Part 9 - Hot and Cold

George was still on a high from his kiss with Eve the day before. The morning flew by, not in a slow haze as before, but as if he was watching the world rush by him from a train window. Clear, visible, and aware of what was happening, but over before he knew it. It felt like it had only been all of five minutes before it was already time to head to the Great Hall for lunch.

George and Fred hung out outside of their class, waiting for Lee to be done talking to the professor so they could all head to the Great Hall together. Fred hadn't brought up yesterday's incident once. George knew he was suspicious, but if Fred wasn't going to say anything, neither was he. Fred was in the middle of talking about another idea for an invention when George got the feeling someone was staring at him.

George looked up and sure enough, his eyes locked with a familiar pair of deep blue eyes at the end of the hall. Eve just stood for a moment, holding his gaze. George's head perked up a little, curious as to what she was doing, and he barely even heard what Fred was saying at this point. Eve began walking towards another corridor, giving George one last glance before she disappeared around the corner.

Was that … an invitation? George couldn't be sure, but he had a feeling she wanted him to follow her and that was all he needed. He mumbled out that he had forgotten something and was off running down the hall before Fred could protest. His blood was boiling with anticipation and he whipped around the corner and saw … nothing.

The corridor was empty.

"Eve?" George called out, confused, as he took a couple steps down the hall. "Eve?" he repeated in a hushed tone.

Everything happened at once, before George could fully process what was happening. He vaguely heard the sound of a door opening and next thing he knew, something grabbed his arm. He was yanked into a room, the door slamming behind him with a loud crack. He took a minute to collect himself. He was in a small closet of some sort, and Eve was standing in front of him, only inches away. Close enough that he could feel the body heat radiating off of her, smell her sweet aroma that he could only compare to warm sugar.

George flashed her a smug smirk. "Fancy meeting you here."

Eve rolled her eyes and her expression appeared annoyed, but she couldn't quite keep the humor out of her voice when she spoke. "Shut up."

Eve's hands were around his neck, pulling his face to hers in a heartbeat. Their lips came crashing together hard. One hand went to the side of Eve's face, holding her cheek, while the other wrapped around the small of her back. George pulled until Eve's body was pressing against his own. He felt her inhale sharply as their hips collided.

This kiss was different, it was greedy, almost desperate. Which was about how George was feeling right then, and he needed more. The next time her lips parted in their rhythm, George's tongue swept across, in between her lips and teeth. The quiet moan that escaped from Eve's lips almost undid him completely. Her mouth opened, inviting more, and George happily obliged. His tongue met hers and they began to dance together.

Eve's leg lifted slightly, rubbing against the side of George's thigh, and he took the opportunity to grab it. His other hand quickly found the thigh of her other leg and he lifted her up. Her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, her mouth never leaving his. He was only half aware of himself, so when he pushed her against the wall, she slammed against it a little harder than he had intended.

His excitement quickly turned to panic and he broke the kiss. They were both breathing hard, but she barely gave him a chance to catch his breath, let alone ask her if she was okay. Her fingers crept into his hair, grabbing a fistful and pulling his mouth back to hers. Guess she was fine. George positioned his knee under her to help hold her up, so his hands could be free to roam, and roam they did.

One went straight to her hair, grabbing a fistful like she had done to him, while the other found its way just under her shirt. He rubbed up and down the contour of her waist, the feeling of her soft skin under his hands completely intoxicating. Just as he was about to lose himself completely in the sensation of it, Eve pulled away.

George watched her carefully, trying to gauge what she was doing. She stared at his mouth, biting her bottom lip, and it took everything in him not to kiss her again so he could feel her lip between his teeth instead. She closed her eyes for a moment, slowing her breathing, before finally looking him in the eye. She appeared calm but there was still a hunger in her eyes, a hunger George was sure his own reflected.

"I have to go," she said quietly.

That was the last thing George wanted to hear. "Absolutely not."

She opened her mouth to respond, surely in a disapproving way, but George's mouth was on her neck before she could fully get the words out, so when she finally said his name, it came out as a moan instead. George let out a half moan, half groan against her skin. The sound of her moaning his name was enough to make him weak. Did she even have any idea what that just did to him? How was he supposed to let her leave now?

"Bloody hell, Eve," he breathed out, resting his forehead on her shoulder, struggling to find some semblance of control.

They stayed like that for a moment, while George tried to calm himself. He wasn't fully collected, but he was aware enough now. He put his leg down, allowing her to slowly unwrap her legs from his waist and stand on her own feet again. He was still going to need a moment to compose himself, but she didn't have the same problem, so she could go. It was probably better they didn't leave at the same time anyway, just in case.

Eve ran her fingers through the length of her hair a couple times, combing out any knotts his hands had created, and then she straightened out her uniform. She stepped around George, headed for the door, but stopped just as her hand reached for the knob. She turned back around to face him, her expression suddenly serious.

"I want to make something clear," she said. George didn't respond with words, but tilted his head curiously. "If you tell anyone about this, I will hex your ass into the next century, got it?"

George couldn't help but laugh as he threw his hands up in surrender. "Not a soul," he replied.

