Slip Me That Love Potion, I Dare You, George Arthur Weasley

Farrah’s Point of View
‘’Remind me why we take this class again?’’ I asked George as we left Arithmancy. He shook his head, laughing a bit as we tried to push our way through a crowd of people.
‘’I’ve been asking myself the same question almost every day for the past few months, and I think I’ve finally got an answer for you,’’ he replied in all seriousness.
‘’And your conclusion is?’’
‘’I haven’t got the slightest idea,’’ he chuckled. Figures.
‘’Why do I even bother asking you these things?’’ I replied, adjusting my rucksack as we neared one of the moving staircases.
He opened his mouth to answer when we sensed a disturbance in the force.
Okay, so maybe I’d been watching too many Star Wars movies on Naomi’s telly, but those movies are incredible, so you couldn’t blame me.
The disturbance happened to be someone yelling my name from the other side of the hall. The yelling steadily came closer, and as George and I looked for the source, we saw people being knocked over and pushed out of the way.
Out of the crowd emerged a running ball of fire. Fred. He was zooming toward us, and before he could put on the brakes, I was nearly knocked over, grabbing onto the twins for support. People either backed away or hurried down the staircase before it could start moving again.
‘’Holy crap, Fred, where did you-‘’
‘’FARRAH…WILLYOU…GOTOTHEBALL…WITH ME?!’’ he asked loudly in between trying to catch his breath.
I stared at him wide-eyed, his bright brown eyes looking back at me hopefully. George inched away slowly, trying to give us some privacy. Some people were still staring.
‘’Y-yes, of course,’’ I replied breathlessly, clinging onto him tightly as he spun me around happily, away from the staircase thankfully. I heard George, along with a few others, whooping and cheering in the background.
Everything else was forgotten when Fred put me down, holding my face in his hands as our lips connected, not even caring that we weren’t alone.

It was the day after the Hogsmeade trip, and Naomi and I were in the library for study hall, while Fred and Lee Jordan were trying to keep Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes alive. Draco was off at some unknown place, although he’d probably pop up eventually, hopefully bringing some snacks with him. I was so hungry that my potions textbook was looking more and more edible by the minute. George was still being an obtuse ponce and ignoring us all. How I wanted to smack him. Naomi was telling me about his odd behavior in Hogsmeade, which led me to eventually start daydreaming, due to my pathetically short attention span. I thought about when Fred asked me to go to the ball with him. Ah, the days when George acted like an actual Weasley and not a Percy. Oh, Fred told me all about his older brother, Percy Weasley, and how he abandoned his family for his one true love: his job at the Ministry of Magic. George was now officially a ’Percy.’ You do not want to be a Percy, let me tell you, because it’ll result in most of the people around you planning out the best way to poison your cereal. Or, in George’s case, the best way to give him that Man-Eating Fire Slug he once hoped for.
The only thing I really heard out of Naomi’s rambling was something about dying alone. I raised my head from the table we were supposed to be studying at and gave her a knowing look. She stared back, blinking.
‘’What?’’
‘’You know fully well what,’’ I mumbled, placing my head back on the table. ‘’You’re not going to die alone. If it comes down to it, though, there’s always Ashton.’’
I didn’t even have to look at her to know I was being glared at. ‘’That isn’t even funny. The boy’s off his bloody rocker. I’d rather be wed to a giant squid, or even that deranged werewolf, Fenrir Greyback.’’ She shuddered at the name.
‘’Sorry,’’ I yawned. Madam Pince, the head librarian, was stalking past every row of books. Her pointy nose peeked into the section Naomi and I were sitting in, and a few seconds later, she continued onto the next one.
‘’So what’re you doing for Christmas break?’’ Naomi muttered, resting her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand as she lazily flipped through a battered Divination textbook.
I sat up again, shrugging in response. ‘’My parents want me home for Christmas, but Fred says his mum probably wouldn’t mind if I stayed at their house for a day or two. What are your plans?’’
‘’I’m staying at the Weasley’s for most of the break. I’m not sure what my parents are doing for Christmas but they’ll be going to The Burrow on New Year’s Eve. My mum and Molly Weasley are close friends. They tell each other everything.’’ She looked at me for a dramatic effect. ‘’Everything.’’
I didn’t ask what the ‘everything’ included, but I assumed it held plenty of embarrassing stories. I’d get it out of her later.
‘’Have you got a date to the ball yet?’’ I asked offhandedly. She gave me a look that clearly questioned my sanity. ‘’Guess not. You know, Draco hasn’t got a date either,’’ I suggested, trying to be helpful.
‘’True,’’ she nodded, closing the textbook and stuffing it in her rucksack on the floor. ‘’But I assumed that he’d want to go with someone he likes. You know, a guy.’’ She suddenly went wide-eyed and quickly covered her mouth.
