DISCLAIMER: JK Rowling created everything you recognise.
I'm really sorry it's long!
Enjoy!!
--
George smirks at me, and I fold my arms, pouting, totally pissed.
"Mr. Weasley, you can join her." His face falls and he lifts his quill to write me a note as I poke my tongue out at him.
Hope you're happy?
Ecstatic, Georgie. Why're you so glum?
I wanted dinner.
I grin as professor Snape clears his throat and looks at us. My potion is the sparkling emerald green it should be, but George, in his little mood, has accidentally stirred the brew too much, and the emerald has turned a sickly khaki.
"Weasley!" He barks, "Pay attention." A small pause, "And fix-that-mess." There's that horrific silence where George won't look at him. "A point from Gryffindor for every time you've stirred the potion over…" He looks at it, seemingly deciding the fate of the Gryffindor Rubies. "Six." He says silkily and walks away.
I look at the potion and decide he needs a small amount of separating solution. I have half a phial left after last lesson - I stupidly lent it to Fred, who dropped the bottle and just laughed when two galleons worth of separating solution oozed out onto the floor. I retrieve it from my bag and rest my hand on George's knee as I return to my seat. He looks down at my touch.
"Wh-" I press the phial against his leg to silence him. "Oh." A pause and he lays his palm over my hand. With a small squeeze to let me know I have control, he lets me slide my fingers from beneath his and drips a little of the solution into his cauldron, not meeting my eye as he does so. The solution reverses the last ingredient added and gives George the chance to stir the potion again. He smiles at me as I take the remnants of the liquid and stuff it into my pocket. I know my face burns as I lock eyes with him and smile back.
At the end of the lesson, both George and I turn in a lightly shimmering emerald green potion, and stand before Snape to await our punishment.
"Eight O'clock." He says, "This dungeon. Both of you scrubbing equipment, by hand. Three hours." An evil smirk, "Happy birthday, Miss Bell."
George opens his mouth to argue, to shout at Snape for being such a bastard. I elbow him in the ribs to silence him, he closes his mouth dumbly with a glance suggesting he's about to jump across the desk and punch Snape's lights out.
"Good call silencing your boyfriend, Miss Bell, but I'm afraid an extra half an hour will suffice."
"Yes professor. Good Afternoon professor." And I grip George's sleeve and drag him from the dungeon.
Two floors up, his angry demeanour changes slightly, he hugs me tightly and apologises for getting me detention, but thanks me for fixing his potion.
"I hate you sometimes, George Weasley." He pouts as I speak seriously, "but I love you as well." He squeezes me again and laughs.
"A-Well, I'm really, really sorry, Pix." Bloody hell, I wish he would stop calling me that.
"It's Katie, not Pixie, Ginge."
"Oh, you didn't?!"
"I did. And I'll keep going there if you keep calling me Pixie."
"I like it. It's cute." He curls an arm around my shoulders and sighs, "It's your birthday and everything, and I got you detention." I shrug.
"It's not like… you know, it's imperative I celebrate. I've never been a birthday fan…" I try to shrug it off, but he knows me so well he can tell I'm disappointed. He shakes his head hopelessly. "Oh, come on, Georgie." I smile.
"Katie…" He sighs, "Pix it's your 16th. You've got to… enjoy it."
"I will."
"Pixie-Kat." He says flatly as we get to the common room, skiving lunch to catch up with charms work, "two things; one, don't punch me for calling you pixie." I do and he pouts, "OK, fine, and two… if you're not gonna be around… if we're going to be stuck in the dungeons all…" There's a moment where he doesn't move, just looks at me and starts to blush and smile. Then he reaches into his pocket and draws out a box, hands it to me, smiling a little bit wider.
"What's this?" I just stare at the box.
"Happy birthday, Pixie-Kat." and he pulls it from my hands, and opens it from me. Inside, lies a necklace, the pendant is a figure on a broom, I look closer; it's a beater with a Bludger. As I touch it, it moves, the figure whacking the tiny ball with it's bat, spinning it around the chain and back.
"I'd've got you the chaser, but I thought this was cooler." slowly, he pulls it from the box and shifts up to sit beside me, sliding the chain up and around my neck. We are sitting so close I can smell the gunpowder on his skin, feel his chest rising and falling against mine. "Happy Birthday, Pixie-Kat." He breathes into my ear; I go pink and look anywhere but into his eyes as he pulls away.
"Thank you." Then, with a little hesitation, I lean forward and kiss his cheek. His ears go red and he buries his head in his charms homework for fifteen minutes.
"Fred's going to give you something as well…" He says suddenly, "It's from both of us," A pause, "But I thought I'd get you something specifically from me." He stops and looks at me again.
