Jacob pull the pants off down his legs so that they pooled around his ankles.

'Take these off?' George asked snapping the waist band of his underwear that didn't disguise the bulge he had in them.

'Yeah,' Jacob said quickly, so quickly he made George laugh. 'Please,' he added. And he nearly exploded himself as George shimmied out of his underwear and showed his erect flesh. Jacob sat up the pillows and nearly dislodged George from his lap but when they were all settled again he tenderly touched his hands to George's erection, indulging in the sigh of pleasure that George let out.

George fell forward over him as Jacob continued to stroke up and down his length, teasing with his speed. George was right beside his neck and Jacob felt his hands climb up his chest, rubbing and pinching at his nipples. Jacob let out a low keening moan at the same time as George did when he squeezed the base of George's penis. Jacob was relishing in the feeling of their soft and true flesh pressing together, every single piece of their skin was touching and it was making Jacob crazing. He arched against George when the man licked a slow tentative line along his jaw, and then let out a low jagged cry as the rise of his hips made their erections rub together. George sighed and pulled Jacob's hands away and grasped Jacob's own erect flesh and pumped slightly.

'Ah,' George murmured into Jacob's ear. 'I love that noise you make.'

Jacob nodded with another cry of pleasure when George squeezed his head, slipping his finger around in the pre-come. Suddenly Jacob couldn't take this anymore and completely changed the tides by pushing George onto his back and letting a finger trail down to the small puckered hole.

'Whoa,' George moaned grabbing his hand before Jacob had any chance to penetrate him with his fingers. 'I've never done that before,' he said quietly staring up at Jacob.

'Do you want, uh ... do me?' Jacob asked cringing at how crude that sounded. Something that special should be said with a different word, not something so harsh. But couldn't find it at the time, his mind had turned to mush.

'I don't want to _do you_,' George said and then when Jacob looked sullen. 'I want to make _love to you,' _he said with a half smile as he licked his lips. 'There is a difference.'

'Mm,' Jacob agreed. 'Yeah, ok, I have no objection,' he added smiling and George grinned back kissing him deeply and sitting them both up, he wrapped his arms tightly around Jacob's back and massaged the flesh there and ran his hands along his spine. Jacob let out a gasp and pressed his face into the side of George's neck, right underneath his lost ear as George pressed a finger into his puckered entrance. It was only a taste of what was to come but Jacob wrapped his legs around George's waist and sighed deeply.

'Are you ok?' George asked.

'I'm fine,' Jacob said. 'I've done this before,' he said stupidly. To reverse his mistake he moved his head from George's neck and said seriously, 'but that doesn't this any less special.'

George chuckled and pushed Jacob down against the pillows. 'You'll have to deal with pillows for a bit,' George quietly adding another finger.

'Condom?' Jacob asked breathlessly. 'Lube?' He added hopefully.

George scrambled off him and leant under his bed fishing around before coming back up with a box of condoms. 'No lube,' he said softly pulling a condom out of the box. 'I'm sorry,' he added.

'No, it's fine, don't worry,' Jacob said pushed his hips up and desperate for some.

In a second Jacob felt a soft pressure at his entrance and then a slow burning pain as George eased inside of him. Suddenly, with a stroke that made Jacob purr with pleasure and see stars in his eyes, George sheathed himself fully inside Jacob. George moved slowly and gently inside him, kissing him as he did. Jacob closed his eyes and breathed erratically as he felt the pleasure building.

Afterwards, George was lying next to him, his arms protectively around Jacob's shoulder and Jacob was lying pressed closely against him, a smile on his face that wouldn't go away.

'George?' Jacob said softly. 'Do you think I'm taking her death alright?' he asked when George gave him his attention.

'You took your mind off it long enough to have sex,' George said with a huge smile. 'I think you're taking it fine, you're taking it brilliantly actually.'

'Ok,' Jacob said softly burying his face deeper into George's chest with a yawn. 'I love you,' he said quietly.

'I love you too,' George said with a kiss. 'Now, shut up, no more chat, I'm sleepy.'

Jacob snorted with laughter and nodded. 'So am I,' he agreed. He was grinning even in his sleep, that had been prefect and he now felt closer to George than before. They weren't just romantically involved now, they were lovers. It was a huge step and for Jacob it couldn't have been more right.

* * *

**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	25. Feletonic

**

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, PEOPLE! I love you guys for reading but it really brings me down when no one reviews.

**Curiosity****  
Part Twenty-five: Feletonic**

Jacob woke to a strange beeping noise he hadn't heard in a while. He twisted over in the tangled and clammy sheets to the direction of his usual bed to see George sitting there completely absorbed in what was in his palm. It took Jacob some to realize what George was playing with. As he watched George gave a surprised cry of delight as he pressed a button on what Jacob now recognized as his crummy excuse for a phone and it vibrated loudly in his palm. George was playing around with the Muggle object and Jacob was surprised he'd even figured out how to turn it on. It had boggled him when he'd first got the phone. He had spent hours playing around with it as well, refusing to use the manual to tell him how to use and preferring to find that out for himself.

Jacob shimmied out of the sheets that were sticking to his body. He vaguely noticed he wasn't wearing anything but found that to not be an issue. He plonked down on the bed beside George and took the cell phone from him. George had been fiddling around with his settings but Jacob barely used the phone these days so it didn't bother him much and he could fix it later. He found his way back to the main menu and checked to see if he had any texts or missed phone calls. He groaned as he found he had quite a few, too much to check through in the morning anyway. He frankly decided he couldn't be bothered replying to those messages. He did think it would be a good idea if he left his phone on though, a lot of messages had been from his parents and sister.

'You can work it?' George asked in awe. 'It's bloody brilliant; Muggle's can be so clever some time. Imagine thinking up something like, that's feletonic as well, that can send messages back and forth really quickly as well. It's pure genius.'

'It's my phone, of course I can work it,' Jacob said rubbing his thumb across the screen to clean it so he could see the black writing better. 'It needs to be charged,' he said glumly, giving the phone back to George who automatically made it vibrate again with a grin of glee. Jacob crossed to the large closet at the back of the bedroom and fished around for his bag he had brought crammed full of everything that wasn't his clothes. But when he went through the trouble of searching through all the nicks and knacks at the bottom of the closet he remembered that George's place didn't have electricity or normal electricity anyway. The fridge and everything else that would normally require power was run by magic. Which was free of cost and the spell stayed on and only have to be recast every six months or so. It was a pretty clever, cleverer than electronics, he thought.

Jacob threw the charger back into the closet and shut the doors before jumping back onto the end of the bed George was sitting in, still playing with his phone. He'd just ask George to use magic to charge it up and if he couldn't, it didn't really matter. Jacob snuck under the blankets and rested his head on the mattress of the bed again, absently stroking George's upper thigh as the man was sitting cross legged as naked as he. George smiled down at him, putting the phone down and leaning back against the pillows, pulling Jacob across his chest.

'Last night,' George said distantly and breathlessly. 'It was good,' he said smiling at Jacob whose head was now resting across his chest.

'Mm,' he agreed with a scant nod. It had been good, very, very good and Jacob hoped they would have more nights like that. The thought of the night before made him want to drool openly and do it again right now. But he also didn't want to ruin this comfortable arrangement they found themselves in: both dreamily thinking of last night while lounging naked next to each other. He nodded again and smiled as he remembered that George really was a red head, he had the hair to prove it.

George's hand had moved to Jacob's hair and was twirling strands in his fingers. 'Jakey,' he said. 'I'm kinda, really glad that you were the first bloke I did it with,' he murmured softly with a wide grin. 'Oh, sorry,' he said holding up his hands. 'I mean made love to. It sounds better than '_do it' _or '_doing it,' _or _'fucking.' _George made a face after each vulgar meaning for sex.

_'_Aren't we Mister Sensitive after sex,' Jacob said. 'I wouldn't have thought you would have cared about what it was called as long as it was good. If it's good and you like the person you're with I reckon you can call it whatever you want.'

'Yeah, but blimey – with you and me its love making, not doing it,' George said. 'I love you, Jacob,' he said suddenly. 'A lot.'

'I love you, George,' Jacob said shuffling up the bed so he could kiss George's cheek before flopping back down against the mattress.

A sudden ringtone made them both look and around. 'It's my phone,' Jacob muttered. He listened to the sound of jingle-bells. 'Did you change the tone?' he asked grinning at George who had found his phone and was holding it out to him.

'Yeah, must have,' George mused pushing the phone forward to him. 'Didn't mean to, well actually, I think I did, but it was just so fun!'

'Thanks,' Jacob said as George gave him the phone. He answered and lifted the phone to his ear. 'Hello?' he asked, unsure of who this was as there was no caller identity along with the caller.

'_Jacob?' _the voice on the other end sounded mildly surprised. '_First time you've answering your phone in ages.' _Jacob recognized the voice to be Paul's.

'What's up, Paul?' he asked.

'_Anne's in labour.' _

_'_What? Now, I didn't think it was due for another two weeks at least!'

'_Yes, now.' _Paul had lost his usual calm, quite relaxed voice and now sounded like he was really nervous about to lose whatever cool he had left. '_I can't be at the hospital right now, I've just told her parents but I think she wants you to be there. Can you just go down so she can punch you or something?' _

_'_I am not going down just so my sister can punch me,' Jacob said crossing an arm across his chest.

'_Just do it! Anne doesn't want your mother to be in there, which is totally understandable and your dad wouldn't be much help, probably faint from the blood or something. So can you just go? Jacob, please. I have a really important meeting to go to and it might mean I get more money, so I can go as soon as that's over but you needed to be at the hospital five minutes ago. Goodbye.' _Jacob flinched as Paul hung up the phone and Jacob was left to hear the dull long beeps. That was Anne curse for marrying an older man, half the time his work was more important.

'Anne's having her baby, _now,' _Jacob added. 'And I was supposed to be there five minutes ago, apparently.'

'Merlin,' George breathed out. 'It's just drama after drama with you, isn't it?'

'Seems so,' Jacob said. He had lurched to his feet and was looking wildly around the room. 'Pants,' he said. 'I need pants.' George had stood from the bed as well and was holding out a pair of Jacob's jeans. Jacob found a pair of underpants on the floor and struggled into those before taking the jeans George held out for him with and thanking him with a quick kiss.

He pulled a shirt on quickly while mumbling grumpily about the baby not having any manners to wait at all. 'Typical,' he said as he raced out into the kitchen and grabbed up apple before taking a huge bite from it. 'Bloody baby couldn't even wait until this afternoon. He thundered down the stairs and shot out of the entrance to the shop not even realizing George was close behind him until he felt a hand pulling him back. 'Yeah?' he asked impatiently.

'I could Apparate you to the Hospital,' George suggested coolly thrusting his hands into his pockets and shrugging. 'It'll be a hell of a lot faster.'

Jacob stepped close to the red head and placed an arm on his shoulder with a haste nod. Oh yes, it would be much quicker than him running around madly trying to find a cab which never seemed to come when you needed them most. Just as Jacob had thought his body barely reacted to Apparition anymore, he felt the tight squeezing sensation roll through him like he was being shoved through a tight hole. The soft pop that Jacob heard faintly meant that they had arrived safely without something George had described unpleasantly to him once that was known as splinching happening. Splinching did sound very horrible and rather disgusting.

They had appeared in a back alley behind the hospital. Jacob had to clamber out from behind some rubbish cans and dust one leg off as he had landed with a leg in an open bin. He stumbled over to George who had landed perfectly fine – with the skill of a master and moved away to look around the corner as Jacob floundered around. Once George was satisfied that no one had seen them suddenly materialized in the alleyway, or at least Jacob thought that was what he was looking around for, they quickly walked to the entrance of the main hospital in London.

Jacob knew where the maternity ward was and after a quick discussion with the person behind the information desk Jacob knew exactly where his sister was. After a horrifically slow lift ride during which Jacob kept jiggling around nervously because he worried about his sister and who she might be pissing off because she was sharing a ward with another woman about to go into labour – and Anne wasn't exactly much of a people person. In pain she would definitely be being rude to whoever was in the room with her. Jacob felt sorry for the nurses who had been with her most of the time until he could get there.

'Are you going to stay?' he asked George as the lift pulled to a stop and practically spat them out into the Maternity level. Jacob hoped George would stay; he needed someone like Anne needed him right now. He wasn't very good with blood and pain and things. And even though he wasn't the one giving birth in a few minutes he'd be freaking out as Anne used him as a punch bag. Life was fun when she was your sister. It was still the same as it had been when they were kids, Anne picked on him and he let her pick on him so he supposed he couldn't really complain now.

George wrung his hands together and stared nervously around as they entered the ward. 'I don't like Muggle hospitals,' he said ignoring the strange looks he got from people as he said the unknown word. 'They cut people up when a decent healer could it without blood and pain, bloody bonkers your doctor people are. Muggle hospitals are just a little freaky.' He flinched as he heard a gasp of pain from a woman in mid-contraction. 'I dunno,' he said finally in answer to Jacob's question. 'I might stay for now. You don't want me to stay, do you?'

'I don't mind, it's not like I really want to be here either. You can go whenever you want; I might be here for a while.' Jacob smiled at George as they entered the room he had been Anne was in.

The room was small and absent of bright light. Immediately across from the door was the first bed in which a slight Chinese woman was lying in the bed huffing and puffing clutching at her stomach as her tall, lanky husband held her hand encouraging her to ignore the pain. As soon as her husband saw them looking over he stood up and pulled the curtains around the bed before his wife began gibbering away to him madly in Chinese. But over in the far corner of the room calmly rubbing her hands over her engorged belly, Anne was laying back against the pillows looking surprisingly bored. Jacob hastened over and didn't expect her to snarl at him when she saw him.

'Took your damn time, didn't you?' she snapped thrusting the empty glass into his hand. 'First stupid Paul can't come because of that stupid job, but hey more money, and then he wants to send mum over here, is he crazy?' Anne asked. 'She's the last person I'd want her when I give birth, fucking nightmare she'd be. It's alright talking to her about the baby, you get all the right reactions but when the time of action actually comes, she'd be a complete horror. Dad would be about as helpful as a packet of chicken noodles right now. So you're my best option. Sit,' she demanded waving a hand towards the pair of chairs beside the bed. By the way she talked, you wouldn't believe she was twenty-five and in the prime of her life, she sounded much more like a forever pissed middle-aged woman. But it had been her choice to marry thirty-four year old Paul and settle down to start a family, giving most of her youth away so she only had herself to blame. But Jacob also supposed that he was quite mature for someone his age, the tender age of twenty-one. Yet before he had found out he was a wizard he had spent nearly every night getting hammered and partying.

'Huh,' Jacob said ignoring her unspoken first request to fill her glass up again. 'It's nice to see you too.' He sunk down into the chair and George sat down beside him looking slightly amused by Anne's quite vocal outburst of annoyance at everyone's apparent uselessness. 'Anne,' Jacob said while bracing himself for another assault on his ears or maybe worse. 'This is George.'

Like only a true Gentleman (or maybe it was just a George thing – he was an impossible flirt) could do, George rose to his feet and shook Anne's hand. Anne looked quite chuffed that her brother's handsome boyfriend had tagged along and smiled sweetly as he sat back down.

'This is the same George Weasley right?' Anne asked rolling her head over to look at Jacob. Jacob pushed her blonde hair out of her eyes that was sticking to her forehead and nodded. Anne grinned back down at George. 'I'm dilated four centimetres, want to see?'

Jacob snorted with laughter as the look on George's face clearly showed that he couldn't decide if he did want to see or whether her question made him feel uncomfortable. Anne suddenly looked to Jacob who sobered up his laughter instantly.

'Do you want to see, Jacob?' she asked crossing her arms.

'Are you kidding?' Jacob said staring at her disgustedly. 'That's the last thing I want to see. What an offer.'

'My doctor's pretty interested,' Anne said patting her stomach softly. 'Don't say that's because "she's a doctor," she called the nurse in to have a look as well. Apparently,' Anne said sounding quite proud, 'I have an interesting vagina.'

Jacob laughed again, this time it was more of an awkward laugh at his sisters forwardness. 'Good for you,' he said as he discovered Anne was expecting some kind of reply. Paul was lucky because Anne was ready to read and it was simple enough to figure out what she wanted and was expecting, unlike some woman Paul had told him about when he was completely drunk at his stag party which Jacob had been forced to go to. He had told his sister he'd much rather be at her party because she was hiring a male stripper.

'Jacob,' Anne tugging on his sleeve. 'I have a murse!'

At this Jacob burst out laughing. It was an old joke they had had for some time. When they were younger they had often puzzled over why men were starting to do jobs that they had originally thought were mainly done by woman. They also called male nannies, mannies. It sent them into keels of laughter whenever one of them brought it up.

'You have a maternity murse?' Jacob asked chuckling still, Anne nodded going into another fit of small giggles before clutching at her stomach, this time in pain. She grabbed Jacob's hand and squeezed so that fingers passed over each other and some of the joints clicked. But in seconds she let go and sighed.

'Contraction,' she muttered scathingly. 'It's not that bad, but I'll bet they will get worse later.' She looked towards George again and then turned back to Jacob. 'You do realize mum and dad will be here soon.'

It was George's turn to sigh this time. 'I figured I'd have to go through the met the parent's thing sooner or later.'

'I can sneak you out,' Jacob said knowing exactly how prying his mother could be.

'No, it's alright. I'll meet them,' George said sounding like he was out to brave the moon or something of the sort. 'You've met my parent's.'

'They didn't know then, remember? I'll have to go through the meeting them as the boyfriend soon.'

'Oh, yeah,' George said with a slight smile.

The conversation as left at that and little was said for the next twenty minutes apart from more jokes about her murse and mannies after her murse had actually come in and checked on her. Both Jacob and Anne were impatient for the arrival of their parent's. Jacob, because he was apprehensive to find out what they would say about George and Anne seemed impatient because she was bored of him and George, already. The ward had grown quiet as the Chinese woman had been wheeled out moaning and crying as she clutched at her stomach like something that didn't belong in there was trying to claw its way out. Jacob winced as he thought of it like that; he shook his head clear of those thoughts as his parent's entered the room.

'Hello, darling!' his mother cooed rushing to Anne's side. 'We rushed over as soon as Paul rang us.'

'Oh, bullshit,' Anne hissed. 'He called go about forty minutes ago, Jacob got here about one second after Paul called him.'

This made his mother look over to him with a little bit of distaste like she had wanted to be the one beside Anne. But she didn't say anything because her eyes found George sitting next to Jacob and her eyebrows rose. Yet again before she could say anything George made the first introduction.

'George Weasley,' he said extending his hand and shaking Jacob's mothers.

'My boyfriend,' Jacob said smiling widely as he slipped his fingers through George's. 'Hey dad,' he added as he found his father grinning back across at him from Anne's beside. George had to pull his hand away from Jacob's to shake his father's hand.

Jacob leant his chair to his father and George trotted over to the over side of the ward to grab one for his mother. George came back with the one promised for his mother. Jacob's mum accepted the chair with a brisk nod and a thank-you before sitting down in it and turning her full attention to Anne who was busy going through another attraction. George touched Jacob hands softly and nodded towards the door, Jacob nodded back and the pair them excused themselves from the small group.

Outside the ward they sat in chairs in the waiting room. There wasn't many people in the waiting room, only a young sleeping girl and someone who was probably her older brother and an elderly man was pacing beside the window looking nervous. Jacob and George could talk without much interruption.

'Just give her some time,' Jacob said. 'I know she's a bit of a hag, but she'll warm up eventually.' He was speaking of his mother.

'Oh,' George said with a laugh. 'I just wanted to leave the three of them in there so they could talk about us, they wanted to and your sister probably would have started a conversation up about us soon if we were in the room or not.'

'Even if they don't like you, I don't care,' Jacob said slipping his hand back into George's. 'But I do know that I'll be getting the "you're only twenty-one" lecture from my mother today. She thinks that we actually listen to her.'

'I know,' George said weakly. 'My mother is like that as well, it's painful. Do you think we're too young?' George asked him wanting his opinion.

'It's not like we are getting married or anything of the sort. Age doesn't matter,' Jacob said. 'I reckon it's great we're both so young.'

'And in love,' George added beaming at him. He kissed Jacob softly drawing looks from the boy sitting with the young girl. 'Do you mind if I go?' George asked him.

'Nah, go for it, you will come back though?' Jacob asked.

'Yeah,' George nodded. 'And then we should go out for dinner or lunch, or whatever.'

'Definitely,' Jacob agreed. 'I'd love that. See you later,' he said as George kissed him fully on the lips and rose from the chair heading towards the lifts. George didn't find the lifts entertaining because they had them at the Ministry. As George descended in the lift Jacob remained sitting for several seconds, enjoying the feeling of George's taste on his lips.

Eventually he went back into the room and felt like a cornered animal when the heads of his family members all turned directly to stare at him as he entered alone. Jacob felt like they were waiting for him to spill some terrible secret to them or by his father's slightly amused face for him to do some kind of jig or play the bagpipes – which he was alright at when he was younger, but had had the misfortune of clogging the pipes with too much saliva. What happened afterwards when he turned the pipes upside down was a notorious family story that he hated and everyone else seemed to find incredibly amusing.

'Where's George?' his mother asked him as he came to stand beside his father who was looking at Anne like he was stoked be becoming a Grandfather.

'Oh,' Jacob said distantly thinking that he was about to be an uncle. 'He left.'

'Why did he go?'

'It's not exactly his sister is it, he doesn't have to stay here and be bored out of his mind. Anyway, he's coming back.'

'Hmm,' his mother said fiddling with the necklace on her neck. 'Could we have a little chat, Jacob?'

Jacob narrowed his eyes and resignedly nodded. 'Here we go,' he said bracing himself for the lecture he had told George would be coming, and he was right.

Instead of leading him out into the waiting room, his mother just went into the next bed in the room, and closing the curtains around the bed, inclosing them in. The bed was empty and had remained so when another woman didn't come in to replace the Chinese one. It was obviously not a day to give birth.

'You do know that sound can travel through such thin curtains,' Jacob said teasing his mother faintly. It was so easy to wind her up and it didn't take much to make her annoyed, something that had its pros and cons.

'We will talk in hushed voices, then,' she said still fiddling with necklace and staring intently at Jacob. 'Have you realized, Jacob, that you can't have any children of your own.'

'I think I was aware from a young age that I don't have a uterus,' Jacob said. He was expecting a different lecture from this one. He had been waiting and gearing up for the "you're too young" one which he had heard many times before and had a series of good retorts in his arsenal. This was a new speech and he hadn't heard this one before, he was interested to see how it would span out.

'I am glad you know that you are not a woman,' his mother snapped at him her anger setting in early. 'I just want to remind you that because of your chosen lifestyle, you cannot have a child that is entirely yours and your partner's.'

'Oh, so you like George then?' Jacob asked.

'No! I didn't mean that, you are too young be going serious, if that is what you are implying also,' she said.

'I'm old enough to decide what I want, anyway mum, Anne's only a few years older than me and she is married and a baby is about to spurt out of her at any minute. Why do you always pick on me like this? You never gave Anne any grief about marriage or being too young, you let her go right ahead and do what she wanted,' Jacob said while glaring strongly at his mother. It was true, his mum was ecstatic when Anne married and found she was pregnant a month after the wedding. It was like his mother chose to pick on him because she could and Anne was a woman after her own heart so she didn't say things like this to here.

'Why do you always do that?' he asked. 'Why can't you actually leave me alone instead of trying to force things on me all the time? I can take care of myself. It's not because you want to protect me or anything is it, mum? Is it because you're embarrassed by me?' Jacob crossed his arms.

'Yes, Jacob, maybe I am embarrassed by you. Perhaps I don't like your gayness, maybe I'm really, really pissed off with your father because he let you spend so much time with that lesbian, hussy sister of his when you were a kid. Maybe if you hadn't had any of her influence, you'd be a normal person.'

Jacob's eyes narrowed and his shoulders stiffened as he heard his mother insult one of his favourite relatives that wasn't a part of immediate family like that. He loved his Aunty Elle and she wasn't a Lesbian hussy, she was very beautiful woman who liked other very beautiful woman and the last time he checked there was hardly a crime in that. So, why was his mother acting like it was such a bloody sin when their family was hardly religious at all?

'It's not "gayness", mum; it's my chosen sexual orientation. It's hardly my fault or Aunty Elle's that I like penis, mum! I can't believe that after all these years of knowing you're still so narrow fucking minded that you can't accept your son. Dad's got the right idea; he doesn't let it bother him. Maybe you should try and be more like him! He gets on with things, he accepts people and doesn't judge them like you do, mum! And why have you waited until now to say all this crap?'

'I just thinking when we got here how much you like children and how good you are with them, you won't be able to have any of your own,' she said and placed her hand on his shoulder like she was trying to twist all the words she had said before and make him forget them. 'You won't have a child that's your own, your own flesh and blood, Jacob.'

Jacob shrugged her off and decided that this conversation had ended her and now, he didn't want to hear any more of it. And for Anne's sake (who was probably starting to get the worse of everything now) he decided that he didn't want to argue with his mother right now. They could finish this fight later or not at all since he didn't really give a damn at this point. He shot one last scathing glare at this mother before storming back over sit down in the chair next to Anne, fuming still.

'Are you ok, Jacob?' his father asked him and even Anne was looking across at him with concern in her eyes that were so like his eyes.

He smiled feebly. 'Fine,' he muttered.

'I can't believe she said that,' Anne said peeking around the edge of the curtain to see her still standing there.

'She meant well to start with,' his father said smoothing a hand across his balding head. 'She didn't mean for it to get so out of control.'

Jacob sighed and bit his bottom lip. 'She meant it though.' There was not comment after he said this and the silence let him know that everyone else both thought she had too. 'Anyway,' Jacob continued. 'We aren't here to chat about me; we are here because of you, Anne. How're you doing?' he asked, desperate to get his mind of the harsh things his mother had said to him. He had always known she harboured some resent for his sexuality, but he hadn't known she thought that deeply about it. Jacob had just brushed it off when she said some small comment but just then what she thought about him had some rushing out in a flood of homophobia. He scowled bitterly to himself and felt that all he really wanted was some reassurance from George that being who he wasn't a bad thing. He thrust his thoughts to the back of his mind and said nothing when his mother remerged to join them again and patted Anne's foot.

'I'm ok,' Anne said taking a big gulp of air. 'The contractions are getting more painful.'

'And they are closer together,' his father added with a solemn nod to show that he thought it was nearly time.

George was right. Jacob's life at the moment was drama after drama and he wished it would cool down shortly but he knew that wouldn't happen anytime soon. There was still the drama of his trace being lifted, meeting the new Head and his exams. And that was only planned drama, who knew what other soap opera worthy drama would occur between that. But he was glad for some of the drama, like discovering he was a wizard and Anne having her baby right now. It was things like that that made life interesting and enjoyable and all the other unfortunate twists and turns had to be dealt with. With every dramatic thing came good things too. Like becoming a wizard had meant he had got to meet great new people, George, Professor McGonagall and Draco were the people who he had connected with the best and he knew he could get to know George's family better. He wanted too as well, Fleur and Hermione – though only Fleur was officially a part of the Weasley family – seemed really nice and fun. He caught his mother staring at him like she was trying to say sorry through her eyes but Jacob all but growled at her as he twisted away to face Anne again.

Eventually and much to the relief of Jacob, Paul arrived like he had been fired over by catapult. He hurtled in through the doors, brief case, suit and all and fell to his knees by Anne's bed, kissing her like he'd never been happier to see her in his life. It had been four hours since Jacob had gotten to the Hospital and Anne still hadn't dilated enough to give birth. It was starting to become a little boring and soon he and his parent's were kicked out of the room because Anne's contractions were starting to get bad and the "murse" decided that all the people around her just aggravating her more, so they were all politely asked to leave. Jacob was quite happy for that until the awkward silence of the waiting room came. When they were with Anne it gave them something to talk about but he and his mother weren't speaking and his father had wisely decided not to say a word unless it sparked up another fight.

After another long wait, Jacob had taken to counting to three and trying to get the exact time that the lift doors opened when he said three, in a full hour it had only happened four times. Finally Anne was wheeled out of the room on the hospital bed and taking to the birthing theatre or whatever they called it. Paul ran past clutching her hand tightly and gave them thumbs up to so everything was going to plan. This new stage of birth gave him and his parent's about thirty seconds of talk before things got awkward again.

It was going to be a long day that would possibly draw on long into the night. Jacob groaned and leaned back in the chair, praying that George would come back soon. He had only been gone for a few hours, and yet, Jacob missed him something terrible.

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**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	26. Lovestruck

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, PEOPLE! I love you guys for reading but it really brings me down when no one reviews.

**Curiosity****  
Part Twenty-six: Lovestruck**

'Minerva?' Jacob suggested as he leaned over the side of Anne's bedside staring at the new pink bundle in her arms. His request was shot down as Anne looked him like the name had crawled out of hell itself. He shrugged his shoulders; he thought it had been a good idea. To name the new baby after Professor McGonagall, sure the name was a little unorthodox but Jacob liked it. He wanted to remember her and to name the sweet little baby girl gurgling in his sisters arms was the best way he could. But gazing at Anne now he was sure she wouldn't take that name as she was looking at him like that they would always remind their little girl what her uncle wanted to call her. 

'Old fashioned,' Paul commented pushing his lips into a pout to fit Anne's displeasure in it. Fatherhood suited Paul, his worried exterior and passiveness seemed to have flown away with the new arrival. He seemed to be glowing with pride as he let a hand down to stroke Anne's hair. When he had rushed out into the waiting room to tell them the news, he had thrown his arms up and nearly sunk to his knees while screaming "it's a girl!" That gave Jacob the distinct impression he would always keep his little girl laughing. When handed the baby Paul had also acquired a strange look of wonder, like he had never seen anything of the sort.

The baby was a sweet girl, she had a soft scattering of light hair on her head and large blue eyes – so similar to Anne's and Jacob's. His mother had been ecstatic when she had seen her granddaughter had the same eye colour as her two children. And when Jacob and his parent's had entered the room she wasn't crying. Anne had said she had only cried for a few seconds after being born and then also said with a great deal of unhidden pride that she had instantly stopped when given to Anne to hold. So far Anne had permitted no one but the nurse, herself and Paul to hold the baby. The little girl hadn't cried at all and she was just making soft babbling noises as Jacob's father leaned over and stroked her cheek. Jacob couldn't see but he was sure his dad would be pulling stupid faces in his soft manner.

'Oh, I know,' his mother said excitedly. 'Name her after me!'

Much to Jacob's surprise Anne and Paul had no names picked out for their child, they hadn't even asked what gender it was when they went for check-ups. And now it was like a tennis match, just hurling names at Anne and if she didn't like them she'd volley them right back at your face. It wasn't something Anne was good at, choosing names and then remembering them. When she was a young girl she had had plenty of dolls – most of which she badly disfigured and Jacob had steered clear of, just happy to play in the garden outside – but she could never remember their names or which had what name and most went through several name changes every time she played with them. Jacob had always earned a tug on his hair when he got a name wrong, so in the end he just didn't go near Anne when she played with her dolls. Too much pain was involved.

'I am not naming her Sue-Marie,' said Anne dully unable to tear her eyes away from her child. 'Maybe one of them for a middle name, but not her first name, who'd want to be named after their grandma? It's not like you're famous or anything. If you were, I'd consider it.' She smiled sweetly at her mother who smiled feebly back but the pride she had for Anne was evident in her face just as was the loathing look she kept shooting Jacob.

Jacob's dad let out a little chuckle but shut up when Anne looked at him seriously. 'I'm not naming her James either,' Anne snapped at him clutching the baby closer to her. 'It's a boy's name, in case you didn't realize.' Jacob sniggered but not because of Anne's slightly pathetic joke but because her stubborn, rude humour that usually played on other's misfortune was lacking. Anne was tired and Jacob figured she was allowed to be a little nicer for a few seconds anyway. Maybe he should make the most of it but he didn't know how to make the most of her niceness, so he just left it.

There was a soft knock on the door and everyone's heads turned to see who it was. It was one of Anne's two nurses – she acquired one more when she went into labour - it was the murse. Jacob felt a little sorry for his sister. The murse wasn't exactly good looking. He had a nose far too large for his face and Jacob felt like saying "look at the man on that nose" but felt he shouldn't adopt Anne's harsh humour right now. But his eyes were kind and he smiled down at Anne and the baby, asking how she was and if she needed anything. He clucked and cooed over Anne for a few minutes, making sure she was truly comfortable before the true purpose of his visit came clear.

They needed to take the baby away for the usual check-up and injections. 'We're just going to take the baby, hunny, for the usual shots,' the murse said kindly after he had eventually pried the baby from Anne's tight and protective grasp. 'She'll be fine and you need rest, hunny. After everything's been checked over we will bring her back, don't worry.' Suddenly he turned to Jacob, cuddling the baby in his arms. 'I think there is someone waiting outside, in the waiting room,' he added like Jacob was stupid or incoherent. 'He asked what room your sister was in and I saw you with him earlier, since only family is allowed in the room and he obviously isn't, would you please go outside and talk to him there.'

Jacob scowled at the man's retreating back for his stubbornness to go by the rules and even though he was being or trying to be polite he had sounded rude. The man also sounded like he thought he knew everything there was to know. He excused himself for a few seconds and scurried out of the door behind the murse, still frowning at his back and tempted to pull the finger at him but he was carrying his niece and what if she saw his rude gesture and picked up on it while she was still an infant. His sister would never forgive him. So he blandly glared at the murse as he walked behind him out of the private room and into the waiting room.

George was sitting down on an isolated chair in the waiting room, his arm draped over the back of his seat and his legs crossed while staring distantly out the window. Jacob took this moment of George's patience and relaxed posture to stop just at the entrance to the waiting room and just look. The man was gorgeous; it was as simple as that. His soft red hair that covered his missing ear which obviously made him feel uncomfortable was different from the rest of the Weasley's. While theirs was a more orangey kind of red, George's was a deeper red than theirs. Or maybe it just seemed that to Jacob. Jacob loved the way George's soft skin was sprinkled with a light dusting of freckles, mainly over the nose. He loved that though George was stocky yet quite tall and had a muscular build, especially around the shoulders, he was gentle with Jacob. Even though Jacob was just an inch shorter than him, he hardly had enough muscle to be considered strong or anything of the sort. He was fit though and had the legs (long) to run very fast but only if he put his mind to it. They were different kinds of fit: George was strong and muscular and Jacob was fast and leggy.

A soft cough of amusement brought him out of his thoughts and his eyes snapped to George. He hadn't realized George's blue eyes had been locked on him for however long as he thought. He flushed pink and sidled over to him a little sheepishly; standing beside the lone chair George was sitting in. He rested his hand on the edge of the back of the chair and George quickly placed his hand over it. The hand had a few freckles dotted across it as well but mainly George's hand was brushed with a light windswept tan that Jacob liked very much.

'You were staring,' George commented. 'I completely understand. I am dashingly handsome.'

'Oh, ha-ha,' said Jacob softly though his mind was completely agreeing with George's statement. Suddenly George lurched to his feet and caught Jacob around the middle, much to his surprise. Before Jacob could react with a yelp or a string of words, George's lips were against his, softly moving and not adding any pressure just leaving the kiss chaste. Jacob was only faintly aware of George's hands sneaking down to cheekily cup one of his arse checks. But before Jacob could react to that, the kiss had broken off and George had pulled away from him, just holding his waist now, and was speaking again.

'But of course,' he said batting his eyelashes fiercely, 'it is nothing in comparison to the shining light that is Jacob Smith.' George pulled him in close to him and whispered something else in his ear that made him moan out quietly while George rubbed his nose in the soft strands of blonde hair that settled just above his ear.

Jacob was all about to let George drag him off to an unoccupied room so that they could react the coupling that had happened last night, but then he saw, over George's shoulder, his mother sticking her head out of the door to Anne's room and looking out into the waiting room. A scowl appeared on her face as she saw him in George's arms. Jacob ignored her but still spinning the pair of them around so that he didn't have to face his mother and he knew that George wouldn't care about the displeasure on her expression. As soon as he wasn't facing his mother he felt George let out a soft breath in his ear, Jacob knew that George had seen her disapproving look.

Hearing a door slam loudly, he cringed. He still didn't care for what his mother had said to him earlier in the day yet was having difficulty trying to push her words out of his mind. He had always known she didn't like his "gayness", as she called it, very much but he had never known she had always felt that strongly about it. There had been a lot of things that had spurted out of her mouth that morning, and it did hurt Jacob to know that she had meant most of them but if he had most of his families support, her beliefs were outnumbered. Yet he would like it if she accepted him. Shouldn't she understand it more than his father, shouldn't she be the more accepting one? After all, she fancied men as well, it seemed only logical.

Feeling a sweet kiss on his cheek, he blinked and found that George wasn't hugging him tightly anymore, just staring at face and holding his hand softly, stroking the palm. He had been so lost in thought he hadn't even noticed when the hug had broken off. He let his eyes focus in on George who had been watching him a second ago and was now looking towards the door.

'I'm glad you came back,' Jacob muttered somewhat quietly but he still meant it.

'What did she say to you?' asked George latching into what had happened quickly. It wouldn't have taken a genius to see that there was a large amount of tension between mother and son.

'Just some stuff about being gay and things, I didn't know she hated it that much. I always knew she didn't like me for that but I didn't know she felt that strongly about it,' Jacob said tersely. He didn't care, he kept telling himself he didn't care but he knew he did care about what his mother had said to them. Yet he wasn't about to let George know that he really cared that much because he knew in a sort time he would get over what his mother had said. Before George could say another word he hurried on. 'But I don't care, it's alright, she's just really uptight.'

'Seems like both our mums are really uptight,' George said chancing a glance back to the door. 'It's the exact same thing, they expect more of you. Families and bollocks like that. Merlin's trousers, all I really want to do is make jokes, wake up next to you every bloody morning and probably beat up Ron for telling mum when I wanted to do it myself and have some fun out of it.'

Jacob flushed and looked across at George trying to see if he was being serious or just joking. Jacob couldn't tell. 'You really mean it?' he asked feeling a little shy as he asked this question. If George wanted what he had said, Jacob was all for that too. It was true that he had never felt this way about another person in his life before and was ready to do anything for George. It was love, bigger than anything he had ever felt before and the both of them.

'That I'm going to beat up, Ron?' George said. 'Yeah, well, probably not, Hermione would get annoyed at me and then I'd really be in for it. But it doesn't really matter because mum isn't really upset because I'm in love with a bloke, (never thought it would happen myself but there you have it) just because I didn't tell her.'

'I don't mean about that,' Jacob said. 'The bit about wanting to wake- '

George grinned and interrupted him with a nod. 'Yeah, I really do mean it. So don't run out on me, Jakey,' he said.

'I don't plan to,' Jacob said and beamed when he saw George had a light blush across his face, just covering his freckles.

'How is your sister?' George asked trying to shake himself of the blush as he changed the subject. 'Has she had the baby yet?'

'Yeah,' Jacob said with a hint of pride remembering that that made him an uncle. 'A little girl, she's adorable.'

'What's her name?'

'She hasn't got one yet,' Jacob said. 'They didn't have any names picked out at all.'

'That's weird.'

'Yeah,' he said turning around to look at the closed door that was just visible down the corridor that separated the waiting room from the private areas for patients. 'It is weird.' As soon as that comment left his lips the door of Anne's room opened and his dad came out. He scanned the room, rubbed his head and when he finally saw them, gave a quick wave and trotted over.

'Anne wants you to come in and rate the names she and Paul, though she mostly did it herself, have picked out. There are four they both like and they can't decide between them,' he said with a half-hearted grin and Jacob knew he was sick of being here and tired of this place. 'Hey,' he said to George. The greeting was accompanied with a warm smile and Jacob was glad that at least one of his parents respected him. His father patted Jacob softly on the shoulder and retreated back into the room, leaving the request to come back open whether he wanted to take it or not.

Jacob grabbed George's hand and led him into the brightened by lamp room. Anne was still sitting in the bed, her hands resting across her stomach, the white sheets of the bed pulled up around her chest. His mother was leaning against the wall near the window and looking out disdainfully at the cars zooming by outside, she was standing behind a pot plant so it also looked like she was trying to hide behind its leafy expanse. Paul was sitting in a chair closet to the bed and kept looking nervously across at Anne like something would happen to her at any second but Jacob noticed, he still had that glow about him like pregnant mothers were supposed to have. Jacob still maintained that fatherhood suited him incredibly well. Jacob's own father had entered just a few paces before them and moved to the corner to pull his sulking wife out from behind the pot plant, she was obviously still seething from her and Jacob's conversation earlier.

'Ok,' Anne said jumping straight to the point they had all been assembled in for. But before she could get any further his mother spoke dryly.

'Only family members are allowed in the room,' she said her eyes locked on George. She left it at that, evidently thinking that her words would be enough to make George leave the room. Jacob stared at her, trying to pull her gaze away from George who thankfully wasn't cracking under the weighty stare. It was a scary thing to face, his mother's glare. She wanted him to leave, but Jacob wouldn't let her make him leave. Suddenly her stare averted from George and locked on to him and he could see that the argument they had had earlier wouldn't blow over easily, it was going to take some time for them to speak to each other on good terms again. As a son, he had disappointed her and as a mother, she had contempt for him. It wasn't going to work anymore.

There was a silence in the room, an awkward, confused silence in which no one had any idea of what they should do or say. Jacob found that instinct made him take a tighter hold of his red headed lover's hand as he stared across the bed gauchely at his mother. No words were spoken and the silence continued to hang around like the bad smell of wet dog. It seemed that both Anne and Paul couldn't take the silence anymore at the same time. They both cleared their throats together, Anne louder than her husband. The silence seemed to snap as heads turned towards them. It sounded like Anne heaved a sigh of relief also.

'I could go,' George said softly to Jacob but added a little louder, 'if I'm not wanted.' He was giving Jacob the opportunity to stand up to his mother and Jacob understood that. No one else but here felt that George should go, it was only her.

'No,' Jacob said sternly. He stopped George by softly touching his wrist. 'No,' he repeated all the while looking at his mother. 'Stay, please,' he said pulling George back close to him yet never letting his eyes leave his mother until she broke the stare herself and looked away towards Anne, covering an annoyed squeak that she often did by blowing her nose.

'Ok.' Anne brushed hair from her brow and surveyed the family plus one standing around her with a arid and somewhat speculative glance. 'Ok,' she said again this time drawing the word out. 'These are the names we are thinking off, even though she isn't here – damned nurse still has her, and we can't try the names out on her, these are the ones we like. Natalie,' she said and hurried on before opinion could be given, 'Elizabeth, Ella-May, and Sophie.'

'What do you think?' asked Paul.

'Is Ella-May hyphenated?' Jacob said.

'Yeah, do you not like it?' Anne demanded the answer.

'It just sounds like she'll be one of those girls who go to flashy, ridiculously expensive boarding schools, with a name like that,' Jacob said with a shrug and a grin with hope that Anne wouldn't take that as an offense for the name they had picked out. The name just sounded a little over the top, with a hyphen in it. He wanted to spare his niece any ridicule.

'Well, she will be,' Anne said definitely.

Jacob turned to Paul astounded. 'I had no idea you made that much money.'

Paul shrugged modestly and said, 'we get by.'

Anne scoffed. 'We could live in a fucking mansion, he makes so much.'

'That's a bit of an exaggeration, Anne,' Paul said.

'When I start working too we will have more than enough to send her to a really good school, so maybe a posh _hyphenated _name is worth it.' Anne tugged a strand of her hair in thought. 'I don't know though,' she added. 'It does sound a little ... stupid. Same with Elizabeth,' she said and then Paul across the wrist sharply. 'All of your choices are too stupid,' she muttered. Paul didn't even look offended; he was too used to this.

'It's down to Sophie or Natalie than,' Paul said and chanced a look at his mother in law to see what she thought of the names. 'What do you think, Sue?' he asked. Jacob's mother looked quite astounded to be asked a question as important as that but then beamed broadly at Paul.

'Well,' she said briskly. 'I do like Natalie, Natalie Gracio sounds quite nice.'

Jacob was about to correct her on the last name when he remembered that Anne wasn't Anne Smith anymore, her name had changed when she married Paul. He always forgot that. Paul and Anne Gracio, it was a strange last name but less common than Smith which everyone seemed to have. Gracio sounded like a brand of exotic fruit or expensive import that only came from a certain part of the world. But his mother was right, much to his disappointment, Natalie Gracio did sound like a good name for a child and then someone who would grow into an adult. It wasn't one of those names that only a baby or an adult could suit, it wasn't a picky name.

Anne nodded briskly, her eyes bright with glee. 'It's perfect!' she sang happily while pulling Paul down to her level so she could plant a large kiss on his face to express her joy even more. 'Do you like it?' she asked him pleadingly. Jacob had the feeling that even if he didn't like it, his first-name choice would suddenly become a middle-name. Though it was their child, so maybe they could chose to go with a completely different name, one they both liked equally. But Anne was so happy with the name; Jacob couldn't see how Paul could deny her that name for their baby.

'Yeah,' said Paul with a grin to show he liked the name quite a lot. 'It's a nice name, I like it. Is that our babies name?' he asked Anne who nodded fervently. Paul scuttled out of the room shouting behind him his purpose for leaving. He was going to find Natalie and the hospital staff so he could give them their child's name. Anne watched him go, her face pink from excitement and joy. She let out a low sigh of complete satisfaction. She was entitled to it, she had a husband, though he was a little lacking in the looks department, he was kind and would take care of her forever, she had a good home and now she had a baby of her own.

'Don't look so buggered, Jacob,' she said softly.

'I don't look buggered,' he said crossing his arms. 'Define buggered anyway.'

'You look like you've been the one doing all the work,' she said with a smirk. 'How long have you been here anymore, all day?'

'Since early morning, just before nine,' Jacob said. He was eager to get out but he didn't know if Anne would let him go. 'What time is it now?' he asked almost nervously.

'Just past six,' she said looking across at the clock above the window. It was in an extremely random place for a clock and its purpose seemed a little void there because you had to twist around so much to look at it. 'You should go,' she egged. 'You've been here for hours, you've done your bit and now you can go, thanks,' she added quietly.

'You mean I can actually go?' he asked feeling relief and joy that could almost counter Anne's when the baby had been named. He had been here for hours and now just wanted to get out, go somewhere with George and then come see the baby when she was out of the hospital.

Anne nodded and strangely enough held her arms out for a hug, one that Jacob didn't deny her. When she had let go of him she briskly thanked him for being the only one who had bothered to show up on time, this received a light chuckle from his father, who never took much seriously. Jacob hugged his dad goodbye and then he and his mother mutually ignored each other as he headed for the door, promising he'd come to see Anne later on when she and the baby were back at their home. There was a range of 'nice to meet you'; 'goodbye' and 'see you later' for George from the family before the pair of them exited the room.

Once out, George languidly slipped his arm around Jacob's shoulders and pulled him in close as they just managed to dive into the lift before the doors snapped to a shut. Even though it was going up, they could take a quick trip before being able to depart on the bottom floor. Jacob was still a little dazed from the whole hospital experience and exhausted from it even though as Anne had said, he hadn't done any of the work, just sat around for hours on end. It was like travelling in cars, boats or even aeroplane's, even though all you had to do was sit still it was physically tiring for some unexplained reason. He was thankful that George was standing next to him and supporting most of weight or else he probably would have fallen over and gone to sleep then and there. If Jacob was tired, how must Anne be feeling?

Jacob had yet to hold his niece and wanted to see her outside of the clean shine of the hospital. A sinking feeling struck him as he remembered that his mother's words were a hundred percent correct, he could never had his own children with his partner. One of them could have a child that was there's or adoption was an option but a child would never be parts of them and you wouldn't be able to look at him or her and see yourself and partner there. It was a saddening prospect and he had wanted to have a family at some stage, but family didn't mean you had to have the whole deal. To him, he and his lover would count as family. Perhaps he should just forget about never being able to have a child and spoil his niece rotten, he would be the favourite relative, he wanted to make sure of that.

'What are you smiling about?' asked George. 'You look a little crazed.'

'I'm going to spoil her,' Jacob said with a deeper grin as he leaned against George's shoulder. 'Natalie, I'll be here favourite uncle. The best,' he said patting George's chest with a lazy hand.

George sniggered softly. 'Poor kid doesn't know what's coming, favourite uncle can be a little strange,' he said. And when the lifts finally came to a halt on the bottom floor, they shimmied past a fat woman as she waddled on and out into the area just before the lifts. George's arm was still tightly around Jacob as they pushed past the people entering the hospital.

Jacob looked around the people passing through the main doors and wondered how many of them could be coming in for reasons as brilliant as why he had been here today. By the looks on their faces he doubted that any of them were enjoying entering this place, most of them looked like it was such or routine or that it killed them coming in here to visit whoever it was that they came to see. He was lucky he had been here because of birth not for any other reason; he only ever wanted to come here for good reasons like Anne having more babies' never bad grounds.

'Do you still want to go out for dinner?' George asked distantly as they stepped out into the brisk wind that had been pounding at the doors, eager to burst inside.

'You didn't book anything did you?' Jacob asked. He certainly couldn't be bothered going to have some formal dinner occasion thing, or whatever they were called. He didn't want some kind of dinner date, the flat would be fine. Besides, at the flat it was only a number of steps to the bedroom.

'Didn't bother,' George said. 'Plus,' he added, 'home can be much more fun.' He said it in such a way that it sent shivers up Jacob's spine or maybe it was because George was tracing his fingers up his back in a tantalizing way. 'You're too tired. I'm pretty chuffed with the flat anyway, bedroom's close.' Jacob saw him lick his lips after he said it and he knew they both had similar ideas in mind.

'That's what I thought too,' said Jacob with a smile and just a hint of a blush. 'We can celebrate both being uncle's now,' he said happily.

'What?'

'Victoire,' Jacob said with a chuckle that George may not have realized what a momentous thing it was to be an uncle. He had such a large family it probably hadn't even crossed his mind that he'd ever be called on it do his uncle like duties as Jacob definitely would be.

'Oh, yeah,' George said. 'Nearly forgot about that wee angel child thing,' he said. 'Nah, I don't have much to do with her, just at family things. She's a cute kid, I wouldn't mind much if I had to look after because she's family. But I think that Bill and Fleur are afraid I'd give her some kind of exploding toy to play with or something along those lines. You'd be a much better uncle than I am,' he said hugging Jacob closer. 'You actually like children; I only like them when they buy things from me. Some of the little kiddies are alright, just depends on how much maintenance they require.'

'Oh, I dunno,' Jacob said quietly. 'I reckon you'd be alright, they'd like you because you're funny, and you'd always keep Victoire or any other nieces or nephews laughing.'

'I can say I've got plenty more coming, Hermione and Ginny are guaranteed to pop some mini Weasley's out, Charlie might as well – not personally, but you get what I mean.' He continued to babble on for a bit and Jacob wondered if the conversation they were having was making George a little uncomfortable, like he'd realized he should spend more time with his niece. He hadn't stopped talking yet, Jacob had to shut him up somehow, his blabbering, no matter how funny it was, was getting slightly tedious. Jacob just wanted to get back to the flat.

Shrugging away George's arm from around his shoulders, Jacob rose up on the balls of his feet and tenderly pressed his lips to George's. He grinned to the kiss at George's surprised moan and then found he had let out a quiet mewl when George pulled him extremely close and deepened the kiss. Neither man cared that they were standing under a bright lamplight on the corner of the street, with cars whizzing past while in a mad embrace. It didn't bother either of them; it seemed that all there was were each other and the sweltering kiss they were sharing. George broke the kiss by gently sucking on his bottom lip and pulling away.

'Home?' asked George breathing the words out into Jacob's ear and clutching his shoulders. Jacob agreed, with a short nod and then as a surge of people came forward to cross at the crossing, they were blocked from sight and Jacob felt that squeezing sensation as they Disapparated away.

As they left a woman had haphazardly looked up in time to avoid the two embracing men she was just about to catapult into. To her amazement, as she side stepped out of their way she found them gone, a soft pop accompanying their disappearance. She blinked thinking this to be a trick of the evening light but they were still gone like they had never been there. Biting her bottom lip, she continued on her way wondering if some sort of test had been going on there or if gays just had supernatural powers. Halfway across the busy street, she decided that if gays could vanish on the spot she wanted in on it, being a lesbian couldn't be that difficult, it obviously had its pro's. Maybe it would be fun. It could possibly be the biggest change in her life, offering everything from bonuses to a career changer perhaps. That was it, she was going to be a lesbian. She had never been that bright; rather stupid was a more appropriate way to describe her mental ability.

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	27. Ok, Professor

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, PEOPLE! I love you guys for reading but it really brings me down when no one reviews.

**Curiosity****  
Part Twenty-seven: Ok, Professor.**

Resting his head against the cold wood of the desk and indulging in the fresh wind that was buffeting in through the slightly opened windows at the corners of the shop, Jacob let out a soft smile. A dull thud followed by a string of curse words killed the silence of the joke shop. It made Jacob smile even deeper, he still had no idea what George kept doing in there but he enjoyed the soft bangs and loud explosions that echoed from the room when the activity in the shop was at a bit of a stand still. He also liked when George sauntered out of the room, sometimes covered with soot and trotted up the stairs to get a cold drink for the both of them. Listening to the noises that always issued from the inventing room let Jacob take his mind of the endless search Kingsley was conducting for the new Headmaster or mistress and of course the unfortunate thing that had led to that search. 

He missed her.

There had been something slow about the days after Natalie Gracio had been born. She was now five days old and time seemed to be moving at a sluggish rate. Jacob kept feeling like there was something he should be doing apart from spending his time in George's bed and milling about the shop that was still getting clientele, (things were just always slow in the early morning). When they had opened the shop that morning, Jacob had finally pinpointed what the slowness was. He wanted to learn now, he felt he should be. He had been on a break ever since Professor McGonagall had passed on and he knew she had wanted him to keep learning, heaven knew he did. He never wanted to stop learning magic.

When he had figured that out, he let himself relax, not that he'd been fretting about the slowness, there was just nothing he could do about it. He could only let Kingsley do his job and for now, apart from the slothful feeling, he was enjoying spending time sifting through the shop items and hanging around with George. He was amazed that George had invented nearly all this stuff, it certainly made for a good living. George was great at Charms and it showed in what he sold. Cheeky little inventions that you could hardly be sure what they did until you picked them up. Jacob had had a few unfortunate encounters with stock. Some seemed innocent enough until you prodded them. When you prodded them a few had violent and angry reactions while others had extremely amusing reactions. Jacob had picked up a fake wand and it had turned into a real chicken, and when he had chased it – clucking and squawking across the shop, it had turned into a broomstick and then stuck to his hand for half an hour before George had unstuck it for him.

Life was fun with George and the joke shop. Five days had been filled with sleepy times yet some days were filled with mad hilarity; the nights especially had been the best. It was sensual, heated while romantic and thrilling at the same time. Pure, simple brilliance. Yet Jacob felt as if his magical training had ground to an abrupt and sudden stop, which it definitely had but it was hard to describe how bored Jacob felt when he looked at his wand couldn't do anything with it. He hoped Kingsley and whoever was helping him found an appropriate candidate soon. Selfish as he knew it was, he needed, wanted, had to learn more. It had become a kind of compulsory have to have.

The door of the hidden room opened with a soft swish. George stepped out looking a worse for wear than when he had entered. His red, copper hair was tussled like he had repetitively run his hands through it. He also had some gooey substance stuck to his hands that was proving difficult to remove; he kept shaking his hands trying to get the yellow goo off. It seemed to stick on all the more though. Jacob let out a laugh from the back of his throat that mixed with a cough and went to help with the gunk like stuff.

'Here,' he said quietly, taking George's hand. With the hand not holding George's gunk ridden palm and fingers, he reached behind to the desk for where he knew a box of tissues sat. He tugged on the soft fabric and used it to wipe away whatever it was on George's hand. Half the time he found it best not to ask what George was fiddling around with, mainly because he couldn't cope with the long winded explanations and often found himself just staring dreamily at George. He could feel George's eyes on him as he cleaned his hand and collected the yellow slime into the tissue before carelessly chucking it into the bin. Jacob had to pull out another tissue to swipe away the slime his hand had gathered from George's.

'Thanks,' George said and pulled his hand away from Jacob's, flicking his fingers like he was glad to be rid of whatever had been on them. ''Nightmare to get rid of, that stuff. It's bloody brilliant. I just need to make it a lot harder to get off, maybe sticker as well and then it'll be perfect.' He grinned at Jacob and inspected his fingers. 'I got rid of the bloody rash as well, bit of a nasty side effect. Just a bit of tweaking and it should be good as gold,' he said going into George Joke Shop mode (GJS) but luckily he knew when to stop before Jacob zoned out. George lifted his hand and trailed his finger tips across Jacob's cheekbone and done his face. 'Mm,' he commented with another grin, a slyer one this time, it was a grin that always got Jacob.

Jacob knew he was tormenting him, George often did. Slow touches and tantalizing smiles, he was a tease and an impossible flirt. It was the accompanying of the touch to the cheek and that grin that Jacob figured he was in trouble. A good kind of trouble though. George was so easy to read and it was when his face was blank and emotionless that Jacob asked what was wrong or sometimes even refrained from asking. He didn't ask when George was sitting blankly on the couch just staring out at the moving pictures on the wall, staring at the photo of his twin. It was something that if George wanted to talk about, he spoke up and if he didn't, silence.

'Mm?' Jacob asked. 'What's so 'Mm?''

'Oh,' said George his hand remaining on Jacob's cheek. 'You're just beautiful,' he finished touching Jacob's hair softly.

He scowled. Jacob didn't like being called beautiful, women were beautiful and the last time he checked he was a man. He didn't call George beautiful. George was handsome and gorgeous, a word which could be applied to both genders. George didn't look like a woman; he wasn't beautiful; he was a handsome, gorgeous bloke. It worked for Jacob.

'Sorry,' George commented with a laugh. 'I forgot you don't like that word being used on you.'

'Not a woman,' Jacob said and tried to keep a straight face as the red head let out another choked laugh.

'But you have such a petite wee nose,' George said, now just winding him up. 'It's like a fairy's nose. Even you have admit that you do have a lady like nose. And girly soft hair, but I like that. You use kinda lady-like bath products as well.' George too was struggling to keep the laugh away from his face as he teased him.

'Not lady-like,' Jacob insisted. He paused, trying to find the correct word for the body products he used, and all he could come up with was what his flat-mates always used to say about them. 'Just fruity,' he said.

'It's _very _gay,' George said putting the word into its proper meaning, the way Jacob was trying to say it. He ran his hands through Jacob's hair again, smiling down at him. Jacob knew he probably had that look on his face, the one crossed between slight anger, irritation and difficulty trying to find a comeback to what George had said. He often adopted that look when George teased him like this, not that he minded much but he wanted to find ways to retort.

He finally found one. 'At least my skin isn't like a porcelain boy-toy.' George's was. His skin was, especially on his face, neck and stomach, was insanely soft and unscathed, except for a tiny birth mark he had on his hip.

'A porcelain boy-toy? Your bloody boy-toy, hmm, Jakey?' George didn't give Jacob time to blush from that, he hurried on. 'My hands are calloused, look, macho hands,' George said holding them up for Jacob to see. George had the hands of a youth who'd spent much to his time outside, as did Jacob. George's hands were calloused from Quidditch and Jacob's from obsessive amounts of Cricket.

'That's what happens when you spend too much time with your hands wrapped around a bit of wood,' said Jacob and he said it firmly. So much so that he made George laugh. This exchange hadn't been about trying to be rude, it was just a bit of fun. 'You get rough hands.' He prodded George in the chest and dove back behind the desk, knocking over an ink bottle in his haste. George just chuckled, shook his head and pulled his wand, correcting Jacob's blunder. He shoved his wand back up his sleeve so quickly that anyone who didn't know where he stowed it would think it had just vanished into thin air.

Those rough, calloused hands caught him from behind, around his waist and pulled him back to lean against George's chest. George snaked a hand under Jacob's shirt, Jacob gasped from the cold of it. George let his hand rest on Jacob's stomach for a second; his other hand was at Jacob's hip, ensuring he didn't move. Then George, at an alluringly slow rate let his hand run up Jacob's chest, pinching lightly at his nipple. Jacob let out a low gasp that quickly turned into a moan when George clipped the bottom of his ear lobe with his teeth. The warm breath against his ear was almost as arousing as the hand under his shirt.

'But you like them, don't you?' George asked. 'My rough hands,' he said. 'I like yours, you _adore _mine. You go bloody crazy for them,' he said and laughed. 'I know you, Jakey.'

'Owl,' Jacob managed to breath out, lifting a hand and pointing towards the front windows of the shop. 'Owl,' he repeated.

He was correct. A large white owl, dotted with brown flecks that looked like something had thrown a paintbrush at it, was fluttering about the door, pecking at the windows as it flew back and forth. It was an urgent owl, one of those impatient ones that were sent when the mail it carried was important or somewhat critical. As George's hand left his chest, Jacob peered closer at the owl that was about to be let into the room. It had the purple collar and the silver MoM lettering on it. It was a Ministry owl. Either it had been sent by George's brother Percy because he couldn't be bothered to send his own or because Kingsley had something important to tell the pair of them.

Jacob figured it was the later. Jacob was one of the first people that needed to be notified when the new Head had been selected. He was kind of something that came with the Head's job, a catch to the perfect job probably. This letter was either announcing the new Headperson or telling Jacob the possible options they had lined up. Again, Jacob thought it to be the later because there had hardly been any publicity about who the people for the job could be. The Prophet had developed a list of who they thought the candidates would be, but apart from that there wasn't much interest in it. Jacob suspected there would be another surge of intrigue when the Head was selected. Now, it was like the quiet after the storm. The storm being Professor McGonagall's passing.

George had pried the letter from the claws of the over eager owl and shooed it out of the shop. He held the letter in his hands like it was a bomb that could explode at any second; hurriedly he gave it to Jacob. 'It's for you,' he said and stood behind Jacob, peering over his shoulder as he turned it over in his hands.

'What do you think it is?' Jacob asked still turning the letter around, staring at his name written in the silvery curled lettering. The Ministry seal was on the back, bold red. 'Do you reckon ...?' he asked, leaving the question hanging, with no need to finish the sentence off, George knew what he meant.

'I dunno,' George said. 'Open it and we'll find out.'

Popping open the seal, Jacob dug out the letter inside and unfolding it. His eyes scanned down the page looking for what hints of what had been decided. His insides whooped with joy and he wanted to dance around in a circle with George, but then there was also the nagging sadness at the back of his mind. Having someone you had liked greatly replaced with someone you had to put up with wasn't a good feeling. The letter read:

_Mr Smith. _Jacob was tired of his letters starting like this; couldn't people just get right to the part that mattered?

_It has been a long and tiring process of little sleep for near a week but we believe we have found the perfect person for the job of Headmaster of Hogwarts. _

'So it's a bloke,' muttered George reading the same line as Jacob. 'If it was a woman they would have said Headmistress,' he added.

_The Ministry believes that Professor Tarn, previously belonging to another Wizarding school, has the idealism to take up and continue on the high standards left behind for him by Professor McGonagall. He will also be taking on the task of Transfiguration master and Head of Gryffindor house. _

_This new Headmaster will hopefully bring about a new and great age of Hogwarts, there is great excitement about this in the Ministry and the news is about to be released to the public. _

_Professor Tarn has been instated in office as of yesterday and is eager to meet his trainee. He will be in office all day today and does not mind what hour you wish to met him. _

_Percy Weasley, _

_Under Secretary to the Minister of Magic: Kingsley Shacklebolt. _

'Trust that pompous git to write like that,' George said with a laugh addressing the neatly printed and slightly curvy writing and proper language used.

'Professor Tarn?' said Jacob. 'Do you know him?' George shook his head. 'Heard about him?' Jacob asked shrugging hopefully. George shook his head again, this time the movement was accompanied by an apologetic motion. 'Think he'll be good?' he said in a desperate attempt to get some information out of George.

'No bloody clue, sorry,' George added. He took the parchment from Jacob and scanned it himself even though he had read it before. 'Professor Tarn,' he said spacing the words out and pronouncing all the vowels in them. 'Professor Tarn,' he repeated. 'Even the name sounds good so maybe he will be.'

'He better be good,' Jacob said. 'He's taking over three jobs. That has got to be some pressure. I thought someone else taught Transfiguration.'

'Oh, no, she still was, still going strong. That's why no one ever thought it would happen, she was still going strong. Wonder what this bloke will be like? Doesn't tarn mean some kind of pond or sea?'

'Yeah, it does,' said Jacob. 'It's like a loch. His last name is a body of water, nice.'

'He's probably bloody sour then. I would be if I had a last name like that, tarn. He'd have a load of nicknames from his old school, I reckon. He'll be in for some more at Hogwarts. And if Peeves finds out what his last name means, he'll get some hell.'

'You're not one to talk, your last name is Weasley,' Jacob said and bit his tongue for fear of laughing out when George took a little longer than usual to reply. He could feel George's hand on his waist clenching a little, not from anger. It was a gentle squeeze. 'Weasel.'

'You think you're so funny, don't you?' George asked whispering in his ear. 'It was a good one; I'll give you that, but completely uncalled for.'

'Completely?' said Jacob. He turned around and leant his chest into George's and looked up into his eyes which were shining with laughter but he kept a straight face.

'Absolutely uncalled for,' George said with a nod, 'quite rude, too.'

'What are you going to do about it?' he asked looping his arms around the red head's neck and using his knee to part his legs. 'You started something before ... before the owl came, want to finish it?'

George undraped his arms from around his neck and grinned at him. He patted his check and ran a finger down the nose he thought to be petite. He spent a few seconds just staring at Jacob who knew he looked eager for it but then George shook his head. 'No,' he said simply still grinning. 'You call me a Weasel and you get no sex, hah. That's that karma thing you Muggle's are so fond of. Karma,' he said again with another brief nod and turned around to jog up the stairs.

Following at a quick trot, Jacob caught the letter George had dropped. Stopping on the stairs he looked at what was written on the page. The school had a new Headmaster, it hadn't taken long. Jacob wanted to meet this person for they would be training him until he was able to learn without constant supervision in case he blew something up. Since sex wasn't in the cards for now or later this evening, he'd go and see the Professor and do the introductions. The letter had said the Professor was available whenever and wanted to meet his "trainee". So, Jacob would go now. The shop was slow right now and George wouldn't need his help for a while to come.

He suddenly remembered the book the house-elf had given to him, that had been left unopened on the table for a number of days, forgotten about. It wasn't like him to forget about something like that. In the rush of excitement that had followed his return from her office that day, he had overlooked it completely. He didn't know how he could have done that as he normally would have ripped into something like that in an instant. He had a quick mental note to open it when they came back. It was somewhat disrespectful to the Professor that he hadn't opened her gift to him yet. He gave two seconds of thought to wonder what it was and came up with nothing.

He wandered into the kitchen and saw George fixing himself something. He went over and leant against the counter behind where George stood. 'I'm going to see Professor Tarn now,' he said. 'Want to come?'

To his surprise George nodded eagerly. 'Yeah, 'course I bloody want to come. Two seconds,' he said and tugged his wand from his sleeve and waved it once. Downstairs Jacob heard the distinctive sound of the bolt on the door snapping shut and the flap of card turning. 'Locked up and ready to go.'

He strolled across to the fireplace and stepped in extending a hand to George who took it and stood beside him, clutching it gently. The fireplace was hardly big enough for the pair of them to fit together, but Jacob didn't care that he was pressed up against George, it didn't matter to him, and it was how he slept normally. It was George who grabbed the handful of green powder this time and blew some in Jacob's face before throwing it around them and loudly saying "Hogwarts" loud and clearly. As they left, Jacob heard him mutter something about hoping the connection was open or else that could hurt.

As normal they arrived in a cloud of green smoke, and Jacob quickly stepped out of the hearth and into the office. The green dust took a while to clear and it created a frightening array of things that couldn't be seen beyond its alien-like glow. Jacob swiped out with a hand in front of him, not liking the way being unable to see made him feel. In the end he decided not to bother waiting for the collection of dust to clear and stepped forward out of it.

The office hadn't change in a bit. Everything was still in their places. His eyes flickered towards the portrait above the claw footed desk and that hadn't been filled yet either. Why would someone want a blank picture in their office? It must be there for a reason, it had to be filled soon. The newest fixture in the office was a tall man standing beside the windows, opening them. It was the first time Jacob had seen the windows opened and the rush of fresh air that blew into the room was impressive. If the windows were left open like this more often, it wouldn't always be as stuffy in here.

The man turned to find both Jacob and George staring at him. He wore a long dark, midnight blue coloured robe and a pair of shiny brown shoes could be visible under the robes. His dark eyes widened in surprise and he moved a hand to brush his floppy greying hair forward out of his face. When his eyes reappeared, the initial look of shock was gone replaced by one of contemplation. He walked forward with a slight limp in one leg and extended a dark hand to Jacob. By the time he had reached him, the hair he had pushed out of his face had already fallen back over his eyes. Jacob saw that he had a big dopey moustache, one that looked like it belonged on one of the Thompson detectives from Tintin. With the long fringe that fell before his eyes and the moustache, he looked quite strange like something big and hairy had fallen asleep on his face and refused to move.

'You must be the perk that come with the job,' Professor Tarn said when Jacob clasped his hand. 'Hmm,' said the Professor looking down at his hand once Jacob released it, 'could do with a stronger handshake, but not bad.'

Jacob looked down at his palm as well. He had always thought he had a tight handshake; he had even practised because handshakes apart from appearances were often people's first impressions of you. He had thought that he his shake had been stronger. Professor Tarn's had almost a bone crushing handshake and it wouldn't matter if Jacob applied pressure in the shake or not, Tarn's was doing all the work.

Professor Tarn's had turned to look at George. 'Ah, a Weasley,' he said grasping George's hand.

'How does everyone know who we are?' George asked himself but clasped the Professor's hand too, eager to make his stronger than Jacob's and when he was commended on it he shot Jacob a smirk to which Jacob fired him one back.

'Red hair, freckles,' said Tarn's. 'It's not difficult to tell, you just look like a Weasley, too.' He turned back to Jacob and he found himself under close inspection by the Professor's intently sharp and kind of frightening gaze. 'Jacob Smith,' he said. 'I get landed with you as well?'

'It's what Professor McGonagall wanted,' Jacob said and had a urge to salute Professor Tarn's after saying that even though the man wasn't at all like an army general. He was just intimidating. Tarn's had already crossed over to the desk and sunk into the chair, tapping his fingers on the desk. He had an air about him, one of extreme boredom like he would rather be elsewhere. He seemed to be waiting for Jacob to do something, something that Jacob didn't know of so he stood still.

