~eleven~

                                    

                                          
"That's it. Umbridge is officially the worst teacher we've had," I said to George, walking out of her classroom.
                          
"What about the guy with you-know-who on the back of his head?" He replied casually
                          
"Putting aside the deatheater thing, he was a good teacher. Probably second best after Lupin."
                          
"Oh yeah! Lupin was great! What happened to him?"
                          
"Werewolf," I shrugged as I turned my attention to the person walking towards me.
                          
"Hey! Y/n!" A boy who I knew to be Roger Davies called out as he was reaching me. Captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team I believe. He took Fleur to the yule ball, wouldn't stop talking about it for weeks.
                          
"Hey Roger!" I replied cheerfully as he stopped in front of us.
                          
"So Hogsmeade is going to be open to students pretty soon, and I was wondering if you'd like to go with me?" Davies asked as he ran a hand through his hair.
                          
"Yeah I'd lo-" I began excitedly
                          
"Sorry she's taken," George interrupted before I could finish my response. And before I could even make an attempt to reconcile the situation with Roger, George pulled me away and started to walk me the other direction.
                          
"George! What was that for?" I asked exasperated as he pulled me through the corridors by my hand.
                          
He paused for a moment and turned to look at me, "didn't like him," he mumbled before beggining to walk again.
                          
"Why not? I thought he was cute!"
                          
George's only response was to grip my hand tighter as we wove through the hallways.
                          
"Georgie! Tell me what's going on!" I whined as I stopped dead in my tracks, causing him to fall backward a bit from the sudden shift in motion.
                          
"I told you. I don't like him." He said while refusing to make eye contact.
                          
"Well sorry you don't approve but I don't remember asking your opinion!" I said a little too loudly, almost on the edge of yelling. A few people who were chatting in the corridor stopped to look at me.
                          
"Can we talk somewhere in private?" He almost whispered as he softly grabbed my hand again. 
                          
As soon as I nodded he was maneuvering through the grounds again with me in tow. This was so unlike him. He always seemed to tell me every thought that went through his head, but right now I didn't know a single one.
                          
He took a sharp left and walked headfirst into a seemingly solid wall, pulling me through it before I could process I wasn't about to be smacked by a wall of bricks.
                          
George had pulled me into a small room. Crumbling cobblestone lined the wall and floor with tufts of moss dotted throughout. There was a red shag rug taking up most of the floor and two armchairs that looked suspiciously like the ones that went missing from the Gryffindor common room a few years back. 
                          
He seemed to have taken my expression of shock and bewilderment as a question, and began to answer what the room was. "Fred and I were looking for all the secret passages and we found this. It was just a gross damp room but we decided to spiff it up a little. Look pretty alright eh?" He said while admiring the room.
                          
"..yeah. It's great, Georgie," I replied in a monotone voice as I sunk into one of the stolen chairs.
                          
He sat next to me in the other one and fiddled with his fingers awhile. We sat in silence, waiting for the other to say something.
                          
"Well, George, what did you want to talk to me about?" I said in a hostile tone, annoyed that I had no idea what was happening.
                          
He sighed and look down into the damp carpet. "I'm sorry, love. I just think you deserve better then him."
                          
"You hardly know him, George." I said weakly
                          
"I know i know. I just don't want you to be with him."
                          
"That's exactly what you said when you made me turn down Cedric for the ball," i sighed, "i just don't understand what you're doing."
                          
"Sorry about that, at least I saved you some heartbreak?"
                          
"George! That's not funny!" I slapped his arm, "I had to go with Lucian Bole because of you!"
                          
"I didn't like him either, to be fair."
                          
"Well by the time you had finished judging all the candidates he was the only one left without a date!"
                          
"I'm really sorry about that, he was a right git." He finally turned to look at me, "and so was I."
                          
"Didn't help that you dyed his hair lime green the day before the ball. You could've atleast matched it to my dress!" I said while slightly laughing at the memory of him.
                          
"I'll keep that in mind the next time I prank your date," he smiled
                          
"Maybe you can dye Roger's hair blue to match his robes," i laughed
                          
"Oh no, my bad influence is rubbing off on you isn't it?" he said jokingly
                          
I rolled my eyes at him,"your not a bad influence, i've always been like this."
                          
"One of the many traits I admire about you"
                          
"I thought the only thing you admired was Peeves!" I said shocked
                          
He laughed quietly, "Now Peeves is my mentor, but he's not the first thing I think about in the morning"
                          
"Really!?" I said fake-shocked, "I thought you two were in love!"
                          
"No it's one sided, I haven't reciprocated"
                          
We sat in silence again while he stared at the floor, picking at his thumb. 
                          
"Wait," I said suddenly, just processing what he had said, "I'm the first thing you think about in the morning?"
                          
His face grew red as he looked up at me in shock, "Did i say that?"
                          
"Well you sure insinuated it," I smiled at him. 
                          
"Well, uh, yeah I guess you kinda are. Sorry." He stuttered out.
                          
"What are you sorry about?"
                          
He exhaled deeply before turning to look in my eyes, "I'm sorry that I think you're the most amazing, beautiful, smart girl in the whole world and all I've done is treated you horribly."
                          
"You haven't treated me horrible Georgie..."
                          
"Yes I have, I haven't let you go on any dates yet I won't tell you why. I've been wanting to, but everytime I go to say something it's like i've swallowed a bowtruckle and it's bouncing around in my stomach. You deserve better than me, not Roger."
                          
I looked into his eyes and softly smiled, pausing a moment to take in everything he said. 
                          
"Georgie," I started softly
                          
"And now you're going to let me down as gently as possible because you're so caring and can't bare to hurt anyone."
                          
I put my hand up to his cheek and made me make eye contact with me. I slowly leaned foward, my lips a mere inch from his.
                          
"Does this look like i'm letting you down gently?"
                          
As soon as the words left my mouth he pressed his face into mine and held delicately onto me. He placed on hand on the small of my back and the other barely touched to back of my head. Our lips seemed to fit perfectly together as I felt them move in sync. The musty room disappeared as all my senses were focused on George. I slowly pulled away for air. He caressed my cheek with his hand and admired me as I leaned back.
                          
"You have no idea how long I waited to do that," he said quietly.
                          
I placed my hand on his and closed my eyes smiling.
                          
"Let's go let down Roger gently," I said, shifting to stand up
                          
"Can I have one more kiss first?" He asked tentatively 
                          
"Or course."