"Cool." I say and draw my knees up in front of me. George has been totally confuting me for a couple of months now. I have caught him smiling at me when nobody is looking, and he's been more and more lovely to me. And now this? I can't work him out.
-George-
I rush something from the kitchens at half past seven; find Katie on her way to the dungeons, breaking off from Fred and Alicia, the trio having watched Angelina in conversation with Roger Davies about switching Quidditch practise days. The four of them wish Katie a happy birthday and she wanders down towards me, ever early to detentions, she doesn't notice me as she walks down the stairway and into the darkness.
"Trying to make a good impression, Pix?" I hand her the bacon sandwich I've nicked when she's calmed down from launching herself across the corridor in surprise.
"As ever, Georgie." She smiles and I feel my cheeks burn unwillingly, suddenly thankful for the darkness. "Thanks for the dinner." She gestures at the sandwich and bites into it.
"No problems. Ready to die by the hand of Snape?" She laughs hollowly, and then sighs. I cock my head questioningly.
"Snape. Detention. Birthday. You." She says, "First two not how I wanted to spend the third with the fourth." I have to work it out but then, as the words click into place, I smile and hug her.
"Oh, Pixie-Kat." I grin as I put my arm around her shoulders and steer her away from the dungeon door she was about to knock on and into an alcove in the passageway.
-Katie-
"What're you-?" I start as he smiles at me and uses his index finger to turn me to face him. He uses the height he has over me to silence me and smiles.
"I've giving you something to improve your birthday." He blushes pink and leans over me in the semi-darkness.
"Wha-?" But his gentle lips silence mine. His right arm slides around my waist and his left hand cradles the back of my neck, resting in my hair.
After about thirty frantic seconds, he pulls back and grins dopily at me. I'm suddenly hyper-giggling.
"Does this mean… you're asking me out?" I smile at him and he blushes up to his ears again, running his fingers through his carroty auburn hair.
"I guess so." He blushes, ever more scarlet, and goes to kiss me again. The dungeon door opposite bangs open and Snape sweeps out. We jump apart and watch him stride down the corridor, muttering something about desert and Hufflepuff exploding.
"Well then," I look up at him and grin. "I accept." I turn and wander into the dungeon, a wide smile creeping onto my face.
"You do?" George almost runs after me and pulls me back to him, "You really… but I thought-"
"Don't do that too often, Georgie, you'll hurt yourself." I kiss his cheek and go to sit down in the dungeon. He sits tentatively beside me and drapes his arm around my shoulders nonchalantly. I look up at him and sigh, his freckles crease as he wrinkles his nose and smiles at me.
-George-
Snape grunts like an ape as he levitates an eighth cauldron in front of Katie. I don't know how she's doing it, but it's going well - he seems to be running out of stuff to clean. She looks up at me and smiles, tucking the short bits of hair that don't fit into her ponytail behind her ear. Snape looks between us and frowns slightly, then sits down behind his desk. Katie and I exchange a silent grinning glance, and return to work, bright plink blushes on our faces. As I go to Snape for my fourth cauldron, Katie stops me, catching my wrist and handing me something in a small phial.
I look down at it and see the words "Scouring solution" in Katie's handwriting on the label. Three little water drops show me how much to drip into the stuff I have to clean the cauldrons.
When he leaves, I cough and Katie looks at me.
"Thank you." She shrugs, "No, not just for this…" I'm silenced by the return of Snape, leaving Katie staring dumbly after me.
"Miss Bell!" Snape snaps and she turns to look at him. "It may well be your birthday, but I expect you to work as hard as any other day."
"Yes professor." She bends down to the cauldron again, smiling slightly as she glances at me.
-
She throws herself down in the almost-empty common room, in front of the fire and yawns.
"Maybe we should get to bed, eh, Pixie-Kat?" I sit down beside her, and look at the firelight lighting her face. I watch her smiling and realise suddenly there are tears dripping from her nose.
She notices me staring and blinks, two more tears dripping onto her cheeks, and turns her face away, pressing her eyes dry with the heels of her hands and pretends she's alright.
"Katie?" I lean forward and tug her hands from her face. The tears start to flow again, so I tilt her head with my hand and wipe my eyes for her. "Pixie-Katie-Kates?" I pout, trying to make her laugh.
She smiles slightly and I look down at the necklace, watching it desperately whack the tiny Bludger around her neck.
"I'm sorry, Georgie boy." She says, tears pouring down her cheeks for all they're worth.
"What's wrong?" I smile at her and pull her into my arms, resting my forehead against hers, "Can I do anything?"