Professor Tarn's pushed his fringe out of his face and observed Jacob again before letting out a deep and long sigh. 'As I understand it,' he said looking at a piece of parchment on his desk and clucking his tongue loudly, 'you're trace is to be removed soon, how exciting for you, no,' he said waving a hand, 'I don't want an explanation of how you came by the magical world, I already know.' Jacob hadn't even opened his mouth and begun to explain this to him. 'It is my job, I see, to get ensure that you pass two more exams. A small one before your trace is removed, soon, Jacob Smith, that will be very soon – I'm sure Professor McGonagall had a plan for you but I want to see what you know before I give you any test.'

'Ok, Professor.'

'When you have passed that exam, I shall teach you the remaining essentials that you will need to know and perhaps some difficult magic but at the same time you will probably be learning in your own time without the trace. Then after I think you know all that is necessary you will have the last exam and when you pass that we will need never see each other again. Is that all clear?' Professor Tarn's spoke at such a quick rate it was hard to keep up but Jacob thought he had caught all the essentials that had been spoken.

'Ok, Professor,' he said again feeling flustered and a little unnerved from being talked at.

'That's what will happen, in a week you will have that small exam and once passed your trace will be taken away and you can do what you like. That is the short term plan; long term is the final exam.' Professor Tarn's stared at him and Jacob found himself compelled to agree even if he didn't want to. He nodded slowly. 'Nothing will be changed from that plan that is what is happening.' The Professor seemed determined to stick to his preparations and Jacob didn't want anything to change in case it angered this man he had just met.

'It has been pleasant meeting you,' Tarn's said. 'Excuse yourself when you will and Jacob ...'

'Yes?' croaked Jacob.

'I expect you here at four tomorrow afternoon, goodbye,' Tarn's spun around in the chair and waved a dismissive hand. He was paying them no extra heed.

Jacob felt as though he should say something but no words came out, so he turned and walked back towards the ornate fireplace with George. They came out in the flat in a puff of green, smelly smoke and cough their way into the cleanness of the kitchen. All the while, Jacob was thinking how strange that encounter with the new Professor had been. He had just talked at them and then dismissed them, as simple as that. It was like he couldn't be bothered dealing with him and just wanted to say what was going to happened, what _he _had planned and then expected them to bugger off – which they had. This new personality was a lot harsher than Professor McGonagall who was no saint herself. It was what the Ministry thought Hogwarts needed; a good kick up the backside that came in the form of Professor Tarn.

'What a charming fellow,' George said taking a deep swig of the glass of water he had poured for himself. 'He's nice and snappy though, straight on to the point, no jabbering about pointless crap. I like that,' added George with a nod of his head.

'You jabber,' Jacob told him taking the water away and having a drink himself. He felt like he needed something stronger after Professor Tarn.

George caught Jacob up in his arms and kissed his neck fondly. 'I'm so glad it's you who has to sit around with him for _hours _and _hours, _and not me,' he said and then snatched the glass away and whirled off down the stairs to the shop.

'Supportive as ever,' commented Jacob softly to himself when George was out of earshot. It would be a real slug, putting up with Professor Tarn, unless the man made a really frightening first impression and was actually as sweet as a puppy, but somehow Jacob doubted that.

However, he didn't let himself dwell on that for too long. He had remembered the parcel that he had neglected for so long handed to him by Lampy and from Professor McGonagall. Now was the time to open it, the time had been right for quite some time, ever since he got in fact, yet he had been too swept up in other things to notice it. It was waiting patiently for him on the table wrapped in brown paper and unmoving, as it had been for some long days. He picked it up and weighed it in his hands. It was definitely a book, most definitely. A heavy book at that, too.

Sitting down on the couch, he propped his feet up. He wasted no time and ripped into the package right away. Out onto his lap fell a book, hard backed and very serious looking. The book had landed backside up so he was staring at the part where a blurb usually was. Apparently this book felt too important to have a description, the back cover was blank and the mossy green stared up at him. Cautiously he flipped the book over, feeling a little apprehensive to what she had left him. He calmed when he saw the words written in bold friendly lettering on the green cover. Trust her to leave him something educational and something she would probably like to have herself.

She had left him a book on Transfiguration called: _The Art of Transfiguration, a full study by Bethilda Morph. _Jacob grinned; even the author's last name fitted the subject she was writing about. Though the book wasn't very entertaining, it would prove useful and educational, and indeed very helpful to him. He was happy and glad to have been given it.

He laid further back on the cough and clutched the book to his chest, letting out a soft sigh before whispering, 'thank you.'

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**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	28. Boyfriend, Boyfriend

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, PEOPLE! I love you guys for reading but it really brings me down when no one reviews.

**Curiosity****  
Part Twenty-eight: Boyfriend, Boyfriend**

Professor Tarn, Jacob discovered during his first afternoon lesson with the man (though it felt more like a bombardment of fact), was a gentleman eager to impress and do a decent job. He seemed very aware of pressure that was put on him in this position. He was keen to impress the Ministry and do a good job of running the school. With him, Jacob quickly learnt, everything had to be in shipshape condition, nothing could go wrong. He was in a high place and there was a lot people watching him, expecting to screw up in some way, and he wasn't going to let that happen to him. 

Tarn's didn't like things to be blamed on himself, Jacob discovered that during the first lesson also. Jacob had been asked to do a spell. A spell he didn't know, so Tarn's taught him the words and expected him to get it right away and when it had taken Jacob a while to catch on to, Tarn's had pushed his fringe out of his eyes and completely refused to admit it was his folly. The man hadn't taken enough time teaching him the way the spell worked, the movement of the wrist and the correct pronunciation of each and every syllable. He wasn't as patient as Professor McGonagall but slowly the pair of them worked out a system that worked well all in that first afternoon. Tarn's would demonstrate the spell and then go through it slowly, Jacob would copy and practise until he got it right. After that Jacob was certain things would work out, if not right away, over time.

The man was kind of a good teacher, after that first mishap and after the system had been worked out, the way he taught was clear. He used reverse psychology, battering Jacob with mutterings that he could never get the spell right and therefore making Jacob strive harder to achieve the spell. After the lesson he had been quite pleasant, he said goodbye to Jacob with a smile and said he was looking forward to their next teaching. It hadn't been as fun with Professor McGonagall and Jacob was still a little nervous around this man whose mood changed as frequently as he had to push his fringe away but Jacob hoped that shortly the lessons would again become enjoyable.

That afternoon he had been planning to go and see Draco but just before he had left George had told him there was a party at the Burrow. George's sister Ginny had just got engaged to Harry Potter, whom Jacob had met very briefly during his last visit. George was happy for his sister and excited about officially welcoming Harry into the family as all of the Weasley's were quite fond of him. The red head had told Jacob that Molly had asked if he would be taking Jacob with him, and of course George had said yes. Molly had then seemed a little apprehensive but also enthusiastic about meeting Jacob again.

It was a little nerve racking for him, though. He had met most of the Weasley's before apart from George's father yet this time he would be introduced as the boyfriend. It was a different thing all together, meeting them with no connections to George apart from being friends had been fine and Molly had been more than nice to him. George had already said his father would love him because of his "previous Muggle-ness" and already apologized for the way his mother would be. According to George, Molly would probably try and assess their compatibility after having a rant at George for not telling her earlier. Over all Jacob was looking forward to this, it would be another opportunity to become more acquainted with the Weasley's especially Fleur. He was interested in talking to Hermione again as well; who George said was borderline Weasley. His brother, Ron would surely be following Harry's example and proposing to her in a few short months.

It amazed Jacob at how young Harry and Ginny were (Ron and Hermione, too) and were yet ready to settle right on down. They were only a few years younger than him but Jacob couldn't imagine marriage even at his age (just a few years older). In another few years maybe, but not now. He would have to congratulate them for finding the right person and sticking to them. George had said it was something about the after effects of the war, though it had long passed and threat of losing loved ones was over, people who had been in the thick of it for some reason wanted to settle down right this instance. And when Jacob had asked why George hadn't settled down with some nice bird yet, George just shot him a composed look and said nothing more. Jacob chose not to believe what he had said about people wanting to settle down right that second, he was sure that Ginny and Harry would continue doing whatever it was that they did and at high speed too. Marriage, for them, must simply mean they had found the right someone not because of the after effects of the war.

Jacob had returned home from his lesson with Professor Tarn, who had taken to his duties with immense aplomb, and was now standing idly in the lounge, rocking back and forth on his heels and observing the half-light of the setting sun. He wouldn't mind staying home rather than having to face the Burrow in a full swing party, but George wanted him to come and a soft voice in the back of his head was egging him on and trying to kick him in the backside for being a little nervous about meeting people he had met before. So, he squared his shoulders and went to the bedroom to change his shirt.

George was standing there fiddling with a collar that popped up above an itchy looking blue hand knitted jumper with a large white G on the front of it. He was trying to fold down his lighter blue collar underneath that and chuckled when he finally got it. The red head only noticed Jacob when he crossed the room to dive into the closet, poking around for a plain white shirt.

'Mum likes it when we wear the jumpers she knits for us,' George said to Jacob. 'It's a Christmas present from her a couple of years ago, she stopped making them when we all left the nest though. Thank Merlin,' he added. 'Scratchy but warm,' finished George.

'Suits you anyway,' said Jacob as found the shirt he was looking for. He pulled off the tee he was wearing and slipped into it, buttoning it up quickly. 'Brings out your eyes,' he added in a breathy slightly mocking tone.

'Thank you, thank you.' George wrapped a strong arm around his chest and held Jacob close to him. 'You're nervous,' he observed. 'Why, you've met them before.'

'Yeah, I know and it's stupid but ... it's different this time.' Jacob leaned his head back against George's shoulder and let out a low sigh. 'It's different, I'm the boyfriend this time, last time they didn't know about us.'

'You'll be all right; none of them are going to bite your head off. Nothing to be even the slightest bit nervous about, bloody hell, nothing to even _be_ nervous about, Jakey. Remember what I said? Dad'll love you and mum will have to like you, she will. She liked you last time, she just got all pissy because I didn't tell her and she found out from dear, ickle Ronnikins. You're a charmer, Jakey, they will like you.'

'If you're sure,' said Jacob. He trusted George's assumption, he knew his family and if what he said was correct, Jacob had absolutely nothing to worry about. He trusted George so he wasn't going to worry or be nervous.

'We should go now,' George said looking at the unusual watch on his wrist that always intrigued Jacob so. 'We're already a little late, fashionably though,' he added with a grin. He still hadn't removed his arm from its protectively placed position around Jacob. Jacob began to walk forward thinking they were going to use the fireplace to get there but George held him back.

'Apparition,' Jacob groaned leaning his head back against George again. Just as he had thought he was over the side effects of Apparition, he had starting feeling the strain of it and though he didn't throw up anymore, he felt a little queasy again. The more you did something, the more you got used to it and that concept certainly applied here. He just needed to get used to it, _again. _

'Yes sir,' George said cheerfully and ruffled Jacob's hair. 'Come on, it's not that bad.It's quick too, instead of those cars Muggle's pelt down the roads in, but that's a lot more fun than this. Ever flown a car?' he asked.

As Jacob twisted around to George to ask what the hell he meant by that, that feeling occurred. The one that feels like you are being squeezed through an impossible tight tube and that your eyes might pop out and your cock fall off. It always felt astonishingly tight but they always made it through to the appropriate destination. It was will that made them appear outside the lighted windows of the Burrow at about half to eight on the breezy evening. George patted Jacob's shoulder quickly before dropping his arm from around his chest.

The mismatched house was an impressive sight as George pushed open the picket gate at the end of the path. It looked it was completely supported on itself and then rooms were just stacked on top as the Weasley's needed them. The Burrow was a bizarre place yet fantastic at the same time. He wasn't aware that George had taken his hand; he was too busy staring up at the tall trees that hid the house from view. He knew that Ottery St Catchpole was strictly a Muggle village, George had told him that and the Burrow couldn't have been constructed without the use of magic, he could see that as George rapped sharply on the front door and then opened it. The trees were part of the Weasley's orchard and must also serve a second purpose of shielding the house from the prying eyes of Muggle's.

Jacob's ears were met with a canopy of noise. The front room was bustling with people, all trying to shout over the top of each other. It seemed this was the place to mill about and chat. There was an array of people, most of them he had never seen before in his life but as George pulled like through like a tug boat he waved at some people. The original homeliness the Burrow had was blocked out by the amount of people talking joyously amongst themselves, chatting away happily with goblets filled in their hands. It was by no means a quiet affair limited to only family, it seemed that Harry and Ginny were very popular and had a strange array of friends.

Suddenly George ground to a halt and Jacob nearly catapulted into him, that was a result of him watching the gathered folk celebrating the pending union. He had seen wizards and witches wearing the full deal, huge capes and pointy hats but it seemed that most were more comfortable in Muggle garb. George had on occasion worn a cloak but that just seemed like it was for effect and the awesome swishy sounds it made when you moved in it. So, far he hadn't seen anyone he knew or vaguely recognized, not even another Weasley yet. When he turned his attention back to who George was talking to, he found it was Ginny looking radiant and smiling brightly. Her hair was similar to George's, it seemed they were the only two Weasley's that had been lucky and got soft glossy hair.

'Thinking about popping out any Weaslette's soon?' George was asking her. Ginny looked completely affronted by the question, she folder her arms and stared George down. 'Forgot,' George muttered apologetically. 'Quidditch career, right, Gins?'

But Ginny didn't respond, she was looking over George's shoulder and staring right at Jacob, which was somewhat unnerving to say the least. Her eyes were boring into his and she uncrossed her arms to flick a strand of her long hair behind her shoulder before continuing to stare him.

'You remember Jacob don't you, Ginny?' George asked and fished behind him for Jacob's arm and pulled him gently in front of him. George's hands were resting comfortingly on his shoulders and Jacob suddenly felt a lot better having George's strong, stocky body behind him.

'Yeah, yup,' said Ginny blinking in a fluster like she had been snapped out of train of thought and smiled in a calculating way at Jacob. She hadn't spoken to him much when he had met the family the first time, she had actually mainly ignored him and Jacob was quite happy for it to remain that way.

'Congratulations,' he said with a hesitant smile. He wasn't sure about Ginny yet, she seemed nice enough but a little edgy around him also. So far anyway, Jacob had a bad habit of trying to figure out people on the spot and was often disappointed when his findings turned out a little wrong. 'On the engagement,' he added.

Ginny's eyes widened at the subject she was possibly most thrilled with. 'Thank you,' she said and held out her hand to show them the ring on her finger. It was certainly quite a rock and glinted under the light from the candles in the corner of the room.

'Blimey,' muttered George and seized his sister's hand to peer closer at the glittering stone on her finger. 'That's some rock. Harry didn't spare any galleons did he?' George said with a wide grin at his sister who couldn't help but smile back. 'Bloody hell,' he finished for good measure.

'When did you get engaged?' Jacob asked feeling a bit looser after George's exposed interested in the ring and Ginny's softening on the subject she liked to talk about.

'Just a few days ago,' she said. 'When the new Headmaster was appointed,' she said to George and then turned to Jacob. 'You would have met him, wouldn't you? What's he like?'

Jacob didn't spare anytime to wonder how everyone knew a fair deal about most of doings when he didn't know the half of them. ' ... Interesting,' was finally all he could think of saying. 'He's quite serious about the job, though so I reckon he should be all right.'

'He looks funny,' Ginny said pulling her hand sharply out of George's grip. 'There was a picture in the Prophet and Quibbler of him the other day. I don't know why anyone would want that much hair on their face,' she said reasonably. It was a fair thing to say, there was a lot of hair and it was rather distracting at times. Not to mention disturbing.

Another red head came up behind Ginny and beamed across at the pair of them. Jacob had never met him before but he knew that this was George's father. The man was kind looking, he had small wrinkles around his eyes from laughter and the small scattering of freckles across his nose that looked as though they would heighten in the summer as was seen in many of his children. He wore robes like the other more eccentric Wizarding people, it suited him.

'Dad,' George said with such cool, calm, collectiveness that Jacob was a little envious. 'This is Jacob Smith, my,' George paused and looked at Jacob and smiled before continuing, 'my boyfriend.'

A flush came across Jacob's face that he couldn't help as George's father, Arthur stared at him with mild surprise like he had never heard this news before. But then the expression on his face dropped and was replaced with the one he normally carried, a kind half smile. His eyes tinkled with something Jacob could only call mischief as he continued to look at him. Strangely his eyes didn't continuously flicker back to his son like the words he had heard had frightened him or sent him to an early grave. But Molly would have obviously told him of their son's new endeavour. Like Jacob's father, Arthur seemed a tolerant man.

'Arthur Weasley,' he said with an even bolder grin and extended his hand for Jacob to shake. Ginny gave a short huff like she had been expected more than a causal greeting and strode off after a bob of messy black hair poking out in the midst of another group of people.

'Nice to meet you,' said Jacob and he meant it. He liked this man though he had only known him for a good few seconds.

'You're Muggle, aren't you?' Mr Weasley asked intent interest across his face. No doubt he had heard of Jacob, everyone else seemed to. He probably already knew the answer to that question and didn't really need Jacob's help in answering it.

'Yeah, yeah, I am.'

'Great, that's fantastic!' Mr Weasley said ecstatically. 'I've been fixing up an old motorbike for Harry. Sirius Black's, do you remember it George? Hagrid took care of it for a while,' Mr Weasley asked his son and George nodded. 'I've been fixing it up for him, not that he knows so don't tell.' Mr Weasley waved a warning finger. 'But the thing is I'm not so good at the fiddly bits, not sure how everything works so I don't know if it works properly. Do you think you could just give me a hand, Jacob?'

Smiling, Jacob nodded quickly. Motorbikes weren't his forte but it sounded as though Mr Weasley was just having difficulty with the things like lights, gas gage, indicators and small things like that. And Jacob could help with that, he wanted to help, he'd love to help. If Mr Weasley possibly wanted to ask Jacob anything else that he didn't understand, the privacy of wherever the bike was stored would be the perfect place. It was something Jacob found a lot with fathers rather than mothers; they didn't understand why their son would go for another bloke. They weren't brought up around a time when that kind of acceptance and tolerance was beginning to show through. But Mr Weasley didn't seem too bothered or in the least bit confused by that, why was it the mothers these days?

Mr Weasley led Jacob out through the crowds and outside along the path and to a rickety looking shed Jacob must have walked by at least twice but never noticed its existence. Inside it was dark, a little stuffy and the only light was the setting rays of the sun flowing in through the half shut blinds over the single small window. Pot plants and Muggle tools littered the handmade shelves and small broken things sat in one corner of the shed. In the centre a motorbike shaped object stood, covered by a woollen rug that Molly probably stitched herself.

The father Weasley lit his wand and closed the blinds shut fully, so no light was able to shine through now. He strode forward, the heels of his shoes clacking against the floor and his cloak swishing about him and ripped off the cover over the bike.

Even Jacob let a little gasp emit from his throat. The bike was beautiful. Its new glossy sheen was enough to make it look like the pride and joy of any male or female. The bike was gorgeous and coming from someone who didn't associate himself with cars or bikes much, except as modes of transport that was a pretty big compliment. It stood in the centre of the dingy shed and made it seem like a top class car garage where only the best went to get their warrant renewed. Jacob didn't know the names of many of the parts so he couldn't describe how each of them looked so perfectly placed together but he let himself whistle in appreciation and Mr Weasley smiled.

'I'm sorry, I don't know much about motorbikes, Mr Weasley,' Jacob said with an apologetic grimace.

'Arthur,' said the man and smiled broadly. 'Call me Arthur. That's fine, Jacob,' he said calmly. 'I didn't know much either. But you must know how things work, like a Muggle car?'

'Yeah, of course,' Jacob said. 'Do you just want to know if it's working properly?'

Arthur nodded. 'Things like the clickinator, and ... how to start it, keys are missing,' he added in a low voice. 'I fixed up an old car once, but George and Fred flew it to rescue Harry from his aunt and uncles place. I wasn't ever allowed to touch it again, Molly said,' added Arthur with a laugh.

'Flew?'

'Yes, I added extra things like an invisibility gage and flying charms. Very fun, I probably shouldn't have told the boys about it though. Because George and Fred flew it and then Ron and Harry flew it after they missed the train to Hogwarts, right into the Whomping Willow as well,' Arthur said with a chuckle. 'Of course Molly blamed everything on me, entirely.'

While he was speaking about this Jacob had been poking around the motorbike trying to see if there was something he recognized that was out of place. A sliver glint caught his eyes and he bent down on hands and knees to fish around under the bike. He had found the keys lying quite innocently under it; Arthur must have knocked them away while he was working on it.

'When are you going to give this to Harry?' Jacob asked as he pushed the keys into the bike.

'Wedding present, I was thinking,' Arthur said distantly running a hand through what little had left of his red hair that was thinning out and greying. 'Or just randomly perhaps, as long as he gets it that's the main thing.'

Jacob nodded and twisted the keys violently. The bike shuddered and spluttered before roaring into power. The motor had only stalled for a second before coming into life like the bike was brand new. Arthur hurried to stand beside him and put his hand on the acceleration, continuously revving the bike and grinning to himself when the engine of the bike roared loud. His hand moved to the keys and he jingled them between his fingers as he turned the bike off. Jacob had to admit he was a little gutted when the bike was turned off. It made such a great noise, the sound of Arthur's continuous efforts and final success.

The man clapped him on the shoulder. 'You found the keys!' he exclaimed.

'Under the bike,' Jacob said pointing to the barely touched space.

'Oh,' Arthur said, 'of course. Anyway, it works completely. This is brilliant, thank you very much, Jacob,' said Arthur as he turned the bike back on briefly and flicked all the switches on the dashboard and checking with Jacob to see if they did what they were supposed to. Individually they all worked. It was a success. After a few minutes, Arthur turned the bike back a shuddering stand still. He shepherded Jacob out of the shed thanking him once more.

'So, Jacob,' he said as they walked back to the house. 'How do aeroplanes work? Always wanted to know ...'

So he began about the tricky task of explaining as well as he knew how they worked and stayed up in the sky when they went back inside, which was Arthur's next question. Again, he didn't know much about them but tired his best to indulge Arthur who was a great audience. He hummed and trilled at the right places, looking amazed when Jacob told him the longest flight he had ever been on and how far planes could travel. As he spoke he saw, out of the corner of his eyes, George taking to Molly, using rushed and fluid gestures. He knew they were talking about them as Molly would turn to face him and George would wave at hand at him in wild motions occasionally.

Jacob had no clue his voice had faltered and wavered as he stared off towards George and his mother until Arthur coughed softly and touched his shoulder. 'You shouldn't worry,' he said to him. 'She's just upset that George didn't tell us and Ron had to walk in on the pair of you for us to find out.'

A red blush spread across Jacob's face as he heard Arthur say this. It seemed Ron had actually said a lot more than just that they were together, he had also told his parents and family what they had been close to doing. Jacob nearly hung his head in shame but instead coughed awkwardly and looked at Arthur who gave a shrug that showed he couldn't care less about his son's sexuality. 'Sorry,' he said to Arthur.

'What for? You have nothing to be sorry for.'

'I -' Jacob paused, he was unsure what he wanted to apologize for anyway. He shook his head and tried again. 'I -' but this time he was cut off for quite a different reason. George had strode over, looking a little red in the face but nothing compared to Molly who looked like she would let off steam at any second. George grabbed the sides of Jacob's face, gently clenching his hands in his hair and pressing his lips firmly to Jacob's, sucking all the air of his lungs. Slowly, as the kiss became more passionate Jacob's eyelids fluttered to a close and he was beginning to find it irrelevant that many people in the room had stopped talking to stare at them. But then George broke the kiss, grinned at Jacob and stormed back over to his mother.

'See!' he said, raising his voice an inch as he spoke to her. 'I'm not joking mum, what Ron saw was a hundred and fifty bloody percent correct.' Jacob had to strain his ears to hear the apology that George then gave his mother. Their last conversation about this had been when George was very drunk on New Year's so it hadn't been much of a talk, more of a confrontation which hadn't had even the slightest bit of apology in it. 'Sorry, mum,' George was saying softly. 'I should have told you first. I don't usually apologize to you, not seriously anyway. This is a serious apology, take it or leave it, I'm alright with either.' George's voice dropped so that Jacob could no longer hear it across the other side of the room.

A short laugh came from Arthur behind him, who clapped him on the back and excused himself, walking over to chat to someone else.

The rest of the evening rolled on slowly and finally pair found themselves in George's old bed in the Burrow, tired and near sleep. George had wanted to spend the night here as most of the family was, he also said Jacob had to try his mother's breakfast. But Jacob knew that George was probably nursing a slight headache and obviously wasn't up to Flooing or Apparating to the flat. This was fine with Jacob as by the time the party had dispersed it had been close to three in the morning and he was nearly dead on his feet after an exhausting day with the Professor earlier. George's room was quite comfortable too. They were snuggled together on the small bed, unable to move apart even if they wanted too. George had nearly nodded off to sleep already.

'You should have spoken to Harry,' George muttered lazily.

'Why?' Jacob asked tracing a small with his fingernail up George's chest in a similar lazy fashion.

'You could have had a conversation easily,' droned George with a deep yawn. 'Your dad's both had the same name.'

Jacob laughed quietly and lay his head down on George's chest, feeling a little tired but too parched to go to sleep. He hadn't much to drink today, in the way of alcohol and water. He wasn't sure if he could have talked to Harry. The man seemed a bit distant and hard to approach, but if he had been that desperate for conversation he might have. 'Next time,' he said quietly. He coughed, his throat was dry and he needed water. 'Do you have a cup in here?' he asked George. He had seen George shoot water from his wand and knew that the stuff was drinkable. Having a cup in the room would save a trip down to the quiet and eerie kitchen.

Shaking his head, George sat upright anyway and scanned the room using the faint light from the moon to guide his search. He shook his head again. 'You can go down stairs and get some water,' he told him. 'I'm sleeping, don't wake me up,' he added before pulling Jacob down close to him and kissing him soundly. George pushed him away and curled the blankets around himself, yawning once more.

Jacob slid from what remaining blankets that George hadn't taken from him. His feet padded soundlessly across the floor of the sleepy Burrow as he trudged down the stairs, heading for the kitchen. The house was nearly pitch black except for when he reached the door of the kitchen he could see a thin strip of wand light shining out from under it. Inside someone sighed and placed a cup down a coaster with quite a bit of oomph. He peered around the door and saw it was Molly, cup back in hand and looking desolate but perhaps that was just a tired expression. Maybe water could wait until the morning, if anyone was awake at this hour and sitting down here by themselves they wanted to be alone. Plus, Jacob was only wearing a pair of boxers, George's boxers to be more precise.

Just as he pulled away from the door she called out to him. 'Don't leave on account of me, Jacob. Come and get whatever it is you were after. No better yet, you sit down and I'll get it for you.'

The urge to simply ignore her and pretend his was a sleepwalker was pretty strong but he knew they should talk and there was no better time than early in the morning when no one else was around to listen. He slunk back into the kitchen and smiled feebly at her and sat down in the chair she had waved her hand too. Molly was already on her feet reaching for a mug in the cupboards above her head.

'Water or a warm drink, dear?' she asked.

'Just water, thank you,' Jacob murmured sleepy himself but sitting up straight in the chair. 'You're up late,' he commented just to push off conversation. If he didn't, things could get very awkward. He smoothed a hand over his now messy blonde hair, trying to make it lay flat.

'I just had to clean everything up,' she pointed her wand in a gesture towards the piles in the sink washing themselves. 'Better to get it done now,' she said. 'But you're up late too.' Even though her back as turned the tone of her voice led Jacob to believe that the words were accompanied by a raised eyebrow.

'Thirsty,' he said simply. 'You must be very happy for Ginny, and Harry,' he added as an afterthought.

'Of course,' she said coming back over to the small table that barely fit into the room and sat down opposite him. She handed the water across the table and Jacob took it, smiling in thanks. 'I'm looking forward to more grandchildren.'

'Big family,' Jacob said. 'I'm sure you'll have tones.'

Molly smiled but then her expression fell. 'During the war I wasn't sure,' she said, 'that I'd ever have any grandchildren, I thought all my children were going to die. One did,' she added and looked sidelong at Jacob. 'George has told you, hasn't he?'

Jacob nodded.

'He's never quite been the same since, he won't forget what happened, none of us will. I'm sorry for the way I acted around you this evening.' Molly glanced up at him. She did act strangely after her talk with George. She had taken to watching Jacob with speculative eyes but never coming to talk to him and just watching him for most of the evening. She had watched him around George even more closely, like she was analysing their compatibility.

'It's ok,' Jacob said.

'George lost such a big part of him when ...' she had to stop herself but continued on, 'Fred died and I just don't want him to get hurt. Surely you can understand?'

Jacob gave another nod.

'But I have seen the way he looks at you, Jacob,' Molly said. 'It's like the way Harry looks at Ginny, Bill looks at Fleur and Ron looks at Hermione but somehow it's even bigger than that. I don't know,' she said, 'but it's obvious that he loves you. A lot,' she hastened to add.

Jacob had turned a bright shade of pink, embarrassed by just how much attention Molly had been paying to the pair of them that evening.

'Do you?' she asked tentatively. 'Do you love him?'

Jacob looked up from the mug of water, where his eyes had been during most of Molly's talk that had rendered him quite embarrassed. Her large brown eyes caught his and he nodded, let a smile slip and nodded once more. 'I do,' he said. 'I do love him.'

Suddenly Molly had jumped to her feet and was by his side pulling him into a bone crushing hug. As long as her children it didn't matter to her. 'Then, welcome to the family, Jacob,' she said sounding flustered and looking it when she released him from the hug. She waggled a finger at him. 'Don't hurt him,' she said.

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**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	29. Different Sides

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, PEOPLE! I love you guys for reading but it really brings me down when no one reviews.

Thanks to those who have been reviewing! You're great, this story is continued for you.

**Curiosity****  
Part Twenty-nine: Different Sides**

Jacob's quill scratched furiously across the page. He was running out of time. The hourglass before him was emptying at a startling rate, dripping sand. It wasn't his fault the time for his exam had nearly run out; it was George's bloody fault. George had done that thing, running his tongue along Jacob's teeth when he had kissed him good luck before he left. Anyone would have difficulty concentrating after a snog like that. He'd been fine during the practical part of the test, demonstrating the spells Tarn asked to see but when he had sat down to right the theory, George had strutted into his mind and hadn't buggered off until there was only half an hour left. And it was an important test to. If he passed this his trace would be removed. He had to. 

Certain that he would pass, Jacob ducked his head down and sped up the speed of his writing. The test was easy, it wasn't designed to be difficult; it was to simply test his knowledge. Failing would be humiliating and Tarn would never let him live it down. He had to pass, because of its simplicity and because he wanted the trace lifted. It annoyed him to no end. George flounced around the flat showing off with his magic while Jacob had been revising for the test. George used magic for the most menial tasks, just to show off about the fact that he could do it and Jacob couldn't. Jacob wanted his trace removed so he could use magic for stupid and pointless things that would often be quicker if done by hand. But it was fun.

Passing would be easy. He was certain of this more than ever as he looked down at the paper before and scanned through the remaining questions. Draco had given him questions that Jacob knew the answer to in an instant. They still didn't do much actual defence training, the reason Jacob thought was that time often got away from them. They just talked. So Draco had nothing really to put in the test that was relevant to what he had taught Jacob. Jacob was actually surprised Draco hadn't made one of the questions 'Where does the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher reside during the summer break?' That was how little defence he actually knew. But Draco had put in questions about Dark creatures and how to counter them because they had had a long conversation about that last week after Harry and Ginny's engagement.

The hourglass had nearly transferred all the sand and Jacob wasn't stressed anymore. He had finished, his writing was like a blur that had been blurred by another blur. But that didn't matter, it was readable and Tarn had messy handwriting also which meant he would be able to understand it. Professor Tarn would be marking Jacob's entire test. He was just and fair and that scared Jacob because it was an insane fairness that meant even spelling a word wrong would mean he might be marked down. But then again, that didn't really matter either. The only part of the test that had actually mattered was the first, the performing the spells part. And from what he could remember of it, most of his memory of then was hazy because of his thoughts of George and the jolts he kept receiving to his stomach when he thought of that kiss, he had done pretty well. Well enough to pass.

Jacob fiercely dotted his last answer in the test, thankful for it to be over. Just as he pulled his quill away from the page Professor Tarn strode over, pushing his fringe up as he walked and snatched the paper from under Jacob's fingers. He scanned the page down quickly, checking for any questions Jacob missed. Jacob knew that Professor Tarn would be eager for him to pass this test and have his trace removed as that would give him some good press. The Wizarding world were all lying back and scratching their chins about this new Professor who had been at his job for just under two weeks. There had hardly been any opinions on him apart from the one in the Quibbler that George showed him, speculating about the limp in his leg. According to Xenophilius Lovegood the limp in the man's leg was from a charging Crumpled something a rather. Not that Jacob had any clue what that was and he wasn't about to ask Tarn what happened to his leg that made him walk lamely. It astounded Jacob that no one but he and a few others had bothered to form an opinion of the man.

The hourglass was suddenly removed from the table and clinked against the rings the Professor wore on his fingers. He nodded to Jacob who rose from his chair understanding himself to be dismissed. How had he done? He wanted to know. Could he have his trace removed? Would he be able to learn in his own time? He was looking forward to that, George had promised to teach him a few handy tricks that sounded much more fun than handy. He smiled distantly to no one in particular as he sauntered across to the fireplace wondering how long it would take for his results to come back. He wanted the trace removed, _now. _It was frustrating.

'Jacob,' Professor Tarn's said waving him back before his desk. 'You may as well stay here,' droned the Professor. Randomly, Jacob felt annoyed that the man didn't take joy in his ability in Transfiguration like Professor McGonagall had. It was a random thing to think and he quickly shook the thoughts out of his head, puzzled. 'I will mark this now, it shouldn't take long. Go see Professor Malfoy and do whatever it is you do, Merlin knows you don't learn anything from him.' Tarn's bit his bottom lip and nodded as he surveyed Jacob's paper. 'What are you still standing here for, Jacob? I'll come to Malfoy's office when I've finished marking this, go.'

Running a hand through his blonde hair and trying to take a glimpse of what Professor Tarn was now righting down, he left down the giant staircase. The walk to Draco's office had been confusing at the best of times but now he had the walk pinned down and could probably do it in his sleep. He knew the way as well as he knew the shelves in George's shop, he didn't know what the stock was but he knew where everything was. And that was very similar to the way to Draco's office. He walked there with long strides and he didn't feel in the slightest bit worried about the results of his test. He just wanted to pass. If he'd gone wrong he could have another go later but he wanted to pass right now.

Finally he reached Draco's office door. He knocked once and heard Draco's voice from inside inviting him in. The office was as bland and dull as usually but this time Draco had another desk in the room and it was occupied by a teenage girl scribbling down on a parchment. Her eyes shot up as Jacob walked into the room and she looked embarrassed as she returned to whatever she was doing. Jacob turned to Draco who was lounging back in his chair, lazily scrawling things down on parchment with an impressive quill. The quill was a tawny red colour and it was very drawing, Jacob found himself watching the quill before even speaking to Draco.

'Are you going to say anything or just stand there gawking like a stunned first year?' Draco asked not even taking his eyes up from the page. He must have seen Jacob come in or else he wouldn't have spoken like that. He kicked out the third chair in his room, the one next to him and Jacob sank into it. 'She's on detention,' Draco said pointing the feathery quill in the direction of the dark haired girl who looked up wide eyed and quickly returned to her work with a flush. 'Ignore her, Lucy's nearly done.' Draco looked up at across at her work, and nodded actually giving her a faint smile. 'She's nearly done.'

'That's nice,' Jacob said grabbing at the feathery quill as Draco continued to write and ignoring the girl like he had suggested. The feather on the end of the spike glided easy through his fingers but before he could get really get the feel for it Draco swatted his hand away.

'Working,' he said definitely waving his hand at Jacob's face. 'Talk is fine but not annoying stuff.'

'What do you think of Professor Tarn?' Jacob asked. He wanted to know what other people who had been around the man for sometime thought about him. Tarn was a pretty odd man, he could have one personality and stick with that for a day and then change it completely the next. Jacob had heard of something like that, it was a kind of mental illness. Maybe the Professor had that, but the likeliest answer was that they didn't know him well enough yet.

'He doesn't like me,' Draco said dipping his quill back into the inkpot and sniggered. 'But then again, I don't like him either. But you're the one who has been spending a lot of time with him, a decent amount anyway, apart from his classes of course. What do you think of him?'

'He doesn't talk much, just kind of yells at me and drills me until I get it right. It's refreshing come to think of it. He's not nice though, scary as well and,' Jacob continued, 'he has bad hair.'

Draco nodded his slivery blonde hair fervently. 'Horrible, isn't it? First thing you think when you see him is ... _hair. _He's got a limp,' Draco said putting down the quill and pushing the parchments away from him. 'Where do you reckon he got that from?'

'Dunno. Did you read what the Quibbler said about that though?'

Draco sneered. 'I don't read that paper, never have and never will. Lovegood completely crazy, no sense in him at all, a completely bloody nutter. I don't care where the Quibbler thinks he got it from. Probably in some kind of duel, Merlin knows the man isn't very likeable. I'm surprised he didn't fire me yet, I'm suppose I'm just so great at what I do, and he can't.'

'What do you say to him?'

'Why do you think it's something I said?'

'Who aren't you rude to?'

'Good point,' Draco said with a half smile. He was getting better at smiling, Jacob noticed. Before it just as a sneer but in good company, he was getting better. Jacob wondered if he'd met someone, love would suit Draco better than most moods though he looked good when disgruntled.

'You were rude to him, knew it. Then I'm surprised he hasn't either.'

'Hah,' Draco said simply and accepted the sheet of paper the student he had placed in detention handed him. He looked it over briefly and gave it back to her. 'Fine,' he said. 'When I set an essay, I expect it done, remember that.'

The girl looked a little affronted but nodded seriously and fled from the room, probably eager to tell all her friends what she had heard the Professor and his friend say about the new Headmaster. Jacob laughed a little at her haste to leave the office, she wasn't sparing any time hanging around after her detention was over. Jacob remembered how it was, he had been given numerous detentions but for nothing less than forgetting about his homework – meaningless things. But he still remembered how annoying detentions were, having to stay after school. It was as good as torture, perhaps in some cases better.

'So,' Draco said shifting in his chair and throwing his legs over one of the arms in the most relaxed position Jacob had ever seen him in. 'Had that test thing?' he asked. Jacob nodded and Draco continued. 'You passed you know,' he drawled. 'I saw it before they gave it to, it's shit easy.'

'Great,' Jacob said with a grin. 'I reckon I passed it anyway. It was kind of easy. Did you have a fit when Tarn asked you to put questions in?'

'A little,' Draco said with a smirk. 'It's not like I actually teach you anything. It would be kind of strange if I did put in the questions you knew the answers too. I just hoped you'd know the answers to what I put in, but it would have been pretty funny if you failed this test. But, hope you don't,' he added dryly with a leer.

'Yeah, thanks,' Jacob muttered.

'How are things with you and Weasley?'

Jacob looked up a little startled. Draco had never asked about his relationship with George. He had expressed that he knew about it but he had never asked or wanted to know anything about how things were going. The fact he had never asked was half because of his stance with Weasley's. Their families didn't speak, respectfully now of course before there had been plenty of rude words exchanged and both the Weasley's and the Malfoy's hadn't forgotten that. The Weasley's who were generally quite forgiving would have excepted an offer of friendship if not a little reluctantly but they weren't about to request one and the Malfoy's after the war were trying to glue back together what little bits of pride they had.

'Good,' Jacob said wondering why Draco was interested. 'Never been better,' he said with a shudder as he remembered the kiss George had given him hours before. His tongue running over his teeth, he could have had an orgasm on the spot if the red head had done it again.

Draco looked at him with a speculative glance and then grinned before hiding his smile behind his pale hand. 'You're in love with him, aren't you?' When Jacob took some time to answer, Draco prodded him with his shoe. 'Come on,' he said. 'I know you are. It's easy to tell.'

'Yeah,' Jacob said rather loudly. 'I am.'

The picture perfect Malfoy let out a sigh and prodded Jacob with his shoe again. 'What's the sex like?'

'Why do you want to know?' Jacob asked not as affronted with the question as he was the first. It was typical of Draco to ask about something so material. He grinned as Draco struggled to find an answer to that question.

'Because,' he said waving a hand about the place. 'Because ...' It was amusing watching his friend struggle for an answer. He was fidgeting uncomfortably in the chair and scratching his head, biting his bottom lip and rubbing his nose awkwardly. 'Curious,' Draco finally spluttered out.

'Got bitten by that bug too, did you?'

'You'd know all about that curious "bug",' Draco leered. 'But what's it like with a bloke?'

Jacob narrowed his eyes and twisted around in the chair to face Draco properly. 'Why do you want to know?' he asked teasingly.

'Look, you better not tell anyone alright,' Draco said, 'but there's this man. He's just you know, wow. I've never noticed men before, but this one ...'

'I get what you mean,' Jacob said. 'It was the same with George when he met ... ah,' Jacob stopped off with a blush.

'When he met you?' Draco asked with a chuckle. 'I'm not surprised. Soft blonde hair, pretty little nose, nice blue eyes, anyone would fall for you.'

'What is it with my nose?' Jacob asked covering his nose with his hands. 'Why is it so bloody _petite?' _

'Suits you,' Draco commented. 'But we are talking about me here, let's not wander. So the man is just you know, so wow. What's it like, Jacob? What's it like with a guy?'

'Good,' Jacob said and meant it. 'It's good, very good.'

'Have you ever done it with a woman?'

'Yeah. Horrible, I hated it. It's all mushy and wet. They always want to talk afterwards and you just want to have a sleep.'

Draco laughed outright. 'Painful, isn't it?'

'I like men,' Jacob said and nodded in answer to the blonde's question. 'It's better with guys. They feel what you feel, there's nothing better than that. They're more cut, defined than the ladies, it's just better. It's strong but loving at the same time, hot but sensual, tense but caring ... the way he touches me, like he doesn't want to break me but uses careful force -' He was about to continue in the dreamy fashion he had found himself talking when a hand pressed against his mouth and he saw Draco looking at him with horrified eyes.

Draco coughed and moved his hand from his mouth. 'Did you just describe intercourse with Weasley to me?' he asked shocked and looking a little nervous. 'Ew, even thinking about Weasley doing that is disturbing. Don't ever say things like that again!'

'But you asked!'

'Not for a detailed description of your sexual adventures. A generalization would have been fine; I didn't need the full guide through of a night in the Weasley Smith house. Merlin, never again! Do you need a sign over your head that says "Ask with Caution"?'

'Well, what is it you want to know? Be clearer then that!'

'I wanted to know what it was like, not what it's like with George Weasel-bee.' He scowled at Jacob and shook his head. 'That was far too graphic.'

'Fine, drop it, yeah? It should have stayed in the bedroom anyway, you'd of had a nosebleed if I continued anyway,' said Jacob and Draco sniffed lifting his head up trying to look collected. 'Talk about something else. Who is this guy that's so wow?'

'Quidditch player,' Draco said lamely. 'Foreign Quidditch player; has an accent like a god. You wouldn't know his name but he's famous as hell. He's just transferred to the English Quidditch team, decided he wasn't being paid enough to play for his own country,' Draco said with a dreamy sigh. He seemed to like that fact about him moving so he could get more money where as Jacob found it slightly unpatriotic. 'He was a Champion in the Triwizard tournament that was held during my fourth year at Hogwarts and somehow he recognized me and knew who I was when I was moping about bored out of my mind last Friday at Hogsmeade. We've been talking.'

'You should tell him you've got the hots for him,' Jacob said encouragingly.

'But the thing is, I'm not gay,' Draco said in a disheartened tone, his shoulders slumped to reflect this. 'I'm not gay and neither is he.'

'You're just going to leave it at that?' Jacob asked crossing his arms, enraged by how easily Draco was willing to give up. 'Give it a go, come on, Draco. Gender doesn't matter. You can fall for anyone. George isn't gay and him and me -'

'Don't start with that again,' Draco said warningly. 'I don't want to hear about you and Weasley and anything to do with beds.'

'I wasn't going to! I was just, you know, enlightening you, giving you a ... an idea. You don't have to be gay to fall in love with a man.'

'I don't know,' Draco said running a hand through his hair. 'I suppose I could give it ago. See what he says. It's only been a few days and I can't stop thinking about him. Ugh ... it's frustrating.'

'Love?'

'No, infatuation, not love.'

Jacob eyed him shortly and left the conversation at that. So Draco just wanted another commodity, another possession to have a play with for a time while he decided whether it something more or just a good time. Draco was good at hiding what he meant by saying infatuation and talking about this man like that. But Jacob knew what he really wanted from it. He couldn't blame Draco, they were both still young. But Draco certainly wasn't interested in this man for love; he was in it for the sex. Draco stared back blandly at him and shrugged his shoulders like he figured that Jacob had cannoned on and he wasn't going to let it bother him.

There was a question that had been pressing on his mind for some time. The moving pictures he saw around in the Heads office. Who were they all? And what was with the blank one? Ok, make it two questions. 'Draco,' he said looking around is office trying to see if there were any portraits he could ask the question about. There were none but Draco must know of them, he'd either be blind and deaf if he didn't.

'What?'

'You know those portraits, the ones that move and stuff? The ones in the Heads office, why are they all there?'

'There are portraits of previous Headmasters, dead Heads,' Draco said with a cluck of his tongue. 'They always want to talk to you, it's irritating. You go in there and you get a chorus of voices shouting at you, they only talk to the Professors mind,' Draco said instantly realizing what Jacob's next question would be. 'Some of them are quite rude. I don't really know how it works so don't ask me about that either. It's confusing for most of us and when we ask how the portraits know everything about their past lives they don't say a word.'

'What about that blank one?' Jacob asked leaning forward peaked with interest. 'The one right above the desk. It's been empty for a while.'

'It's supposed to be McGonagall's portrait but she never showed up. She just never did, she might have another portrait somewhere that she prefers somewhere else. I don't know. But she'll know there is a portrait waiting for her,' said Draco with a shrug.

Jacob's mind flickered back to the book instantly. The Professor had written the forward in there and there had been an image for her accompanied with it. He hadn't taken time to look at the picture but maybe she was in there, the picture of her that could talk. He fluttered with excitement, did she have something to tell him and was waiting around for him to pay closer attention to the book?

'So, these paintings can go from place to place?'

'Only if they have a frame there.'

'They can go _anywhere _where they have a frame, even a book?'

'Yeah, I suppose so,' Draco said with a leering frown. 'Why?'

'Professor McGonagall left me a book and she wrote the forward for it, there's a picture of her in there so I was wondering if she was waiting in there for a reason.'

Draco snorted. 'Oh, sure, she has something more to talk to you about? Don't get your hopes up, I bet she's at her family frame.'

'She doesn't have one. No more family, she was the last.'

'Really?' Draco asked. 'Huh, I thought she had some family left. She was always leaving in weekends and some of the holidays for things she called family matters.'

'Maybe there is something more, maybe she was doing something she didn't want anyone to know about until she was gone! What do you reckon?' He was excited now, bristling to the point of over eagerness. He wanted to jump and race back to the flat and check the book but he had things to do here first.

'I reckon you're nuts. If she's there she probably just wants to say hi,' Draco said. 'You don't really believe that, do you? Don't get your hopes up, seriously. She might not be. She might have chosen not to bother herself with us by even coming to her portrait. Don't, you'll just be disappointed, because she probably isn't.'

Jacob stared at Draco was watching him with an impassive gaze. 'If you dish out advice like that you have to take it yourself. And who knows!' Jacob cried throwing his arms up. 'She might be. Maybe there was one last thing she wanted to tell me.'

'Maybe, Jacob, only maybe.'

'Maybe is as good as a yes! I wonder why she's there, and what she wants to say.'

'_IF, _Jacob,' Draco said strongly. 'If! She might not even be. You can't always expect things to go the way you want them to based on a maybe.'

'When did you get so damn serious? Don't you want to know?'

'Fine, tell me after she speaks to you from a book.' Draco glared at him. 'I just don't want you to be buggered from not finding her there, just looking out for a friend.' Draco sounded like he was trying to undo the words he had said about it because Jacob was teetering dangerously on the edge of becoming angry with him. Immediately Draco's expression flicked to a grin as Jacob smiled half heartedly back. He hated to think it, but Draco was probably right. He should get his hopes up like that.

'I'm still going to look,' muttered Jacob.

'Nothing stopping Jacob,' Draco said stretching his arms out and yawning.

Suddenly there was a tapping at the door and Professor Tarn stepped in, his fringe flopping forward again. He had a sheet of parchment in large hands but nothing on his face to tell Jacob his results. He would have passed, he should have passed, and if he didn't pass ... He would have, as Draco had said the test was "shit easy." Professor Tarn glanced at Jacob and then Draco, stepped forward to slap the parchment down Draco's desk, pushed his fringe out of his eyes and looked at them.

'Been learning, I hope?' he asked before striding purposefully out of the room, shutting the door behind with a snap.

The second he had gone Jacob literally threw himself across the table to grab at the parchment. After his fingers closed around it he sunk back into the chair and flipped it over. One the back of the sheet was his results but not the test he had done. He had passed Transfiguration with flying colours, done alright on Charms (he'd only got a few things wrong and one disastrously wrong) and pretty much aced Potions apart from putting a sprig of Holly in when he shouldn't off but as that didn't nothing to change the desired effect of the potion he wasn't marked down. He had got a hundred percent in Draco's subject.

'Good one,' Draco said pointing to it. 'My excellent teaching did that.'

'You gave me three questions,' replied Jacob.

'Three _tricky _questions.'

'No they weren't, they were easy.'

'Are you complaining?'

'No! Hell no, it was great. Just deflating a far too large ego.'

Draco shook his head but the sneer like smile was still evident of his face. 'Out,' he groaned. 'I've had enough of you, out, out. I'll see you next time ... Thanks,' he added a little sheepishly as Jacob bade him goodbye.

'Thanks as well,' added Jacob and walked from the room.

Outside the office he looked down at the paper properly. He had done it! His trace was going to be removed tomorrow morning and after 9 he could any magic he wanted without being busted. As of tomorrow at 9 am, he could do magic outside of the school and the Heads office. His wand would finally get a proper work out. Ah, it was a good feeling! He was well on his way to being able to do any kind of magic with just a flick of his wand and maybe a quiet murmur, voiceless magic disagreed with him a lot. He could do magic without a hearing, without being nervous, without being under watch the entire time. Today was a good day and tomorrow morning would be even better. He would go to bed early tonight and pray for the morning to come like a child before Christmas. He grinned to himself as he wandered through the halls of Hogwarts and back to the fireplace.

The shop was full (he had left a little earlier than normal for the test) and bustling as he hurtled down the stairs, beaming with self pride. George was busy helping a customer but that didn't stop Jacob at all, it was just a blip on his radar. He threw his arms around George and pulled the man close to him, snogging him breathlessly and quickly before brandishing the paper at him. He could do magic! Soon, anyway, but he could! And tomorrow would be a great day. He watched George scan the paper and smiled when his face broke into a grin as well.

'Congratulations!' George said to him. 'Bloody wankers though, making you have to wait until tomorrow. Bit harsh.'

'I don't care! I can, or will be able to! It doesn't matter when as long as I can!' Jacob grinned madly and kissed George's lips in a light peck before carefully pushing his way past two people and running back up the stairs to the flat.

He was thinking about grabbing a celebratory beer and swigging it down before going back to help George, the shop was a bit hectic. But halfway to the fridge he saw the book and ground to a halt, just staring at it for seconds. Slowly, he put the paper down on the counter and plucked up the book. What if he was right and Professor McGonagall wanted him to do something that was far too important to put in her will for others to see? He shrugged, and flipped open the cover of the book, flicking through a few blank pages until he came across the forward. He was too interested in the "what if" aspect to care about the consequences of finding out what she had to say to him, But she was hardly the mysterious type, she didn't like tricks and puzzles. If there was something she probably would have told him outright. This kind of thing was completely uncharacteristic of her yet Jacob liked a little bit of mystery, a small amount.

There was a picture of her on the page next to the forward. She looked imposing and was holding her wand while gazing away from the painter with an air of distinction about her. Jacob had to smile at this; she probably had a good laugh after she had seen it. But the picture wasn't moving, completely frozen into the paper. He tapped it with a fingernail; waiting and hoping that she would move for speak to him. He tapped furiously at it for a few more seconds and nothing happened. He had to give up and decide that he had been wrong and Draco was right for him not to get his hopes up. Nonetheless, he grabbed the book and shook it the air hoping for something to come falling out into the floor. A note maybe, just something. He would be happy at this stage if a chipped bit of parchment was in the back of the book that said "Hi, nice weather, isn't it?" It was better than nothing.

Eventually he had to admit that there was nothing there and there was no mystery for him to solve. She hadn't left him anything apart from the book. She hadn't left him an undying message of sorts. Nothing. He felt a little gutted and rather disappointed with himself for getting so excited about it. It was ridiculous that he had hoped like that. But you had to have some excitement, didn't you? For a few brief seconds he had hoped it was something incredible, like a quest of sorts. Now, he realized just how stupid he had been. She was gone, completely and his initial excitement and just been a hope that she wasn't actually gone and there was still a bit of her here.

He sighed, forgot about the beer he had wanted and went to help George.

Hard kisses, soft hands pressed against him as George manoeuvred them towards the bedroom. They had been sitting on the couch, talking about the trace being lifted tomorrow. Jacob had wondered what it like, George had told him you didn't even notice. And Jacob had even noticed it being put on so he wouldn't notice it being removed. Now, they were all hands, clutching at each other as they finally made it to the bedroom and George pushed Jacob down against the pillows and quickly climbed over him. Jacob let out moan at the same time George did as their hard erections bumped against each other.

Jacob thrust his hand between their two bodies and reached down to George's fly and worked the zipper until it came undone. George sat up a little, letting Jacob slide his jeans down his legs to bunch around his knees. He had to kick his shoes off to get his pants of properly. He was kneeling over Jacob when that finally happened. Jacob ran his fingers along the hard length that was level with his mouth. George took no time in pulling his underwear down and running his hands across Jacob's face and hair, fondly though his hands were shaking from oncoming pleasure. A moan escaped from George's lips when Jacob moved his head forward to plant a kiss on the head of his erection. He licked around the pre-come, tasting it on his tongue and closing his eyes in a deep sigh. George thrust forward reminding Jacob that he was still there and for him to stop indulging in his taste. Jacob nodded with a light throaty laugh and pushed his mouth forward further; encasing the head of George's hard on in his mouth. He sucked gently and flicked his tongue around, causing loud moans from George as the man tugged gently on Jacob's hair. One of George's hands had slipped down Jacob's back and his fingers were running along his spine, it was a feeling Jacob loved.

Suddenly George let out a moan that wasn't anything to do with what Jacob was doing. Jacob released George from his mouth with a soft pop and looked up at the man in surprise. The hand that was in Jacob's hair had moved before and Jacob hadn't paid much attention to that but now he wished he had. George was arching against two of his fingers he had pushed inside himself. It was a hot sight and Jacob squirmed, his hand falling to his own erection that was still encased in his jeans.

'What are you doing?' Jacob asked breathlessly. George had never been the bottom before, it was always Jacob. It seemed there was a change in the tides coming brought on by George.

'I want, ah! I want – oh, Merlin,' George moaned. 'I want, ahhhn, I want you to be inside of me ... '

Jacob could have come there and then but George pulled his fingers out from his pucker and began about the task of unbuttoning Jacob's jeans.

'It'll hurt,' Jacob told him cupping his face not wanting to inflict pain on George. 'It'll hurt; it's your first time. It'll hurt.'

'I know,' George said pulling Jacob's jeans down roughly and squeezing erection between his fingers as he pulled Jacob's boxers down as well. 'But I'll get over it. You enjoy it so much, I want to feel what makes you writhe and moan so much.'

It all happened in a flurry. George had reached under the bed to bring up the packet of condoms they kept down there and eased one on Jacob. Using two slicked up fingers, George had reached around and stretched himself a little more before, finally, balancing himself over Jacob. Their eyes locked and George leaned down to kiss him.

'Are you sure?' Jacob asked.

'I, oooh, too late now,' George said clinching his eyes shut. He had slid down over Jacob surprising him, Jacob had let out a startled groan as the hotness had engulfed him. It was a little overwhelming at first, to be inside George. He groaned as George settled himself, completely full of him. Jacob let him become accustomed to this new feeling, he let his fingers play through the soft hair, muttering soft words of love as the red head sat on his lap. He kept touching George's face and shoulders to calm him, stop him from shaking.

'Ok, you can move now,' George murmured softly and then groaned and clutched at Jacob's arms as he pushed upwards. 'Ah, Merlin,' he groaned in pleasure. 'What is, ngg, that? Feels good.'

'Prostate,' Jacob said with a breathless cry as George took control, pushing down against his chest and rising up on Jacob's shaft and then pushing back down.

Sometime later, a sweaty time later, George ejaculated across Jacob's chest and Jacob inside him, filling the condom. George fell across him, panting and shuddering. Jacob pulled himself out of George and let his eyes flutter to a close.

'I love you,' he said to George and softly touched his fingers to the soft, slight damp hair.

'Love you,' George replied kissing Jacob's neck and lazily reaching a hand down so he could pull the covers over the pair of them.

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**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	30. Zonko's

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, PEOPLE! I love you guys for reading but it really brings me down when no one reviews.

Thanks to those who have been reviewing! You're great, this story is continued for you.

**Curiosity****  
Part Thirty: Zonko's**

'Professor McGonagall was right in wanting your trace removed,' George said lazily as he reclined back on the pillows, Jacob tucked under his arms and resting on his chest. 

Jacob grinned and twisted his wand about. George had shown him how to conjure up a gang of twittering yellow canaries that glinted as they were conducted past the window. It was the first spell he had done without the trace and it had felt good. They dived past following the trail of Jacob's wand. He was itching to do another spell but the birds were so hypnotizing it was difficult to look away. But as they fluttered once more over his head Jacob sighed dreamily and gave his wand a short, sharp flick and the canaries vanished.

'You're not that terribly, awful at Charms like you say,' George said pushing himself up further against the pillows before resting a hand on Jacob's bare chest with a tired sigh.

Jacob let out a coy laugh. 'You showed me how to do it. You're brilliant at Charms,' he said with a smile and kissed the bare flesh closet to his mouth which happened to be the space just below George's nipple. 'I can do magic now,' he said. The delight in that was slowly beginning to settle in. He had had a huge burst of excitement about it yesterday afternoon, became bored with the idea last night when other more important things were happening and this morning he was finding it hard to believe. But no letter had arrived about whisking him off for the offence so it mustn't be one anymore. And that was just fantastic.

With another wave of his wand he summoned the glass of water sitting on the windowsill and took a short sip from it, grinning to himself as he did. That was fantastic, not everyone could do that. In fact only a small percentage of people in the world could do that. He was one of the lucky handfuls. There were only a few magical people left it was amazing that they managed to keep themselves going. But Muggle's were always invited to Wizarding schools that possessed some amount of the Talent. Being able to summon things to him, change things into whatever he needed at the time was a great thing, a godsend even, not that Jacob really believed in god. Having magic was brilliant. There were basically no limits to what he could do now. And thinking that made him realize he'd have to be careful, perhaps even try and control his curiosity a little better.

'Jakey,' George said running his hand through the blonde strands. 'I was thinking about buying up Zonko's.'

'What's that?' He thought he had heard of the name before, like George or someone else might have mentioned it briefly in conversation but he couldn't have paid it much heed then.

'It's a joke shop in Hogsmeade, you know the village. They aren't dealing with the competition very well and I think they'd be quite happy to sell up to me. What do you reckon?'

'You'd keep this place though, wouldn't you?' Jacob asked. 'But it's not my money,' he added.

'I'd let the people who own it now keep running it, it'd just be another branch kind of thing, but it'd still be mine. I'd make money from it without having to do much apart from keep up stock. _Or,_ I could move to Hogsmeade and have the main shop there. What do you think about that?'

Jacob crinkled his nose not liking how George kept talking about himself in the singular way, he wanted to come. 'It's pretty convenient here,' Jacob murmured and George nodded. 'Wouldn't you much rather stay here and just have a second branch in Hogsmeade?'

'Do you want to stay here?' asked George softly. 'I like that idea.'

'Stay here,' Jacob said tightening his hold on George like he might whisk off at any second. 'Because everything is set up here, you can just have a second branch in Hogsmeade.'

George nodded. 'Yeah, makes things a hell of a lot easier. No moving required at all. Simple. I'm going to check it out and maybe right up a deal today if I decide that I want to buy the place, want to come?' Jacob twisted around to look at George who was grinning happily as if he had expected an entirely different outcome to that conversation, one that Jacob couldn't imagine.

'Definitely. Hogsmeade is the little place close to Hogwarts right?' Jacob asked. They probably wouldn't be leaving right this instance and it would be more towards the afternoon anyway. If they left at the right time Jacob could just walk across to Hogwarts, it'd great. Maybe that was a thing to consider if George changed his mind and wanted to move to Hogsmeade because Jacob would be more than willing to go with him. At this stage, he'd go anywhere with George.

'Yeah so you could just walk over - or Floo, though it's a blood fantastic walk - when we've finished looking around Zonko's. I reckon I'm going to buy it anyway; the owner and I had a bit of a talk about it last year. They can't keep up with my stock and I wouldn't mind having a shop there, be quite profitable.'

Jacob nodded. He wanted to see the village as he never had before. He wondered what it would be like to live in an all Wizarding village, when you stepped outside you wouldn't have to worry about keeping your magic a secret like wizards in Muggle cities, towns or villages would have to. Maybe it would be fun to live there and they didn't always have to keep to the agreement that they had made earlier. If there was a nice place for sale or even rent George would probably see it and demand they have a look. There was nothing wrong with the flat but the prospect of having a house with George was a delicious one.

'You ok?' Jacob asked after a while of silence. He knew that the sex last night had hurt George; it was after all his first time before than Jacob had always been getting it. Yet George wasn't the type to groan and grizzle without being asked if he was uncomfortable or feeling sore but if asked he might rant a little.

'Mm, fine,' George murmured in his ear. 'It felt good, Jakey,' George said, 'felt good.' George pulled Jacob closer to him and kissed the top of head and pressing his nose into Jacob's hair. Jacob snuggled back into and twisted his arms so that chest pressed against chest. Letting out a relaxed, completely comfortable sigh, Jacob moved his hand down to the small birth mark on George's hip and ran his fingers across, feeling the soft skin. 'Would you come with me if I moved to Hogsmeade?' George asked presently his fingers tapping against Jacob's shoulder blade like he didn't notice he was doing it.

Looking up at him, Jacob slowly nodded. Of course he would go with George. It was a pointless question because the answer was just so obvious. Jacob was sure that George must have known the answer before he even asked. 'Yeah, of course,' he replied. If George moved to China he'd probably follow, though with a little reluctance but George meant so much to him, he'd be there in the end. He decided to voice that. 'I come with you to places further away than Hogsmeade.' The arms around him tightened and he heard George chuckle warmly, appreciating the comment. Jacob moved his head to look at George again and shuffled up the bed so his mouth was level with George's.

'Because I might,' George said. 'I might move into Hogsmeade. Small chance but I might. I just wanted to know if you'd come with me,' he said then smiled. 'But you wouldn't be able to resist, you'd just have to come with me.'

Jacob smirked, something he'd picked up from Draco. He didn't say anything because he knew what George had was true. He couldn't resist George; the man had complete sway over him. Jacob was stuck in love and he couldn't be happier about it. It was easy to love George and difficult to get mad at him. And boy did Jacob love him; he couldn't fathom life without him now, it seemed vaguely impossible. It warmed him to know that George loved him too. By no means had he been deprived of love but he knew it hadn't been proper love, this was it. The proper stuff, it was what everyone sang about in the famous love-songs, what everyone wanted. It made Jacob think corny thoughts as well; he always thought how about silly and clichéd some of the things he thought about George were but that never stopped him from thinking them.

'Hey.' Another thought had sprung into Jacob's mind just now. Well not immediately, it had been playing on the corners of his mind for some time and he had even asked Professor Tarn's opinion on it. 'Do you think I should tell my parents about being a wizard?'

George arched his brows and looked down at Jacob with a considering look. 'I don't know. You and your mum aren't talking yet are you?'

'No. It doesn't matter, she won't believe me anyway. She'll just think I'm drunk. I don't care what she thinks though.'

'That's the spirit,' whispered George.

'I just want to tell, see what they're reactions are. Reckon I should tell them?'

'Yeah, I do,' George said. 'It kind of isn't fair to them that they don't know. Go for it, tell them.'

'I asked Tarn's about it, he said I should too, Professor McGonagall wanted me to as well. I was going to at one stage, I think. But I chicken out. I will,' he agreed with himself and George and everyone who had advised him in the matter. 'Tomorrow, I will. Don't let me stop from doing it, ok? You have to make because I probably will decide not to.' He smiled sheepishly knowing that he didn't really want to face his mother, he'd rather not. Though it had been weeks after their falling out Jacob still hadn't forgiven her. She hadn't acted like a mother at all, weren't mothers supposed to love their children unconditionally? He knew that both of them ignoring each other in such a way were really stupid. He had heard of friends who'd had falling outs of with one of their parents and never spoken to them again to date. He knew in the future he didn't want it to be like that but for now he was content with the ignorance they showed each other.

'I'll make sure you do, even if I have to tie you up and leave you on their doorstep, I'll make sure you do it tomorrow,' said George and he suddenly blushed. 'Tie you up,' he repeated to himself. 'Can we do that?'

'Promise you won't leave me on my parent's doorstep afterwards then I might think about it,' Jacob said.

George placed his hand over his heart. 'I solemnly swear –'

Jacob interrupted him with a giggle and pulled his hand away from his heart. 'Don't,' he said. 'I was joking, you can if you want.' He pointed his wand at the sock that lay on his very unused bed, he slept in George's now, and willed it into a coil of rope, transfigured it. It looked like it was turning into a snake before flopping down limp and as lifeless as normal rope when Jacob employed the magic on it. He then summoned the rope him, taking joy in saying the spell and seeing it happen in a different environment, one so different from that of the Heads office. When it flew into his hands he handed the rope to George who looked down at it, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

'I'll take that as your promise,' he said. 'But I was only teasing, Jakey.'

'I know and so was I.' He grinned and threw the rope from George's hands lying back down in his arms and letting George rest his head against his. Blonde strands merged with red as the pair let sleep claim them once more in the glow of the early morning sun.

Later that day (just after lunch) George Apparated them to a safe spot in the small village of Hogsmeade. It was a tiny place, with all the shops clustered around the circular town centre in the area which they had appeared in. One shop that caught his attention and immediately revolted him was a pink place decorated with what looked to be overlarge fluffy marshmallows and sugar cubes. Jacob crinkled his nose in disgust, there was too much pink and it hurt his eyes. Opposite that place was a pleasant looking pub that was named the Three Broomsticks; it was painted blue and looked more like a house than an establishment. He paid next to no attention to the other shops around the way because George had pointed to a particularly run down one. The only thing even remotely welcoming about it was the bright massive red and green striped sign sitting on the roof of the shop. It must be Zonko's. George had said it wasn't doing very well with the competition from Weasley Wizard Wheezes but the fact that George wanted to put a shop here boggled him. It looked like hardly any young children lived in Hogsmeade for he had only seen middle aged people striding purposefully through the square and elderly folk hobbling along on their walking frames. Not a child in sight apart from at Hogwarts that loomed in the distance like a defensive fortress. But the students wouldn't be allowed to come here all the time, how would this be at all profitable?

'Why are you even buying this place?' Jacob asked when they trudged along the gravel paths towards the run down shop. 'It doesn't look very inviting.'

'They can do it up.' George looked around Hogsmeade like Jacob had and then held his hand to his eyes to protect them as he looked in the direction of the school. 'It wasn't just my shop that made Hogsmeade go out of business,' he began in way of explanation. 'The war made everyone go out of business apart from those who were on Voldie's side. Zonko's had to go out of business before than because the weekend visits from the shop down to the village were cancelled as it wasn't safe anymore. It was where they got all their money from. I sure spent a lot of bloody time in there when I was at Hogwarts. But they reopened after the war, bad move. Kids only went there if they needed extra stuff; they always get it from me before they go. It's a lot easier to get stuff into the school from the train than it is from Hogwarts. And the joke stuff from my shop and Zonko's is banned, the Caretaker hates it. It's brilliant because Fred and I always used to torment him, so it's like we're still getting him even though we don't go there anymore.' George passed for a big intake of breath and probably would have hurtled on into something different if Jacob hadn't cut in and asked him why exactly he wanted the shop if he sold things to the students before they went to school.

'But if they buy from you before they go to school why do you need a place here?'

'They still go to Zonko's but they'd go there more if it was my shop. It doesn't sound like it'll work very well but it will. They'll flock back here on weekends. Filch will get so mad he'll finally burst. It's ingenious you see, two shops. Shelves are over flowing at the Diagon Alley place, you know how it is. Barely enough bloody room in storage and in the bloody shop. Blimey, it's like I'll be branching out as well, slowly taking over the Wizarding joke shop industry!' He let out low cackling laugh, not being serious of course but still two passerbies turned to look at them like they were insane. George smiled warmly at them and pushed Jacob forward into the shop they found themselves standing in front of. 'Even if it doesn't rake in much money,' George said reasonably, 'it won't hurt how much I have and I can sell it if it gets too annoying.' That was true, George did have an insane amount of money and the good thing was that he never really let it get to his head at all like some other people who had come by money. He simply spent it on what he needed and improving the joke shop. He rarely brought presents for himself or Jacob but he didn't care about that seeing he rarely brought presents for George either. Jacob's money was sitting quietly away in a vault somewhere in Gringotts, a small vault at that, until he needed or wanted it.

'After you,' said George exercising his courtesy and shut the door quietly behind them. He came forward to stand behind Jacob and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. That instantly made Jacob feel a lot better, he did get a little skittish and nervous sometimes, though he hardly let it linger. It was a strange combination in his personality. He was curious but when he got himself into slightest dangerous or spooky situations because of that he got a little jumpy and then he just shrugged it off seconds after getting out of whatever predicament he had been in because he never let much bother him for long (unless he was curious about it). Those three things about him made for a pretty messy personality but it worked for Jacob. It wasn't like a personality disorder or anything it was just the way he was. Curious, nervous on occasion and laid back.

The shop on the inside was a lot better than it looked on the outside. Things didn't seem to be decaying like they were outside and everything was a little more in order. The shop was more in order; though there was nothing on the shelves they were all clean and sitting on the dust free walls. The owner had wanted to make a large impression on George so that he would buy the shop. But the state of the outside they hadn't quite finished cleaning yet, but as George said they could do it up easily. The floor was the most noticeable thing of the place, it was big and shinny and it made the shop look as though it had so much more room than it actually did. But Jacob was sure that once was the place was bustling to the limit with George's stock like the main branch in Diagon Alley was it wouldn't look as open as it did now. In the corner of the shop, in a very out of the way place a staircase led away. It must lead into the storage area of the shop. George would be asking how big that was but surely he must already know if he had spent so much time in here.

