George was glad to have occasion to return to Diagon Alley. It was the wizarding world distilled into a concentrate, spread across cramped alleyways packed wall-to-wall with wizards and their businesses. Shop windows showed off every piece of gear and treasure that a witch could want. He paid particular attention to the Quidditch supply shop. He had been saving all year for a broom, but he was still indecisive about which one he should bring to school for the next year. Something fast. Something stylish. Real wizards didn't ride school brooms.

But that was not the purpose of today's visit. Today was for pleasure, not business. He continued past the broom shop and onward to Florean Fortescue's Parlour, where he had agreed to meet with Willow, a friend of his from Hufflepuff. It seemed like his number of friends in his own house was only dwindling since the incident with the floor. With the exception of Julian, who mercifully missed the entire episode with the fire in the common room. At least, with that fire in the common room. He expected there would be more during their time.

The ringing of a tiny bell heralded George's arrival, but no one paid it any mind. The parlour was always busy during the summer season, and there was a small line to be served. George scanned the faces in the Alley searching for Willow, but failed to find her, taking a place in line and hoping she would show up before he had to order for her.

☁ Interacting ☁
@George Henry

After spending a whole year at Hogwarts without going home, being a muggle felt more foreign than usual. Grocery stores felt mundane and her mom setting the table boring, as the dishes didn't automatically refill. But it was some of the muggle things that felt like magic that she missed. Like reading lamps, her Nintendo Switch, Netflix, public transportation, and riding in her mom's car.

But when they made their yearly trip to Diagon Alley for next years supplies, it was the rare occasion where she could bring her parents with her into the wizarding world. Even more fun, she had planned on getting ice cream with her friend. George Henry was a strange ambiguity in Willow's life, but one that she kept around nonetheless. He was a friend that she had through Jack Warren that she was grateful for, even if she no longer associated with Warren. There was something about his presence that she enjoyed, that put her at ease. Despite him trapping her under the floor one time. What George didn't know... was that Willow had a bit of a sneaky plan, payback perhaps for that aforementioned time she almost died. She felt that George would appreciate a good prank, a good jest. He seemed like that kind of lad. So tucked away in her backpack was a dose of Laugh Inducing Potion that she had made before the summer was done.

She had it padded in a small towel so it wouldn't clink around or get smashed unceremoniously in her backpack, killing the pranking dream before it had a chance to live. Once they arrived the signature bell of an ice cream parlor signaled her and her parent's arrival. Luckily they gave her distance, they had their own wizard money to spend at the ice cream shop. It was three different coins and her parents were smart enough to understand how to use it. Ah, muggles. She remembered when she was one.

Willow slid right up next to George unceremoniously, "Decided on a flavor yet?"

George's father was nowhere to be found in the ice cream shop, but if one looked out the window, they would see him pacing up and down the alley in search of the elusive George Henry. Parents were lame, and supervision was a curse. Thankfully, wizards were experts at evading the attention of muggles. Even if the muggle was their dad.

The boy ducked his head a little when he saw his father pass the window, scanning the shop for him. He tried to play it off as a shrug. "Crazyberry is what I usually pick," he said, scanning the options on the menu as they inched closer to the counter. "But I think I will go for chocolate frog this time. Crazyberry is just too sweet for me.

The pair reached the counter and gave their orders to the person behind it just in time for George's dad to appear behind him, arms folded. There was a brief exchange of words. They were arguing, although they went back and forth so quickly that it was as if they both knew the words already.

"George! Don't run off like that."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to."

"You need to be more careful. Neither of us should be wandering around here alone."

George did not even look away from his father when his milkshake arrived, collecting it and taking a little sip through the straw.

"I will be careful! Stop embarrassing me."