"It's just… with my family like it is…" She smiles weakly, "I've never met anyone…" She stops and shudders a breath. I reach my arms around her tighter and wipe her eyes again, "Anyone I've known like I know you." I raise my eyebrows, confused. "I want us to be perfect… because I don't want to lose you." She whispers. I lean down and let my lips touch hers. I doubt there is anything I could vocalise that my lips couldn't say pressed against hers.
--
In the morning, Katie is lying asleep on me, her robes a little twisted, but still there, we're lying on the sofa in the common room, her head on my chest, smiling in her sleep.
"Katie?" I shake her shoulder gently, she blinks herself awake, "Good morning Pixie." She giggles a little and stretches on me.
In the empty common room, I sit up and put my arms around her. She laughs again and gets up to change. I go to the dorm room and as quietly as possible, I change and return to wait by the girl's stairs for Katie.
--Katie--
I rub my eyes and change within five minutes. As the door creaks whilst I leave, a voice speaks from deep within Angelina's duvet.
"Where have you been all night?" She groans as she trips from her duvet and lands on the cold stone floor. "Snape hold you two prisoners?"
"N-no… not at all." She stumbles forward in her slippers and hands me a bag, "What's-"
"Happy Birthday!" She grins and hugs me, I open the bag to see Honeyduke's finest chocolate ad a pair of silver earrings.
"Aw! Ange, they're beautiful." Smiling, I cross to the mirror and go to put the earrings in. I catch her staring at me, slightly horrified. "What?" She points to my neck.
Oh, Gods. He hasn't?
"You've got a love bite," She giggles, dancing around in a small circle, clearly pleased. Too late, I realise that what had been hidden by my hair no longer was and it now lay for the world to see.
"Ange," I say desperately, "Say a word and I swear I'll steal Georgie's beater's bat and hit you!" She simply laughs.
"Who gave it to you?" She asks simply, "I swear I won't say a word." She holds out her hand and we shake, I blush and whisper his name in her ear. She grabs me, hugs me and squeals. "Go girl! Amazing…" A pause, "You're meeting him for breakfast then?" I stare at her mind-reading skills, "Go on then." She shoos me, but as I get to the common room, I find George nervously rubbing his shoulder and staring behind me. I turn to see her grinning. Suddenly I feel a little sick.
It's suppressed by the gentle kiss George applies to my lips and the arm that slides around my waist. He steers me from the portrait hole and we walk down to the great hall.
The plates are glistening and clean as we get in there, two of the first people to do so. The pair of us select a seat right at the end of the table.
As the Ravenclaw team traipse in looking tired and wet about twenty minutes later, the food finally appears and we select a big bowl of cereal each, some toast and bacon for afterwards. As the hall starts to fill up, George protectively hooks his arm around my waist and grins. His fingers find mine and I lean against his chest, sighing happily.
-Fred-
I stare at the pair of them, sitting so peacefully under the low Willow tree by the lake. Angelina woke Lee and I, told us to follow her. She showed us the pair of them without saying a word.
George was sitting on his cloak, leaning against the tree trunk; Katie sat between his legs, leaning back on his chest. His arms were wrapped around her, his head on her shoulder.
As we watch, she scrambles to her feet and he stands too, pulls her into what can only be described as a cuddle more than a hug. They stand together for about half a minute, and then Angelina flicks her wand. The tree shakes off it's leaves, the collected dew and rain drops onto them. We watch as she plasters his hair down and dances from his reach as he goes to do the same.
After a minutes chase, she collapses to the floor and he falls beside her, leans across her and kisses her. Well, at first, their position obscures their actions, but then she pulls him up to his knees and we see the deep kiss they're sharing.
-Angelina-
Their relationship lasted three months. A day in May, both twins snapped and escaped from school.
George left more than that. I fancied Fred, but nothing had really come of it, Katie and George has been getting pretty serious. When he told her that he and his brother would be breaking out, were going to leave, she refused to help them plan. She refused to say goodbye the morning they went as well, she stayed in the common room and sobbed her heart out after George kissed her, told her nothing would change between them, that he would write, and left.
When it got to their actual escape, she stood at the top of the grand staircase, watching events unfold through tear-blurred eyes, her cheeks wet. As she watched them fire from the angry Umbridge's grasp, she half smiled as she followed their swooping path around the entrance hall.
There was a second, maybe a heartbeat, where George locked eyes with her and seemed to freeze. I watched their silent exchange with a little trepidation, uncertain of my part within the conversation.
Are you sure… you want to leave?
No, he physically shook his head. But we have to. A slight lean forward, to make a stand.
I'll miss you. And she turned away.
He swooped forward on his broom and gripped her arm.
"Let me go, George." then, with a quieter voice, "I'll miss you."
