Doesn't Mean a Thing

Elise came down to the library, still stunned by George. She hadn’t seen him at all after what happened at the Owlery. Either he was avoiding her or just didn’t want to be seen. She saw Fred sitting in one of the desks in the corner and joined him.

“Hey Elise, it’s about time.” He joked. When he saw her mood, he shut up. “Are you okay?”

Elise waved him away. “Oh yeah, I’m fine.”

He gave her a look. “No you’re not. What did my git of a brother do to you?” he asked.

She looked at Fred sincerely. “Has George ever been shy before?”

Fred guffawed, which made Madame Pince, the library, shush them.

“You’re joking, right? George being shy? When would that ever happen?”

Elise sighed. “Well, your brother kind of rounded on me and pounced on me as well.”

Fred looked at her suspiciously. “Rounded on you as in what?” he asked. “I’m confused.”

She looked down. “Your brother seemed irritated going back to the castle. He jumped on me, asked me to be his girlfriend, and starting kissing me. And then he just left. I’ve never been so confused.”

Fred looked flabbergasted. “Wow, I never knew George had it in him.” He uttered.

Elise laid her head in the palm of her hand. “I don’t know what to do.” She said miserably.

Fred sensed how sad she was. “You really care about him, don’t you?” he asked softly.

Elise nodded. “Yeah, of course I do.”

Fred smiled at her. “I’ll talk to him. We can do this project later. There are more important things.”

Elise smiled. “You’d really talk to him for me, would you Fred?”

Fred nodded. “Of course! In the short time you’ve been here, you’re already like a part of the family.”

They got up, gathered their things, and headed back for the common room.

“My brother is a real git, you know.” Fred mused.

Elise chuckled. “He’s a git, but I really like him.”

Fred gave her a look. “Why?”

Elise shrugged. “He listens. He really cares about me. He makes sure that I’m okay. That plus I like that he’s a bit quieter.”

Fred nodded, thinking. “He really isn’t all that quiet, you know.” He mentioned. “George is loud when he wants to be, just like I’m quiet sometimes.”

Now it was Elise’s turn to laugh. “Fred, in the time I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you quiet.” She joked.

Fred pretended to be insulted. “But it’s true! Ange, Alicia, Lee, and Katie don’t really see us outside of Hogwarts, but at home we’re completely different.”

Elise smiled and looked down. “Think I’ll get a glimpse of that over the holidays?”

Fred smiled at her. “Ah, Weasley family in their natural habitat…you just might.”

They walked through the door to see Lee and George sitting over by the fire. George froze looking at Elise, then got up and went up to his dorm.

Elise sighed. “I told you, he’s mad at me.”

Lee gave her a look. “He wouldn’t say exactly what went down. All I could make out is that he was jealous.”

Elise rolled her eyes. “Jealous of who, Fred?”

Fred guffawed. “What reason does he have to be jealous of me? I’m just going to talk to him.”

Fred went up the stairs to their room. He saw George lying down on his bed. Fred pulled out his wand and lifted George by his ankle.

“You bloody arse, what are you doing?!” George yelled. “Fucking put me down!”

Fred coolly set him back down on his bed. George got up angrily. “Are you insane?” he screamed.

“No, are you?” Fred asked.

George backed away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Fred rolled his eyes. “You’re fucking jealous of me when you have no reason to be. Elise is my partner, George. She’s my partner in class and we obviously need to do schoolwork
together. I’m not trying to steal her away from you. We’re friends, and that’s it.”

George looked at him accusingly. “You’ve admitted you think she’s fit. That plus you say you’re tired of Angelina.”

Fred sighed. “Look, she likes you. She cares about you, more than she’ll ever care about me. So you better get your butt down those stairs and into that common room and kiss her before she ditches you for some other guy, okay?”

George gave him a look. “What made you go all philosophical on me?” he asked.

Fred shrugged. “I’m much more experienced.”

George rolled his eyes and punched his twin in the shoulder as he left. When the door slammed shut, Fred smiled to himself.