Undecided

I sighed heavily and rolled over in the grass so that I was lying on my stomach instead of my back. The sun was going down and I could feel my energy slowly drifting away as I stretched out and watched Cat and Draco fool around on the other side of the garden. It was hard getting used to the fact that I had to share my sister with Draco but I was finally getting used to it and it didn’t bother me as much.

“Having fun?” Gram asked me as she floated to a stop and I chuckled before pushing myself up and standing up, “You’ve been lying out here all day, dear. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I replied and smiled, “I’m just a bit bored without my sister or George to keep me company.”

“He’ll be back in a week darling,” she chuckled and I nodded as she started to float off in the direction of Cat and Draco as I made my way back into the mansion.

I easily maneuvered my way back to my tower and closed the door behind me as Loxie’s nose stuck its way up my shorts and I chuckled to myself.

“Hey sweetie,” I said and patted her head softly before looking out the window to see that the sun was completely set by now.

“I told you Catherine, Draco has to sleep in his own room until the elves move the bed from his room to yours!” Grandma Ashling yelled and I heard Cat start to protest before she got caught off by mom’s agreement to Draco sleeping in his own room.

“I know, I think she’s silly, too,” I laughed as Loxie stared at the door quizzically, “Do you want to go and keep Cat and Daisy company tonight?”

She turned her head away from the door and looked up at me with a confused expression on her face as I pulled off my jeans and tank top.

“You should know that I wouldn’t go an entire week without seeing George. He needs family time during the day but he made it clear that he’d be waiting for me if I came to visit him a night,” I said and pulled on a pair of bright yellow boxers before grabbing my sweatpants off of the floor and shoving my legs through the holes as I scanned the room for a clean shirt to wear, “Don’t give me that look! No matter what you do, I won’t stay here tonight.”

She growled in protest and sat down in front of the door as she narrowed her eyes at me.

“You love George!” I protested and grabbed a new tank top off of the floor before pulling it over my head and adjusting it so that the small amount of cleavage that I had managed to gain since the end of school was properly covered, “I won’t get caught anyway. Grandma never leaves her and grandpa’s study after sun set and mom is probably heading to bed by now.”

“Yes, well what about me?” Cat asked and my head shot towards my window to see her levitating in a sitting position right outside of it, “I just may rat you out.”

“You wouldn’t!” I yelled and dropped my shoes back down to the floor, “I’ve never told mom or Grandma about all the times that Draco snuck into your room during Christmas Break!”

“You have no further proof of that,” she replied and smirked at me evilly, “I, however, will have plenty of time to wake up mom and help her prepare your punishment by the time you get back.”

“You’re no fair!” I whined and I heard Loxie growl in agreement with Cat, “I already told him that I’d be coming!”

“Well I guess that you’re just going to have to ditch him.”

“Catherine Anne Sheehan!” I yelled and she raised an eyebrow at me as she finally set her feet back down on the floor, “You should know that I would never ditch George!”

“Do you not understand what Grandma Ashling will do to you if she catches you?”

“I’m more afraid of what mom would do to be perfectly honestly,” I joked and she sighed as Apollo appeared out of a cloud of smoke with a piece of parchment in his beak.

“From George?” she questioned and eyed me carefully as I opened it up with a smile on my face.

You’re late, are you still coming?

“Yes, it’s from George,” I answered and quickly began to write a response back to him, “He’s wondering why I’m late.”

“What are you telling him?”

“That you’re being a prick and that if I’m not there in ten minutes to go to bed.”

“Why can’t you just go a few more days without seeing George?”

“Same reason you and Draco sneak off every other night. To be together without having everyone else imposing.”

I placed the note back in Apollo’s beak and he disappeared as I looked up to see Cat rubbing her temples as if she had a headache.

“You okay?” I asked as she sighed and slowly began walking back over to my window.

“Just don’t get caught,” she answered before jumping out and levitating away back towards her own tower.

“Wendy!” I called out as my face broke out into a smile and my small, brightly haired house elf appeared in front of me with a crack, “Would you be willing to transport me to the dining room?”

I finished lacing up the new pair of converse that mom had brought for me and looked at Wendy again as she stayed silent for a few moments.

“Wendy would be more than willing to escort miss!” she squealed and gently took the hand that extended to her.

The familiar rush of elf apparition swarmed all around me and before I had a chance to question why I didn’t just walk to the dining room, we were landing softly on the hard wood floor directly in front of the fire place.

“Would miss require anything else out of Wendy for the night?”

“Just don’t tell anyone about this,” I instructed her and she nodded before disappearing in another cloud of smoke and crackle.

My gaze fixed itself to the fire place in front of me and the full jar of floo powder that sat on the mantle began to look even more appealing with each passing second. I knew that grandma would murder me if she even suspected that I snuck off the charm protected grounds at night to see a boy but it wasn’t fair for Cat to get to spend every day with Draco and for me to be away from George anytime that I wasn’t training.

“Go, before I change my mind,” a voice said and I turned my head to see Cat’s head floating in a bubble in front of me, “And don’t you dare come back a moment after dawn.”

“You got it big sis,” I laughed and burst her bubble, quite literally, before reaching into the pot and taking a hand full of floo powder.

