Here's to a 13-page chapter, just completed.
No, Snape does not have a crush on George, more of a…mutual respect.
Thank you all for the lovely reviews, and enjoy this chapter
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At 5:30, I walk upstairs to my room to get dressed for the dance, where Lee and Fred already were. Fred was going to the dance with Angelina and Lee was going with Alicia. Fred hardly acknowledges me as I walk to my bed where my dress robes were spread out, Lee however, walks over to me and claps me on the shoulder before walking back over to his bed and beginning to change. He quickly leaves the room when he finishes dressing, leaving Fred and I alone for the first time since the Entrance Hall.
"If I talked, would you listen?" I ask softly, not averting my eyes from where they were currently looking down at my hands, smoothing out my robes.
There is no sound in response except for the rustling of his clothing as he continues to get dressed. I look across my bed to where he is standing, his back towards me, and watch as he bends down to tie his shoes. When he is done, he turns and exits the room without even glancing towards me.
This seems like it has been going on a hell of a lot longer than just a day. Fred and I have never been at odds with each other for more than a few hours.
No longer being able to control my anger and hurt at the way he's acting towards me and how badly I've messed up, I grab the nearest object to me, grasping the glass of water in my hand I send it hurling towards the doorway where is shatters, spraying water and glass through the arch and down the stairwell. The footsteps, which were still audible descending on the staircase, come to a halt.
I slide down the side of the desk where the glass had been perched upon and rest my head against my knees, pulling at my hair tightly as my eyes begin to burn. Within moments, I can hardly control the pathetic sobs that course through my body. Not being able to calm myself, and breathing becoming even more difficult, I remain where I am even when I hear footsteps approaching.
A body presses against my side and the familiar arms of my twin clasp around me, pulling me down so my head is resting against his chest. His hand runs through my hair as I wrap my arms tightly around him, pulling myself even tighter against him.
I want to talk.
I want to tell him how sorry I am for lying to him. How much I can't stand him being angry at me. How losing him in my life hurts more than anything physical he could ever do to me. How he is absolutely the most important person in my life, and I simply cannot lose him.
But he already knows all this.
When I find myself able to breathe, I try to talk, but he shushes me, continuing to run his hand through my hair while holding me towards him with his other arm.
"It's alright, Georgie," he says softly. "Just breathe."
I take several deep breaths and I can feel the pounding in my chest dull. I relax my grip on Fred and he removes his arm so I can sit up. Wiping my eyes and nose on my robe sleeve, I turn bashfully at Fred, whose eyes looked considerably wet as well.
"I really am sorry, Freddy," I say earnestly, although the cracking in my voice makes it sound more doubtful.
"I know," he says with a small smile. "I shouldn't have hit you," he says, examining my still bruised eye.
"Ignoring me hurt more," I reply, looking down at the floor, bashfully.
He waits for me to look back up at him before speaking again. "I've been upset with myself, as much as I have you, George. I was so stupid to believe you'd give up that easily."
I shake my head at him. "We've never hid things from each other, and now was a pretty dumb time to start."
We sit in silence and I once more attempt to dry my face.
"What do you say to no more secrets?" Fred asks as I run a hand through my hair.
I nod at him. "No more secrets."
He smiles at me and pulls me against him once more, kissing my forehead before standing and offering me a hand up. "If I were you, I'd get dressed. There's a pretty girl waiting for you in the common room."
I watch as he walks to the doorway and repairs the shattered glass with a slight movement of his wand. He turns to me and winks before walking down the stairs a final time.
Glancing at the time, I dress quickly and run a comb through my tussled hair, frowning at both my bruised face and puffy eyes in the mirror. I apply a slight glamour to my face to hide the bruise, but know nothing that can hide the fact that I had been crying.
Taking a deep breath, I grab the corsage from my top desk draw and head down the stairs to the emptying common room.
I stop dead at the bottom-most step.
Illuminated by the flickering fire, Hermione stands, absolutely breathtaking in a light pink set of robes which show off her curves more than any school uniform can. She is deep in conversation with Harry. As I slowly approach them, she turns to me with a smile on her face. Harry nods at me in a greeting and walks towards Ron.
"Hi," she says, her smile faltering as she examines my eyes. "George, are you-"
"I'm fine," I state as I place the corsage around her left wrist, bringing her hand up to my lips when done. "You are gorgeous."
Blush rises to her cheeks and she looks down at her feet for a moment before looking back up at me. "You don't look so bad yourself," she says awkwardly. "But you've been crying."