She flashed him a quick smirk before leaving.

After taking a few moments to fully calm himself and straighten himself out as well, George left the closet and headed for the Great Hall. He found Fred and Lee, almost finished eating already. As he walked towards them, the smell of the food hit him and he suddenly realized just how hungry he was. He was grabbing food before he had even taken his seat. Fred gave George a weird look as he sat next to him.

"What?" George mumbled out, his mouth full of food.

Fred shook his head, but once again, didn't say anything.

...

Over the next couple days, George would sneak off with Eve every chance he got. There was never a lot of conversation between them, just hot and heavy snogging. Not that he was complaining, but there was a part of him that wanted more. He ignored that part of him as long as he could, until it just burst out.

"Go to the ball with me," he had blurted out suddenly while his lips were brushing against the skin on her neck.

He felt her stiffen, her heavy breathing stopping instantly, and he almost regretted what he said. Almost. He pulled back to look at her. Her eyes were wide, unable to hide the shock. Eve was usually so good at controlling her facial expressions, but George must have caught her completely off guard this time.

"What?" she asked, blinking a couple times.

George smiled. Seeing her flustered was quickly becoming one of his favorite things. "Go to the ball with me," he repeated.

Eve scoffed, seeming to finally gain a little control over her expression. "Is that a request or a demand?"

George rolled his eyes, but couldn't help the smile that formed on his lips. "Will you go to the Yule ball with me?"

"No," she answered flatly, reaching up to kiss him again, but George pulled back in surprise.

"No? Whaddya mean no?" He didn't want to admit the bruise that just gave his ego, but he couldn't quite keep the hurt from the tone of his voice.

Eve didn't seem to notice. She just shrugged and nonchalantly said, "I can't."

"Can't?"

"That's what I said." The tone of her voice was becoming increasingly annoyed, but George just couldn't stop himself.

"Why can't you go with me," he demanded, probably a little harsher than he should have.

His first thought was that she was already going with someone else and he couldn't get the image out of his head. There was a rush of adrenaline at the thought of it, but this was different. It wasn't the exciting warmth and twisting, turning motion in the pit of his stomach like it was when he was with Eve, but rather a borderline painful fire in his chest. It was like the idea of her with someone else triggered his fight or flight, and George Weasley was definitely a fighter.

"Because I'm not going," Eve said matter-of-factly.

She must have had enough, because she pushed passed George and walked out of the closet they were in. At that moment, George didn't care if anyone saw them, he immediately followed after her. She was taking long, angry strides down the hall, but George was able to easily match her speed.

"You're not going?"

Eve stopped in tracks, turning to face George. Her long blonde hair whipped through the air as she turned, as if it was an extension of her anger. "Are you just going to repeat everything I say?"

George took a slow breath and made a conscious effort to soften his tone as he said, "I'm just trying to understand."

Too little, too late, apparently. "Well don't," she spat bitterly. "I'm not going, end of story."

She stormed off again, but this time George didn't follow her. He didn't really know what had just happened, but clearly, she didn't want to talk to him. And as he walked to the Great Hall, he started to feel so dumb for ever thinking she did. George had let the physical chemistry that clearly existed between them fool him into thinking she liked him, and now he was hit with the truth he should have seen all along.

George couldn't figure out exactly what he was feeling. Hurt? Angry? Disappointed? Bitter? Maybe a little of all of them? By the time he made it to the Great Hall for dinner, his head was spinning. As he walked towards where Fred was seated, he looked at the food and realized none of it looked appetizing, but as he took his seat next to Fred, he loaded up his plate anyway in a sad attempt to keep up the appearance that nothing was going on.

He wasn't sure why he was even still bothering to try to lie to Fred about what was going on. Did it even matter now that it was apparently over, whatever it was? The first bite of food George took made him feel sick to his stomach. He couldn't eat right now and ended up just pushing his food around the plate with his fork. If he did want to hide things from Fred still, he was doing a terrible job at it right now. And apparently Fred had had enough.

"Alright," Fred said, pushing his plate away from him. He swung one leg over the bench, so that he was now straddling it, facing George. "I've let this slide long enough, what the hell is going on with you?" George was about to respond, pretending to be clueless, when Fred beat him to it. "Don't you dare play dumb with me, Georgie. You've been acting weird for days now."

Damn. George wasn't sure how he was going to get out of this one. He couldn't resist, and allowed himself a glance at the Slytherin table. He wasn't sure what he was hoping to accomplish with that look, but he didn't expect to find Eve staring at him. She smiled at him, before turning to look at Malfoy, who was clearly talking to her about something.

A smile? She smiled at him? She had just shot him down and yelled at him, and now she's giving him a smile? George had no idea what to think right now, and he certainly had no desire to try to explain it to Fred knowing damn well he'd have his own ideas about what's happening. George didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to know what Fred thought about the situation he had gotten himself into.

George groaned, letting his head fall to hit the edge of the table. "I don't want to talk about it right now, Fred."

Fred was quiet for a moment before he let out a sigh and George could feel him moving to sit normally again. "Fine. But this conversation isn't over."