Greye's Notes: So here I have the first of my series of drabbles. These will mostly be fluffy in nature, as they are meant to be light-hearted. I'm not as good at oneshots, but I have done my best! As stated in my summary, these fics are a birthday gift for my dear sister Moon's Lullaby (hence my oh-so-clever title). Please enjoy them, and help my sister celebrate her birthday by checking out a few of her own fics!
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns everything.
Harriet had been sitting in the Great Hall, very carefully copying a fresh set of notes for Transfiguration from Hermione (she had missed a few days), when Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan erupted into a brawl just down the table from her, both boys sprawling onto the table and knocking over everything from platters of eggs to goblets of pumpkin juice.
Immediately the raven-haired witch leaped back, trying to avoid the flying food and drink. She instinctively grabbed the book she had been using for reference, but in her haste forgot the notes she had been so painstakingly transcribing. Her green eyes burned with frustration and disappointment as she saw them saturated with pumpkin juice.
Just as she resigned herself to either studying up on a juice removal charm, or starting the notes over, she watched in stunned surprise as the juice evaporated out of the parchment-leaving nothing but the dry pages behind. Harriet's curious emerald eyes rose and she immediately spied the wand-and wizard-responsible. "George?" She asked in surprise, recognizing the red-haired, blue-eyed Weasley twin.
It wasn't that the Weasley twins weren't good guys, but Harriet wouldn't have thought to include them on a list of particularly chivalrous people (more likely, she'd put them on a list of mischievous people). George flashed a brilliantly white smile at her. "One moment, dear Harriet." He walked down the table to where Dean and Seamus were still wrestling-over Merlin knew what-and flicked his wand at them. "Aguamenti." Water sprayed from the end of his wand, effectively hosing down the two boys who immediately separated, sputtering in indignation. George shook his head, a faintly amused smile playing about his mouth. "Gits. Take your brawl outside like civilized men. You're making a mess of things." The two boys glanced around a little guiltily before shuffling out of the Hall. Harriet watched them go. She was sure she'd hear all about their little tiff later.
George came back to Harriet then, and gathered up her notes with a flourish before handing them to her. "I think your best bet may be to finish these in the library. Less pumpkin juice there." He flashed another dazzling smile, and Harriet found herself momentarily breathless. Which was strange, because she had never really thought much of either of the twins before. They had always been just...well, Ron's older, somewhat eccentric brothers. Rarely did Harriet Potter find herself speechless, and it was a few seconds more before she found her voice
"T-thank you George. I appreciate the help. Maybe you could teach me that charm-the one you used to get rid of the pumpkin juice? I suspect that it will be useful in future." She accepted her pages from him gratefully and carefully tucked them and her book into her bag. Harriet offered him a smile of her own.
George gave a nod of agreement. "Sure. Fred and I use it all the time." He winked, "Experimenting can lead to some unfortunate results." He chuckled, and Harriet found a faint blush rising in her cheeks. Perhaps she hadn't given the Weasley twins enough credit for their charm.
"Well, thanks again. I think I will head to the library, I want to get these finished. Hermione will be wanting them back." Harriet turned to leave the Hall, and was surprised when George fell into step with her. She glanced at him in with one inky eyebrow lifted, and he smiled sheepishly.
"I hope you don't mind," the normally confident, cheeky twin voice had been replaced with a meeker, more timid version. "But I'd rather like to walk you to the library..." Blue eyes gazed at her earnestly, honestly. Harriet found herself tongue-tied for the second time that morning.
Pink rose in her cheeks. This would never do. She was Harriet Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived. Surely she could handle some normal conversation. She swallowed and managed to find her voice again. "Erm, okay. I don't mind." They walked in comfortable, if slightly awkward silence for a few moments, Harriet's eyes seeking out anything to look at other than the tall Weasley twin beside her. There wasn't much besides the normal Hogwarts' stone corridors, however, and Harriet wasn't much one for silence anyway. "George...this may seem a strange question, but why all this? I mean, I appreciate the help with my notes and all, but why...?" She left her words hanging a bit, to encompass his odd behavior today. Why had he helped her? Why break up the fight? Why did he want to accompany her to the library? She had never before seen any indication that the older Weasley was in any way interested in her, so she couldn't imagine what was going on.