I frown at her, not wanting her to be worried about me tonight and not have a good time. I'm about to respond, to tell her that we'll talk about it later after we've enjoyed the dance, when Fred and Angelina walk over to us, Fred throwing his arm around my shoulder and slipping something heavy into my robe pocket with a wink. From previous experiences, I'm well aware of its contents being a flask of Fire Whiskey.
"Well children," he states, in a mock mature voice. "What do you say we head down to the Great Hall."
Hermione looks away from him to send me a reassuring smile for Fred and I being back on good terms, clearly understanding now why I had been upset.
"I'd say it sounds like a good idea," I reply, turning away from Fred's arm and linking Hermione's in mine and following him and Angelina out of the portrait hole and down to the festively decorated hall.
Hermione gives a small gasp as we enter the Hall, which is illuminated by only floating candles. The twelve trees which are accustomed to every year send off their own glow and where there are usually four large house tables, smaller round tables make a circle around the room, leaving the middle as a dance floor.
I can't help a smile from forming when I realize that even with the house tables not being set up, the school has still divided itself into four groups, using the corners of the room as groupings. In the far away left corner are the Gryffindors where I notice Harry and Ron being at one table and Lee and Alicia at another.
Hermione seems to realize this as well and she smiles up at me. "You asked me to the dance, so let's sit with your friends."
"You sure?" I ask.
She nods at me. "This is your last year here," she replies. "I still have two years with Harry and Ron."
"Thank you," I say, entirely grateful.
The separate tables are set for ten and I sit down on Fred's right, leaving Hermione to sit beside Alicia. Katie Bell and her date, another sixth year named Cormac McLaggen join our table along with the only other seventh year Gryffindors; Kenneth Towler and Patricia Stimpson. I introduce Hermione to both Ken and Trish, along with Cormac who she had also never met before. I can't say that she was missing much with that git, I can't see what Katie sees in him, especially after having a crush on Oliver Wood for years.
Ken and I get along decently, but he's quite out of place living with me, Fred and Lee. He's the good boy of house's year, and it was no wonder that he was made prefect. I hardly doubt that he has a single bad bone in his entire body.
"Big plans over break?" he asks me from across the table as Alicia and Hermione begin a conversation about a Muggle band I have never heard of.
I shake my head at him. "Not really, no. Just some time out of school with the family. Charlie and Bill will be around."
"How is Charlie?"
Ken had always admired my second oldest brother, both for his ability at Quidditch and how well he carried himself. "He's doing well."
"When he's not being set on flames by dragons," Fred adds with a smirk.
Ken laughs and Trish looks startled. "Your brother works with dragons?" She asks, astounded.
I nod my head at her, taking a sip of the goblet of water, which was set out in front of me. "Yeah, in Romania."
She looks thoroughly impressed and doesn't comment anymore on the subject.
The Hall suddenly quiets, as Dumbledore stands at the Head table, welcoming us to the dance and stating that dinner will come first. Plates magically appear in front of us, consisting of chicken, potatoes and rice. I smile at Hermione as she folds her napkin neatly on her lap.
When the hall is mainly done eating, Dumbledore flicks his wrist and the first song of the evening begins to play. It's a slow song and I stand up, holding my hand out to Hermione as other couples make their way to the dance floor. She takes my hand and stands up with me, a small smile on her lips as I brush a strand of hair from her face and wrap my arms around her waist.
As we move to the song, our eye contact is hardly broken and I pay no attention to what is going on around us as I feel her hand move from my neck to slightly higher where she strokes my hair.
I tilt my head downwards and rest my forehead against her own, closing my eyes and breathing her scent in deeply. When the last few notes of the song play, I lift my head back up so I can look into her eyes again.
"I'm glad I said yes," she says with a smile.
I return the gesture and use my right hand to tilt her chin upwards as I lean down to place a gentle kiss on her lips.
Even in the dim lighting, her blush is evident, and by the heat in my face, I'm guessing that mine is as well.
The snickering from behind me is quickly stopped as Angelina elbows Fred in the side and I start laughing as a faster song begins to play. Fred glares at Angelina before reaching into my pocket and retrieving the flask he had placed there earlier.
"I gave Lee mine," he states, glancing around to see if anyone outside of our group was watching before taking a large swig and handing it back over to me. I take a large gulp and when I return it to Fred I notice Hermione looking at me reproachfully.
"You disapprove?" I ask her as Fred once more hands my back the flask.