I stared at her, mouth agape. ‘’Draco’s gay?! But he never told me-‘’
She clamped a hand over my mouth. ‘’SH!’’ she hissed, looking around nervously to make sure no one else had heard. ‘’I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. He didn’t want to say anything to you or Fred yet because of trust issues. Not a lot of people know, but those who do torture him because of it.’’ I looked at her in surprise. She continued on. ‘’Just keep it between us for now, alright? Don’t even say anything to Fred. It may not seem like that big of a deal, but it is to Draco, and we’re the only people he really has here. He’s become the black sheep of Slytherin, those homophobic bastards.’’ She muttered the last sentence before removing her hand from my mouth and sitting flat in her seat.
I took in what she told me, honestly feeling stupid for not seeing it before. ‘’I won’t say a word to anyone.’’ She seemed pleased with that answer.
Study hall soon ended and we went off to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Lupin hadn’t arrived yet, but about half of the class was already there. Fred was in his seat, tapping his wand on his desk as he hummed to himself. This was one of the few classes the three of us (and George) actually liked. Professor Lupin was the kind of teacher that knew you wouldn’t learn anything unless you tried it firsthand. In our third year, he brought a boggart in a wardrobe for us to experience, and what an experience it was. A boggart is a creature that turns into the victim’s worst fear. In order to fight it, you need to think of something funny, recite the incantation ‘Riddikulus’, and the boggart will take your worst fear and turn it into something funny.
I clearly remembered when it was my turn. The boggart had turned into a Dementor wearing a puffy, pink ball gown. Needless to say, the boggart was humiliated beyond belief.
I greeted Fred with a quick kiss before sitting down behind him next to Naomi, slightly pink in the face. The classroom was already buzzing with chatter when Professor Lupin walked in, his long brown traveling cloak billowing behind him all the way to the front of the room. The Gryffindors shared Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws. Both houses quieted down as Lupin removed his coat, adjusting his vest and black tie as he turned to our class.
‘’I apologize for being a bit late,’’ he said, walking to a table where he kept an old record player, along with a pile of records. He began rifling through the stack. ‘’I was in a meeting with Professor Dumbledore, but that’s been taken care of, so it’s time to focus on the lesson I have planned for you all today. I think you’ll enjoy what we’re about to do, but I warn you, this is difficult magic I’m about to teach you.’’ He put one of the records on the record player, leaving it turned off for the moment before turning back to the class with a smile. ‘’Who here has ever heard of the Patronus Charm?’’
Only four people raised their hands. I wasn’t one of them.
‘’No matter,’’ he said, walking slowly to the center of the room, hands clasped behind his back. ‘’Who can tell me what the Patronus Charm is used for?’’
A Ravenclaw boy named Rigel Hornebolt raised his hand.
‘’I heard people use it to ward off Dementors,’’ he said.
‘’Correct,’’ Lupin smiled. ‘’Five points to Ravenclaw. Now, obviously I couldn’t bring in a dementor to demonstrate how the Patronus Charm works, but you don’t necessarily need a Dementor to perform it. You just need-‘’ he pulled out his wand, ‘’-a happy memory.’’ He looked around at the class. Naomi and I exchanged glances. Fred, for once, was actually paying attention in a class, while George sat on the opposite side of the room, looking thoroughly exhausted.
‘’Everybody stand up,’’ Lupin said, motioning us to the front of the room. With a flick of his wand, our desks and chairs went soaring over to the right side of the room, piling themselves up. There lay a large, wide open space. ‘’Now, spread yourselves out. No, not out the door, Mr. Stanbury. Very good. Take out your wands, if you please.’’ I pulled my wand out from a pocket in my cloak. Naomi and Fred, a few feet over, were doing the same.
‘’Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth,’’ Professor Lupin continued, pacing back and forth in front of us. The entire class was silent. ‘’They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them. Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself...soulless and evil. You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life.’’
I suddenly got the chills. I was truly afraid of Dementors.
‘’A Patronus is a kind of positive force, and for the wizard who can conjure one, it works as something like a shield, with the Dementor feeding on it, rather than him. In order for it to work, you need to think of a memory. Not just any memory, a very happy memory, a very powerful memory. Allow it to fill you up... lose yourself in it... then speak the incantation, "Expecto Patronum". You think it’d be simple enough, when in reality, a full-bodied Patronus can be extremely difficult to produce, Dementor or no Dementor. The key is to concentrate on your happy memory. Your Patronus can only protect you as long as you stay focused.’’ Professor Lupin gave us a moment to take in the information as he walked over to the record player. A murmur had broken out between students, either excited or worried that they wouldn’t be able to do it. I, personally, was willing to put in as much effort as possible if it meant protecting myself in the future from any wandering, hungry Dementors. Ruddy foul leeches.
Fred and I looked at each other for a moment. He gave me a quick wink before Lupin started talking again. A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth.
‘’Now, I don’t expect everyone to master this in a day. In fact, I’d be very pleasantly surprised and impressed if a few of you did. Remember, focus.’’ He put the record player on. Coming out of it was some very 1940’s, happy, upbeat music.
‘’Think of the happiest thing you can, a powerful memory.’’