Obviously, they both knew he would not, but that was the usual ceremony for when George was caught being disobedient and unruly. It wasn't like he had a cell phone they could take away, and his father's apartment consisted of only two rooms, not including a bathroom. It wasn't like he could be grounded or confined to his room, because if he did, he'd lose half the apartment. George was invincible! At least, until his mother figured out that she could threaten to take his wand away. Thankfully dad had not caught on to that one.

"This is Willow," he added, remembering the friend right beside him who had no doubt already ordered and gotten her milkshake. He glanced around the shop, spotting the adults that Willow had entered with and pointing them out to his father. "Her parents are over there, you should meet them."

George's father gave him a stern look that warned him to watch the sass, or they would be going home. His son countered with his most saintly little smile. Begrudgingly, George's dad departed to join Willow's parents. The two young Hufflepuffs could hear the beginnings of an exchange of introductions before George ushered Willow to a table on the opposite end of the parlour, slinging himself into a seat with a thud.

"That's year three wrapped up. Four more to go," George said with an added groan. He had been so excited to start his journey at the beginning, but one wizard-year was as long as three muggle-years, and he would much prefer it if they could just give him his license to cast spells on his own already so that he did not need to deal with all the drama. "I swear I'll spend this whole month sleeping it off. Just in time to wake up for camp and herd cats for broom racing."

He gave her a truly dreadful look. "And one of the cats is Warren."

Another long sip of chocolate milkshake soothed his frustrations, the boy letting out a sigh of relief as he felt the cool, creamy drink on his tongue. With a few big gulps, he had reduced it by almost a third already. Some chocolate frog legs stuck up from amid the shake, assuring the drinker that it was really chocolate frog, and not simply chocolate. He was not given long to enjoy it before his father came back to speak with him again.

"What?" George said, before standing up and moving a few paces away with his father to engaged in hushed conversation. Leaving his drink unattended - though safe in the hands of innocent Willow Anderson, surely?

☁ Interacting ☁
@George Henry

If Willow noticed the duck she didn't show any sign of it. Examining the menu as if it could show up on a pop quiz. "How is chocolate frog less sweet than crazyberry? I mean- I support you but that logic doesn't track. I think I'm gonna get the toffee flavor and get at least three cavities by the end of it." She always felt like a little adult ordering by herself in the wizarding world. There was a sense of independence that she had been able to develop that may not have happened if she was still in regular English Muggle school.

When George's dad showed up, the milkshake creation process became very interesting. The person making their milkshakes was suddenly the only thing she wanted to pay attention to. Such finesse he had, her listening ears were off. Her hands were awkwardly folded in front of her and she wondered if she should step over to her parents for a moment. But they were already happily chatting away in a booth being sickly sweet as they were. She sort of automatically and robotically grabbed her milkshake, taking a sip and melting into the sticky sweet treat. It was only until her name was said that she perked up.

"It's nice to meet you. My parents are pretty- uh cool, and nice." She looked at George in a panic, was she supposed to introduce them? Being a person was so awkward. Luckily it didn't take more than a moment for George's dad to leave. As they walked to a booth she wondered if she should mention it, but decided it was probably best to let the moment die. "I hope you guys do better than duelling. We had one win the entire past year." Her nose wrinkled at the mention of her ex-boyfriend, Warren. "Good luck wrangling his ego along with the rest. I can't believe we're entering our halfway point of wizard school. It's gone by so fast."

Willow was taking much more time to enjoy her shake, mostly because there was only so much toffee she could take, needing breaks between sips. Then like a beacon of light a moment of opportunity came. Not that she wanted her friend to get scolded. Did her parents say something? She glanced back at them but wasn't able to ascertain what was going on. Still, this was her moment. With slightly shaky hands of a first time prankster she procured the Laugh Inducing potion vial and poured it into his milkshake, quickly trying to stir as much of it in before she returned.

She recapped it and chucked the empty vial haphazrdly into her bag, hands gently clasped in her lap until she recovered from the shaking nervousness. She was a pranking goddess. When he returned she couldn't help be a bit concerned, eyebrows knitting together. "Everything ok? Did my mom try and promote her Etsy shop?"