She shrugs at me. "Not really, I just don't want you drunk."
I smile, taking another rather large sip before placing the flask back inside my pocket. "We hardly brought enough to get drunk, just a bit buzzed."
She nods in response as I take her hands in mine, beginning the next dance.
A few dances later (and several more shots form the flask), Harry and Ron walk over to us so I leave Hermione to spend some time with them and make my way towards the front of the Hall where a few of the professors were talking in a corner while others were scattered about the room.
McGonagall looks at me in curiosity as I hold my hand out towards her. "May I have this dance?" I ask her with a smirk.
She smiles at me and shakes her head in disbelief, but she takes a step towards me and places her hand in my right as I lead her onto the dance floor, gaining many strange looks from the students around us. Catching Hermione's eye, I send her a wink before turning back to McGonagall, placing my left hand slightly above her waist and holding onto to her hand in my right.
"And what have I done to deserve such a dance partner?" She asks me as I lead her in a slightly slow dance.
"More than I can ever thank you for," I reply earnestly.
However serious my answer, it doesn't seem to be what she was looking for, as she frowns at me. "You've been drinking," she states. It's not a question.
"Some," I admit. "But that doesn't make my words any less true. During my seven years here you have given me instruction, guidance, well deserved chewing outs and much instructive criticism. I owe you very much."
She shakes her head at me. "I am your teacher, I am only doing my job."
"No," I reply and she looks taken aback. "You've done more than your job. For some reason that I can't understand, you have taken a personal interest in my doing well during my time here, and I assure you, I am grateful even if I haven't shown you."
She doesn't respond and we continue the rest of the dance in silence. When the song ends, I pull her into a quick embrace, placing a kiss on her cheek as I pull away. "Thank you for everything, Professor."
I can see tears form in her eyes as she nods at me. "You're welcome," she says softly and then briskly walks away from me towards Professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey.
From my right, Dumbledore gestures me over to him and Snape. I smile when I notice how thrilled Snape looks to be here. He's leaning against the wall with his arms folded tightly against his chest, his legs crossed at the ankles and a definite scowl on his face.
"Sir?" I ask as I approach them.
Dumbledore places a hand no my shoulder. "That was a very decent thing to do, Mr. Weasley."
I shrug at him. "Nothing less than she deserves, Sir."
"That might be so," he states with a nod, watching McGonagall as she talks to Professor Sprout. "But it's always good to make a person feel appreciated."
Nodding at him, I turn to Snape. "He's right," I state. "I'd like to thank you for everything that you have done for me as well."
"You already have," He replies, and I can swear that Dumbledore rolled his eyes.
"Yes Sir," I state, looking back over to Hermione. "If you'll excuse me."
On my way across the dance floor to Hermione, where she was enjoying a dance with both Harry and Ron who had decided to come dateless, I notice Ginny sitting down at a table by herself looking miserable while Dean was dancing rather close to the Brown girl in Hermione's year.
I pull Harry aside before coming back to Hermione and he looks at me in confusion.
"What's up?" he asks as I glance quickly to Hermione and Ron, making sure that they don't overhear me.
"Would you be willing to do me a favor?"
He studies me for a moment before nodding. "Sure, what is it?"
"The next song should be a slow song," I state. "Will you ask Gin to dance? Dean's left her for Brown and she's having a miserable time."
Harry looks towards the Gryffindor tables where Ginny was sitting by herself, watching Dean with a murderous look.
"Sure," he says with a smile. "I'd love to."
I hadn't been completely oblivious to the way that Harry had been looking at my little sister, but I wasn't going to tell him off for it. Ginny's had a crush on him since she was ten, and although he tends to attract a bit of trouble, he'd be a good match for her.
When the song begins, a slow song like I had predicted, (it seemed that slow songs were being played every fifth), I allowed Ron to have a dance with Hermione, watching him carefully. Noticing Katie alone at our table I walk over to her and ask her to dance.
"Where's Cormac?" I ask as I lead her onto the floor.
She shrugs at me. "As long as he's not here I don't care. I don't know what I was thinking when I said yet to him. He's just so…arrogant."
I smile at her. "A bit of a difference from Oliver's bashfulness, eh?"
"You can say that," she states, glaring at me.
I cut her off before she says anything negatively to me. "I don't know how Oliver could have been so blind not to see you."
She blushes and doesn't respond.
"I take it you don't like Cormac then."
I smile when she vigorously shakes her head at me.
