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

Two more weeks flew by, and mid-November made itself present. There wasn’t any snow on the ground yet, much to everyone’s dismay, but I knew it was only a matter of time before there was. Fred and Farrah patched things up the night of the fight quite nicely; the happy boy still had a nice hickey on his neck to prove it. George and I had done pretty good with avoiding any more awkward moments, although I’d been spending more amounts of time in the boy’s dormitory then my own recently. Farrah had already questioned me about it a few times, thinking George and I were secretly together or something, even though I’d already told her flat out nothing was happening between us.
This morning at breakfast wasn’t any different. The twins had gone to look for their friend Lee Jordan, so she seized another opportunity to ask where I’d been the previous night.
‘’You already know the answer to that question,’’ I mumbled, taking a sip of my pumpkin juice and trying to avoid her questioning glare. My response didn’t seem to satisfy her.
‘’If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you two shagged last night.’’ I nearly spit out my drink. Yeah, when Hippogriffs don’t fly. ‘’But I’m pretty good at picking stuff like that out, and I don’t think you did. But, I do think he fancies you.’’
I looked at her from across the table with an expression that greatly questioned her sanity. Was she off her fucking rocker?
‘’You’re insane,’’ I laughed, shaking my head and poking at my omelet.
She just shrugged, taking a bite of her bacon. ‘’That may be so, but I know I’m right about this. I could ask him. If you wanted me to, that is.’’
This time I literally started choking, a big piece of egg getting caught in the back of my throat. I grabbed my goblet of juice and drank, feeling relieved when I could breathe again.
‘’Absolutely not!’’ I hissed, leaning across the table and looking around to make sure the twins weren’t in ear shot. I spotted their ginger heads on the opposite end of the Gryffindor table. ‘’If you do that he’ll become suspicious, and then it’ll be harder for me to keep it from him, with him poking around, and asking questions…and…and…’’ I considered the consequences of her asking him if he liked me or not. Oh, I definitely wasn’t changing my mind.
She held up her hands in defense. ‘’Alright, alright, it was just a suggestion. How much longer are you going to keep this a secret, anyway?’’
I sat back down in my seat, pushing my eggs around. ‘’It’s staying a secret. I’ve decided he doesn’t need to know, it’s not like I would act on it anyway. He told me he doesn’t want anything to ruin our friendship.’’
‘’But maybe it won’t ruin your friendship. It could end up bringing you two closer together, you know.’’
I bit my lip, once again considering her advice. ‘’I’m not taking the risk, Farrah.’’
‘’Suit yourself,’’ she shrugged, her plate magically refilling itself with biscuits and jam. She happily dug right in.
Twenty minutes later, I was nearly done with my breakfast, when the twins decided to make a reappearance. They handed us each a sheet of yellow paper.
I looked down at mine. ‘’What’s this?’’
‘’Flyers,’’ they said together, ‘’Lee’s been helping us pass them out. Read it.’’
Hesitantly, I silently began reading the paper.

GALLONS OF GALLEONS!
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Like to earn a little extra gold?
Contact Fred and George Weasley Gryffindor common room,
For simple, part-time, virtually painless jobs.
(We regret that all work is undertaken at applicant's own risk.)

‘’Dear God,’’ I mumbled, putting the paper down, ‘’I’ll be waiting for the day you two end up in Azkaban for accidentally murdering some unsuspecting First Years.’’
‘’Oi, didn’t you read the last part?’’ Fred said, pointing to the last sentence.
‘’If they choose to do it, it’s not our fault if they get dragon pox or explode,’’ George added.
‘’And they say gingers have no souls,’’ Farrah laughed, shaking her head, ‘’I may just believe that now.’’
‘’Hey!’’ the twins frowned, crossing their arms.
‘’She’s a ginger too,’’ George said, pointing to my short, dark red hair. I raised an eyebrow.
‘’Not naturally, you daft dimbos.’’ I moved over a bit so George could sit next to me. Fred seated himself next to Farrah, ignoring her venomous glare as he stole one of her biscuits and shoved it in his mouth.
Oh, did I mention they’re finally dating?
‘’If you weren’t so irresistibly handsome, I’d be pummeling you for snatching my breakfast right now,’’ she stated matter-of-factly, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched her biscuit disappear down his throat almost instantly.
He scoffed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. ‘’Hear that George? I’m irresistibly handsome.’’
George glared and mocked his twin. Farrah and I both laughed.
‘’It’s okay, George,’’ I smiled, patting him on his shoulder, ‘’You’re still my favorite twin.’’
He enclosed me in an air-depriving hug, pulling away after I was sure I’d started turning blue.
He cleared his throat, picking up a slice of toast and eating it as if he hadn’t nearly murdered me.