"Can we pleaaase talk about this later?" George said, putting on a whiny, pleading tone that was nothing like the character he put on when interacting with his peers. His father let out a small sigh of frustration. He stood no chance of noticing as his father rushed him to consider an evidently serious topic.

"You can't text her here, your phone won't work. And why does it matter? I'll go next week, Alan said I could sleep over," the boy argued, pleading in hushed tones as the potion vial poured into his milkshake. He turned around just in time to see Willow mashing his straw around in his milkshake. "Hey!"

Oh no! Had she been caught?

"Don't go stealing a sip of my milkshake, you dirty thief," George scolded her as he thumped his butt down on the seat across from her, making the legs creak under the force of his impact. He pulled his glass back to his side, where it belonged, and took a long, confident swig. He couldn't help but giggle at the fact he had caught her in the act. Of course, he did not even notice the long, haphazard process of her hiding away the vial, or the fact that she was squeezed onto her chair like a spring wound tight.

When she asked about the situation with George's dad, he sighed. Then he let out an impulsive giggle. He cleared his throat, leaning back in his chair as he tried to organize his thoughts, though he couldn't help but smirk at the absurdity of it all. God, it was so, so funny. He snickered even as he leaned in again to whisper what he had come up with in his head. "My parents are-" he snorted, "fighting... so dad is staying in London for a while with his sister and- pfffh... sorry, I'm not sure why I'm laughing."

He let out a full-throated belly laugh, leaning over and slapping his knees as he tried to further detail the marital issues going on between his mom and dad. It was a little absurd now that he thought of it - but even his dad was looking over now, watching him degrade into fits of barely- suppressed giggles. His eyes were teary when he looked over at Willow, just barely holding himself back.

"What's an Etsy?!" he asked, the unknown word putting him into absolute hysterics. He pulled the sleeve of his sweater down around his hand to wipe his eyes, his face red both from embarrassment and the intensity of his laughter. God, he could barely catch a breath. He almost choked as he sucked down another mouthful of chocolate milkshake, spilling some over his chin as he burst out in giggles again. "Oh, I'm sorry! I don't know why this is so funny! Basically I want to go stay with Alan while I'm in town instead of staying in his apartment."

☁ Interacting ☁
@George Henry

Willow jumped at George's loud proclamation of catching her in the act. She was ready to fess up- to fish for change and get him a new milkshake. Her pranking days were over, this was it- oh. "Sorry! I just wanted to try chocolate frog. I didn't get a sip I promise." Her cheeks flushed red at the possibility of getting caught, but hopefully George would take it as embarrasment for her possible sip thievery.

There was a slight pride in her chest as the potion seemed to kick in instantly. She was a skilled witch, sure, but there was always a creeping dread of doubt of her abilities sitting in the back of her brain. Ready for her to mess up. It was often loud during her failed duelling matches. Her body relaxed as she took a sip of her own untainted milkshake. Instinctively she leaned in as George in, not exactly sure why. But when he opened his mouth her eyes widened in horror.

Oh goddess- was he... was he opening up to her? Now? Of all times? George and Willow had opened up to each other before, barely. Perhaps it planted an inkling that she could be trusted. An inkling that would soon be squashed by raucous laughter as George attempted to tell Willow about his worries and troubles. "Oh goodness George- I'm sorry. That sounds really stressful." She should've packed an antidote of some sort. Was there an antidote for this? How would she get him to abandon his milkshake a second time?

Her mind was conflicted, on one hand watching George absolutely crack up was hilarious and fun to watch, she couldn't help but let out a little giggle in turn. The laughter was contagious and she couldn't help it. On the other hand her eyes darted around wondering if she would soon be arrested for her crimes of potion-ing a friend while he was trying to talk about his troubles. Surely there was a cushy place in Azkaban for her. She caught her parents eyes who looked confused at the bright and loud atmosphere of laughter erupting from her table, mainly from his side. Did they not think she could be funny? Rude. She gave them a half smile and turned back when George began speaking again.