George stepped out into the centre of the completely void shop and spun around looking up at the ceiling which was just as clean as the floors. It was so much easier to keep things clean when you had magic to use. Jacob had discovered that today, George couldn't be bothered casting a cleaning spell on the dishes so he had take Jacob aside and taught it to him which had taken much longer than casting a simple spell that would have only taken thirty seconds of his time. Yet George had said it was much more fun teaching Jacob than doing it himself. George had walked across the polished floor to the doorway and poked his head inside. He grumbled to himself about something and vanished further inside the room leaving Jacob to amuse himself for a while.

Suddenly, just seconds after George had gone into the backroom there was a soft cough behind Jacob and he spun around feeling a little alarmed. Just in the doorway the person who must be the owner of the shop was standing. She was a middle aged woman wearing a patterned red silky scarf tucked under a white dress that billowed out insanely at her hips. Over that, though it wasn't very cold, she was wearing a heavy World War Two styled jacket and on her feet, sandals. Her appearance surprised Jacob a little but the look on his face told him that she was the owner of this shop and that grandeur (she was proud of it though its many failures) took away from her bizarre look.

'Are you with George Weasley?' she asked edging forward her sandals squeaking across the floor. What she was meant was if he was one of his people or not, an employee. She looked Jacob up and down and scowled. 'You have the Muggle dress thing done so much better than me. Frankly I would rather be in a cloak 24/7 but one has to go into the Muggle world sometimes.'

Jacob nodded blankly and smiled faintly. 'I am with George; he's just gone to look at the backroom.' Jacob indicated where it was with his thumb, pointing over his shoulder but he realized that was stupid after he'd done it because this woman probably knew her own shop better than Jacob did. He coughed into his fist awkwardly and was saved from any comments from the shop owner because George strolled back from the room, throwing it a glance over his shoulder.

'Bit small,' he said. 'But I reckon it'll do just bloody ... oh, hello!' he said when he noticed the woman standing near Jacob. He thrust out his hand towards her and shook it eagerly. The woman shook his hand and George looked a little puzzled. 'What happened to other bloke?'

'My uncle,' the woman said. 'Said he didn't think you'd buy it and buggered off with his half share. Is the deal the two of you talked about a while back still the idea, that you buy it, you own it, it's your stock, your products but I run it and become an employee?'

George nodded slowly taking a long glance around the shop. It wasn't a nod of agreement at all; it was a nod of thought. He wasn't yet sure though he had said he was. 'Yup, that's pretty much the plan. How much of the Hogwarts kids come down here in the weekends? Has Tarn changed anything?'

The woman shook her head. 'He hasn't. Quite a lot of them come down in the weekends now. All the other shops are getting plenty of dough coming in, I'm sure that a branch out here would be good and if not, what the hell sell up. It's not like the shop's ever been really good for my family since the war.' She looked a little strained as she said this and also embarrassed that she'd spilled how badly she'd been doing over the past couple of years but then straightened her shoulders and looked to George. 'When can we sort this out, officially?'

'Ah.' George scratched his head. 'Send me an owl this evening and I'll get it sorted out today or tomorrow.' He shook hands with the woman and he and Jacob said goodbye and said that they would probably be meeting again. But just before they closed the front door of the shop behind them, George paused looking back inside the shop. The woman, whose name Jacob hadn't managed to catch – he wasn't even sure if she'd given them one, looked at him in interest.

'Yes?' she asked.

'Do you know if there are any houses for sale around Hogsmeade?' asked George his hand holding the door in place, wide open. Jacob rose up on the balls of his feet and looked over George's arm that was raised high to see the woman's face. She was looking at George with a pout on her lips like she was trying very hard to remember what she knew about the real estate around this area. Jacob wasn't sure if he wanted to move from the cosy flat but if George moved, he would too. The move wouldn't really affect him much, he'd just have to learn how to Disapparate a whole lot faster.

'No,' she said with a shake of her head, 'Unless you want to live in an old rundown shack which you'd have to renovate quite seriously.' She shrugged. 'But if that kinda thing works for you.'

'Thanks,' George said and turned around to leave the shop nearly whacking Jacob with his arm as he walked. 'I'll have those papers to you by tonight.'

Once outside Jacob tugged on George's elbow looking back at the shop as they walked back along the stony paths. Walking back to the town centre and seeing the shop becoming further and further away, it looked like it could easily be as colourful and as welcoming as George's shop in the Alley was. It could add a splash of colour that wasn't pink and coloured with marshmallows to the quite dreary Hogsmeade. When they were inside the clouds had quickly covered the sky as they had been threatening to the whole day and Jacob sighed before asking what he'd meant to a few seconds earlier. George was staring at him as they continued to walk.

'Sorry, zoned out. You don't really want to buy a house here?' asked Jacob kicking at a stone in his path. 'Do you?'

'Nah, course not. Just wondered is all. Thought it might be a little fun to go and check it out, maybe just maybe. And if it was a really nice house maybe I could persuade you. But a rundown cottage, whatever,' George said and even held his hands out in front of him in the letter W. Jacob giggled and clapped a hand over his mouth to hide anymore of the girlish giggles but it was hard.

'She said shack,' Jacob said. 'Shack sounds so much worse. Or though, once I did go camping with my parents and sister when I wee lad, the tent was just a shocker. It was out in the cold and insects everywhere, little buggers. Really, really nasty and since then I've never wanted to stay in a place like that again. It's just really bad memory, I hated it; I really did. I like a roof over my head.' He grinned as George sidestepped closer to him and wrapped an arm around his waist.

'I swear it's this Scottish air,' he said waving his free hand around in front of him. 'Makes your accent that much stronger,' George added fondly nuzzling his face into Jacob's hair.

All other thought processes stopped apart from one. He didn't even notice that George was kissing the side of his face, or that his accent had been aroused by where they were. In fact he had _forgotten_ completely that Hogsmeade and Hogwarts were situated somewhere in Scotland. Where that was, he didn't have a clue but it was Scotland, he could tell. If there was an option of moving to Hogsmeade, rundown shack, cottage or whatever, as long as it was covered by a roof shouldn't they at least go and check it out? The thought had completely escaped his mind earlier that Hogsmeade was a little wizard village in Scotland, his homeland. Grimacing to himself he turned around in George's arms to try and see any sign of that rundown shack, they could do it up. George could and would want to make into a castle (another weird thing; George had grown up in quite a cramped space and he liked large houses though the flat was small and Jacob had always grown up in quite big houses as his family was well off and if given a choice he would ultimately prefer a small comfortable space than a large empty one.)

'Where is the shack?' he asked blushing furiously as he knew George would tease him for that. He had contradicted himself majorly, saying that he didn't want to live in a shack and liked a roof.

'Did you forget?' George asked instantly moving his lips away from Jacob's ear. 'Hah! You forgot, you forgot that Hogsmeade and Hogwarts are in Scotland. Oh, Jakey, _that's a shocker,' _he said trying to imitate Jacob's accent.

'Don't do that,' Jacob said patting George's stomach in a way that meant stop; NOW. 'You shouldn't, you can't, so don't.'

'Just because you forget we were in Scotland! It doesn't mean you get to get bloody cranky, Jakey.' George grinned at him and clutched tighter to his waist and didn't bother telling him when he Apparated them away.

The next morning Jacob stood in the kitchen, gently swaying back and forward on his heels, clutching at the warm mug of tea in his hands. He sniffed and looked at the watch on George's wrist. The man was standing opposite him, watching him over the rim of a glass as he drank from it. Jacob could only just see the time on the clock face and his heart sank. His parent's wouldn't even be awake yet, they'd still be sleeping soundly in bed. Their quiet jobs didn't require a very strict clock in time so they felt obliged to sleep in late. Jacob knew from experience that going over to their house and waking them up would receive very bad press. Neither liked being woken up earlier than ten when they had nothing better to do. It was the only time Jacob's father would actually snap at him. He was nervous about telling his parents, but he knew the way his mother would react in her current state. Not well was the answer, she hated him right now and to be honest, he wasn't too keen on her either. He knew that she would probably think he was wasted or rat faced and tell him to go home and sober up. But surprisingly Jacob hadn't touched a drink in ages, for the past couple of months he felt that he hadn't needed to have a beer to have a good time. There was something fantastic about that, it made him feel so great that he hadn't been drunk in such a long time. It was good. It was that much better with George because before many of the times when he had had sex had been initiated by alcohol. But never had he done it with George because of booze, it made everything so much realer.

But, he was nervous. It was simply that he was that nervous that his thoughts were zooming all over the place, bouncing off the walls of skull and flinging right back at his brain. He put his glass into his sink and ignored it, crossing over to the fridge and opening it before finding there was nothing in there he wanted to eat and smacking it shut again. He was seriously thinking of backing out of telling his parents this and he was sure that George could see that because the red head kept watching him like he was going to make a mad dash for it and escape somewhere. He had to tell his parents, it wasn't fair to them – it just wasn't fair. Also what made him nervous was that he would have to show them what he was telling the truth, he knew he'd have to do that. They wouldn't believe him, which was understandable. It was such a big thing to shove in someone's face. He didn't know if he could do it. More time, he wanted more time to procrastinate. He had to but he didn't want to, was there an easy way he could weasel himself out of this?

Jacob crossed his arms and moved, striding over to the couch and sat roughly down on it, clutching his hair in his fists. He heard a sigh and a soft touch to his leg told him that George had followed and was sitting beside him. 'I don't know,' Jacob said rolling his head around with his hands still clutched in his hair. 'I don't know if I can. I don't want to.'

'They're your parents,' George said stroking his thigh softly and placing a hand on his shoulder. 'They'll understand.'

'That I've been keeping this from them since December last year?' Jacob asked finally releasing his hair and looking at George. 'I can't tell them that magic exists like some kind of raving lunatic. I can't tell them that there is this whole god damned underground community that they never knew about! Do you know how uncomfortable that would make them feel? It's stupid.' Jacob leaned his head back into his hands. 'I don't know why I even wanted to tell them in the first place, I can't and I shouldn't. This is so bloody stupid.'

'Jacob- '

'I can't, George. They know what they like, and they like what they know. Telling them about this will just, I don't know but it won't be good! I should just not tell them, I shouldn't tell them. If I tell them they'll freak out. I know I keep saying it's not fair that they don't know but how can I tell them that? "Hi guys, guess what? I could turn your underwear into a gecko!" That won't go down very well. They'll hate me. What does a gecko look like anyway?'

'Look, Jacob. You told me yesterday that I had to make you do this. You said you wouldn't want and that's true. It's ok that you don't want to.'

'I'm not brave like you, George. I can't just waltz right up to something I'm afraid of or don't want to do and do it or get over my fear. I can't do that.'

'You're trying to avoid it, you shouldn't, Jacob. You bloody shouldn't. Blimey, please. You should. You know you should, stop telling yourself that you shouldn't, because, Merlin! You should. Come on, Jacob, you need to tell them, you really do.' George's hand were in his hair, caressing his checks as they often did when he talked to him in this way. It was comforting to know that George cared that much to sit down and go over this with him. 'Shh, shh,' George soothed him as Jacob started blabbering about what he could and couldn't do again. 'Just listen to me, love.' Automatically Jacob fell silent at the use of that word, the first time George had ever called him that. 'It takes a bloody big amount of guts to admit that you aren't brave enough to do something. Don't scowl, it does, it really does. And I am so proud of you that you even thought about telling them, that you even bloody contemplated it. I'm proud of everything you've done. You've been able to come into this a grown bloke and kind of go back to school, go back to being treated like shit and like an idiot by Professor's.' He brushed his thumb under Jacob's eye, never breaking eye contact. 'I would not have been able to do that. Without Fred I probably would have thrown it all in the bag and said shit no, I'm not doing this. But you did. You threw everything out the bloody window and hoped straight into it. You are brave, love, a lot braver than you think. Even if the Sorting Hat said you weren't brave enough to be in Gryffindor, you are brave. You just don't realize it and bravery comes differently to you. Don't say that you aren't ... you are. Jacob, you should tell them, they don't deserve to be left out in the dark like this. Tell them.'

It took some time for Jacob to realize that George had finished speaking. It was the most moving and emotional thing he had ever heard come from those man's lips, apart from "I love you" of course but it overwhelmed him that George had actually said those things. It was more than words; it was a speech that sounded so practised right down to the very last word that George had gotten the reaction he wanted from his audience and probably more. It was beautiful, to the say the least. And George had said it with such compassion it was easy to tell that he had meant very single word – no, every syllable he had said. Jacob was staring at George, dazed and his eyes glazed over with tears. Fuck, it had been moving. He didn't know what to do with this bombardment of such a different soft side of George. All he knew now was that he was probably about to cry and he would do it. He'd tell them.

'Ok,' he said and had to clear this throat because his voice had somehow become lost during what George had said. 'Ok. I'll t- I'll do it, I'll tell them.' Jacob looked up at George for the first time since he had done his speech and saw that the man looked very red in the face. Jacob was suddenly painfully aware that that could have gone either way. George could have easily become very mad at Jacob. But he didn't. He'd been gentle and spoken in a way that still reflected his true self but brought out a completely different taste of George. It was good. It was kind, sweet, generous, forgiving, tolerant and yet also aware of what he wanted as well and what he would have done in relation to what Jacob did. Because Jacob knew that George wanted him to tell his parents, George didn't like Jacob keeping these secrets from him or anyone he was close with.

Jacob sniffed as George took one of his hands. 'You will?' he asked.

'Yeah, I will. I promise. I won't break that this time.' Jacob nodded to back himself up. After that he would do it. He had to do it. He didn't find a part of him now that didn't want to do what George wanted, what George had asked. It wasn't telling them so much to get it off his chest and tell them because parents should know; now it would be for George.

'Come here,' George murmured and wrapped his arms around Jacob who nearly collapsed against his chest, clutching at the fabric of his shirt feeling _so_ at home.

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**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	31. Now or Never

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, PEOPLE! I love you guys for reading but it really brings me down when no one reviews.

Thanks to those who have been reviewing! You're great, this story is continued for you.

**Curiosity****  
Part Thirty-one: Now or Never**

Jacob sat on the couch staring out at the spacious living room, wanting the walls to close in on him and swallow him up. His father had managed to escape the awkward atmosphere that had been created the moment Jacob stepped into the house by going to make tea. His mother was watching him with beady eyes. Maybe it was all just down to hope but Jacob thought he saw a spark of worry in her gaze. Jacob knew he had come into his parents home and acted strangely, he had only been here for about ten minutes but already he felt like he hadn't been himself. What he was going to tell them was weighing down on him a great deal. It was a lot different from the drunken confession on their doorstep just before he moved out about his sexuality, that hadn't been a painful experience for him and it was almost like he had missed out on the heartfelt moment he could have had with his parents over that. They just said ok but his mother said it with more of a snap once she knew he was serious. Today he was going to tell them about his magic and the magic that they didn't see around them all because of what George had said that morning.

'What is it, Jacob?' his mother asked from across the other side of the room, smoothing her hair back and looking at him with a demeanour that suggested she thought she had a kind of complete control over what went on in her household. Jacob nearly sniggered. Well, too bloody bad. She was in for a heart attack and a half with what Jacob was going to show them and tell them. He had brought his wand because he could now do magic, a big hooray and happy moment for him but he needed to prove that what he was saying was true. His mother would not believe him, it was true. She was likely to brush it off and say he was drunk, he could be certain that a comment somewhere along those lines was coming.

As his father walked back into the room and handed them each a cup of tea, Jacob knew the words would have to spill out of his mouth sometime within the next ten minutes or he'd invent some lie and hightail it out of there. He went for it. Now or never was what George had told him. 'I have something to tell you,' he said gulping down a nervous bubble of resistance in his throat.

'Do you have AIDs?' his mother asked automatically staring at him with a look of indifference.

'Sue!' Jacob's father exclaimed. 'Let the boy tell us.'

'Well, I wouldn't be surprised,' she muttered, 'with his lifestyle.'

Jacob didn't quite know what to make of that question from his mother, such generalization hurt. Not everyone in the gay community had AIDs, just like how not every straight couple had a baby. 'No mother,' Jacob said harshly feeling that he was seething from the comment. It wasn't just rude to him but to many other people. 'It's nothing like that. It's hard to say because you would have never heard of it before apart from Aunt Carlota. Remember how I asked you about magic, dad?' Jacob asked. 'And if you knew if anyone in our family had said anything about magic or something, I can't remember exactly what I said. There was a reason other than just me wanting to know.' He was picking nervously at the frayed edges of the arm of the couch. 'I kind of had to know, because I have ... uh, I have – have magic,' he muttered happy to get the words out but a little buggered that he had spoken so quietly that only he could hear his own words. And he already knew so there wasn't much point in announcing that fact to himself, it wouldn't blow his mind.

'Speak up.'

'I asked about magic dad, because I'm magic too.' Jacob stared at the look of incomprehension on his parents faces. 'I can do magic, not like magicians but proper stuff. I make things do things by casting spells on them. I could summon that book to me without even moving to get it.'

'How much have you had to drink?' his mother asked shaking her head and clucking her tongue. 'Can't you see he's drunk, James?' she asked Jacob's father.

However the man was staring at him, blinking like a huge truck had passed close to him and he had gotten the puff of air from the exhaust as it motored by. 'What do you mean?'

'I can do magic. I change things into other things, I can make things do stuff without my help, I can make stuff come to me, I can do all sorts.'

'For god's sake, lad!' his mother said roughly. 'When will you stop drinking, you know it's bad! Alcohol never did anyone any good.'

'Yeah and you'd know,' Jacob snapped back at her. He instantly turned back to his father looking for a bit of compassion.

'Let me smell your breath,' his father said reasonably. Jacob obliged and walked over to his father. His father cupped his face with a hand and let Jacob breathe out into the air before him. Jacob watched his father's droop as he smelt no alcohol in the air. There was then the look of confusion about what Jacob was saying and why he was saying it if he wasn't drunk. His father knew that Jacob didn't do any drugs apart from the normal painkillers that were common place in any household. A soft flicker of thought crossed across his old man's face as he let go of Jacob's chin. 'Sit down, Jacob,' he said. Jacob again obliged.

'Is he drunk, James?' his mother asked staring at Jacob like it was irrelevant if he was there or not.

'No, he isn't.'

'Then what is it?'

'I'm not on anything, mum!' Jacob yelled at her furious at her lack of faith in him. 'I'm telling the truth. I can prove it too.'

'Prove that you can do magic, you're insane,' she said crossing her arms firmly over her breast. 'It's that George Weasley,' she muttered sourly. 'What has he been doing to my boy?'

'Nothing,' Jacob snapped. 'Nothing, he made me come and tell you about it. He hasn't made me insane or any of the other crap you're going to say, mum.' He looked around at his parent's. His mother was looking subdued but very unhappy like she could burst a vein at any second and his father was staring at Jacob with a look of puzzlement on his face like he didn't know what to expect from Jacob. 'I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, it was just too weird and you'd freak out and get freaked out, uh, everyone would freak out.' He was clutching at his hair again, a habit he had come to when feeling distressed. 'But I needed to tell you, you're my parent's and you kinda deserve to know. I can show you if you don't believe me, but don't ... you know, just don't ...'

'Freak out?'

'Yeah, please don't.' Jacob pulled out his wand from his sleeve and grasped it firmly in his hand. Everything felt a lot safer when that was clutched in his palm.

'What is _that?' _

'It's a wand,' Jacob said. 'It channels the magic from me into it. I know this really sounds weird,' he said holding up his hands, 'but bear with me please. 'He wondered what kind of spell he should do to prove this to his family. He decided to as best if he summoned something to him and then transfigured it. If he just summoned something they wouldn't really believe him. And he also decided he should do it to one of his mother's shoes because it was an object she'd know well and probably never wear the pair again after this, but that didn't really matter right now. He cleared his throat and held the wand high. '_Accio shoe,' _he said and waved his wand.

He waited patiently for several seconds and was about to wave the wand again and redo the spell because nothing had happened. It was a little embarrassing those seconds of wait where nothing came for his parent's were watching him with doubting eyes, especially his mother. But then a red shoe zoomed into sight down the stairs and turned to fly straight to Jacob. He let out a little cry of triumph as he held out his hand to pluck the shoe out of the air. Suddenly his mother lurched to her feet with a roar and grabbed the shoe from his hand.

'What kind of trick is this?!' she asked infuriated clutching the shoe to her chest like it was a baby. 'How dare you try and play tricks on us, Jacob! You're a grown lad and this is ridiculous. I don't need any more of your crap '

'No, it isn't,' Jacob said lamely feeling as ridiculous as his mother said. He waved his wand again and muttered a transfiguration spell trying to shield his eyes from his parent's and the shock he knew they were about to receive. He heard a squeal of fright and looked up to see a toad squirming in his mother's arms. Quickly and with the same horrified expression she bore, Jacob turned it back into a shoe seething with forgiveness. He hadn't meant for it to turn into that, it had been supposed to turn into a goblet. But his emotions were in such a whir that it wasn't surprising the transfiguration had gone wrong, he was also thinking about how that morning he had said something about turning his parent's underwear into gecko's. All of those things combined had probably made the spell go wrong and turned into a toad by mistake. It was now a shoe again; a little gooey he had to admit but the same red shoe. He hadn't meant for it to wrong, he felt terrible that it had. He was supposed to be good at transfiguration and a serious cock up like that made him feel useless and that he couldn't do anything. His mother was shaking with fright and fury and Jacob's father looked as though he couldn't decide what he should be doing and opted to simply stare at the once-a-toad-shoe more.

'Get out,' he heard his mother hiss and his head drooped further. He was ashamed that that had happened, embarrassed and felt useless because of it. It wasn't surprising she wanted him out of her home after that display that she probably thought could belong in a freak show and nowhere else. 'I don't know what you just did but I don't want you to ever do it again, especially not in my house.' She pointed to the door her hand shaking madly. 'Out, now. Get the _fuck_ out! I don't want you in my house!'

Jacob stood shakily to his own feet sat back down and stood again, not sure if he wanted to give up so easily. He looked to the photos on the wall of him, his sister and then a family portrait sitting in the middle. He could hear his father trying to change his mother's mind. Jacob walked drearily towards the door. He had shown them and now they knew. There was nothing he could do to change their reactions. His mother's had been full force fright and fear of him, more than he had expected. Her anger was all to do with fear; he had seen that in her before. She was afraid of something because she didn't understand it. Her motto: ignorance is bliss. The slow walk to the front door was like a dream, he could faintly hear the voices in the background, one yelling and another soft, trying to calm the other. He should have known his mother would do this, they weren't on very good terms right now and to spring that on her then was selfish of him. He had just wanted to get it over with. He was glad that their memories wouldn't be wiped though, George had owled Kingsley and Kingsley had agreed to it, saying he too thought it was reasonable. But now, Jacob thought that maybe if asked the Minister nicely enough, he might Oblivate them. It might be best from them all.

He could see George waiting from him a few hundred metres away from the house, he was about to run over to him and just throw himself into his arms and cry like a pathetic child when he heard a door open with a soft click behind him. He turned around to see his father walking down the front steps to him. He engulfed Jacob in a hug and Jacob sank into his comforting arms, letting a sob slip out. There had been so much emotion in one day and he really wasn't dealing with it well.

'I'm so sorry,' he cried. 'I didn't mean for that to happen. I was trying to turn it into a cup, not a toad.' His father's arms tightened around him as he sniffed. It suddenly occurred to Jacob that that was the first time he had turned something into a living thing, and that was pretty fucking fantastic. He had turned stuff into things that worked like a music box that actually played real music. If only that bit of magic had happened at a better time. 'It was a good toad, though,' he added choking on some of his words.

'It's ok, Jacob. Sue isn't very happy right now, angry after what happened at the hospital between you, that just pushed her over the edge. Oh, Jacob, shh.' His father was speaking softly to him.

'Merlin, what happened!?' George called as Jacob heard footsteps running up to them.

'He turned his mother's shoe into a toad by mistake and Sue ... Sue wasn't very happy,' Jacob's father explained to George. Jacob couldn't see him because his face was still pressed against the fabric of his dad's shirt. His short blubs had stopped now and he was just sniffing, softly. 'Is it all true?'

'Yeah,' Jacob said snuffling. 'It is. Last December I found out that I had it and I've been training it ever since then. You know how I asked if anyone in the family talked about magic?'

'Yes.'

'It was because my magic had to have come from somewhere, I couldn't have just suddenly gotten it then. And the lady you told me that used to talk about magic sometimes, Aunt Carlota, well yeah, she has it too.'

'You're making it sound like a disease, Jacob,' George said.

'Do you?' Jacob's father asked George.

'I do have it, yeah.'

'Sorry, George,' said Jacob still pressed against his father. 'I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I really am.'

'How did you find out?'

'Why do you believe me?' he asked firstly. He'd answer the question later but now he wanted to know why his father believed him.

'You're my son, isn't that reason enough? And because what I saw in there was pretty real, couldn't have been faked at all. Now, how did you find out?'

'There's is place near my old flat and I'd walked up and down that road millions of times before and never seen it until one day I did.'

'And so naturally he walked right in,' George added. 'There's is whole other world away from ordinary people like you, Mr Smith and you can't see it. There are spells placed on it to protect people from seeing it who shouldn't.' For a while George spent time telling Jacob's dad about the Wizarding world and his father took it surprisingly well. He told him what Jacob had been learning and everything like that while Jacob remained standing in his father's arms, listening to the story George was telling. He told it well too, everything he said was true and when had had finished it could make you want for a sequel. George was having a good day with words today, speaking beautiful and letting everything just roll from his tongue.

'So, you had that trace thing removed yesterday and you can do magic anywhere now, Jacob?' his father asked eventually after a moment of silence when George had finished recounting the journey Jacob had been through, talking about people from his Aunt Carlota to Professor McGonagall. Though he didn't mention what Jacob's aunt had done and that was a good thing.

'Yeah, I still have a lot to learn, there's only so much you can learn in a couple of months. Professor McGonagall always used to say to me that you never stop learning either.' Jacob sniffed again, all his tears had nearly dried up. 'Can you tell mum that, please?' he asked not wanting to go back in there and speak to her again. She would need time to cool down and quite frankly Jacob was scared shitless of her right now.

'Do you not want to?'

'No,' Jacob said firmly and finally pushing himself away from his dad. He staggered a bit because he had been standing still like that for almost twenty minutes as George spoke of his tale. 'No,' he said again shaking his head. 'Could you, please dad?'

'She's been horrible to you. I'm sorry for what she said to you before you told us and especially afterwards.'

'It's ok, dad, it's not like you said it or anything. She's completely besotted with Anne right now because of Natalie and she's pissed off at me, just tell her to forget it. If she doesn't want to talk to me, that is fine, I don't care anymore.' It was a lie, Jacob knew he cared that she hated him right now but at the moment he couldn't care less for her. What she had done to him over the past few weeks had actually been horrible. Jacob had been a little horrible to her as well but she had chosen to continue to be nasty so he decided that he wanted nothing to do with her until she calmed down and came to her senses. 'Tell her that I'm kind of sorry as well, only kind of though. Thanks, dad,' he added softly. His father smiled at him and pulled him into another hug.

'You'll have to show me some more sometime and explain more about the Talent and the family history on your mother's side a bit, that's confusing,' he said with a chuckle. 'Hey, it'll be alright. She'll come to eventually, Jacob. I know you care. Just ignore her until she's nice, might take some time but you've got plenty of other stuff to do in the meantime I gather.'

'Yup,' Jacob said as his father released him. He felt a whole lot better now that his father knew and his mother knew but didn't want to know. 'You're not freaked out or anything, are you?' he asked nervously. He wouldn't be surprised if his kind old dad wasn't telling him something. 'It's a bit strange, I know and hard to swallow.'

'Not for you, I bet,' his father said with a chuckle. 'I know you; you would have swallowed it all up and just got on with it. No, I'm not _freaking out_ and I'm not _freaked out _either. I'll talk to Sue,' he promised. 'Are you going to tell Anne?' he asked.

'Uh, well. Um, I was kind of hoping that you could, er ...'

'I'll tell her as well.'

'Thanks, dad.'

'I'd better go and talk to your mother now,' he said with a wave of his hand. 'I'll see you later.' He smiled at Jacob and George and disappeared up the steps to the house.

'Bye,' Jacob said softly after him. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned around to see George looking at him a soft frown across his face that was barely noticeable but it was there. Jacob frowned back. 'What?' He knew what the question would be but it looked as though an apology was formulating in George's mind. He didn't even have anything to apologize for. He had told Jacob to come and tell his parent's and it had made sense then and it made sense now even after what had happened. 'Please don't say you're sorry for making me go, I had to. You know I had to.'

George seemed rendered speechless, it was a huge difference from his gift with words today. He looked as though he couldn't find any words to say. That was ok though because Jacob didn't want any words right now, I mere hug would suffice. It wasn't George's fault for the reaction his mother had made, perhaps if Jacob had waited longer to tell her it wouldn't have been so explosive but it would have been as rude as it was whenever he did it. George had just told Jacob to do something he knew he had to do and that was fine. It didn't matter because he was here from him now and that was great. Jacob stepped into George and began walking away from his old home and down the street, George quickly fell into step beside him. Jacob sighed turning around to look at the house and half expected to see the roof soot off like a volcano eruption. He gave the house one last look and mentally cursed his mother before letting his hand slid into George's. George fingers had been brushing purposefully against Jacob's hand and he finally let the man take his hand. As they walked George kept smoothing his fingers across the skin of Jacob's hand, Jacob sighed and smiled warmly across at him. He wasn't going to blame George for what happened, that would be fair at all.

'She can't be angry at you forever,' George said shortly.

'You don't know her,' Jacob replied. 'She likes being angry, in a way. But she can't stay angry forever. I don't know,' he muttered. He seemed to be saying that sentence a lot lately and it was beginning to bug him that he kept needed to say it all the time. 'I hope you're right.'

'As upset that you are at her, surely you want things to go back to being the way they were?' George asked. 'With you and her talking again, you know? Mother and son type relationship, something normal. Your dad will talk some sense into her, he's a good bloke.'

'I know,' Jacob agreed. 'A proper father, no way is she a proper mother. Her kind of support is just bullshit, fucking bullshit. She's bullshit.'

George sighed and stroked Jacob's knuckles again. 'You'll make up with her eventually. You have to see her if you want to see the rest of your family, it's inevitable. Sorry,' he added when Jacob scowled not wanting to talk about her for a while. 'I'm sorry for -'

'Don't!' Jacob cried. He really didn't need George to express regret on what he had advised Jacob to do that morning. He had done it and it didn't matter. He had achieved what he had set out to do and even though the consequences were a little bad, what happened had happened. He had also predicted before coming that something similar to this would take place, his mother was so predictable. A few of the things Jacob had known she would say, she had said. But he hadn't been expecting such an explosion of anger. It wasn't George's fault. 'You were right, I had to do it. It's not your fault at all.' George squeezed his hand, and nodded.

'Thanks, Jakey,' he said. 'I thought you might be upset at me for that. I'm bloody glad you're not. You know how much I love you, don't you?'

'Mm, how much?'

George bent and whispered in his ear, Jacob flushed and felt giddy. 'You've had a way with words today, George,' he said. 'Have you noticed?'

'Yeah, I'm feeling quite poetical. When I talked to you this morning about telling your parents, I thought you have dozed off or something because you looked so in awe, I didn't realize it was my speech that had done it until after I'd finished speaking.'

Jacob laughed. 'What you said was really amazing. I hadn't known you had such a way with words.'

'Once a month I think,' George joked. 'Whenever the moon is full I achieve my full literate ability. It's a magical time,' he added in a husky mocking tone.

'It's not full moon, though,' Jacob said with a small grin.

'You know what I mean,' George muttered with a smile as well.

'I'm not going to let what she said get to me,' Jacob announced further down the street.

'I won't ask what she said then.'

'Thanks,' Jacob murmured to him. He wasn't sure if he wanted to revisit what she had said. It wasn't just rude to him it was rude to other homosexuals. He sighed and walked closer to George who immediately moved his hand from Jacob's and put it around his shoulders and pulled him even closer. Jacob was lucky.

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**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	32. Never Let Go

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW, PEOPLE! I love you guys for reading but it really brings me down when no one reviews.

Thanks to those who have been reviewing! You're great, this story is continued for you.

**Curiosity****  
Part Thirty-two: Never Let Go**

'It's good,' George said reclining on the couch grinning happily as Jacob brought his breakfast over. 'Birthdays are good and 23 isn't a bad number either,' he added with another happy smile as Jacob set the plate on his lap and snuggled under the blanket that was over George. 'It's also good because mum's organizing the party, like how she did with Ginny and Harry's engagement, control freak,' he said with a wave of the fork Jacob had brought over. 'So I don't have to do anything except show up which always exceeds everyone's expectations. She knows who all my friends are as well; sometimes I think she knows them better than I do. Anyway, she always invites the right people and there's plenty of food.' 

'April Fools,' Jacob said softly. 'You were born on the first of April? Why isn't that a surprise?' he asked himself laughing as George used the arm that wasn't spooning up the bacon and eggs Jacob had made him to pull him closer and kiss his cheek. 'Perfect timing, wasn't it for someone like you to be born?' So far Jacob had been nervously waiting for the time that George would remember Fred, surely his birthday would be painful for him. This would be the third birthday he'd had to go through without Fred and each one must be hard. Jacob couldn't imagine having a twin and having a birthday alone. He hoped that George wouldn't dwell on that for too long, he was going to. Jacob sighed sadly, he had never met Fred obviously but he could fathom how much the twins would have meant to each other. As George chewed happily on the food Jacob had prepared to him by hand without magic, Jacob rested his head against the red head's shoulder and plucked a piece of bacon up for himself.

'Oi!' George said trying to pull the piece out of his fingers. 'I was saving that bit for later, it was the best bloody one.'

'Sorry,' Jacob giggled and offered the bacon back to him. He let out a little gasp as George drew his fingers into his mouth and sucked the bacon in. 'Hah,' Jacob said when he released his fingers. 'Good bacon then?'

'Even better that way,' George said licking his lips before tucking back into the food. 'You get to meet all my friends.' George rolled his eyes. 'Lucky you,' he said sarcastically.

Jacob grinned tucking his head further into the crook of George's neck. 'When is your party thing?' he asked running his hand up George's chest and slipping his hand under the blanket that was over their laps. George gave a cry and arched his hips.

'Watch the food,' he hissed to Jacob holding the plate out of harm's way. 'It starts at seven. Is this the rest of your birthday present to me?' George asked as Jacob leaned across him to get a better grip on it, he could feel George growing hard in his hand.

'If you want it to be,' Jacob said huskily. He had already given George his first present, in the early hours of the morning when he could no longer take it anymore. He had woken George up with much grumblings from the red head but that attitude dimmed when he had remembered it was his birthday. The gift he had given George wasn't much; it was a something he had managed to acquire from the Gryffindor common rooms at quite a stretch. He had had to beg Tarn for it and he didn't really see why the man was reluctant because they could make another one in seconds. He had got one of the huge posters of the Gryffindor Lion that Draco had told him hung around the Gryffindor common room. And George had been chuffed, completely chuffed. Jacob was happy that he liked it because he'd had to practically get on his knees to beg until Tarn gave in and let him have it. Jacob was also paying for the redecoration of the outside of Zonko's (soon to be another WWW) and had told George to draw up what he wanted and Jacob would get people to do it. The red head had been surprised and said that if Jacob could afford that he was surely paying him too much. Jacob agreed but didn't mention that it would empty his small vault in Gringotts but again it was worth seeing George so excited about something. He didn't care that the redecoration would leave his pockets empty for some time; George was keen on it and had begun scrawling down ideas that second. Jacob could only just afford it but George did so much for him it was time for a little payback. George refused for him to pay his share of rent for the flat and let him leave the shop every day at three yet still paid him a full day's work, it was ridiculous how much George did for him. Jacob didn't care if redecorating the outside of Zonko's cost more than he had, he'd get a loan or something.

'Later,' George said smoothing a hand over Jacob's head. 'I'm serious, Jakey, later!' He pulled Jacob's hand out of his lap. 'Later,' he said again pressing his lips to Jacob who kissed him back. 'Mm, I love you,' George murmured after the kiss had broken. 'So, so much.' Jacob flushed and pushed his lips back against George's.

'I love you too,' Jacob said running his hand around missing area. 'Happy birthday,' he added with a smile.

'It's shaping up to be a good one.' George voice sounded sad as he said this but his eyes flickered towards Jacob and he then touched Jacob's cheek and ran a hand through his hair. George stretched finished off the meal all with Jacob's head resting back on his shoulder. 'Want some?' George asked spooning up some scrambled egg and offering it to but Jacob shook his head, he had already while making breakfast for George.

'You better go through this much trouble on my birthday as I did for you,' said Jacob.

'When is your birthday, I don't think you've ever told me?'

'Late November, 27th of November,' he said more accurately.

'Mm, that's right,' said George. 'Because when I first met you said you'd just turned 21. Ah, look at you, youngster! 21 and 23, believe me 22 isn't as great as everyone says.'

'21 has been pretty good to me so far,,' Jacob said softly kissing George's shoulder. He heard George let out a sigh strung into words but he couldn't make out what it meant but George pulled Jacob _even _closer to him and Jacob didn't ask what he said because the man stuffed more eggs into his mouth and topped it off with some bacon.

It was just after seven when they Apparated to the Burrow, there was bright light shooting out of the windows but little noise inside. George walked forward with Jacob scurrying behind him. Jacob was still nervous around these people. He didn't know half of the Weasley's at all. He and Molly had had a huge bonding experience the last time he had been here. He and Arthur had also talked a lot as well and Jacob felt comfortable around him because he reminded him of his own father. He had met Ron before, quite a few times but one they had been around each other was when Ron had stumbled in on him and George. Jacob was sure that had given the youngest male Weasley a shock and he wasn't too comfortable around him. Ginny wasn't very chatty with Jacob, she only spoke to him when she wanted to know something, Jacob hadn't been able to have a proper conversation with her when he was at her engagement party but he wasn't sure he wanted too either. He hadn't ever spoken to Bill or Charlie before, but had briefly met Percy in the Ministry one day. He seemed to be on the verge of ending up spending a lot of time with this family, so he supposed that he'd better decide which ones he liked and which he didn't, or better yet he could try and like them all. Yet he knew from experience that it was impossible to like everyone you met and it was impossible for everyone he met to like him.

The evening was fine with little cloud in the sky and the setting sun created a backdrop against the hills. The light splurged out over two picnic tables laden with food and about thirty, maybe more goblets sat on the wood as well. Napkins and plastic plates were piled high in the corners and the amount of food Molly and probably most of the Weasley's had helped, made looked like it was enough to feed an army. Jacob was happy that the eating would be done outside because even though the wind was brisk the evening was nice and it would remain so for many hours to come. Even when the sun set Jacob suspected that the wizards and witches would have some way of ridding the air of the annoying insects. They walked past the picnic tables which Jacob had to admit were a little worse for wear and headed to the front door. He wasn't nervous this time, with the amount of food on those tables and the smell emitting from inside that was proof that more was coming, Jacob could easily escape in the people that would be there if he wanted to avoid someone. He mentally hit himself, he kept thinking like his mother would be around. He was a pro at avoiding her, he'd done it most of his life. Breathing out slowly, Jacob decided that if any Weasley's wanted to talk to him he should probably just like them and stop acting like each of them was his mother in disguise.

As soon as George opened the door Jacob found himself standing in a subdued atmosphere with nothing to indicate that this was a birthday celebration. Ginny nearly charged into them as she walked out levitating three pitchers of drink behind her. She beamed at George and hugged her brother around the middle wishing him a happy birthday as she pressed on. Harry was right behind her, levitating two kegs of what Jacob to presume was that beer that wizards like to drink. Harry too stopped to wish George a happy birthday, except this time he didn't hug the man around the middle like his fiancé had, the two shook hands and Harry pressed on. Further into the house they found Molly in a heated conversation with Charlie. George watched vaguely amused for a couple of seconds.

'It's nice not to be the one yelled at all the time,' he said to Jacob with a chirpy grin as he coughed loudly to their attention.

Instantly both stopped arguing and turned towards them. Molly let out a cry and raised her arms and ran to hug George, patting both of his cheeks. She kept wishing her son a happy birthday over and over again asking how he was and things. Charlie, or at least Jacob was sure it was Charlie, he couldn't really tell, had to but in to clap his brother around the back and give him birthday wishes. Charlie finished quickly at let Molly keep chattering away to George who kept entertaining her by nodding and smiling, then finally got sick of it and asked: 'So, where are my presents?' Molly whisked George away into the kitchen and Jacob was left standing awkwardly near Charlie.

'Charlie,' he said extending a hand to Jacob, who clasped it and shook firmly. He had been trying to work on his handshake and improve it after Professor Tarn's had said he had a weak shake. Jacob knew how unimpressive that could be. 'I didn't get a chance to talk to you at the engagement party, did see you with George. Has Ginny been giving you a hard time?' he asked suddenly.

'I wouldn't know. I don't know her very well.'

'The whole families been talking about you and George, I reckon she thinks it's stolen her engagements thunder. She wouldn't usually care but every year she's getting more and more like mum so who knows.' He shrugged his shoulders with a good natured laugh. Charlie was very stocky and probably the freckliest out of the all the Weasley's. Despite how stocky he was he loomed largely over Jacob, exceedingly tall. Jacob had heard from George that Charlie worked with dragons in Romania, the serious, dangerous, fire breathing kind of dragon. It showed. He was wearing a short sleeved t-shirt that showed the burns on his upper arms and hands. Jacob faintly remembered that the last time he had seen Charlie he had had a girlfriend on his arm and now she was nowhere to be seen. Plenty of people were walking past and people entering for George's party but he couldn't see anyone that remotely resembled the girl Charlie had been with. It was entirely possible that he had forgotten what she looked like and she was here.

'Has it?' Jacob asked. Maybe he'd have to go and apologize to Ginny for that. He turned to see if he could see her anywhere in the room. The only people in the room were he, Charlie and two people who were strangers to him. One was a tall dark skinned girl and the other a fair skinned girl with a long dark plat. They were talking vigorously between themselves and the dark girl kept ducking her head around and looking for someone and scowling when she could never see that person. He couldn't see Ginny anywhere in the room which had begun slowly filling as people arrived, all looking to wish George a happy birthday. 'I didn't know ...' he said to Charlie.

'Nah, it's ok! She'll get over; all the excitement will be about her when she gets married.' Charlie scanned the room too. 'What do you do for a job?' he asked.

'I help George in the shop. It's just convenient,' he added when Charlie adopted a look that said he thought Jacob would do something with more class or grandeur. 'I used to go university though,' he said and seeing the mood on Charlie's face change he nodded his head.

'That's so Muggle!' Charlie exclaimed. 'Why don't you go anymore?'

'I wasn't sure I wanted to keep doing the courses I was on, so I decided to take a break for a year and thankfully this all happened before I even had the chance to think about going back.'

'Couldn't you do both, magic lessons and the university?'

'Too much to handle at once,' Jacob said. It would have been far too much for anyone to cope with. He would have needed to earn money, go to university during the day and then have the lessons in magic afterwards, it would have been far too much for anyone to cope with plus if he put the relationship with George on top of that, he wouldn't be standing here talking to his brother at his birthday party. It was good the way it was, it also gave him room to relax which he would not be able to do if he had course work to complete.

'I get you,' Charlie said.

'So,' said Jacob rocking back on his heels. 'Dragons?'

Charlie pulled his hands out of his pockets and nodded with a shrug. 'Dragons,' he said in the same breathy voice Jacob had used and then laughed. 'In Romania,' he said. 'It's easy to get back and forward to the family with magic,' he explained to Jacob. Jacob hadn't realized he'd looked puzzled but was thankful for the explanation. 'It's pretty exhausting Apparating this far but it's worth it all the time.'

'What's it like working with dragons?' asked Jacob, intrigued. 'Are they like all the stories? You know, swooping down to pick up cattle and carry away damsels in distress, and just being annoying half the time?' Jacob was quite surprised to see that small house and filled up dramatically and people were flooding the place. There were more outside as well but this seemed to be the main milling about area where people came to chat. He could see George chatting away animatedly to a black man with dreadlocks.

'Not really,' the burly man said with a laugh. 'We try and keep tabs on them but most live in the mountains so you'd have to go pretty fair out to see one and trust me, as gorgeous as they are, you'd rather not. Katie!' Charlie suddenly exclaimed and held out his arms for a hug. The girl with the long plait who had been talking in the corner before had come over for a chat. She was really rather pretty close up and her long plait swished behind her as she walked. She accepted Charlie's hug and gave him a kiss on the cheek. 'How have you been, Katie?' Charlie asked grinning at her.

She was a small girl, thin yet stocky (a lot like George's build) and was beaming up at Charlie. 'Good, good, haven't seen you in a while! Not since a few years back,' she said and scratched her chin. 'How have you been?'

'Fine,' he said with a grin. 'Oh! This is Jacob Smith,' he said turning Katie so she could see Jacob. Her eyes lit up in recognition and she thrust out her hand. Jacob nearly scowled, everyone knew him. 'Jacob, this is Katie.'

'Hi,' Jacob said taking her hand. _Second handshake tonight_, he thought to himself. _I swear I'm getting better_.

'BILL!' roared Charlie. The eldest Weasley child's red head could be seen bobbing away in the crowd and it stopped in the shout of its name. 'Excuse me,' Charlie added in a much softer voice and strode off after his brother. Loud thuds on the back could be heard as brothers embraced. Just beside them Jacob caught a glimpse of George talking to someone else now. Jacob could see her face over George's shoulder, smiling and simpering away to him. It was the black girl that Katie had been with earlier. The girl moved to stand beside George and put her arm around her shoulders. In the silence between him and Katie, Jacob watched the girl's hand travel lower and lower down George's back just so it was resting on the small of his back.

'So,' Katie said fiddling with her plait as she observed Jacob's face. His attention was snapped roughly away from George. 'How do you know George?'

'Uh,' Jacob said blinking. ' ... I'm his boyfriend.'

'Oh,' said Katie looking slightly astonished at the news that was obviously new to her. 'That _bugger_,' she exclaimed. 'Never even told me,' she added with a chuckle and looked around to stare at George. As Jacob looked too, his shoulders stiffened. The girl's hand had travelled down to rest on his arse now. Jacob wasn't sure he was ok with that because that wasn't a friendly type of move. He'd been ok with the arm around the shoulders and the lower part of his back but George's arse wasn't hers to touch. She was also laughing away with whoever they were talking too and Jacob could see her head moving to always look at George, and when she laughed she leaned into him.

'Oh,' Katie said again as she saw what Jacob saw too. 'That's Angelina.' She said it like it would make it better and ok for her hand to be on his arse. She was now squeezing it lightly, Jacob could see her fingers flexing. 'Don't worry about her,' Katie said but even so looking around at her friend with a spot of concern on her face. 'She used to date Fred at Hogwarts and sometimes I think George reminds Angelina a little too much of Fred.' Katie shrugged. 'She liked Fred a lot, maybe even loved him.'

Jacob crossed his arms. 'She's got her hand on his arse,' he commented glaring at George and Angelina.

Katie laughed. 'Strictly your territory?' she asked in a teasing voice.

'More than hers,' said Jacob said with a good natured laugh as well.

'Scottish accent,' she said her eyes lighting up. 'It's nice, I like it.'

'You and George both.' Jacob grinned when her eyes light up even more.

'Ooh,' Katie said mischievously. 'And her hand is on his arse, how dare she?'

He and Katie talked for a while longer, she was such fun. Entertaining and funny, they talked for a long time until she spotted another old friend and rushed off to speak to him. This was more than just a party for George; it was a Hogwarts reunion of sorts. As he pushed through the people trying to find where George had gotten to because he couldn't see him anymore or that Angelina person, he heard Fred's name being muttered a lot and in plenty of talk. It occurred to him that this would also be something of celebration of Fred. He saw Molly looked ashen faced as she talked to someone; Jacob caught the name Fred as he passed and flinched for her. None of the family could be enjoying the constant talk about him. Jacob knew George would tire of it shortly and become a little upset about the whole thing, he was the one most affected by the death of his twin.

Finally he found George standing with a fit man with short trimmed hair, they were talking softly between themselves but every now and then they would let out a laugh or snigger. Jacob pressed forward and went to stand beside George. A brush of cold air pressed against his face and he found that they were standing right next to the half open side door. George noticed Jacob before he even spoke up or finished approaching them. He lifted his hand to the nape of Jacob's neck and stroked the skin there before letting his hand fall back down to lightly touch Jacob's hip and pull him close to him.

'This is your leggy blonde?' the man asked with a chuckle. 'You couldn't have done better,' the man added with another grin. He wasn't being rude or even showing interest in Jacob, he was just being polite and funny. Jacob didn't find it at all offensive but George did.

'Sod off, Wood!' George snapped at his friend stormed out the door into the garden making sure it slammed loudly behind him as he left the house. This door led around the small garden Molly kept and was well away from the people milling around the picnic tables munching on the fantastic smelling food she had prepared. George would be alone there.

'Sorry,' Jacob said to the startled man and hurried out after George. The red was standing beside his mothers rose bushes plucking at the buds and throwing them away, his expression was blank but the aggression he was using to the throw the roses was not. He was mad. 'George?' Jacob chanced.

'I hate this,' he muttered. 'I don't want to be here anymore.'

Jacob stepped towards him and he turned around to face him. Jacob saw that a thin tear was snaking its way down his cheek. Slowly, so that George could stop him if he didn't want Jacob to touch him, he lifted up a hand and brushed the tear away from his face. 'You don't have to stay,' Jacob told him. 'We can go.'

'Fred's not here,' George muttered looking up at the sky and sighing heavily. 'Everyone keeps saying it. Fred's not here, Fred's not here. As if I haven't bloody noticed! I had enough of this,' George said. 'It's not the same if he's not here. It was always _our _birthday, it can't just suddenly be my birthday alone.'

'Let's go then,' Jacob said. 'I'm quite happy to leave, good food and everything but the place isn't exactly raving. And quite honestly, I don't like that Angelina person,' Jacob said firmly.

George laughed and pinched his nose and then cornea to stop more tears from coming. 'Her hand was on my arse,' George said. 'I don't know if half the time she realizes that I'm George not Fred, understandable, mum couldn't even tell us apart.' He sniffed and looked at Jacob with watery eyes. 'You'd think she'd notice that he's not here.'

'I'll go and find Molly and tell her we're leaving, ok? Do you think she'll mind?'

'No,' George said. 'Don't think so, tell her it's because of Fred if she gets annoyed at me, 'k? That'll shut her up ...'

Jacob nodded and let his hand linger on George's shoulder briefly before letting it fall and walked back inside the house. Before he entered he looked behind to George. The man had returned to violently shredding the rose bushes. Jacob felt a sharp almost painful pang of sorrow for him. His friends inside didn't really even realize how much it hurt George to go on with life after Fred's death. It was difficult for him, it would be difficult for anymore. Jacob guessed that they didn't know because George must have immersed himself completely in the shop after it had happened. Probably so that he didn't have to talk to anyone about it apart from his family who must of had to force him into it. Jacob wished he could have been there for George the first time he went to the shop without Fred, which must have been one of the most horrible things. Jacob, himself could scarcely imagine having to that; walk into a place you and your other half had spent so long building towards and then when you finally achieved it something terrible happened. He couldn't imagine it and quite frankly he wouldn't have wanted to. He wished he could have been there to hold George as he cried, George had done the same for him numerous times and Jacob wanted – if required, to do the same for him. George must have been on breaking point ever since the party had started. Jacob had seen many of the other Weasley's walking around the house with the same distant, tearful expression on their faces that George had only just adopted in the garden. This is was as much a party for George as it was for Fred and that would kill Jacob, he wouldn't be able to cope that. It was even heart rendering for him to see George so upset by this.

As he walked through the people milling about, looking for Molly, Jacob wondered what he should say to George when they returned home. He supposed he'd just have to let George do whatever he wanted, do his own thing or spend time with him, Jacob would do anything to erase that look on George's face, twisted by sadness. If George wanted space, Jacob would give it to him. If George wanted love, Jacob would give himself willingly. Anything. It was difficult to know what to do for the man in times like this because he was rarely affected. Jacob knew he must think of this twin all the time but he hardly ever cried about him or talked about it. And when something clicked inside George and he couldn't help it, it was one of the saddest things ever. Jacob broke down more than George did. But he remembered the time when they had both spent hours crying together after Professor McGonagall had passed. Perhaps George needed to cry and get everything out of his system.

Eventually he spotted Molly, alone with goblet in hand surveying the people outside laughing and talking as they ate the food she had made for them. Jacob sidled up beside her and coughed to let his presence be known. She turned, startled by the noise and it was apparent she had been thinking about something completely different from whether the guests like her cooking. When she saw who it was she let out a soft short smile and nodded to him.

'Having fun, dear?' she asked talking a sip from her drink.

Jacob didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure. He had certainly he had fun talking to people but all the fun had been seeped out of the occasion when he had found George. At least the red head had a good birthday in the morning; he'd so a hundred times to Jacob before they left for the Burrow as if he knew this might happen. He squeezed his eyes shut as he hears a toast outside. A toast to Fred. He turned to Molly and she too had squeezed her eyes tightly shut, trying to drown it out.

'People seem to forget that this is for George as well,' she said shaking her head solemnly. 'How is he?' she asked clutching Jacob's arm.

'He's had enough,' he said. 'He wants to leave. I thought I'd better tell you before we left. George said it's because of Fred.'

Molly nodded returning to her drink. 'You take care of him, ok?'

'Of course,' Jacob said and turned away from her walking back through the now pretty much empty house because everyone was outside. George was still standing where Jacob had left and he had pulled off all the rose buds and the dirt behind the bush was scattered with the small pink flowers. He looked up when Jacob approached and Jacob was happy to see that he hadn't been crying anymore but though that maybe he needed that. It occurred to Jacob that the reason Molly had been alright in letting the pair of them leave was because this had probably happened before in the last three years. George couldn't take celebrating his birthday without Fred and had mysteriously disappeared. The guests and his friends would understand, most definitely but if this happened every year since the war some were probably beginning to tire from George's vanishing trick.

'Can we see him?' George asked distantly.

'It's your birthday; you can do what you like.'

'What I meant was: can you come with me to see him?' George asked. He looked so small standing near the looming trees and the light of the new moon beaming down on him. He looked alone. Jacob quickly crossed over to him and wrapped his arms around him. The red head let out a sigh and pressed his forehead into the top of Jacob's hair, breathing deeply like he was trying to stop the tears from coming. 'Merlin, Jacob,' he said softly. 'I just miss him so much. This always happens, every year. Whenever I think I'm getting over – not that I ever will but you know what I'm trying to say.' George sniffed and Jacob decided not to tell him he didn't really get what George was saying but he could understand that he would never get over his twin. 'And then this happens, every _fucking_ year and I see him just lying in the cold in my mind. I can't get away from it. I wasn't with him when it happened, I found out right at the very end. I couldn't do anything for him. Jacob, it hurts so much. I want him back so badly.'

Jacob's fingers closed in the fabric of George's shirt. He had nothing to say to that. How come George had developed such a way with words? Whenever he spoke like this or in a meaningful way, Jacob found himself rendered completely speechless. There was nothing he could say to help George. Jacob was just going to let him let it all out.

'Half of our friends, the ones who liked Fred better, treat me like I'm his replacement.' Jacob was expecting him to continue on that sentence but he just left it hanging. 'I miss him so much, can we see him, his ... grave, I mean?'

Jacob squirmed, he hated gravesites, they scared the shit out of him. 'Ok,' he said trying to square his shoulders in George's arms, trying to be brave for George who he could feel had started to shake. 'Let's go.'

'I want to talk to him,' George said taking Jacob's hand and Apparated them away.

When Jacob looked up from nestling his head into George's chest he saw they were in the dreariest graveyard he could imagine. The moon light flooded down across the grass and stones sticking up from the ground. The eerie light was freaking Jacob out but he latched firmly into George's hand and let himself be guided along to where Fred lay in peace. The yard was taken care of, every single stone had flowers beneath it and the grass trimmed around it. Outlaying the sides of the yard great trees rose and Jacob had the feeling that it would be a beautiful place in the daytime and in summer. But there was just something about a graveyard during the night.

'Everyone who died in the last war is here,' George murmured softly to Jacob and pointed. 'Colin Creevey, Tonks and Remus,' he said spinning around and waving to a joint grave a few feet away. 'Cedric Diggory, too.' He looked to a grave at the end of the rows and sighed. 'Fred's this way,' he muttered keeping his voice low out of respect.

On the grave the words: "_Fred Weasley, April 1st 1978, died 2nd May_." Below that was written, "_He died too young_." "_Beloved son, brother, twin and friend. You were loved by all and all with miss you_." George sank to his knees before it, his fingers slipping out of Jacob's hand as his long fingers darted around the objects before the grave, rearranging them. George reached into his pocket and placed something before the grave, it was far too dark for Jacob to see what it was and the other items resting there. And then George began to murmur to his brother in a soft voice. Jacob didn't want to hear the words George had to say for fear he might actually burst into tears behind him, so he stepped back still facing George and Fred's resting place.

This place gave him the full scope of the how horrible the war had been and how devastating. Young couples had died, a young boy no older than fifteen had died and people just beginning their lives had died also. Jacob looked around with a mournful expression. It made sense that Ginny and Harry had gotten married so young because they had been through this. They had seen their friends dropping at their feet, with no time to tell if they were hurt or dead. It was a natural reaction, Jacob supposed, to latch onto what you loved and never let it go. He must have been staring around at the stones, on the brink of tears when he felt a soft touch to his shoulder. He was surprised he hadn't jumped out of his skin, the touch had given him that much of a fright. He knew it was George.

'Hey,' Jacob whispered to him. He knew it sounded stupid to say hello at a time like this but he figured George wouldn't want some long winded apology or anything of the sort. George smiled faintly, something Jacob could only just see in the light of the moon.

At the flat George finally let the tears flow. They were sitting on the bed; George with his jeans bunching had his legs crossed before him, his face pressed into Jacob's bare neck, letting the tears flow freely. Jacob had one leg tucked under himself and the other around George. He had one had on George's back stroking the flesh and the other was supporting him. He was showering George's neck with kisses as the man let it all out. George would never have a simple birthday; it would always be accompanied with the thought of Fred. Jacob understood that George would never really be able to let Fred go.

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	33. Mr Malfoy's Upset

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

Thanks to those who have been reviewing! You're great, this story is continued for you.

**Curiosity****  
Part Thirty-three: Mr Malfoy's Upset**

Draco's office was as dark and gloomy as ever. He still hadn't decorated it yet and it gave the impression that he wasn't going to be here for long. Or maybe Draco didn't think he hold the position for much longer. Jacob had stumbled into his office after a frustrating lesson with Tarn two days after George's dramatic birthday. He had been so astounded at the lack of light in the room that he had promptly walked into the corner of the desk with a loud resounding thud. The lights had instantly flickered on; all the candles in the room had roared to life with a puff of flame and Draco, wet blonde hair and sauntered out of the door behind his desk clutching a bathrobe to his chest. Jacob hadn't known that Draco slept in the room behind his office but before Draco slammed that door shut Jacob had got a glimpse of the room. It was furbished well, a great change to his dingy office. From what he had seen everything was quite elegant but what caught his attention more was the fact that Draco had a small tuft of blonde hair on his chest that he was frantically trying to cover with the robe. And while Jacob had been peering around him at the room behind the door, he had managed to get the robe over himself. 

'What?' he snapped crossing his arms and hiding the slightly hairy chest that Jacob so wanted to tease him about. Teasing Draco would probably make him feel uncomfortable, and when Draco felt uncomfortable he was rude to people and snapped at them like he just had. Yet Draco always looked so funny when he was put on the spot or teased and had no retorts to administer. Jacob noticed that Draco was nursing a black eye and the expression behind the one of annoyance about Jacob being in his office and demanding a chat was one of pain. 'What?' he asked again this time less loudly as a hand moved up to his eyes,

'What happened to you?' Jacob asked creeping forward, his legs bumping against the desk again as he surveyed Draco's bruised eye. It was still swollen, puffy, pink and only just turning a beautiful deep blue. It looked like it could have occurred in the morning for today was a weekend and Draco would have been free to come and go as he pleased without having to teach. Had he gotten into a fight? And if so, who with? Draco wasn't exactly someone you would be afraid of if it came to a fist fight, which unless he had walked into a pole had happened in his day. His sharp tongue and harsh words was what made up his arsenal and of course magic but Jacob was sure that Draco always took the time to insult whoever he was duelling as well. 'Do you want some ice for that eye, or anything? Who hit you?' he asked.

'I just got back, haven't even been to see the bloody nurse. I don't want to; she'll make me explain before she treats me. I don't know enough healing magic to do it myself and I don't want you bloody waving your wand in my face!' he added pointedly his voice rising as he came closer to the end of his sentence. 'You've done enough damage.'

The sour expression on his face confused Jacob. He had no idea what he had done, nothing at all. 'What did I do?' he asked reaching out to touch a hand to the swollen mess that surrounded Draco's eye but the blonde slapped his hand away. Draco scowled as he sank down into the chair behind his desk shaking his wet hair. He wasn't mad enough to piss and moan to Jacob about the events he had 'supposedly' caused. 'What did I do?' Jacob repeated. A lot of that seemed to be going on already.

'Never again will I take your stinking advice,' said Draco crossing his arms again.

'What advice?' Jacob asked straining his memory to anything mildly encouraging he had to Draco in the time he had known him.

'You're bloody, fucking, shitting advice earned me a black eye,' he snapped, not finished berating him just yet.

'Don't worry about that, it'll heal,' said Jacob. 'You're pretty face won't be scarred.'

'None of that! Don't say anything about my face!' Draco said angrily. 'It wasn't just my face that got bloody damned hurt. Merlin's scrotum, no! My fucking pride got dented as well, just because I listened to a piece of your crap advice!' He had leaned forward in his chair while yelling at Jacob who was standing awkwardly before the desk rather bewildered and still having no clue as to what advice this was. He was quite astounded that Draco was yelling at him about his pride. Because he had often thought that Draco had too much pride to admit that he had pride. Draco had now slumped back in his chair was looked sedated for now, breathing heavily and fingering his eye as he glared at Jacob.

'What advice?' Jacob asked. He seemed to be repeating things he already said over and over again while Draco yelled at him between them. He didn't know what advice he had given Draco, the only thing he brain had processed was that his friend was very upset and he needed some raw meat or ice on that eye. It would null the pain and stop the swelling. If Draco didn't want a visit to the nurse, Madam Pomfrey, he should just accept Jacob's help.

'You're advice about telling Viktor fucking Krum that I fancied him! Merlin, I was lucky he only punched me and didn't pull out his wand or I'd probably still be bleeding on the bloody ground of the fucking Leaky Cauldron!' Draco said as he shrieked in anguish and Jacob felt his stomach drop as he finally remembered what advice he had given. His lips moved to form an O as he struggled to get the sound out. Draco was right to be angry at him. What Jacob had told him had led to what must be much more than just embarrassment to Draco. The blonde was red faced, the whole of his face nearly the same colour as his eye.

'He didn't take it well then?' Jacob asked willing to let Draco explode at him some more before he began his apologies. He felt awful that this had happened to Draco; on the first time he had tried to tell a man that he liked him. Jacob understood that it would freak out some blokes but did the wanker have to punch him in the face? He didn't find that reasonable, if this Krum person had wanted to get rid of Draco so badly after hearing the words that scared him so much he should have just left not smacked him one.

'No, he did not take it bloody well,' Draco replied with a half hearted snap like he was losing the will to snap or couldn't muster the energy to yell. 'He hit me and walked out.' Draco's angry expression had drooped violently into a depressed one. 'I can't believe you suggested that I do that. I should have known that he would have freaked out! Two months I'd been completely obsessed with him and then he punches me ...'

'I'm sorry,' Jacob said softly and crossed around the side of the Draco's desk to stand beside him and a place a comforting hand on his shoulder. 'You really should see Madam Pomfrey about that eye,' he said.

'Don't want to, rather not,' said Draco roughly though not shrugging Jacob's hand of his shoulder. 'I'll do it myself.' Draco's hand moved right to his pocket which he didn't have on the bath robe, he sighed and looked in the drawer of his desk. 'I don't have my wand,' he muttered bitterly.

Quickly Jacob transfigured the notepad on Draco's desk into a small cloth and shot water (George had taught him) from his wand on to it making it damp. Usually when he did magic now he felt a rush of excitement but it seemed now that the novelty was wearing off or the circumstances didn't need Jacob to gloat. He touched the damp cloth to Draco's eye gently and propped himself up against his desk. Draco pushed his hand away and held the cloth there himself. He let out a small string of words muffled from the fabric that Jacob could assume to be "thank you." He grinned to himself and Draco saw out of his other eye and smiled back. His smile was becoming less and less of a grimace each day.

'I forgot you could do that,' said Draco hissing as he moved the cloth. 'Hurts,' he murmured.

'Sure you don't want me to call the nurse?' Jacob asked watching Draco feeling bad for his part in the pain he was in. He hadn't thought that that would happen; he thought that the man would be more reasonable, hear Draco out maybe instead of connecting his fist to his eye and walking away. He wanted to draw Draco into a hug but the man didn't really like hugs and he was all skin and bone and not very huggable anyway. Jacob was quite skinny too but he liked to think that he was huggable. From the amount of hugs he got it certainly seemed that way.

'I'm sure,' Draco said glancing up at Jacob. 'Your fault,' he said prodding him in the leg. 'You persuaded me to tell him and got me beat up.'

'Do you mind?' Jacob asked. 'I'm actually starting to feel a little guilty.' He decided not to tell Draco that he felt rather sorry he had played a part in what had happened. But what was done was done and unless Viktor Krum made up to Draco, said sorry, there was really nothing the blonde could do. If an all star Quidditch player didn't want anything to do with Draco, there was no way Draco could have anything to do with him. And from the look on Draco's face, Jacob was certain he knew it too.

'That was half the point,' Draco muttered sourly. 'You know, I'm kinda glad you came today. I hadn't just got back; I'd been in since lunch and was starting to mope around. Malfoy's don't mope,' he added. 'Even though it is your fault, I'm glad you came.' Draco awkwardly smiled at Jacob and he knew not to say anything sickly sweet back or Draco's sudden kindness would turn back into a surly annoyance.

'Were you never going to tell him?' Jacob asked instead.

Draco shook his head. 'I wanted to wait for it to blow over, you know how crushes like that usually do, but it didn't and then you came in with your blonde hair and small nose and pranced around telling me that I should duly inform him of my ... whatever it was that I felt. What I would have usually done was got the man drunk and had wild and crazy sex.' Draco looked absolutely thrilled with that as he said it and had an excited look in his eyes but when he turned back to Jacob the look had gone. 'I guess you're just more mature than I am or you have better morals than I do.'

'Better morals, probably,' Jacob said with a smile. But he knew there was a time before he met George that he would done just what Draco said, no matter how demeaning it sounded. It would have been his idea of a prefect night. It would be a great night, if it happened with George. Jacob grinned stupidly to himself and then looked back at Draco completely aware of the dopey expression on his face. 'What are you going to do now?' he asked him.

'I'm going to sit here and nurse my wounds.'

'I mean on the love and sex front, what are you going to do about that? Seen another man you fancy?'

'No,' Draco said. 'Just him, you should see him, Jacob. He's like a fucking god. Get over that, I suppose. I'll keep my eyes open for anyone I like the look of and if I get to know them and like them, I'll take your advice again and hopefully not get punched in the face this time.'

'Really?'

'Course,' Draco said and removed the cloth from over his eye. 'How does it look?' he asked.

'Still red but it's not as puffy as it was,' Jacob said truthfully. Draco scowled at this and pressed the cloth back to his face. He coughed and looked back at Jacob who hadn't torn his eyes away. 'How the mighty fall,' Jacob said finding it difficult to keep the corners of his mouth from twitching upwards into a grin. Draco's scowl deepened and he glared at Jacob.

'That was uncalled for,' snapped Draco.

They fell into silence for some time after that. Jacob was just sitting with him in case he needed someone to yell at some more and he supposed, because he wanted to be there for him. Jacob didn't feel very bad for dishing out the advice, anyone else would have said the same thing, it was an obvious thing to say to someone asking what to do in that situation. He did feel bad for the reaction Draco had received; it was a little unfair that Viktor Krum had reacted so violently to something that was just human nature, plain and simple. It was not just unfair, it was somewhat sickening. Draco hadn't deserved that, even if he was a bit of a rude prick and at times Jacob would like to punch him in the face as well. But the man was his friend and you stuck by them and didn't punch them no matter how much they were asking for it. Punching your friends just didn't go down to well. The silence hadn't become deafening and awkward like many of the other drawn out silences Jacob had experienced. They weren't talking because there was nothing left to talk about and that was all. They were just sitting, enjoying the quiet of not chat, no berating chat and no yelling. Draco seemed to have calmed down plenty and was just concerned about his eye. No doubt that if he saw Viktor Krum again Draco would have an awkward time explaining himself or this Krum person would have an awkward apology in store. Whatever it was, it'd be awkward.

Suddenly Draco lurched to his feet. Jacob had heard a faint rumble and dismissed it as something happening outside the door and was about to ignore it when Draco had jumped to his feet, licking his lips. Jacob chuckled loudly when he realized that grumble had come from Draco's stomach. He had to admit he was hungry as well and Draco who probably hadn't eaten anything since breakfast must be starving.

'Hungry?' Jacob asked.

'Very. What about you?'

'Yup, hungry.' Draco was about to step outside the door, completely unaware of what state he was in. The dress robe that was exactly appropriate for walking the corridors of Hogwarts and especially since Draco was having such a hard time keeping it closed. But Jacob stopped him. 'Are you going out into the halls like that?' he asked raising an eye brow.

Draco looked himself up and down, taking in the robe he was wearing. 'Oh,' he said simply taking one last fleeting glance at himself. 'Better for other reasons,' Jacob heard him murmur to himself. Jacob laughed as Draco disappeared back inside his rooms muttering to himself about time and a place, a perfectly appropriate place too.

