Disclaimer: Recognizable characters, settings and themes do not belong to me.
"Where's your brother?"
"We're not attached at the hip, you know."
"Had me fooled."
This made him angry. Even though she didn't say it cruelly. Even though he knew that when it came to him and his brother, one was indeed barely found without the other. Even though a teasing smile was playing at her lips and her shirt was unbuttoned just enough and she was leaning close enough to him that he could distinctly smell her fruity perfume.
"Allow me the honor then to rid you of that notion. These things can get confusing I understand." He joked because that's what he did.
They joked, and laughed and made a point to never take anything seriously. And he was fine with that - generally. And generally he felt sorry for those people who didn't have twin brothers who doubled as best friends to shatter personal obstacles and make future plans at two in the morning with.
"Honors all mine." She answered, laughing. "So tell me, who is George Wesley gone solo? Thoughts, dreams, aspirations."
Generally, but not always.
Sometimes he wanted distance from the entity that was Fred and George and, the thought always enunciated with a small twinge of guilt, from his twin himself. He was certain this was a common sentiment among people who spent a significant amount of time with a specific other - couples, best friends, brothers, 5th year potion partners - but that sense of blasphemy relented, however small in dosage.
"You mean except for what's in front of me." He replied with a wink and devious smile.
She backtracked for a moment, then the implication registering, a pleasant pink spread across her cheeks. She pushed his shoulders, laughing, causing him to quickly lose then regain balance on his chair.
"Tosser"
"You don't mean that."
"I mean it a little."
Fred and Lee were at the astronomy tower, doing experiments that involved flinging objects from it's highest point. They'd spent the last night neglecting homework in favor of drawing lists of objects and table of measurement for this little project.
His plan had been to stop by the lost and found room quickly in search of whatever abandoned hidden treasure the assistance witch was willing to give away to the twins this week. Instead he found that the assistance witch was off somewhere else and Alicia Spinnet leaning against the counter, looking bored.
"Don't know where the staff disappeared to." She'd explained to George in greeting.
He didn't want Fred and Lee to go on without him but really this was nice as well - waiting in a small dusty room, alone with only Alicia and her undivided attention for company.
Perhaps he should hurry up, he considered.
But when his smiling, blonde team mate suggested that they go out to the grounds to enjoy the quickly waning fall weather after having received their respective items, that thought was blasted into a speck.
George, in a blast of inspiration, decided to take her to the harbor instead, where the fleet of Hogwarts boats docked during the school year. Soft dirt sank under their shoes then slowly rose again as they moved along the edge of the enclave, whose walls were dented sporadically with large holes. Like swiss cheese, George thought, and perfect for close moments in the dark.
They kept on past these dens and their private allure until they reached the last row of boats, resting almost directly under heavy, immense curtains of weeds and ivy that separated the docks from the rest of the lake.
He led Alicia to one of the center boats, and gestured dramatically for her to take a seat.
"Your throne."
She hadn't spoken more than a few words during their journey under the cliff. She gazed around marvelously, perching on a plank.
"This is marvelous, George." She finally admired, looking overboard. "I didn't even know we could come down here."
"Just because you've never tired." He grinned, plonking down next to her. The boat rocked dangerously, and she held her arms out wide.
"I remember these being bigger." She laughed dropping her arms as they settled.
She smelled like strawberries, oranges and kiwi.
"Reckon they shank them for the first years this year?"
He wondered if her lips tasted anything like fruit as he watched her laugh again.
And even as she was getting ready to say something in response, leaned into her and caught her lips with his.
She straightened up in shock, pushed him away with one hand then punched him emphatically. She never hesitated to clock him when he deserved it, he quite liked that about her. Then without waiting for an apology she wrapped her fingers around his hair and tugged him close to her face.
"Don't interrupt me, George Weasley." She breathed, and proceeded to kiss him back.
When they walked into the Gryffindor common room an hour later, neither his twin nor his friend were there. He thought they might be in the dormitory so he said goodbye to Alicia, an awkward encounter that was all joints and incomplete gestures because they had yet to discover what their adventure on the boat meant, and ascended the stairs of the boys dormitory.
Fred was there but Lee was no where to be found.
"Where were you?" His brother asked. "We accidentally got Hagrid with the custard filled dragon. He was fuming first, never seen Hagrid lose this temper before. But we had a right laugh about it later."
"Got distracted at the lost and found." George replied vaguely, deciding that just for a night he would keep this development to himself. "Pity I missed the Dragon."
He got an inquiring look from his twin but Fred went on about their afternoon experiment without pressing further.
That night, once they'd everyone was stuffed comfortably in their beds and had fallen silent, Fred's voice rang out loudly in the dormitory.
"George, who were you off snogging today anyway?"
George laughed.