The next morning was a Monday, so Eliza had to get up early. She was woken by her Alarm Spell, and quickly turned it off. Once she was dressed in her uniform and had grabbed her bag, she made her way to the Great Hall.
Eliza didn't see Grace at the Ravenclaw table, so she automatically turned towards the Gryffindors. Scanning the table for redheads, she saw Ron Weasley sitting close by. Harry and Hermione weren't with him, which was strange. Looking further, she spotted Ginny with her friends and only then could she locate Fred and George. She plopped down next to George with a general 'Good morning' and poured herself a glass of milk.
"Eliza! Where were you yesterday? We were just walking and all of a sudden you were gone!" George said, and Eliza felt a pang when she realised that she had hurt him.
"I'm sorry. It's just that I needed to be alone so I sat by the Lake for a while."
"A while? Seemed a bit longer than a while!" George said sarcastically.
"I know, and I'm sorry," Eliza said softly, looking down at her plate.
"I've forgiven you already," Fred said cheeringly, and loaded Eliza's plate with toast and eggs.
"Thanks," Eliza looked up and smiled at him.
"Yes, well, you shouldn't go off like that anymore! We were worried about you," George said, blushing.
"I will try not to do it again." Eliza noticed that only Fred had said that he'd forgiven her. She knew Grace would not be angry at her, but what about George? It was made even worse by the fact that she wasn't allowed to tell them what had happened yesterday.
After their last class, Grace and Eliza went with the boys to the Gryffindor Common Room to do their homework. At least, that was the plan. Fred and Lee had talked to Grace the whole way and had convinced her to try some of their sweets.
"Fine! If it helps you! But if you kill me, I will – " the rest of her sentence couldn't be heard by Eliza, who had stayed in the Common Room with George while the others went upstairs.
"So..."
"So? What do you mean by 'so'?" Eliza asked him.
"I just didn't know what to say."
"So you say 'so'? You really shouldn't do that. Anyway, what're we going to do?"
"Ehm... we could... do our homework?"
And so they did. But when they were finished with their Charms essay, there wasn't any homework they could do.
"Now what?"
"We could play a game," Eliza suggested.
"Okay, I'll go grab the cards."
They played a few games, but Eliza didn't win a single one of them.
"It's not fair! Why do you win all the time?" she pouted.
"Ha! May I win for once? At least it's not chess!" George laughed.
"I still don't like it!" Eliza turned her head away from him and pretended to glare at the fire. Suddenly she felt a hand on her chin, forcing her to turn her head back.
"Wha –" her voice was cut off when she noticed their closeness. Eliza felt her cheeks grow hot as she stared into George's dark blue eyes. Dark blue with a ring of lighter blue around his pupil.
George gazed right back at her and moved his fingers from her chin to her cheek. This didn't help Eliza to relax so her cheeks would return to their normal colour. Her heart beat frantically, and she knew that she needed to come to terms with her feelings for George. She felt differently towards him than towards Lee or Fred.
It had started at the end of last year, but she had tried to ignore it. Now Eliza should admit to herself that she... liked George. Fancied him, even. She resolved to think about it that night, when she lay in bed. Her current position was not ideal for such thoughts. George didn't seem to notice that her thoughts had gone off, he was still gazing into her eyes dreamily.
What did this mean? Did he like her? You didn't look a girl in the eyes the way he did if you didn't have some feelings for her, right? But of course George didn't like her! Why would he? They were best friends, he had every right in the world to look at her the way he wanted to. Although... was Eliza imagining this or did George tilt his head slightly in her direction? Her head moved towards him on its own accord and Eliza saw George's lips getting closer and closer...
"Eliza! You have to help me! My nose won't stop bleeding!"
George and Eliza jerked apart, both with flaming cheeks, and couldn't look at each other again.
"Grace, you look terrible," Eliza was glad that her voice sounded semi-steady."Episkey, that should do it."
"Thank you. By the way, what were you and George doing when I walked in?" Grace whispered.
"Nothing," Eliza said evadingly, but her pink cheeks proved otherwise.
"Sure," Grace said knowingly and turned her attention to Fred and Lee to yell at them for almost killing her. Eliza saw George look at her from the corner of her eye, but when she looked back, they both looked away, embarrassed.
How will we ever get back to normal? We almost kissed! Or was that just my seeing too much in the situation? Wouldn't surprise me... Eliza thought dejectedly. They all went down to dinner, and Eliza made sure not to sit directly opposite George. If she did that, she would only blush throughout the meal, so she sat opposite Fred.
That night, Eliza thought about everything that happened. She had told Grace a very short version just after dinner, and she seemed satisfied. Grace had said that it had been obvious to her for a long time that Eliza fancied George. Eliza had panicked at this, wondering if George knew. Grace comforted her by saying that she was sure he didn't know.
"Besides," Grace had concluded, "you've only found out yourself a few hours ago!"
I do know that I like George now... but when did this start? Eliza wondered.
Feelings like this just don't appear out of nowhere! Well, we have known each other since first year, so I don't think it's that weird. Apparently Grace had seen it coming already, so how come I didn't? Does George even like me? Of course he likes me as his friend, but as more? I don't think so... Should I do something about this? Like, ask him out or something? ... No, I don't have the courage. What if he says no? I'd better just try to ignore this and behave like I always do. But Circe, how can I face him tomorrow?