George shifted rather uncomfortably, and rolled his blue eyes up to the ceiling, as if it would give him an answer. Finally, "Do you mind if I ask you a question first, before I answer yours?" Harriet frowned and let out a huff.
"That's not exactly how this is supposed to work," her voice was slightly irritated, "but I guess. What do you want to know?" Harriet's genuine curiosity won out against her stubborn nature. What answer could she provide to George that would explain his actions?
George stopped and turned to face her, an action that lent sudden gravity to his words. Harriet took a breath, unsure what to expect. Her eyes met his, and she was startled to see the usually merry, mischievous blue now darker and more serious than she had ever seen them.
"Harriet," George began, voice low and meant for her ears. "I need to know. How, exactly, can you tell that I am George? I could just as easily be Fred."
A frown creased her brow. Of all the questions he could ask, this wasn't one she had considered. It wasn't one that had even registered. She opened her mouth to answer straight away, but paused when she saw the intensity on George's face. This was really important to him, she realized. She pressed her lips together and reached out to gently take his arm. His face registered suprise, but he followed her willingly enough into a shadowed alcove. What she wanted to say wasn't exactly a secret or anything, but she wanted to respect something that seemed to matter so much to him.
The raven-haired seeker turned back to the twin. "Now, what I was going to say was-" Harriet's voice was cut off by the lips suddenly pressed against her own. She froze, unsure what to do. Luckily, George seemed to realize that he had caught her off-guard, and pulled back hastily. George's face flushed as red as his hair as Harriet gazed at him dazedly.
"Sorry," he said sheepishly, running a nervous hand through his hair. "I guess I misread that a bit."
Emerald eyes were a bit dazed as she gazed at the tall Weasley twin in an entirely knew light. It took her a few moments to catch her breath. What was she going to say?
"Yeah..." That was the most intelligent response she could muster at the moment. The young witch gave herself a shake, and forced herself to meet George's eyes.
"What I was going to say," she continued, the tone of her voice and choice of inflection caused a whole new blush to George's fair features (Harriet felt somewhat vindicated by that-teach a boy to just go around kissing anyone he likes!) "Is that of course I know you're George. You couldn't possibly be Fred, anymore than I could be Pansy Parkinson." She paused and grimaced. "Well, that may be an exaggeration. What I mean is, you are two different people. You share many similar traits, but you aren't completely identical." George seemed to be hanging on her every word. Harriet frowned faintly, but continued. "For example, I noticed that you usually wear your hair just a little bit different-you favor a messier look than Fred-he keeps a neater side part than you do. And personality wise, I think that you are more likely to step out of your perpetual merriment-like you did today. I guess I mean you're a little more aware of your surroundings I think than Fred. Just an..just an example." Her voice faded beneath the intensity of George's stare, and she was beginning to feel just a little unnerved until he suddenly smiled.
His blue eyes were smiling too, genuinely happy-and something else. "Thank you, Harriet. Fred and I-we've gone our whole lives and almost no one can tell us apart." He shrugged a shoulder. "Mum can, when we aren't deliberately trying to trick her, but even Dad gets confused on a regular basis." That now familiar, sheepish look came to his face again. "I thought, well we thought maybe you had a spell or something, because you can always seem to tell us apart, even though we don't really spend so much time together." He grinned. "Guess you're just special."
It was Harriet's turn to blush bright red, and she found her eyes looking at her shoes. George's eyes became gentle and he leaned in to press his lips to her cheek in a sweet, innocent gesture. "You are special, Harriet Potter. And not just because you're the Girl-Who-Lived. Don't let anyone tell you different." George backed out of the alcove, an impish look in his eye. "And by the way..."
A large grin crossed the Weasley's face. "I'm only joking, I am Fred!" He whirled and took off down the hall.
Harriet blinked dazedly. A strange warmth bloomed in her chest as she traced her lips; this had been her first kiss. And then her mind caught up with his words, and an angry flush spread over her face. Notes forgotten, Harriet Potter flew from the alcove and took off after a laughing Weasley twin.
"George Weasley! Get back here, you ruddy liar!" Despite her seemingly angry words, Harriet Potter had the faintest smile curling her lips as she followed the laughter of one George Weasley, her heart feeling lighter than it had in a long while.
Greye's Notes: Hey little sister, hope you enjoyed this first installment! More to come.