Shortly Draco came back out of his rooms. He had pulled on a pair of pants and his old Slytherin robe over the top of them, shirtless underneath Jacob saw. It took some time for Jacob to realize that he was holding the door open for him and that Jacob was meant to come with him. He had been blankly staring off into space, remembering George showing him his old Hogwarts uniform. He had often thought that the Great Hall must just have a constant supply of food available to students there but as they didn't follow that path, Jacob realized he must be mistaken. Unless the staff had a different area in which they ate but Jacob had heard from Draco that they often ate with the students in the Great Hall, for dinner anyway, Breakfast sometimes. He asked Draco where they were going and if it actually had anything to do with food at all. Draco just laughed and decided to ignore Jacob by not saying a word and leaving him wondering.

Suddenly, they stopped in front of a strange picture. It was actually the most normal painting Jacob had seen in Hogwarts but that was why it was so strange. It was so normal and that made it abnormal. He hadn't been paying attention when Draco had led them through the tricky and twisting corridors that made up Hogwarts. Instead his attention had been focused on a quiet and rather bemused looking pack of Hufflepuff's walking in a group down the giant staircase, squealing when one they stepped onto went the other way. They must have been first years. An unexpected giggle that Draco would never have let slip from his lips in a million years sang out around them. Jacob shot his glance towards Draco but the man wasn't laughing and the noise was continuing. Jacob sighed in disappointment that the abnormal painting had turned out to be like all the others, completely normal in Hogwarts. He was a little gutted that the different, normal kind of thing had turned out not so. He peered forward into the picture, trying to see what was going on and found that the pear in the centre of the fruit bowl was laughing. Giggling sharply, to be more accurate. It formed a door handle and Draco turned it and pushed.

Before them was a short corridor, light brightly by burning torches. Jacob could see the end of the corridor dimly as it was blurred by the light. He could make out moving people at the end of it and remembered what Professor Flitwick had said to him about the House-elves cleaning up the dorms of the students during the night time and staffing the kitchens. He just didn't know exactly how much elves there were. As they walked down the small corridor the figures that kept moving about began to come into focus, the closer they got. They were the exact same little things that Jacob had seen at the funeral and they looked the same as the one he had met, Lampy. He supposed you could only really tell them apart by their clothes or lack thereof, he discovered as they alighted in what must be the kitchens.

The kitchens were huge, with a massive stone ceiling that arched high up. Jacob thought it to be huge and he wondered how high the House-elves must think it is. An eternity away probably. Benches, cupboards, stoves and other important cooking utensils sat around the large room in perfect order. Everything was sparkling clean and even the fireplace at one end of the kitchen was soot free. The busy House-elves were bustling around them but once Jacob had finished staring around the strange room in awe he heard Draco talking to one of them, asking for food. Jacob heard and the wee thing was more than happy to oblige. It bowed low to Draco nodded to Jacob as it saw him sidle over and scurried off to inform its peers about the requests of the Professor and his friend. The elves were fast workers and liked a job well done. They were efficient too and worked quickly, getting on with what had to be done with amazing speed, much faster than a handful of people could have managed. For some reason this strange environment reminded him a lot of the scene in Cinderella, the Disney fairytale when the mice and birds help her create the dress for the ball. It just did, he didn't really know why as there wasn't much resemblance between the two scenes at all. But however, it did.

Bobbing before them, walking past with serious intent, a head in a lamp went past. Jacob immediately knew it to be Lampy as no other House-elves were supporting old lampshades on their heads and blowing at the tassels that fell off it. He thought of calling out to the elf but then found that he was wondering what he would say to her. It turned out that he needn't call her over again. She had turned her little head over their way, scanning the room and when her eyes fell on Jacob she looked utterly petrified. Before Jacob could ask why she looked so frightened, she had tugged a spoon from another elf's hand and was hitting herself over the head with it and smacking the side of her face with her other free hand.

'What's she doing?' Jacob asked flabbergasted, shocked that no others had run forward to stop her.

'She's disobeyed orders,' explained Draco. 'It's a habit that's slowly vanishing from them. They hurt themselves when they speak ill of their family they work for or defy orders. It's kind of strange but for some reason it works for them. I wonder what she didn't do that she was supposed to. Must have been something about you because it was only when she saw you did she hurt herself.'

'I really don't know!' Jacob called over his shoulder as he ran forward to restrain Lampy from herself. He tugged the spoon from her hands and threw it across the floor and grabbed her tiny wrists as she tried to box her ears in. 'What are you doing?' Jacob hissed at her.

'Lampy has been a bad, bad elf!' she cried mortified. 'Bad Lampy! She never expected to see Sir again, not here. Oh, kind sir, please let Lampy go. Lampy has been bad, Lampy needs to be punished!' She struggled fiercely in her arms, trying to get free and smack herself again. Jacob had had enough hitting for one day and held her tight as Draco sauntered over, sipping at a cup.

'Only the ones, who remember the old ways really well still try and do that,' he said pointing at the elf that was squirming. 'The insane ones,' he added. 'Times have changed for them. They're getting more rights. Next thing you know, they'll want to be paid for working,' Draco scoffed. 'Pay for House-elves, who'll waste away into nothingness if they don't work for wizards and witches. It's ridiculous!' Draco was annoyed at this because it was only what he knew. He'd had House-elves when he'd grown up in the Malfoy Manor, he had said so. Jacob just didn't know what to make of it.

'Lampy has been bad, Sir! She has not given Sir what the Professor told Lampy to give him! She kept it for herself.' She struggled some more. 'Lampy is bad! She does not know why she kept it but she does know she must be punished!'

Jacob ignored them both and grasped tighter to the tiny wrists of the elf, making her unable to move violently or escape so she could hurt herself. 'What didn't you give me? Something from Professor McGonagall, what was it?' Jacob asked desperately needing to know. 'Tell me!' he said.

'Lampy is a bad elf!'

'If you tell me what you took and give it back to me, I'll let you go,' Jacob said snapping her attention up. 'Is that clear?' Jacob had little clue as to what Lampy had taken but he was excited by it. His first and only thought had been that it was from the book Lampy had handed off to him from the Professor last time their paths had crossed. Perhaps there had been something stowed in the pages that had fallen out and Lampy had liked the look of it and kept it for herself. Jacob had sworn it would be the last (well he actually hadn't thought about it.) 'And you can't hit yourself,' he added as Draco butted in.

'You can't tell her what to do,' he said. 'She's a House-elf. She either is owned by Tarn, the ownership might have switched over after Professor McGonagall passed, or she works here because she wants to. You're not her master.'

'Professor Malfoy is correct, Sir,' Lampy squeaked her huge eyes wide and her lamp slipping off her face somewhat. 'Lampy liked Professor McGonagall very much; she was very kind to Lampy.' The elf's eyes filled with water and she sniffed before struggling aggressively. She looked like she was making a monumental decision in her mind and Jacob in his irritation wondered how small that could be. He glared at her as the elf stayed limp in his grip, her eyes wide and he could feel her little heart racing. 'Lampy does not take orders from you, Sir,' she said. She must have forgotten his name for last time she had called him Jacob Smith. 'Professor Malfoy is right; Lampy takes no orders from the Sir. But Lampy promised Professor McGonagall that she would give him the present. Did Sir like it?' Lampy asked suddenly with a pleasant squeak, a smile on her face.

Jacob blinked, he nodded. 'Oh, er ... yes.'

Lampy looked absolutely thrilled by this and didn't continue her struggles that had stopped some time before. She coughed slightly and seemed to have made up her mind. 'If Sir will let go,' she said pointedly. Jacob had little choice but to let go or continue holding her wrists not moving and never getting a step closer to what he wanted. He wanted what Lampy had, it was his. It was meant to be his. Professor McGonagall had left him the entire book, including what was between its pages and if she had left him something more, he wanted it. And he wanted it now. The elf would give it to him or he'd find it. He was beginning to get beyond annoyed and was about to barge into angry if he didn't get it soon. Slowly, Jacob let go his eyes never leaving the elf. Though out of the corner of his eye he did see Draco looking mildly amused like this was great entertainment to get his mind of other things.

As soon as he let go of her hands, Lampy straightened and shook her hands down on whatever she was wearing, it looked to be something of a potato sack. And she turned on her heel with a bow to both of them and walked away disappearing into the seething masses of elves. Jacob was shocked, horrified. She had never really said she would take them to it but Jacob had expected no less. From the say she said it had sounded like that was what she intended. Jacob and Draco were standing in the centre of the kitchen and the elf was nowhere in sight any longer. He craned up on the tips of his toes to see if he could see the lamp on her head bobbling before him. It was out of sight, lost. The little shit had stole off when Jacob had quite politely let her hands go. If it was something she wanted that desperately to keep and going behind human and perhaps – he didn't know what the values of a House-elf were – elf values then whatever she had must be good. When he fell back to his the flats of his feet, annoyed at how badly he wanted to know what it was and how she had just waltzed away from them, he turned to Draco.

'So that's it then?' Draco asked modestly. 'She's off with a bit of Professor McGonagall's treasure.'

'Don't give up so easily- '

Draco interrupted him. 'Not listening to your advice!' he snapped.

'Shut up!' Jacob responded louder than he had intended to. His outburst sent Draco into immediate silence. Whenever he shouted like that he used a voice that never entirely sounded like his own. 'Sorry,' he added in a much softer, more his own tone of voice. Draco shrugged and motioned for Jacob to continue. 'Can't we ask another House-elf to tell us where she's gone?'

'Suppose,' said Draco. 'But you can't guarantee that they will tell you the right information. You can never tell about them these days. The rights always get to their heads,' he muttered.

'Do I just ask?'

'Yeah.'

With a sidelong look at Draco, Jacob reached out and tapped a passing elf on the shoulder. Quickly it swung around and stood before rigid like a post. It saluted them, nearly knocking the too large cap of its head.

'It salutes,' Draco muttered.

'Professor Malfoy?' the elf asked firstly associating itself with the face it knew. 'Sir?' it added turning back to Jacob.

'Can you help us find someone?' Jacob requested. 'A House-elf, her name is Lampy. She wears a lamp.' He thought the last statement might be helpful but Draco let out a little snigger, Jacob resisted the urge to smack him one, the second of his today. He didn't, he just watched the elf's face as it thought about the request. 'Please?' Jacob added for good measure. He chanced a look behind him at Draco who looked horrified. The thought of ever asking a House-elf for something and then adding the word please afterwards was something that had probably never crossed his mind before. His upbringing, even though Draco tried to get away from it, still followed him and he wasn't that old at all. A youngster, probably the youngest Professor Hogwarts had ever seen. Draco hadn't been afraid of taking the job like others had been. There had been a curse placed on the job so that none could keep the position for more than a year. But after the war and when Voldemort died the curse had been lifted but still people were still too scared to take the job now offered. But that didn't mean he was their only choice for the role, he had been the best they had seen, too young but very good. Draco had told him all of that.

The elf said he may be able to help and led them through the kitchens. Not really looking well enough just tipping his head back and forth, to the sides as elves trotted past laden with ingredients. They walked right down the end of the kitchens. It wasn't as impressive as the first look had been but Jacob just suspected that was because he was becoming used to it. The elf was leading them to the end of the kitchens, the roof slanted downwards as they approached a wooden wall with small elf high doors in it. Dozens of doors around along the bottom of the all, Jacob suspected they were apartment like rooms for the House-elves that worked and possibly lived in the school. The doors were elf sized and so the rooms would probably be too. He would give anything to have a peek inside them and see what they looked like but he saw Lampy who had also spotted them and was hurrying away quickly. The elf hadn't been in a room she had been sitting outside a door, like she had forgotten her key and was waiting for a flat-mate to let her inside. Jacob had no time to express how _fantastic _he thought this was.

He ran quickly forward and cornered Lampy against a wall. She had nowhere to go but the relaxed look on her face gave Jacob an edgy feeling like she had something planned. The other House-elves didn't come to her aid at all; they paid them no attention and went on with their own business. Suddenly Draco had lurched forward, pointing his wand – which he had probably retrieved while getting his pants in his rooms – at Lampy. The elf squealed and covered her head with one hand but she raised a hand, pointing it towards Jacob. It was a strange looking scene. Jacob was completely bewildered and just wanted what was his, his previous anger and dropped back into confusion at what was taking place, Draco was standing in his old Slytherin robes which were billowing about him caused by an unseen wind and Lampy was cowering against the wall yet still looking like she could do some serious damage if she wanted too. Draco adjusted his grip on his wand his eyes never wavering from Lampy. Jacob felt for his wand too and nearly dropped it as he pulled it from his belt buckle. He was bright red from the fumble but adopted the same stance as Draco and shakily pointed his wand at Lampy who squeaked.

'Give Jacob what's his,' Draco said determined.

'Lampy has lost it, she is not knowing where it is!' the elf squealed. Jacob saw her legs twitching and she stamped down on one of her toes, her eyes watering and the hand pointed at Jacob shook a little. 'Lampy is not knowing where it is!'

'She stepped on her toes, Draco,' Jacob said. He didn't know House-elves well enough to know if that meant she had disobeyed some kind of order, if she was lying through her teeth or something completely different. Draco would know, though.

'I saw,' the blonde said looking positively dangerous holding his wand in such an aggressive stance. 'It means she's lying and that she was given an order by either Professor Tarn or maybe even Professor McGonagall not to lie. House-elves are simple but the whole orders thing can be slightly confusing. Don't lower your wand,' Draco added. 'They have magic that's possibly more powerful than wizard magic. We can't tell, they never tell us.'

'Secrets, secrets, secrets!' Lampy screeched somewhat agreeing with Draco. 'Our secrets!'

'Could I please have what you took from me?' Jacob asked.

'Merlin, Jacob!' said Draco. 'Don't ask for it politely.'

'I've never had to do this before!' Jacob retorted. 'I don't make a habit out of harassing House-elves!'

'Sir is kind,' Lampy said though she did not lower her hand and pointed a single finger at Jacob. Jacob and Draco didn't lower their wands either. 'But Lampy has lost it.' She bit down on her bottom lip as her ears began to shake, jiggling her lamp around.

'Don't lie,' Draco said. 'Give it to us or I shall inform Professor Tarn of what you have done. Thievery and lying. You'll lose this job.'

'That's blackmail!' Jacob cried.

'Don't you want to know what else Professor McGonagall left you?'

'Carry on.'

Lampy looked startled at this new threat. She shuffled nervously from feet to feet staring back between the both of them. She looked over their shoulders to see if any of her fellows had come to assist her. Fortunately for Jacob and Draco none of the other elves were bothering themselves with the little exchange. Lampy sighed dejectedly and lowered her hand, looking out from under the tassels of her lampshade with big eyes. She scuffed her feet across the stone floor and nearly raised her hand again but kept it down.

'I has it,' she said in a nearly inaudible voice. 'I has it. Lampy has been a bad elf!'

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**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	34. A Little Bit of Impossible

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

Thanks to those who have been reviewing! You're great, this story is continued for you.

**Curiosity****  
Part Thirty-four: A Little Bit of Impossible**

With visibly shaking fingers Lampy reached inside her potato sack of a dress into a hidden pocket. Jacob felt his heart hammering with suspense and there was an element of excitement to it as well. He was desperate to see what else Professor McGonagall had left for him and also why Lampy had kept that alone and not given it to him. It must be something very special, or so he hoped, if the elf hadn't handed it off to him like her orders had been. He didn't think he'd mind much if it turned out to be a small scrap of paper with something scrawled on it. It was a far shot that that would be it because the elf was making such a fuss over it, not wanting to let it go. Jacob was itching to get his hands on it - whatever it was - and his curiosity was nearly boiling over. Twice he had made a move to walk forward and wrap the potato sack the elf wore for a dress and search through the pockets. Each time he had, Draco had grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back beside him. Eventually Draco just left his hand on Jacob's shoulder to control him. Jacob suspected he was worried what the elf might to do them if they angered or scared her more. If she didn't give to them, she'd lose her job, Draco and promised and if she hurt them she'd lose her job as well. She could run. Jacob was sure she was thinking things through as her hand stalled over a pocket. But the pair of them had their wands trained on her and running would be pointless, she'd be stunned in a second. She was in quite a predicament and the only thing she could do was give them what they wanted.

'Hurry up!' Jacob finally burst out. He knew she had it on her, he could see her hand squeezing it in one of the pockets. It was his by right, he had been left but occasionally he did think that maybe they were pushing the elf too far and that his inquisitiveness was becoming an issue. That he didn't mind that the elf was petrified as long as he got what interested. He shook his head of those thoughts. It was she who had wronged here not him. She had stolen from both him and Professor McGonagall and a human would be charged on that as well. He hadn't hurt her but they had been a bit harsh and nasty to her. Jacob shrugged as Lampy turned her huge eyes to him. They reminded him of his flat-mates dog that he shared with an ex, big brown eyes that always followed you when there was a chance of a game or food. But these eyes were nervous and there something glinting in the back of them that he couldn't identify. Perhaps that was a good thing. '... Please,' he added and Draco rolled his eyes at him again.

Finally the little creature reached right inside the pocket and pulled out an envelope made of the same paper that the book had been wrapped in. He had scoured that book for a hint to where she might be when Draco had told him that the empty frame in Tarn's office was intended for her but she had never shown up. Maybe this had the clue in it; perhaps she needed Jacob's help. He didn't know but this would hopefully provide all the answers. What she did when she vanished during lunch hours and during the weekends. Jacob had found that much of the Hogwarts staff were under the impression that she had family and she visited them all the time but the Professor had told Jacob once that she none. He didn't know what she did, if it was for herself, if she needed a break from the school she loved so much. Perhaps it was, but there could be something so much more to it than that. He had got his hopes up like this last time about the drawing in the book of her yet now it was different. There was something here that was real and that he could look at and decide what it meant.

The envelope lay flat on her palm as she held it up towards them, her wrist shaking. Lampy looked so vulnerable but the glint of something different in the back of her eye scared Jacob and it unnerved him to wonder what she might be planning. As much as he wanted to snatch the brown paper up he was rooted to the spot, a lightly nervy about what she might do. It was again the annoyance of a strange personality combination. He wanted so dreadfully to take the envelope, rip it open and see what it said but Lampy had started to look more and more frightful in his mind. He was right, when he looked back at her she was smiling toothily, and her eyes were no longer large and pitiful but small and crazed. Her look was one a villain would have been proud of. Draco too seemed slightly stuck to the spot by the expression on the elf's face. But he overcame it before Jacob did and leaned forward, his wand still pointing at Lampy and ripped the envelope from her hand, backing away once he'd done it. As the letter slipped from her grasp Lampy resumed her ordinary features and looked mildly surprised.

Lampy sniffed when she saw that the envelope was no longer in her grasp. 'Lampy has been bad,' she said, 'very bad. Lampy is sorry Professor Malfoy and Sir!' Her head drooped low so that it nearly touched floor. But Jacob felt relieved. Relieved that the crazed look on her face earlier had nothing to do with what was inside the letter, she had just wanted it was badly as he did. He wanted it because it was his and left for him by someone he greatly respected and she wanted it because she liked Professor McGonagall and the elderly Professor had been kind to her. But it was Jacob's, intended for him not the small elf. He sighed and made a move to pat her on the head her but Draco grabbed his hand away and thrust the letter into it.

'Come on,' he said gruffly. Jacob let him walk towards the exit of the kitchens, such a long way back. He stayed standing in front of Lampy. Cautiously, still a little on edge about what Draco had about House-elves having magic, he slipped his wand back through the loop in his belt. He stuffed the letter inside his pocket.

'Did you look inside?' he asked her.

The elf shook her head, the tassels swaying on the lamp. Jacob was puzzled at this because she had had it for quite some time but hadn't opened it or looked at it at all. The elf had just kept it with her. He wouldn't even begin to understand how these strange little creatures worked but he still thought that it was intensely weird. He would have ripped into as soon as he laid his hands on it and he would be doing that just as soon as she was in a more private place. He just had to decide where he wanted to be when he opened it. With George or at the school, it wasn't a hard choice and he felt like he hadn't seen George all day. It was true, he hadn't actually seen the man all day, Jacob remembered with a slightly embarrassed hiccup. No wonder he was feeling so deprived. George had left extremely early in the morning to oversee some changes that were being made to Zonko's. He was supervising its transformation into Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. That sealed it then, he'd open it with George.

'Why did you keep it then?'

'Lampy cannot say, Lampy does not wish to say,' she added in a much lower voice.

'Well,' Jacob said unsure if there was anything left to say apart from sorry. There wasn't. All that was left was the apology he owed the tiny elf. 'Sorry,' he said dejectedly and forcing a smile onto his face though he didn't really want to give her one. 'Sorry about ... yeah, thanks,' he added as he backed away. He tapped his pocket to make sure that the letter as still there was he broke into a run into catch up to Draco who was striding through the kitchens. He hoped to never see that elf again; he didn't like her very much after that. She scared him; the look on her face before they had taken the letter away was more than daunting. It had been bordering on terrifying.

Draco looked sidelong at him as Jacob fiddled around the with the envelope in his hands, running his fingers across the brown paper and scratching at the seal on the back. It didn't look very important and it probably was just nothing but as Jacob had gone through a lot of trouble to get whatever it turned out to be would be of some importance to him. Even if it was just a small amount. He was itching to open but if he opened it at Draco's office or walking along here, he knew he'd be sucked into another long conversation about something or rather and then by the time he knew it, it would be very late and George would be exhausted by his day. Truth was, he was just eager to get back to the man he loved. He missed him and he'd only been gone for a day. It was a little pathetic but he couldn't help it. He'd woken up alone for the first time in a long time and quite frankly, it had sucked. George's warmth was gone from the bed and Jacob had had to use the mattress as a pillow rather than George. He heaved a sigh and turned his head sideways to look at Draco as well.

'What?' he asked.

'Aren't you going to open it?' Draco asked eager himself. His expression went back to one of surly annoyance as Jacob shook his head.

'Not here,' he said.

'George?' asked Draco.

'Mm.'

'Of course.'

'Yeah.'

'Yup.'

'I'd better go, then.'

'Yeah, yup.'

'Sorry about your eye,' Jacob called after him as he turned up the staircase and walked towards Tarn's office. 'And thanks!' he yelled even louder as Draco drifted out of sight. The time they spent together always seemed to end like that. They would just say goodbye, comment on something that had happened and then Jacob would leave. It always seemed to be on a high note turned low that Jacob left. And today was no exception. Draco had seemed gloomy when Jacob had left today. It must be what had happened to him today that was making him feel that way. If Jacob had been punched in the face, had to chase an elf around a kitchen when all you really wanted was a snack, he'd be either depressed or pissed off. He would have thought Draco to get pissed off by the way his day had gone but maybe the earlier part – where that Viktor Krum person had blown him off – was getting to him more. He'd be back tomorrow for another lesson with Professor Tarn and he could tell Draco what was in the envelope then. He hoped Draco understood that he wanted to be with George when he opened it. Draco wouldn't be very impressed if it turned out to be something immensely sad and Jacob cried all over his desk. Thankfully when he came up the stairs to Tarn's office the man wasn't there so he could slip silently through the connection and back to the flat.

Stepping away from the hearth, Jacob stopped to look down at the envelope he had pulled from his pocket while travelling. It had become a little crumpled on the journey here but had no rips on the actual thing and was pretty much intact. He wished he hadn't thrust into his pocket with such avail though. He had ripped the brown paper surrounded the paper that was inside, destroying some of the mystery about what the envelope could have held. Not much apart from paper, Jacob realized now but he'd been too thrilled to bother thinking that beforehand. He broke the seal and pulled away the tattered remains of the envelope, staring at the parchment he held in his hands. Jacob blinked down at it and opened the parchment to reveal Professor McGonagall's hand writing and a long winded letter following the introduction. He heaved a sigh of relief. He had been faintly worried that it would turn out to be something like her shopping list.

He must have wandered some way across the kitchen just lamely staring at the writing yet not processing what it said at all when strong arms wrapped around his chest and pulled him backwards. Jacob smiled faintly and rested his head back against George's shoulder, the letter forgotten for now. He leaned against George and the man kissed his neck softly making Jacob hum with happiness. He felt George's lips curl into smile on his neck as the man drew back. He had missed though they hadn't even been apart for a whole day.

'Missed you,' George murmured to him touching his lips to Jacob's ear. 'It wasn't as fun without you. They didn't really find my jokes as funny as you do.' George shrugged. Jacob always found George's jokes funny, humorous on occasion and side-splitting every now and then. And George liked that as did Jacob. Jacob wasn't a very funny person, sure his antics were funny but not on purpose and sometimes he brought out a really brilliant crack but that was always a bit mind boggling when he did. George on the other hand was extremely funny, intentionally and unintentionally. 'They were so serious about what they had to do, it was almost painful. I swear to Merlin I could feel my brain haemorrhaging it was so dull. Anyway, how was your day, Jakey?' he asked and then added something else before Jacob could describe the whirlwind that was his day. 'I sound like an old bugger. Maybe that's what twenty-three is, the year for complaining.' He shuddered and let Jacob go ahead.

'Professor McGonagall left me something else,' Jacob said handing the paper to George who took it. Jacob hadn't even read it yet but was meaning too. 'A House-elf took it,' he explained. 'Draco and I had to chase her (the elf) through the kitchens to get it back ...' he carried on accounting what happened but he left out the part about Draco and Krum as Draco wouldn't like it if he told George. It was a shame because it would probably be the most entertaining thing George had heard in a while and Jacob wasn't sure that he could keep the secret. So he'd have too.

'Merlin, Jacob,' George said in a low breathy voice and pushed Jacob away from him moving so he could sink down on the couch. 'Have you read this?' he asked shaking the letter at him. 'You have read this haven't you?'

Jacob quickly crossed over to George snapped the letter out of his hands and sat down beside him. 'No,' he said. 'Not yet,' he added as he scanned through the first couple of paragraphs not bothering to read them because no words of importance jumped out at him.

'No,' George said. 'Read the whole thing.' The way George spoke so softly to him made Jacob's heart jump in alarm. He hoped there wasn't some devastating hidden truth written in the two pages. He felt his stomach whirl as he began to read properly again.

_At Hogwarts, _Professor McGonagall wrote_, when you have free time you have a lot of it. The work load seems to pile on quite heavily plenty but when you have a break you find yourself lacking things to occupy yourself with. As the Headmistress I understand that sounds like bad thing to say as I always should have something to occupy myself with. But overtime my attention in some matters waned, I finished work or I found myself bored. You, Jacob Smith, provide something to pour my spare time and interest into. As you barely have any time of your own I decided to take the liberty to look into your heritage to see what I could find. I, like you, have interest in how you came by your magic so late. It is intriguing. _

_You had started me off on the right track and for that I thank you. I did not take the time to revisit your great aunt Carlota Sheere but having her name I looked for her parents. I found she had married a pureblood wizard. This made it so much easier for me to find her parents, your Great-grandparents, as pureblood Wizarding families tend to keep family trees. It took some time to trace the Sheere family tree but eventually I found they had changed the family name themselves and come out of France to Bulgaria in the early 1800s. The family lived in Bulgaria for ever more after that, and I'm sure if you go there you may find descendants of them. But it seems your Great-grandfather moved from Bulgaria to Scotland for an unknown reason and there he met your aunt. They had no children as she may well have told you. Your magic does not come from your father's side of the family, I can safely say that. They are as Muggle and as oblivious as ever. _(At that Jacob shook his head. His father certainly wasn't oblivious anymore.)

_But your Great-grandparents, Faunus and Maia Burtos, were pureblood wizards. What I have found of them states that they had lived in Scotland for years, but I could not find out where they originated from because it certainly was not Scotland. They settled there earlier than the Sheere's settled in Bulgaria, I do know that. You said that your Great aunt rarely saw her parents and didn't know if they were wizards or Muggle's, I can say, Jacob, with great happiness that I have solved the mystery of where your magic came from. Faunus and Maia only had two children, your Grandmother and her sister and must have been very upset when only one of them had the Talent. The Burtos magic was growing thin and though they had tried to keep it strong by marrying other wizards and witches almost very coupling produced a child lacking the Talent or a squib. It must have pleased them greatly that Carlota had it and then married a wizard. It is incredible that though the magic in their blood wavered so much, you managed to have enough to be able to perform it. You are a truly incredible person and there is so much I wish to teach you and will! _

_But it saddens me to say that you may be the last of the magical line in your family. It also saddens me that I must inform you of this but for now I cannot be sure. However, I shall write it down in case I prove to be correct. It seems your Great-grandmother may have had something to do with the Dark Arts. I know how much that intrigues you and therefore scares you Jacob but at the time she was alive you must remember that it wasn't considered a dangerous thing to do. For her is must have just been experimentation into the limits of magic, of which would have been an amiable thing to look into. She did stop however for I could not find anymore of her experimentations documented. It seems she may have passed that onto to her daughter who as you know, enjoyed the Dark Arts as well. Do not let this bother you, Jacob, it is nothing to dwell on. _

The letter ended there with ink splattered across the bottom of it like the Professor had left in a hurry or ... Jacob hurried looked at the date written on the top of the parchment and found with relief it was a few weeks before her death. But she had had plenty of time to tell him all of this, why hadn't she? Everything Jacob had ever wanted to know since last December was in here. He had acquired his magic from his Great-grandparents on his mother's side. They had been pureblood and had tried desperately to keep the family lineage going as the magic began to grow thinner and thinner for some unexplained reason and that somehow had been kick started in him a little after his twenty-first birthday. His magic had not come from his father's side, not a single drop of it. The man's family was as Muggle as they came according to Professor McGonagall and he chose to believe what she had written one hundred percent. It fitted together. This was what the Professor had been doing during her long absences in the weekend that Draco had told him about. It was all for him. He flushed, he hadn't known she cared that much or was simply as interested as he. It was a little sudden that that mystery had been solved just like that. He wasn't some great shock any more. He was Jacob Smith, with watered down Pureblood ancestry. Professor McGonagall was right, it was incredible that the magic had survived in him even though his grandmother hadn't had a drop of it and neither had his mother who had then married a Muggle yet somehow here Jacob was bristling with the stuff. He supposed there was still some mystery in that. He wondered why his Great-grandparents hadn't told their children of the struggle and need to keep their magical line going. Had they simply abandoned the plight after years of trying and never succeeding?

He was thrilled with this knowledge, absolutely thrilled but a line that stuck in his mind was_ "it saddens me to say that you may be the last of the magical line in your family." _It just hammered in what his mother had said to him that he would never have any children of his own. And now he had found that the magic in his family might stop in him unless little Natalie may have it; he would have to pray for that. He wondered that if he had found the magic in him at a coming of age year maybe Anne might have the magic in her as well. Maybe he wouldn't have to be the one to pass on the magic. Natalie might have it, she might but if the magic was so faint, as faint as Professor McGonagall had stated then it seemed there was little hope. How could such brilliant news bring great pain? Could he actually let the family line stop at him? He didn't know if he could but his relatives had given up all those years ago and never taken interest in their children or told them anything about the family history (or dilemma, as it was). He didn't know whether he should bother with the more mental problems of producing an heir. He wanted one but he didn't want to turn a woman into a walking incubator just so he could keep his magical family lineage going. The line Professor McGonagall had written, along with what his mother had said would probably stick in his mind for years to come.

He groaned and George put his hand on his back comfortingly. 'Last of my fucking line,' he said. 'That's some pressure for a gay man.'

'I reckon the Burtos' gave up,' said George. He had thought the same thing as Jacob. 'They didn't pressure your Great aunt to have a child and they didn't do anything about your grandmother. Why do you have to bother yourself with it, Jakey?'

'I suppose,' Jacob muttered agreeing half heartedly. 'It just sounds so bad, doesn't it? Last of my line, magical line. They probably did give up, you're right. They didn't bother. You're right, they didn't bother. I'm not going to bother either.' He was determined not to let it get to his head. The last of his line had a rather melodic ring to it. There was something horribly sad about it too. He thought of some kind of epic story about a lost man looking for his past where as his story was a lot simpler than that or more confusing. The fact that he was gay actually played a huge part in his tale. It was the main reason he didn't want to reproduce because he would want his child to be a bit of him and his partner. He didn't want to give a woman his sperm just to continue his family, it wouldn't mean that the child would be less loved; it just wouldn't be the same. It was confusing but it made sense to him. 'Do you think that maybe Natalie might have it?'

George bit his bottom lip and Jacob quickly swiped the hopeful look off his face because he wanted George's true opinion and the red head probably couldn't do that with Jacob looking so pitiful. He knew what George's answer would be already and he supposed that was ok. He was the last of the magical Burtos' but that didn't mean he couldn't be a bloody brilliant Smith.

'Wouldn't count on it,' said George hugging Jacob's shoulders. 'It was so faint that the rest of it is probably in you.' George stroked Jacob's chest through his shirt. 'You have no obligation to the Burtos',' George said to him, every word he was saying made more and more sense to Jacob and that was good. He didn't like the thoughts he was thinking before, that he had to reproduce because he really didn't want to unless that was with his partner and his partner alone. And that was little bit of impossible. 'You don't need to continue the magical line. You don't need to do anything you don't want to do.'

Jacob smiled at George's tenderness. He twisted so that he could press his lips to George's with ease. His hand moved to the side of George's face as the red head deepened the kiss with a slight moan as he did. The paper slipped from Jacob's hand as he lay down on the couch, letting George lay over him and kiss him again. Both their hands were moving in each other's hair but Jacob let one hand roam, down George's back, across his chest and along his forearms. 'It's great you've found out,' George said during the gap between kisses. Jacob smiled up at him and caught his lips in a light peck before sitting himself up again, another question on his mind.

'Why didn't she just tell me?' he asked as George slid off his waist and curled up beside him. Firstly he only responded with a hug but elaborated.

'I don't know, maybe she knew somehow ...'

'If she knew she going to die wouldn't she have told me this all before?' Jacob asked. He didn't know. It seemed like Professor McGonagall possibly knew her time may be drawing to a close soon so he had compiled a will, sorted out the book for Jacob and left him the letter to finish later but put it with the book just in case and her instructions to Lampy must have been to give him the parcel when she passed; orders which Lampy had disobeyed by taking the second part to it. She must have been planning to find out more information for him but hadn't had the time or didn't been successful in finding more. Or maybe she had been hit with a bout of work and couldn't search for more, it was possible. An explanation of that had been the first thing she had written.

'What do you think?' George asked. 'You just have that contemplating look on your face, the one you use when you're trying to figure everything out. I was wondering what you had figured.'

_'At Hogwarts,' _Jacob recited from memory, '_when you have spare time you have a lot of it. The workload seems to pile on quite heavily at times.' _He looked across to George who was staring back at him with a small half smile. 'Maybe she got a lot of things dumped on her, that's probably why she didn't finish doing this. I reckon she could have known, she was old and stuff and then left the book and note for me just in case. But it doesn't really explain why she didn't tell me during our classes.'

'Perhaps she didn't want to get you all excited. Because Merlin knows if you had heard she'd found something out you would have shot off as quick as a flash and down some investigating work yourself.'

'Not straight away,' Jacob said smiling and a little surprised when George leaned his head against his chest this time and spread his legs across the couch, sighing sleepily. 'I would have come back to get you first and then shot off. We'd make a great investigating team. Weasley and Smith, Smith and Weasley, what sounds better?'

'Weasley and Smith,' George said automatically. 'Weasley-Smith sounds even better.'

'Oh, really?' Jacob asked. 'Smith and Weasley,' he said but he couldn't getting butterflies from the way George had said Weasley-Smith like someday it might happen. He opened his legs and let George slide down between them and lean his back across Jacob's chest in a much more comfortable way then he how he had been before. Jacob brushed his lips across the red hair that tickled his nose and sighed just as George let out a content breath and seemed to settle in for a long time. Jacob didn't mind, he was quite happy just to lie here for ages. He didn't mind playing the top man for a while; it excited him to think that they were both versatile enough to play roles, taking turns to administer and the pleasure and receive it.

'Weasley-Smith,' George insisted. 'I know you like it,' George said prodding his thigh. 'I can feel you shuddering when I say it. And it's not a shudder of disgust, is it, Jakey?' George asked in a sultry, teasing tone. 'Or maybe even just Weasley,' George chanced.

'I'm the last of my magical line; I can't just abandon my last name!' said Jacob defensively quite happy to play George's game with him.

'Oh, come on!' George responded. 'Your last name isn't Burtos! It's Smith. Even though you are the last of the magical Burtos, (kind of) I think that Weasley-Smith would suit you so much better. Or like I said before, just Weasley.'

'But I don't have red hair ...' Jacob said.

'Mm, so what?'

'Even though your mum welcomed me to the family, I don't think I actually have the looks to be a Weasley.'

'Too true, your nose is far too ladylike,' George said in a sing-song voice just to tease. 'Wait – what?' he asked. 'About my mum, what?'

'That night of Ginny and Harry's occasion I went down to get a drink and we talked. I told her I love you and she hugged me and said "welcome to the family".'

George spun around in Jacob's lap with surprising speed and agility and kissed Jacob, pushing head down against the arm of the couch and ravishing his lips in a breathless snog that would have to stop soon unless both of them wanted to suffocate. When George pulled away Jacob sucked in a big gulp of air in, watching George with a chuckle. 'They like you!' he exclaimed. 'Mum and dad like you! And you told her you love me, that'll go down so well. Mum loves it when her kids get loved! Good on you, Jacob. You played your cards exactly right, everyone likes you now; maybe not Ginny but she'll come around. You're a likeable person but mum's hard to please and you did it! Hah,' George said lying back against him again. 'That's awesome.'

Jacob was a little lost for words at the joyful outburst from George but was happy that was that happy that his family like him. Jacob took it to mean and the funny conversation about names before to mean that George wanted him around for a long time. Jacob wanted to be around with him for a long time. 'Uh, great,' he finally managed. His awkward comment received a full laugh from George who patted the side of his leg softly.

'I think things are starting to fall into place,' he heard George whisper after many minutes of satisfied silence.

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	35. Time Gets Away

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** DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

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**Curiosity  
Part Thirty-five: Time Gets Away**

'_Expecto Patronum_!' 

Nothing happened. Nothing had happened for the past hour they had been trying. Professor Tarn set down his own wand with an exasperated sigh. He had demonstrated the spell to Jacob at least a dozen times and his bird like Patronus had come swooping across at Jacob channelling the annoyance of the Professor countless of times. Nothing was happening, either Jacob didn't have enough ability to do the spell or he just wasn't ready for such advance magic yet. When he had voiced that to the Professor the man had shot him down saying that that was complete bullocks because Jacob as already learning and coping with extremely advanced Transfiguration spells. There was a hint of shame in the Professor's voice that that was the only part of magic that Jacob really got right off. Everything else took him some time. Part of him was desperate to master the Patronus charm to see his would be and look like but was also the mildly terrifying part of it. George's Patronus was a racoon, he knew that. George's Patronus had changed as well after Fred's death and the red head had been shaken by that so it seemed that your Patronus was such a big part of you, it really counted. He knew that he needed to master it.

'Try again!' barked Professor Tarn snatching up his wand again and casting the spell himself. His hawk shot from his wand and flew straight at Jacob's face before veering off at the last minute. 'As I do.' By that Tarn meant: copy me and you'll get it. It was how the pair of them worked. They rarely spent hours mucking around with the theory of the spell, the quill dealt with that. Tarn showed him how it was done and Jacob did what he did. It usually worked after a couple of times as most spells did but this one, the one that mattered, was proving hard.

Draco had actually been supposed to teach him this but the Headmaster hadn't wanted that. Even though the magic he was trying was actually described as Defensive magic, Professor Tarn had said that Jacob never learnt a thing with 'Professor Malfoy' and there was no point in sending him to the man to learn a very important spell. Jacob didn't mind, as long as he learnt it. It wasn't that Draco was a bad teacher; it was because they never studied anything at all. There were better things to do with their time. After Tarn dismissed him, Jacob was going straight to see Draco and tell him of what the letter had said. But unfortunately his time with the blonde would be short because he had been invited to his sister's to see little Natalie for the first time since her birth. Jacob was excited about that; he hadn't seen her in a long time. Time gets away from you; he was beginning to notice that. He was eager to see his niece though and the visit would be all the more enjoyable because his mother wouldn't be there. Jacob did however wonder if his father had told Anne yet told her what Jacob had told him. He didn't really know what his sister's reaction to that might be, it could either anger or a little timid of him. He opted for the first choice because his sister was never timid unless something really bothered her. Or she needed a kip.

'_Expecto Patronum!' _Jacob tried again grunting with the effort and saying the words with much more determination then he ever had before. Perhaps it was the determination to get it down and get it right or maybe it was to leave. He had been standing in the head's office and trying for hours. It was beginning to get tiring and he just wanted the spell done. As he lowered his wand in disappointed once more, he heard Tarn sigh heavily as well. But just as he had given up all hope that he would ever master this, a thin wispy stream of sliver light emitted from his wand floating about his face a bit before vanishing. Had that been his actual Patronus or did it mean he was getting closer to producing one?

'Very good!' Tarn cried startling Jacob with such an exclamation of praise. Jacob had never heard the man speak to him in that tone and he had to admit it was mildly creepy. Professor Tarn had pushed his fringe out of his eyes and was stroking his moustache and looking at Jacob with ill hidden joy. His own Patronus that had been circling the ceiling sank back into his wand with a puff of the same silvery stream that he had seen briefly come from his own wand. That was how all Patrnous' looked, each –though being individual- had that wispy look and glow. Jacob didn't quite know what to do with that praise and felt a little fluster. He still didn't know if that had been his actual Patronus or the beginnings of one. If it was his Patronus, he had a worm and that was quite depressing.

'What was that my Patronus?' Jacob asked looking down at his wand and then back at the Professor.

'No, no, of course it wasn't, boy!' the Professor said adopting his usual snapping tone. 'It was nearly one though, you're getting closer. Try again!' Jacob immediately jumped too and adjusted the hold on his wand before casting it again. He felt huge relief that the room hadn't been his Patronus. 'Remember!' Tarn said. 'Think of happy memories and the Patronus will come easier! Try a few more times!'

The last couple of times that Jacob tried only resulted in the same wispy effect. Nothing more came out of his wand then the last development. It was a bit of a disappointment compared to the exciting moment before when he thought he'd got it nailed. But he'd done something, something had happened. No matter how small that something was, it had happened nonetheless. He tried once more, expecting something grand and incredible as he concentrated his thoughts on the happier times in his life. Like the time George had first kissed him, he had played on that memory throughout the lesson today but when the wisp had come out of his wand he hadn't been thinking of that. He had been thinking of the time when they first made love. The fact the first kiss memory didn't work very well was probably because George had then Apparated them back to the flat and Jacob had thrown up from that. As much as he thought Apparition was fantastic, he really did not like that side effect. It had stopped for some time but he was getting squeamish from it again. He hoped that over time the throwing up reflect would vanish forever and he would be able to learn himself. There was something that didn't seem very fun about turning up at someone's place and then throwing up in their sink or toilet.

Tarn was sulking after Jacob's last couple of tries because he hadn't managed to get any further. It wasn't his fault, he was sort of a good teacher but Jacob just couldn't manage anything more than a drizzle. Tarn dismissed him telling Jacob to keep practising and come back to see him tomorrow. It was Monday and Jacob was already looking forward the to the two day break he earned at the end of every week. Friday meant that on Saturday and Sunday he got to spend time with George in the shop for a full day. It was fun working with George. He thanked the Professor who said little else to him after the lesson was over and hurried down the stone passageway to the corridors of Hogwarts. He would probably work on the charm sometime overnight and maybe George would help him but he wasn't about to stop and practise now. He had to see Draco, show him the letter which he had brought with him and then get back to the flat so he could get to his sister's on time. It was just past five and he had spent a lot of time in the office, over two hours.

Walking down the last stretch towards Draco's office, he rounded the corner and actually charged into the man. Draco stepped back away from Jacob, making a show of putting his hand to his eye and groaning about the pain the impact had caused. Draco knew that it was Jacob who had barged into him accidently so Jacob ignored his grizzling but still had a look at his eye when he took his hand away. It was as red and as swollen as it had been the day before and surely many students in his class had been wondering about how it happened. But he felt like asking how he had explained what had happened to the other teachers. Why hadn't he been to see the nurse yet? Draco probably liked to bear his wounds no matter how much he wined and moaned about them.

After Draco had finished accosting him about slamming into him and hurting his eye, he donned a politer manor and guided Jacob the last couple of feet to his office even though he knew exactly where it was now. 'I was coming to find you,' explained Draco letting Jacob know why he had been charging through the corridors of Hogwarts at such an insane rate. 'I wanted to know about that letter. Thanks for coming yourself though, made it a lot easier for me, I only had to walk a couple of feet before you ran straight into me.' He scowled and crossed his arms as he sank into the chair behind his desk and Jacob, into the spare chair that was in the corner of the room. He dragged it forward so he was sitting opposite the Professor.

'How is your eye?' Jacob asked peering forward and trying to see more of the damage close up but the dull lighting in the office didn't really help. Draco's office was always so dark. 'Do you like having your office dark?' he asked. 'Or is it just to give students a scary impression of you?' Jacob chuckled. Once you got to know Draco a little better he wasn't actually that scary at all, just a little intimidating and insane. He caught Draco scowling at him and all the more. He knew Draco was frustrated that he wasn't telling him about the letter right away but Jacob knew what it had said so he could afford to tease and taunt Draco before finally letting him have a peek at it.

'Hurts,' Draco said stiffly. 'Thank you for your touching concern. What was in the envelope?'

'Are you sure you don't need the nurse or something. I'm a lot of people are wondering who punched you in the face. They don't need to ask why because they already know ... your attitude is horrible, you rude wank.' Naturally, Jacob didn't mean all these things he was saying and he was certain that Draco knew that. It was just fun to tease him and, Jacob had to admit, it was quite fun watching him get so flustered. 'But deep down you're a charming person.'

'Jacob -'

'There are, of course, people who would be very interested to know that you had the hots for Viktor Krum who is, as you say, a very famous Quidditch star who generates a lot of intrigue and you being from one of the Wizarding families of the purest blood, tssk.' Jacob was poking fun at him again, he was going to stop soon. He was interested to see how far someone could push Draco. He guessed it all depended on the man's mood, as it did with most. Draco was impatient and looked like he could snap any second, so Jacob chose to be nice and spill the facts on what he had found out. He dug his hand into the pocket of his jeans and drew out the now very crumpled and worn letter Professor McGonagall had written and slipped it across the desk to Draco. 'That's what was inside.' He watched Draco's face throughout his reading. It seemed Draco thoroughly agreed with what the Professor had written at the beginning. But as the man read the rest of it, Jacob saw no change in his emotionless face, which annoyed him slightly because it meant he would have to wait until Draco had finished before they could discuss.

At last Draco finished. It hadn't really taken that long, Jacob was just impatient. Perhaps Draco had been teasing him silently as minor payback for before. Oh, how the tides could turn. Draco put the letter down on the table and fiddled with the letter for some time before turning his gaze to Jacob. He actually looked a little solemn and there was a mix of also not knowing how he should be looking in there too. Draco shrugged. 'You should tell the Prophet about this,' he said with a nod towards the letter. 'Or another wizard magazine like Witch Weekly, they adore you.'

It had always disturbed and puzzled Jacob as to why wizards and witches had such a huge interest in him, _still. _It was pointless as hell that he had filled pages of those magazines during the time his trial was on and when Rita Skeeter had interviewed him it had made front page of the publication she had sold it to. Thankfully there had been nothing for them to talk about now that he wasn't making news anymore but he was still a household name and people knew his name and recognized his face. All of it perturbed him but they didn't stalk him like the paparazzi did to stars in Hollywood and Jacob knew he could be thankful for that. It was still a little exciting that people knew who he was even if it was a bit bizarre. 'Why?' he finally asked.

'They all show unnatural interest in you, they should get to know and they'll realize you're not as phenomenal as they think, though that letter clearly labels you as something special. You should definitely tell them. It's rather amusing reading about you. Well, I used to. They don't print much of you anymore. But when there was stuff about you out there, my favourites were always the articles about you and George. "_Friends, or more?"_' Draco said and chuckled. 'The people,' he continued, 'are more interested in you then you are. You're different and that's entertaining.'

'I'll think about it.' Jacob said and looked back at the letter. He was more interested in what it said than in having his story finished on in the pages of a paper. His story wasn't complete yet.

'So this is a good thing or bad thing?' he asked about the letter.

'Bit of both,' Jacob reasoned. 'It's good that I finally know about my magical heritage and things like that, but it's also ...' he trailed off, not sure as to how he finish the sentence. He couldn't find the right word to use to describe being the last one that could possibly have the magic in him. That he was the last magical Burtos, unless Natalie proved to have the Talent or even Anne. But the chances of Anne finding it were even thinner than Natalie developing them. It made more sense for Anne, as the first born, to have the Talent, not Jacob, so if she didn't have yet she wouldn't get it. And as Natalie was the product of two Muggle's there was a slim chance there would be magic in her. But, Jacob still had a little bit of hope because Muggle's went to Hogwarts, so maybe Natalie would be lucky. He had a small amount of hope to cling to.

'A bugger?' suggested Draco. Jacob nodded. It was the perfect word. He was the last of his line and because of some of his morals and values he didn't want to reproduce for the sake of a magical heir. There were of course some ways he could do it but he still didn't really want to it. He didn't really like the whole idea of it and George had very easily talked him out of it. Jacob hadn't wanted to but for a while yesterday he had thought it might be his family duty to keep the line going. His Great-grandparents had looked to have given up so he wasn't going to bother with it. But if the chance arose for him to have a child, he might take it in a good few years. 'The last of your magical line,' Draco said sucking in a breath. 'That's very buggerish. Are you going to do anything about it?'

'I can't exactly, can I?'

'Yes you can,' said Draco. 'You can. There must be some woman friend of yours willing to have a baby for you. But she couldn't be a Muggle or else the Burtos' magic is gone forever when you die.'

'I don't want to have a baby with a woman. I'd want to have a baby with my partner.'

'Mix the sperm and inseminate,' Draco said without difficulty. 'All you and George would have to do is jack off.'

'But I want the baby to just be a bit of me and my partner,' Jacob said exasperatedly. 'It's like that. Why do you assume that I'll still be with George when I think about this again, when I'm older, a lot older?' he added.

'Oh come on, Jacob,' Draco said. 'You're not going to let go of George that easily. I think everyone can see that. And it's obvious you're thinking about George when you say this.'

Jacob flushed and fell silent for some time before plucking up. 'So, there isn't some spell that can get a man pregnant?' he asked.

'Merlin, no!' Draco shook his head erratically. 'That's against the laws of nature. Even magic finds it hard to change the laws set in concrete. Men cannot have babies. You'd seriously do that just so you and your partner (George) could have a baby together?'

Nodding, Jacob stretched his arms out before him with a short yawn.

'Wow, that's something you really believe in then? That you should only have a child with someone you love and only them.' Draco grinned. 'That's a pretty decent moral.'

'Thanks,' Jacob said. 'It probably just sounds like I'm being stuck up and snobby. Or like I'm just another crazy gay lobbying for an insane right that will never happened.' He sighed but heard Draco laugh.

'Gay man demands to be given the right to reproduce by himself.' Draco grinned. 'As if that would ever happen. But, don't worry you don't really sound like that. You just sound like you're denying the right to ever let yourself have a child because of a stupid (yet quite reasonable, I might add) moral. You might think differently in a couple of years when you really want a family.'

'I've always wanted a family but my _own _family, my own children. I decided that a family can just be two people,' he added when Draco glanced up at him from his fingernails. 'It's confusing. I want my own child with my partner so much but I can't have that and then I only want to do it with just my partner, I don't want to bring another woman in. And then I always tell myself that two people can be a family yet I still know I want a kid. Not right now, of course.'

'You're confused -'

'I know that!'

'Shut up and let me finish. What you want might change later on; you might want something completely different. Just focus on what you want right now.' Draco clucked his tongue the way a person did before they were about to pry into a personal matter completely uninvited. 'What is that anyway?'

Jacob rolled his eyes but indulged him anyway. 'I got most of what I want right now. Someone, a flat, a decent job, I'm still learning. But I want my mum to stop being angry at me and I want my niece to have the Talent too. That's all I really want right now, I've got most of it anyway.' He sighed and trailed a finger around the edge of the wooden table. 'What do you want?' he asked Draco.

There was a short pause as Draco stared at him, seemingly trying hard to think of answer. It looked like it was coming difficult to him but eventually he spoke. 'To get rid of the bad press my family name has, and get all these students to pass their O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts. I'll think about the rest after the teaching year is over.' He leaned back in his chair and looked to the ceiling. 'That was nice little heart to heart,' he murmured rubbing his cheek. 'Do you think we could stop having these conversations? They're starting to freak me out.'

'I don't think badly of your last name,' Jacob said in some reconcile as Draco had sounded so utterly depressed when he said that.

'You don't know what it was like,' Draco said and then looked mildly shocked and slammed his fist down on the table. 'Enough,' he muttered. 'We have far too many personal conversations, it's scary ... we should be doing this in a manly kind of way. Slapping each other on the back and grunting not spilling our souls. Pah,' he announced. 'We're like a couple of women having a mid life crisis.'

'But we are a couple of very attractive young men -'

'Are you going to suggest we have sex, Smith?'

'No.'

'Oh, never mind.'

Jacob was about to burst out into laughter but he caught a glimpse of the watch on Draco's wrist. He groaned inwardly and rose to his feet. Draco eyes widened as Jacob scuttled around the side of the desk and bent down. He vaguely wondered why Draco was looking so stunned when all he did was gruffly slap the man on the back and pull away. 'You can grunt if you want,' he said as walked towards the door of the office and slipped out of it, saying a quick goodbye. He walked down the corridor laughing to himself at how Draco had looked like a stunned fish when he had slapped him on the back, he smirked to himself as he re-entered the Professor's office to use the fireplace.

Shortly he found himself walking down the street to his sister's house, George's hand around his. The only sound apart from the insistent pushing of the wind was their footsteps plodding along the concrete sidewalk. His sister lived down a very well to do street with huge brick houses that stood tall beside each other that looked identical right down to the stones in the gardens. It was a nice place and had a friendly safe feeling around it despite the uptight look that accompanied it. It would be the right place to raise Natalie and Jacob could already see visits to him as being fun and different for his little niece. George had started scuffing his shoe as he walked and only did it for a few steps before stopping and looking around at the houses and gulping.

'It's like they know I'm dragging my shoe,' George hissed to him. 'It's very well to do,' he said with a smirk. 'I want to mess up that patch of grass because even that would be looked on as menacing in a street like this. Your sister must drive the neighbours mad.'

'I bet,' Jacob said and pulled George after him as he jogged up the steps to the front door of his sister's house. At least he hoped it was Anne's house. They all looked the same. Beige coloured bricks and smart doors, it was very hard to tell. He had a feeling this was Anne's, he had come here once but didn't remember the visit because it had been deathly boring and Anne hadn't yelled at anyone or made a public spectacle of people so it became an uninteresting visit that focused mainly on the current events of the world. He knocked sharply on the door and backed away down the steps to stand beside George.

'Your mother isn't going to be here, is she?' George asked out of the corner of his mouth as the door creaked open a wee way.

'No,' Jacob said back. The door opened fully and when Jacob saw who was standing behind it holding it open, he literally squealed in delight and took the front stairs two at a time, throwing himself into her arms. He hadn't seen her in ages and it was a joy to finally see her again. The dark black face, hair and glowing brown eyes belonged to one of his dearest friends, Kath. She and him and been inseparable during their childhood in St John's Wood and had been the closet of friends all the way through life until ... Jacob's stomach dropped. It had been months, months and months since he had seen her last. Ages, he hadn't even given her a kind word for Christmas. Nothing for months, she must have been worried about him. But Jacob was so excited that he was jumping about in her hug and would save the apologies for later. But there was someone else missing from their circle. It was him, Kath and Doug. It was always had been since they did most of their growing up together at St John's. It had been Kath and Doug and first and when Jacob had arrived in the neighbourhood, the first thing they had said to him was that they were secretly brother and sister. But Jacob had told them it wasn't possible because Kath was really dark and Doug was so white. Then they had to him that he couldn't be Scottish because he wasn't dressed in a kilt. They had been best friends since then. It had been difficult for them to stay together when they flatted because each of them had diverse amounts of money to spend on their University funds. Kath and Doug had flatted together for they could afford a rich, lush apartment because their parents were helping pay for their studies but Jacob was paying for his own, so he went with a grotty cheap place. Even then they hadn't grown apart. It was only when Jacob had found himself completely busy with other things that his friends had got away from him.

'Dude!' It was Doug. Jacob tore himself away from Kath and hugged Doug who squirmed uncomfortably but finally let Jacob. 'We were about to file a missing persons report a while back when we couldn't get hold of you and your flatmates had said you moved out but thankfully your sis here had a clue. Faithful Jacob had gone missing!'

'Months and months, don't let me get into how many months you've been gone,' Kath said shaking her head. 'No word, either. Do you have any idea how worried we were?'

'I said to Kath "I knew we should have kept him with us, looked after him more. God only knows what that dude could get himself into, all sorts," I said to her,' Doug muttered.

'Let's hear your excuse then?' Kath said in her normal quiet voice. She was a quiet speaker but didn't tend to use quiet words. 'Tell me or I won't let you inside to see Natalie.'

'Can't I just have another hug?' Jacob asked pleadingly. He looked at their faces so glad to see him as he was to see them. He didn't know if he was allowed to tell them. Jacob had only told his parent's because Kingsley had said he wouldn't Oblivate them. How many more special allowances could he make for Jacob? He stepped forward over the threshold of the house hoping that Kath would let him inside. She faltered a little when he stepped forward, as if she wanted too but Doug held the defence strong.

'No in until you tell us what you were doing.' Doug ruffled his collar and smoothed a hand over his infamous buzz cut. They had been an odd threesome growing up. The black, devout girl who rich parents couldn't care less what she did, the boy who talked like a hippy and did everything his parent's told him not too and the Scottish boy who spent far too much time hanging around his lesbian aunt when not with his friends. Kath and Jacob had spent a lot of time hauling Doug by his belt loops out of trouble. Kath and Doug had spent many nights helping Jacob realize he was gay. Doug and Jacob had spent years trying to get Kath to overcome her shyness and when she finally did, it was beautiful. But it had worked for them, they were three amigos. Joined to the hip until Jacob had vanished for four months, he may as well of disappeared of the face of the planet for he would have been untraceable. He felt terrible; during those long months he had only thought of them a couple of times but now he truly understood how much he had missed them. He was so close to them they were almost like extensions of him. It worried him how easy it had been to forget about them and swore that it would never happen again. It could never happen again; he wouldn't let it ever happen again.

'Career change, and time got away,' Jacob lied through his teeth and hoped – no prayed that they wouldn't notice it. He couldn't tell them what had really happened. He was too scared to. Not because of their reactions but of because what might happen to them if he did. He didn't want them Oblivated and he had no way in telling if that would happen or not. 'Had to go through a lot of training ... have you met George?' he said quickly changing the course of his sentence as he realized he had no clue what jobs took a lot of training and wouldn't be able to expand into what his new profession involved. So he'd shove someone else they could blather about under their noses. Hopefully it would take their minds off him.

'Of course we haven't met George, you've been gone for four months,' Kath muttered as she stepped back to allow Jacob and George entrance into Anne's household. 'Ooh,' she commented and nearly thrust her hand up George's nose in her eagerness for him to shake it. 'Kath Barlow.'

'George Weasley,' George replied with a charming grin but there was something of a glare in his glance when he caught Jacob's eye briefly.

'Doug Sullivan,' Doug pushed his hand forward to George as well. 'Nice to meet you, man.' When you first meet Doug and until he figured out whether he liked you or not you were addressed as man. When he deemed you likable you got upgraded to dude. From day one Jacob had always been a dude and Doug had been a dude for him too.

After many more greetings and a not so made up story about how he had meet George (he had told Kath and Doug that George was his boss of the small business Jacob had trained so hard to be a part of. It was his story until it was ok for him to tell his friends what was really going on. It might never be ok though) he found himself outside, cradling Natalie in her huge blanket and having the uncomfortable sensation of Anne's eyes burning a hole through him. Before he had come outside to talk to his sister, who had asked for the privilege as Jacob was still being flooded by questions, George had pulled Jacob aside and had a quick and snappy conversation with him. George was upset with Jacob that he had not said anything about these people to him before. It had been a massive blunder on Jacob's part. Hugely massive but he had forgotten while having so much else bombarded on him. He had softened George's upset by saying that being caught a whirlwind romance made it hard to focus on other things. It had indeed relaxed George somewhat who had let himself be kissed by Jacob and then trudged off to talk to Kath and Doug after Anne had accosted him for her turn. Jacob was still horrified and disgusted that he had completely abandoned his friends and hadn't though much of them for four months. It had been selfish and rude. But it was over now; he couldn't do anything about what had happened now. It was past. He had made countless apologies to his friends and even grovelled before Doug who had proved a little difficult to win back. But the three of them had a bond that couldn't be broken even if one of them ran off for four months.

Natalie was fast asleep in his arms, the blanket protecting her from the cold night. Her expression was soft in sleep and she looked like a little angel. He smiled down at his exhausted niece and rocked her in his arms as Anne settled herself in for a chat.

'Dad says you are ... gifted,' she muttered. Jacob's attitude changed when he realized this was what Anne wanted to talk about. He wasn't dreading being yelled at for forgetting about his friends this time.

'In more ways than one, Anne.'

'That you are magical. Don't lie to me or I'll hurt you,' she added threateningly. 'Dad already told me everything you told him. No need to show me! I believe you.'

'What a wonderful mother you have, sweet Natalie,' Jacob mused. He sighed and cleared his throat knowing he'd have to tell her what he had learnt from the letter. She didn't know that part, it was new news. He launched into another description of the relations and blood from their mother's side. Before it had been something of a mystery but now they knew more. He nearly smacked himself in the head for being so stupid. He should have told Kath and Dough he was finding out about family history.

When he had finished, Anne looked at him solemnly not voicing an opinion on this at all. She just nodded and spoke. 'Are you going to tell mum about that?'

'No.'

'Not even a little?'

'No.'

'So-'

'Yes, nothing.'

Anne shrugged. 'What about Doug and Kath. Will you tell them?' she asked. Jacob shook his head.

'Don't tell Doug and Kath. I can't tell them. I had to get permission to tell you and the family. If they know their memories could be wiped and I don't want that. Please don't tell them.'

'Relax,' Anne said and looked at him seriously. 'Dad told me all about that. You have a Minister of Magic and you had to ask him for permission to tell us. I won't tell them until you get the same permission.'

'I might not be able too.'

'You've haven't spoken to them in four months and you aren't even going to tell them what you were really doing?'

Jacob shrugged. 'I will if I can.' He looked back into the windows and saw his two friends and George talking and laughing. He smiled. He had missed Kath and Doug, a lot even if he hadn't noticed it. He had missed them so much and was glad that his sister had gone through the effort to surprise him with them like this. It was great. He had really missed them so much and planned to keep touch even though he was insanely busy with everything. He would make the effort because they had. He had missed them so much.

Friends were truly forever and he intended to keep these ones for longer than that.

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	36. Many Promises

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**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

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**Curiosity  
Part Thirty-six: Many Promises**

The floor became a place of comfort for the three of them. Jacob lay on his back staring up at his sister's ceiling, the blatant pure white staring back down at him as if in challenge. Kath was lying on her stomach, leaning up on her elbows and playing with Jacob's hair. She'd always had such a fascination with his hair; she said it was just so blonde compared to her dark roots. She loved his hair, she wanted it for herself and had once bleached her hair at the age of sixteen much to Jacob's horror who in return liked her dark locks. She had quickly dyed it back when she saw how horrible it looked. Doug was leaning his head on Jacob's shins, tapping out a rhythm on the floor with his fingers. Doug zoned out a lot and went off into his own little world where nobody knew when there was nothing going on to interest him. Doug could actually shut himself out from everything that was going on around him. The man could sit in a raging storm and not notice it if he didn't want to. Jacob wasn't sure where George was as he couldn't see the man but he could hear faint talking from a voice that sounded like his voice and assumed he was talking to his sister. He didn't want to look over and see where George was because it would upset Doug who was far in a day dream he'd probably get quite a fright if roused from it. George had since apologized for giving Jacob such a hard time before he'd briefly spoken to Anne. George had been horrified at how Jacob could have just completely forgotten about his best friends for four months. Jacob didn't know he could of either but it had happened and George had forgiven him for the major blunder and now his friends needed to as well. 

'Guys,' Jacob said softy and the hands in his hair stopped moving and as he expected Doug jolted back into the real world blinking like he'd just woken up. Jacob didn't even want to think how strange the three of them looked lying the centre of Anne's living room yet it was comfortable down here and they would not be moved. Paul had come home from work quite late and stopped to stare at his brother-in-law lying on his floor with two strangers. But he moved on and didn't ask a single question which was surprising. Jacob needed to give his friends an apology so he'd have to pull one out hard. 'Look, I'm really sorry that I didn't keep in touch- '

'It was four months,' Kath butted in.

Doug waved a lazy hand. 'Nearly four months, dude, roughly.'

Jacob let out a distressed groan and banged his head back down on the floor. 'Things got away from me and I was busy and I couldn't charge my phone but I can now so I don't have any more excuses if you try and contact me. But I'm sorry; I hadn't really realized it had been that long! I'm just really, really sorry.' There was a bitter silence in which Doug started tapping his fingers again and Kath returned to playing with Jacob's hair. During the short silence, rain had started to fall. Pattering in an incomplete rhythm and drumming against the roof, drenching the outdoors. Jacob felt smug and safe that he was indoors with people he adored even if half of them probably resented him and wanted to smack him right now. He was about to open his mouth again when Doug suddenly cut across him.

'Don't say sorry again, dude,' he said seriously his eyes boring into Jacob. His deep blue eyes weren't as bright as Jacob's were but Jacob's didn't have the sultry intensity that Doug's did. And Doug's eyes were also framed by dark lashes that them seem even more powerful than they were. 'I don't know about Kath but I definitely forgive you. I missed you a lot. We were missing something without you along all the time. It sucked, dude. You know? You feel something's wrong. It was wrong because you weren't there. We were about to send in a report to the police but then Anne said she'd seen you recently. She'd kept seeing you and you never stopped to see us.'

Kath let out a strangled sigh. 'I guess I have to forgive you,' she murmured. 'I missed you as well. Doug's right. It wasn't the same without you. We were like a half eaten chicken burrito. It was weird.' Her talented fingers massaged Jacob's head. 'You'd better not vanish like that again or else ...' her hands clenched in his hair, he let out a yelp of sharp pain but she quickly realized his strands. 'Or I'll find you and tug your hair again.'

'Leave the threatening to me, dude.' Doug nibbled his thumb. 'It was a pretty sucky four months. Well not entirely ...'

'Why, what happened?'

'My sister had her baby,' announced Doug.

'So did mine!' Jacob said.

'No shit Sherlock.' Doug grinned that was one of his favourite sayings. 'The sprog is called Jimmy Dean Sullivan, after James Dean I think. Dude, I'm jealous. The kid has such an awesome name and I'm stuck with Doug Sullivan.' He scowled. 'Who names their baby Doug, anyway? My parents must have been seriously deranged when they gave me that name. My sister has the right idea.'

'At least they didn't name you Kath,' said Jacob. Kath had always just been Kath, it wasn't short for anything at all. It was just Kath from birth to adulthood.

'I was Kath from the day I was born. I was always going to be Kath even if I was a boy,' Kath murmured.

'Dude, a dude named Kath!' Doug said with a laugh.

'Jacob's a weird name for a child.'

'I reckon it's adorable,' Doug said to Jacob.

'Thank you!' Jacob beamed at him. 'What else has been happening with you while I've been gone?' He decided that if he just treated it like he had been away for a holiday; it would be the best thing.

'Doug met someone,' Kath said.

'I wanted to tell him, dude,' said Doug with a scowl. 'Don't say anything else, this is mine! I met someone,' Doug said to Jacob.

'I've been hanging around with the lovebirds because someone hasn't been around,' Kath said and prodded Jacob in the cheek.

'Shut up!' Doug cried. 'I'm telling him!'

'Don't you have any other friends?' Jacob asked Kath.

'None as fun to pick on as you,' she muttered before motioning for Doug to carry on.

'Thank you,' Doug said rolling his eyes. 'Her name is Carla,' he said dreamily. 'Dark, dark hair, pretty green eyes. She's gorgeous.' He smiled distantly at them. 'She's nice and clever.'

'Good for you,' Jacob said leaning up and clapping his across his head, softly never hard. Doug grinned. 'How long has it been going for?'

'Couple of months, dude, but I really like her.'

'She makes Doug sound like a teapot half the time, it's kind of funny.' Kath snorted to herself and combed her fingers through Jacob's hair. 'George,' she said to him. 'Was he involved in the four month thing?'

'Mm,' Jacob murmured softly. 'Yeah, we have a flat,' he added.

'But he's your boss,' Kath said. 'Doesn't that get in the way sometimes?'

'No, it's a small business.' George's business certainly wasn't small, it just wasn't very difficult to run but he had recently employed more people to take care of the shop in Hogsmeade along with the original owner. And George's continuous redecorations on the outside of the shop were burning a hole in Jacob's pocket. But it was worth it to see George completely thrilled. 'It doesn't get in the way at all.'

Kath and Doug's attention had been perilously snapped from Jacob's relationship with George to the new career he has taken up. Jacob wished he hadn't said anything about it because now he would have to make up other information about what he did that had taken four months worth of training. His story was beginning to wane and he wasn't sure if they'd buy it or not. When he heard himself speak, he knew that he certainly didn't believe himself. It sounded incredibly unreal and it was amazing his friends trusted him enough to believe that he was telling the truth. Jacob would have to ask Kingsley as soon as possible if he could tell them, leaving them out in the dark like this while he lied through his teeth about his doings made him feel horrid. He wished he could tell the truth to them, yet if he did they'd be at risk of being Oblivated. The Ministry kept tabs on that so well Jacob didn't even understand how they knew when a Muggle found out about magic if they kept their mouths shut. As Kath and Doug took their time asking about Jacob's job, Jacob kept thinking about what kind of friend he was. One that neglected his best friends for four months and then they asked him what he had been up to, he lied like he was the devil with a forked tongue and all. He was a piece of work. He wished there was some way he could tell them without arousing their suspicions of things they shouldn't know about. But he couldn't find one; they'd have to remain oblivious to this until Jacob could gain permission to tell them.

'This new job ...' Kath said after they had listened to the rain for some time and Jacob's thoughts had run rampant around his mind. 'What is it?' The hands in his hair had stopped and Jacob knew with a heavy heart and his mind weighing more, that Kath was serious about knowing. The tone in her voice told Jacob that he must tell her what he had actually been up to and not ignore the questions any longer. There was no where Jacob could hide from her enquiry, she'd spat it out into the open so that Doug heard it as well. They'd pester him until he told if he avoided it once more. Jacob's only choice was to say something he'd said before until he was able to talk about the reality.

'Can't say,' he said playing this card again. It had worked with his old flat-mates but then again, they didn't know him very well. Sure, they were friends but not like Kath, Doug and him. 'It's in the contract.'

