Joke's on You

It had to be close to midnight when the owl flew to the open window by my bed. I slowly pulled myself away from the comfort of the warm blankets and snatched the envelope from the brown spotted owl. I patted it’s head and calmly shooed it with my hand. As it flew away I tore at the flap and pulled the letter out. As soon as I saw the handwriting I knew it was from George.

“Iris,

I’m at the Hufflepuff house entrance. Come open this bloody portrait for me. I miss you.

Love,

George”

I covered my mouth with my hands as I giggled softly. I went over to my trunk that sat on the rug in front of my bed and pulled my blue sweatshirt from out of it. I walked down the stairs as I struggled to bring it down over my head. The common room was completely empty. It was disturbingly quiet except the crackling of the wood under the pressure of the fire.

Rubbing my eyes wearily, I slowly pushed the portrait open. George’s head snapped upward and a smile instantly played upon his lips. “Can I come in love?”

I returned the smile and held my hand out to him. He grabbed a hold of it and took a step up. The portrait shut quickly and enclosed us in darkness. Somehow I knew George was smirking. I felt his hands let go of mine and slide down my sides until they came in contact with my hips.

“George, what are you doing?”

“Don’t act like an idiot, Iris.”

“We haven’t seen each other in almost a year!” George pushed himself on to me until my back slammed against the wall. I felt his warm breath upon my lips. “Snogging is out of the question.” I put my hands up to his chest and pushed him back.

As anybody would expect, George just laughed at me and began to make his way down the hallway into the common room. While I was following behind him I began to wonder why he was acting so strange. Yes, George and I were close, but I didn’t think there was anything romantic about it.

I continued to follow his lead as George sat down on the couch that sat in front of the ongoing fire. “Are you alright, Georgie?”

I watched as he began to play with his own fingers. The look on his face led me to believe he was thinking very hard about his answer to my question. “I’m just frustrated.”

I raised my eyebrow as I pulled my long hair to the side, “With what?”

“I need to be a part of that Tri-Wizard tournament, Iris.”

I smacked my forehead with the palm of my left hand, “You heard the rules. You and Fred better not try anything silly.”

“Yes, mother.”

I laughed as he rolled his eyes, “Is that all?”

George ran his long, lanky fingers through his red mop of hair, “I’m sorry about what I did by the entrance.”

I looked up at him through the bangs that dangled in front of my hazel eyes, “No, you aren’t. I know you better than that, George.”

“Okay, I’m not.” He sighed deeply, “I just thought we had something.”

“Why did you think that?”

“We wrote each other every day. Sometimes multiple times a day.”

“That doesn’t mean anything, George. If you liked me, you should have just told me you git!”

George turned towards Iris and held out his hands. Iris swallowed the lump in her throat and slowly extended her hands. “Iris, I like you.”

I could feel the heat rise up in my face and I knew that I must have been blushing a thousand shades of red. Of course I liked George as well. He was a sweet bloke who knew how to treat a girl, but our relationship had always been fun. It was never serious. We played jokes on each other. We hurt each other. We laughed at each other. Would a serious relationship change the carefree nature of what we already have?

George tightened the grip on my hands and looked deeply into my eyes, “Please, say something.”

“I, uh, I like you too.”

“More than a friend?”

I nodded my head nervously, “M-m-more than a friend, Georgie.”