I turned my attention to the goblet in front of me, paying hardly any attention to what the others were discussing. All I caught from the conversation was Fred had successfully slipped a Ton-Tongue Toffee into Angelina Johnson’s breakfast a few moments ago. She’d run out, trying to scream through her enlarged, purple tongue. He would do that.
All classes for the day were cancelled, due to some big faculty meeting thing that came up at last minute, so the four of us were free to do whatever. Before we could leave the table, though, the twin’s brother Ron came over, holding up what looked to be a pile of brown material and lace. His face displayed one of extreme distaste.
‘’I think mum made a mistake, she sent me these.’’ He shook the pile of material in George’s face, who leaned away a bit. I realized Ron was holding dress robes. ‘’I’m pretty sure they’re meant for you of Fred.’’ He looked at the robes as though they were made of dragon dung. ‘’On second thought, I think they might be Ginny’s.’’
The twins chuckled, George crossing his arms. ‘’Ron, if mum sent them to you, then they’re yours, you ponce. Besides, Ginny’s already got her dress.’’
‘’And mum said she’s sending our dress robes in a few days,’’ Fred added.
Ron’s expression turned even more horrified. ‘’How am I supposed to wear these?!’’ he panicked, shaking the old rag around to prove a point, ‘’they belonged to Aunt Tessie, smell like her too. And they’re all frilly and...’’traditional,’’ as mum says. More like ancient.’’ He held the robes up to his body and looked down at them.
Before Fred and George could say anything else, I made a suggestion. ‘’Why don’t you cut off the lace? It’ll make them look less…feminine?’’
Ron thought for a second before nodding, smiling in approval. ‘’Good idea, thanks Naomi.’’ And without another word, he went back to his seat a few feet away. I could already hear numerous people laughing.
Farrah seemed to be gazing up at the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall, deep in thought over something, while the twins just stared at me oddly, as if I’d suggested joining a Merpeople colony.
I blinked in response, trying not to show that the staring was making me rather uncomfortable. ‘’What?’’
‘’You were…nice to him,’’ they said simultaneously, looking at each other in disbelief.
Now I was staring at them oddly. ‘’Aren’t I usually nice to him?’’
‘’Well, yeah-‘’ Fred started.
‘’-But lately you’ve been a bit…’’
‘’Is different the word we’re looking for, George?’’
‘’Yeah, different...what we mean is, you’ve been abnormally quiet-‘’
‘’-And you haven’t pulled a prank with us in weeks.’’
George put his hand to my forehead. ‘’Are you terminally ill?’’
As much as I didn’t want to, I smacked his hand away. At the same time, Farrah whacked Fred on the back of his head.
‘’Oh leave her alone, she’s fine,’’ she defended, smoothing out her robes, ‘’she doesn’t need two nosey teenage boys prodding into any private business. Besides, you two haven’t done much pranking lately, either, so you can’t lecture her about it.’’ She flashed me a quick look that said ‘you owe me one.’
I felt relieved. Farrah was the only person who knew I really wasn’t that okay.
‘’Oi,’’ Fred groaned, ‘’she’s our friend too.’’
‘’We have a right to be concerned,’’ George agreed, his leg brushing against mine slightly.
I swore if those Blast-Ended Skrewts didn’t remove themselves from my stomach soon, I was going to go absolutely batty.
‘’Concerned about what?’’ I spat, going into the same defense mode Farrah did two weeks ago in her fight with Fred. ‘’There’s nothing wrong with me. I still laugh at your jokes, don’t I? Maybe I’ve just grown up a bit. There’s nothing so terrible about that.’’
George looked at me for a second, like he was concentrating hard. ‘’I highly doubt you of all people have so called ‘grown up’ in a matter of two months. Need I remind you of your Beginning of the Year prank? The Canary Creams? Nearly half the school was turned into canaries, which I must say, was pretty brilliant.’’
Swinging my legs over the bench, I got up from my seat, not looking at anybody as I pulled my rucksack on. ‘’I’m not discussing this right now.’’ And without another word, I stormed out of the Great Hall, ignoring George’s calls for me to come back.
I needed space to breathe. Keeping my secret from George and Fred was proving to be rather difficult, and I knew that wouldn’t be the last time they’d ask about my wellbeing. To be honest, I really did feel a bit more grown up to an extent. I wasn’t about to go and get a job at the Ministry of Magic or anything, but I felt different ever since I came to terms with my feelings for George. I didn’t know if it would be a good or bad thing; all I knew to do was get away from everyone, even if it were for just a few minutes.
I chose not to go back to the common room, figuring that was where my three closest friends would be headed, so I went to one of the few peaceful places I’d ever come across in life. My shoes crunching across the half frozen ground, littered with dead leaves and broken twigs, the Black Lake came into view, the morning sun peaking through the mountains behind it and reflecting off the water. Whenever I needed to think, or just felt like escaping from whatever problems I’d been fighting, I usually chose to go there. I couldn’t explain it, but the sight of the scenery was…uplifting.
