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

‘’Look, I’m sorry that Fred and I were acting so overprotective, but come on! You couldn’t just expect us to sit by and watch while that animal put his hands all over you!’’ George exclaimed, hurrying beside me on our way to the common room for the night. Fred and Farrah were a bit behind us, trying to keep their distance in case things got ugly.
‘’You guys don’t get it, do you?’’ I said, stopping in my tracks less than a foot in front of George, turning around to face him with a fiery look. ‘’Us girls-‘’ I pointed to Farrah and myself, ‘’-we don’t always need protecting! We have wands that we’re perfectly capable of using. Just because Hethrow had me pinned against a wall didn’t mean that was your cue to pull a ‘knight in shining armor.’ For both of your information, I was about to pull my wand on him when you two showed up, nearly leaving the boy dead on the floor!’’
Fred and George both looked surprised at my outburst, George in particular. Farrah looked ready to cast a shield charm at any minute.
‘’But what if we hadn’t showed up?’’ George asked, stepping closer so we were only a few inches away from each other. I had to tilt my head up to glare at him. ‘’Or what if he’d taken your wand? Naomi, if something was to happen to you, and I knew I could’ve prevented it, do you really think I’d be able to live with myself?’’
My glare softened a bit, but only a smidge. ‘’You’re lucky I Confunded him, or else both of you would be serving a series of detentions, no matter how foul or disgusting he may’ve treated me.’’
I feel an explanation is needed, since you’re probably just a bit confused in terms of what we were fighting about. Honestly, if this was his idea of ‘’remaining friends until we’re ninety-nine years young with drool running down our chins and our hair falling out’’, then I’d be better off transforming into a gnome and living in someone’s vegetable garden for the rest of my life.
I’d recently come back from my little discussion with Draco, wandering the halls in search of something interesting to do, when a Seventh year Slytherin boy, Peter Hethrow, confronted me. I couldn’t remember much of what he said, just that he was horny or drunk, and I apparently looked ‘’tempting’’ to him. He’d pinned me against the wall, gripping my arms so tight that I was sure they’d leave bruises, while he started sliding his hand up the shirt I wore under my robes. As much as I’d squirmed, I couldn’t break free of him, but I could still get to my wand. Before I could do that, though, lo and behold, the twins come flying out of nowhere and attack him.
He was currently in the hospital wing with so many broken bones that Madam Pomfrey had to give him Skelegrow.
George opened his mouth to say something, but I held up a hand, silencing him. ‘’Just stop worrying about me, alright? Everything’s fine.’’ I turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady, who’d probably heard our entire animated conversation.
‘’Password?’’
‘’Animagus,’’ I said quietly, trying to ignore George’s eyes on the back of my head. I stepped through the portal hole as the painting swung open, ignoring the loud chatter of the people in the common room and heading up the staircase that lead to the girl’s dorms. Before I entered my room, though, I looked down at the room from the balcony. George, Fred and Farrah seemed to be having a pretty heated discussion, Farrah making a few hand gestures before pointing up at the girl’s dormitories. The twins looked up at where I stood for a second, which was enough for me to turn and head off to my bed.
The room was empty from what I saw, since everyone appeared to be downstairs. I plopped down on my bed, pulling the curtains closed around it and hugging my pillow like a small child.
The strain of hiding my secret from George was finally starting to take its toll on me, and I loathed how it made me feel. Oh, I loathed it with a burning passion.
He wanted to protect me, to save me from anything that had the potential to harm me, which is understandable, being my friend and all. But I had a mind of my own, not to mention I was pretty skilled in dueling (with or without a wand).
And then there was the whole ‘’concerned that something was horribly wrong with me’’ situation. I wasn’t dying, I was pretty sure I’d made that much clear to him and Fred both. But the longer I kept my feelings hidden away, the more he’d try and figure out what was wrong with me. Honestly, that was the very last thing I needed.
I was stuck in one big circle of confusion, and it was pulling at the seams of whatever sanity I’d been clinging onto desperately.
One of the curtains surrounding my bed was pulled back a bit. Farrah poked her head in, giving me a look of sympathy when she saw I was curled into a ball, clutching onto my lifeless pillow.
‘’He wants to apologize, but because of that charm on the staircase…’’ I glanced over at her briefly. The girl’s staircase was charmed into becoming a slide whenever a boy tried sneaking in.
I let out an agitated sigh, closing my eyes for a few seconds to try and calm my nerves. ‘’Alright, just give me a second.’’
She nodded. ‘’He’s in his room.’’ With that, she closed the curtain, the sound of her footsteps disappearing through the doorway.
Murder me.