"So why don't you ask whoever you really do like to dance? I'm sure he'd love to dance with you."
She mutters something, not meeting my eyes, and I can't catch what she said.
"What?" I ask her.
Her face is bright red when she looks back up at me. "I said, because he already is dancing with me."
I'm speechless for a moment and then regain my composure quickly, giving her a small smile. I've known for a while, of course, but I'm surprised that she outwardly told me. "I really am flattered," I state slowly. "But I really like Hermione."
"I know," she says. "But it's still nice to be able to dance with you."
I nod at her and pull her closer to me as she rests her head against my shoulder. "You're a great girl, Katie. Any guy would be lucky to win your attention."
"Thanks George," she replies. "I'm really going to miss you when you leave here."
The song ends and I continue to hold her close, smiling to Hermione over her shoulder so she doesn't get the wrong impression. When Katie pulls away she kisses me on the cheek. "Hermione's a very lucky girl," she states and quickly walks away from me.
Hermione's at my side moments later. "She okay?" she asks me as we walk over to out table to sit down.
I nod, not actually being sure of the answer, but not feeling it right to breach Katie's trust by telling anything personal to Hermione.
"Are you having a good time?" I ask her.
"Yes," she says, beaming.
"I'm glad to hear that," I reply as Dumbledore stands at the foot of the Hall, stating that the following will be the last dance of the night. I look at the clock and can hardly believe that it's already almost 11:00.
As I take her onto the dance floor for a final time, she begins to laugh. "I think Fred's a bit drunk," she says, pointing to my left.
"More than likely," I state with a frown as my twin falls flat on his ass. "He took the rest of the flask."
"You should help him," Hermione says, glancing at Angelina who looked quite concerned.
"You're right," I state. "But it's the last dance."
She smiles at me. "We've got an entire month together at Grimmauld Place. Go help your brother."
I pull her close to me and give her a long lasting kiss before walking over to where Angelina was kneeling over Fred, watching out for Professors.
"I've got him," I state, pulling Fred up to a standing position, putting his arm around my shoulder to help balance him. "Might I suggest making some underclassman's night with a final dance?"
She nods at me, and surprisingly takes my advice, asking Longbottom if he would like to dance.
"You're making a right fool of yourself," I tell Fred, who begins to laugh madly. "You can at least help me out here by attempting to walk on your own."
"George?" He asks, as I guide him through the crowd of students on the dance floor.
"What is it Fred?" I reply, leading him out of the Great Hall and into the hallway leading to the Entrance Hall and Grand staircase.
"Georgie, Georgie, Georgie," he says, patting me on the shoulder.
"Yes Freddy?"
"I love you."
"I love you too, Fred."
"Georgie?"
"What Fred?"
"I'm drunk."
"Yes Fred," I reply, leading him to the staircase. "Yes you are."
A throat clears from behind us and I breath in deeply before turning around to see Snape and McGonagall looking at the two of us sternly.
I cringe as Fred falls at my feet in a hysterical fit of laughter.
"Professors."
"There wasn't a prank this Christmas, so we thought we'd follow you two," McGonagall states, watching as Fred tries to stand back up.
"Well we did have one planned," I reply, bending down to stand Fred back up. "But due to recent events and…current circumstance, we seemed unable to do so."
"Your brother is inebriated."
Before I can respond, Fred walks towards her. "That's a lie, Minerva," he states and I begin to rub my temples at the forming headache. "I'm drunk!" he declares.
"We know, Mr. Weasley," Snape states, grabbing Fred my the elbow and leading him back to me.
"I suggest you take him up to your common room before he does anymore damage. A punishment can be decided when you return from break."
"Yes Sir," I reply, roughly turning Fred towards the stairs, ignoring his complaints and attempts to walk back to McGonagall. "Will you shut up," I growl at him, and to my surprise he actually does. "We'll be lucky to have any detention free nights when we get back from break because of you."
"Are you mad at me, Georgie?"
I sigh, glancing back down the staircase when we make it to the top, noticing that Dumbledore has now joined Snape and McGonagall. "No Fred. I'm not mad at you."
"You sound mad," he observes.
"That's your imagination," I reply, guiding him towards the portrait hole where the fat lady looks at the two of us with scorn. She says nothing as I give her the password and usher Fred inside and up the staircase to our room. I guide him over to his bed and sit him down on its edge, where he immediately attempts to stand up from and lands once more on his ass.
"How the hell much did you drink?" I ask him as I change out of my dress robes into only my boxers.