"Oh- It's like a place where you can sell homemade crafts and stuff. My mom sells herbal remedies and candles and things like that. I have a lot of them at Hogwarts if you're ever curious." She almost jumped out of her seat when George seemed to start choking. Was she going to be a murderer via a creamy delicious beverage? She handed him a napkin as the milkshake dribbled down his chin. "Muggles, am I right?" Nailed it.

George graciously accepted the napkin, wiping his lips and chin even as he chortled and choked up a little more milkshake. The potentially lethal implications of mixing a laughing potion with food had been lost on Willow, but from the looks of things, he was able to swallow another sip of milkshake without too much snickering. The giggle fits were broken by a coughing fit as the boy bashed his chest with his hand, his father looking worriedly on from the other table until he caught his breath for another bout of guffaws.

"It's sort of t-tough," he said breathlessly, rubbing the tears out of the corners of his eyes. He couldn't help shaking his head when Willow explained Etsy. And he couldn't help laughing, either. Why couldn't he help it? It was sort of funny. Herbal remedies were about the stupidest thing he could imagine. They were basically just potions that didn't work.

George blinked, his mind lighting up with a flash of recognition. She had not been sipping his milkshake, she had been poisoning it. That little rat! He was very impressed with her, despite the obvious betrayal inherent to the prank. She had snuck it in and lied to him deftly when confronted. She was a natural. Who would have thought goody-two-shoes Willow Anderson had it in her?

But now, he had the upper hand. She could not know that he knew what she had done. Now was the time to really crank up the discomfort - for the pranker had become the prankee. He could already read the discomfort on her face - the nervous giggle, plus her eyes darting around like she was being called up to court. This would be priceless. "It's really tough actually," George said, trying to hush himself down into a whisper between outbursts of guffawing that drew stares from the other customers. "I've been quite upset lately."

"Plus with the pressure of becoming the broom racing captain, I've really been strug^gling..." he said, his voice trailing up as he squeezed his eyes shut, crying from the force of the laughter he was suppressing trying to break free. It almost came out in a sob, though it quickly transformed into a hearty belly laugh. "Plus - one of my friends just poisoned me, just as the cherry on top of the whole thing."

He plucked the cherry off of the top of his creamy chocolate milkshake where it had partially sunken in. He caught it on his tongue and winked. Then he accidentally spit it out onto the table in a burst of laughter which only got more intense as he watched the candied cherry roll off the table and onto the floor. Silverware and glass clattered as the boy nearly fell over with laughter, burying his head in his arms on the table to try and muffle his unceasing laughter. "I hate you," he managed, a genuine grin on his face as he looked up.

☁ Interacting ☁
@George Henry

She had messed up, she had messed up so bad. Here she was- actively drugging her friend while he was trying to open up to her. Could she still drop out of wizarding school? She could never show her face again. Her face would be plastered all over the Headliner as the worst witch ever, in existence. Her mouth became pressed in a hard line, as she herself tried not to give away what was happening. A good prank went undetected. So she just had to hold it together. Her milkshake was forgotten as she folded her hands in her lap to prevent George from seeing that she was shaking ever so slightly.

"George I'm so sorry. You've really been going through it, I didn't know." If she had known, she wouldn't have been stupid enough to put a laughing potion in his milkshake. He was truly trying to cry- but all that came out was laughter. And his dad was here. Surely she was going to get in trouble, she could feel her parent's look boring into the back of her head. "You were poisoned?" Her mouth dropped open, genuinely surprised. She flinched at the spit of cherry, watching it roll of the table. She didn't know there was now poisoning happening at Hogwarts and- Oh.