The fireplace in the center of the boy’s common room crackled and provided George and I with heat as we sat in front of it. He didn’t say anything when I came in, giving me a curt nod and a small smile, motioning to the spot on the floor next to him. For the past five minutes, silence had enveloped us in its troublesome web. My knees were brought to my chest, arms secured around them like a clasp as I waited for him to talk to me. Both of us stared, transfixed on the flickering flames. Despite the warmth the fire provided, I didn’t feel warm inside. Instead, my stomach twisted into knots, and it felt like a fifty pound weight was dropped on my chest.
When George finally spoke, I didn’t feel any better. If possible, I felt a hundred times worse.
The pain in his voice pulled violently at my heartstrings.
‘’I wish you would tell me what’s bothering you,’’ he said quietly, meeting my solemn gaze with his. I didn’t say anything, so he went on. ‘’You expect us to turn a blind eye to how different you’ve been acting lately, but we can’t, as much as you want us to. It’s our job as best friends to look out for you, Naomi, so let us. When it’s necessary, that is.’’ Again, I stayed silent. By the look on his face, I knew he wasn’t done talking.
‘’But there’s something else going on.’’ He didn’t say it as a question, but a statement. I could feel my heartbeat in the back of my throat. Shag me sideways with a broomstick. He took one of my hands in his own, giving it a small squeeze. ‘’What’s wrong?’’
As an automatic reaction, I looked away from him, shaking my head.
Furrowing his brows in concentration, he didn’t let go of my hand. ‘’Is it because of what Peter Hethrow did? Has he done this to you before? Because if he has I swear-‘’
I clasped my other hand over George’s mouth. He stopped talking, his brown eyes softening once my hazel ones gave him a look of reassurance.
‘’That was the only time he tried anything on me, I promise you,’’ I said confidently. That was when I heard footsteps stop in the doorway. Lee Jordan looked down at us awkwardly.
‘’Oh, sorry,’’ he laughed, scratching the back of his neck, ‘’I’ll just be…yeah…’’ He turned around and descended down the staircase swiftly.
I turned my attention back to George, whose mouth was still covered by my hand. I removed it quickly, taking my other hand out of his and twiddling my thumbs nervously. I could feel his eyes on the side of my head.
‘’Naomi, I need to know.’’
‘’I can’t tell you, George, not right now.’’ That was my first mistake.
‘’Will you tell me eventually? Soon?’’ he asked hopefully, a small frown appearing on his beautiful face.
And then came my second mistake, which was probably one of the worst things I could’ve ever done out of sympathy.
I nodded my head.

The next day, I had Herbology with Fred. It was the only class I didn’t have with Farrah or George, which always felt a bit weird. Today in particular, Fred had been trying to get me to smile, figuring I needed a distraction from everything. He’d been successful on a few accounts, although I didn’t think Professor Sprout was too happy when he accidentally knocked over several pots of baby Mandrakes. She was even less happy when she had to send half the class to the infirmary, knocked out from hearing the Mandrakes’ cries.
‘’I’m surprised she didn’t toss you into a pile of angry Devil’s Snare,’’ I laughed, walking beside him as we left Herbology. I wiped a smudge of dirt off my cheek, laughing even more when I saw Fred’s glare.
‘’I’m surprised I haven’t tossed you off the Astronomy Tower.’’ I smacked him on the arm. ‘’Ow! Kidding!’’
‘’Better be,’’ I mumbled, adjusting my rucksack as we walked. ‘’So, you’re going to the ball with Farrah, right? She’s really excited about it, although she’s a bit concerned about your lack of knowledge in the dancing arts. I’d be concerned too, seeing as I wouldn’t want to accidentally get mauled by my date or anything. Rather morbid way to spend Christmas. Right Fred?’’ I stopped walking for a second, realizing Fred wasn’t next me. ‘’Fred? Where did you-‘’
That was when I saw him a few feet behind me, laying flat on the ground…without a head.
‘’Oi! I know you’re wearing a Headless Hat, you obtuse numbskull!’’ I yelled, shaking my head as he got up from the ground, pulling the hat off. His head reappeared.
‘’Damnit!’’ he cursed, catching up to me before we continued our walk back into the castle, ‘’you know far too much about our business, little lady. George and I are going to have to stop telling you about everything we create.’’
‘’Aw, but that’s no fun,’’ I frowned, crossing my arms, ‘’I love getting sneak peeks as to what you’re doing next. That way, I have a heads up on what food products are safe to take from you two.’’
‘’Ah, remember the Nosebleed Nougat we gave you over the summer, and you didn’t know what it was?’’ Oh yes, I remembered that. Fred’s took a moment to reminisce in the memory of my nose gushing blood uncontrollably.
‘’You know, I don’t think my nose was ever the same after that,’’ I said, smiling to myself when I remembered what Mrs. Weasley did to him and George afterwards.