'Pretty fucked up contract,' Doug said with a sigh. 'It must be an important job then. Four months training and then a contract like that. Do you work for the government or the Queen?'

'What? No! Don't be stupid, it's just a job. I'll tell you more when I can, ok? I promise I will. I just can't right now.' He hoped they realized by the tone of his voice that he really wanted to tell them what was up but couldn't because of something that was more important to him than a contract. Their minds and their memory of meeting him again would be altered, and he didn't like that. It was like an invasion into a private area. People shouldn't be allowed to do that to others. But sometimes, he supposed, it could come as a godsend. He just didn't want to tell Kath and Doug and then meet them again to find they remembered very little of what he had told them. 'I really want to tell you more, I just can't.'

Doug grunted and Kath scowled. 'Fine,' she muttered twisting her soft voice into a scathing tone. 'When will we see you again?' she asked. This caused Doug to look across at her, his eyes wide. Jacob knew what he was thinking. Kath was normally like this; she was a lot gentler and didn't get angry and mad at all. When they were kids, she hadn't even been able to stand up for herself but Doug and Jacob had taught her how. Only a few times had they heard her tone rise above an annoyed fluster of words and it was getting loud now. 'Another four months? Maybe five this time?' She had pulled away from Jacob and Doug and was sitting a stone throw away on the carpet with her arms crossed over her chest and glaring at Jacob like he was a tiny bug she wanted to squash.

'Whenever you want,' Jacob said quickly. 'I'll keep my phone on all the time now.' Just last week he had taken the time to ask George if it was possible to charge an electronic device using magic. It turned out to be simple but Jacob's phone had still remained off as a force of habit. He would turn it on as soon as he returned to the flat.

'You'll find about twenty odd phone calls and probably about fifty texts from me,' Kath snapped. Suddenly she looked embarrassed and her expression fell back to her normal calm and intelligent one. She didn't usually get that riled up about something and it was all Jacob's fault.

'I'm really sorry,' he said.

Kath jumped to her feet, shaking her head in some private chat going on in her mind. 'You,' she said and pointed sharply at Jacob. 'Coffee and movies next week, you have no choice. Leave your phone on, I'll call you.' She walked towards the door and grabbed her coat before hugging Anne with one arm and tickling sleeping Natalie's nose before leaving the house.

'I'm not angry,' Doug said. 'I understand how it can be. Time just flies and as long as you haven't got replacement friends I'm cool with it, dude. You can probably expect the same thing from me one day. I'll run off just to get away from it. America or maybe Australia, I don't know. But, dude, don't worry about it. It happens. Life happens, its life, don't let it bother you. She missed you, we all did. But it's all good now, dude.' Doug grinned at him and struggled up to his own feet. 'Gotta go,' he muttered. 'Late date with Carla. See you next week, dude. Coffee and movies, Kath'll text you.' He shot one more look at Jacob and rested a hand on his shoulder. 'Don't worry about it, dude. It was nothing. We were worried, is all.'

Saying goodbye to Anne, Paul and Natalie was a blur. He was thankful to Anne who had organized this whole thing. Jacob could tell she was pissed at him when she said goodbye. That just sent Jacob further into the slums. He couldn't believe himself and was glad to get out of there. He felt like bursting into tears when George took his hand. The man had only expressed a small amount of disgust at him but had apologized just minutes later. Jacob was supposed to be loyal, he was a faithful kind of person, he didn't usually just run out on his friends unless he had a very good reason. He supposed the one he had was good enough. Who wouldn't lose themselves if something like that happened to them? But Jacob was still appalled.

'I'm so stupid.' It was the first thing Jacob had said to George after they had left his sister's house together. The street was quiet and their falling footsteps seemed louder than ever. Jacob wished they could just Apparate now and get back to the flat that much faster but they had to walk to a safe place where no one could see them. Here there was a huge risk of being spotted vanishing from the sidewalk. But that didn't mean Jacob couldn't yell his foolishness as they walked. 'I'M SO FUCKING STUPID!' He yelled it so loud that George beside him jumped out of fright. He was stupid, Jacob was stupid. He had completely abandoned his friends for months, how stupid was he? He was surprised they hadn't been angry with him, well angrier. Kath had expressed annoyance and Doug had been his normal self. Jacob had wanted one of them to slap him, it would make him feel better. 'God,' he muttered, 'I'm a horrible person. I just forgot! I forgot about my friends. I only thought of them a couple of times. What kind of self-indulgent wanker am I? JESUS!' he yelled enjoying the raw hurt in his throat as he yelled. 'I'm such a prick. Why are they even friends with me? I can't even tell them the real reason.'

'If they knew the proper truth it would make more sense to them. You aren't what you said at all. You just got carried away; it's hardly your fault. Well, actually yeah it is your fault but there isn't any way that you can – legally - reverse what happened,' George said and then looked at Jacob with wide eyes, 'unless you want to use a Timeturner and change the last four months. If you'd rather -'

'No,' Jacob said determinedly. 'No. It was a mistake to forget about them but I don't want four months with you to have never really happened. Sure I'm a stupid selfish arrogant bastard who forgot his friends but I'm a stupid selfish arrogant bastard who has the best boyfriend and I wouldn't want to change that.' Jacob nibbled on his bottom lip before asking, 'If I completely ignored you for four months, you'd break up with me wouldn't you?'

George looked shocked at the question but answered truthfully. ''Have to say I would.'

'See, that's reasonable! But I ignored them for four months and they haven't severed the bonds of friendship or whatever you do to end a friendship.'

'You didn't ignore them, you forgot.'

'How is that better?'

'Look, Jacob, just shut up about it, alright? Sure you forgot about them but you have other things to do. You've had hardly any time on your hands at all. You're not anything of those things you called yourself. I love you, even if you do manage to cock up majorly sometimes.'

'You shouldn't be so nice about this,' Jacob said quietly but he still let George kiss his top lip softly. 'Any normal person would be horrified with me and just jump ship right now but you're still here.'

'I love you,' George said. 'I don't know if I could just "jump ship", Jakey. It was partly my fault that you've been so busy anyway.'

Jacob shrugged and nodded. 'That is true.' He heard George laugh. 'I'm not going to do that again,' he said. 'Let myself get so preoccupied with something else I forget about everything that's important to me. I won't do that again.' George's hands tightened on his waist.

'So, you'll never forget about me and always have time to spend with me?' the red head asked. He rolled his eyes and added, 'and of you course, your friends.'

'Yeah,' Jacob said. 'I couldn't ever forget you again. I don't want to. I love you,' he added with a blush on his cheeks. George chuckled again and caught Jacob's mouth in a breathless kiss. 'Love you,' Jacob repeated. 'You don't have to worry about me not having any time for you anyway. We live together.'

'That's true.' George sighed and let Jacob slip his hand into his. 'Can you believe my sister is getting married soon?'

'They've sorted out a date?' Jacob asked knowing he'd be invited. He was glad that George had saved this for a change of topic if they ever needed one. It was a good thing for him to bring up now when all Jacob wanted to do was hate himself and punch himself in the face. He hated what he had done; it was a real stupid thing. He had no idea how he had managed it but somehow he had. 'When is it?'

'This Saturday, actually,' George said grinning. 'Soon, isn't it? We have to go and help out on Friday.'

'Ok,' Jacob said agreeing and finding this completely fine. All he had scheduled was a billion classes with Professor Tarn until he got his Patronus right and then coffee and a movie sometime next week. He had plenty of time to loss himself in whatever it was he had lost himself in when he forgot about his friends. 'Are you going to take part in the ceremony?'

'Yeah,' George said. 'I'm walking down with Luna Lovegood, have you met her?'

Jacob shook his head. 'No, I haven't. She won't touch your arse like Angelina did, will she?' He meant in a joking way and George caught on to that, thankfully.

'Her heads too far in the clouds for her hand to even reach.'

'She's tall?'

George laughed. 'Nah, she's dreamy, out of it half the time, a bit strange you could say.'

Nodding absently, Jacob's eyes trailed on the concrete sidewalk. He was still upset with himself for forgetting Kath and Doug. He was more than upset it was more a disgusted hatred. But he knew it would pass in time, he was never one to get depressed over something he had done. He felt George's hand squeeze in his accompanied by an exasperated sigh. Jacob couldn't help sulking about his actions. As George had said he had cocked up majorly. He sighed; he wouldn't dwell on it because wasn't going to forget about them again. Kath would make sure and Jacob was turning his phone on the second he got back to the flat.

'Would you stop moping?' George asked him. 'It's a bit of a downer, Jakey. I don't like seeing you like this.'

For some strange and bizarre reason Jacob thought that if they were in a musical, after George had said that they'd break out into a passionate and romantic love song. He smirked a little to himself, the thought of George singing in a musical cheering him up immensely. It was an entertaining thought, funny because it would never happen and amusing because George would never do something like that. Not that George had a bad voice; he had quite a good voice. Only if he kept it to a low and didn't sing anywhere but the shower, it was nice.

'Yeah, ok, sorry,' Jacob said shaking his head as he remembered he actually had to answer George. 'Fine, I'm fine.' Instead of continuing to walk like they had been before, hand in hand, George pulled his hand away and slung his arm around Jacob's shoulders and kissing the side of his face. It was easy to see how he had lost track of time, Jacob found as he looked up at George. Most of the reason had been George, the gorgeous man he had fallen in love with. Every hour with George didn't even feel like that, it felt like a heartbeat. It was no wonder how four months had gone by so quickly. He had progressed so much since he had stepped into the Leaky Cauldron. It was incredible how fast things had moved since then. It felt like time was just flying by and he could only reach out and grab at a few strands whizzing past. So, forgive him if he got a little lost in time. Maybe that was how things were when you got older. Time just sprinted ahead of you in the race and you always finished last. Time moves on whether you're willing to go with it or not. It doesn't wait up.

It was Friday evening and the Burrow was a hive of excitement. Molly was buzzing about the place and completely dotting over Ginny, who was leaving with the girls soon, so she wouldn't be anywhere near Harry until the wedding tomorrow. Apparently it was common for only a bride to have a Bachelorette party and never the men. For that Jacob was thankful. He was glad that he didn't have to be dragged along to a strip club at all. That was the most horrifying part when people got married. He, as a man, had to go with the blokes to the strip club to look at breasts jiggling. It wasn't enjoyable. He was glad that because of one small Wizarding custom he was spared the embarrassment of having to accompany them all to a strip club. Even if Harry did have one and George went, Jacob would probably opt to stay behind at the Burrow with Molly and Arthur and whoever else happened to be there. All the people left after when Ginny had left, that was mainly all the Weasley boys plus Jacob and Harry, Molly and Arthur were helping sort out the wedding. Harry wasn't though, he had retreated upstairs to one of the bedrooms to work on his vows or something of the like. It wasn't his job to sort out his own wedding, that's what Molly was there for. She had stormed in and had taken control of all the preparations. It was going to be outside the house like Bill and Fleur's had been. Jacob couldn't think of a better place to have a wedding. The area surrounding the misshapen Burrow was beautiful at the best of times. And why pay for a location and help when your family and their numerous tagalongs were willing to do it for you. It seemed perfect. Free of cost and in a location Harry and Ginny would know well so it would be a source of comfort if one got cold feet and needed to think for a few seconds.

Tomorrow was looking to be a stunning day. As the sun set red strips of light were streaked across the sky, promising good weather for the big day. 'Red sky at night,' Jacob had said to George was they trudged out of the warmth of the Burrow and into the cold air outside. Jacob breathed in the warm smell of grass and honeysuckle. 'Sheppard's delight,' he finally finished when they were outside to see the full intensity of the stunning light that streaked the sky. The others had tottered outside the house as well, wands drawn and ready to do what was needed to make the garden acceptable. A little to the left and in one of the windows of the top most floors of the Burrow, Harry could occasionally be seen pacing back and forward muttering to himself as he walked. During the time they spent studying the sky, the others had already started sorting things out. George had just placed a hand on Jacob's waist and pulled him in close to him as someone called out to them for their help.

'Oi, lovebirds!' It was Charlie calling to them. Jacob saw that when he turned around and saw the stocky Weasley beckoning him and George over. 'Give us a hand will you?' The others had begun walking up to the Orchard behind the Burrow's garden. As all of them approached a piece of canvas could be seen lying on the ground. Bill was already up there and waved his wand with a simple flick and the canvas sprung up and formed a large tent for what could possible either be for the actually ceremony or the after-party. And suddenly six people found themselves standing around uselessly.

'That was a lot quicker than I thought it would be,' Bill said scratching his head. 'Uh, I thought it would take a lot more work. Dad said he'd sort the chairs out. But don't despair!' he cried out heartily to those who were beginning to perk up by the fact that the work might be done. 'Perce, can you go and help mum with all the food? Charlie, give me a hand with the front yard. George, could I get you and Jacob to sort out the garden? You should really go and talk to Harry, Ron, he looks like he's shitting himself up there.' Everyone remained staring at Bill for several seconds as if wondering if an erected tent was all that needed to be done here. 'Mum's doing the decorations tomorrow morning. She doesn't think we can handle it.' That was explanation enough for the Weasley's plus Jacob. Charlie and Ron scoffed as they headed off to their allocated tasks.

'You all seem to listen to Bill a lot,' Jacob said picturing the eldest of Arthur and Molly's children's scarred face in his mind. 'Did he get those scars in the battle?'

'Mm,' George murmured as they walked to the garden behind the back of the house. As soon as Jacob saw the garden his heart dropped with dismay. It was at the rear of the house, surrounded by a large picket fence, bushes and gnarled trees, all which badly needed a good trimming to be deemed acceptable for the wedding. It was also dotted with overgrowth. Such as weeds and wayward plants that badly needed a cut as well. He sighed in relief as he saw the large pond though. The big green pond full of croaking and frogs and a handful of small fish was clean. It had possibly been cleaned as recently as the day before. 'Not the battle of Hogwarts, not the last battle,' George continued. '1997, June, it was when he got those scars. Mum was horrified, didn't think Fleur would want to marry him any longer. But he came out of it alright, just a bit of scarring and he likes his meat raw.'

'What did that to him?' Jacob asked puzzled.

'A werewolf.'

Jacob nearly dropped his wand in the pond as he was teetering on the edge, amusing himself by walking around the rim. 'You're kidding?!'

'Nah, not one bit,' George said and prodded a hedge with his wand and it morphed into a perfect model of Ginny's head. 'Nice,' he grinned to himself, 'mum will hate this.' He smirked and crossed over to Jacob who had gone back to tiptoeing around the edge of the pond. He yelped loudly as George's arms snaked around his waist and threatened to push him in the greenish water. But just as quickly as George had shoved him forward, he pulled him back safely to lean against his chest.

'God that gave me a fright!' he said struggling out of George's grip. Once out of George's tight hold he moved as far away from the pond as he could without leaving the garden. 'Don't you dare push me in,' Jacob said as George advanced on him again. But George didn't. When the red head was close enough, he pushed Jacob back against the wall of the house and pressed his lips against his, almost immediately pushing his tongue inside Jacob's mouth. Jacob welcomed the kiss and kissed back with the same passion as when George had begun it. One of George's hands had moved to the side of his face and the other was running along the inside of his thigh. He lifted Jacob's leg over his hip and kissed him harder, pressing into him.

'What was that for?' Jacob asked panting when George stepped back, lowering his leg. Jacob wanted so badly to leave it resting on his hip though, for him it was a comfortable and intimate positioning.

'All this wedding stuff,' George said and waved a hand around at the garden they were supposed to be clearing.

'Weddings make you horny?' Jacob asked wide eyed.

'A little, yeah.'

'This should be fun.'

'Oh, I'm counting on it.'

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**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	37. Weddings, Dances and Refusal

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**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

**Thanks to those who have been reviewing! You're great, this story is continued for you.**

**Curiosity  
Part Thirty-seven: Weddings, Dances and Refusal**

After the house and surrounding areas outside had been partially set up for the wedding and their jobs were done, Fleur's family arrived. As soon as the Delacour's arrived they took the house by storm. Everything had to be rearranged because of their arrival. The Burrow, already being jam packed as Bill, Charlie and Percy were both staying overnight along with Jacob and George, meant of a lot of sleeping arrangements had to be changed. A couple of days earlier a quick thinking Molly had resized the small bed in George's old room into a double if he and Jacob ever came to stay again. In the house there were only three spare beds, the double in George's old room, and another in the room where Charlie was sleeping. So Apolline and her husband, just known as Monsieur Delacour took George's bed and their youngest daughter took the spare single and shared the room in which Charlie was sleeping in. Jacob and George were allocated every single couch in the living room, Molly said they could sleep on which ever ones they liked. It was a good thing the girls had left to stay at Shell Cottage before the wedding or else there would be next to no room in the Burrow.

Jacob hadn't been able to greet the Delacour's properly but had been introduced to them. They spoke fluid and fast French and just enough English to be able to understand and communicate with the Weasley's, Harry and Jacob. Apolline Delacour was a very beautiful woman though she was aging considerably. It was quite late when they arrived but Apolline after being introduced to the newcomer (Jacob) whom she hadn't met before she had rushed off with Molly into the kitchen to see what food she had prepared for the wedding. George whispered in Jacob's ear that Apolline was very fond of Molly's cooking and Molly loved her because the French witch never tried to change a single thing that she makes just smacks her lips like an Italian and nods approvingly. Monsieur Delacour kept a close and never failing eye on his daughter as she walked up the stairs behind Charlie to show her the room. He then with a rush of words to his wife who called back in French levitated their bags up to the room they were staying with warm smiles and greetings to all he passed on the way. All Jacob knew of Gabrielle Delacour was that she was a bold girl who was very taken with Harry and could be heard talking to him for a long time in the hallways between bedrooms near midnight until she was accosted by both her mother, father and Charlie to get some sleep.

It seemed that Harry could not get any sleep though. After his midnight talk with Gabrielle he continued to walk around and around the Burrow. When he walked through the lounge, Jacob ducked down under the sheets that covered them both and George snapped his eyes shut both hoping that he would eventually get some rest or he'd fall asleep at the altar tomorrow. Finally, Harry trudged back upstairs seeming to come to some decision but when he reached the attic room that he and Ron were sharing there was a brief conversation, quite a loud as if they were trying to wake up everyone in the house and that was followed by a loud clunk. George groaned and whispered to Jacob that Ron had obviously taken it upon himself to be the one of all the Weasley's that was going to talk to Harry about hurting Ginny in anyway. One of them was going to have to do it eventually because all of the Weasley boys were very protective of their youngest sibling and only sister. Jacob must have fallen asleep while George was blathering away to no one but himself for he woke up the next morning to quite a startling array of faces and giggling in the background.

George's soft snores were still tickling his ear so the man was still fast asleep. He quickly and suddenly remembered that the pair of them had slept in the longue and that was one of the hubs of the household apart from the kitchen. Grimacing as he felt they way he and George had been sleeping next to each other, he tried to think of a decent way to wake up so they'd clear off. He had been pressed up right against George during the night and George's hand had made it down to rest against his inner thigh but thankfully that was covered by the blanket so the other Weasley's couldn't see. But the sheet had slipped down over them sometime in the night and the George's hand against Jacob's back and Jacob's hand over George's bellybutton could be easily seen. With a tiny amount of disgust Jacob could see his blonde hair falling forward into his eyes with messy abandon. He squirmed a little, letting a small yawn escape from his lips, really wanting to smooth his hair down to its normal, less messy state. They hadn't done anything during the night; Harry's insistent pacing had stopped that but Jacob was a wriggler and tended to move about a lot in his sleep whereas George slept like a log.

'Oh!' The cry was distinctively one from Molly who Jacob could see out of the corner of his eye bustling into the room and shooing her other sons out of her way. 'Goodness! They're still asleep, why didn't any of you wake them up? It's past ten!' Jacob felt Molly's hand brush past his ear and shake George's shoulder violently. 'Up, up!' she screeched at them. 'I know it's not your wedding but you still have to get up!' Taking a different tactic when George simply groaned and pulled Jacob closer to him, Molly sighed annoyance and crossed around the arm of the couch where George's head was resting on a pillow. Jacob quickly managed to struggle out of George's grip and pulling the sheets with him so George got a blast of cold air too wake him up. There was a yelp and a thud as Molly whipped the pillow out from under his head. 'Merlin's beard,' she said. 'I have to go now! I didn't have time to wake you up!'

'Bloody stinking hell, mum!' George yelled after her as she promptly left the house. Jacob assumed she must be going to help Ginny and the rest of the girls get ready. 'Merlin,' George simply flopped back down on the couch after she was safely out the door. 'Bloody woman.' He yawned sleepily and buried his head under the pillow Molly had pulled out from under him.

Jacob turned to the nearest person to him which luckily for him happened to be Charlie. He liked the man. 'Where's the shower?' he asked while rubbing sleep from his eyes and managing to keep the sheet around him with one hand.

'Up one level and to the left,' Charlie said. 'But I think Monsieur is in there.' The Weasley's never seemed to call Monsieur Delacour by his first and proper name and Jacob had never even heard it before, the man had been introduced as Monsieur Delacour as well so he'd just call him that also.

'Doesn't matter,' Jacob muttered as he took Charlie's directions. 'He's fit for an old man.' He heard Charlie laugh behind him as he trudged up the stairs and smirked to himself. Of course he wouldn't actually enter if Monsieur Delacour was in there, he'd wait but it was great to make people laugh. Best thing to start a day with, George always made sure he'd made Jacob crack up at least once before they went down to work in the shop. Jacob didn't even need to wait his turn for the shower because he nearly ran into Monsieur who was walking his down to have breakfast. The man looked mildly surprised when Jacob smiled at him as he passed like he hadn't even noticed that he was there yesterday evening or had just mistaken him for another Weasley despite the blonde hair. Or maybe it was just the blonde hair in general that had surprised him. Jacob shrugged, not thinking much else of the matter and was nearly bowled over again when Apolline charged down the corridor after her husband. Though she was a thin and small thing she could really blast people out of her way by just walking past. As Jacob ducked into the bathroom he got a full wave of her strongly fragranced perfume and nearly ended up gagging. It was pleasant smelling aroma but she had just applied an awful lot, enough to last her for at least two days.

Jacob had a quick shower and that was lucky because just as he had finished soaping himself down and rinsing off there was a knock on the door. He stepped out and grabbed the towel nearest to him, dried his hair quickly and wrapping the towel around his waist. He was glad that he had brought up the clothes had been wearing yesterday or he'd have to trudge down to the longue to get them. He stepped into his clothes with surprising speed, discarded the towels, scowled at his messy hair in the mirror and opened the bathroom to an equally messy head of hair. Harry was standing just behind the door and smiled faintly at Jacob, side stepping around him to get into the room. He looked tired, exhausted from his late night rounds of the house. Jacob couldn't even contemplate how nervous the young man must be feeling. The thoughts Harry would be having were a complete mystery to him and he wasn't going to stop and ask how he was feeling in case he was the one that made him realize marriage wasn't quite what he wanted at this stage. Jacob figured if Harry could make it all the way to alter, watch Ginny walk up the aisle, take her hand in his and still not want to run away or call it off at that stage, then he was ready for marriage and wanted it more than anything. Just before marriage jitters, that Jacob had had to deal with from his sister. Anne's were much more violent though, she had taken to stomping around and swatting Jacob over the head whenever he said something she thought ridiculous. Harry was quiet about it but Jacob was sure that everyone in the Burrow saw it was there. Bill or Arthur should probably talk to him.

Downstairs was a busy, busy place. George had finally awoken fully and was chattering away to Percy who was looking relaxingly bored about the whole thing. Bill and Charlie were hectically harassing Ron about what he had said to Harry last night (it turned out everyone had heard the talk and the crash that had followed and all thought the same thing). Ron however was refusing to tell them regarding it as a man to man talk, a private man to man talk. Charlie snorted upon hearing this and said to Bill that Ron probably had just stuttered at Harry and said words like "sister", "don't" and "hurt" before tripping over something while he climbed back into bed. As Jacob came down the stairs, Arthur called him over into the kitchen.

'Hungry, Jacob?' he asked pleasantly spooning some more of what looked like mashed potato onto Ron's plate who had woofed down the first lot. His nose however let him know that the food was actually scrambled egg. 'Made it myself,' Arthur said in an apologetic tone. 'Molly had to go help Ginny get sorted. I don't really know why, Hermione's with her.'

'Everything gets done when Hermione's around,' Ron butted in. 'Believe me, mate.'

'She could have stayed and made us a proper breakfast,' Arthur said. 'But, never mind! Want some egg?'

'Uh,' Jacob said and crinkled his nose. As he was about to speak and just ask for a slice of bread or a piece of fruit when George's hands came down firmly on his shoulders and he whispered in his ear. Jacob flushed, not because of the words he was saying to him but because everyone seated at the table had turned to look at them. George was enjoying all the confused attention and was just telling Jacob that he was popping back to the flat to get his dress robes and Jacob's suit. And he wanted to know whereabouts Jacob's suit was exactly. 'Uh,' Jacob said again trying to remember himself and cursing George mentally because the man liked to put on such a show of everything. 'In the closet I think, it was there the last time I looked. My suit, yeeeah,' he added to George but the others watching blinked as if brought out of a trance and continued eating Arthur's disastrous breakfast but he noticed that many were just eating pieces of fruit and bread. They hadn't wanted to risk the eggs. George nodded and in his typical fashion twisted Jacob around and locked his lips tightly on his in a breathtaking kiss. There was the distinct sound of cutlery dropping on a plate and an awkward cough when George finally pulled away from Jacob's lips, the smile on his face wide. Jacob grumbled under his breath at George who had excused himself from the present company and in a puff of green smoke vanished to the flat. Did George enjoy embarrassing him? Jacob didn't mind openly showing off and flaunting his sexuality but like Molly had said it wasn't their wedding, so George could tone it down a little. Jacob supposed he couldn't help it if weddings made George hot and bothered like he had told him yesterday. It was the strangest turn on.

'What will you have?' Arthur asked him pleasantly as everyone went back to eating now that the spectacle was over.

'Just,' Jacob found his voice was a little squeaky from the kiss and how George had practically left him dying from lack of air. He cleared his throat. 'Some fruit and a bit of bread will be fine, thank you.'

The Burrow started filling up for the wedding at around 1pm. People started arriving and greeting Harry and the rest of the Weasley's. Jacob was feeling a little perplexed at how different this wedding was from a normal Muggle one. When the guests came they all just sort of hung around, chatting joyously amongst themselves before waiting for word from Arthur who had obviously been waiting for word from Molly to walk up the chairs that littered the garden in neat and tidy rows. In front of these chairs a podium stood where the bride and groom and there various other people would stand. Jacob sat third row from the front by himself as George was walking up the aisle as he had said. The house and surrounding areas looked absolutely stunning. Molly had done a good job of decorating them the way that made them look best which meant less is more. There was very little around the podium apart from two huge weeping willows that just made it look stunning. Molly had put something in the trees that made them glow and glitter like there were a hundred butterflies dancing about in between the leaves. Over a short space of time the seats around him filled. All the immediate family and very close friends sat up the front and he was three rows back, not that he minded in the slightest. People had filled in the row beside him. Strong, muscular woman that you would not cross for a Galleon who were all chatting together about Ginny, her age and Harry Potter.

Jacob chose to ignore them and looked around to see who else was filling the seats. A huge, looming man who blocked out the afternoon sun for a second sunk into a seat right at the back. People of all sorts of were moving about and the dull hum of chat could be heard echoing around the orchard as all the people finally settled in. Jacob saw Kingsley. If he could get the man alone for about thirty seconds, that was all it would take, he'd ask about telling Kath and Doug. He simply, desperately needed to tell them. If he wasn't able to tell them, he was sure that his desperation to would go away with the knowledge that he wasn't allowed. The Minister was a reasonable man and had already made a lot of allowances for Jacob so he wouldn't be surprised if he said no. Jacob was certain that the wizards and witches that were part of the department that sorted out Muggle's wouldn't have been very happy with him for letting Jacob do that. But he had too. He could not have spared his parents the information even though the result had been an explosive, draining one. His father had been good about as Jacob had hoped and well, his mother could be forgotten for the time being.

Suddenly the faint roll of music started, it was too quiet to distinguish what the music was but it was there nonetheless, sort of chiming along in the back of your mind. Jacob was a little shocked when it was Harry who walked down the deep Gryffindor red carpet towards the alter accompanied by Molly who was gushing and bright pink as she kept patting Harry's arm looking up at him with adoring eyes like she was the one about to be wedded to him. She left him at the stand before a wizard standing in very regal looking robes and was probably the one to marry them (yet Jacob wouldn't pretend for one second to understand wizard customs). Harry, Jacob couldn't help but think it looked bloody handsome and Ginny was a lucky girl. He wore trimmed very elegant and well fitted dress robes that had most likely been tailored by a witch who was quite smitten with his good looks. Whoever had done it and shown off everything that stood out about him. His sharp green eyes, the tailor had made his normally lankly shape look quite bold and strong and if Ginny hadn't seen him yet she was in for a pleasant surprise. Molly drew Harry into a hug, dabbed her eyes before stepping away from the stand and down into the rows of seats where Apolline gave her a comforting pat on the back.

Next Ron and Hermione came down. Hermione was dressed in a deep blue dress that Jacob was sure would be seen on all of the other bridesmaids. The red faced look Ron's face didn't escape most of the people gathered and the thrilled one on Hermione's didn't either. Ron seemed to be pacing out what would happen during his and Hermione's wedding that if George was right would be being arranged soon also. If Ron was following Harry's guide like George always said he was, he was sure to purpose to Hermione soon. Ron was dressed in a similar fashion to Harry but didn't stand out as much for obvious reasons. Ron was the typical side kick type figure to Harry. It easy to see how happy he was for his mate and his younger sister, he was finally welcoming his best friend into the family.

Bill and Fleur walked down next both looking completely at home with this scenario. The parted as they reached the stand. Fleur went to stand beside Hermione and Bill next to Ron.

Jacob couldn't help but gape like a hopeless fish as George came down with the young lady who must be Luna. He was dressed in the same robes as his brothers before him but he looked stunning in them. To Jacob he outshone Harry. Jacob had difficultly describing how perfect George looked walking down, his arm coiled in Luna's. But he looked dead serious about escorting Luna to the end of the aisle, completely happy for his sister and Harry and under all that he still had that cheeky air about him like he was up to no good. Jacob took the time to look briefly at Molly whose eyes narrowed as she also saw that on George. It unnerved Jacob slightly that he could see himself so easily in Luna's place, he had to shake that out of his head when George passed him and shot him a wink. The muscular woman beside him let out giggles as they thought it had been intended for them. Jacob smiled back biting on his bottom lip a little when George passed and he had Luna separated. Jacob grinned to himself when he remembered what George and said about the Weasley-Smith thing the other night. From the look George kept shooting him from the stand next to Bill (the stupid woman beside him kept thinking the looks were for one of them. Jacob let them have their fun) he knew that George was possibly thinking those thoughts again. If asked Jacob would seriously consider it.

Someone Jacob had never seen before came waltzing down the aisle with even more self assurance than George. Gabrielle was on his arm and she didn't look to happy about it. Jacob thought that was fair enough. The man who was walking her down wasn't exactly a looker. A tall gangly boy with shortly cut black hair but beyond his uninteresting appearance there was something about him that made you know even before meeting him that you could really trust him. Jacob ignored that and looked to see who was coming down next, sure it would be Ginny finally. But it wasn't. There was one more couple to come down, Jacob scowled. He wished this would just get to the point. He wanted to tell George who goddamned sexy he looked standing up there. Next to come were Charlie and an Indian witch that he didn't know. Charlie actually winked at the ladies sitting next to Jacob causing them to nearly pass out from excitement.

Finally the music struck up a cord. And the wizards and witches rose from their seats, Jacob followed suit. Everyone was craning their necks around to see the bride. Ginny was wearing a stunning pure white dress, whiter than anything Jacob had seen and he was sure that it must have some kind of spell on it to keep it that white. Her red hairs that usually fell down her shoulder was pinned up in a bun with a few strands lose. One top of her head was a glittering tiara that sparkled as the lights from the two willows hit it but it could never out do Ginny when she looked like this. The dress itself was a strapless and just slunk down her form, Jacob thought she looked beautiful. She ignored everyone else as she walked up the aisle, her arm looped in her father's. She was concentrated on Harry and no one else. She made her way along with Arthur up to the stand where Harry stood, waiting. Harry's face was completely unreadable with thickset emotion. But a small smile appeared on his face as Arthur left his daughter in Harry's hands, completely sure and content as a father what he was doing was best for his daughter. Ginny's face was bursting with emotion and yet Harry looked quite sure of himself now as he offered Ginny as another small smile and took both her delicate hands. Jacob didn't know much about Ginny but he thought she looked absolutely gorgeous and the prefect bride.

The ceremony kept being interrupted by huge blubbering sobs from the background. The giant man had pulled out his handkerchief the second Ginny had descended. Great shiny tears were swelling in his eyes and fell all the harder when Harry said his hand written vows.

And suddenly appeared they were married. It had been a quick ceremony and it was more about the party and well wishes afterwards. The pair was married and neither looked quite sure what to do about it now. But Harry pulled Ginny into a tight embrace at the foot of the stand and kissed her for all the crowds to see. Hermione had tears in her eyes like the giant but wasn't heaving out great sobs like he. Gabrielle still looked disgruntled and had adopted a foul sneer on her face that even Draco would be proud of. George was whooping behind the married couple, holding onto Ron's shoulder as his brother looked a little dazed. Instead of letting Harry and Ginny walk away together as it happened in most Muggle weddings, the wizards and witches present swarmed to their feet and surrounded them yelling cheers of joy and words of happiness. After the wedding, the party started then and there. There was no way in hell that Jacob would reach Harry and Ginny to offer them congratulations as the amount people milling about them was thicker than gorse. But somehow he found himself standing before George.

'Not bad,' Jacob said thrusting his hands in the pocket of his suit and looking the man up and down again. 'Not bad at all.'

'Clean up nicely, don't I?' George asked with a smirk. 'This is different from a Muggle wedding?' George scanned his eyes over the heads of the clustered wizards and witches looking for anyone he knew. His eye settled back on Jacob who hadn't realized it was a question.

'Oh, yup,' he said. 'Lot more relaxed.' He looked back to George after another quick gaze around at the events unfolding. Harry and Ginny were still enveloped in a cloud of people that didn't look like it was going it clear anytime soon. George standing quite still, his hands in his pockets like Jacob. He caught him watching though and flashed him a smile.

'You look good in a suit,' he commented. Jacob flushed bright pink at the compliment and nodded modestly. 'Nah, I'm serious. You really do, you look great.' He strode forward and placed a passionate kiss on Jacob's lips, his fingers tightly holding Jacob's collar as he did.

'Weddings?' Jacob asked referring to the intensity of the kiss.

George rolled his eyes and offered a small flustered smile. 'I can't help it.'

It was the first time Jacob had danced with George. They had joined the others in a quick dance but received too much attention from people still watching and decided it would be better to sit it out so that Ginny could have her day. Jacob was somewhat annoyed about that because he had wanted to dance with George whether people stared or not but he knew that near the end of the night people wouldn't care in the slightest when the slow, romantic music was rumbling through the Burrow. It was George who had thought they'd better leave because Ginny kept glaring at him whenever Harry whirled her around. And he said that he could feel people staring holes through his right buttock.

Jacob had to wait his turn to speak to Kingsley. Whenever the last person speaking to him cleared off another jumped out of nowhere and accosted the Minister for a chat. Yet Jacob wasn't about to line up for the privilege to speak to him. While he waited there was a variety of people to talk to talk to. Hermione even sat down for a chat and to rest her feet.

'Different from Muggle weddings, isn't it?' she said a permanent smile plastered on her face as she watched Ron being demanded for a dance from Ginny. 'He can't dance,' she murmured. 'He's shocking really, he is. Treads on my toes every step of the way. Sometimes I think it would be better if I led.' She smiled softly. 'Who leads with you and George?'

Jacob grinned. There had been a mild struggle between them before as they decided they both wanted to lead during one particular song. But the dilemma was solved as they sat down after that one. But Jacob was reasonably versatile to the whole thing. He liked to be lead personally but didn't mind leading. 'George,' Jacob said. 'But I can lead too,' he added. He followed Hermione's gaze back to Ginny who was wincing every time Ron stepped on her feet. Harry, too was watching from affair, grinning though he was busy dancing with Molly. 'Are you and Ron? Do you think-?'

He didn't need to ask the full question as a blush from Hermione answered it. She had thought about it the same as Ron. Jacob smirked. Another wedding and he could come to grips with Wizarding culture a bit more. Hermione shrugged in the blue dress. 'Maybe, perhaps, possibly, only if he asks.'

'Why couldn't you ask him?'

'It wouldn't be proper.'

'Times are changing,' Jacob said swivelling around so he could check if Kingsley was free. He heard Hermione let out a low _humph_ of understanding but couldn't talk to her anymore as his window of opportunity was open. Kingsley was smiling at the last person who had walked away from him and was slowly walked towards the piles of food Molly had prepared to select his meal. Jacob nearly jumped to his feet as he remembered the importance of what he was going to ask the Minister. He excused himself from Hermione's company and all but pelted over to the Ministers side.

'Evening, Minister,' someone echoed as Jacob ducked around to get the man's attention.

'Oh, Jacob,' Kingsley said in his deep voice not even surprised in the least.

'Hello, Minister, enjoying yourself?

'Very much so. How is that Patronus coming?' Kingsley must have had a report on his progress from Tarn.

'Alright, thank you. Getting there, slowly,' he added to himself noting the dismay in his own voice.

'Ah, well jolly good. Please excuse me, I promised I'd talk to old Mrs Fig about the state of her garden.' He turned away from Jacob.

'Please, Minister, I just need to ask you one thing!' The Minister turned back around to face him, slight intrigue on his face. 'You let me tell my parents, Minister, Sir, about magic.'

'No one's parents should be left in the dark.'

'Mm, but my best friends ...' Jacob said.

Kingsley sighed, closing his eyes. 'Look, Jacob, I have already made several allowances for you. Many more than the others in the Ministry would like. I cannot let you, I am afraid. Yes you are different and haven't had the years to adjust like other Muggle born wizards and witches but I can't let you. Telling one set of Muggle's was enough and caused some annoyance from the Muggle departments. Telling another few ...' Kingsley shook his head. 'I'm afraid not. If you disobey Ministry regulations your friends will be Oblivated you may even be taken into custody.'

'But-'

'The answer is no.'

Kingsley strode off and Jacob was well aware that the expression on his face would closely resemble one of a scorned puppy. He sighed, shutting his eyes like the Minister had done. He had wanted to tell them, he had had to tell them. But now that he couldn't, he'd just be keeping them in the dark forever more. Maybe that was the best thing to do. Even though he wanted to tell them, he wasn't able to or the consequences would be quite large. He was sure of that. They could just think that for four months he had had no better excuse but the one of training for a new job.

'May I have this dance?'

Jacob turned around and took George's hand offered to him with a slow nod and the smile that came to his lips was slow to come as well. But it was a true smile. 'You may,' he said quite happy for George to guide him out into the floor. This was the best part of weddings, the dancing.

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	38. Temperamental Cauldron

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**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

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**Curiosity  
Part Thirty-eight: Temperamental Cauldron**

His hands had all sorts on them. He scowled as he wiped them off on his jeans as he had nothing else to clean them on. He felt like banging his head against the table, waiting for a cauldron full of things that didn't even interest him was boring. It was more than boring, the boredom was possibly life threatening. And it didn't help that Professor Simmons kept pacing in front of him, her steps echoing around the stone cold dungeons. The dungeons weren't pleasant either. Though the room he was still was quite small and compact, there were no windows, it smelt of sweaty feet and the only light came from two burning candles in the corner of the room, sweltering away like there was no tomorrow. He'd had his head over a bubbling cauldron for hours, staring at the potion he was creating. 

He was good at Potions but though Tarn knew that fact he still insisted that Jacob take the lessons with Professor Simmons. His training in Potions had been set aside for some time as everything else was brought back in perspective and his Charms had to be improved drastically. Jacob knew what he was doing in Potions and didn't why he heard students complaining about it as he wandered through the castle from time to time. All you had to do was follow the recipe and learn what ingredients were what and what they did. It wasn't very hard at all. It was just like cooking and baking. The only thing Jacob had to adjust to swing into Potions was that when he baked or cooked, he usually threw in a rough estimate of how much ingredient was needed. In Potions doing that could be quite a dangerous lazy habit. With Potions, _gently does it _was the best motto and advice you could have in store or give out.

But sitting inside a stinky room stirring a temperamental bubbling cauldron was not his idea of a prefect Monday afternoon. It was a beautiful day outside and when he had reported to Professor Tarn's office, he was dismayed the second he was sent down to the dungeons. At least they were cold though and the view of the lake out of Tarn's window would have been some serious temptation. Even though he had been looking forward to seeing Draco after this lesson, he was kind of glad that the Professor had given him a note from Draco which he had read that he was too busy to have their chats. Jacob just wanted to get home and drench his sweaty body in cold water. The dungeons had that odd thing going on, where one second they would be really cold and the next stuffy and horrible. It was like the magic keeping the room cold, dark and dungeon like was on the blink.

The right number of stirs later (five clockwise and seven anti-clockwise) he was done. Done with the Potion for the day anyway, as it was his first more advanced Potion he wasn't acquainted with the idea of leaving it overnight and coming back tomorrow afternoon to stir and throw ingredients into it some more. He secretly knew that Potions would only ever come in handy if George needed some help inventing new things and that apart from that Jacob would never, ever use the skill for anything else. But as Professor McGonagall had wanted him, for some crazy reason, to learn it, he supposed he would oblige her do that just. He had some kind of feeling deep down that he wouldn't really have to do more Potions or any other kind of magic inside of Hogwarts. It was like learning the Patronus charm would be the peak of his education and then the final test that would prove if he was ready to leave the teachings of the Professors and learn for himself.

Professor Simmons looked like she had been in a far off universe, day dreaming to her and jumped a little when Jacob coughed and called her name. It would be pretty dreary stuck in Hogwarts five days a week if you were a Professor. He did think Hogwarts was incredible but he knew from Draco that it could get tedious and sometimes all he wanted was out. Jacob hardly felt that way – apart from today because it was gorgeous outside – but he supposed that was because he rarely spent so much time locked up in the school – not a lot of time at all, so he really couldn't be judged on this. For some of the students who weren't allowed out to Hogsmeade in weekend trips must get sick of the school as well. But then again for them it was a fantastic place but for the teachers a little dull as there wouldn't be much people their age to talk to apart from other staff members. And conversation would surely grow thin.

The Professor nodded distantly at him, dismissing him without saying any words and Jacob took no time in hurrying out of the confused dungeons that couldn't decide whether they wanted to be warm or cold. He grimaced as he took the stairs two at a time back towards the Headmaster's office. The grimace was one of worry. He desperately wanted to get back home even though George probably wouldn't be home yet. He didn't want to get stuck in Professor Tarn's office doing some more magic just because Tarn's was a cranky bastard who had nothing better to do than terrorize Jacob into learning. That's why he grimaced and a little because George wouldn't be there when he got back. George had got into something of a routine with the shop in Diagon Alley and the one that was about to be opened in Hogsmeade. The grand opening would be soon, probably the end of this week. He worked in the morning with Jacob in the Diagon Alley shop and then left just after Jacob at four to finish putting the finishing touches on the Hogsmeade shop. The outside had been completed but Jacob hadn't seen it yet but as it had cost Jacob a pretty penny it had better look good. George had drawn up what he wanted and some other wizards had put it together for him.

All the windows were wide open in the Professor's office and the pleasant gusts of fresh smelling wind blew through into the workplace. The weather was a little unusual for the end of winter but there was no mistaking that everybody was hoping for an early start to the summer. Jacob for one would welcome the early summer with open arms and little clothing on. He wasn't exactly a beach bum but he still loved the warm weather as much as cold windy nights with a hot drink in hand, curled up under a blanket. The Professor, though, seemed oblivious to the good weather outside. His quill was scribbling over the parchment like a rabbit chased by a hunting dog. It seemed a Headmaster's work never ended. That was what Professor McGonagall had hinted to in her letter, and Professor Tarn must be getting a huge bout of work at the moment. So much that even though his fringe had flopped forward and was probably in his way, he wasn't stopping to brush it back.

'Is it ok if I go, Professor?' Jacob asked praying with all might that it was. He could just picture a cold shower to cool himself down and then he might open all the windows in the flat and treat himself to an ice cold beer. Maybe even a wank in the shower because cold showers ... He blinked as the Professor answered. He had been wondering what kind of fun he and George could have in the shower. A slight flush appeared on his face as the Headmaster pushed his fringe up to get a closer look at him.

'Are you ok Jacob?' he asked. There was no tone of concern in his voice just one of vague interest and maybe hope that he could send the young man home earlier. At the lack of concern in his voice Jacob knew what he intended. He was to stay for another session with the Professor, _now. _Jacob folded his arms, his plans blown for now. He'd just have to do them a little later.

'Fine, fine, Professor,' Jacob said and chanced the question again. 'Is it all right if I go?'

'No,' he said roughly throwing his quill across the table in abandon. 'Patronus, try it.' He pushed his fringe away and rested his chin on his hands, watching Jacob. 'Hurry up, I haven't got all evening. Try it twice; if nothing more happens go home.' It wasn't anything close to a suggestion it was more a command that Jacob had to follow. He too didn't have all evening and the quicker he go to the quicker he'd be able to get home and to that beer and cold shower that kept beckoning to him so. He shrugged somewhat flustered and yanked his wand out from his belt loop where he kept it when he wasn't wearing long sleeves.

'Happy thoughts,' Professor Tarn instructed.

'Happy thoughts,' Jacob echoed. His closed his mind off to the annoyance of the sun outside, how he wanted to be out there as well, he closed his mind off to the thought of a cold beer as that was a little too patronising to be happy. There were many memories to choose from, from the past couple of months and his whole life. But the one he decided to focus on was as recent as the Saturday two days before. It had been at Ginny and Harry's wedding, the dancing in George's arms, watching Hermione fluster over Ron and Ron fluster over her. '_Expecto Patronum!' _he cried. The usual silver wisp that he had achieved before shot out but promptly vanished when another thought waltzed into his mind, rather unwelcome. Kingsley had turned down his request to tell his best friends about him, what he was and a little bit of background on the world he lived, worked and learnt in. He scowled. That had ruined what might have been his best effort yet.

'Try it again.' The commander was just as frustrated as he.

Jacob set his mind again, thinking furiously of dancing with George. If his mind didn't wander it was a happy memory, one he liked. As the songs had become slower and slower and more people had flocked to the dance hall with their loved ones, George had pulled Jacob closer. No one had seemed to care who was dancing around them and everyone was fixated with the person in their arms. It was the time for lovers that came at the end of every wedding, Muggle or wizard. George had taken to whispering in Jacob's ear and Jacob murmured back to him whenever a question was posed. But mainly Jacob had just let George do the talking, he liked the way George's breath tickled his ear and the way their bodies swayed together.

'Don't forget to say the spell, Jacob.'

This rude intrusion did nothing to sever the thoughts in his mind, just remind him he was actually meant to be doing more than daydreaming. '_Expecto Patronum!' _And this time, with the strength of his thoughts, he really did expect his Patronus to come out of the tip of his wand in all its silvery and magical glory. Again all that appeared was the small wisp of steam like magic that curled around Jacob's head and weaved its way between his legs so close that he could even feel the heat from its passing. The silver wisp flew back into his wand when the magic ran dry.

'Once more,' Tarn said gruffly, 'before I tire of this.'

Jacob set himself, his stance strong; his legs were shaking because he swore he could still feel the heat twisting around his ankles. If it had gone any higher he'd definitely need that cold shower he wanted. As the memories of the dancing provided some leverage he thought of them first and then added another happy memory. Summer at Kath's house, she had the coolest tree-house Jacob had ever climbed into. It was decked out with small couches and even an old worn armchair that had belonged to her long deceased Grandfather. But the thing that had made that summer so great was that he, Kath and Doug had only set foot from that tree-house to shower, eat and use the bathroom. They had made that place their home for one long, happy week until their parents got annoyed with them and decided the party was over. But they did it again next year. Jacob's brow furrowed, though the smile on his face was huge. That combined with dancing at the wedding was enough to produce ten Patronuses. He thought so anyway. '_Expecto Patronum!' _

Something shot from his wand and he didn't realize it to be of any important until Tarn leaned forward in his chair with a look of complete astonishment on his face. As soon as Jacob saw that on the Professor's face, he searched the room for what he had produced. It had to be a Patronus; there was nothing else it could be. Unless he had got the spell horribly wrong and produced some kind of monster thing, which was actually rather unlikely. He felt heat near his ankle again and looked down. There pacing circles around his leg was a cat, an enormous cat that was nearly the size of a terrier but a cat nonetheless. It was weaving a path between his legs like the wisp he had produced before had done. It was his Patronus. The silvery cat with massive paws that plodded along was his. His Patronus, he had conjured it; he had brought it through him. It was sort of a part of him. He knew that it changed when you changed, as George's had when his personality was changed somewhat when his brother was killed. He'd heard that Patronuses often became very dear to wizards and witches and could be used in all sorts of fashions. A form of safety was the primary one.

'Bring it back and do the spell again,' Tarn instructed. His former look of shock and disbelief had gone and he had managed to replace it with one of observation and almost dire need for that not to be a fluke.

'How ... How do I do that?'

Tarn blinked as if he found describing it hard. 'Just ...' he waved a hand. 'Will it to be gone, you have no need for it anymore.'

Jacob didn't really want to think like that in case the cat took it far too personally and never decided to come back no matter how many good thoughts he replayed through his mind over and over again. He shuddered even though he knew that wouldn't be the case he was frightened that it might be. He hoped that now he had done his Patronus charm and the cat had actually come that maybe if he thought happy thoughts every time the cat would just come whenever he said the spell. But with a nod, he willed the Patronus to be gone and as simple as that it was. It vanished as soon as Jacob thought that he no longer needed it. A dull thudding in his heart started up as he began to fear that it might never return. But could something he had really worked for so hard just fade away?

'Say the charm again.'

He gulped, nervous to say the charm and find that nothing happened and confirmed his fears. But he cleared his throat and repeated what he'd been saying and so desperately trying for the result he'd just had. '_EXPECTO PATRONUM!' _He hadn't meant to yell so loudly but he was worried that the cat wouldn't return. Relief flooded through him just like his Patronus burst from his wand. The cat opened its mouth and looked to be mewing but no sound echoed out. It was as large as it had been the time before and circled Jacob's legs again. He sighed with sheer thanks as the cat bounded around his legs.

'My, my, my, wouldn't Professor McGonagall be proud of you?' Tarn asked in a slight mocking tone, his eyes fixated on the cat. Jacob smirked as he realized that he might be feeling uncomfortable because Jacob's was a rather large cat and his was a bird, but quite a big bird also. That was possibly not a reason for the mocking tone but Jacob liked to think so. 'Very good, Jacob, I am very impressed. That is it for the day, you may go.'

'_What?' _Jacob could not believe his ears. He had just achieved a very complex piece of magic and all the Headmaster did was congratulate him in his stiff voice and that was it. That was all he said. Tarn didn't even seem proud with himself that he had taught Jacob that. Jacob had come to know him as someone who could twist anyone's success around and make it their own. Why wasn't he making a big deal about this? It was as if Jacob had not just achieved something they had been going at for weeks. Tarn simply couldn't care less and to be honest Jacob was a little offended by that. 'That's all you have to say?'

Tarn looked back up from the parchment he had returned to. 'Yes, it is.' He pushed his fringe away. 'Were you expecting some kind of celebration? Celebrating what, exactly? The fact that you can do something most other wizards your age can also? It's nothing special Mr Smith. Best you find someone who appreciates it or gives a damn about you to celebrate with. Now, don't say anything you'll regret because remember I'm the key to taking that final test and not having to come back here every day.'

Jacob was floundering about with words on the tip of his tongue. It was very hard to find sentences that weren't considered overly rude or would just push Tarn over breaking point. In the end he gave up as Tarn was right. He would be seeing a lot more of the hairy Professor in weeks, possibly months to come and he didn't want them to have an argument just because Professor Tarn wouldn't acknowledge his achievements. It made him sound like a pissy child seeking attention 24/7. Which he wasn't, it was just that at times like these the loss of Professor McGonagall hit home again. He knew that she would have been a lot more involved in his learning of the spell and would have been as happy as he was to finally have achieved that hard and difficult spell. He cleared his throat. 'It would have been a joint effort,' he said as he walked towards the fireplace being careful not to stamp on his way over there. He didn't care if what he had just said didn't make sense to Professor Tarn. Jacob had meant what it would have been like if Professor McGonagall were still here. He didn't even feel like he was emotionally connected to the Headmaster now, Tarn treated him like he was something he had to put up with and teach a few tricks. But Professor McGonagall had actually been kind and respectful towards him and that's why she had impacted him so much.

Once out of the connection he nearly crashed into George who looked like he had probably just made it back. George was looking a little disgruntled as well. But George caught Jacob as he stumbled out of the fireplace and brushed the green soot of his shoulders and out of his hair. Jacob looked up into his face as he did so. George looked a little exhausted from the day's work and he had a smudge of what could either be oil or ink under his left eye.

'Mm, hello,' George murmured with a half smile.

'Hey,' Jacob said. 'You got something under your eye. No, left eye, a little to the right, up, not quite, just down a little more ... you're still way off, let me do it.' Jacob licked his thumb and feeling like a mother clearing her child's face, he swiped his thumb under George's left eye and away the mess. But children didn't usually groan and lean into their mother's hand when undergoing this kind of thing. 'Did you have an ok day?' Jacob asked.

George shrugged. 'You'd think with magic people would be able to do things a lot bloody quicker. The morons can't even follow a single instruction. I ended up doing most of the lot myself. But it's good exercise for the bad boys,' he said with a grin and patted one of his arm muscles that weren't actually anything extremely special. Jacob laughed as George had intended. 'But it wasn't all that bad,' he added. 'What about your afternoon?'

'Finally, _finally, _produced my fucking Patronus and all Tarn says is "very impressive" and expects me to clear off now that I've done it. No more words than that, just that, that's all.'

'Really, did you?' George asked hugging Jacob tighter out of excitement. 'What does it look like? Show me!'

Jacob didn't have to bring much happy memories to mind but he pulled away from George a little and cast the spell. The giant cat pawed at the air this time as if it knew it was on show before alighting and running circles around both George and Jacob before puffing away in a wispy cloud of silvery smoke.

'Hah!' George cried. 'That was bloody fantastic! Oh, Merlin, I'm so proud of you!' His hug was so large that Jacob was lifted off the ground by it. Quickly, so that he didn't fall backwards, Jacob coiled his arms around George's neck as the man spun them around. 'If that wasn't a picture perfect moment I don't know what is,' the red head said when he lowered Jacob so that his feet touched the ground again.

'Very Disney,' Jacob agreed.

'What's Disney?'

'They make movies, fairytale, happily ever after stuff, that sort of movies.'

'Oh,' George said shrugging that off and regarding it as fairly useless information as it was. 'Let's do something,' he said. Jacob trotted after him as he crossed into the bedroom and didn't flop down on the bed but continued to the closet, threw the doors open and dug around inside. 'I'm wearing one of your shirts,' he added.

'I thought it looked a little small.'

'I'm just too muscular for your teensy shirts,' George said while he was searching around for something. 'You don't mind do you?'

''Course I don't. Just as long as your massive muscles don't rip it,' he teased.

'Ah!' George cried and pulled out a broomstick. A very shiny broomstick at that too, its glossed shaft actually looked comfortable to ride on for a long distance and amount of time. 'I said I'd teach you properly.'

Jacob groaned.

'Nah, hear me out.' George said and threw Jacob's black coat at him. 'You said – or I might have said it, it was a while ago – that you'd only learn if I helped you and sat on the broom with you.' George looked out the window. 'It's a beautiful evening, let's go.' Jacob didn't need to be told twice; he already had his coat on and was buttoning it up, ready to go. George smirked at his eagerness and shepherded him out of the bedroom, closing the door behind them. He took Jacob's hand ready to Apparate them away and Jacob was steeling himself for the up chuck reflect he had been getting again from Apparition. But just before he whisked them away he added. 'And I'm in the mood for a romantic evening, love.'

The day was fading, the last remnants of it filtering away with the setting sun. The setting sun cast a golden beam across the field in which they had landed, bathing both Jacob and George in a warm glow. Leaves and bits of bracken whirled around his feet as Jacob swayed on his feet, managing to suppress the sickly feeling and looking over towards the hills in the distance. On a rocky outcrop quite visible from the golden field of corn that they stood in was a side of Hogwarts. From this angle the castle looked less threatening but in the centre of Hogsmeade it looked looming and frightening like it was a fortress of old. From the corn field it just looked like it was a castle, it looked grand and not in the least imposing. Turning around in the opposite direction, Jacob saw that the meadow stretched on for a while where it was framed by a blossoming of huge trees that could be possibly be centuries old. He spread his arms out around him and spun in a circle, grinning as the slight breeze and his hair whipped against his face.

George was already mounted on the broom, waiting patiently for Jacob. 'Are you getting on or what?' Or maybe not so patiently but Jacob ran over and was about to sit on the broom the same way George was before he was stopped. 'Sit sideways on it, in front of me,' George said. 'Or else you'll slip down and bump me.'

'What's wrong with that?'

'I'm flying this thing.'

'Mm,' Jacob murmured in agreement and sat sideways on the front of the broom as George asked. He had both hands out in front of him, holding right near the front but George corrected this. He left one of Jacob's hands there and moved the other down behind him so that Jacob could seat himself better and slipping and sliding around wouldn't be a problem because it wouldn't happen.

'That's how you sit side-saddle on a broom,' George said and reached around Jacob to grasp the front of the broom. He kicked off into the air and the rush of air that followed them off the ground would have unseated both of them if Jacob had remained the way he was to begin with. 'Do you see?' George asked him. During the first part of the ride, as if to get Jacob used to it, he stayed close to the ground, his feet skimming the yellowed grass and what was growing in the meadow. Jacob nodded, grinning as the wind pressed against them when George rose an inch higher. 'Want to go higher?' he asked.

Again, Jacob nodded his head vigorously all feelings of nervousness flushed from him because George was right behind him, guiding the broom and resting his head lazily against Jacob's shoulder. 'This is Hogsmeade, isn't it?' Jacob asked as George nudged the broom higher and higher into the sky. His feet were no longer skimming the grass and he sped them up, increasing the wind against Jacob's face.

'Sure is,' George said. 'The village is just over there.' He took one hand away from the broom and Jacob half expected it to wobble violently, but it didn't. It stayed quite still just bobbing in the air. Jacob followed George's pointing arm that showed the direction of the small village to be just beyond the trees bordering the meadow. Jacob could just see a roof top peaking over the leafy expanse of the trees. He smirked knowing that that was probably the highest roof in the whole of Hogsmeade. 'Bloody gorgeous here, isn't it?' George asked. He pulled his arm back but didn't put it back on the broomstick but instead tucked it around Jacob's waist. Jacob automatically twisted his head around to look into George's eyes.

The man's eyes were full of laughter and content and they stayed the same when Jacob kissed him. Jacob's eyelids fluttered to a close before he could see if George's did the same but a soft moaning sigh escaped the red head's lips so he was certain that they had. His first mid-air kiss, Jacob could stress that it might as well have been as important as losing virginity from the whole sensuality of it. Up in the air, sitting side-saddle like a gentleman's boy from way back in the day and then being kissed at such a height was mind blowing. It was an experience and a half. George's breath was hot under his ear as the man guided the broom higher still so that Jacob was no longer comfortable with the height. Sheep in another field that had been hidden from the trees before now looked like balls of cotton. He didn't speak up about the height because there was something exhilarating about it. Floating in the air – he was certain it was different in a Quidditch game - like he weighed nothing and gravity wasn't a problem. Though the more you learnt about magic, the more you discovered that gravity may as well just be a Muggle superstition. Gravity really didn't apply and was just there to be pushed and prodded at. When you had magic at your fingertips not many laws of nature still applied. Yet annoying ones did.

George was just hovering in the air, watching the sunset whereas Jacob was thinking about gravity and all that other crap. He shook all those things from his mind and turned his gaze, focused it in the direction of the setting sun. The rays didn't hurt his eyes as all that was really left of it was dimming yellow rays sprinkling the last of the light across the land. The moon was already up but it didn't display as much beauty as the disappearing sun did. Behind him, George heaved a sigh and turned the broom downwards away from the impeccable sight and under the cover of the trees George had flown over.

'What?' Jacob asked yearning to see more. 'Had enough of the sunset?' he said.

George shook his head as Jacob felt his feet touch the ground. 'No,' he said. 'I can just think of better things to look at.' He grinned at Jacob who could feel his cheeks burning. George pulled him off the broom and gently pushed him into the yellowy, sun crusted grass and crashed down on top of him, nibbling at his neck the second he was against Jacob.

'Someone's trying to get laid,' Jacob said in a sing-song voice. He heard George chuckle and sit up over his lap.

'So, what if I am?' George asked a hint of challenge in his voice. 'But you aren't stopping me.'

Jacob laughed and pushed at George's chest so he toppled back into the soft grass and then Jacob sat across his lap. He leaned across his chest and kissed his bottom lip softly, pulling back whenever George tried to deepen the kiss. George growled when he got sick of Jacob's little game and pressed his hand against the back of his head holding him down so he could kiss him properly. Jacob's hands went to the sides of George's head as the kiss began to grow more intense. George tried to flip Jacob again so that he was on the one on top but Jacob quickly moved a hand to press against George's chest so that he remained sitting on the red head's lap. George suddenly moaned into the kiss and Jacob realized that the hand he had pressed against his chest had been steadily travelling downwards as the kiss kept going and going. Only once had they broken apart for a rush of fresh air and that was when George had let the moan out.

Their surroundings weren't bothering Jacob much because as far as he could see there was no one in the meadow or house bordering it and the trees were thick enough for any locals of the village to be walking past the tree line and not see them. Hear them, maybe but they might be heard if George kept that noise up but apart from that they were relatively safe. He let out a squeal when George suddenly took the fact that Jacob had been drifting with his thoughts and pushed him back against the bracken at the foot of a tree and soft grass. George was grinning down at him, triumphant that things had gone back to the foot they had started on, with him in control. Jacob didn't mind, he was pretty versatile. Top or bottom, it didn't bother him but sometimes he just liked to exercise a little control. Let out the man within. As he thought that he actually let out a little snort of laughter and George looked up from suckling on his neck to stare at him with a puzzled expression.

'Just thought of something funny,' he said with a shrug. 'Continue if you will,' he added donning a high London accent for the part. But George shook his head down at him and Jacob whined. 'What? Why?'

'Not finish up,' George said. 'Oh, Merlin no, that trick must be getting old if you think of something else. I was thinking we just get right to it,' he added and smirked as he unbuttoned Jacob's coat with one hand – quite skilfully – and with the other moved down to his jeans. He ran his hand over the bulge growing in Jacob's pants, and Jacob flushed furiously, letting out a little moan as he squirmed in the ground. George kissed him, covering his mouth and the noises he was emitting. As the kiss ignited and became more passionate and a lot rougher, George's hand remained at his throbbing erection but the other that was still halfway up his exposed chest moved to stroke a line across his cheek. The kiss broke and George went back to teasing him through the fabric of his jeans. Jacob stared up George in disgust. The man was wearing far too much clothing. He wanted it off.

He struggled up into a sitting position but was promptly pushed back down by George. 'Oh, come on!' Jacob said aggravated. He wanted to pull George's clothes off him and touch the skin underneath. 'Please – ah!' he cried in sultry pleasure when George squeezed him tighter through the jeans. 'Nggh,' he moaned and then remembered what he wanted. He tried to sit up again but was pushed back down into the dirt.

'Stay put,' George told him. 'A little dirt never hurt anyone.'

'It's not – ah! – that,' Jacob said between pants and taking the time to arch his hips back into George's hand. As he accumulated his words George had started unzipping his fly and pushing his jeans down his legs. 'You're still wearing everything.' George had Jacob with his coat unbuttoned and spread out around him, his arms still in the sleeves. Jacob's shirt had ridden halfway up his stomach and George had just delved a hand inside his boxers. The red head was completely clothed, unless you counted the fact that he had discarded his coat and had rolled the sleeves of the shirt he was wearing (that was actually Jacob's) up.

George looked up at him and shrugged. 'It's not bothering me,' he said smirking, intent on teasing Jacob.

Jacob scowled at him. 'It's not fair! Take it off,' Jacob said. Trying to use authority in his state – lying at the foot of a tree half naked – just made George chuckle and shake his head.

'I hate you,' Jacob said. He didn't mean it by any stretch.

'No you don't,' George countered. 'You love me.'

'Then let me undress you.'

'No.'

'Why?'

'Teasing you is a lot of fun.'

'Wanker.'

'No,' George corrected him again. 'I'm jacking _you _off.'

Jacob groaned in pleasure as well as annoyance. Yes, he was quite aware of that. 'Can we at least go back to the flat?' he pleaded.

To this, George agreed. Jacob had to try very hard to counter the sickly feeling when the Apparition commenced so he just focused on the feeling of George's hand tightly around him. It worked somewhat except that he nearly came during the journey because the squeezing sensation adding to the one he was already feeling. George had given the broom to him to hold as he had had to retrieve his coat. The broom in Jacob's hand clattered the floor the second they arrived in the flat and George dropped his coat, needing his hands free to caress Jacob.

They never really made it to the bedroom, George pushed Jacob down onto the couch and clambered over him showing off his dominance and refusing Jacob the right to any during their coupling. He was showing Jacob that he had all control over him by grabbing both his wrists with one hand and pinning them on the arm of the couch and licking a line up the centre of Jacob's chest. Jacob tried to arch his back when George did this but the red head pushed down on his stomach, denying him any dominance and shortly the ability to move while he ravished him and took his damn time about it too. Finally George slipped back a little and released Jacob's hands so that he could help George finished undressing him. George finally pulled the coat from his arms and finished unbuttoning the shirt that was bunched around Jacob's neck. As he undid each button, he playfully stroked the skin of Jacob's stomach and kissed the side of his neck. With the new found freedom to move, Jacob hands touched the side of George's face with the just the tips of his fingers, running his hands through his hair and brushing the skin of his face and neck with his fingertips. George liked it, Jacob could tell. Not only because touched George softly in this manor before but because George let out a low moan when Jacob's fingers past over his lips.

George opened his mouth to speak, grabbing Jacob's hand away from his lips as he finally finished with Jacob's shirt and threw it away into the corner of the room. 'I want you,' George hissed out of the corner of his mouth and he pulled Jacob up to him and nuzzled into his neck, kissing at his collar bone. The red head hardly needed to say that, the hardness Jacob felt pressing up against him explained that. He'd known before George had told him. And if it had been some kind of question on George's part the man should know by now that Jacob was a hundred percent his and asking was pointless because every time George needed him (for anything, for that matter) Jacob would help. And it went both ways as well; George was always willing to do anything for Jacob.

In the bridge of silence Jacob left, he finally crossed it when he had thought of the most sensual answer that would excite George more. 'You can have me,' he said and felt the shiver he had wanted travel up George's spine. George's hand tightened around Jacob and he could feel the man smiling as he pressed his face into Jacob's neck, kissing his neck this time.

All this time Jacob had been near bursting point, it was all a little too much. George had only removed his hand from Jacob's hardness to pull his coat and shirt away but the instance that was done he moved them quickly back down and was slowly pulling and tugging away at him. It had been hard to ignore the pleasure and pressure building below. He moaned softly as the combined efforts of George's mouth on his neck, shoulders and collarbone coupled with the stroking of his erection slowly tipped him nearer and nearer. He thrust back into George's hand as he came, groaning and his eyelids fluttering as he did. George's shirt was unbuttoning slightly and hanging about him so Jacob came directly on George's lower stomach. The red head sighed in delight when Jacob came. Jacob crashed his head down against George's shoulder, panting heavily.

'Is that it?' George asked a hand in Jacob's hair and the other not moving from his softening manhood. Jacob shook his head. 'No?' said George. 'Let's give it a minute, you'll be able to go again?' he inquired. 'I'm not even done yet.'

Jacob smiled. 'Yeah, just hang on.' He was still trying to regain a normal breathing pattern after the explosive ending to the first act of the evening. He wriggled underneath George who grinned and took a deep breath. '...the bedroom?' Jacob asked finally.

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	39. The Success

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**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

**Thanks to those who have been reviewing! You're great, this story is continued for you.**

**Curiosity  
Part Thirty-nine: The Success**

'Spending time with us isn't that bad, is it?' Kath asked licking her lips free of the froth that had gathered on them after taking a sip of her drink. 'Well, us plus one.' She nodded towards Doug sitting with Carla. The girl Jacob had heard about when he finally reunited with them. Doug was absolutely smitten with her and it showed in the way when there was silence between them he just rested his head on his hands and stared at her, batting his eyelashes like a school girl. He giggled like a school girl when he was around her as well. The girl was pretty though, dark glossy hair, striking green eyes that nearly matched Doug's in intensity. She had nabbed one of the sweetest men Jacob knew as well, if she knew what was good for her she'd keep Doug around.

Jacob and Kath had agreed, as soon as they had arrived at the cafe after the movie that it was kind of sickening seeing the two flounder over each other so much. After Jacob had nodded in agreement when Kath had put the statement out there she had shot him a look that clearly stated: I bet you do the same. Though he didn't say it as Kath probably already knew, he acted on occasion the same way around George. Kath hadn't said much to George when she had met him at Jacob's sisters place, she was definitely too pissed off with Jacob to talk to his boyfriend without offending George or him. He was glad that all was forgiven now though. He remembered that Kath had forgiven him the moment he arrived on time for the movie – exactly on time, he'd stress to add. It had been important that he do, get there precisely on time for Kath might have another spaz at him. Sometimes he regretted that he and Doug had actually bothered to cure her shyness. She could be a right bitch at times nowadays but usually she was her calm, sweet quiet self.

'That waiter keeps checking you out,' said Jacob and he nodded to the man who was now cleaned an unoccupied table quite close to them. As the waiter caught that both Kath and Jacob were looking at him, he sent a flirtatious smile Kath's way. Kath who wasn't one to blush smiled back and swivelled back around to face Jacob at the table again. Doug and Carla hadn't noticed that another conversation had started up; they were both too busy with each other. 'Aren't you going to do anything about it?' Jacob asked her a little shocked that she'd just blow off someone interested in her as single as she was. The man was something too.

'Someone needs to stay single out of us three,' she said nodding towards Doug and then her eyes fluttered back to Jacob. 'Someone needs to stop the others doing stupid and irrational things,' She coughed lightly into her hand, clearing her throat, 'such running off for four months.'