It was her. She was the poisoner. "Oh. You mean me- I'm the. Listen! In my defense I thought we were just going to have a light time drinking milkshakes, I didn't know you were going to talk about having a hard time!" Her voice was a loud whisper, not wanting the parents to be able to hear her. She picked up her cherry and plopped it in George's milkshake. "As penance." Giggling at the absurdity of being caught. Her face was alight with a deep red. "You don't hate me, I bet you're impressed. Willow Anderson, amateur prankster." Of all people, it had to be a surprise that a prank like this would come from her. "I can buy you a new milkshake since this one is tainted with my brilliant potion." If he accepted she would step away and grab another for him, if not she would remaining sitting.

George's cackling began to subside, so he lifted his head up from the table to look across at her. His face was frozen in a wicked smile. He was so proud of himself - the evil glee of turning a prank around would probably sustain a good mood for the whole summer. George's father was watching from the parents' table, worried that the magic milkshakes had turned his son into even more of a madman.

"Oh, I'm so sorry I ruined your prank with all my sadness," he said, his hand on his heart. He scoffed and slumped back in his chair, exhausted from the drama. Once his giggles had settled, he picked up the offered cherry and popped it into his mouth. 'Mmm!' He squashed the bright red cherry on his tongue, pulling the stem out from between his lips and dropping it on his napkin. Speaking while chewing, he continued. "I admit, I am impressed. I sort of had you read as a goody-two-shoes. Not someone who would slip potions into people's drinks without their permission."

The boy rolled his shoulders and sprung back up into proper posture. Back straight, head held proud - it was enough that his dad went back to conversing with Willow's parents, trying to put the brief episode of insanity out of his mind. Wouldn't be the last.

"Oh, no. This one is fine," he said. He brought the glass up to his face, leaning in to find the straw with his lips. The boy stopped before he could drink any, instead holding it out to offer it to Willow. It was time for a true turnabout. "In fact, I think you'd like the chocolate frog flavor. You should try some."

Willow would hopefully refrain from spouting off about her own Willow-sized tragedies, like how her cat had the flu, or her houseplant had the flu, or some other thing he could imagine coming out of her mouth. He waited a moment to add, "and in terms of going through it? That's nothing." The two of them had faced bigger problems. Family stuff was small potatoes.

☁ Interacting ☁
@George Henry

If Willow's face could get any redder she would probably be inventing a new shade of 'I messed up'. Her eyes seemed to stick down in her glass, stirring it and feeling a little bit embarrassed. Well, a lot of bit embarrassed. "Yeah- If you could have just- waited until my prank was over. That would've been great." It was more a mumble in her glass than anything. She didn't want to be too harsh to the boy who was admittedly going through a bad time.

Although, she couldn't help but perk up when George said he was impressed by her. Her face got a glimmer of a cocky smirk, she wasn't a goody-two-shoes anymore. "Well listen- It's a new year, a new me. You know?" Her shoulders rolled back, her back straightening out in pride. It seemed she accidentally mirrored George who had done the same thing. She was quite surprised when he seemed to enjoy the milkshake anyway, but surprised turned to horror as he turned it to her.

"Should I talk about my deepest, darkest secrets while I drink it?" She sighed resigning herself to a taste of her own... potion. But she wasn't going to be a wuss and take a tiny sip. She took a big glug, really pleased with the taste of it. "You know- the potion doesn't super have an effect on taste does it?" There were definitely some potions that would've been an absolute no-go. Tasting so horrid that they would've turned any milkshake into a cup of literal vomit.

The bubble of giggles could be felt rising through her chest. "You know it's not that- hah- it's not that bad." The attempt to choke them down and muscle her way through it. At first it seemed like she was just coughing, but quickly it turned into full blown laughter. Her fist banged on the table as she tried to get through it. "Ok, this was a good-" Her laughter jerked out of her. "-this was a good prank though." She didn't dare look behind her to see if her parents were looking. The laughter reaching it's peak only moments after the sips.