‘’Yeah, well, neither were George and I’s bottoms,’’ he said darkly, cringing at the same thing I was thinking about. I, on the other hand, found the image of Molly chasing the twins with a broomstick and screaming at them to fix me rather humorous.
‘’Anyway,’’ he continued, stuffing the hat into his robes, ‘’to answer your question, I am going with Farrah. At least, I think I am.’’
I stopped in my tracks, looking at him suspiciously. ‘’What do you mean? Haven’t you asked her?’’
Fred shuffled around uncomfortably, not really knowing where to look. ‘’I haven’t exactly asked her, I’ve just kind of assumed…since we’re dating, and all…’’
Frowning, I stormed up to him, slapping him hard across the face. He stared at me in shock.
‘’What?! All I said was-‘’
‘’You,’’ I said, jabbing him in the chest with my finger, ‘’ask her to go to the ball with you. Don’t assume anything. For all you know, she could have a bunch of guys pressuring her at this very moment to go with them.’’
Fred’s eye twitched. ‘’Where is she?’’
‘’Should be getting out of Arithmancy with your brother.’’
With that, he ran off like a bat out of hell.
Not too long afterwards, I entered the courtyard. A few students were scattered here and there, but a small crowd was beginning to form near the main entrance. People were yelling ‘’Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!’’, and seeing as I had to go that way anyway, I walked over to the circle of people. In the middle, two Slytherin boys were looking up and laughing, one of them pointing their wand at the object suspended upside-down in mid-air.
The ‘’object’’ was a struggling Draco Malfoy.
‘’Not so tough now, are you, Malfoy?’’ The shorter of the two laughed. Draco continued to struggle until his wand slipped from underneath his robes, clattering to the ground. He cursed under his breath.
‘’Freaks like you don’t belong here,’’ the taller one spat, keeping his wand pointed at the blonde boy, ‘’and we’re about to show everyone here what we think of your kind. Imperio!’’
I watched in horror as Draco was slammed against a brick wall, over and over again. It was horrible to watch. I waited for someone to step up and do something, but to my complete and utter disbelief, people were laughing. Laughing or applauding.
I was disgusted.
‘’Drop your wand, asshat,’’ I said, aiming my wand at the back of the armed boy’s head. The crowd moved back a bit. Keeping my wand where it was, I turned to them. ‘’Everyone go back to what you were doing. There’s nothing to see over here.’’ Nobody flinched. ‘’Go, damnit, before I decide to get violent!’’ People began to walk away, looking over their shoulders anyway to make sure they didn’t miss anything. Sighing, I turned back to the two boys in front of me. Neither of them had moved. Draco had stopped launching himself at the wall, but he was still floating upside down.
‘’I said, drop your wand,’’ I repeated, starting to lose patience. I hated repeating myself.
‘’Why should I?’’ The boy challenged. The shorter one next to him looked back at me nervously, turning around abruptly when he saw how murderous my facial expression was.
‘’I think you should do what she says,’’ he whispered back to the boy that’d used an Unforgiveable Curse on Draco.
The taller boy just scoffed. ‘’Please, I’m not afraid of some bitch who thinks she’s all tough-‘’
He shut up pretty quickly when I used an Engorgement Charm on his head, which ended up being three times its original size. The boy with the enlarged head and his friend started yelling, running back into the castle. Draco had fallen to the ground with a loud ‘thump’.
I walked over to him and held out my hand. He looked at it for a moment, as if it were going to bite him or something, but took it nonetheless, pulling himself up. Brushing off his robes and patting down his hair, he picked up his wand and looked at me with something similar to…sincerity.
‘’It’s become almost a daily occurrence, you know,’’ he said quietly, still a bit shaken up.
I looked up at him sympathetically. He was about two years younger than me, but I was still shorter than him by a good few inches. ‘’I don’t understand. I thought those boys were your friends.’’
‘’They were,’’ he nodded slowly, looking far off to somewhere behind me. ‘’Crabbe and Goyle were the closest things I had to friends. Safe to say that died a horrible death.’’ He gave me a sad smile.
I didn’t know if it was appropriate to ask, but curiosity got the best of me. ‘’What changed it?’’
He let out a sigh, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his robes. ‘’If I told you, I don’t know if you’d understand. Not many people do, as you could probably tell.’’ I nodded in understanding. I wasn’t going to force him to tell me anything he didn’t want to.
‘’Thanks for helping me out,’’ he continued, smiling once again. It didn’t quite reach his eyes, though. ‘’I don’t think they’ll be bothering me for a while.’’ By this time, the courtyard had emptied out. Lunch had already started.
‘’Not a problem,’’ I said, smiling slightly. ‘’If I see them bothering you again, though, I’ll do more than enlarge a head or two.’’
Without even realizing it, that had been the start of a rather unlikely friendship.