"Just what we brought," he reasons.
"That's up to three and a half flasks," I reply, sitting down on the floor across from him, leaning against my bed's frame. "Did Lee drink any of his?"
Fred shakes his head with a smile.
"He okay?" Angelina's voice sounds from our doorway.
I turn to see both her and Hermione walking into the room, stopping at the end of the beds where Fred and I were sitting. They must have changed in record speed as they both were already out of their dress robes and Lee had yet to return.
"I'm awesome, Lina," Fred says with a smile.
She shakes her head at him and turns to me. "How much did he have to drink?"
"About two flasks to himself," I reply. "He had all of Lee's and half of each that he and I had."
I try to get Hermione to look at me in they eyes and she refuses, Angelina seems to be trying not to blush.
"What's wrong?" I ask confused.
"I'm assuming the fact that you're only in your boxers has something to do with it," Angelina replies.
Hermione shrugs and I sigh, standing up and making my way over to my dresser. "I see how it is," I state, searching for some pants to change into. "You girls find my body so hideous that I can't even be uncovered in my own room."
"Hardly."
I turn to Hermione with a raised eyebrow and her face turns bright red. "Really?" I ask her, pulling on a pair of long running shorts. "So you like what you see?"
Hermione doesn't respond and Angelina sends me a smirk. "With six years of Quidditch on you, I'm not complaining of seeing you shirtless."
"Hey!" Fred exclaims as I crack up laughing, not having been planning on putting a shirt back on as it was nearing bed time. "No hitting on my brother."
"You can't take offense to that," Angelina reasons. "It was just as much a compliment to you as him, you two are identical."
"Not all of us," I say with a wink.
Angelina rolls her eyes at me and Hermione looks a bit mortified. I wouldn't typically be in such a personal joking mood, but I'm a bit buzzed still.
There's a knock at the doorframe and McGonagall steps into the room, a vial of potion in her hand. "Before anything else is revealed that I could certainly do without hearing," she starts, walking over to where Fred had just pulled himself back up on the bed. "Professor Snape told me to make sure that you both got some of this sobering potion." She looks Fred over and he complies with little argument. When she is done, she hands me the vial. "He said that you would know how much to administer to each of you. Apparently he said that you should be used to it by now."
I wince under the hard look she was currently bearing down on me and nod at her. "Get to bed," she states, looking at the four of us. "Breakfast is at seven and the train leaves at 8:30."
There's a chorus of "yes professor" and we watch as she leaves. I uncork the vial and take a decent sized sip of the caramel colored liquid inside with a grimace. I hand Fred the rest of the vial and he quickly downs it. The affect is almost instant as the potion counteracts any alcohol in our bodies.
"I'm fucked," Fred says with a frown. "Do you think she'll tell mum?"
"We're fucked and yes, most definitely," I reply. "Hopefully it will be after Christmas though."
Hermione yawns and I smile, walking towards her. "Come on," I say, taking her hand. "I'll walk you to your staircase, you're tired."
She nods at me and lets me lead her downstairs to the nearly deserted common room. Lee and Alicia are in a corner of the room playing a chess game. Upon seeing me, Lee winks.
"Lina still upstairs?" He asks.
"Yeah," I reply. "But I assure you that you won't walk in on anything."
"How can you assure that?" Lee asks.
"Just trust me," I reply.
He nods at me and says goodnight to Alicia. I give Alicia a hug goodnight and a small kiss on the cheek. She blushes and runs up the girl's staircase. Lee gives me a frown, stating that he'd be seeing me upstairs.
"What was that about?" Hermione asks, watching Lee leave.
"It's not incredibly important," I reply, not knowing how to explain to Hermione about Katie, Angelina and Alicia and their relationships with Fred and I. From about fourth year on, Fred and I have been hooking up with the three of them on and off, both drunk and sober. And embarrassingly enough, several times as a group of three. Name the combination and we've done it.
It's actually rather surprising that more people don't know about it.
Hermione still examines me closely.
"We'll talk over break, okay?" I ask her, hoping that she'd forget about it.
She nods at me and stifles yet another yawn. I pull her close to me, breathing her scent in deeply, holding her tightly against my bare chest. I loosen my arms around her and place a kiss on her forehead.
"Goodnight, Hermione," I say, making to step away from her.
She smirks at me and I look at her in confusion. She brings her hand to the back of my head and tilts my head towards her, placing a kiss on my lips. She steps back slowly and I watch as she climbs the stairs to her room.
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