'I thought you'd got over that.'

'He must be some bloke,' Kath continued oblivious or just ignoring Jacob's comment. 'If you were so caught up in him and whatever else you were doing for all that time.'

'Why do you keep bringing it up?' Jacob asked crossing his arms. 'I've apologized countless times and I feel like a total prat for it.'

'Well, now you know what I had to put up with without you,' she said while raising her cup to her lips. She used her eyes to nod in the direction of Doug and Carla still hopelessly mooning over each other.

'Mm,' Jacob agreed. 'Good point.' It must have been tedious for Kath whenever she wanted to do something with Doug as they usually did and have Carla tagging along. She would have had to put up with Carla staying over at her flat as well as she shared one with Doug. It was an upmarket place as well and sometimes it was a lot more fun to stay in there than go out. Even though Carla was a nice girl she had a high pitched giggle and would probably have annoyed Kath senseless. There would have also been the initial argument about Kath trying to steal Doug away from her just because they were very close friends. It usually happened with most of Doug's girlfriends and was something directed at both Kath and Jacob. When some of his girlfriends found out Jacob was gay and got sick of having to share Doug with him and Kath they accused both of them that they were trying to steal Doug away from her. People liked Doug, he was easy to like though he could get a bit boring at times whereas Kath had a little difficulty meeting new people. She came across quite cold at times so it was only natural that she would cling onto Doug when Jacob wasn't around.

'He's not my type anyway,' Kath said casting her eyes across at the waiter who Jacob was sure with an arse like that could be anyone's type. When he looked at her with accusing eyes she shrugged. 'Not interested,' she said, 'don't force me. I hate it when you and Doug do that. Anyway, this George, I didn't get a chance to talk to him the other week, what's he like?'

Jacob smiled though he wasn't sure how to describe George's amazing self to her. There were words to portray him. It sometimes annoyed Jacob when people talked about how there are now words to describe such and such or this and that. He'd been guilty of it a few times but he knew that there were words that's why English was such a fantastic language. There were lots of words to describe something and many of those words had other words that meant the same thing but just kicked it up a notch. Amazing was one, something could be amazing but if it was really great you could call it fantastic. There were always words just sometimes it was hard to describe it because the appropriate words never came but they were always there. All that was needed was a thesaurus or a decent brain.

'George is, he's ... he's just amazing, you know?' Jacob said. He stuffed a piece of bread into his mouth and swallowed it quickly before continuing. 'George is funny, he's _hot, _he's kind, and he's a good man. I love him.' Kath's eyes lit up as he said the last part of his ode to George.

'Huh,' she said simply. 'Do you really? The "one" you think?' she asked using hand gestures.

'I dunno ... might be.' There was a sharp impact to the side of his head. Jacob hissed and looked at Kath who had just slapped him. 'What was that for?' he asked. 'Jesus! What a time to turn into my bloody sister! Why'd you slap me?'

'You're 21 years old! 21! Do you really think you could have found the one at 21?'

'Of course I could have!' It was something he'd learnt from Ginny and Harry though he'd never publically admit that they'd given him a good lesson in love. It could happen anywhere and under any circumstances and you just had to be ready for it all the time. Half of the time it found you, you never found it. 'Better now than when I'm old and crusty,' he muttered.

'You were always a bit naive,' Kath scolded him. 'You stick your bloody nose everywhere but you can't even figure out that you should always wait.'

'Wait for what?'

'The right person,' Kath said.

'But what if I've found them!?'

Kath slid her head into her hands groaning. 'What if -'

'I'm not talking to you about this anymore,' said Jacob crossing his arms yet again. 'Not anymore. If you're going to _berate_ me about it, I'll just stop talking.'

'That's fine with me. Maybe you'll forget all of this "he's the one" stuff.'

'I never said he was. I said he might be!'

'I thought you'd stopped talking about it?'

'Yeah but you brought it up again.'

'I did not. Just shut up about it if you aren't going to be helpful or even happy for me.' Kath shrugged (she was good at that) and said nothing, obviously taking Jacob's words.

Suddenly there was a passionate embrace before them. Slippery would probably have been the better word to describe, tongues flew everywhere and somewhere along the way Jacob lost track of whose tongue was whose. But it looked as though it was a farewell kiss and either Doug or Carla had to go, he prayed it was Carla. But then again it probably was Carla, because if Doug had to go she'd probably leave with him. Jacob had only received two words from Doug today as he'd been too besotted with Carla to really pay attention to anyone but her. This thing between his friend and Carla had been going on for some time, or so he had been told, but yet it was still like they had just started to date. They were all over each other in that sense. Jacob hoped that his kisses in public with George didn't look as messy or clingy as this did. He thought that if they were he'd know somehow. But putting up with Carla was worth it for it made Doug happy. Kath had told Jacob that when he'd been gone Doug had been saddened by the prospect of Jacob not being around for reason that neither of them knew but perked up a lot when Carla came along. Every story told over last four months by his friends, especially Kath, made him the bad guy.

Doug spun around in his chair to face his friends the second Carla had gone. 'Dudes,' he said seriously, 'I'm going to ask Carla to move in with me. Firstly, Kath, dude is that ok with you because we share a flat and stuff? And secondly, what you do both think?'

'That's fantastic!' Kath squealed and clapped Doug on the back, smiling widely and full of glee. 'I'll try and put up with her, but I reckon I'll be able too. It will make the rent cheaper.'

'Have you listened to yourself recently?' Jacob asked her. 'You completely invite Doug's girlfriend into your flat but you patronize me for thinking that George might the buy, maybe just even a little.' They never meant this sort of thing in a rude way; it was just how they talked to each other half. They bitched to each other, they insulted each other, and they were rude about each other's decisions but at the end of the day Kath and Jacob still remained friends.

'Because I think you're being completely idiotic by thinking that so soon!'

'Sometimes you can tell. And just because you haven't had a decent sh- '

Doug cut them off before one or the other actually did offend the other, from time to time it happened. 'Dudes, this isn't about what ever argument you were having before. This is about me.'

'Sorry Doug,' Jacob said.

'Sorry Doug,' echoed Kath.

'Now,' Doug said with the air of a school teacher who'd finally got his students to quiet down. 'What do you reckon about that?'

'I think it's a good idea, Doug,' Jacob said. 'You like her a lot, it's kind of obvious.' He grinned at Doug who smiled back and then asked the same question to Kath who this time actually took her time thinking her answer over.

She pushed her lips together, pursing them as her first answer. 'I don't know if I like Carla, but you do, Doug. As Houdini here said, that's obvious. When are you going to ask her?'

'Tomorrow,' Doug said. 'We're having lunch together. You seriously don't mind her moving in with us, dude?' Doug asked Kath.

'I don't mind one bit,' she said through lightly clenched teeth. Jacob sniggered. The more she was thinking about it, less and less the idea was appealing to her; it was easy to see that in her face. But it was too late for her, she had agreed. It was her own fault she had agreed and Jacob was not going to help her get out of this. She'd waltzed in on her own accord. And no matter how nice Carla was, she was bound to get on Kath's nerves sooner or later. 'Are you sure she'll say yes?' Kath asked using it as a last resort.

Doug looked puzzled for a second before speaking. 'Why wouldn't she?'

'That's the spirit!' said Jacob eager for Carla to move in with Doug and Kath; at least he didn't live with to share their problems. He grinned from ear to ear as Doug shot him a winning look. Doug was going to ask her and judging from the snog feast earlier Carla was going to say yes. Doug patted him on the back for the encouragement and looked sidelong at Kath as she scowled into her empty coffee cup.

As conversation wore on, Jacob found himself glancing across at Kath's watch. He really couldn't spend any more time with them. As much as he wanted to, he simply couldn't. He had a lesson with Tarn at the three and it was nearly two thirty now. Tarn had been completely awful to him since the episode on Monday were Jacob felt he hadn't been receiving much appreciation for the magic he achieved. He appreciated Tarn for all the work he put in for him, teaching him and whatever else it was the Professor did to improve his magical understand (Jacob didn't really know what else the Professor did for him apart from use his method of strangled teaching). And he actually had to go to the lesson or Tarn would bring up what he had said two days about him being the one to determine when Jacob would sit his finally test, which he was sure was looming at a frightful rate yet Tarn hadn't said much about it. He didn't want to have any other near arguments with the Professor when so much rested in his hands. Jacob hated to think this but he was so sick of going to Hogwarts, he was over it and really wanted to do things by himself for now, learn by himself with some help from George of course. He hoped that that test would come soon and he would be notified so he could practise and learn for it.

George had been kept pretty busy this week. Jacob was sure Monday's trip on the broom, ever romantic as it was, was an early apology from him or his final chance to spend time with Jacob before the week got into full swing. The Hogsmeade branch was due to be opened this coming Saturday at 10am. Jacob was going to be there, George had told him he had to come. He would of anyway because he still hadn't seen the revamped outside of the shop all his money had gone into. Even though George and the previous owners all had the use of magic, it was taking an awful long time to get the shop set up and ready for opening. George had briefly told him it was just the same as opening any other Muggle store, things had to be filled out, sent off to various people and preparations had to be made. If magic wasn't being used though it would take a hell of a lot longer. George had been working hard on it. He worked in the Diagon Alley shop with Jacob in the morning and though he'd had to ask Ron to give them a hand on some days, especially today when Jacob couldn't be there, it wasn't very hard. George would work with Jacob in the morning and then a little after Jacob left for Hogwarts, George would close the shop for the day and go to the Hogsmeade shop.

It would all go to back the norm when the Hogsmeade shop was opened. George and Jacob would work constantly at the shop under the flat and the previous owners of Zonko's would work in Hogsmeade and George would flit across occasionally, once a week or more, to see how everything was going. He'd send his products over there and get profit being flung at his face from both shops. George saw this as brilliant and even though Jacob saw it as a lot more work, George said he'd just hire more people if need be. Money was no object to the man, he had heaps of it. In the magic world, joke shops seemed to be a very profitable business adventure. And with no one outside of London or Hogsmeade (anymore) selling the same products, George's business kept blooming.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by a sharp snapping in front of his face. Doug was clicking his fingers before Jacob and Kath was looking at him, eyebrows raised. 'What?' he asked though he knew very well what. He had zoned out. He wondered if he could say that he was impersonating Doug or say something else. He couldn't tell them what he had exactly been thinking. If he did tell them about the shop in which he worked, they'd want to see it and they wouldn't even be able to see if even if Jacob showed them.

'You were zoning,' said Kath. 'What were you thinking about?' she asked pleasantly.

'Mm ... nothing,' Jacob lied. He hoped it wasn't an obvious one. But the second it had slipped from his lips he had cringed, if that meant anything. Ok, it was a bad lie. He knew it and was about to get pinged for it by either Kath or Doug.

'Really?' Doug asked fascination running deep in his voice. Jacob didn't know whether the interest in his voice was put on just to tease him or if he was really interested in the nothing he had been thinking about. 'You were really thinking nothing?' Doug eyed him suspiciously. 'Dude, you're eyes had glazed over and the lot. What were you thinking about? Or who,' he added with a mischievous chuckle.

Jacob flushed. They must have caught on to the fact Jacob wasn't listening just when he had thought of Monday evening's stunning broom ride and of course the events that had concurred afterwards had been equally as spectacular. He could feel the blush on his cheeks rising as Doug peered forward further into his face and Kath let out a little giggle beside him, which she quickly covered up.

'What were you thinking about?' Kath asked in almost a childish voice, prodding his upper arm and teasing him.

'Oh, no look at the time,' he said grabbing Kath's wrist and looking at her watch once again. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell his friends what he had been thinking of; it was fun to tease back as they did to him. He let go of her wrist and lurched from the table. He did actually have to go but it was also fun leaving his friends in the dark like this. If he told them about what had happened on Monday night, Doug would listen with rapt attention and Kath would be a little squirmy when he got to the point about what had taken place after the broom ride. And how would he tell them about flying brooms any way?

'No, dude,' Doug whined. The man was practically adorable when he wanted to know something or have something and he was denied access to it. Jacob played that particular card a lot when he was 16 and was having difficulty fare welling several years of having a massive crush on Doug. The short haired man had never found out about that and if things went the way Jacob had intended, he never would. The feelings were just that of friendship now.

'You were thinking of George weren't you?' asked Kath sniggered a little. 'Knew it,' she said when Jacob had trouble hiding the insistent blush that had come back to his face.

'Aw,' Doug said smiling at Jacob. 'Look how much he's blushing. Dude, that's so cute!'

'I really have to go,' Jacob said. 'I'm going to be late,' he said as Kath and Doug continued to laugh amongst them about Jacob's blushes that always gave everything away. Jacob shook his head and stood from the table. 'Do I owe you anything for lunch?' he asked digging around in his back pocket for his wallet that had recently become a new fixture, he never really used to use it until today.

Kath shook her head in the same fashion as Jacob. 'Nothing,' she said. 'It was my treat.'

'Oh,' Jacob said with a grin. The fact that he had very little money at this stage and that she had just paid for his meal warmed him greatly. With the work he did for George and not having to pay rent at all, money would soon be flooding back to his pockets and vault. 'Thank you,' he said with another huge smile and bent down to hug her. He shuffled around the table to Doug and gave him a quick hug as well. 'See you later,' he said to both of them hoping to get away without another outbreak of chat. He really had to get to Hogwarts or else he'd be late and Tarn would not be happy.

'Remember to leave your phone on!' Kath called after him as he left the small cafe.

Saturday dawned with flying colours. There was a brisk breeze circling the air and tugging at him as he trudged over the stony footpaths of Hogsmeade. His black coat was protecting him from the sharp bite of the wind. Though the day was sunny there were dark clouds that loomed closer in the distance, forming behind the school. The rain clouds would not threaten the sun for many hours to come and Jacob prayed that maybe the wind would push them back. Unfortunately the wind was drawing them forward. In the distance he could see Hogwarts, standing tall and proud. The school gave off the same effect as a lighthouse on a rocky outcrop did. It was a beckon; his eyes kept swinging back towards it and its splendour. He found it hard not to keep staring at it. But in the small town of Hogsmeade there was something else as equally as eye-catching.

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. It was the first time Jacob had seen it. He hadn't been back to Hogsmeade since Monday but even then he hadn't seen the shop. The outside looked fantastic; his money had gone to good use. The outside was very much the same was the Diagon Alley branch. The outside had been painted with horizontal lines of two colours, red and gold. A window display stood out violently from the walls not just because the window jutted out, away from the shop but because of what it housed. Numerous violent pink packages with the dark purple heading "WonderWitch" sat on the red velvety mat. Beside the Wonderwitch products sat a collection of jokes George was most fond of. George was aiming the shop at youngsters, school students. The WonderWitch products would draw the girls in and once inside they would notice more that intrigued them. The practical, messy jokes would attract some of the boys and the older more book wormy time of boys would be dragged in by their friends only to find things that interested them also. There was something for adults inside as well. But it wasn't just the display and colours of the shop that caught his attention; it was the three large letters apparently hovering over the doorway with no support that did it. Three giant W's hung over the door, floating and swaying somewhat haphazardly in the breeze.

'I'll have to redo that spell or get someone to do it for me every now and then,' George said he had come up beside Jacob after sprinting ahead the second they Apparated here to check things. 'I can't have it falling on my customers' heads. That would be more than awkward. I'd lose business.' George grinned at him and pushed his long red hair out of his eyes. He hugged Jacob around the shoulders and let him lean back against his chest. 'Even with magic it was expensive fixing this place up,' he said. 'Thank you.'

'You're welcome.' Jacob smiled though George couldn't see it. He sighed as he felt George's cheek pressing into the side of his head. 'Are you excited?' he asked. After several seconds he felt George shrug against him.

'A little,' George said. 'It's all the stuff as in the old shop so they've seen it before, apart from some new stuff. Great new stuff, I have to say I did brilliantly. It's what I've been working on for so long. Looks like food until you stick a fork into it or bite down onto, then it explodes and you can't get what comes out of it off for weeks. It's bloody great.' George pulled Jacob around in his arms. 'Twenty minutes,' he said. Twenty minutes until the shop opened. George had been home so late last night Jacob was asleep when he came home. The idea for him had been to get everything done the night before so he could relax in the morning and not feel flustered to do anything in a hurry or have a job half down by opening time. It was very hard to fluster George and he never left a job half done, unless it was something he despised doing. 'It only feels like I'm opening the Diagon Alley store again. We didn't a big important opening then. Today, I'm just going to open the doors, no bloody "it's been a hard road" speech, no one wants to hear that crap anyway. The students have their weekend visits today so they actually should be coming down from the castle soon. They all know, I've advertised.'

Jacob smiled faintly. George was babbling, he rarely babbled unless there was something he just had to babble about or he was excited. His arms snaked around to hug George tightly as the man was hugging him. Just as Jacob was about to learn forward and kiss George, a huge puff of wind blew his blonde hair forward and George's back. Jacob ended up with a mouthful of his own hair from the wind and no kiss from George. He scowled. George chuckled softly and when the gust subsided he pushed Jacob's hair away from his face. Jacob's hair wasn't as long as George's and he had no idea it was long enough to blow forward like that. The reason he had his hair a little shaggier and longer than most men was because it looked good like that, George's wore his long to hide his missing ear. George's hands remained at the side of Jacob's and he pressed his lips against Jacob's who moaned with the growing intensity of it. George's tongue flickered across Jacob's bottom lip and he opened his mouth a slither, accepting George inside. Jacob's arms slid up George's back as George's sat on his waist, massaging his slight hips gently. The kiss broke with a smacking wet sound and George smiled at him.

'Love you,' he said softly.

'And I you,' replied Jacob with a smile. 'Is the shop still locked?' he asked looking to the doors that had newly fixed impression brass handles.

'No, course not,' George said. 'My newest employees are waiting for the mad rush.'

'You've got your hopes pretty high.'

'It isn't hopes,' George told him with a flicker of a smile across his handsome face. 'I know it's going happen.'

'Bordering egotistical now,' Jacob added with a laugh. 'But that's ok. It probably will. You're a big success and what not. Success,' Jacob said patting his chest.

George eyed him. 'Are you ok, Jacob?' he asked looking down at him with concern.

'What?' Jacob asked confused. He didn't think he'd been acting strangely. Maybe a little put off by seeing his friends, he felt kind of awkward not being able to tell them. Earlier in the week after the wedding it he had been upset that he couldn't tell them but now it was bordering on awkwardness about leaving. The next time he went out with them they were bound to ask where he left too. And heaven forbid that they follow him home. 'Yeah, I'm fine. Just happy for you,' he added and that brought a huge beam back on George's face.

'Couldn't have done it without you,' said George cheerfully.

'Yes you could have,' Jacob said laughing a little.

'But I wouldn't have wanted to.' George pulled back and took his hand. 'Come inside, have a look around.' As George took him in he began to talk about something else. 'Don't you think you should tell your Aunt Carlota what the Prof told you?'

Jacob squirmed. 'I don't want to talk to her. She's evil.'

'She can't remember doing it.' George shrugged. 'She's family, and they were her parents. I think you should. Think about it anyway.'

At exactly ten George strode forward to the front doors after showing Jacob the new stock and unlocked the doors to the collection of students and some adults standing outside, patiently waiting to be let into the new shop. Jacob was glad there wasn't some grand opening as it would not have suited George's style. In the pictures Jacob had seen of him and Fred just after the success of the shop, they both looked to be wearing grand and very expensive clothing but now after he had gone George had toned it down a lot. He was his own self and throwing a massive, flashy party wasn't his style now. If Fred was around Jacob was sure that George would have done it though. With Fred around George would have seen this as another conquest but now it was just expanding because he wanted to and business required it. Jacob stayed near the back of the shop, occasionally scooting out of people's way so they could get to the merchandise, and he was just watching George. They way George managed his patrons was infectious; he had a way about him. He didn't know if George realized how much he must have changed without Fred. He didn't know how George was when Fred was there but during the wedding he and Charlie had actually had a talk about that. Charlie had said that George was the more follower twin and would channel whatever his brother was doing and though they loved each other dearly, George had always been the other twin. Charlie had said it was great that George was coming into his own more.

Jacob watched as the stock was almost cleared out of the shop. He was awestruck and couldn't really believe that George's idea had worked so well. The man had said that it didn't matter if nothing sold it would still be a good investment. He must have known all along that this would happen. Jacob grinned as George came to stand by him. The hours had trotted past at an alarming rate and the Hogwarts students had left the store, needing to return to the school. Jacob was amazed that the store was nearly void of stock and that so much had been brought. George's other employees who looked exhausted behind the dual cash registers. It had been a hectic couple of hours in which Jacob hadn't left the shop to get a whiff of that Scottish air that beckoned to him somewhat but he stayed in case George needed extra help. With the rush inside Jacob was surprised he hadn't. George was red faced with joy as he leaned against Jacob.

'That,' he said, 'was bloody brilliant.' He looked around at the nearly empty shop. 'It went better than I could have expected,' he added with another large smile. 'I have two shops that get a ton of business each!' His eyes locked onto Jacob's and he put his hands either side of Jacob's head and kissed him breathlessly. 'Ah!' he exclaimed. 'This is fantastic!'

'Every Weasley would be proud,' Jacob said and wrapped an arm around George's back.

'Fred didn't want to get this place,' George said. 'I did, also reckoned it would be a good idea. During the war there was no way it was a good idea, places were crumbling and everything just wasn't working. But now, it was a pretty damn good idea.'

'Watch that ego.'

'Yeah, but you have to admit it, don't you?' George asked and Jacob raised his eyebrows in question. 'That it was a good idea.'

'Yeah, it was. Genius, George,' said Jacob. 'He'd be proud though.'

George nodded distantly. 'Yeah,' he murmured. 'Now that the shop is opened more time for the two of us,' he said suggestively.

'Ooh,' Jacob said knowingly. 'So you think you're getting laid tonight, hmm?'

'Great big successes need to satisfy their sexual needs.'

'Of course,' Jacob said and tantalizingly ran his fingers over the rim of George's pants. 'And just because you're a great big success you expect me to let you do me?'

'And because us Weasley's fuck like rabbits. We have naturally big families, we can't help being breeders.'

Jacob's eyes shot up, observing George's face. That was a tricky subject with Jacob, the child and family thing.

'I don't mean that,' George said and lowered his head so that it was level at Jacob's ear. 'I mean I want to let loose inside you.'

'...' Jacob gaped, his heart pounding and his stomach doing handstands from the sensuality of the words. 'Anything for a success,' he managed to quip out.

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**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	40. Stories

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**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

**Curiosity  
Part Forty: Stories**

Jacob nearly growled when George rested a hand on his waist and nearly had to kick him into a walk. George's hand jumped to the small of his back and pushed him down the dirt path. 

'Merlin, Jacob,' he said like he was scolding a five year old. 'Would you just bloody go?'

Jacob was caught. He felt like a ship caught between two tug boats, one trying to pull him into a safe berth and the other out into treacherous waters. He didn't want to go towards the tall house; he wanted to go back to the flat. His curiosity had all but abandoned him. Sure there was still some there but he didn't really feel the need to go to his Aunt's house and tell her about what Professor McGonagall had discovered about their family. Well, he didn't anymore. That had been George's point to get him to Inverness to see her. The red head had played that old trick again and unsurprisingly, it had worked. Jacob had wanted to know what his Aunt's reaction would be like and though she said she didn't know much about her parents, Jacob had a hunch that maybe that wasn't the case but that was probably just because he didn't trust her after what had happened at the Ministry when they found the file. The reason he didn't want to go was because of what that file had said, what that file had labelled her as. It disgusted him. And at the same time, it scared him too. The fact that he was a little scared of her was something he tried to hide behind his disgust. But as they loomed closer to the house, George pushing and prodding Jacob along, that fear got bigger every step of the way. He was scared of what she had been.

He was so immersed in the whirlwind of his emotions that he didn't even realize they had reached the house yet and were walking across the overgrown stone path. He did want to see Carlota's reaction, he did, he did but she was frightening to him. Draco had been involved with Dark Arts but Jacob didn't find him at all frightening, except for that one time in the Kitchens when he had accosted Lampy with more fury than was needed. Jacob didn't find his blonde friend frightening because his story had been told and he knew that he never wanted to do all that anyway. He was interested to see her reaction but at the same time didn't want to get anywhere near her. Jacob had barely muttered her name since his conversation with Draco when they first became friendly with each other. At times Jacob could be pathetic and childish and he supposed one of those times was now. Even as much as he didn't want to go to see his Aunt and tell her what had found out, George's hand was on his back and still pushing him along the overgrown path. Jacob saw his reasoning. If anyone should know, it was her. Jacob needed to stop acting like a baby and get in that house and tell her what he'd found out.

'Ok,' he said with a sigh as he squared his shoulders. Behind him he heard George let out a sigh too, one of relief. He turned around and stared at the man who'd taken his hand away from Jacob's back. 'What do you mean by that?' he asked crossing his arms. The sigh had been one that if had been said in words would have translated along the lines of "finally."

George stopped also and stared at Jacob like he had been cornered by something far more menacing than a blonde Scotsman with a little bit of attitude today. Then he laughed and ran a hand through Jacob's hair. 'You're a bit moody today, Jakey,' he said with a chuckle. 'I know you don't want to talk to your Aunt and probably a little bit scared of her, yes I know you that well,' he added when Jacob shot him a glare. 'But you have to and I'm sorry, but you bloody have to. So get moving,' he said and smacked Jacob lightly on the arse to get him moving.

'What would I ever do without you,' Jacob mumbled scathingly. Behind him he heard George laugh lightly and felt the man's hand on his shoulder but found it was only there to give him one last push. Jacob stumbled up the porch steps with George closely behind him. The single rocking chair was creaking eerily as Jacob knocked briskly on the door, needing little encouragement from George now that he'd already knocked. There was no turning back. Unless he ran for it and pretended to be one of those annoying Muggle children ... he sniggered, it could be fun. Childish behaviour again, George was right and he was too. He was acting like a baby.

'I'm coming, I'm coming!' the sharp voice that belonged to Carlota Sheere answered from inside the house. It was the first thing Jacob had ever heard her say when he'd first come to the house. He thought of Doug and Kath and wondered what they would think if they knew that Jacob was on edge about talking to a relative.

The door clicked open and behind it stood his aunt. Her hair was in the same loose bun as it had been when they first met yet this time no strands were falling down in front of her face. It made her look all the more severe as did the fact that she was so tall and looming. She was taller than George and Jacob. Her white teeth flashed as she realized who it was. She motioned for the pair of them to come inside. 'Don't you ever owl ahead?' she asked. 'Goodness, I could have prepared something.' She clucked her tongue and shuffled through the corridors of the house, leading them towards the drawing room. She ushered them towards the couch on which they had sat last time. 'Can I get you anything?' Carlota asked kindly to the pair of them and Jacob felt a little prick of anger towards her.

'No thank you,' Jacob said answering for both of them. If George wanted something he could easily get it back at the flat. Jacob didn't feel comfortable around here and just wanted to tell her what George had bullied him into saying and then get the hell out of her. 'I just came by to- '

'Well, firstly,' his aunt said, 'how are both of you? I don't think I've ever seen such a handsome pairing of boys since the village dances, ooh that was some fun ...'

'I'm fine,' said Jacob stiffly as he stared on at his aunt's laughing, giddy face. She had no idea of what she had done, who she had let be murdered. She was just sitting here, laughing like it had never happened in her life. But Jacob knew what she had done and so did anyone who might be in the mood for a bit of a snoop around.

'I'm fine, thank you,' George said a lot more politely. George didn't share the resentment and fright that Jacob did towards his aunt. 'How are you?' he asked ever the gentleman.

'Oh, fine, thank you,' replied Carlota. 'So what brings you here?' she asked Jacob a smile fixated to her face. Jacob could tell that she knew that he hadn't come just to visit her; they didn't have a relationship like that. Maybe they used to but not anymore. Things had changed and Jacob wasn't comfortable around her in the slightest. Which was strange if he took the time to think about it, because he spoke to Draco and liked him too but he supposed that was because the man had shared his story. Carlota didn't know hers and to Jacob it felt like a relapse into her old ways could happen at any second.

'Uh, well,' Jacob said. 'I found – not me personally, but a friend – found out some information about your husband and the family,' he finished.

Carlota, who was already intensely interested that they were here, perked up even more when she heard that. Her fine old face snapped up and her deep brown eyes with wrinkles sprinkled around them bored into Jacob's young blue eyes. 'What?' she asked as if she hadn't heard the question. Or maybe she just wanted to hear it again. She'd probably never dreamed of knowing anymore than she already did.

Unfortunately, Jacob hadn't brought the letter with him to show her. But that wasn't a problem, she could chose to believe him or say his words were lies. Jacob didn't really care what she thought of him, he'd already based an opinion on her. One that wasn't fair to how she was now but one that would probably be correct if she hadn't been Oblivated. Jacob knew the letter word for word anyway, he'd read it over and over again so much, spent long amounts of time just looking at it, amazed by what it had said. It was strange that something that was so important hadn't really made such a big difference on his life, apart from hammering in the fact that having children could not be on his agenda. He wasn't sure how Carlota would react, that was what was of interest to him. He wanted to know that. As quickly as the added chirp had come to her face, it was gone. Her expression was stony, apprehensive and maybe a little worried. What was she expecting?

'My parents?' she asked in a low voice. 'You know about my parents?'

Jacob nodded slowly and revelled in George's hand that snaked over his back comfortingly. Belatedly, Jacob wondered whether a full snog session between him and George was enough to send the woman to an early grave. Somehow he doubted that but a small voice that the back of his mind told him there was no harm in trying. He was irritated for thinking that but he nodded his head in answer to her question. She couldn't remember what she had done, Jacob could see that in the way she acted but still there was no escaping what she did even if she had no clue.

'Yeah,' said Jacob and nodded again. 'Um, would you like to know?' It sounded stupid the second after he had asked but there was no point rushing full throttle into something she didn't want to hear.

A nod was his answer.

He decided to start with her parents, Faunus and Maia Burtos, since she probably knew about her husband Mr Sheere families travels from France to Bulgaria and then on his own to Scotland. If he hadn't told her, he was a rubbish husband. 'You're parents, Faunus and Maia,' he said. It was a strange way to start off something like this. It was like telling a four year old of someone who had long gone. But then he remembered that Carlota had said something about her parents dying when she was just eleven years old. 'Faunus and Maia Burtos,' he said again, 'were a wizard and witch.'

A stifled gasp of joy was all he received from his aunt, so he blundered on.

'Professor McGonagall wasn't able to find out what they did work wise, but it was enough money for you to receive decent shares, yeah?'

There was another nod.

'Um,' Jacob said suddenly realizing there actually wasn't much to tell. He swallowed. 'The Burtos magical line was growing really, really thin,' said Jacob resorting to quoting what he could remember from the letter and mentally berating himself for not bringing it along. 'They tried to keep it strong by marrying other wizards and witches but almost every marriage produced a child lacking the Talent and or squib. So you can imagine that they were pretty happy when you had the Talent.' Jacob clapped his hands together. 'That's about it, yeah.'

'Do you know anything else about them?'

'... you're mother had something to do with the Dark Arts,' Jacob said deciding to just let it out there or he'd never manage to get the words out.

Carlota gasped and looked horrified, her hands swooping up to cover her mouth. Jacob closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch. She could certainly moan and groan about that when she had done the exact same thing. Jacob scowled at her when he opened his eyes again; her expression hadn't changed from one of horror and shock like she couldn't believe anyone would ever do that. 'Are you sure? That's horrible.'

'Be nice,' George warned him in a low whisper.

'According to Professor McGonagall she didn't do anything bad with it, just experimented,' Jacob said. His voice was a low drone. He was through with this, he didn't like his aunt for reasons, he had to admit, were a bit stupid but he didn't like this. He just wanted to tell her and get out of here.

'Oh, I expect she just said that to soften the blow. Dark Magic had existed throughout time, the wizards and witches who used it were dark and evil,' Carlota said but still looking completely in shock. Jacob said nothing. He pretended he hadn't heard that. Eventually she moved her hands down away from her face and peered back at Jacob. 'Does this mean anything?' she asked him.

'It means,' Jacob said slowly, 'that we are basically the only two people left with Burtos blood.'

Again, Carlota looked appalled. 'But then you have to continue on the line! Merlin knows I can't do that, but you can, Jacob!' she said excitement flooding back into her voice. She had leaned forward in her arm chair eager. 'Don't you want to keep the family name going?' she asked in a disappointed tone. She must have caught wind of his face. 'It's just you and me; we're the last of that magical line.' Her expression and tone had changed so much in the last two minutes but all Jacob could think about was how to tell his aunt he wasn't going to. 'Come on, Jacob,' she said like encouragement was all she could offer. She wanted to reinstate the family line as much as he did yet she couldn't but everyone in the room knew that he could.

'I don't know if it's worth it,' Jacob said hoping this would suffice and she wouldn't pressure him to start a family anymore. 'It sounds like your parents kinda gave up,' he said. 'It seems like they just stopped trying themselves.'

'But you can!'

'I can't.'

'Are you sterile?'

Jacob winced. 'Not exactly, but anyway, there would hardly be enough magic in me to pass it on to someone else. It wouldn't work.'

'You should at least try!' she sounded like she was practically begging now.

'I can't.'

'If you aren't sterile then what's the problem?'

'He's gay,' George cut across both of them sparing Jacob from any more embarrassing confessions.

Carlota's brow furrowed. 'Oh, my dear, Jacob,' she said returning to her normal aunt speech. 'Put that aside and think of the family line!'

'If they didn't bother, I'm not going to bother either.' He crossed his arms firmly, he had this discussion millions of times and frankly the outcome was always going to be the same. It was his choice what he did. And he only wanted children with his partner. It was something a little unachievable but he'd cope. A family could just be a few people, children weren't a necessity.

His aunt scowled. 'You aren't even going to try?' she asked pursing her lips in annoyance. 'Not even for the sake of the family?'

'Not even,' he said. 'I've made up mind. I only want to have children with whoever I settle down with,' to his surprise and utter shock, when he said this he felt George hug him closer to him. That action nearly rendered him speechless. He gulped trying not to glance up at George but in case that hadn't been the man's intention and continued speaking, 'and I know that kind of can't happen. But oh well!' he said it like he had made his decision and it could not be changed. His word was final and he wanted his great aunt to understand that.

Silence, a deep pregnant pause in which Carlota just stared at him. He had doomed the family name but if there was an abundance of people who got caught up in Dark Magic in his family history than maybe it was a good idea that he did. Like mother like daughter certainly applied in a frightening way to Maia and Carlota. Jacob knew that part of the reason he didn't want to continue the family name was because he had stupid, slightly out of sync morals like Draco had told him. But he didn't care anymore, if he couldn't have a child because men couldn't reproduce without the help of a woman that was fine. He'd just carry on the way Mother Nature intended. She'd made men and women fit together like a jigsaw but maybe in her ultimate plans Mother Nature hadn't realized that men could also fit together. Having children didn't make a family, Jacob knew that. He had wanted children before and was quite hurt by all this talk that he couldn't and that he might have too, but now it was his choice.

'With that attitude you won't ever be able to have a child!' said Carlota sternly. 'But,' she surged on before Jacob could speak up, sighing as she did so, 'we aren't very close and I don't have an ounce of sway over what you do.'

Jacob nodded. 'I'm sorry,' he added. Carlota must be feeling pretty awful right now. She hadn't known what had happened with her parents, she hadn't known them at all. She wouldn't have known that the family blood was struggling since they'd never told her and done god knows what all her childhood until they both died of something Professor McGonagall had not been able to discover, or was planning too.

'No, it's fine,' Carlota said. 'One must respect oneself.' She shrugged and wiped an unseen tear away from the corner of her eye with a wrinkled hand. She was so old but you could hardly tell she was so spritely. She must be ancient and still going strong by the looks of things. She didn't look her age. Jacob's eyes widened as he realized how young she must have been when she assisted Voldemort in the first war. His aunt would have been young enough to pass off what she did as a "youthful mistake" or that she didn't know better. That might have explained why she wasn't packed off to Azkaban like the rest of the captured Death Eaters and just Oblivated. Jacob shuddered and craned his head to look around at the high ceiling above him.

The house was such a grand place and since Carlota surely would not live for much longer, no matter how young she looked (it must be the magic in her veins. When people got old in the Wizarding world, it seemed you couldn't tell until they died many years later. It had to be the magic) and Jacob wondered who the house would go to. He could vaguely remember running through her as a child with Anne on their visits to their grandma. Carlota never visited them at their grandma's; she had always made home visits. But he remembered the hug corridors that looked like an expanse of wood up above on the floor that held the bedrooms. It was like a jungle of odd artefacts (his grandma had been a collector of random things) and just a vast house to play in. Now he had returned he realized the house wasn't as big as he had thought as a child but it was as grand as ever. He smiled as he looked around the drawing room. He could even see it in here. The house was so looked after and cared for. It wasn't just the house Jacob had liked as a kid. He had loved the slopes covered in gorse outside that he and George walked down from the safe point. Inverness was a beautiful place.

'You like the house do you, Jacob, dear?' asked Carlota smoothing her hands across her heavy black robes cuffed with sharp purple. 'I know I do, it's beautiful. My sister had great taste as did her husband,' she added. 'Of course you've been here to see her before haven't you, before she passed away?'

Jacob nodded. 'We came to see her lots, we didn't live far away. Walking distance,' he added. 'Why were you never here when we came to see her?'

'I only came to see you and Anne when I came home from my travels,' she said with a smile of remembrance. 'Until I was stopped,' she added with a fierceness that surprised Jacob.

'Where did you travel?' George asked. Jacob nearly jumped in surprised, he had forgotten George was sitting next to him; the man had remained so silent and observing.

'Just around Europe,' she said. 'My husband wanted to go to Bulgaria as well. I think he knew he was getting old and about to pass because when he was at home with the rest of his family and me he did.' Her eyes drifted to a close and Jacob had an urge to jump out of his feet and hug her around the shoulders but he sat rooted to his seat. 'I always returned to see you and Anne though,' she said as her eyes snapped back open. 'I was stopped from seeing you,' she said. 'I told you too much about magic and I was banned from seeing you.' She actually laughed.

'We know,' Jacob and George said at the same time.

'How did you find out?'

'We checked your file at the Ministry,' said George was an easy going shrug like it didn't matter whereas Jacob was interested to see whether in the Wizarding that kind of thing was acceptable. He was waiting for some kind of explosion about personal information to come from his aunt but she was still smiling sweetly.

'Ah, of course,' she said distantly. 'Found out that you were Oblivated Jacob, and you're sister? Sorry about that, dear,' she said. 'But it wasn't entirely an accident. I was trying to scare the magic out of you,' she said sounding apologetically. 'I thought you and Anne might have been squibs, and I hoped to Merlin that you had it so I tried to get it out of you. Magic usually files out of a wizard or witch when needed. So I thought that maybe if I talk to you about it and frightened you occasionally it would come.'

'It's ok,' said Jacob. 'It came, eventually,' he added. Carlota smiled at him. She was beginning to look more and more like an aunt and less and less like someone Jacob had despised since he'd found out about her previous allegiances. The thing was, as George kept telling him, that she wasn't involved with it now and she didn't remember. Jacob still didn't see how that changed what she had done but people could be forgiven. Forgive and forget. She had done the forgetting and the forgiving was now up to him.

'Would you like to see the rest of the house?' she asked. 'I know you've seen it before but not in a long time I gather.'

Jacob nodded briskly. He'd love to see the rest of the house. Standing quickly to his feet, he left a hand for George to take and pull himself to his feet. Carlota walked to the doorway of the large drawing room, running her hand along the piano before she stopped and looked behind her to see if they were coming. She looked slightly surprised to see Jacob's hand intertwined with George's.

'Of course,' she said to herself. 'I should have known. Were you together the last time you came to see me?' she asked motioning to him and George.

'Kind of,' George said. 'But I was angry at him, he forced me to come.'

Jacob snorted. 'I did not,' he protested. 'I asked and he came.'

'Ah, I see darlings,' she said twirling around and leading them along the long corridor that was the first thing that was seen when entering the house. Many rooms led off this corridor, most of them practical rooms like a kitchen, dining room and small bathroom. 'My, my,' she added stopping in the kitchen so Jacob could look around. He had never been allowed in there when he was young, for some reason he remembered that, must have been something to do with the large abundance of knives and dangerous items that could seriously a little kid as curious as he was. 'How times have changed. When I was growing I don't think we would have even admitted or thought that homosexuals existed. I'm certain I wouldn't have known that word then. Times are changing; all for the better I do hope.'

'I'm not exactly gay,' George said, explaining to her. 'Just very smitten with Jacob, he's the only bloke I find attractive.' Carlota turned around looking interested. 'Just Jacob,' George repeated. 'I'm Jacobsexual.'

'You still fancy woman though?' asked Jacob's aunt.

'Yeah,' George said with a definite nod. 'But I'm Jacobsexual. I think it's partly because of his lady-ish nose.'

'You're grandmother's nose,' Carlota confirmed. 'Very petite,' she added. She had a habit for pointing out which bits of Jacob came from which relative. With her going off like that all the time (she had done it the last time he came) it was a wonder that there was anything that just belonged to him. Carlota had said that his blonde hair and blue eyes had come from her sister's husband and now that he shared the same nose as her sister.

Jacob was flushing a light pink as George grinned at him. He blushed even deeper as Carlota turned to stare at him with a slight smile on the corners of her mouth. He focused his attention on the kitchen. It wasn't as large as he remembered yet then again, he had grown quite considerably since he had last seen the whole of the house. He turned a brighter pink still, probably resembled the colouring of a rose by now as George nuzzled into his neck, obviously glowing a little himself because he could feel hotness from George's cheeks. Grimacing but still blushing he had half a mind to push the red head away but he couldn't. He liked the way George pressed his face into the side of his face and neck. With a yawn, he finished looking around the kitchen, he couldn't remember much about this room but it didn't matter as Carlota had already moved on, ready to show them more.

'There isn't much interesting downstairs,' she said as she trudged up the stairs, her hand tightly gripping the hand rail. As they walked up the large stairs Jacob saw how unsafe the home was for an elderly woman like his great aunt. 'It's all upstairs,' she finished. Looking at his feet and the heels of his aunt before him, Jacob saw that the stairs were made of the exact same wood as most of the inside of the house, that deep reddish colour that gave the house a darker look than it probably was. At the top of the staircase Carlota stopped staring around at the corridor before them. It panned out in the exact same way as the one downstairs did. The house was pretty much stacked on top of each floor. 'I don't know who I'll leave this place too,' she said sadly. 'To tell you the truth, dear,' she said to Jacob. 'I've never really been that fond of your mother and Anne seems to be doing very well for herself.'

She was leading them into the master bedroom when George let out a whistle of approval. It was a large room with a window just above the bed – like they were used too – and deep mahogany coloured walls. The window looked out over at the front of the house and with a little bit of alarm Jacob found that the safe spot for wizards was visible from the window. Good thing his aunt was a witch or she may have had some shocks in her time living her. The wooden floor was the same as the rest of the house but the carpet over it was very luxurious. A patterned Persian rug decorated the floor and brought colour to the over wise boring room. The bed itself was a huge four-poster king-sized bed and it almost made Jacob drool looking at it, it looked so comfortable. George stepped forward into the room. Jacob heard a small whimper of delight escape his lips. The room was that fantastic.

'I don't sleep in here,' Carlota told them. 'I never really liked this room.' She waved a hand out at the amazing room.

'What!' Jacob cried with a dash of disbelief. The room was so elegant, he was certain that it would easily be found in a five star hotel except the furniture in the hotel would probably be a lot classier but the look was the same. 'Why not? It's so nice!'

'I prefer something a little less, I just a room to sleep in that's all.' Carlota crossed to the window and peered. 'I do my sewing in there though, it's something I like to do by hand and the view is soothing. It's a nice view, isn't it, dear?'

'Very nice,' Jacob agreed.

'Look, Jacob,' Carlota said suddenly. Jacob tore his eyes away from the landscape of Inverness, he had been wondering if the stream that joined up to the loch was visible from a window in the house. He half expected her to have something in her hands that she wanted to show him but all he could see of interest was the look on her face. It was a little nervous but warm and welcoming nonetheless. 'As I said before I probably want last much longer.'

'Oh, I'm not sure about that.'

'I've lived plenty,' she said ignoring him, 'and I think my magic may have spun it out a bit longer than necessary. And like I said before also, I don't really like your mother – deep down, I don't – and I would probably have left this to your sister but she's happily married and with a house of her own, I take it?'

Jacob nodded, biting down on his lip hard. He could almost taste what was coming and George must have known too because he was tightly holding onto Jacob's hand.

'As my only relative who has magic like I do I feel inclined to leave something to you as well. Would you like the house, dear?' she asked generally.

Jacob blinked. He had guessed that was coming but it had just been spat out into his face, not that he minded. He liked straight forward people even if he wasn't like that himself. 'George and I already have a flat ... but-'

'Oh, in that case I can just leave it your mother and she could use it as a family house.'

'No!'

'Surely Anne must miss Inverness in the same way you must, Jacob?' she asked. 'One never truly forgets their roots.'

'But we don't mind-'

'If you and George have a house already then that sounds like a good plan to me. I won't leave it to that woman; I'll leave on my will as a house for both you and Anne to share.' She wasn't listening to Jacob just and thinking aloud. Jacob tried to get her to pay attention to him.

'We can take it! We don't mind, we don't even mind doing the handy work to sort the place out!'

'I think that's a great idea.'

'You do? Oh, thank god. We'd love to have the house.'

'A shared family house for you and Anne, how splendid!' she murmured to herself. 'Excuse me,' she said. 'I must change my will.' She tottered out of the master bedroom and down the hall way and disappeared into another room.

'Damn it!' Jacob said. 'It was such a nice room too.'

'We can snag it though, when we all share the house we can shotgun that room.'

'Do you really want to have a holiday with Anne, Paul and a baby though?'

'Oh,' George said. 'I forgot about that.' He hugged Jacob who sighed dramatically at the loss of the house for himself. In the space of about ten minutes he had decided he liked it, a lot. The fact that it was in Inverness added heaps of bonus points. 'Nah,' George said, 'doesn't matter. That bed did look delicious though.'

'Mm,' Jacob agreed. 'We might be able to bully Anne into letting us have the house for ourselves.'

'You, bully Anne?' George asked with a snort. 'Yeah right, Jacob. That won't ever happen. We missed out on the chance to have the perfect holiday home.' He slapped Jacob lightly around the head. 'Though, maybe Anne might let us.'

'I'll just have to get a lot tougher so I can punch her for a change.'

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**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	41. Fiasco

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**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

**Curiosity  
Part Forty-one: Fiasco**

'The loads increasing,' said Jacob. 'Even though he hasn't told me when the final test is, the load has gotten a lot bigger. And,' he added with great delight, 'he's making me go over things I learned way back, things that Professor McGonagall taught me.' He leaned back against the chair nodding absently. He was watching Draco bite his fingernails with the same level of deep interest that'd had on his face when Jacob had started to speak. It was obvious he hadn't really been paying much attention; he'd probably been paying just enough focus to catch a few words and be able to string them together in his to get a rough drift of what Jacob had been talking about. 'What do you think?' Jacob asked. He never really cared if people didn't listen to him unless it was really important. He laughed behind his hand when Draco's head shot up looking mildly alarmed. 

'Oh,' he said regaining cool in almost a second. Even if Draco's mind had been drifting that was ok because in any language if you picked up enough words you could surely be able to piece together what it had been about. He blinked and scratched his chin. 'Yes,' he said finally. 'That probably definitely means you're nearing the end of this whole fiasco. Lucky you,' he added with a smile.

'I wouldn't call it a fiasco!' Jacob said spinning around in the chair and prodding Draco's arm with his foot. 'It hasn't been a disaster at all.' Draco looked sidelong at him, doubt in his face. 'Ok, ok!' said Jacob with a laugh. 'Not all of it! Do you reckon Tarn will ever tell me that the tests coming?'

'It obviously is. If you're going over everything you've learned then I'd so.' Draco smirked and leaned back in his own chair. 'That's great,' he said somewhat stiffly like the comment was a little hard to force out. 'What do you think you'll do once given the let go after passing the test?'

'Go and get wasted,' said Jacob rather bluntly.

Draco raised his eyebrows actually surprised by that comment. 'I haven't heard you say that in a while,' he commented.

'That's because I don't want to do it so much anymore.'

'Ah,' Draco said with a light laugh. 'It's change, you've changed, have you noticed?'

'I have?' he asked softly. Change didn't bother Jacob. Life was like that. You grow and you change and life changes. You change to suit your life. There's no sign of it as you move along but it's there all the same. Someday Jacob would take the time to reflect back on his life and he'd see just how much he'd changed. But for now his life was still pushing on and he had no time to reflect. He had started young, he'd been living like an adult at a young age but he didn't think he'd really started living properly until this happened. His life had flipped drastically on its back and he'd changed to fit it. He wasn't surprised that Draco was sitting next to him telling him he'd changed. A change for the better, he hoped. And from what he could gather so far it had been. Now, he hardly touched alcohol when before he had taken to it as soon as he was legally allowed to drink it and enjoyed it. He'd barely touched it since New Years and it was now nearing the middle of April. He hadn't been an alcoholic or anything of the sort; he'd just been a young man and like all others enjoyed drinking sometimes. That was just one of the changes that could be seen about it. He'd matured somewhat as well. Change didn't scare him, there was an aspect of discovering something new, it excited him, entranced him. He liked change; it kept his curiosity up and about.

'Mm,' Jacob said distantly preferring to reflect on that himself. 'You've changed too,' he said to Draco.

'That I have,' the blonde muttered. 'A change for the better too. But when you change there's always a huge chunk of how you were before in you. Like bits of your personality, you know?' he asked and continued when Jacob let out a nod and sound of agreement. 'You don't ever really change completely.' He sighed and brushed his hands through his hair. 'So I'm still a rude prick.'

'And that won't ever change,' Jacob said with a grin patting him on the shoulder.

'Thanks,' Draco said with a huff and crossed his arms over his chest, kicking up his legs onto his desk. 'Charming,' he added with a quirkily smile that was so completely unlike him that Jacob had to let out a small laugh. Draco smiled back and then asked a question he'd asked before but why he cared always confused Jacob. Draco only asked every once and a while but why he actually cared was never really apparent to him at all. 'How are you and George doing, ok?'

Jacob leaned back in the chair after he had had to lean forward to hear Draco whisper that question. He adopted a puzzled expression and chewed on the end of his fingernail as he looked at Draco who'd suddenly closed his eyes and sighed deeply. He probably hadn't meant for the question to slip but Jacob wanted to know properly. 'Why do you want to know all the time?' he asked.

'I've only asked twice,' snapped Draco always quick to retort. He mumbled something quietly more to himself than Jacob but Jacob got the feeling that it was actually meant for him to hear. Draco must have seen the quizzical glance Jacob offered because he spoke louder and bolder. 'Because,' he said, 'I'm interested.'

'That's all?' Jacob asked. 'Come on! That's not a good enough response. I'm sure many people are "interested" but they don't ask and then blush like you do.' It wasn't true, Draco rarely blushed. He was able to contain his cool a lot more than Jacob could.

'Maybe ... maybe because I care a little,' Draco said pacing the words out. Jacob had to hide behind his hand as Draco continued his awkward confession of deep friendship. 'Maybe I'd make George's life miserable if he hurt you, maybe I don't want him to hurt you at all. Maybe I value your friendship.'

'Maybe?' Jacob asked with an ill disguised snort of laughter. He was finding this very amusing though he probably shouldn't. 'Aw,' he said. 'That's something special coming from you, isn't it?'

'It's something very bloody special!' Draco said red faced. 'Just looking out for friends,' he muttered.

'Is this how you usually do it?' Jacob asked, 'with awkward conversations?' He was touched by Draco's actual like for him rather than dislike and he would do the same for Draco. Expect he wasn't about to go out and find a very muscular Quidditch player and get himself beat up because of what happened to Draco earlier. If Draco asked or expected him to confront that Krum person, he might. If he was safely hidden or sent him an angry worded letter. If not he'd be beaten to some sort of pulp and it just wouldn't be pretty at all.

'Yes,' Draco said. 'This is how I bond with my friends. You're in for a lot more awkward talks.' Draco looked stern when he said and that nearly sent Jacob back into another bout of giggles. He knew he shouldn't but sometimes it was just so funny. Draco was honest but when he expressed that honesty it occasionally was quite funny for people listening since he abandoned his classy, better than you, rich boy act and became flustered. It was at times when Draco acted sternly that Jacob could also see why he made a good teacher. He'd be reasonably nice to the students in his own way and if they didn't recognize him being nice and just thought he was being rude and horrible that was their problem and he could be very stern and frighten as well. All the qualities that enabled the best learning in students, apparently Draco was quite good. His students got good results anyway. 'Shouldn't you already know this though?' he asked.

'I think we've bonded a couple of times,' Jacob said. 'That was fun,' he quickly added with another giggle behind his hand. Draco was glaring at him lightly now.

'I take the fact that you can't stop laughing at me that everything is fine with George?'

'Better than fine,' Jacob confirmed.

'Good, I don't have to beat him up. I think that if I wanted to hurt him properly he'd pummel me instead.'

'Even if he did hurt me, I'd rather that you didn't hurt him too, thanks.' Jacob frowned. 'You didn't expect me to go after Krum did you?' He bit down on his tongue hoping that Draco hadn't wanted that but Draco took his turn to laugh.

'You wouldn't last a second!' he sniggered. 'You're far too weak, sorry but it's true.'

'Ah, it's ok,' said Jacob. That wasn't a problem he knew that. He'd discovered it many times. 'I'm glad you didn't think I should do that with all this talk you beating up George and please don't!' he added. 'He wouldn't hurt me and if he did I wouldn't want him hurt back.'

'I'm not talking about him physically hurting you,' Draco said rolling his eyes. 'I mean if he breaks up with you.'

Jacob shook his head. 'That won't happen any time soon either.'

'Why not?' asked Draco. 'You're young, anything could happen.'

'He's been dropping hints,' Jacob said feeling inclined to drop his voice to a small whisper.

'What kind of hints?' Draco asked with confusion. 'No, tell me,' he demanded when Jacob looked away with a flush on his face this time.

'Long term hints,' Jacob said slowly fiddling with his sleeve. 'Permanent long term hints.'

'What like ... marriage?' Draco asked cocking his head to one side with a bemused look playing across his face. His eyes widened when Jacob nodded methodically. 'Merlin, really?' He might just be teasing.'

'That's possible.' Jacob didn't really know if George was being serious, or just joking. He always said it in a joking texture but there had always been something in his eyes that showed a hint of seriousness. It was hard to explain to Draco because it was confusing for Jacob. But it just seemed though George was making a little joke of it and putting Jacob on the spot by hinting about it, that he might actually be considering it. They hadn't really known each other for long but there had been a huge whirlwind romance that was still continuing to this day. He loved George as well and wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his life with him. But he didn't want to make a rash decision and just ask away in case George had been teasing slightly. In a couple or maybe even in the short space of one year the time would be right to think about that. Yet there was no harm in thinking about it now.

The evening had drawn on with a weary thud. There was little to do at the flat and little to talk about now that Jacob had spilt that he thought the last and final test would be coming up and his excitement had channelled through to George. The red head had tried to be excited and he'd managed it for a few seconds. But he was tired and Jacob knew that. Having one extra shop to think about and plan for was taking a small toll on him. Jacob always helped as best he could but he didn't have much time for doing accounts and things like that. George was the head of his own corporation and inventing everything that went on the shelves. He made everything himself and wouldn't like Jacob to help and as the stock on the shelves was getting slightly outdated, the red head needed to come up with more ideas. That was tiring in itself and as much as George loved that, it was the thing that was tiring him the most. The shop below the flat needed a lot of work in the morning and Jacob basically devoted his time to that until he had to go for his lessons. Jacob and George's time was usually in the evening, something he looked forward to immensely but George was tired and didn't really talk much. It frightened Jacob to think that unless he didn't pass his as soon as it was handed to him things might carry on like this for a good deal longer.

He looked up from his plate of food when George let out a huge sigh. George's head kept drooping lower and lower as he struggled to stay awake through his meal. Jacob grimaced, they hadn't been talking about anything to keep his lover awake and they usually had plenty to say to one and another so the silences were only occasional. He put his fork on the rim of the plate intending to eat more later – Molly had sent them a basket of her homemade food, like she thought they couldn't feed themselves – because it was delicious. He quickly abandoned his seat and crossed around to George who was so tired it would have been adorable if the ends of his hair weren't dripping into the food. Placing his arm on George's back he nearly wheeled back in more of a fright then George got.

George's head shot up and his fork crashed down onto his plate. His eyes were wide and alert despite the exhausted expression on his face. 'I'm sorry,' he whispered taking the hand Jacob placed back on his shoulder. 'Were you saying something?'

'No,' said Jacob. 'Nothing, you nearly fell asleep in your food.'

George looked down to the plate before him and then up again, looking a little appalled at himself. 'I don't usually work this hard,' he murmured. 'I'm really tired, I'm sorry,' he said like Jacob would actually get annoyed at him for needing sleep or something equally as stupid as that. He wasn't like his mother or sister who got annoyed at their partners for every little thing.

'It's completely fine,' Jacob said. He grinned as George looked at him vacantly as if the words he'd just said hadn't registered at all. 'You need some sleep,' he stated. George nodded with a stifled yawn. The red head stood shakily from his chair and walked towards the bedroom his hand in Jacob's. He tried to pull him with him.

'Are you coming?' he asked from behind his other hand.

Jacob shook his head and looked back at the plates on the table. 'You're mum is such a great cook,' he said licking his lips. 'I can't resist. I'll be there in a few seconds though.' He slunk back into his seat and watched as George nodded and shuffled towards their bedroom. A dull thud several seconds latter and a moan of delight told him that George had made it to the bedroom and was now probably curled up in the blankets, his head nestled in the pillow already half asleep. Jacob licked his tongue along his teeth and spooned up a mouthful of what looked like cooked mince but hardly tasted like it at all. It tasted better and Molly must have some kind of secret recipe for everything she made because it tasted so much better and different from anything he'd tasted before. Molly was a cooking mastermind. She was a genius and what she did to food was just incredible. He didn't know how something made in such bulk – the way she did it – could taste so utterly divine.

He briskly finished, swallowing everything George had left untouched in his plate. He levitated the dirty dishes over the sink with a flick of his wand while walking towards the bedroom, not in the mood for washing the dishes. In usual circumstances he would have done them right away using magic because literally took about two seconds (several more if he couldn't remember the appropriate spells). In the bedroom he saw George was half asleep, lying on his back, mouth open and snoring faintly. Rolling his eyes at a little at the fact that George had hardly even bothering to undress himself apart from taking off his shoes, Jacob wriggled out of his pants, kicked off his shoes and climbed in beside him. Nothing suggested that George had noted his presence apart from a slight change of position and he grunted as he shuffled back a little and turned over on his side providing a slight of room for Jacob. Settling comfortably on the mattress, Jacob looked up at George's serene face resting on the pillow. He wasn't snoring any longer and his hair was flopping forward over his eyes as he continued to look completely gorgeous without any effort on his own part. Smiling faintly, Jacob reached up with a tentative hand as he didn't want to disturb the exhausted man and brushed the strands of coppery hair away from his eyes. His hand lingered on the soft skin of George's cheek before he hastily pulled it away with a muffled laugh as George pushed against him, shoving him away and muttering something about bloody Scots not letting people sleep. Jacob moved closer to George when he rolled away onto his side facing the wall and pressed his nose into the back decorated with a slight sprinkling of freckles and wrapped his arms around George's side and felt his eyes drooping tiredly also.

Amazingly Jacob still had time for thoughts before he dropped off into sleep. He wondered about marriage. The system of marriage hated him; it hated what he was and denied him a serious of basic rights given to any straight couple. It was ridiculous, Jacob thought it was anyway. But if it was George he did in fact marry or have a partnership (Draco was actually right in saying that the pair of them was very young and things could change over time and new people could waltz in at any time. That was why when Jacob thought of settling down with a partner he kept it general, he did have a picture of him and George in the background of his mind but kept it open in case things didn't work out. In all possibility it couldn't, as much as he wanted it too, it might not. Maybe in many years he'd look back on this as a happy memory, he certainly didn't want to see it as a sour one. Yet for now, he loved George with very piece of his heart) the man might opt for a wedding ceremony because of his actual sexuality. He was straight, straight people got married and Jacob didn't know what Jacobsexual people did. He'd have to ask George who classed himself as one, probably the only one in existence.

If it wasn't a wedding ceremony and if they just signed a civil partnership Jacob would want his parents, the parents of this partner and all family to be there, depending on whom his partner was that could be very big or very small. With George it would be very big. Suddenly he rolled his eyes and sighed grumpily at himself. He sounded like a bloody little girl fantasising about her dream wedding. He was no little girl and felt like he needed to scold himself for thinking such heterosexual marriage thoughts. He was beginning to think like a breeder. He did snort out of amusement when he thought of him and George having a cake cutting ceremony. George would probably stab Jacob, telling him that he was cutting the cake wrong. But a little dreaming never hurt anyone.

It was a little like he was paranoid and he kept hearing all these small comments about marriage that meant nothing and were actually just jokes from George. It was like those times when you heard something you hadn't heard in a while or seen something and it keeps popping up everywhere and eventually becoming a little strange or spooky. Jacob was certain he was just thinking too much about this after the "Weasley-Smith" conversation with George. It was just in his mind and kept popping up like that, but it was no lie that the idea of a partnership appealed greatly to him. Any kind of long term (lifelong) commitment was a good thought, no matter how young girlish it was. Snuggling closer to George and burying his face in his back while his arms hugged George tightly, Jacob felt himself slowly nodding off to sleep.

Morning sun woke him up and for the first few seconds while he blinked, clearing away the sleep from his eyes, he wasn't aware that George was lying so close him, breathing on the top of his head. It gave him quite a start when he realized how much they had moved in the night. George was now where Jacob had been lying when he drifted off to sleep and Jacob's head was lying on the mattress pressing into George's firm chest. George was cuddling Jacob close to him as Jacob was curled up with his knees pressing to his chest. Feeling stiff and a little crammed in the side of the bed, Jacob yanked his hand out from under George who barely moved an inch and stretched his legs and arms out. Stretching out stiff joints and body parts were one of the best experiences waking up had to offer. Jacob liked to sleep in but had been waking up earlier and earlier and finding that he'd just lay there throughout the morning drifting in and out of sleep. On many occasions he'd get right out of bed and go have a shower before plodding back and hoping in with George again, falling asleep an instance only to wake up at his usual time again. He regularly slept in until late hours of the morning on weekends, especially Sunday. On Sunday's George usually woke him up before he left to do whatever it was that he did on a Sunday and then let Jacob fall back to sleep.

A muffled yawn from beside him told him that George was slowly waking up. Jacob rolled his head away from George's so he could watch as the red head woke. George's eyes fluttered open and he smiled when he saw Jacob. Immediately Jacob roped his arms around the back of George's head as the man shuffled closer and pressed his forehead to Jacob's. Jacob kissed him softly, their lips smacking as they pulled apart an inch.

'Hi,' murmured George, 'good morning.'

'Good morning,' Jacob replied with a smile on his face. 'How are you? Are you still tired?'

'Not to the point where I'm falling over my plate, no,' George said and kissed Jacob again as his hands moved to stroke the sides of his cheeks. 'How are you this ...' he stopped speaking to reach over Jacob and life the curtain up so he could peer outside the window. '... This not so amazing morning?' he finished with a laugh. He returned to stroking Jacob's cheeks and the strands of blonde hair on the nape of his neck. 'Are you going to Hogwarts today?' he asked.

Jacob nodded brushing noses with George and feeling a red tinge pass across his cheeks. 'Yeah,' he said.

'Will you come straight back?' George asked.

'I'm going to see Draco for a bit,' Jacob said and then frowned when he saw the sour expression on George's face. 'Is that a problem?' he asked more stiffly than he'd meant to pull and pulled his arms back from where they had been looped around George's next. 'I didn't think you cared that we are friends?' It was a statement as much as it was a question. George had pulled back away from Jacob and was looking at him with mixed annoyance and hurt.

'You always stay really late with him! Sometimes you don't even come back until after ten -'

Jacob cut him off. 'Watch it!' he warned, trying to make a joke out of this and making sure they both forgot that it could have come an issue really quickly. 'You're sounding like a house wife.' He immediately regretted saying it because frowned even more.

'I don't care, Jacob!' he said sternly. 'What does the pair of you do that's so damn important?' He'd sat up against the pillows and was looking down at Jacob where the smaller man lay still curled up on the mattress looking up at him also.

Jacob touched a hand to George's leg and was surprised and shocked when he flinched away. He groaned and sat up properly being careful to look George properly in the eyes. 'I didn't think it bothered you,' he said in a small voice.

'Maybe it does!' said George. 'It didn't used to bother me but you spend so much time there after the lessons with him, and I,' he reached out to run his fingers through the hair just above Jacob's ear, 'I've never trusted him, I haven't ever bloody trusted that Malfoy! What do you do? Should I feel worried or at all threatened?' George asked pulling his hand back at a frantic pace from Jacob's ear when he looked back up at him.

'Oh, George,' Jacob said softly. 'Do you really think I'd do something like that? God knows I don't learn squat from Draco but we don't do anything except talk.' He smiled at George who had exposed a quick snap of relief on his face. 'I'm serious,' he added when George had seen that Jacob had caught that and dropped his expression back to one of contempt for Draco. 'Look,' he said.

'No,' George cut him off. 'You spend a lot of time with him alright? Do you know how much time you spend with him? You go there at three and come back sometimes at about nine or even later. It's ridiculous. Should I believe what you say, Jacob, how long can you talk to him for?' George actually looked pained as he spoke. 'I've put up with this for a long time, I haven't said anything about it but I want to know the truth now,' he demanded.

'Don't say that,' Jacob said. 'I haven't been cheating,' he nearly spat the word out. It was a word he hated and wouldn't even dream of doing what it meant. As he thought on it, it wasn't exactly a surprise that George had thought he may have been. He did spend a good deal of time with Draco. Yet there was one major difference between the time he spent with Draco and the time he spent with George. When he was with Draco he didn't spend the time being in love with him, he spent his time with George being completely infatuated and head over heels for the man. There was a huge difference. 'Why would I want to cheat anyway?' he said staring at George squarely.

'Well, I don't know!' George said glaring out at Jacob a little.

'I haven't been, I swear,' he said solemnly. 'I would never do that to you, I love you, and you know I do. Draco's a prat, you're right, he's such a prat!' Jacob was certain he saw an edge of a laugh on George's face. 'But he's my friend, ok? Nothing is going on between us. I love you,' he repeated finally, once more for George to hear.

George was staring down at him like the three small words he'd just muttered had never had more meaning put to them that one time. Even though Jacob had told him countless times before George was looking at him like this was the first time he had ever heard it. He was chewing on his bottom lip and gazing at Jacob through half lidded eyes, he kept staring from Jacob's eyes to his hand that rested lightly on his knee. 'Mm,' he said simply and slide down the pillows so far that his face was able to rest beside Jacob's. He grazed his hand across Jacob's forehead and Jacob closed his eyes as he felt the slender fingers trail down his cheek and to touch his lips softly. 'Your lips are chapped,' George murmured as he swiped his thumb across them a second time.

Jacob licked his lips, the tip of his tongue brushing out against the red head's thumb that remained there. 'Is that all you have to say?' Jacob asked lightly and he reached out a tentative hand to touch George's shoulder and the longest strands of his coppery hair that rested there. Smiling quickly at George he leaned forward to kiss the spot where his fingers had been moments ago.

'You don't think of him in any ... sexual ways do you?'

Jacob drew back with a sharp hiss, leaving an unfinished mark on George's collarbone. 'No,' he said definitely. 'I don't like him, I don't do anything with him apart from talk, I don't fuck him and I don't want to,' said Jacob. 'Is that simple enough?'

'Loud and clear,' George said the smile and joking attitude had returned in his eyes and he wrapped his arms around Jacob, pulled him in close and sealed it with a slight, chaste kiss before pulling back and kissing his eyelid. 'Just wanted to make sure you hadn't been having semi secret meetings with him. You'd tell me if you ever did something like that, wouldn't you? If it was just a harmful mistake, you'd tell me?'

'Of course,' Jacob said and then pondered that for a second. 'But only if you agree to tell me if the same thing happens.'

George nodded. 'I would,' he said. 'But I am not going to do something like that because I love you too, Jakey,' he dropped his voice to a whisper, 'so much.'

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**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	42. Boy Wonder

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**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

**Curiosity  
Part Forty-two: Boy Wonder**

**'**Merlin, Jacob!' Draco yelped and snatched the quill away from his fingers. 'Would you stop and try and focus just for a second?' 

Jacob snapped to attention and looked at Draco with guilty eyes. 'Sorry,' he murmured and shifted in his place on the couch. He'd been watching George mess around in the kitchen out of the corner of his eye. Ever since their conversation six days ago about Draco and what might have been going on between them, George had been a little shifty about the fact that Draco was coming over to help Jacob study for his final exam that Tarn had told him five nights earlier. (He'd had five days to study and that included what he and Tarn had been going over before the Professor told him and the lessons he was still having, plus this revision time with Draco.) George had been watching Draco out of steadily since the minute he stepped in the flat and watching Jacob too. Jacob had asked if the man was ok with Draco being here to help him study and then George had said yes, but he was milling about the kitchen so he could watch them carefully.

'Would you pay attention?' Draco asked with a scowl and grabbed Jacob's hand pushing it down to the parchment. 'Write,' he demanded.

Jacob cocked his head to one side and gazed at Draco, then he laughed holding out his hand to the man. 'I need the quill back,' he said and fluttered his fingers at Draco who rolled his eyes and handed the quill back. Draco's fingers strayed across the palm of Jacob's hand for a second too long, the blonde dragged his fingernails lightly the sensitive skin of Jacob's palm as he placed the quill in it. Jacob's eyes snapped up to meet his, he could see that Draco was enjoying making him feel this uncomfortable, especially with George present nearby. Jacob shot one last warning glance at Draco and accompanied it with a frown of annoyance before turning round in his seat, the quill crackling in his hand as he closed his fingers around it. He heard Draco snigger behind him and turned around to swat him.