"Katie." He stopped and breathed out. "I love you." She just stared, then, as he turned to leave, fly off and start a new life, she ran forward and kissed him, full on the mouth, for about a minute.
"Give her hell from us Peeves!" And Katie stood waving until they had disappeared from view.
Umbridge rounded on her as she went to return to lessons.
"You… and the Weasley boy… are…" She stared at Katie with disgust and drew herself up to all five foot two of her. "Detention!" She screeched at the top of her voice, "Tomorrow 'til Friday!" I looked at Katie. She looked honestly petrified. We'd all seen Harry's hand.
-Katie-
"I was a fool to fall for him."
I whimper as the quill forces the blood to ooze into the cuff of my robes. The pain killing solution McGonagall gave me hasn't worked as yet, but from the experience with Harry's "Experience" with Umbridge, I know to scrawl quickly, cutting the words into my skin, etching the lie into my core.
Two days and three boxes of Kleenex later, I'm set free from Umbridge's lair and lay shaking on my bed. Dark blood burns onto the stone as I watch it drip, drip, drip…
They were trialling beaters today, replacing my Georgie with somebody I know will be no match for him, no comparison. Angelina will say they're not spectacular, but they'll have to do.
As I sit, my hand still burning, an owl swoops in from the window, drops a package and lands on my head, leans over and steals my biscuit from beside my bed. It hops off onto my pillow and sticks out its leg; I reluctantly tug the letter into my hands and the bloody bird hops back to the package, attracting my attention back to that.
I tear it open for want of something to do. A bunch of roses, the majority red but two changing colour, lying in a wooden box, tied together with a gold ribbon.
Everlasting Roses ™
Only 14 ever made
Just for you.
I count them, a dozen red, two now frozen in white. Fourteen everlasting roses. The card has a small kiss in the corner, I turn it over.
Designed by George Weasley.
The tears flood again and I pick up the letter, my heart hanging by a thread.
My Pixie,
I'm so sorry I didn't say more… that I couldn't say more. I realised as we flew over the river that you… hadn't heard those words from me before. And I hadn't heard them from you.
Hearing it, I hope, stunned and excited you. I know we aren't together physically now, but I know we can still talk, still write each other and be us. I long for your smile, although it's only been a few days, I miss your beauty and your nature; I hope Umbridge won't destroy it while we're apart.
I hope you like the roses; I designed them just for you. Keep them safe if you can… I found them mesmerising - just like you.
All the love in the world,
Georgie.
I can almost see his grin, taste his lips, and feel his hands in mine.
--
-George-
"George, owl for you, mate." Fred yanks the duvet off me and I groan. Ange Johnson's owl flutters to sit on my head as he opens the door to let it fly in.
Dear Georgie,
It's your Pixie, using Ange's owl to be as innocuous as possible. (It means unnoticed, George. Go read a dictionary.)
I laugh and tell Fred, who seemed tense that Ange would be writing to me. He relaxes.
Letter is enchanted, to be read by you only, but don't reply, Umbridge is reading our mail.
"Shit!"
I got your roses, they are gorgeous. One of a kind…
The door slams. Fred has taken the owl to feed.
Just like you. I wanted to let you know that had I had another minute with you, I would have said everything I wanted to say. That I love you, that I believe in everything that you stand for, and that… knowing you're gone… it breaks my heart.
"George, mate, I-" Fred opens the door, "You alright? Your ears are burning pink." I reach to feel the tips. Burning doesn't really describe it.
"Yeah, Fred… I just…" I sigh, "I miss her," He grips my shoulder and grins at me, I stare down at the letter, looking at the screwed up bed sheets.
"I know, but… you'll see her soon." He licks his lips and smiles, "But I bet she feels as bad as you."
We look at each other, I know she feels rotten, because I feel about the same, but… saying it makes me feel so much worse.
I carry on reading.
Our next Hogsmeade trip is three weeks Saturday. If you don't want to meet, send word to Madame Rosmerta, if you do, Zonko's at midday, maybe?
Thank you so much for the roses. I miss you so much and they let me feel as though I have a part of you with me.
I wish I could tell you that I love you… at least aloud.
I wish I could tell you in my own words that I miss you.
I guess we'll have to wait.
All the love in the world,
Your Pixie-Kat.
"Fred?" He looks at me, quirks an eyebrow and nods. "We need to go to Hogsmeade on the last weekend of Term." He nods again, and smiles.
"No problems.
--
A/N: Oh, dear oh dear oh dear. This was not a good ending. I think possibly I was hyped up on sugar at the time. Please excuse the overreactive naffness which is this first chapter.
I hope you enjoyed it?!
I'm seriously sorry it's long… what, 3800 words +? This is ridiculous, and there's more to come (when my hands stop hurting)
Please Review!!
xx