I felt like I could accomplish almost anything.
I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head, trying to shield my neck from the numbing air. As much as I loved winter, I could do without the bitter winds that cut across skin like freshly-sharpened knives. It was annoying, not to mention rather painful.
I was a good fifty yards away from the lake when I heard noises nearby. Stopping in my tracks, I thought it might be an animal or something. But when I listened closely, it sounded almost like…sobbing. I was fairly sure animals didn’t sob. Checking to make sure my wand was in my robes, I looked around, seeing nothing but old trees and the dark water ahead. I took a few more steps forward when I stepped on a rather large stick. The loud cracking sound it made echoed throughout the grove of trees, reverberating off my eardrums. At the sound of my advancement, the sobbing sounds stopped, and instinctively, my wand was out in a matter of two seconds as a safety measure.
‘’Who’s there?’’ a voice called out from behind a tree close by, a hint of fear in their haughty tone, ‘’show yourself!’’
In my head, I knew I recognized the voice from somewhere. And as I stepped closer to where the speaker stood, wand at the ready, I knew why.
Draco Malfoy, a proud, Fourth year Slytherin boy, had his back leaned against the tree. His white-blonde hair was disheveled, the color almost matching his skin. As I looked down, I noticed he was gripping his wand with a shaky hand. His face showed tear tracks, but his grey blue eyes shot daggers once they saw me. I’d never really talked to Draco before, but I knew his views on anyone who wasn’t a pureblood Slytherin. From the look in his eyes, I could tell I wasn’t welcome.
‘’What do you want?’’ he spat, crossing his arms and acting as if he hadn’t been crying two minutes ago.
I raised an eyebrow, keeping my wand pointed at him for good measure. ‘’Nothing you have to offer, although I do have to ask, what’s a cocky, egotistical Slytherin boy doing out here, away from his posse?’’
He muttered something along the lines of ‘stupid halfblood’ before standing up straight and looking at me icily.
I wondered silently how in the name of Merlin’s pants he knew I was a halfblood.
‘’I hardly see how that’s any of your business, Marwick,’’ he said, like my last name was filth on his tongue, ‘’why don’t you go run along and help the Weasleys find a sickle or too? Surely they’d be overjoyed at the prospect of having money.’’
I swear, in that moment I was so furious, I saw red. I stormed up to Malfoy, backing him up against the tree with my wand aimed at his throat. He didn’t look so tough then, shaking and closing his eyes in fear
‘’Don’t you EVER talk about them like that in front of me again, or to anyone else for that matter,’’ I growled, pressing the tip of my wand to the side of his neck. He let out a small whimper of fear. ‘’So help me, I’ll send your remains to lovely mum and dad in a cardboard box. Do I make myself clear?’’
He nodded quickly, opening his eyes in shock as he realized I’d put my wand away. He straightened himself out, looking around to see if anyone else had seen his moment of weakness. A look of relief spread across his face when he realized no one had.
‘’Listen to me,’’ Draco said shakily, walking a little bit closer. I raised an eyebrow. ‘’You can’t tell anyone you heard me crying, alright? I don’t need to be bullied. Anymore than I already am, anyway.’’ He said the last part quietly to himself, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his robes.
I stared at him oddly before shrugging. ‘’What would I gain from telling anyone, anyway? I’m not spiteful, not even towards someone like you.’’ I started to walk back the way I came.
‘’Wait!’’ I turned around, starting to get frustrated.
‘’What?’’
‘’You’re not going to say anything…just like that?’’ He looked completely and utterly shocked that I wasn’t using his sensitivity towards whatever was bothering him against him.
Again, I shrugged. ‘’People cry, it happens to everyone at some point. I find it rather cruel to use sensitivity as a weapon, though.’’
Draco continued to stare at me in bewilderment. Seeing as the conversation was going nowhere entertaining, I turned my back on him and trekked back through the trees. The entire way back to the castle, my head became jumbled with numerous different things. The riff I’d had with George earlier, school stuff, Christmas on its way-I’d run into a few trees just thinking about everything. But one thought seemed to stand out from all the rest.
The Winter Ball was looming in the near future, and I didn’t have a date. How ridiculous would it look for a girl to show up to this big, extravagant ball by themselves? Very. All week I’d been panicking about finding someone to go with. Fred and Farrah were going together, naturally. Now if only I could get George to ask me, then everything would go pretty swimmingly.
Deep down, I knew I shouldn’t get my hopes up, but I couldn’t help it. The prospect of George trying to ballroom dance caused a humorous grin to spread across my face.