Closing my eyes, I racked my brain for any happy memory I could think of. I thought of my parents, though they were muggles, I loved them with everything I had. They supported me in what I was doing, training to become a witch, even though they didn’t understand it. I thought about the day I first met Naomi and George. Thinking about George lately got me angry, though, so I focused on other things. Fred, the first time he ever kissed me, when he asked me to the ball, his ingenious when it came to inventing, it brought a smile to my face.
Feeling that this memory had made me very happy, I chose the memory of Fred asking me to the ball.
‘’I want you to hold onto that memory. Don’t let anything distract you, just focus on staying happy.’’
I peeked one eye open. Naomi and Fred both had their eyes closed, their faces screwed up in concentration. A few feet in front of us stood George. I really wanted to hex him for the sakes of my boyfriend and my best friend, but I kept my eyes closed and focused on Fred.
Professor Lupin’s footsteps echoed as he weaved his way through the classroom. ‘’Now, keep your wand pointed ahead of you and say, ‘Expecto Patronum’.’’
‘’Expecto Patronum!’’ was soon being shouted all over the room. I opened my eyes when I spoke the incantation. Coming out of my wand was a little bit of what looked like silvery liquid, but it was gone within a few seconds. Looking around the room, it seemed as if everyone else was having the same problem. Fred was shaking his wand, muttering things under his breath. Naomi seemed to be beating her wand against her thigh, trying the spell over and over again. Lupin was giving us an encouraging smile.
‘’Keep trying,’’ he said loudly over the rest of the class, including myself, who were relentlessly trying to get it right. ‘’We’ll be working on this for the rest of the week, so if you don’t get it by the end of today, it won’t be the end of the world. I’ll let you get to it, then.’’ He went back over to the record player, leaning on the table and tapping his wand against it.
By the end of the class, only one person had successfully produced a full-bodied Patronus. George Weasley. It took the form of a fox. Naomi kept shooting death glares at the back of his head throughout the entire lesson. Fred went from looking somber to murderous. I was just frustrated in general and felt like taking out said frustration on George as he met up with Katie outside of class. Naomi had her fists clenched.
‘’Just keep walking,’’ Fred muttered, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and steering me away from his twin, who seemed to be engaged in a snogging session. I looked over at Naomi. She seemed to be deep in thought.
‘’You coming?’’ I asked, feeling my stomach rumble. The urge to hit George dissipated, as I was thoroughly overjoyed at the prospect of finally getting to eat lunch.
‘’Yeah,’’ she sighed, turning around and walking with us down a flight of stairs. ‘’Bet she’s given him loads of happy memories to sit with. It makes me bloody sick just thinking about it.’’
I shifted my eyes up toward Fred’s face. He too seemed to be thinking.
‘’Does something about this whole thing seem…odd to you?’’ he asked unsurely, looking back and forth between Naomi and I’s faces.
‘’Does anything seem normal about it?’’ Naomi said, exasperated. We followed a herd of students downstairs to the Great Hall. ‘’George has had girlfriends before but never, never, has he ignored us over some… some broad.’’ We walked over to our table, the air tense. Sitting near where we usually sat was Draco, the rest of the Gryffindors acting like it was perfectly normal for a Slytherin to be there. We honestly didn’t care; we’d rather him sit with us than with the rest of his dreadful house. Draco was too awesome for them anyway.
We all greeted him, digging into the sandwiches and Pumpkin Juice immediately. Judging from the looks on Naomi and Fred’s faces, there were still some things that they wanted to say on the whole George topic. Draco seemed to noticed it also as he poked at his meat pie.
‘’Alright, what’s wrong with you three?’’ he asked, putting down his fork as he stared us down.
None of us really wanted to answer that, but I felt that Draco should know. ‘’We’re fed up with George,’’ I hissed, noticing that he happened to be sitting a few feet away, cuddling with Katie as always. Gag.
‘’I’ve decided I’m finally talking to him tonight. He’s being an arrogant arse,’’ Fred piped up next to me, a look of determination on his face. Shag me sideways with a broomstick but that face was sexy as hell.
‘’So am I,’’ Naomi mumbled, glaring at her sandwich as if it’d killed her Pygmy Puff or something of the likes.
‘’It’s about time we did,’’ I agreed, entwining my fingers with Fred’s. He gave my hand a slight squeeze.
‘’What the bloody fuck is wrong with us?’’ Naomi said, causing Draco to the left of her to inch away slowly. ‘’I want answers.’’
‘’He’s going to give them to us one way or another,’’ Fred replied, giving her a high five.
‘’I’ll get the rope,’’ Draco laughed. He now knew how to get into the Gryffindor common room.
‘’I’ll hold him down,’’ Fred said. We looked at him oddly, and he seemed to get the hint. ‘’Never mind. That’d be weird. I’ll leave that to you, Naomi.’’
‘’Do I get to hit him too?’’ She looked simply thrilled at the prospect.
‘’Only if he doesn’t cooperate.’’
I love these people. And I’d be gladly helping with any George (or Katie) related beating.