Being careful to avoid stepping in any stray ashes that the house elves may have missed in their cleaning of the fire place, I stepped carefully inside and turned around so that I was looking back into the dining room. I have very little experience with floo powder or the floo network so I wasn’t really sure about what I was supposed to expert. After conjuring up all of my courage and belief in the safety of magic, I was took a deep breath and lifted my hand up before throwing it all down into the pit of the fire place.

“The Burrow!” I yelled and my whole body got sucked into a vacuum as the last letter escaped my lips.

The flashing sights that passed in front of my eyes began to make me dizzy but they fascinated me at the same time. It was as if I was glancing into the lives of people who I never met and who didn’t even notice as I passed by their doorways to the floo network.

“Oh!” I gasped and threw my hands out to grip the sides of the fire place that I landed it to keep myself from falling over and onto my face.

The shock began to wear off slightly and it took a few seconds to realize that George was nowhere to be seen.

“George?” I asked as I stuck my head out of the fire place and looked around into the pale darkness that was surrounding me, “Oh crap.”

This could only mean two things. One, I was at the wrong house and possibly had no way of returning home. Or two, he thought I ditched him and had already gone to bed. I’m not sure which one would be worse.

“Mollie?” a small voice asked and I saw a figure start to descend what I assumed to be a staircase nearby.

“No, it’s Santa Clause,” I replied sarcastically and pulled my full body out of the fire place before leaning against it casually in an attempt to hide the fact that I was nervous beyond belief.

“What’s a Santa Clause?” he questioned and lit a candle before looking at me quizzically in the newborn candle light.

“Never mind,” I laughed and brushed a strand of hair out of my face, “It’s not important, just some muggle stuff.”

“Well no one cares then,” he teased and I rolled my eyes, “I like this new look by the way.”

“Rocking the bum look,” I joked and he smiled.

The three foot gap that was between us was beginning to get on my nerves but I was constantly worried that if I made a move towards him at any point in time, he’d figure out that my feelings for him were more than just friendly now.

“So…” he mused awkwardly and I scratched the back of my neck as my eyes darted around the room in an attempt to avoid looking at George, “Sorry about the mess, big family, you know.”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s perfect,” I chuckled and managed to smile normally as I stared the floor, “It’s a nice change from Grandma Ashling’s always spotless home.”

“It does sort of make you feel reluctant to touch anything,” he agreed with a small laugh and I risked a glance at him as I stood up straighter and ran another hand through my hair, “You want to go for a walk?”

“It’s dark, though,” I replied and raised an eyebrow at him as a smile crossed his face.

“The moon makes perfect lighting out here,” he assured me and I shrugged lightly before taking the hand that he was extending out to me and allowing him to pull me out of the house, “Be careful of all the boots. It’s easy to trip on them if you don’t know where they are.”

“Thanks for the warning,” I laughed as I stumbled over an object and managed to regain my balance as I looked around to see nothing but trees and dark sky surrounding us, “Is it always this quiet?”

“Rarely,” he replied with a smirk, “Mom’s usually yelling and we’re usually all running around trying to stay out of each other’s way.”

“I’d take that over honking cars and Cat’s snoring any day,” I sighed, “I found out the hard way that it’s nearly impossible for me to sleep at night when we’re in Dublin do to the amount of noise that goes on constantly.”

“Sometimes I think that it’s too quiet out here,” he mused and I smiled, “Looks like we’ll have to meet somewhere in the middle.”

“Let’s face it dear, any time you throw me and Cat or you and George into the same place, quiet will not be a problem.”

“Looks like we’re just going to have to stick together in the country side then,” he joked and I laughed as we came to a stop in front of a small pond.

“Or Hogwarts,” I replied and plopped myself down in the grass before him down next to me.

“That could work to, I suppose,” he said and let out a loud sigh before finally pulling his hand from mine and lying back in the grass.

Silence rang over us for a bit and I bit my lip nervously as I began to twirl a small ball of fire between my fingers. The sensation of the gently warm fire flowing over my skin had a very odd calming effect on me and I couldn’t help but to wonder if this is how Cat felt with water.

“You’re going to burn yourself,” George stated and I came out of my trance like state to see him watching me as I twirled an enlarged version of the last ball of fire that I had recalled making in my hand.

“You worry too much,” I laughed before carelessly tossing the ball into the pond water that was situated less than a foot away.

A decent sized cloud of steam surrounded us and I felt a very unfamiliar sensation sweep over me. It was as if I could feel the elements combining.

“That could have ended badly,” George whispered and I gasped in surprise to see that he had sat back up again and that out faces were barely three inches apart. Three inches too far apart to be quite clear.

“I had it under control,” I protested in a voice that was barely considered a whisper.

“Sure you did,” he laughed lightly before reaching out and stroking my cheek with his hand.

My eyes traveled down from his eyes to his lips and I swallowed deeply as his face began to come closer to mine.

“I should get home before Grandma Ashling notices that I’m gone,” I whispered and turned my head so that his lips gently pressed against my cheek.

He sighed heavily against my skin and I suddenly regretted my choice to back out of my first kiss. I wanted it so bad, but I was so scared.

“I’ll see you next week at your training,” he said and fell back into the grass as I stood up and started running back to the Burrow as tears started to flow down my face.