Soft footsteps made Jacob spin around again. His expression fell as George walked towards them and he could feel Draco shifting, uncomfortable on the couch behind him. He was glad that George didn't look mad or upset or anything. Jacob would have been. That display between him and Draco with the quill was more than friendly and Jacob was on edge that George would take it in a bad way even though he'd assured him time and time again that he and Draco were just friends. But George's expression as he walked calmly over was serene. Jacob could see his eyes flickering between him and Draco but his face remained indifferent. Jacob gulped as George crouched down before him, balancing on the balls of his feet. George reached a hand to glide along Jacob's knee and progress up to his thigh all the while making sure Draco was watching. Jacob could feel his face growing red when George captured his mouth in a searing kiss designed to make sure that Draco knew Jacob was off bounds. When George finally released his mouth, Jacob's hands were clenched tightly around the back of his shirt and he was panting. George smiled when his eyes locked onto Jacob's and kissed his nose briefly before rising again and walking off with an air of victory around him.

Draco snorted and shook his head. 'I wasn't going to touch him anyway!' he called after George who showed that he either hadn't heard or had chosen not to listen. 'Wow,' Draco commented to Jacob and grinned. 'That was something. He's possessive.'

'Mm,' Jacob said his eyes trailing George as the man stuffed around for pointless reasons in the kitchen. 'He just doesn't like you.'

Draco raised an eyebrow. 'What's not to like,' he asked.

'That for instance,' said Jacob with a grin, 'that egotistical attitude.'

Draco shrugged. 'So, he thinks that we might have ...?'

'Yeah,' Jacob said running his hand along his leg in the same path that George's had followed earlier.

'What did you tell him?'

'That we didn't and we're just friends.'

'Oh,' Draco said with a sigh. 'Good.'

'Yes.'

'He must really love you,' Draco said casting a sidelong glance in the direction of the kitchen. 'If he makes displays like that, he must love you. And he must really love you because you're still here with him ...' Draco smiled softly. 'In my opinion,' he continued, 'you're more trouble than you're worth.'

'Thank you so much for those kind words,' Jacob murmured scathingly. 'Now if you don't mind, could we get back to it? You've got a lot of lessons to catch up on.'

They studied and went over a lot of things Jacob had learnt, just the theory and the history things for the mean time but Jacob still had many nights left for the test and didn't have to worry or strife about cramming just yet. That time would come sooner rather than later. Jacob was certain that on the night before the test he was so looking forward to (well, actually he kind of was looking forward to it. It meant that he never had to take another magical lesson in his life, unless he wanted one, and it was like he was graduating), the night before was going to be a nightmare. But Jacob was ready for it, nearly. Or so he'd like to think. Some spells stuck with you and you just didn't need to go over and over them like theory and boring history stuff. Jacob figured that if that was the case than Professor McGonagall, Professor Simmons, Professor Flitwick, Professor Tarn and he supposed Professor Malfoy had done their jobs quite well. He was excited and yet nervous for the test. Excited to be taking it _finally _and having it over and done with and nervous for he may fail. That, as Tarn had told him, was a bit of a long shot. Apparently you had to be profoundly stupid to fail something like this.

The night was cold and the bedroom was even colder. Jacob had forgotten to close the window in the room and shut the door so that cold air when they aired it out wouldn't seep through into the warmer parts of the house. George hissed with cold as they opened the door and were blasted with a wave of freezing cold air. Jacob counted them lucky that it hadn't been raining that evening. He shuddered and nearly ran across to the window, kneeling on the bed so he could close it and protect the room from anymore cold bouts of air. Breathing in deeply Jacob fell back against the cushions of the bed ready to nuzzle under them even though he was still wearing all this clothing. He was tired from the study time, even though it hadn't been much of a tiresome time, he was sleepy now and actual quite thankful that Draco had never bothered to teach him anything in the hours they spent together in his office. He was such a tiring teacher. He wasn't boring, he was so full on. He jumped from one thing to another and only ever stopped talking if he was thinking for waiting for Jacob to answer. It had been tiresome trying to take in all that information Draco had dropped on him again. He'd learnt it once yet for some reason it was a lot more intense the second time. Burying his face into the pillow he let out a huge breath he'd sucked in earlier and slipped down so his face was resting against the mattress. He grinned to himself when he felt the bed sink down and a hand resting on his back.

George engulfed him in a huge hug resting his chin on his neck, growling in his ear. Jacob gasped as cold hands slid up the skin on his back. 'Sweet Jesus!' he breathed out.

'I've never heard that one before,' George commented.

'Your hands are really cold,' said Jacob twisting over against the bed so that he could look up at the red head.

'Mm,' George said with a laugh. 'You're my hot water bottle,' he said.

'But your hands are cold,' he whined.

'Warm them up,' George said grinning as Jacob squirmed under them as his hands passed delicately over his nipples.

'It's too cold!' Jacob cried and moved so far up the pillows and backed into the wall behind the bed so that George's hands would pull out. 'Ah, better,' he said. He was half expecting George to pounce on him again except the man looked on at him with mature eyes and crossed his legs on the bed, tugging on Jacob's feet. 'What?' asked Jacob feeling a little frightened about the way George was staring at him. George had been adopting blank stares and meaningful expressions a lot the last couple of days and Jacob had just thought that he was going through another patch of Fred. If George wanted to talk he spoke and if he didn't, he simply didn't. The expression George was giving him unnerved him a little. He was progressed into something that made it look as though he was just blindly staring at Jacob and couldn't tear his eyes away. 'What?' Jacob asked again trying to shy away but George tugged on his feet harder keeping him still.

'Oh, nothing,' George said licking his lips. 'You're just so gorgeous,' he murmured. Jacob flushed and allowed George to wrap his arms around him and pull into his chest. George buried his face into Jacob's neck, kissing and suckling on the skin just below his ear. Jacob wrapped his legs around him and sighed as he rested his head against George's shoulder. George stopped when Jacob let out another small sigh that quickly turned into a large yawn. 'Tired?' the man asked him his hair tickling Jacob.

'Draco's exhausting,' muttered Jacob rubbing his sleepy eyes. He nearly chocked when he realized how many ways that could be interpreted and winced apologetically towards George. The Weasley was still a bit iffy about Draco and probably would be forever more. 'I didn't mean it like that. He's exhausting when he teaches.'

'Aha,' George said with an innocent chuckle. 'Sleep then,' George commanded and pushed forward on Jacob so that he fell back against the pillows. George smiled and rubbed his nose against Jacob's and flopped off him and fell beside him. 'Love you,' George muttered as he curled his arms around Jacob and kissing his head. 'A lot,' he added with a cheeky snigger that Jacob heard loud and clear.

'I love you too,' said Jacob. 'I really do.' He pressed his lips to George's shoulder as he slipped down to get himself comfortable against the mattress. He yawned once more and closed his eyes, confident that George would keep his arms around him all night and well into the morning – if he had his way that was.

The sun beamed hard against the windows except Jacob wasn't in the mood for admiring that. He was jumping around the kitchen packed full of nerves and shaking his hands out in front of him like that would get rid of the anxiety raging through him. He'd been up since six this morning that was so unusual for him it wasn't even mildly amusing. Today was _the _day. _The _day! And he was nervous as hell. He didn't think he'd be this anxious when the time came around. Yesterday he had been fine, absolutely fine but now he was so nervous that he felt like he could burst from fright. He'd studied insanely for several days and now was the time to actually go through with it and do well. He wondered who he could have ever coped with University tests and school exams. It seemed completely unreal that he could have done anything to pass them; he was so nervous and didn't feel like he could function. He didn't know what to do with himself and things that he had learnt kept rolling through his mind so much that he couldn't think of what he should be doing right now. There wasn't much time before the exam, a couple of hours at the least and he knew he'd pass but he was nervous. It was like pre-marriage jitters. His eyes widened and he stopped jumping about. The idea had calmed him done. With marriage on his mind he jumped onto the couch and grabbed his heavy booklet of notes that the quill had written for him for such a long time. He tore through the booklet at such a furious pace trying to think of what relaxed him and focused on what he was reading at the same time. Sometimes he stopped to think about what a strange person he was. He was going to pass this no matter what; it was apparently so simple a monkey could do it. So Professor Tarn said and Jacob was eager that that was in fact true.

He'd gone over everything he'd learnt before and was content he knew as much as he could but that didn't stop him from feeling nervous. Yet he was excited to find out whether he'd pass the exam with as much knowledge as he had. There was no way he could remember everything that he'd learnt – that wasn't a spell – and retrain that knowledge during the test. He'd label himself as some insane super genius if he could recall everything he'd gone over in the insane week that led up to this day. It had been an insane week because George was completely paranoid whenever Jacob mentioned Draco or said he was spending some time with him and then George had been thinking about Fred a lot – Jacob could tell – but whenever Jacob got back from his revision sessions with Tarn, as he now liked to call them, George was so passionate and romantic around him, sometimes he did act on pure lust but Jacob was ok with any of those three. It was like George kept wanting to stake his mark on him, make sure that Jacob knew how much he loved him and Jacob thought that he was perhaps a little scared about how much time Jacob had been spending with the blonde Professor. No matter how much Jacob assured him nothing was going on George kept up his hopelessly in love state. Jacob did love it and it was only an inch more than how George normally acted around him. Jacob counted them lucky that things had remained so steamy throughout their relationship. So steamy and loving and just plain perfect that Jacob had, on numerous occasions, thought about what marrying George would be like. Any normal person wouldn't have thought about it so far in. The paranoid George, applying all the moves just because he was scared about Jacob going off with Draco and Draco was right: it meant that George really loved him.

His mind had wandered considerably from the task before ahead and his thoughts on that subject stopped abruptly when he heard the warm, herby smell of tea wafting from the kitchen. And suddenly a cup was shoved under his nose. He took a long sniff of the delicious smelling stuff and wrapped his fingers around the warmth of it. The day was almost too warm for having tea at tall but it was a calming thing and the herbs just relaxed your body completely. Apparently George thought so too.

'Here,' he said and as he let go of the cup that was safely in Jacob's hands and sank down on the couch beside him. 'Should calm the nerves,' he muttered while he slung an arm around his shoulders and kissed the top of his head.

'Thanks,' said Jacob and then hastened to ask, 'did you hear?'

'You kept walking around and around for about an hour this morning. I thought about telling you to come back to bed and stop worrying, but then you'd fidget and wouldn't be able to lie still. I might have had to tie you up just to keep you from moving so I could get more sleep,' George said it all with a large beam on his smile. 'Not that tying you up would have been a bad thing at all,' he said and chuckled softly when Jacob felt his face turn bright red. He looked slyly at George who shrugged. 'Not now,' he added cuffing Jacob lightly around the head. He leant his arms on his legs and rested his head in his hands. 'Why are you so nervous?' he asked cocking his head to one side.

'I don't really know,' Jacob admitted. 'Guess it's because it'll be the last test I ever take and I might do really badly.' He shrugged just as George opened his mouth to scold him. 'And because I've been studying for so long,' he said as he took a sip of the tea and observed George's facial expressions over the rim of the cup. 'Professor Tarn said it was easy and you had to be really stupid to fail.'

'Then you won't fail,' George said. 'You aren't really stupid. That title has and forever will be kept with dear little Ronnikins.'

'The thing is, when Professor Tarn says something is really very easy, it usually isn't. Like the Patronus charm!' Jacob said. 'He said it wouldn't take long for me to get it, and what happened? It took ages! I don't trust him. I reckon it's going to be bloody hard.' He shook out the pages of parchment in front of him and went back to reading.

'Has he told you how you are going to be assessed?' George asked quizzically. He, himself, looked tired and Jacob smiled as he slid slightly to the left and rested his head on Jacob's knee and pulled his legs up onto the couch and just lay there, resting against his lover. 'I did sit my exams, you know!' George told him. 'Even though I should have got higher marks because I did exceed everyone's expectations just by showing up.' Jacob laughed and stroked his hair gently.

'He said it would be like a normal exam and then wouldn't tell me anything else,' said Jacob. 'What's a normal exam like?'

'Mm,' George said in thought from his point on Jacob's leg. 'You have to do magic in front of some person you've never met before and then do written exams for all of your subjects. It's not that bad but I dunno. It depends on how harsh your examiner is.'

'Oh,' Jacob murmured biting down on his bottom lip. It's not that bad, is it?'

'Not at all,' George said and nuzzled his nose across Jacob's knee. 'Hey, do you want me to come with you?'

Jacob looked down at him, his hand stilled in his hair. 'You don't have too,' he said. 'I can go by myself, I'm a big boy,' he added jokingly.

'I might be able to come with you,' George said. 'Would you want me to chaperone you?' He licked his lips as he looked at Jacob who grinned down at him. 'I'll take that as a yes,' he said but then hurried to add, 'but I might not be able too. This is big, ain't it, Jakey? It decides whether you get to leave Hogwarts and have no more lessons there. It's like the final chapter sort of thing, isn't it, love?'

Whenever George called him that, Jacob froze. He couldn't get the way George said the words out of his head, it was like the man put extra emphasis on the words just to tease him because he surely knew that Jacob liked it. Jacob, however, snapped himself out of it and nodded blandly. 'Kind of, yeah, but not really. It's not like I ever really enjoyed going there after Professor McGonagall died, Tarn can't even replace her in one little thing. He's good but useless at the same time. The only thing I'll really miss is getting to see Draco a lot.'

George grunted, quickly changing the subject. 'Do you need to practise any spells?' he asked.

'No,' Jacob said, 'Draco helped me with them yesterday. I know them all. Oh,' he said glancing to George apologetically. 'Didn't mean it, I could always go over them.' He knew George liked to help and have spells cast at him, it was weird that he enjoyed that but it gave Jacob a target. George usually reflected them all anyway. 'Just a few,' he added. 'I've got a lot of this to read before I go.' He leaned down and kissed George on the side of the head. 'Thanks,' he said finally draining the last of the tea and pulling out his wand.

For the next small while George schooled him in the spells Jacob had learnt countless amounts of time. It was like playtime for George and while Jacob grew bored of it over time the red head remained completely entertained as he told Jacob what spell to perform. George probably enjoyed it because it lit the fuse in his memory again and different people produced a slightly different spell though it had the same effect. All spells could be used in his jokes unless they were particularly dangerous resulted in mutation that couldn't be reversed, something equally as horrid or death. That was the only rule George stuck by when designing and making his products. He couldn't make something that mutated a person beyond reversal, something really rather nasty or death. One simple and easy guideline and that was probably what made him so successful. He had only one rule to stick to and money was no object. If he could acquire the item he needed, he'd use it. That was why George enjoyed having Jacob cast spells at him and either dodging him or accepting them. He took particular delight in having parts of his body transfigured by one of Jacob's strong transfiguration spells. The transfiguration spells only lasted a few second because Jacob didn't want them to last longer than that but George had been absolutely thrilled when Jacob changed his ears into cats and he found he had two. George had then told him that if he could change his ears into cat ears and then add an ear that wasn't even there in the first place, the test would be a breeze.

The jitters had pretty much gone by the time the spell practise had calmed to a stop. Jacob sank back down on the couch and accepted a soft kiss from George that was his goodbye and well done as Jacob settled to go over his notes for what felt like the tenth time. He just really didn't want to fail this. That would be quite embarrassing and he'd have to take lessons for god knows how much longer. It was easier if he passed now and even better if he managed it with flying colours. If what Tarn said was right, Jacob would have no trouble in passing the exam but he'd only just thought of something else a few moments ago. What if he passed but only just? Would Tarn demand that he stay on for longer, Jacob was certain the deal had been: pass one exam, get trace removed, pass final exam, leave Hogwarts and have no more lessons in magic. Professor McGonagall's original idea had been to point him in the right direction and make sure he could learn magic on his own before pushing him out of the nest. Now, Jacob was far too eager to leave that nest. Tarn would be happy to see him go also. But as soon as he had thought of that, not passing well enough, he decided that Tarn would never do that. If Jacob had passed, the young man had passed and Tarn would be quite happy to say goodbye. He'd had fun, that was certain but he felt like he needed to move on now. It wasn't a huge dramatic thing happening in his life but he just wanted to set his priorities up and after the exam today, Hogwarts wouldn't be on that last. He could focus on what mattered most to him.

Looking down at his watch, his heart fell in dismay. It was time for him to go and take test. A slow but ever so persistent nervous feeling in his stomach uncoiled and stayed low for the time being. Jacob knew it would get worse and worse but when the test began he'd be so absorbed in what he was doing, he wouldn't notice.

With a groan, he rose to his feet to find George and steal some luck from him before he went. He thundered down the stairs, needing to go really soon. Tarn had been absolutely adamant about Jacob arriving in time so the exam could begin. The examination actually counted on him turning up. It was a one man exam and unless this mystery examiner had to be elsewhere right after the test than Jacob saw barely little reason to hurry, but he did anyway. George was standing at the foot of the steps beside the hidden room pushing large goggles away from his eyes. He caught Jacob as he pelted down the stairs. The shop hadn't opened today and George was excited about working on some new stuff. Jacob immediately saw from the ecstatic look on his face that he wouldn't be coming with him to the school. George must have seen the down trodden look on his face for he apologized instantly.

'I've been inspired,' he said flinging his arms around Jacob's neck. 'You inspire me!' He chuckled and kissed Jacob's cheek and then his forward before pulling back and speaking again but Jacob interrupted him.

'I inspire you to make jokes?' he asked. When George shrugged, Jacob shrugged too quite happy to save the question for another time when he could be bothered getting a long winded answer from the man.

'Good luck,' said George. 'Don't give me that look; you won't need it, Jakey. I'm sure it'll be a piece of cake.'

'Really?' Jacob asked wrinkling his nose when George kissed the skin of his cheekbone. 'Do you reckon?'

''course,' George said. 'I don't think they would have designed the test so that you'd fail it. They probably want to get rid of you as much as you want to get away from them. Tarn probably reckons you're just a massive nuisance he got dumped with.' He shrugged and leaned forward to press his lips to Jacob, who greedily accepted and ran his tongue along George's lip begging to be allowed in ... but he was denied. 'No, you need to go,' George said pushing Jacob back up the stairs. He sounded like a parent scolding a child. 'You'll get distracted by how good looking I am and then forget, conveniently, to go to the test or you'll keep thinking of me.'

Jacob stuck his tongue out at older man and shook his head. 'I'll be completely focused, I'll have to be. God knows what's coming.'

'Hey.' George touched his shoulder. 'You'll be fine. When you come back I'll have something ready, ok? Whether you pass or fail, I'll have a surprise.'

'Serious?' Jacob asked grinning at George. George had never done anything of the like for him before and he was excited to see what the man would do. Even if he walked into the bedroom and found him there naked, it would be fine, Jacob liked that anyway. Anything George would do for him was bound to be something, amazing or not it would still be something. Something weird or something especially, Jacob was eager to find out which it would be. George was capable of doing something special and definitely of doing something weird, Jacob didn't know which it would be. He pecked George lightly on the lips before he was pushed up the stairs by insistent hands.

'Yes, I bloody am,' George told him. 'Now, get out of here! Move your bony arse!'

The blank portrait stared out at him. It was unnerving that the painting still hadn't been filled. That mystery was something that Jacob didn't think would be solved in a very long time. Professor McGonagall, for some reason, didn't want to take her place along with all the other Hogwarts headmasters and headmistress's. Jacob had a small amount of time to wonder about that as Professor Tarn had left the room to collect someone who needed to be there for the examination. Why wouldn't Professor McGonagall come? Jacob would have wanted to talk to her, to thank her and all the rest before the exam. Perhaps she had somewhere better to be, or maybe she had chosen not to come back at all because she simply didn't want to. Jacob was completely unschooled on how the portraits worked but for him it seemed like a way of coming back from the dead. Standing there with eyes watching him, eyes that should be dead, watching him and blinking, so full of life they may as well step out of the frames and dance with him. The only pair of eyes he really wanted to see weren't there, not in any of the frames. Professor McGonagall was nowhere to be seen and according to Draco none of the other Professors had any clue what had come of her image that should be sitting behind the desk. The former headmistress had not wanted to come back to her school. The one she loved so much. There was a huge amount of strangeness in that but no one had bothered to look into it further. Maybe one day she'd come.

Suddenly the stone staircase creaked and Professor Tarn plus another person where gliding effortlessly up into the office. The nerves that had been awakened in his lower stomach before he left the flat did a somersault and he nearly snapped his wand he was holding in both his hands so tightly. A woman had accompanied Professor Tarn and Jacob had never seen her before. She wasn't wearing any badge of special kind of robes that could have led him to believe she was some kind of important fixture in the Ministry. She wasn't wearing the flamboyant robes many of the Hogwarts Professors did. She was wearing a long cream sweater and a pair of straight-leg jeans. She hadn't tried to overdo herself to fit in with Muggle's like many other witches and wizards did. She had a kind face that made him feel a whole lot more comfortable that she was sitting on this, but when she turned it towards Jacob he caught glimpse of her eyes. Even her nice smile couldn't drown out how frightening her eyes looked. They were a sharp, sharp green colour that looked terrifying. At least her smile was kind.

'Mr Smith,' Tarn said adopting a more formal way of addressing Jacob as he did when he tried to seem superior to them and act like the perfect tutor for a little lost Muggle soul like Jacob. He had pulled it off to. The woman nearly blanched at the important air about Tarn (she must, like most people who hadn't been around him at all had thought he was some dolt with stupid hair). That was something he did well but he had to try very hard to achieve the desired fact. Jacob nearly laughed as he thought about what the Professor would say if he knew Jacob had learnt this much about him through careful observant lasting weeks. Jacob observed a lot of people like that, he liked to form opinions on them and occasionally much to his embarrassment found himself analyzing people before he'd even got to know them. It was a horrid habit. 'This is Mrs Osk. She will be your examiner for the day and she will ask you to perform spells and note down your effort and what happened with the spell. Then, after that, you will return here and do a written exam for me.'

Jacob nodded, not sure whether he should be saying something. All he knew was that he wanted to fold up like a pocket knife because he could feel Mrs Osk's hawk like gaze boring into him. 'Ok, Professor,' he chanced quietly. Professor Tarn hadn't seemed to have heard him; he had turned to Mrs Osk and was talking to her about what he expected. Jacob wondered why they couldn't have sorted this out before he came and just got right down to it.

'There is a Dungeon spare for the pair of you, Mrs Osk,' Tarn said graciously. 'There are no classes it in today and no one will bother you. Please feel free to go there when you wish and begin the practical examination.'

'Thank you, Headmaster,' the lady said and smiled briefly at him before moving to stand on the top step of the staircase, motioning for Jacob to accompany her.

Before he could, Tarn's hand closed around his shoulder and he pulled him back. Jacob could feel the man's moustache against the back of his head and he felt like throwing up it was so scratchy and nasty. 'Do me proud, boy.' It wasn't words of good luck, it had been a command. Jacob had to do him proud.

Nodding just to please Tarn, Jacob wormed out of his grip and tried not to look in the lady's eyes as he stepped beside her and the staircase rumbled downwards.

The dungeon Mrs Osk had escorted him to, saying nothing but how handsome some of the portraits were on the way, was possibly the least used classroom in Hogwarts. It was a back up classroom by the looks of things, the desks were made of old, old wood that didn't make them look any nicer and the dungeon room itself was cold and foreboding. It was behind a disturbingly old desk at the front of the stony room that Mrs Osk made her camp. She pulled out her wand after placing several sheets of parchment and four very bland looking quills on her desk and waved her wand once. All the desks shoot to the side of the room leaving Jacob standing in the middle of the floor feeling quite exposed without something around him. It seemed as though Mrs Osk had settled herself in for long stay in her chair. She was looking quite comfortable as her piercing eyes stared out at him through the dark of the room. Jacob gulped.

'Let's have some light,' she said pleasantly and waved her wand again. Blue flames jumped to candle holders Jacob hadn't noticed before and burned whether there was a candle in the stick or not. 'Now, Mr Smith,' she said as she clicked her tongue to the roof of her mouth. 'I will just call out the name of spells, charms, the lot and I expect you to perform the exact spell I say. It shouldn't be too hard, so don't look so nervous,' she smiled. 'If the spell doesn't immediately come to mind just cast the one you thought of first, that's always a good bet. Good luck, Mr Smith.' Her eyes had gone down to the paper but she looked up at him quickly again. 'Oh, and I will be taking notes on your stance, performance and delivery, thank you.'

Jacob feebly nodded. And pulled his wand out from where he kept it, safely inside his sleeve. Holding onto it tightly didn't calm him as it did other times; it was like he had to use it to finally prove himself to a complete stranger. And as easy as that should be, it wasn't really. Naturally, he was quite a talky person but sometimes he needed a bit of a push if people intimidated him. Jacob wished this woman didn't have such frightening eyes, things would be a lot easier.

'Ready Mr Smith?' she asked kindly though her eyes showed otherwise.

Jacob nodded slowly again.

'A disarming spell,' she instructed in a low steady voice. Out of the corner of his eye Jacob saw her wand twitch beside her like it was eager to perform as well. She quickly snatched her hand away from her wand and scowled at it for a second before turning her eyes back to Jacob. 'Please,' she said, 'I'd like to see what you can do.' She picked her wand up again, intending for Jacob to do what she asked and knock her wand from her dainty little hand.

'_Expelliarmus!' _cried Jacob changing his stance a little and firing the spell right at the woman's wand. To his utmost pleasure it shot directly from her hand and the both of them watched it soar across the room to clatter at the bottom of the stone wall. After her wand had dropped, Jacob immediately looked back to her for a glimpse of her expression. A small smile had jutted across her face and she motioned towards her wand at the other end of the room.

'A summoning spell, please,' said Mrs Osk kindly and smiling Jacob. Jacob didn't want to turn his back from her and wanted to do the spell over his shoulder but he didn't think his examiner would count that as a very good delivery of the spell.

Turning around to summon her wand to him, he could hear her quill sharply scratching across parchment meaning she was writing down something about his disarming spell. It could hardly be anything bad; it wasn't as if Expelliarmus was a very difficult spell to master. It was something simple yet he didn't think it would ever really prove handy for him.

'_Accio wand!' _he said loudly so that she could hear him clearly. The wand zoomed easily into his hand and he closed his eyes in thanks to no one in particular that this was going well. He turned around and trudged back to her, holding out the wand enclosed in his hand. She took it from him with a brief smile.

'That went further than intended, but never mind,' she said. 'Shall we continue?'

Jacob nodded; he shifted nervously and nodded again. He was glad to feel that his nerves were finally subsiding like he knew they would. He was getting into the swing of things even though he'd only done two spells and didn't want his nerves to become another factor. He steeled himself, ready for the next spell he would be asked to perform. It was a scary thought to know that he would do the first spell that popped into his mind when asked. He hoped he didn't do anything dangerous or completely opposite of what he was asked – that would just be embarrassing.

'Transfigure this here quill into a Muggle pen please, ball point preferably,' the examiner said and held out the quill towards Jacob wanting immediate action.

Jacob did so. He was good at Transfiguration and so to Mrs Osk it must have looked as though one second she was holding the quill and then it had changed into a pen in a split second. Jacob beamed at the surprise look on his face but quickly wiped it off when she looked at him in shock. 'Do you want me to change it back?' he asked innocently. She shook her head.

'Oh no,' she muttered. 'That was some handy spell work.' She tapped the pen to her chin in thought. 'Several more Transfiguration spells, if you please and then some charms. I would like to see your Patrnous before you return to Professor Tarn for the final part of your assessment.' She spoke like this would all be over soon and Jacob wondered why that was, surely there was hundreds of more spells she could ask him to do and they could actually be done here for hours and hours. But she had said that like this would only take another half an hour, maybe forty-five minutes. Jacob knew that he wasn't very high up on Tarn's list of priorities but he was high on the list of temporary annoyances. Tarn probably wanted to make this as thorough but take as little of his time as possible. Jacob actually did not mind, he just thought that maybe they would be down in the dingy dungeons for longer and this would take more than half an hour. There was no way she could determine his ability from three spells. Jacob gulped; she had yet to see his appalling charm work. Maybe that would set her opinion of him back a little bit. He was certainly no boy wonder when it came to charms.

However, an hour later Mrs Osk was finished examining him. It had turned out that it wasn't going to be as quick as Jacob had thought and she had completely exhausted his arsenal so much that he was looking forward to doing some written work. From her smiles and vaguely approving looks, Jacob knew that he hadn't failed this and to his annoyance, Tarn had been correct. Even a monkey could have had come idea of what to do and how to go about it. It would have to be a magical monkey though or a very special one. Mrs Osk escorted him back to Professor Tarn's office like he was a small child that would get lost in a nonexistent throng of people. Throughout the test, especially after Jacob had shown her his near perfect Transfiguration skills (mainly acquired through natural talent and Professor McGonagall's fabulous teaching) she had shot him adoring looks but those had faltered when he began on the charms which as normal went wrong or took him two tries to get it right. That had been awkwardly discomforting but he had continued nonetheless, though shamefaced. She had asked to see his Patronus right at the end and Jacob had shown her. The Patronus charm was the only charm he was good at. Jacob didn't count it as a charm, he called it what Draco called it no matter how poncy and flashy that sounded. He called it a defensive spell never a charm. There was nothing to worry about in the practical aspect of his exam. He'd been down there for an hour and a half and shown what he knew and what he could do, and he'd done it to the best of his ability. He'd passed too, it wasn't hard to tell.

In Professor Tarn's office, Mrs Osk said goodbye to him and the Headmaster and disappeared in a flourish of green through the Floo connection. Tarn had smoothed his fringe back, run a hand down his moustache and observed Jacob for a few seconds before plainly motioning for him to sit down so they could begin. This part of the exam didn't really frighten him or make him as nervous as the first bit. He'd spent his whole schooling years taking tests like this. He'd written until his hand cramped and then had to write some more. That was what school had been about, he was sure, making your hands strong. It hadn't really been much help to him in the end. What he had learnt the past few months had been his only help in life. Sure he would have been going somewhere with his University studies, somewhere but nowhere as exciting as this. What did a BA stand for anyway (that's what he had been going for), Bugger All? He would have had a moderate job with what he had been studying but he'd never have been a given a chance like this. He was lucky he'd stumbled across the place and even more lucky that he'd seized the opportunity around the neck and held on tightly. Not many people had a chance like this, ever.

The answers for the first part of the page jumped right to the tip of his tongue and he had to scribble them down furiously before the words he wanted to write down ran away from him. The first half was a breeze, simple mildly irritating questions about werewolves, vampires, creatures and just bland, boring History that Jacob took a stab at though he didn't know many of the answers. He was certain that his guessing was good because it was based on mutterings he'd heard and for some reason retrained long enough for this. The mind was a weird, weird place. But the second half of the test was the bit he'd been dreading somewhat. The spell theory, the correct pronunciation of the spell, what it did, the effects etc ... etc. It was a lot of information for one simple spell that only really mattered if you knew how to do it and what it did. All this extra stuff was rather unimportant to Jacob but he supposed people wanted to know that he wasn't some stupid Muggle who just waved his wand and marvelled in the sparks that came out. The last section was more than three pages of solid knowledge on the spells he was asked about. He'd tried to write down everything he knew but he was only human and of course there were bits that he forgot about or couldn't remember no matter how hard he tried to remember. Jacob didn't let it bother him, only super geniuses could remember the answer to every single question asked. A walking dictionary might be able to but not him. He processed the information that was most interesting to him and didn't give a hoot about the rest. Most of the time he either had to turn it into something interesting or force feed himself it.

Suddenly Tarn ripped the five pages of parchment out from under his hands and Jacob was aware that he'd been writing solidly for nearly three hours and all that hand and wrist work he'd done in school had not paid off. His hand was a sore and it felt like it would cramp in a second. He massaged his hand palm and fingers as he looked up at Tarn who was observing his paper with glum approval.

'Well,' he grunted, 'judging from what Mrs Osk told me and the state of this parchment you have passed,' he didn't allow Jacob to jump around excitably like he wanted to except continued briskly, 'I will have the final results to your door in a few days. I barely have the time at the moment.'

He'd passed! He was free! He really felt like a wonder boy! It had been easier than he'd thought and that was exciting that he'd passed! He never had to come back to this place again, how brilliant was that? Catching Professor Tarn's eyes suddenly, he wasn't sure what to say to the Professor. He faltered in his celebrations inside his head and his beaming grin dropped. Jacob did the first thing that came to mind. He hugged the Headmaster tightly around the waist.

Tarn buckled and tried to push Jacob off him. 'Er, is that really necessary?' he asked in a gurgling voice as he managed to pry Jacob away from his hug of mad thanks.

'Thank you,' Jacob said simply as he backed several feet away from Tarn embarrassed by his actions and grinned. 'Thanks so much. Really could not have done this without your help, however reluctant it may have been. Thanks,' he said again and extended and a hand in a much more professional and manly way.

'You're quite welcome, Jacob.' Tarn's voice cracked. 'Maybe,' he said his voice low, 'I'm a little proud of you.'

Jacob grinned. He didn't care what Tarn had said, the man didn't want him to make a thing of it. Anyway, he'd passed!

* * *

**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	43. Four Years Later

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

**Curiosity  
Part Forty-three: Four Years Later**

The shop was dark as Jacob slowly trudged up the stairs, his feet heavily plonking against the wooden steps, the only thoughts rolling through his head were of how tired he was. His hair was damp from the shower he'd just had and he'd done a quick sweep of the shop, checking everything while shaking the water out of his hair. Upstairs, the flat was dark but low dull blue wand light could be seen shining out from the crack left by the slightly open bedroom door. He'd been living here for four and a bit years but he still loved the idea that George always stayed up to wait for him if he went to bed a little later than him. George said it was because he liked to fall asleep with Jacob and that still made him blush. Things had hardly changed in four years. He and George were still together yet they had arguments more, however infrequent they were. But they never went to be bed angry or upset and the small verbal fights showed that they just cared about each other a whole lot. Sometimes when Jacob was particularly upset he thought he cared about George far too much. WWW still generated a huge amount of money yet they hadn't moved out of the small flat and Jacob liked the closeness and smallness of it, being close to George occasionally gave him a rush of tingles through his body though he was so much more relaxed around the man now. He loved him so much. He shook both hands around in his considerably shorter hair, still blonde and bumped the door open fully with his hip, wandering slowly in.

With a quick grin at the red head lounging in the bed, Jacob crossed to the closet and shed the towel around his waist for a pair of simple plaid boxers. He wasn't sure who they actually belonged too but it didn't really matter, he pulled them on anyway. He hadn't heard George padding across the room towards him and it gave him quite a start when the man's arms snaked around his waist and lips pressed to the skin of his neck. Jacob had to abandon the baggy, overlarge t-shirt he had been reaching for as George pulled him back from the closet and laughed when Jacob sighed with a chuckle built in.

'Come to bed, please,' said George softly. 'I have something I need to ask you. It's important,' he added seriously and let go of the small blonde in front of him and took his hand basically pulling Jacob towards the bed. The bed Jacob had first slept in when he moved into the flat was long gone; they had no need for it anymore. The room had a great deal more space now that it was out. Jacob hadn't missed it much though George had a little difficulty saying good bye to it as it had been the bed Fred slept in.

Collapsing onto the bed, Jacob scooted right over to the wall to allow George space on the double bed. When George was comfortable Jacob rested his head on the bed under George's shoulder and let himself press his nose into the side of the man's body, nuzzling his ribcage. But George sighed irritably and pushed him away and lifted Jacob's chin so that he'd look him in the eyes. Seeing his face and reaction he'd had to Jacob hugging him, Jacob wanted to shy away further. What was coming didn't look as though it was going to be particularly enjoyable but he was only judging this from the sigh of annoyance George had emitted before. He gulped when George forced him to look at him, when he forced them to lock eyes and wouldn't let Jacob look away.

'I can't think straight when you do that,' announced George in a soft voice. 'Just please stop for two seconds, I need to ask you something. It's really important,' he repeated. 'I'm serious, Jakey! It's bloody important.' It occurred to Jacob with deafening shock that George was nervous and perhaps his voice did portray a little fright like he was scared. He didn't know why the man would be scared about asking him something, no matter how important he said it was Jacob was always willing to give an answer. Trying hard to keep his cool about the impending question, Jacob nodded.

'Fire away,' he croaked before coughing to clear his throat. He'd had a small cold several days before and accompanied with a very stressful outing to an International Cricket match with Doug, it hadn't done wonders to his throat. He shouted when he watched Cricket, he couldn't help it. When someone was being useless he let them know it. It didn't matter though; they'd sat with the other rowdy people and yelled with them. George had found it hilarious when Jacob had come home and winced whenever he'd spoken. George hadn't been acting like this then, all nervous and finicky, he'd been completely normal. He teased Jacob and then given him something for the slowly vanishing cold and his throat.

'I've wanted to ask you this for so long,' said George and threw his head back with a laugh. 'So bloody long, but I wanted to make sure I could live with you for a long time, do not interrupt me, Jacob, please, or I'll never get this out.' Jacob flushed and covered his mouth with his hands showing the man he wouldn't try and but in again. 'Look, Jacob, you're an insanely amazing person, you have a pretty crazy personality but I love it and you. It helps that you're bloody gorgeous too, really gorgeous. I love you so much, seriously, so, so much.'

'I love you -' Jacob began but was stopped by George pressing a finger lightly to his lips.

'I haven't finished,' the man said.

'Sorry,' whispered Jacob.

George smiled half heartedly and with what looked like great personal effort, soldiered on. 'So, um ... what I guess I want to ask you is will you marry me?'

Jacob looked to the man wide eyed when he heard him ask this. Honestly, he had not been expecting it and hadn't been sure what George was going to ask him. But thinking back on it, it was blindingly obvious it was going to be that completely mind blowing question. No other answer popped into his head apart from yes. Of course he'd say yes. He wondered with humour why George had even bothered asking and had just told him they were going to. Jacob didn't need a second to think about his answer, he loved George so much and the question had been popped to him so George loved him as well, too much to not spend the rest of his life with him. Which was fine with Jacob, he was quite thrilled by the prospect of being with him for the rest of his life. It didn't scare him at all. He'd been able to live with George for four years and a bit and cope with all the slip ups, screw ups and problems they'd had. Yes, it was simple. Yes, it wasn't a hard answer. But George looked as though Jacob would say no at second or even a maybe. But if Jacob said maybe, or he'd think about it, it was as good as a no with extended waiting time. His answer didn't stray far from yes; it didn't even leave the front gate of yes. It would be yes and nothing else. They'd be engaged and then they'd get married. Occasionally, Jacob had thought ahead on what his life would be like (especially after he passed the final exam, left Hogwarts and got absolutely wasted. It had been a brilliant day and night except waking up at 3pm wasn't exactly a walk in the park. He still winced when he thought of that hangover) and amazingly each and every fantasy like hope had included George. Jacob hadn't been surprised, he was so in love with George and was still so in love with George now. Perhaps even a little bit more, if that was entirely possible.

'Jacob,' George said and nudged him softly. He looked nervous and full of anticipation; Jacob wouldn't keep him waiting much longer. 'You zoned off. You don't have to answer right away,' babbled George. 'You can wait, think it over, and give it some time, if you want.'

'No time,' Jacob said shortly. He sat up on the bed and looked down at George, a mess of red hair against the white pillows and shinning eyes. He nodded, pursing his lips. George's eyes shot open wide like Jacob's had done when he asked. So he nodded again.

'Say it,' George begged reaching up to curl his fingers through Jacob's hair.

'Yes,' Jacob agreed. 'I'll marry you.' He smiled as relief broke out across George's face and as he inched himself up towards him. With their faces so close together, Jacob could finally see how truly happy George was he'd agreed. The man had a small half smile on his face that he wouldn't let get any bigger as the blush on his face would expand too if he did. Jacob knew he was on the brink over an ever-lasting blush or maybe even tears. He wrapped his arm around George's shoulders and tried to merge his face into George's neck. Seconds later he felt soft fingers running through his hair, warm breathe beside his air and a hand holding him to the man before him. The man that was now his fiancée – he blushed at the wording in his mind – kissed the side of his head and cradled him in his arms. 'Love you,' Jacob murmured softly loving how saying it made George pull him in closer yet.

'I didn't get you a ring,' George said absently amusing himself by twirling strands of Jacob's hair around his finger. 'I didn't think you'd really want some big rock hanging off your finger. It'd be far too straight for you to wear an engagement ring.' He touched his hand to Jacob's hair and hummed lightly. 'If you want one though, I can get one for you.'

'I don't want one,' Jacob said. George had him so figured out. If presented with an engagement ring like he was some kind of lady that needed to be wooed into submission, Jacob would have glared at it and probably not worn it at all no matter how costly it may have been. 'I don't need one.' Moving his face away from the crook of George's neck, he looked up at the man. 'Did you want one?' he asked.

George grimaced and chuckled. 'Merlin and look like some bloody dandy with a big rock on his finger, no! I'd look ridiculous, blimey. Nice thought though, I think the sheer weight of the thing would break my finger because my Jakey only gets the best for me, right?'

''course,' said Jacob with a warm laugh. 'Only the best,' he added.

'Thank you,' George said suddenly.

'For what?' Jacob asked in confusion.

'For saying yes,' George said. 'I don't know what I would have done if you'd said no. Or even a maybe would have been horrible because with you a maybe is as good as a no.' George sighed. 'I love you so much. We are going to get married,' he said in glee.

'Do you want a proper full scale wedding?' Jacob asked a little weary of this. He knew what George's answer would be. Yes, the man would want one. But Jacob didn't really. Sure, he liked weddings; they were fun and entertaining especially the larger ones. Yet he had always wanted a slightly smaller than the norm one, just immediate family and a very close friends. George had told Jacob once that he wanted a massive wedding with his whole family and all his friends and since it would probably be George who'd pay for the festivities, he should get what he wanted. Jacob didn't mind that much. Whatever kind of wedding he had would be fine as long it was George he was marrying.

'Mm ...' George pondered this for a while before nodding vigorously and grinning. 'Yes,' he said, 'I do. I want it to be fun.' He pulled Jacob down onto the mattress with him again and reached down to yank the covers up over them. He settled his face right above Jacob on the pillows and kissed his head softly before letting out a slight yawn. 'Let's not talk about it now. Get some sleep, fiancée,' he mumbled softly. 'Love you,' George said and his closed eyes crinkled with amusement. 'I can't say that enough.'

Several weeks after the proposal, Jacob and George decided that the wedding was going to be held at the house in Inverness. The reason being that Jacob's family and friends were held back by their lack of magic and that was another factor as well, his friends couldn't be told or see any magic at all. The house at Inverness had been passed onto Jacob and Anne when Carlota died a few years back. Neither of them lived it in but Jacob – who had recently passed his Apparition test – was able to flit away to it whenever he wanted. Now that spring was around the house looked absolutely gorgeous, plants were popping up all over the place and the trees beginning to regain all their spilt leaves. The house would be able to provide all the accommodation his family and friends needed; they couldn't just come and go as easily as George's family could. Anne had recently employed a gardener and the woman had cleared away the over grown plants at the back of the section and had shown that the section actually had a lot more space than either Jacob or Anne had anticipated. Enough space for the kind of wedding George wanted; a flashy yet romantic one. So the pair of them had decided that they would have it at Inverness as the Burrow was too weird for Muggle eyes and there was no rent cost on having it at a house half owned by Jacob.

The wedding was set for the 1st of May, a date that held absolutely no significance to them at all apart from it being their wedding day. And everything was pretty much organized. There had been a huge amount of confusion for them over the few weeks they organized it with the sole help of Hermione – with her around to help them things got done so quickly, it was amazing. What had looked like it would have taken Jacob and George ages to do alone had taken Hermione very little time at all. She was on a bit of a roll from her and Ron's wedding. Which had been fantastic, Jacob didn't hesitate to admit that. When he and George asked her help on one thing, she had taken over the whole operation and done it herself. They hadn't objected to her compulsive need to do this, in fact, they lay back and embraced it. It was pretty impressive how much effort Hermione was putting into their wedding but according to Ron she had made just as big a fuss for theirs. The only difference was she had snapped at Ron when he tried to sit back at let her do all the planning and commotion for theirs. Hermione Granger Weasley was a legend. A complete legend and if she hadn't been around the wedding would have been set back at least a month while Jacob and George moaned and groaned about having to do things and organize.

The earlier confusion had been about how it would actually work; the wedding in general. Two men weren't supposed to get married, it didn't really work. It was all right for two women or a man and a woman. But neither Jacob nor George particularly wanted to jump into a frock and waltz up the aisle while the other waited patiently. Having bridesmaids and groomsmen was an issue also. Neither of them wanted to be labelled as the most feminine of the pair by having bridesmaid and walking down the aisle. Molly had come up with a solution when George had expressed his annoyance of him and Jacob having tiffs about the problem. George had come back to the flat ecstatic about what his mother had suggested and asked Jacob if he wanted to do that. Molly's idea had nothing to do with any tradition wedding styles that George so desperately wanted, but her idea pleased Jacob. (As much as he liked weddings, they were getting married under a system that hated them.) Her idea was that they scratch the whole straight wedding thing George was putting on and just make sure everyone knew it was a gay marriage by having the pair of them walk down the aisle together, no groomsmaids (as George had playfully started referring to them) and no groomsmen, just them. Jacob loved that idea and when George realized it meant he'd have the opportunity to kick Ron out of his ceremony, he liked it too. It was a good idea but Hermione was disheartened by it. She groaned to Jacob that she had been excited about dragging him along to get all the extra people fitted for the wedding. Apparently she had taken great joy in that in the past, for her wedding she'd even demanded that Jacob get kitted out the way she wanted him to look.

George had joked about Jacob wearing a kilt for the wedding only because traditional Scotsmen wore nothing under them. Jacob had said he'd wear it only if George walked around the flat naked for a whole day. It was annoying because George promptly did that; George could easily slide right into a nudist colony. He had quite enjoyed the free day without clothes. Jacob had a kilt, his clan kilt. But he wasn't about wear it for the wedding, and he told George that, the red head then frowned and demanded that Jacob wear it at least once for him. On the honeymoon, he had hinted. All this talk about their wedding had George very fired up, his was sticking to Jacob like glue for the week before the wedding and taking every opportunity to fondle, kiss and grope him. Weddings still got the man horny. It amused Jacob to wonder how George was going to cope when he went home with his family for the night before the wedding as Molly and Arthur had refused to let them see each other before it. The man wasn't very happy with his parent's instructions but obliged nonetheless though grumpily.

'Do you have to go?' whined Jacob standing on the porch of the house at Inverness, a cool breeze blowing about him and wafting through his hair. Anne, Doug and four year old Natalie were already here with Jacob at the house. They had basically had to force George to leave and force Jacob to let him leave. It was lunchtime and George was expected at the Burrow just on lunch. Charlie had joked that if George wasn't with his family by then they were sending out a search party and if they had to surgically (Charlie had been fascinated when he'd found out about Muggle doctors and surgeons and milked every piece of information Jacob knew from him) remove George from Jacob then so be it. Neither wanted the other to leave but the wedding depended on it or else the day wouldn't be very special as they would have spent the night before it together. It was all about that longing and anticipation. It annoyed Jacob that he wouldn't see his fiancée until 3pm tomorrow afternoon and then shortly after that, they'd be past just being engaged.

'Apparently, I have to,' George said a little sourly. 'If I don't I'll get mobbed by my whole family. There are a lot of them so that will hurt,' he added with a wince to illustrate his point. 'I'll see you tomorrow, ok?' He wrapped his arms around Jacob's waist. 'I don't want to go, but I have to.'

Jacob bit down on his bottom lip. 'You don't have to go,' he said in a pleading way.

'Yeah, I do, Jakey.'

'But my mum's going to be here soon.'

'You haven't spoken for four years, conversation shouldn't be short,' George said jokingly but then quickly shut his mouth after receiving a dangerous glare from Jacob. He reached out and clasped Jacob's shoulder, gently squeezing it encouragingly. 'It'll be fine. She decided to come; she wants to make things up with you.' George was probably correct in saying that. Jacob hadn't stopped visiting his family, except it had just ended up mainly being his father who was at their home. His mother was never there when he turned up; she was either at a friend's place, doing the shopping or at Anne's. Even times when Jacob had turned up unannounced on a flying visit his mother had still managed to avoid him somehow. Not that Jacob had wanted to talk to her, he hadn't. He made sure they knew he was coming over so she could get away and when he visited without telling them he was so glad that his mother mysteriously vanished. He hadn't seen or spoken to her within a time frame of four years. Four years and a bit that he had been spared from any other horrible arguments or rude, snarky comments, he was happy he hadn't spoken to her. He hadn't wanted to ever speak to his mother again after the several incidences that led up to the massive falling out.

'I don't want to talk to her,' Jacob said lamely.

'You're going to have to, love,' said George caressing his cheek. Jacob sighed dismally and George laughed. 'Oi,' he said, 'just remember we are getting married tomorrow.' Jacob grinned and let himself lean against George's chest with a sigh of contentment. Of course, the thought of them getting married tomorrow was the best thought ever. He could easily use it to produce a thousand Patronuses.

Suddenly a soft crack broke through their parting moments and Charlie could be seen standing proudly on the steps before the porch. George broke away from Jacob and ran down the steps to confront Charlie with irritation.

'What do you think you're doing?' he asked Charlie, his hands on his hips. 'We've got Muggle's here,' he said as Jacob jogged down the steps to hug his arms around George's waist, not wanting to let the man go when Charlie had so obviously come to collect. 'What if they saw?' George wasn't angry at Charlie, he just wanted to poke a bit of fun at his brother, see if he could fluster him or not. The Muggle's spoken off were his sister, her husband and his niece and they all knew of Jacob's magic and that of the Wizarding world. It wouldn't hurt them to see but all the Weasley's and other wizards and witches who were attending had been told not to use magic no matter what as some of the Muggle's who would be coming had no idea that there was another world completely under their noses.

'You are wanted at the Burrow,' said Charlie with a laugh and a grin. 'Mum told me that I had to come and get you if you didn't come at lunch because you'd most likely hid yourself somewhere so you didn't have to leave Jacob – hello,' he added with a pleasant wave to Jacob. 'So, I've come to collect you. Mum's orders.'

'I sound like a bloody parcel,' George answered. 'One second,' he muttered to Charlie and turned around to Jacob covering his lips in a quick kiss. He stroked Jacob's hair and pulled back when Jacob leaned forward for another kiss. 'Tomorrow,' he said in a breathy voice. 'Tomorrow.' This time the sound of his voice let Jacob know he promised it. He touched the side of Jacob's head again as Jacob grumbled about not wanting George to leave. George said he didn't want to either and Charlie nearly had to pull him off Jacob.

'Merlin, you're worse than Harry and Ginny, come on, George,' Charlie said.

George looked across at Jacob apologetically and whispered one last thing. 'Good luck with your mum, yeah? Merlin knows you'll need it.' And with that George and Charlie were gone.

Jacob breathed nervously and jogged on the spot a little. His mother would be here soon. What the hell would he say to her? He was honestly surprised when his dad had told him that both he and his mother would come. Jacob had seriously thought about writing out the invite to just his dad but George said that he should ask if both of them would come. Neither had actually thought she'd accept. Anne had even said that she probably would refuse to come. Poor Anne had been subject to a lot of backlash about Jacob from their mother over the past four years but she said that it had dwindled when the date of the wedding approached and she'd actually started fusing about what she was going to wear. His mother had never met the rest of the Weasley's before either nor had his father. Jacob wasn't particularly nervous about his father meeting them at all, his dad got along with anyone unless they were cold hearted or a complete moron. He had little tolerance for utter idiots. He had discovered that he didn't give a damn whether his mum decided to like Molly and Arthur or any of the other Weasley's and their offspring. If she wanted to make a fuss about not liking them Jacob wouldn't hear it, but then again there was little chance she'd actually talk to him unless forced to at all. There would most definitely be an awkward hug when she arrived here (Jacob took the time to look at his watch as he thought of this, and nearly choked. She'd be here soon. It was like waiting for the witch of the west to turn up) yet if she wasn't forced she would hardly speak to him. And if Anne was right she had no intentions of making up with him. She probably just wanted to see George, and perhaps have a wee chat with him and then met his parents and siblings. But the part of Jacob that wanted a fairy tale type of reunion would make up with her, apologize and see what happened from there. Sure, it'd be nice to be on friendly terms with his mother again but though their arguments had been quite some years ago, they were still fresh and stung occasionally.

Hugging his far too large jersey around him, he turned around walking back up the porch towards the door of the house. Now that George had left he realized how nervous he actually was about tomorrow. He wondered if he'd spend the whole night awake fretting about the wedding and their life together afterwards like Harry and Ron both had before their weddings. But things weren't like that with him and George as they were with Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione. For starters neither of them had an obsessive need to keep their flat tidy, they didn't have womanly problems, they never had huge blow outs over absolutely pointless things (they argued, who didn't? But never to the extent that they wouldn't speak to each other for days on end and then hold a grudge about and bring it up in later fights. Jacob made it his job to make sure neither of them went to bed angry and as both of them tending to want to skirt away from fights and finish them later, which was something of a mission). George was truly one of Jacob's best friends and his lover, it was the best combination. They had proved they could live together without being unfaithful for four years and still love each other at the end of it. It was an impressive achievement that not many people could amount to and they should celebrate it by a marriage. Jacob didn't think he should be so nervous, he loved George and would love him for plenty more years to come and definitely forever. He wouldn't stay up as late as Ron and Harry had, there wasn't much for him to worry about. He loved George so much and could actually see him and George years ahead still together and still so in love. A few nights ago, he'd – very straightforwardly – asked if the man thought they'd be together in twenty years. George had responded by saying eighty.

A little hand tugged on his sleeve that fell down far beyond his own hand. He looked down to see Natalie standing beside him on the doorstep, looking up at him with a little bit of concern. The blonde hair that she had had as a baby had matured into a much browner sun streaked colour, naturally of course but her eyes were still a vibrant blue – like Anne's and Jacob's (though his weren't as blue as hers). He looked back down at her and nearly toppled over when she tugged on his sleeve again, bringing him further down to her height. 'Where has George gone?' she inquired looking around the porch with some disappointment. She liked George and even though the red head spent most of his time trying to avoid having to play or entertain Natalie, sometimes he was roped into it because she had very little interest in Jacob and would never let him read to her or play with her for long.

'He's gone home for a bit,' said Jacob tugging his sleeve from her tight grasp and straightening up again. He wanted to get inside in case his mother and father turned up now, so he could pretend he was having a shower or trying his suit on again – just to avoid talking to his mother for a little longer.

'Why?' Natalie asked tipping her head to one side and grabbing hold of Jacob's sleeve once more, stretching the already very flexible woolly fabric once more and refashioning the jersey so that he had one sleeve longer than the other.

'Because he can't stay with me tonight,' Jacob replied somewhat dismally. He hadn't wanted George to go home but he supposed it wouldn't really work without some time away from each other. 'He had to,' he added.

'Oh,' Natalie said, perturbed by his answer. 'Why?' she asked. Jacob groaned, hadn't he just answered that question?

'He can't stay with me tonight.'

'Where has he gone?'

'Home, but he'll be back here tomorrow afternoon,' Jacob added hoping that this would slow the flood of questions that was fast approaching. Little kids were all the same, one question after another and it never stopped. Jacob didn't feel like reminding himself that he was still pretty much the same only that he didn't ask questions anymore and just went ahead and found it out for himself. But she would learn later on that people didn't necessarily tell the truth when asked a question, so the best thing to do was find out yourself not matter how much trouble snooping around got you into. Dismissively he patted her on the head and wandered back inside, knowing Natalie was following him back in the house. Once inside all he'd really have to do would be shepherd questions from Natalie and look out the back windows at the glorious set up outside.

Molly and the boys had come through the house a few days ago and made it spotless for the wedding. All that was up for Jacob and the rest who'd be staying there before the wedding would be to keep it tidy. The outside of the house had been revamped and it looked similar yet different to the previous three weddings held at the Burrow. The scenery at Inverness was nearly as good as the sights at the Burrow. The Burrow had a more homely background but the sweeping gorse covered hills directly behind the house were slightly startling in how sharp they were. The Burrow had a softer kind of look but this place had a sharp, no apologies for where it was situated feel. And that worked. All that had been added after the overgrown backyard had been cleared and tidied up was rows of chairs, enough for all the guests plus spare and a white carpet rolled down the centre gap of the collection of seats. The grass under the seats was a surprisingly green shade of green but then again it was quite late in spring and everything had been growing again. Strangely enough the leaves on the trees surrounding the backyard and bordering it off from the sloping edges of Inverness hadn't decided to grow back green this year but the coppery look was nice. Anne had commented gruffly on it when she arrived here in the morning. There was nothing for the pair of them to stand on when they reached the front and the end of the carpet, and rose petals had been scattered where they would be standing – much to George's disgust. But he had to admit it looked splendid and Molly was bringing food with her tomorrow, she had insisted that she do this. Making food was her speciality and she had assured Jacob that with magic she could have a lot of it done in less than half an hour. Jacob was happy with how it looked and honestly hadn't really been bothered with how it turned out, as long as it looked fine. But again Molly had insisted to help them on this, saying she and her boys were now experts at transforming an old garden and making it suitable for a wedding. Even George had been in a state of shock when he saw it; he hadn't been able to resist grabbing Jacob around the waist and twirling him around the now beautifully decorated area.

When Jacob heard a knock at the door Jacob turned tail from his standing position staring out at the garden and belted up the stairs only to collide with Anne coming down. He knew who was at the door, no one else was coming at this time (Doug and Kath were coming later along with their dates) and Jacob was in a hurry to pretend to be doing something uninterruptable so he wouldn't have to answer the door. But Anne scowled at him knowing exactly what he was doing and spun him around on the stairs and nearly shoved him back down. Apparently, from the force of the push, she didn't care whether she broke his neck before his wedding day. She hadn't actually been spending much time with him before his like she'd made him do before hers. But then again, though many people didn't like to admit it, Anne could be horribly selfish at times. She had spent a lot of the day since she arrived locked up in the room she used to stay in as a child with Paul (Jacob knew they had been arguing a lot lately and probably had to talk lots of things over but he did think that Anne could be there for him a little more).

'You can't get out of this easily,' she said keeping her hands on Jacob's shoulders as she guided him towards the door.

'We've avoided each other for four years; surely this won't make much of a difference?' Jacob asked trying to squirm around in her grip and make his escape away from her but she held on tightly.

'She came here for your wedding,' snapped Anne in answer, 'if she hadn't wanted to speak to you, she wouldn't come and rubbed it in your face from a far. It's been awkward enough having you not speaking to each other and I think you should make it up while you have the chance. Now, answer the fucking door!' She pushed him forward down the tiny corridor towards the front door and actually left him there alone to answer as she jogged back up the stairs, taking Natalie with her as she went.

Jacob could see the shadowy outlines of his father and mother standing behind the door and he could hear their whispered talking. It sounded like his father was giving his mother the same kind of briefing that Anne had given Jacob, just with different context. Sheepishly, and slightly nervously he reached out to the rounded door handle and turned it, swinging the door wide open and seeing his parents. His heart was pounding but he pushed that aside and prepared himself for a timid greeting and possibly more hatred and arguments later.

But suddenly he was pulled into a wide clutching hug by his mother. He hadn't had time to look at both his parents before it happened but he could it was his mother because he didn't think his dad had ever worn such an intriguing perfume before. It was like she was pouring her entire apologies into that one hug. Jacob hoped she'd express him verbally later on so he could as well because he wasn't exactly hugging her back. Just as he moved his arms to hug her too, she broke it off.

She wiped tears away from her eyes and sniffed. 'You cut your hair,' she said. Of course, Jacob had done it a long time ago but she hadn't seen him in four and a bit years so she wouldn't have seen it. 'Looks nice,' she added.

The house was deathly quiet that evening. Not even birdsong could be heard outdoors. Footsteps echoed around the house whenever someone took a step. The sun was beginning to set and the moon was starting to rise. And with it, it brought a serene slightly unnerving silence around the gardens and even inside the house. The windows, still opened wide in the front room were bathed in an orange glow from the disappearing sun and the front room was paradise, so warm but eerie still from lack of noise. If someone took a step or even shifted a little in their seat it would be heard all around the house. Yet hardly anyone was up and walking around. Doug and his new girlfriend, whom Jacob had just met for the first time, occupied the front room, having another snog-feast, so Jacob didn't dare to go in there. Anne and Paul were putting Natalie to sleep along with his mother and father, still besotted with their four year old granddaughter. Jacob steered clear of there, not wanting another awkward talk with his mother – he'd greeted her at the door and that had been uncomfortable enough. Kath and her boyfriend of six months were cleaning up in the kitchen after Jacob had stared dismally at the dirty dishes that had gathered after dinner wondered how long it would take to clean them up without magic. They had offered to do them after catching sight of Jacob's mildly horrified expression about having to do dishes by hand, it was something he hadn't done in a very long time. He didn't want to talk to them because the sight was slightly reminiscent of an olden day couple working very hard together. And Jacob didn't want to disturb them as they were having a grand old time with the soap suds.

Slowly, so as not to let Kath and her boyfriend know he'd entered the small corridor next to the kitchen which for some reason housed a giant freezer (it confused him as to why it wasn't in the kitchen, there was plenty of room for it. But now he was glad he didn't have to talk to them). Opening up the huge, cavernous freezer he grabbed at the ice cream that was perched on the top of all the other frozen items. There wasn't much left, hardly any in fact so he didn't bother trekking to the kitchen to get a bowl. He wasn't really planning on eating much of it anyway, he just wanted to pick at it and comb through his thoughts (his primary one being the wedding, but he secondary one bothered him the most. It seemed that the house filled with his closet family and friends were a little more preoccupied with themselves to give Jacob much thought) at the same time. Looking down at the small frozen splotches of ice cream left the realization that he'd need a spoon grinding into him. He really did not want to get in the way of Kath and her boyfriend, but as he peered around the side door that led into the kitchen, he saw that even if he did enter he'd have to do it very noisily for them to even notice him. They were completely wrapped up in each other and it just signified to Jacob more that no one was paying particular attention to him on this night. Sure they had said several words to him when they entered but that had actually been it.

As he thought, he managed to sidle into the kitchen, trip over an unturned spare bucket, take a newly cleaned spoon and make his way out again without them really noticing them at all. It was a bit disappointing that no heads turned even when he crashed loudly into the bucket. It made him wonder. He'd invited all these people to spend the night here, with him, before he was married to be of some support for him. They were his closet family and dearest friends but yet they were snubbing him. He didn't know whether it bothered him immensely, puzzled him or if he was quite glad to be left alone this evening. He, his ice-cream and newly acquired spoon made their way outside to sit on the front porch, on the steps that led to the door to enjoy that last blasts of heat the sun had to offer.

Stabbing his spoon harshly into the ice cream, he let out a loud sigh. He wondered whether George was having a quiet and slightly depressing time like he was. He knew George probably wasn't. Nothing was very dull or depressing with the Weasley family. George was likely to be having a great time right now whereas Jacob was stuck here spilling his thoughts to a nearly empty ice cream container, he wouldn't really be surprised if he started to talk to it soon. Any doubts George would have had, if he expressed them to anyone, about tomorrow would have been cleared up quickly by one of his older brother's. Jacob's doubts had been left up to himself to clear so far and he wasn't exactly doing such a good job of it. Whenever he thought he'd cleared them up they came rushing back a few seconds later. But it was a lot of consolation that he'd give anything for George to be here with him now. To him that meant he was ready for something like this, ready for the marriage if he wanted George to be with him that much. He sniffed, going back from staring wistfully at the stony ground just a step below him to stabbing the hard ice cream with new vengeance.

Footsteps thudded heavily across the porch behind him, and Jacob turned slightly startled to see his father approaching him. He sat down right beside him and took the ice cream from Jacob's hands – to his relief because his hands were starting to sting from the coldness of it but he hadn't been about to do anything for it. Both men sighed deeply at the same time, Jacob whirling the spoon around in his fingers. Then his father laughed. Jacob glanced over to see what he was laughing about, if he was laughing at him mainly but he wasn't. His laughter had ceased barely after it started and he was distantly staring off in the same direction as Jacob had been. Suddenly, he looked quickly back to Jacob, a slight half smile on his face which grew in kindness as he placed a hand on Jacob's shoulder.

'How are you?' his father asked staring intently into his eyes like he was trying to spot out whether he would lie in his answer. If Jacob would he probably could but at the moment he felt if all he could say was the truth and if he tried to get anything but that out he'd end up spilling more truth than he bargained for. He didn't want his parents or anyone else in the house knowing for that matter, that they weren't really here for him as he had asked them to be. They were wrapped in themselves and Jacob supposed now that that was ok, as he was absorbed with himself right at this moment as well. He'd kick them into gear tomorrow again; they'd have to help him. If the Weasley weddings and his sister's were anything to go off, the house would be in a mild state of panic in the morning.

Nodding, he smiled slightly as well. 'Fine,' he said softly and the hand on his shoulder tightened to an almost painful grip. He shrugged to shrug his father's hand off but that only made it clench harder. 'Ow,' he said quietly.

'Are you sure?' he asked cautiously finally relinquishing his tight hold on his son's arm. Jacob nodded briefly in response. It was just the normal doubts before something like this; he'd been with his sister and cured her of her cold feet. He wondered what he'd be like as a husband, would he be decent? What would George expect from him as his husband/partner? Would it be anything different from how things were now?

'What did mum expect from you when you married her?' he asked.

There was a short laugh. 'George won't want the same things from you as Sue did from me,' his father said. 'Don't worry about that. Your mother wanted a house right away, a really nice one as well. She wanted me to have a job and to be going somewhere with that job. It was the kind of things she'd been brought up to want from a marriage. So, of course I gave her what she wanted. It wasn't hard to make her happy then ... Be thankful you aren't marrying a woman, boy.' He gave Jacob a thoughtful prod to his forearm. 'Things will be a lot easier with you and George later on. But your mother is a piece of work.'

'You sound like you don't love her anymore.'

There was a short silence which actually had Jacob tremendously worried. 'No, I do love her.' Jacob nearly heaved a sigh of relief when he said that. The hand was back on his shoulder, not squeezing hard this time though. 'Tell George you love him every day. Honestly, I didn't tell your mother enough.' He looked pained by remembering that and Jacob made a mental note to tell George he loved him every single day they were together. He knew it wouldn't be that hard for him to forget to do that. 'Do that and,' his father continued, 'sort your problems out quickly and you should be fine for a very long time.' Jacob smiled as his father pulled him into a quick hug and patted his back. 'I'm proud of you,' he added softly. 'George is a lucky man.'

'I'm lucky,' Jacob said quickly. He meant it too, of course he meant it. How lucky was he to be with George? George was the greatest man Jacob could ever have hoped for, to think that without George he'd be so lost. He'd have been lost now and all those years before when the magic inside of him had snapped and he'd seen the Leaky Cauldron. If he hadn't slipped inside the Apothecary and offered to help George carry the burning goo (he still didn't know what it was) back to his shop then this may not have happened. Or it would have in an entirely different way. Jacob probably would have never met George and would have been under someone else's guidance in the Wizarding world. He was glad that George had worked out very quickly that Jacob was out of place when he bandaged up his hand all those years ago (contrary to what the red head had said at the time, there was no scar on Jacob's hand from the burns. It had cleaned up nicely, under George's healing touch), if he hadn't he wouldn't have agreed to help Jacob and his long fascination with the joke shop mogul would never have kicked started. He was glad that all that had happened to him had, it had been the twist his life needed and it couldn't have been a more entertaining, frightening, yet prefect one that had led him to the Leaky Cauldron and then into George's arms.

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**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	44. Forever, Ever

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

**Curiosity  
Part Forty-four: Forever, Ever**

The next morning, as he predicted was one of complete chaos. Jacob had slept in until 11am before he was woken up with a sharp rapping on the door of the small stuffy single room he had taken. When he was here he usually took the room with the grand master bed in it but as the space for sleep was short and the number of people staying in the house was rather large, Jacob had taken a small slit of a room at the end of the corridor on the top floor of the house near the attic. He had a surprisingly comfortable sleep but only after carefully casting some softening spells on the mattress that always turned out to be handy when he was sleeping somewhere new. He had managed to fall fast asleep after only an hour of thinking about the day ahead of him tomorrow, though most of it had been spent wondering what George was doing and or thinking about and if he was having the same kind of thoughts as he was. The more he had thought about the more he decided that George was probably fast asleep, feeling comforted by his old bed in the Burrow. But after he'd finally gotten to sleep, he had no dreams at all and had been woken by the sharp knocking on his door and slight feeling that something monumental was missing from beside him, even though the bed was tiny. As he slipped out of the covers he realized it was George that was missing from beside him and as he murmured sleepily to whoever was knocking so intently on his door he realized that after today there would be no more reason for him to wake up alone ever again. It thrilled him completely and also reminded him that thoughts like that meant he was so ready for this marriage. 

He opened the door, moving slowly like a sloth, to see the happy broadly smiling face of Kath and she tugged him out of the doorway to his room and along the upstairs corridor, down the stairs and then along that corridor and into the kitchen, pulling him the whole way by the front of his tee shirt, which actually belonged to George. People were scurrying about the house and it was only 11:30 and there was many, many hours before the wedding. Jacob had a slight butterfly feeling in his stomach as he looked across at the table and saw Natalie sitting there all dressed in her dress, ready. Jacob didn't know why that image gave him the butterflies, he just supposed that it was the first of his family he'd seen in their finery and it just reminded him of what was to come. He grimaced as she took a great spoon full of cereal and nearly slopped it down her front. He saw Anne sitting near her and she scowled and looked like she was nearly going to rip the dress off her child to keep her from soiling it. 

'You slept through a major fight about that,' Doug whispered suddenly at his side. 'Natalie put it on first thing in the morning and hasn't taken it off since.' Doug shrugged and winked across the table at his girlfriend. It nearly made Jacob wince with the sultriness of it. After watching Doug's relationship with his new girlfriend and listening to how they talked to each other for a bit, it hadn't taken him long to figure out that the relationship was all about sex. But Kath's relationship with her new boyfriend was more than just sex. Kath's thing with her boyfriend was looking to be like his and George's. The sex was still brilliant and done was frequently as before but there was a lot more to it than just that. Kath had that, he had that, but Doug didn't have that yet. He'd been pretty down and out after Carla had left him. Doug had been shattered by that, he'd really liked Carla and it turned out she had grown tired of him. And when it came time for her to leave the flat she'd had no trouble telling him that and various other things about him that bothered her immensely. What had looked like a pretty nice girl had turned out to be pretty horrid when she'd had enough of things. But Kath's knew bloke was good for her, her personality had improved slightly and she'd become a lot nicer and calmer. When Doug had plummeted Kath had been on a high and that high had increased when she'd met her new boyfriend. 

'Really?' Jacob asked shortly. It must have been an explosion. Natalie was usually a quite sweet little girl but she did explode when something she didn't want to do was put across her. She was a strong little girl and could kick some serious ass. She could even counter Anne sometimes; Jacob would be interested to see how much she smacked people about as she grew older. She was a real character but an absolutely wee charmer. 'How loud was it?' 

'Anne yelling and Natalie wailing,' Doug said with a laugh. 'Actually, dude, I don't know how you slept through that. It was pretty impressive. We all thought you'd wake up and it was so adorable because Natalie was really worried that you would wake up and shut up straight away but still wouldn't let Anne take the dress off, dude.' 

