Chapter 1: Finding out He Likes You
"Pssst, George," you whispered, poking him. He swatted your hand away, eyes still shut. "Geoooorge!" you whispered loudly.
"Merlin, what is it?!" he said, rolling over and pulling the blankets closer.
"George! What did the big bucket say to the little bucket?"
"Mrrmph," he grumbled.
"George!"
"What? What did it say?!" he groaned, exasperated.
"The big bucket said, 'You look a little pail'! Get it?" you said, laughing at the ridiculous punch line.
"Oh my god, Beni, oh my god…Someone clearly needs more sleep," George said, removing his head from under his pillow to look at you. You were laughing uncontrollably at the foot of his bed, clutching your stomach. It wasn't funny, but you loved it anyway. Honestly, you probably were too tired if you were enjoying that joke, and from George's perspective, you looked like a lunatic. "Yeah, you definitely need more sleep," he said. He hauled his torso up and leaned forward to grab a hold of your leg, dragging you closer to him. He pulled you, still laughing, so your head was on the other pillow and said, "Okay, now sleep." He returned to his previous position with a pillow over his head and attempted to fall back into dreamland, but to no avail. You were still laughing.
Suddenly he was on top of you, his hands on either side of your head. That effectively shut you up. You felt your eyes grow wide as George moved his face closer to yours; you couldn't help but notice that he was terribly cute in the morning, with his flaming red, tousled hair and grogginess still in his face.
"Beni, go to sleep. Sleep or stop laughing by yourself; if you want to laugh, make me laugh too. Otherwise, go to sleep or just let me sleep. Okay?"
His face (his lips!) was only a few centimeters away from yours. You quickly nodded your head silently, in amazement, and George fell back on to the bed, returning his head to the cave under the pillow. Why on earth did that boy look so good in the morning? Aren't people supposed to look like crap? Isn't there an unwritten law that real people who really just got up can't look that delicious in the morning? What is wrong with the world?! You found yourself questioning everything you once thought you knew. Do all bats really drink blood? No! That was proven incorrect years ago! Only vampire bats do! Do you still like both rap and country music? Well, perhaps…oh no! You were questioning that! Are sneezing baby panda bears the cutest things in the world? Nothing was making sense anymore! "Damn you, George, damn you," you muttered to yourself.
"Hey, Geor—whoa!"
Fred had just walked through the door and his gaze zeroed in on you, next to George, on his bed.
"Hi, Fred."
"Um…Hi? What's going on?"
"George told me to sleep," you said brightly, giving George a sideways glance.
"Oh, really? George, I know you like the woman, but you can't just tell her to sleep with you! That's just rude. What happened to the gentleman's approach we talked abou-"
Fred was cut off by a pillow-missile, thrown surprisingly accurately for a sleepy boy lying down. You were in shock, not only from the power behind that pillow-missile, but also from the fact that apparently George likes you…?
"Uh…what?" you say blankly. This is a new and strange turn of events. What the hell is going on today? First you laugh at a joke- that is your own, mind you- that is mediocre at best, then someone actually looks good when they wake up, you question the greatness of country music, rap, and baby pandas, and then George likes you? What else is going to happen? Is Draco Malfoy going to proclaim to everyone in the Great Hall that he wants to jump Ginny's bones? What an absolutely ridiculous day!
"Hellooo," Fred said, waving a hand in front of your face, "Earth to Benedictine."
You snap out of your reverie, suddenly turning to George. "You like me?"
He looked uncomfortable, not meeting your eyes. "Of course I like you, Beni, we've been friends forever." Why on earth would he think that you would ever accept that kind of response? You pressed the issue.
"Well, that's nice and all, but do you like me, like me?"
"Um...well, see…"
You turned to look at Fred. He had a broad smile on, a grin with a hint of a smirk.
"George, just tell me already," you say, exasperated with the stalling time, "Either you're hesitating because you're embarrassed to tell me that you do like me, or you're embarrassed that you don't and are afraid of hurting my feelings. Tell me, do I sound that hopeful of your liking me?" Damn it! You always had a loose mouth once you got going. The addition of that rhetorical question made it sound like you didn't like him, when clearly (at least you thought it was pretty clear) you did.
"Yeah, so…Ilikeyouokayit'snotabigdeal," George mumbled.
"What was that, Georgie boy?" Fred prompted, trying to hold back his laughter.
"Shut it, Frederick," George said grumpily as stuffed his head back under his pillow.
You were stunned. "Uh…what?" You were feeling kind of stupid today.
"Georgie confessed he likes you!" Fred's voice sang, ringing through the boy's dormitories as he practically skipped out the door. A few minutes later, George still hadn't moved an inch from his position of hiding beneath his pillow and you hadn't stirred from your stunned sitting position on his bed.
"So…" you said slowly. Why was your brain having such a hard time processing shit today?
"Mmrph" came from beneath the pillow.
"You like me?" you asked in a small, uncertain, almost dazed voice. George didn't respond for a few minutes. Then, he slowly moved his head out from under his pillow, turning so his back was to you. After a pause there was a quiet "YeahIlikeyou" and you felt your face break into a grin.
"Brilliant!"