'I was tired,' Jacob said in response to the sleeping through the ruckus. 'I woke up when Kath knocked though.' 

'Yeah,' added Kath. 'I thought you might sleep through your own wedding at the rate you were going at.' 

'I could sleep a lot later,' Jacob said to her rolling his head to one side to glance at her. 

'That's true.' Kath looked to him as well. 'Are you excited about this afternoon?' she asked placing a hand on his shoulder. 'Scared, nervous, how are you feeling?' 

'Alright,' he said. 'I suppose I'll get a bit nervous later on, but it was nothing to bad at all.' 

'What about last night?' Doug asked him. 'You were a bit off last night, dude. I just thought you might have been rethinking it or something.' 

'No, no,' Jacob said. 'I was just thinking things over.' 

'So you still do?' Kath asked. 

'Of course,' Jacob said. 'How could I not want to marry him?' he asked his best friends staring at him in the most intriguing way like marriage was a completely foreign concept to him. He nearly laughed at their still faces so full of thought and interest in him getting married. Perhaps they had thought it would never be him first. 'How long do I have?' he asked quietly wringing his hands together. Maybe he was starting to get a little nervous. Maybe he was. He'd been to many weddings before and thoroughly enjoyed each of them but he'd never had to face his own until now. The feelings were a little different to what they had been last night. Last night after his talk with his father, he'd been fairly sure everything would go well and that his nerves had been a good thing because they were coupled with wanting to see George terribly. Now he was starting to feel a bit like Harry looked when he'd pace around the Burrow on the eve of his and Ginny's wedding. Jacob felt a little lost in what was coming; he was scared that something inside him or George would tick and one of them would realize they didn't want to go through with it and back out. It scared him to think of that, it really did. He was petrified, now, that something like that would happen and George wouldn't show up with the rest of his family like he was meant to or Jacob would run off, away into the Scottish hillsides to follow the river down to the loch. 

'Just over four hours,' Doug said. 'You know I'm a little gutted you aren't doing the whole groomsmen thing, dude.' 

'It wouldn't have worked very well,' Jacob said in response. 'It would look strange.' He shrugged at Doug's inquisitive glance. 

'I think it could have worked out all right.' 

'It's a shame,' Kath added. 'I would have liked walking down before you.' She eyed him like it was fault of their own, like there was something wrong with them as friends that led to their exclusion. The fact that no one else from Jacob's family or George's was involved seemed to have slipped their minds. It was just going to be him and George walking up together, they way Molly had suggested and the way George and he had thought sounded to be good. 

'I'm sorry,' said Jacob. The fact his friends were bothered they weren't exactly involved in his wedding didn't trouble him very much, it irritated him slightly that they were about to make in issue of it a few hours before hand when nothing could be changed to fit _their _interests. This happened a lot. Doug brought something he wasn't very happy with in a pleasant kind of way and then Kath followed it up in a much snappier tone. Jacob often wanted to push his two friends towards each other as they hadn't seemed to realize they would be perfect for each other. He supposed it was only a matter of time. 'You should have said something a lot earlier,' he said it with a shrug. 'You're helping me get ready.' He hoped it would be some constellation to them. He just wished they had had the arguments or words about this earlier, much earlier when Jacob was in the mood for snappy and harsh comebacks. A few days beforehand he would have been quite happy to have a fight about this. He turned away and was about to immerse himself in a scant breakfast when someone touched a hand to his shoulder. 

'Hello, Jacob,' a startlingly familiar voice whispered sweetly close to his ear. He spun around with a yelp of delight and threw his arms around the new comer's neck nearly bouncing on his feet out of excitement. 'Hey, hey, calm down.' The newbie dropped their arms from around his neck and clamped their hands down hard on his shoulders. 'Let me get a look at you. I haven't seen you in a long time. Goodness, handsome now you're all grown up.' 

Jacob grinned for joy and hugged his Aunt Jessica again like he had when he was saying goodbye to her at the age of seventeen. She had moved over to the USA for a promising career and a life with her girlfriend in some state near Texas. He hadn't seen her in such a long time and she had changed a lot, like he had he supposed. She'd never exactly been the wild type ever which some people thought was strange for such an out lesbian. Her look never gave way to her opinions and sexuality; she was just an ordinary looking woman. She had dark brown eyes framed by thick black glasses and hair that had been dyed since the last time he'd seen her or had a photograph from her; it was now a rich brown and pulled back into a very loose bun and hair falling about her face. He'd hesitate to tell her that age had caught up with her; she had visible wrinkles – like his father – around her eyes even when she wasn't laughing. This had been such a great surprise. Though he'd sent a letter plus invite to her, he'd had no return response or anything detailing that she'd be coming at all. He did feel a lot better that she was here. When he'd been growing up and trying to figure everything out – adolescence can be a very confusing time for anyone but even more so if you're trying to decide if you're gay – she had been a sort of helpful grounding rock for him because she was a lesbian and quite proud of that fact and it let Jacob see that it didn't actually matter what you were. Just because he hadn't seen her in a long time didn't mean he couldn't go back to her being his rock. No one else was being particularly helpful today in that sense so he might as well adopt Jess into that title. 

'Did you come here just for me?' he asked softly, embarrassed that it may be the fact and she had spent a lot of money coming over just for him and his wedding. He was glad she was here, so, so glad but something at the back of his mind started niggling into him wanting to know why she hadn't said she was and why she showed up here so suddenly. As she nodded and opened her mouth to answer he rushed into another question. 'You better not just be stopping by, that would be really unfair. You have to stay! You came alone?' he asked slightly saddened as he looked behind her to see no one. 

'Yeah,' she said with the same degree of sadness. 'And I'm not going back to the states either. I'm settling down in London,' she smiled and said. 'It was six good years with Sammie but it wasn't meant, I guess.' Suddenly she looked mortified with herself and put her hands on the side of Jacob's face like she was trying to calm him. 'Oh, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't be telling you this, just hours before you get married too! I'm terrible, sorry, Jacob. Congratulations,' she added with a huge smile and pulled her hands back from his face. 'I'm _so _happy for you, I really am! And, yes, I came to Scotland just for you. Your grandmother's house, correct?' she asked him looking around and offering a small wave to the people at the table whom she'd just noticed. Jacob nearly laughed as he saw that Doug recognized her and gave her a huge wave back with a bright smile nearly knocking his orange juice over. She didn't wait for Jacob to reply to that question because she already knew the answer and smiled at him as he smiled shyly back. 'You're so handsome,' she said. 'This man – George, isn't it? – He's certainly found a keeper. Come on,' she said grabbing his hand. 'Fancy a walk?' 

Jacob did fancy a walk and though his stomach protested loudly (he'd had no breakfast) as he walked down the stony track to the edge of the fence and jumped over the fence and offered his hand to Jessica and she clambered over after him, taking his hand. And together they walked down the same path that was unseen from the house that George and his family would come down just half an hour before 3. It had been used a lot more frequently by Jacob and George since his Aunt Carlota had died and passed the house onto both he and his sister. Jacob had even taken the time to walk down it, wand in hand and clear it up a bit. The small track to the safe point had needed it; it really needed a bit of sprucing. He was sick of walking down in shorts and coming out of the path with cuts and scrapes across his shins. Though the path didn't amount to an ideal stroll at least you didn't come from the walk worst for wear than when you went in. He realized that walking down here with a Muggle no matter how difficult it was to shock this one; she could still be in danger of seeing someone mysteriously pop out of thin air. He knew that not many wizards and witches really came this way; most of them didn't bother with the tiny town of Inverness and would just go straight to other significantly more important towns in Scotland. Not many had business here. That was why the point was actually close to the house as not many Muggle's would have the chance of seeing someone Apparating here. 

Dimly, he was aware of Jessica slipping her arm around his shoulder and digging for his attention. 'How long have you known George for?' she asked suddenly just as Jacob was taking a huge deep breath. 

'Four years,' he said nodding when she pouted her lips in approval. 

'Good,' she murmured. 'I was hoping it was about that long. I would have had to have this major talk to you about that ... if it had been under a year,' she added. 'You want this?' she asked distantly as he nodded looking towards the hills that made up the small valley. 

'Yeah,' Jacob said. He'd worked it out. He was nervous and wanted George to be here now with him so much. He had decided many times that this meant he was so ready for this and no matter how nervous he got as the time approached and came closer and closer, he still wanted George to be with him. 'Mm ... just a little nervous,' he said truthfully. 

'That's good,' said Jessica. 'Being nervous is healthy. This is strange,' she added grinning down to him. 'I haven't seen you in such a long time and when I come back I find you're so grown up and getting married too.' Randomly, she stroked a thumb along his cheek. 'What's he like?' 

'Amazing,' Jacob said breathily. 'He really is. He actually is. He's prefect, he's everything, you know? I love him.' 

'Well, obviously or you wouldn't be marrying him,' Jessica said with a soft laugh. 'What job do you do now?' she asked. 

'I work for him,' he said. 'In his shop,' he added when she shot him a speculative look. 'Not like that, as in a proper job working for him.' 

'That wouldn't rake in much.' 

'It does. Really, you'd be surprised at how much the shop makes.' 

'What kind of shop is it?' 

Jacob didn't say a word. 

'Oh,' she muttered. 'You aren't going to say are you?' She snorted with faint laughter. 

'It's not a sex shop,' Jacob was quick to say. 

'Wouldn't have ever thought that it was,' she said. 

'I'm sorry, I can't actually tell you. I'm not allowed.' He said it in an apologetic way and smiled when Jessica rolled her eyes softly at him, showing him that she didn't actually care much at all and accepted that he couldn't tell her according to what Jacob often referred to as his "contract." It had nothing to do with a contract and he was glad he didn't have to lie to his Aunt like that. He couldn't tell her because he couldn't. He wasn't able to; it was against Ministry codes that he told her. Kingsley had disallowed him from telling any more family or friends unless that family was immediate. Immediate in Kingsley terms referred to mother, father, sister, brother and no one else family wise apart from any children he may have and whomever he become involved with marriage wise – that meant George but he already knew so there was very little people Jacob could tell – no one in fact. 

'Not a problem,' Jessica said. 'Oh!' she cried out in some of delight and looked back at Jacob, the smile on her face infectious and found himself smiling too, though his was a little puzzled at her outburst. 'You're getting married!' she exclaimed like it was so hard to grasp and a complete shock that he was indeed getting married. Her bright smile softened and she smiled at him. 'Do you know I'm proud of you?' she asked. 

Jacob snorted. 'Why does everyone keep telling me that?' he wanted to know from her but all Jessica did was shrug and Most other marriages would have had a congratulations attached, but his always came with someone telling him they were proud. It boggled him completely. He nodded his thanks as she jogged down the path before him somewhat. 

He looked at himself in the mirror, the full body length mirror that stood in the master bedroom. The hours had passed really quickly and when he returned from the walk with his Aunt Jessica he found himself being herded off into the bedroom where his suit lay (the Weasleys all had to wear suits and Muggle dresses, which wasn't so unusual for the girls but the guys found it strange wearing formal Muggle garments. They couldn't wear the dress robes they'd normally wear because they were so utterly different from any Muggle wedding and it would raise a certain amount of awkward questions) all smooth and clear of any wrinkles. He'd dressed in it too quickly to keep it wrinkle free and his mother had nearly ironed the suit while he was wearing it, annoyed that he managed to make it crinkled. Jacob had been careful when he'd Apparated over to this place with it. He'd kept it hanging in a suit bag and hadn't looked at it until now after his mother had found it and gave it an ironing which Jacob was sure it didn't really need. When he'd submitted and let his mother take the jacket off from around his shoulders, she ironed that again, slamming him for carelessness and motherly things like that. Jacob was still a little edgy around her as they hadn't talked for so long apart from rude words and now here she was being his annoying, clean freak mother again. Quite frankly, it was weird and he did want to scurry away from her following him around the house. He would be glad when the wedding began and he had an excuse to rush away from the awkward moments that seemed to follow them around. 

The time was coming closer and closer and there was only half an hour or so before the wedding started. People were already here of course, he could see them milling about outside, admiring the magic Molly and the Weasleys had done to the garden. He nearly laughed at the window that looked out across the garden as he saw Draco standing with the other guests looking very uninterested and ill tempered. His father, mother, sister and her entourage all milling about with the people most of them knew nothing about. To Jacob's dismay there were no red heads amongst the people below, not even Hermione and Ron had turned up early or even vaguely on time. For the guests, Hermione had decided that they should turn up half an hour before the ceremony started so that Jacob – if need be – could harass anyone wizard or witch into dressing normally under the fact that they had to because Muggle's would be there. Of the people he recognized, Katie, Angelina, George's great friend Oliver Wood, Kingsley none of them had dressed in the usual flamboyant wizard way and looked quite nice. But he did catch Draco absently trilling his wand around in his fingers, making a rock skip across the ground to diminish his boredom. Luckily the three Muggle's (Paul and Natalie, didn't know and didn't see) down there knew about it let it slip from there glance, though his mother somewhat uncomfortably. Hermione had warned him that it was such habit for wizards and witches to do magic and that he should only invite those he had to which was simply Doug and Kath (and their two extras), no one else was that close to him anymore and he had friends in the Wizarding world now that balanced things out for him. 

He looked back at himself in the lengthy mirror and couldn't help but let out a huge sigh and notice how worried his expression was. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked out at the large window and fiddled aimlessly with a strand of hair that just wouldn't stay flat. His eyes kept flickering back to the mirror to study himself like he was frightened that something about him had changed on the spot. He ran his hands through his hair not caring how mussed it became even though he'd been trying to smooth it over, George liked it messy anyway. His jacket had been returned by his mother and he was wearing it now. He had opted for going without a tie or bowtie. He didn't really want to wear one much at all, bowties made him look like he was 12 years old and ties done properly often tended to give him a choking feeling. It had looked very sloppy wearing a loose tie and not sloppy at all wearing no tie, his white shirt under the black of his jacket had every button done up so he wouldn't look informal at the very formal occasion. George loved Muggle ties so he'd probably be wearing one and Jacob didn't fancy looking like a 12 year old beside him or pulling on his collar half the time trying to stop himself from coughing or gagging, whichever reflex came first. Doug had cemented his idea when Kath had been a bit iffy about it. She had said he should wear a tie as it looked so much more formal but Doug pulled Jacob close to him and did up the jacket after it had been returned and ironed and showed Kath that Jacob actually looked fine without a tie as long as he kept his jacket done up until all the formal stuff was over and done with. 

Climbing across the bed, not caring if he really disturbed the sheets in any way or form, he reached the window he had been at a few moments ago to look out it. There was nothing left for him to do except wait. Kath and Doug were in the room with him except they were bickering away in the corner about something or the other, Jacob had no clue nor did he care where their dates where and they didn't seem to care much either. People had begun to slip into their seats but it wasn't expected to start as soon as they sat down. There was still a good amount of time left before; he had a good fifteen minutes or so. At this time he didn't know if he was nervous, excited or going to bolt. Even if what he felt was the compulsion to run it didn't feel like he would be able to, it felt like his hands were glued to the large window as he peered out at the people below him. He saw that his parents and family had slipped into their seats, apart from his mother who had disappeared from the garden all together. All who were left to take their seats were Doug and Kath; he'd seen their dates sitting already with spare places beside him, and all the Weasleys who weren't here at all yet. He sniffed. 

'All right, Jacob?' Doug was quick to ask. 

'Mm, fine,' he said distantly still peering outside, quite happy to wait as he tried to calm himself. He could feel his heart start to beat faster as he glanced at the clock on the wall. He bit down on his bottom lip and looked back outside. 'I'm more than fine!' he squealed suddenly and crawled quickly back along the bed, strangely finding quicker than jumping over the side and running properly. As he'd looked back at the garden he'd seen Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Harry, Charlie and all the others even the Delacour's apart from George and Molly slip easily into seats in the front and second rows. He knew the whole family was coming together; Hermione had drilled him on what was going to happen countless of times and he knew the wedding procedure off by heart thanks to her, that's why he kept thinking how it was going to pan out. 'George,' he whispered to Kath and Doug as he shot past hurtling down the stairs at a breakneck speed nearly crashing into his mother at the foot of the stairs. She'd been lurking around at the bottom like some kind of vulture. 

There was a knock at the front door before Jacob heard a scoff, a tussle and George telling his mother to move over and that she didn't need to knock because Jacob wouldn't care. Jacob's fingers reached the door knob as it started turning from the outside. He closed his hand around it, twisted the knob sharply and threw the door open. George nearly fell forward onto him as he was jerked with the door, his hand still on the knob. They stood there for a few seconds staring stupidly at each, smiling faintly and Jacob with a deep blush on his face. George's hair, Jacob was sure, had never been glossier than it was now, and that was hard, the man's hair was always gorgeous. His suit, Muggle as it had to be, fitted perfectly and he looked unbelievably handsome. Jacob kept on staring and felt George's eyes wandering up him as well. It was interrupted by Molly. 

'Hello dear!' she sang out to him and waved over George's shoulder. 

George stepped forward and Jacob countered his step with one of his own, still smiling at George a little sheepishly but then he quickly threw his arms around his shoulders and felt George's hands snake around his sides to his lower back and hug him even closer. He buried his head in the red head's neck and sighed, contented. Letting his lips brush softly against the skin of George's neck, he was happy for the man to just hold him for a while as he listened to the slightly gauche introductions between the two mothers. He heard George laugh a little as he rocked Jacob in his arms gently. 

'Just one night,' George murmured to him, his lips brushing against Jacob's ear, 'and I missed you so much. One night,' he repeated softly. Gently he moved Jacob's face away from his neck and pressed their foreheads, kissing the tip of Jacob's nose. Jacob moved his mouth, trying to capture the red head's lips against his own but the man stopped him with a soft hiss. 'No,' he said quietly. 'Save it. We'll give them something to watch,' he added with a very low laugh. 'Say something,' George implored his eyes large and misty. 

There was so much he'd love to say to George right now, including how much he'd missed him too but what was the point in all that when you had the best three little words at your service? 'I love you,' Jacob told him seriously. He roped his fingers through George's. 'Ready?' he asked when he saw George's blush. He was ready, Jacob was ready. Throughout the whole half day and night apart he'd wanted nothing more than for George to be with him and now that the man was with him, Jacob wanted nothing more than to do what George had proposed. Whether George had nodded or if he was just nuzzling his face along Jacob's, he couldn't tell but seconds later a soft murmur told him that George was ready. Jacob kissed the side of his face and cupped his cheek softly; he'd kiss him properly later. George didn't want a proper kiss right now, it seemed he wanted to impress the guests like he was an actor and they were his audience. But Jacob wouldn't definitely kiss him later, and very properly too. He moved back from George, breaking their tight embrace and stood beside him, instantly looping his arm through his. As he saw both mothers had been watching (each with very different expression on their faces. Molly's was one of pure joy for her son and Jacob, she had a bold smile on her fact that Jacob was sure wouldn't be removed easily. As for his mother, she looked to be struggling between happiness for son or trying to decide whether she was still a little uncomfortable with this. Jacob did not care) and he blushed and rested his head on George's shoulder, just happy to be back with him. 

'Don't you two just look a match,' Molly cooed in a much lower, Jacob would hesitate to say husky kind of voice. Suddenly before either of them realized and had time to react, Molly had walked over and wrapped her arms tightly around both of their necks, nearly choking them in the process. 

'Mum, gerroff!' George yelped his cry muffled by the fabric of her dress. 

Jacob heard Molly cluck her tongue but obliged in George's wish and released them from the hold that could rival any constrictor. She turned to Jacob. 'You'll be part of the family soon,' she trilled excitedly and then gave him one last lung bursting hug and shuffled back out the door and around to the garden probably to take her seat. She looked more like she was the one getting married as she exited the room. George saw how excited his mother was too as Jacob heard him let out a snort of laughter but the smile on both of their faces quickly vanished as Jacob's mother approached them. 

Discomfited, she reached out a hand and patted Jacob on the shoulder, a very forced smile on her face. Jacob smiled back and caught the glance his mother fired up at George, he couldn't tell her expression very well as she was standing close to him and her face slanting upwards as she looked at George, she was quite a short wee woman. But from the way George froze behind him the glance must have been something serious. She didn't say anything to them at all but followed the direction Molly had trotted off in with quite a different air about her. Jacob was glad she hadn't said anything; he was still trying to recover from the shock of her motherly actions this morning with demanding to iron his jacket again. It would make things a lot easier if they pretended their explosive arguments never happened, didn't try to talk to each other (it would save embarrassment) and just kept communication to the basics and a few small smiles. He really didn't mind if that was the way they went about it for the rest of their lives. Because it seemed whenever he and his mother talked it resulted in some kind of a fight or both of them becoming far too opinionated and one of them taking offence to that. 

Suddenly, music began to play. Soft chords being plucked in a low melodic tune that in any other case could bring about tears, but here it sounded calming and packed with sweet running emotion. Jacob hadn't known of any music being included, and he was quite surprised because Hermione had given him step by step run downs on what would be happening and he was sure she would have told him about that. He thought he and George wouldn't waste any time walking down the aisle and just get that over and done with. Apparently that wasn't the case. The music had a rhythm to it and he supposed they'd be walking with that. He nearly scowled. Yet when George wrapped his arms around his chest and whispered something in his air, Jacob sighed. 

'Added it at the last minute,' he said softly. 'Reckon that means we are expected. Bloody lot of them are impatient. Merlin, I basically just got here. Can't they give me a moment?' 

Jacob laughed and turned around to press his chest against George's and looking him right in the eyes. 'After we're married,' he said and rubbed his thumb along George's face as the man smiled. 'Ready?' Jacob asked again and this time George nodded vigorously in response. 

Suddenly that was that. They were married. Clapping and even some cheers exploded all around them and George hugged his waist tightly. Out of the corner of his eye as Jacob waved slightly at Draco (who visibly let out a snort, crossed his arms and looked away), he saw George motion for his family half out of their seats to sit back down again. Not quite used to the Muggle tradition of not rising from your seats after a marriage, they had nearly risen and just hide their strangled movements by staying on their feet and clapping instead. A blinding flash to his left made Jacob flinch and squint. His father had taken a picture and out of habit, Jacob looked across to Arthur who was a lover of Muggle artefacts and would be deeply interested in the camera. He was right; Molly had her hand on his shoulder as she struggled to keep her husband in the seat. Jacob laughed and then his insides twisted with delight as he looked up at George beaming face framed with his glossy red hair. George looked down at him as well and stroked a hand along his face with a permanent smile and kissed his strongly, so passionately that if he had been wearing hat, he'd have had to hold onto it. This brought on another round of cheers from their guests and Jacob flushed bright red, resisting the urge to hide his face from the crowds but at the same time wanting them to see how happy he was to be with George. 

The ceremony had been close to perfect. Very close. The only thing he wished had been different about it was for George not to have let a small tear slip from his eyes and slant his head up softly as though he was staring into the sky for some kind of sign. Or, Jacob didn't really want to think about it, like he was thinking about Fred and his not being there. Jacob had tensed when he'd seen the slight tear roll down George's face. He didn't like to see him crying. In the past couple of years George had been a lot stronger, rarely breaking down about Fred like he used and Jacob was proud of that and glad that George was beginning to live a life away from the thought of Fred but he also knew that the man would never ever forget his twin. And as much as he wished George wouldn't have these moments, he would and Jacob would have just to be there for him. Be there for him in the way he'd been there for him for the last five of George's birthdays. Though George had let a small tear slip, Jacob had softened considerably from wanting to ignore it and had reached out to capture the tear before it fell from his face. The family, friends and others had thought George had been crying softly because he was getting married and let out a soft 'aw' yet that wasn't it. George was thinking of who couldn't be there it witness his wedding. 

But George's vows – ah! They had made up for that soft tear that Jacob had hated seeing so much. It was worth the entire awkwardness of standing up there in front of everyone. It was worth because it made him feel so amazingly wonderful and because he'd seen Draco gagging a little out of the corner of his eye while George was saying his vows. It had been worth it to see Draco so uncomfortable; the man was hilarious when he was out of his comfort zone. But the vows had not only made him feel like he was the luckiest guy in the whole world – which was probably the case as of the moment – but sent him into a sort of wistful, dreamy state where as cheesy and corny as it sounded all he could see was George standing before him clasping onto his hands tightly. 

"Jacob," George had said (neither of them had discussed their vows with each other and Jacob had been quite excited by the prospect of hearing George's), "marrying you is like being able to spend every day with my best friend, which is fantastic because half the time you're the only one who really gets me. You inspire me, you really do and I don't know how great that sounds considering what I do as a profession," that had gathered a small collection of giggles from the people he knew exactly what he did. "I always think of what would make you laugh, irritate you and drive you completely insane." The way of the vows had changed there from something friendly and skipped a beat to suddenly being very intimate and loving. "We've been through a lot together in four and a bit years, I mean a lot. You've always been there for me," he had then stroked Jacob's hand softly, "and I hope I've been there for you. From the moment I met you there had always been something different about you, apart from the blatantly obvious," this also drew a scattering of laughs from people who knew their story properly but a scant amount of confusion from Doug and Kath, "and I love that, I love you. To marry the person you've had your heart set upon for years is a triumph but with you, it's also a blessing. I'm so lucky to have you love me." 

He didn't want to revisit his wedding vows in his head because they were nothing compared to George's and a little embarrassing because of that. His had only been several lines and though packed with meaning, he'd said them quickly in earnest and curiosity to hear George's. He was glad that George had a dazed look in his eyes when Jacob was speaking and squeezed his hands tightly when he'd done. Jacob didn't mind if they'd be lacking compared to his _husband's_. He could always revisit them tonight and make them better when it was just him and George hearing them. 

They laughed, they joked, they danced, they blushed, and they spent most of the evening exchanging soft romantic kisses. The best thing was, and it really appealed to Jacob, was that they did all of these things as a married couple, together. Jacob spent nearly the whole time after the ceremony with his arm wrapped tightly around George's waist, determined not to let go anytime soon. George spent the whole time pressed closely to Jacob in return and the only time he moved was when he was ordered to dance by both his mother and sister, separately of course. And in that rare time he was away from George for the celebrations he was snaffled up by Draco for a dance. That was surprisingly to him, so much so that his jaw dropped when the blonde asked him. He was shocked by the fact Draco had even approached him at all. Draco had taken to lurking behind everything, sulking like he'd rather not be here probably due to the fact plenty of Weasley's sent him some speculative glares and others who knew he was a Malfoy were sending him the same cautious stares. 

What surprised Jacob even more was the fact that when Draco asked politely for a dance, he didn't lead either, he let Jacob do that. George glanced other at him, he whirled Ginny around close so Jacob would be able to see his inquisitive look. Jacob lifted his hands from Draco in a gesture of his own confusion. Anyone who looked on at a distance would probably think that Jacob and Draco were brothers, blonde hair and each with similar shade of eye colour (blue and grey, it was close enough). Draco didn't say anything for a good long while but when Jacob found himself starting to get uncomfortable at the lack of talk and was about to rant off about something just so he could listen to his own voice, some talk was better than no talk, Draco finally spoke. It seemed the reason he'd asked for a dance was to tell Jacob something. Apparently Draco wasn't much for the face to face talking and needed something to occupy himself with when he delved matters that were very close to his heart. So as he spoke he played with the cuff of Jacob's sleeve. 

It turned out there was no reason for Jacob to be a little tense in what Draco might reveal to him as all the man had to say for himself was that he'd met someone. And that no, he wasn't going to take Jacob's advice because whenever he took his advice it landed him in some kind of trouble. As Draco launched on into a description about the young Greengrass girl, younger sister to someone who'd been in his house and year group at Hogwarts, he added sourly that anyone who could take Jacob's advice and have nothing bad happen to them must be incredibly lucky. Accordingly to the blonde, Jacob's counsel was jinxed. It didn't matter, Draco was just useless in accepting other people's advice and always tripped over himself in some way and had finally chosen to just go with his own knowledge which had obviously worked since he'd managed to snag a young lady. Then he said he was happy for Jacob and that he actually thought he and George could last and make a very good pair. Had he not seen them together during the past four years? Honestly, he was kind of glad when Draco made some excuse to saunter off; a little embarrassed by how in depth he'd discussed how much he loved this girl with him. It disturbed Jacob somewhat when Draco talked all romance with him; he liked the harsher, ruder and more condescending Draco rather than the soft and sweet one. The harsh, rude and condescending Draco was funny in his rude, harsh and condescending way, he was. 

With a backward glance at Draco, Jacob relieved George from Molly and ended up snorting with laughter as he caught sight of his own mother being pulled into a dance by a joyous Arthur. But as he felt George's lips on his own he forgot the humorous sight and gently wrapped his arms around George's neck, moving his lips to get the most from the kiss. When it broke, George rested his forehead against his and smiled down at him playing with the hair on the nape of his neck. 

'You'd better love me forever,' George commented with a delicate smile and a soft kiss on Jacob's nose. 'You said you would in your vows, so you'd bloody better.' 

'Forever and ever,' Jacob responded truthfully and ran a hand through George's glossy, red hair. It was another promise. 

George chuckled softly and looked around at all the people there for them. 'How long until we can get rid of them or go somewhere ourselves?' he asked with a sly lick of his lips. 

Jacob flushed. 'Do wedding's _still _make you horny?' 

'This time it's our wedding, so it's that much better.' 

'By that you mean you can't wait to get into my pants. I know you, George.' 

'Don't you want to know what kind of surprises I've got planned?' 

'Doubt they'll notice if we wander off, love.' 

'It's our wedding night, we deserve a little fun.' 

'Leave in forty-five?' 

'Done.' 

* * *

**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	45. Two Years Later

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

**Curiosity  
Part Forty-five: Two Years Later**

It had been two years since they were married. Not two years to this day but it was in the same month. And it had been a spectacular two years better than the four and a bit in which they had met and fallen in love. George had surprised Jacob a couple of months after their marriage with a honey moon, a long honey moon that had spanned out over three months, because they could afford it. They had gone to places like Paris, Italy and other places, spending a long time in Italy which neither of them objected too much. It had been pure bliss. Back at the flat above the shop things had been perfect as well, everything went on as it usually did after they were married, except that well – they were married. Their relationship was the same as ever, loving and caring, soft and sweet; full of laughs and good times and Jacob felt everything was going perfectly. He was deeply and completely in love with someone who felt the same way about him. It was like living in the best dream he'd ever had.

But then a couple of months back George had pitched him an idea, an idea which - at the time – Jacob couldn't say whether he liked or hated it. Now he was certain he hated it. Sure it was making George happy but it wasn't making Jacob very happy, it was slowly making him miserable. Yet it was making George very happy, so Jacob ran along with it hating the idea and what had happened because of the idea. He indulged it in, wanted it to happen because he'd always wanted it and no matter how much he told himself he didn't want nor needed it, no matter how hard he'd tried to fool himself he'd always known he wanted it to happen. Now he wished it never had. It hadn't caused them to drift apart in anyway; it just caused Jacob to feel horrid every time it was mentioned and every time he had to see her, be around her, talk to her and look at her. Plainly, he hated her.

He didn't know that agreeing quietly to one thing and receiving a bombardment of hugs and kisses could make him hate someone so much further down the track.

Angelina fucking Johnson had been the idea. Not exactly but she'd supplied means to make George's idea come to life. The man had been so thrilled when she'd said she'd do it that he'd nearly walked off to bang her there and then, only stopping to turn and give Jacob the keys for the flat. Angelina fucking Johnson carrying George's child, it sickened and hurt him deeply at the same time. It was even more upsetting because George rarely seemed to notice or acknowledge how bad it must be making his husband feel. Life went on with the same love and care, softness and sweetness, laughs and good times. Jacob loved George so much and he was glad that this was making him happy but he also wished George would ask him how he felt about what was happening now. Jacob didn't like it. He'd been fine with the idea earlier, totally fine with them having a child. He just hadn't known George was actually going to sleep with Angelina fucking Johnson in order for them to have a child. Jacob knew he'd enjoyed it as well.

One evening when she'd been over dishing about the baby, George had actually asked what Jacob felt about all of this now. Only because Jacob had been incredibly rude to Angelina and had fidgeted, ignored her when she spoke and sneezed loudly (which wasn't exactly on purpose, Angelina was having cravings for a spice Jacob was mildly allergic too) wandered about the flat when she first came in and only sat down grudgingly when she said she needed to speak to them both. It surprised Jacob; she never wanted to talk to him about the baby. It wasn't his baby that was why; it was Angelina and George's baby which, somewhat typically, they were going to call Fred. It was what they had discussed this evening, what the name of the baby should be and apparently having Angelina ask for him to be included meant she wanted his opinion on a baby name but he was never asked. Jacob had snorted loudly when he'd heard that name slip from both their lips at the same time and though he'd tried to cover it up with a sneeze when George looked at him, it didn't work.

He was given no opinion, no options, and no recognition that he might no longer be a hundred percent happy about this but neither of them cared. It was their baby and a chance to keep Fred alive and Jacob was happy for George but he hated Angelina with a passion. Hated being excluded in this way and hated the small touches Angelina always dotted on George when she spoke. A couple of times Jacob had been prepared to pry George from Angelina. Half the time when she was around at the flat to talk to George, she sat where Jacob sat, stood where Jacob stood and occasionally acted around George like she was trying to be Jacob. He hated her but couldn't help feeling he'd been a slight rude when she had been here, since George certainly thought he had it made the guilt tripping him up a little worse. He was jealous.

'What is your bloody problem?' George snapped at him his red hair flicking as he whirled around to face Jacob, his hands firmly planted on his hips. He was pissed off.

Jacob crossed his arms and shrugged.

'Bloody hell!' George's voice erupted like a small volcano. 'You were so rude to her! Merlin, all she's doing for us and you're still rude to her!'

'Two months!' Jacob replied harshly uncrossing his arms and jabbing an accusing finger at George. 'Two months after I said yes to this, you didn't ask me if I wanted Angelina to be the mother, you didn't ask if I minded you fucking her! You didn't ask! One single yes on my part was enough. You rushed the fuck off after she offered, banged her and – god!'

'You never said you had a problem!'

Jacob bristled. That was true, annoyingly true. He hadn't spoken up to show he was bothered by it, he'd let it happen. He was a complete moron but so was George. He'd never asked Jacob himself. He'd taken matters completely into his own hands after Jacob had agreed (not immediately but as soon as she offered after hearing what they had planned a week later) and slept with her. After that it was too late, they had succeeded in making a baby first try. Jacob supposed he could be grateful for that. It had been too late for him to have had a problem. If he'd had a problem what would they have done about it? Nothing, unless Angelina would abort the child when she was able or something (he wasn't an exact expert on the topic of childbirth. All he knew was that it was deeply unfair that only females got to have babies, it was bias towards males). He'd figured that she had become impregnated really quite fast. And that George's sperm were fantastically lively little fellows, if she was with child that fast.

'Could I have had time to have a problem?' he asked infuriated. 'You ran off and did it the first chance you got, no questions or words to me, you just did it! Selfish,' he snapped, 'fucking selfish!' He sank down onto the couch and unable to help himself and rested his head pitifully in his hands before looking up at George. He sneezed, sharply because of the spice. 'So fast,' he murmured. 'Never had I chance to change my mind! God damn it! You never even asked if I had a problem, until now. Number one problem was you sleeping with her! It didn't have to happen like that ... do you know I hate her?' he asked quite strongly to George.

'Yeah,' the man replied. 'It's kind of obvious.' He swayed a little on his heels, hands still on hips like he was observing Jacob deeply. But suddenly he sighed deeply and crossed over to sit on the couch beside him and drew him up into a huge hug, letting Jacob press his forehead into his collarbone. 'You're pathetic, did you know that? You're absolutely bloody pathetic.' Jacob tried to pull away with hurt and irritation but George held him fast. 'Anyone else would have said something without skipping a heartbeat. Why didn't you say anything?'

'You were happy. You wanted a kid. I wanted a kid just not her having yours. You were happy,' he repeated. 'Why did you want one anyway?' he asked. 'You never wanted one when we first started dating or whatever.'

'I want one now,' George said and left it at that. 'Merlin, Jacob you are such an idiot. Who cares if I'm happy or not? It doesn't matter,' he stroked Jacob's hair softly as he said this. 'You should have told me.'

'Don't teach me a life lesson today,' said Jacob with a groan indicating that was the last thing he wanted. 'I'm not in the mood right now.'

'Jacob,' George said softly. 'I'm sorry. I should have checked with you, love. I'm sorry,' he said again and kissed the side of Jacob's head.

'I'm sorry I hate Angelina. I shouldn't, but she's ... I dunno, I just don't like her very much.'

'You hate her, Jakey. She knows you do. Can you try and be nice you her though?' George asked him gently playing with his hair as he spoke. 'She is carrying our child.'

Jacob looked up at him, biting on his bottom lip. 'Your child,' he corrected bitterly. 'It's got nothing to do with me.' He sneezed as George looked down at him sorrowfully.

'You're really upset about this, aren't you?'

'Kind of,' Jacob replied.

'If it's any constellation, you're so much better than her. In bed,' he added in purring voice when Jacob looked at him with a puzzled expression. There was silence after Jacob laughed and shifted against George into a more comfortable position resting on him. 'I love you,' George said suddenly. 'I love you. Just because Angelina's having my baby doesn't mean that I love you any less. I love you so much. Remember, she's not the one I married.'

Jacob nodded happily and smiled as George kissed his lips ever so slightly. 'I love you,' he murmured softly to George. 'I love you too and I'm sorry too. I made a fuss over it, George.'

'You made the right amount of fuss, Jakey. I was a bit of a prat.'

'So was I.'

'True,' George said with a light laugh as Jacob swatted at him. 'Mm, but I love you.'

It was happening now. In the hospital, it was happening now. And though it was something he kept to himself, Jacob found that he couldn't care less about it occurring. The remaining few months of Angelina's pregnancy and flown by but with each, Jacob seemed to get more and more irritated with her as she kept her hands lingering on George's back and sometimes let out soft groans when George pressed her hands against her very unsightly and engorged belly. He was so glad that the baby would finally be coming out, George kept telling him that the way he said it made it sound like Angelina was having something removed, because he and George could basically go back to the way things had been without Jacob constantly in a state over Angelina. Near the end months of her pregnancy Angelina had been over a lot more than she had and it had been driving him insane. He really could not stand the woman, she drove him bonkers and she knew it too. She knew that he hated her. George had given up trying to make Jacob like her, it hadn't worked. Jacob might have made more of an effort too if she hadn't kept touching George in soft ways that suggested because she was bearing his child she should get more than just a friend status. It pissed him off; George knew that, Angelina knew that and both had stopped caring some time ago. And neither seemed to care now when she'd Flooed over, petrified because she'd just gone into labour. In the rush to get to St Mungo's Jacob had found himself plainly getting in the way and sat down until George was ready to go with Angelina and had just bustled in behind him as they stepped back into the fireplace as Jacob was certain George would need him for something along the way. Even though he was barely involved in this at all (another thing he was a little annoyed about) he was involved with George, married in fact and decided that he wanted to go for him.

He'd only been to St Mungo's once with George. Ironically enough one of the man's own jokes had backfired on him and George had been experimenting with and hadn't known how to reserve the effects so Jacob had whizzed him off to Mungo's. It was perturbed him. It was strange and different from any other hospital he'd been in and he'd gotten in trouble several times for sneaking off and snooping around some of the other wards to see what was going on in there. It had sparked his curiosity so much that when George was discharged several hours later completely healed and ready to fix the joke, Jacob had wanted to stay. He'd found himself caught up in a very intriguing conversation with a young woman who'd been attacked by a rogue werewolf several days before her admittance. And though the girl was teary eyed and absolutely petrified talking to someone who was generally interested in what was happening to her looked as though it had come as a relief. At the time he hadn't realized that there was a whole floor devoted to childbirth, he'd thought that perhaps woman just had their babies at home. But yet there it was and designed for quick arrivals because as soon as the three of them Flooed in, standing in the fireplace on the right floor and everything, a welcoming party was there to met them. They were so efficient that Jacob knew they must have some warning before people emerged in the fireplaces at the back wall of the waiting area of the ward.

A chubby male nurse took Angelina's hand and led her off and when George was about to follow her, the other healer (that was what they called them in Mungo's) pushed him back to stand beside Jacob as she observed them both. She was as chubby as the first nurse who'd walked away with Angelina, leading her to a room yet she'd moved surprisingly quickly when George had made a move to follow her.

'Father?' she asked in a high rough voice. Her eyes flickered between the pair of them as she decided which one of them could be the father and which was the relation. Neither of them was dark enough to be related to Angelina by blood and the healer was reflecting that thought in her confused stare.

'I am,' George said raising his hand.

'Ok,' the healer said in a snappy voice, 'you can go with her. You can't,' she said to Jacob who was mainly following because he wanted to go with George for George not Angelina. 'Who are you anyway?' she asked abruptly glaring at Jacob a little and causing him to retreat back from her sharp stare.

'His husband,' said Jacob.

'Her husband?' the healer asked for clarification, obviously thinking that she had missed what gender Jacob had begun the sentence with.

'No,' said George who hadn't quite followed Angelina yet. 'He's my husband.'

'Oh,' the woman said. 'Ooh ... you still can't go in with them, I'm sorry. It's only immediate family or the father only. Sorry,' she said again as she bustled off in the direction of the plump man who'd walked away into a room with Angelina.

Suddenly George turned to him and kissed him strongly and lovingly. 'Thank you for coming,' he said quietly and with that he was off at a quick pelt after the healers and Angelina, leaving Jacob to himself in the empty waiting room.

The room was large and dull, nothing in there to interest him at all apart from a very outdated selection of Witch Weekly. He had no idea which floor of the hospital he was on because he'd never heard or seen this floor when he'd been here last. Strangely enough at the moment he found he wasn't in the mood to find out about that. If he went off to find out more about this ward George might come out when he was gone for something. George needed him to stay here and be here for him even though he wasn't right with him. Jacob was more than glad that the healer had told him he couldn't go in the room with George and Angelina. He would have left in an instant if he'd been allowed in. Blood and all that other gory stuff that could be seen in childbirth left him feeling queasy and revolted (he knew this because he'd had to watch a video of a woman giving birth in Science class when he was 15, and it still haunted him to this day). He wished the room had something more exciting about it because now he was forced to just sit here and think, which sometimes could be very self destructive. Somehow he didn't think this would take as long as a birth without the aid of magic would. He didn't know how long it would take but he was certain that it wouldn't take as long as his sisters had for instance. That had been a bore and a half but had got interesting when he and his mother had started the beginnings of the infamous fight that would range on for four years before slight reconcile had been made.

But the relationship between Jacob and his mother still wasn't as good as it could be. Even though their feelings towards one another had improved greatly, they still didn't talk to each other much. Only when it was absolutely compulsory did they speak to each other. He hated to say it but that system kind of actually worked. They didn't speak much and therefore had nothing to ignite another explosive argument again. That was good. His parents knew about George with Angelina and the baby and when Jacob had told them he had tried to speak as generally as possible. If he'd let his true feelings show about the only scenario, they'd immediately jump into his side and start disliking Angelina as much as he did. He'd just told them that George was having a child with Angelina and the child as going to be brought up with him and Jacob. He mother had said nothing and looked to be biting her tongue against a harsh comment that would have slipped out in the older days and as usual Jacob's father gave a nod, several words of encouragement and that was that for that conversation. His parents were so much easier to tell stuff now that his mother never argued with him anymore. It was simple. And though most of the time he'd prefer not to speak to either of them much as he was firmly cemented in his own life, there was things they just had to know. Like that even though Jacob was going help George parent a child they wouldn't actually be getting another grandchild as it wasn't Jacob's in anyway.

Sighing a little over dramatically, Jacob squiggled around in the chair that was connected to a row of others and kicked his feet up over that. It was a more comfortable position and Jacob felt relaxed and calm yet not at all ready to jump to attention if he was ever needed. He doubted that. He seriously doubted that. It was nearly a certain fact that Jacob wouldn't be needed; only to see the child after it had been born. He was less involved than he had wanted to be. When George had first suggested they do this kind of thing to Jacob he had wanted to be very much involved. He knew that George had got over excited (in more than one meaning of the word) and had rushed off to fulfil what he thought would have been good for him and Jacob, that was until Angelina had started to piss Jacob off.

He supposed this was just the next step of his and George's relationship, raising a kid together. Jacob wasn't sure how ready he was for it nor was he sure that he needed to be ready because Angelina would surely be around a lot because it was her child. Again he wasn't really certain how much involvement he'd have in the next stage of this. Maybe as little as he'd had while Angelina was pregnant, he hoped that he'd get some. The original idea of this was for Jacob and George to have a child to raise together which was why the red head had wanted to do this but it had quickly turned into George being a tad selfish, Angelina being somewhat desperate and Jacob being very moody. George had been selfish because had had just rushed off to do it once Jacob had given him a scant yes and naming the child Fred seemed like this was just away to keep a his twin alive and nothing more. Jacob was probably being harsh on him but if he was shoved out onto the wings like he had been through his whole fiasco that was a little like a social experiment (the conclusion: that Jacob hated Angelina because she had advanced in on George, thankfully to no avail, and had been able to supply them with something neither George or Jacob could have given each other so George had become rather close to her). It was reminiscent of the issues George continuously had with Draco, except completely and entirely different. Jacob hated Angelina because she was close to George (but as never as close as he was to George) and George hated Draco – still – because he was a good friend to Jacob and he sometimes spent far too much time with him.

Jacob was surprised he hadn't needed to have had a word to Angelina about how she acted around George, but George must have told her to back off a bit either because it was making Jacob moody and antsy or because it made the man himself uncomfortable. But Angelina must know that George was in love with Jacob and Jacob was in love with George. Maybe she hadn't realized her flirtatious actions with George. Some people were like that; they had naturally flirty personalities and just couldn't help themselves half the time. Jacob hoped that once the kid started becoming aware of its surroundings and able to comprehend and understand things that he and the mother would behave in a much more mature way around each other because right now it was absolutely childish. Jacob didn't mind if he had to make that resolution, the baby wouldn't be to the comprehending and remembering information for many, many years so he still had heaps of time to hate Angelina. He just had to be nice to her today because of what she had done for them (but in her eyes, Jacob was sure that he barely came into the picture. For her it must be the same as George's reasons, helping Fred live on and helping a friend).

Time had flown while Angelina was pregnant. It had gone really quite quickly. He'd had some of worst times during those nine months but also some very, very good times. Sometimes it was like George was trying to make up to him after the first two months were he had nearly utterly ignored him. George was usually himself around Jacob but for those first two months, he'd all but forgotten Jacob was there and that wasn't at all like George. But when he and Jacob had had the talk after Jacob had really obviously hated Angelina things had improved drastically. George had become sweeter than ever to Jacob, who'd made it worth his while. It was a joint apology. George apologizing for ignoring him and how he'd just jumped too and Jacob apologizing for hating Angelina so much and making it known that he did. He couldn't help but despise her, anyone in his situation would. Time just went by so quickly these days. Before Jacob knew it they had been married and so happy and now someone was having a child for them. Things went rather fast. And so he supposed that he and George only had to put up with the child for 11 years before he/she went to Hogwarts. Would they need to move into a bigger place away from the flat? Moving wouldn't be hard but it was obvious George had not thought this through very well. Sure the baby wouldn't need much space for a long time but when she/he did, they need to move out of the little flat Jacob loved so much. That wouldn't be much of an issue; it wasn't like the pair of them had a lack of money or anything. If the amount of money they had was to be assessed, well – they had a lot. He supposed George had taken these things into account and decided he'd tackle them when they came. Jacob thrust the thoughts to the back of his mind knowing that if George had rushed off so recklessly to have a child he must have known he was ready and figured Jacob was from his answer.

Soft footsteps echoed down the hallway coming towards him from the direction where George had rushed off after Angelina. It struck Jacob just then how eerily quiet this ward was and slightly spooky because of that. He hadn't realized just how silent it was and that the only people he'd seen had been the two nurses, no one else. It freaked him out a little. He quickly pulled his feet down from the chair beside him, stretched his legs out and crossed them in front of him, leaning forward a slight, eager to see how was walking down. Maybe he could start up a conversation with some poor unfortunate person forced to wait here as well.

It was George. The man looked somewhat stunned as he collapsed down into the seat next to Jacob. He stared out before him for a few seconds before twisting his head to look at Jacob who had mentally prepared himself for the worst when he saw George's expression. 'She asked me to leave,' George said suddenly, sucking on his teeth as he thought about this.

'I wasn't allowed to come in,' Jacob said thanking god he hadn't been as well. 'Maybe the nurse just thought you were getting in the way.'

'Not the nurse,' said George with a shake of his head. 'Angelina told me to go away – well, she didn't really tell me; she kind of screamed it at me.' He shrugged and tried to shuffle closer to Jacob but the arm rest between the two seats restricted that. 'I'm kinda pleased about that,' he added, 'it was getting a little gross.' He squirmed but settled when Jacob put an arm around his shoulders.

'She did you a favour telling you to get out of there then,' Jacob concluded.

George chuckled and kissed Jacob on the cheek, took his hand softly and smiled at him. 'You've been such a legend through this,' he said. 'Actually you have been, so don't scowl and pretend to be all modest. I suppose you've finally figured out that we might have to move away from the flat. But,' he hurriedly added before Jacob cut across him, 'because I was a bit of an idiot by rushing off and doing it right after you agreed and not giving you any time to think about, you can chose where we move to. Think of it as my last apology.'

'So no more apologies?' Jacob asked putting on a pretend pout. He had liked some of George's apologies. 'But you made some really, really good apologies.'

George let go of Jacob's hand and ran his hand through his short blonde hair before letting his hand stop at the nape of Jacob's neck. 'Mm,' he murmured pressing his nose to Jacob's and smiling. 'They were good, weren't they?'

'Best apologies ever,' stated Jacob and nuzzling back into George. He kissed his lips chastely before asking something that had been of interest to him for a long while, 'Doesn't Angelina want to have the child, Fred,' he said properly knowing that it would be called that whether male or female – which was slightly unfortunate, 'with her sometimes, or is she just letting us adopt it or something?' He had been wondering what would happen with that for some time. He knew that they would be allowed Fred for a time but he hadn't known if it was permanent or an alternative between them and Angelina. Until now he had just thought of it as something permanent.

'Don't know,' said George. 'Perhaps, we haven't talked about it. But we have to give her some amount of time. I mean, it's her kid as much as it is mine.'

'Good,' murmured Jacob. 'I want some time alone,' he said and kissed George again who moaned in surprised when Jacob's mouth connected passionately with his. Jacob was leaning so far across into George that his stomach was pressing firmly against the arm rest separating the two chairs from each other, he nearly sighed with relief as the pain was taken off when George pushed back against him somewhat, trying to grasp the dominance in the kiss. They played like that a lot now, each trying to siphon the control from each other but it rarely reflected in the way they kissed. It was a fun thing to do, to try and out dominate each other and George always won because Jacob either gave up halfway through and surrendered himself to whatever George was doing to him or because George was the more dominant one. Truth be told, he actually was. Jacob just occasionally liked to put up a fight. When George broke off the kiss, obviously because the arm rest between them was giving him some grief as well, he smiled amazingly radiantly at Jacob and briefly kissed him again before leaning back in his seat.

'House,' he said again, 'what about a new place?'

Jacob bit down on his bottom lip. 'But I like the flat.'

'I was thinking you'd want to get a house in Scotland or something of the sort,' George said. 'I'm all for that. You know I love it when your accent gets stronger than it already is.'

Crinkling his nose, Jacob blushed. 'You want Fred to grow up with a Scottish accent like mine?'

George shrugged. 'On you it sounds amazing. Don't you want a house there?'

'I do, I do,' Jacob said tugging on George's jacket and pressing his lips against his again. 'Do we have to decide now?' he asked.

George considered this for a moment and then nodded fervently. 'Good thinking,' he said. 'We know what happened last time one of us made a very quick decision. Baby,' he teased in a low husky voice.

'Yeah, but as much as I pissed and moaned about that, it might be a good thing. Could be fun,' he said with a shrug. 'We had fun apologizing for our behaviour before. It'll be fun, I think.'

'I'm glad you think so,' George said tipping his head softly to one side and smiling softly at Jacob. Jacob leaned as close as he could to him without the arm rest being an issue and found he could comfortably rest his head on George's shoulder, so he did. George's fingers ran through his hair as he said something else. 'Whatever happens I promise Angelina won't ever live with us. Ok?'

Jacob snorted. 'Well, that was probably the least romantic thing you could have ever said. I appreciate that nonetheless though; I don't want her to live with us.'

'Good,' George said and then dropped his voice even though no one else was in the waiting room apart from them. 'I don't want her to either.'

'Fantastic,' Jacob said with a huge beaming smile. 'Oh,' he added dismally, 'I think you're wanted.' The male healer was rushing back down the hallway towards him. However urgent his gate was, his face was calm and passive. He beckoned towards George before turning and rushing back down towards the room Jacob was forbidden to enter.

George heaved himself to his feet and kissed Jacob swiftly. 'When I come back out we should have a baby,' he said before straightening up probably and away from Jacob. 'Love you,' he murmured before breaking into a light jog and following the departed healer.

'I love you,' Jacob called after him. His comment received a smile as George turned around to blow a kiss at him.

Nearly half an hour later Jacob ventured into the room at the approval of the healers to see George's son. The room was very bright with the windows at the curtains pulled back as far as they could go and the light from the sun outside was beaming down on Angelina, showering her in motherly pride. The pinkish brown little bundle in her arms was highly unattractive and already spouted a ridiculous looking puff of red hair. Jacob knew the poor wee thing wasn't going to be much of a looker for a while as the darkish hint of his skin clashed insanely with the orange puff. But he was family, his family, and Jacob was instantly attracted to that. Little Fred, little weird looking Fred with his caramel coloured skin and red puffy hair was adorable in a strange kind of way and he was family now. George's son and so Jacob's family. It was a nice thing.

* * *

**Review please! Takes about thiry seconds and I really appreicate it!**


	46. Disney Moments

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. **

**Curiosity  
Part Forty-six: Disney Moments  
END CHAPTER**

'Dad?'

Jacob heard the question just as he was pulled out of the midst of sleep by soft footsteps, two pairs, padding along beside his bed. The voice gently asking had quietly jolted from his rest. He didn't stir, he made very little sound. All he did was shift in the bed ever so slightly so that the bodies that belonged to the two pairs of feet wouldn't notice he was awake. He did however allow himself to yawn slightly with the knowledge they wouldn't be able to see him as the blanket was pulled up over his head.

'Dad?' the young voice asked again, filled with so much innocence and childish need-to-know. Jacob permitted himself to peak an eye open, wondering whether he could see the people standing before his bed, but the blanket was too thick to see through. He supposed George had pulled the heavier blanket over Jacob when he left the bed earlier in the morning.

'What?' The question was accompanied by more movement as someone edged closer to the bed. Jacob guessed it was George when legs bumped softly against the side of the bed, hitting Jacob's hand that was hanging over the side spread out across the space his red headed lover would usually occupy.

'Why does Jacob sleep like that?'

Jacob smiled when he heard the question escape from Fred's lips. Surely he'd seen Jacob sleep like this numerous times but he always asked George why it was. Because most people used the pillow when they slept, Jacob was rather fond of keeping his head level with the rest of his body when he slept, unless he used George as a pillow – that was an exception to his own rule. Fred always asked that question whenever he ventured into the room shared by his father and Jacob. Even if he'd heard the answer countless times, he still asked. He wondered why George even bothered to answer his son's question because he heard it so many times and continuously gave the same answer. He shifted again in need of some fresher air. He poked the top of his head out from under the blankets and let out a sleepy sigh. He smiled to himself when he felt soft fingers twine through his hair that was now sticking out from underneath the blanket. George's fingers touching his hair tenderly.

'Just does,' George replied to Fred as he sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned forward to kiss Jacob's head to wake up someone he thought was sleeping but before he could, Fred cried out again.

'Is he sleeping?' Fred said loudly as if determined to wake him up. George must have nodded because seconds later the smaller version of George – less freckly and slightly more tanned due to the other half of his parentage – nearly yelped something else. 'Wake him up with a kiss!' he said excitedly, 'like in Sleeping Beauty!' That was partly Hermione's fault. She had shown all the kids, including Fred old Disney movies that she simply adored. All the Weasley kids had immediately adored them too and the old TV Hermione had acquired had become an easy way to lock them in a room and have silence for nearly an hour and a half. All of them thought it was brilliant, Arthur especially who was fascinated by the TV and often watched with the kids.

Jacob opened his closed eyes and saw that George had knelt down beside the bed, his hands still tangled in Jacob's hair. When George saw he was awake and pretty alert, he smiled at him and put a finger to his own lips. Entertain him, he mouthed to Jacob who nodded and lifted his head for a kiss – a movement that made George nearly chuckle with laughter.

'Jacob even looks like her,' Fred commented to George before the man woke him up with a kiss. 'He's got blonde hair like her and everything – not long though, not like hers.'

'It's more his nose,' George replied. Fred gave a little laugh as he knew how much Jacob hated people talking about his nose, saying how lady-like and pointed it was. Everyone knew how much Jacob hated comments about his nose, it was hardly his fault it wasn't manly in the slightest.

'Go on, dad,' Fred said. 'Wake him up.'

'Relax,' George retorted. 'I will, I will.' Jacob heard Fred sigh with impatience like he was due somewhere and was in a hurry. It was like he needed to have his Disney moment fix before the morning got underway properly. As George stroked his cheek and grinned softly at him, wanting to annoy Fred more before he gave his son the moment he wanted to see Jacob was glad that Fred didn't find anything unusual about his father and his partner. He was glad that the youngster hadn't been told that George and Jacob living together were wrong and that their relationship was "immoral". Jacob was glad when George's lips pressed against his that George's son believed in all kinds of love.

Jacob didn't give Fred the dramatic reawakening he wanted because he was a little surprised at the strength of George's kiss. He kissed back just as deeply and gave a little gasp of delight when George rose off his knees and flopped down on the bed next to him his lips never leaving Jacob's. Fred sighed in annoyance at the lack of Disney in their kiss but Jacob had felt Disney in the kiss.

'You're going to see your mum soon, right?' George asked Fred as he dove under the sheets with Jacob and smiled when Jacob instantly moved his head to rest it on his chest. Jacob heard George scowl when Fred said no, he wasn't going to. Jacob had closed his eyes again eager to catch up on some sleep as he'd missed a great deal last night. He'd been at Kath's designer store opening, and she'd even let him design a few coats for men, stylish ones. Though she'd only made one of his designs a permanent fixture in her shop she still had the prints for his others and she could use them as she wished. She'd asked Jacob to design a few because he had the right idea about coats and jackets for men and absolutely adored them. The opening party had gone much later than expected as Kath had managed to make a bit of a name for herself but was still relatively unknown outside of the London area so the rest of England didn't really care much about her clothing. Honestly Jacob didn't think much of it either but he didn't tell her that, she had done brilliantly and was continuing to do so.

'When are you going?' George asked him sounding puzzled like he'd sworn that after today he'd have Fred off his hands for a week. It wasn't easy keeping a five year old entertained for a whole week, for Jacob it bordered on impossible. Fred only really enjoyed his company when his father was there too. George found it rather easy though, he'd just put a few of his jokes in a room with Fred and the child would only become bored again hours and hours later. 'I thought you were going this evening or earlier?'

'Nah,' Fred said definitely. 'Mum said tomorrow when she owled. And, um, she said hi too.' Fred waved a hand at the unimportance of this and turned to walk out of the room at a hop and a skip. 'Going to play!' he called to George before the man could yell out his question to the retreating back.

George smirked and picked up his wand that lay next to Jacob's on the bedside table and flicked it so the door shut easily without even a dash of noise. He kissed Jacob briefly on the lips before resting his wand down and craning his neck to look out the window behind the head of their bed. He lifted the curtain slightly and looked outside. 'It's not very late,' he murmured to Jacob. 'Bloody nice day too, pity we've got to do all that paper work for the shop.'

'I'll do it,' Jacob said suddenly before he regretted saying it. 'I don't mind, I'm pretty tired anyway.'

'We probably should have done it when we were supposed to,' George muttered biting his bottom lip and sighing. 'Oh well,' he added, 'what we did was so much better than bloody paper work. It's the only downside of having your own business.'

Jacob snorted and nuzzled deeper into the crook of George's neck who kissed the top of his head. 'Do you really want to do it?' he asked sullenly.

'Yeah,' Jacob said. 'I don't mind, won't take more than a second. Go do something with Fred. Remember the last time he went to play outside by himself? Broke his arm,' Jacob said.

'That was your fault,' said George with a laugh.

'It was an accident!'

'Pretty funny accident,' George said. 'I just wish I could have been there to see it! I can't believe he conned you into that and then you fell for it and ended up breaking his arm.'

'Hey! He pushed me.'

'You ended up pushing him over as well.'

'Accident!' Jacob cried again. 'I was more hurt than he was, that arm was healed in a second. I had to bear my wound.'

'Your bruise?'

'It was big.'

'And in an awkward place.'

'I landed funny. It hurt like hell for ages.'

'Mm, poor baby. If you hadn't refused their healing you wouldn't have had to deal with it.'

Jacob shrugged it off and grinned as George played with his hand softly. 'Fred was alright though.'

'Angelina was furious anyway.'

'Hah, she was.'

'It didn't really strengthen the relationship the pair of you has. Even though the healers healed his arm just like that,' George clicked his fingers to illustrate his point, 'she was still so pissed at you.'

'Bet you found it funny.'

'It was funny.'

Jacob grinned and traced his fingers across George's chest.

'So you'll do them?'

'Yeah,' said Jacob. There was a crash from downstairs and George winced.

'More of your mother's pottery gifts probably,' he said.

'I don't care,' Jacob said, 'that stuff is revolting. Let him break it.'

'Point,' George laughed and eased himself off the bed. 'Stay here,' he told Jacob quickly and kissed him on the lips in the same Disney way he had before. 'I'll be back in a second.' Jacob nodded and fell back against the mattress, with a smile on his face. Life was good.

In fact Jacob would go as far to say that life was better than good, it was excellent. They'd been married for a long time now and whenever there relationship got slightly boring or overworked there was also something to put the spark back in and create more excitement. That was the beauty of being married to George and living with him, the man was so different and unusual that no matter how well you knew him he would always have something unexpected to surprise you with. And it wasn't too bad living with Fred as well. It wasn't like they were complete parents, driven by the needs and wants of George's child. They only had to look after him for one week a fortnight. That meant that George could easily spend time with his son and then Jacob could have the man to himself for the following week, and Fred wasn't exactly a handful, you just needed to know what he liked to do. He still loved George with his whole heart and that love was so strong it couldn't possible ever end. And George felt the same way. Jacob was so lucky to have a relationship and life like this. To have someone he'd been completely and absolutely in love with since he was 21 years old and still was, was a very rare thing and a major success story. He and George's relationship and love hadn't changed much throughout the course of their marriage; they loved each other as equally and in a similar fashion as to when things had started getting serious for them. It was like living and loving with your best friend. If Jacob could have chosen his life, he would have picked his own from the many he was offered.

And they now lived in Scotland, again for Jacob. No one had had any particular quarrels about that apart from Anne and Angelina as Jacob had had to pry the house from his sister's fingers and Angelina hated having to organise Fred to come out every week to Scotland. Jacob didn't care, he loved the house in Inverness and getting places for two wizards was never an issue, it was more a breeze. Life was grand. Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was still going so well and George had even mentioned retiring once or twice in the past few weeks but Jacob knew he wouldn't give up the job so easily. Not any time soon, anyway. Jacob still worked with him in the shop, helped out and did all the stuff George didn't want to do or couldn't be bothered with. Jacob had started playing club Cricket again for the Inverness club team and had found that he was quick good at it (and the club loved him because he was right at the beginning of his prime years). For a small town they had fantastic players and had made it to a few impressive competitions but had never progressed passed the semis but it was impressive nonetheless. To George's horror Jacob had even introduced Fred to it and the little boy had loved it at first play. Fred had been given the choice of playing Quidditch or Cricket and much to Angelina and George's annoyance he'd chosen Cricket. George had been irritable for a while when his son had chosen Jacob's sport, Jacob often thought that Fred had only chosen it because he'd seen Jacob play and saw that Jacob was rather good at it. Fred had never seen George or his mother play Cricket and he'd only heard of how good they were. Secretly, Jacob quite liked it that Fred looked up to him when he played and treated him as his role model for the sport. George had told him not to be disappointed when Fred dropped Cricket when he got to Hogwarts because there was no way he could play at the school.

God, life was good. He worked hard in the shop still, loved a great man, played Cricket hard and well and had a family. He reached across to the bedside table and pulled out the papers George often left there so he wouldn't lose them in the mess – however organised – of the rest of the house. It was a good place to leave them because it meant Jacob didn't have to leave the bed to write them up and do what was necessary. But as he looked at one he felt an overwhelming drive to not do it at all. That was when he was saved by George who had entered the room and pounced on the end of the bed and crawled up the bed to lean his head against Jacob's thigh.

'He smashed a plate with his Cricket bat,' George said softly and Jacob squirmed as his breath tickled him. That caused George to smirk and let out a soft chuckle but he didn't move his head at all and just continued to tease Jacob as he spoke. 'That bloody Cricket bat, I would have been a lot happier if he'd smashed something up with a beater club. No one at Hogwarts will know what the bloody hell Cricket is.'

'I know he'll have to stop playing, you've told me before.' Jacob put the paperwork down and ran his fingers through George's soft red hair. 'But it's a good game!'

'It's so long.'

'So is Quidditch. Days and days, weeks sometimes! Seriously, that game you went to with Harry, Ron and Ginny lasted for a week. How insanely crazy is that?'

'Cricket isn't a real sport, you have tea breaks. What kind of a sport is that?'

'A good one!' Jacob retorted lamely.

'Doesn't matter,' George murmured pulling one of Jacob's hands away from his hair and kissed the back of it softly. 'You look amazing when you bat, did you know that? You look so, so incredible, Jakey.' He made a strange soft purring sound in the back of his throat that for some odd reason did not sound weird or made him want to laugh, it made him push his hand away from George's and gently stroke his right cheekbone with the back of his thumb. 'All the other wives and girlfriends of the blokes in the team are fucking jealous I've got you. They gossip, I've only been to a few of your games but Merlin, do they gossip! You're a favourite you are. Not a favourite in the game, not for them, but a favourite because your gorgeous and charming. That's why the ladies like you. And I suppose the blokes like you because you are fairly decent at the game.'

George was actually right about that. The girlfriends and wives of the men he played with were very gossipy and sometimes, much to the annoyance of everyone playing, you could actually hear them from the field – which as much as it was annoying, it could also spark up some embarrassment as it had for Jacob a couple of times when George had come to the game to see him play. Most of the guys in his team would have been happy if their "better half's" had decided not to come yet Jacob was quite happy when George came because he didn't talk, giggle annoyingly, or shout out motivational phrases with strange nicknames attached. As much as he didn't like the game he watched awfully intently, with deadest focus.

'Hey,' George murmured, 'if I played Quidditch, would you come and watch me?'

'Of course,' said Jacob. 'Every game, the whole game and then I'd come shower with you after the game, I'm just that good of a husband.' He grinned down at George who was looking like he was about to take this proposition seriously and announce he was playing Quidditch once more and that Jacob would have to shower with him after every match because of what he just said. Not that it bothered Jacob much as showering with George after games wouldn't be any different from the norm.

'Now I'm almost disappointed that I'm not playing. That sounds like a good idea to me. Doesn't matter,' he said, 'we shower together anyway.' He waved it away with a dismissive hand that was torn from Jacob's tight grasp. 'Maybe I should come to more of your games.'

'Seasons nearly over.'

'Don't you train throughout winter, though?'

'Yeah, that's why we're so good,' Jacob said loftily in a tone Draco would use. 'You could come to my practises if you really, really wanted to. But it's fairly boring, no exciting moments like in a proper game.'

George snorted with laughter. 'This game's got you fooled, hasn't it? Cricket having exciting moments? You're crazy, Jakey! It's boring through and through. But I want to come more because you love it so much and you are brilliant and the team isn't bad at all! You lot do really well. I'm going to be like one of those annoying woman next season, all right?'

'Please not entirely like them.'

'Not entirely because I'd freak myself out, I'd hate to be as womanish as they are. Thank Merlin I fell in love with you and not a woman. But my point is: I'm going to come more because I know you'd actually come to all my games if I played anything and not just the occasional one.'

'I don't actually mind, George,' Jacob said though smiling bashfully and blushing at George's sweet attentions.

'No, I'm to come and then when everyone has gone home afterward, we can play for as long as we want in the changing rooms and showers. Deal?' he asked raising an eyebrow to him. Jacob laughed and leaned down towards George kissed the top of his head before the man lifted his tips to Jacob and they kissed.

'That is definitely a deal. It's your fault if I get distracted thinking about you if you are there, ok?'

'Mm, I think would certainly be my fault.' He suddenly spluttered. 'Your hair was getting in my mouth.'

'Sorry.'

'No, it's ok. Don't get it cut either; I like it at this length. It's sexy.' George kissed his lips softly and teasingly before pulling back and saying, 'Fred leaves tomorrow, for his mum's. House to ourselves for another week.'

'We can have sex wherever we want,' Jacob purred back at him. It was awkward having Fred around when they wanted to have sex with each other as the boy usually walked in at really inconvenient times – not at all unlike his uncle Ron.

'Ah, not until you've done the paperwork like you said you would,' said George determinedly. 'Not that face! We have a business to run. After you've done that and he's gone,' George promised.

'I'm doing the paperwork now then.'

'But Fred is still here.'

'I don't care; I'll get it over and done with for when he does finally leave.'

'You're a legend,' George said with a grin and a wink. 'I love you, Jakey boy.'

'Love you, George.'

And that was how life went for the pair of them, just different each day but relaxed, very relaxed. Jacob loved his life.

* * *

**And thus it is the end of this fantastic story! I've had so much fun writing and really do love this story, I've grown quite attached to Jacob as my own character, and have even thought about putting him in some other fandoms but thought it would ruin this story to read about him in another.  
It's been great recieving your reviews nearly every chapter and though the story wasn't as popular as it could be (I'm still trying to figure out why cliched story lines are the most popular), I loved hearing from you each chapter and it was great to know people were enjoying it! I'm sad to finish it but if I keep going on and on it will never end and I'll exhaust myself. **

**Cheers and thanks again for sticking with the story! It's been a pleasure writing for you.  
Oh and if anyone wants to read more from me, I'm currently working on a small story (only 5 chapters or so) about a man dead set on finding the Doctor and the Time Agent who helps him find him. It's actually a lot different then it sounds, but I'll hope you'll read it when it comes out!**

**Thanks! **


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Harry Potter, Adventure, Romance