Part 12 - The Yule Ball

The next few days leading up to the ball flew by. George and Eve had fallen back into a routine of sneaking around together, except now there were conversations in between all the snogging. George was slowly learning more and more about Eve, like her obsession with muggle novels. While steamy romance novels did seem to make up a good portion of her collection, she also read a lot of horror and fantasy. Apparently she found muggle depictions of witches and wizards quite comical.

His absolute favorite thing about her, however, is how her breath still catches every time he calls her Evie. He hasn't asked her about it yet, but it happens every time and he adores it. Eve is taking up more and more of his time and attention. Even when they aren't together, she was always on his mind. And as a result, it was becoming increasingly difficult to hide it from Fred.

There were a couple occasions they were almost caught. George always tried to play it off, but Fred never fully believed him. He could tell his brother was becoming increasingly frustrated with George's lies, but he never said it outright. Part of George wondered why he was even bothering to hide it still, but Eve didn't seem to want anyone to know, and George was a little afraid to ask why.

Now that the ball had finally arrived, Fred was having the time of his life, twirling Angelina around the dance floor, making her laugh constantly. George, on the other hand, was more occupied with the food. He had danced a couple songs with Jane, but was quick to retreat to the food table as soon as a slow song came on. He already felt guilty for even being there with her, he certainly wasn't about to hold her for a slow dance. Eve was the only one he wanted in his arms like that.

George couldn't help but wonder what she was up to and why she said she wasn't able to come to the dance. It was odd, but everytime George considered asking her about it, he'd remember how she'd yelled at him the last time and would chicken out. He didn't want to fight with Eve again, and if that meant having to tiptoe around certain subjects, like the ball or her relationship with the Malfoys, then that was what he was going to do.

"George!" Jane snapped, pulling George from his thoughts. From the expression on her face, George guessed she had probably called his name a couple times.

"I'm sorry," George said with a sheepish smile. "What were you saying?"

"Just forget it," she hissed, storming off towards the dance floor.

George shoved the pastry he was holding into his mouth in one bite and moved to go after her, legitimately feeling bad for ruining her night. That had never been his intention. But something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look at the open doorway to the ballroom and just barely caught sight of blonde hair running past. Eve. He glanced back over at Jane, who was now dancing with some friends and seemed moderately okay. So he took off after Eve instead.

As George entered the hall, he found himself alone, with no Eve in sight. He wandered the halls aimlessly, unsure of where she would have gone. After roaming around for a while, he was beginning to think he had been seeing things, when he saw a light flickering from inside the library. He walked into the library and spotted Eve sitting at a table, surrounded by a pile of large books.

"This is why you couldn't come to the ball?" George scoffed, the distaste clear in his tone.

Eve jumped out of her seat at the sound of his voice, her hand flying to point her wand at him. George laughed, holding his hands up in surrender.

"George! You have to stop doing that," Eve whined, putting her wand away.

Eve sat back down in her seat, turning away from George. George was still laughing as he walked over and hopped up on the table she was sitting at, smiling down at her.

"You seriously turned me down so you could study?"

"I'm not studying, I'm looking for something." George raised a questioning eyebrow at her and she shook her head slightly. "It doesn't matter," she mumbled, looking away from him and back down at the open book in front of her. "Shouldn't you be with your date?"

"Is that jealousy I'm hearing?"

"No!" Eve answered quickly. Too quickly.

George couldn't keep the smug grin off his face as he bent over, leaning close to Eve. With his fingers under her chin, he tilted her head up so she was looking at him again, before placing a soft kiss on her lips. He pulled back only slightly, their faces only centimeters apart, staring into her eyes.

"I only took someone to get Fred off my back," he said gently. "Promise."

George could see a hint of a smile pulling at the corner of Eve's lips, but she didn't allow it to fully take hold. "Still," she muttered, looking away from him. "You should get back."

George rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Don't think I will," he said as he leaned back on his arms.

Eve looked back up, narrowing her eyes at him. George just smiled in return, wiggling his eyebrows at her. They were challenging each other, both stubborn as hell and determined to come out on top. And George was convinced he was winning, so when Eve smiled mischievously, he was a little caught off guard.

"Fine." Eve turned to her side, grabbing a book. "If you're going to stay, you might as well make yourself useful."

Eve held the book out to George, as he scowled down at it. He was about to tell her there was no way he was spending the night buried in books, but when he looked at her his resolve faltered. She was giving him the oddest look, not a glare or a smug smirk that he would expect from her, but a disapproving look. The type of look his mother always gave him and Fred whenever they got themselves into trouble. Which was almost constantly.

"Very well," he surrendered, grabbing the book from her and opening it. "What exactly are we looking for?"

"Fire spells."

George furrowed his eyebrows, looking back at Eve, but her attention was back on the book in front of her. "Why are we looking for fire spells?"

"No questions, just reading," she replied without even looking up.

He stared at her for a moment, but when she ignored him and kept reading, George gave up and turned his attention to the book she had given him.

They spent a while flipping through books. George wasn't exactly sure how much time had passed, but it felt like forever. Anytime he found anything fire related, he would show it to Eve. She'd take a moment to read about it before saying "Nope, keep looking." Clearly, she was looking for something specific, but she wouldn't give George anymore information so they kept repeating the same routine.

Eventually, George couldn't take it anymore, and he dramatically flopped back so he was laying down on the table with a loud groan.

"Are we really going to do this all night?" he whined.

"I told you to go back to the dance."

That was true, she had tried to tell him to go back. And George would love to … if Eve was there. He'd love nothing more than to dance the night away with her in his arms. George shot up suddenly, earning him a look from Eve that said she was wondering if he had lost his mind. And maybe he had. He hopped off the desk and held his hand out to Eve.

"Dance with me."

Eve rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous."

"You can take a break for five minutes."

George doesn't give Eve a choice and takes hold of her wrist, pulling her out of her seat. He led her to the center of the walkway, giving them enough room. Eve folds her arms across her chest, giving George the same disapproving look.

"George," she scolded flatly.

"Evie," he teased back.

As always, Eve's breath hitched for a moment and her arms uncrossed. George took advantage of her moment of weakness and pulled her close, placing one hand on the small of her back and holding her hand with the other. Before she could have a chance to protest, he was already moving and she seemed to just naturally follow his movements. She laughed loudly as he spun her around the library.

They danced exuberantly to the faint music that just barely reached down to the library for a while, before George pulled her back in close and they began swaying back and forth leisurely. Eve smiled gently as she looked up at him.

"You clean up nice," she said.

George feigned a shocked expression, his hand dramatically flying to his chest. "Was that a compliment?"

Eve narrowed her eyes at him, but there was still a hint of a smile on her lips. "Don't push your luck, Weasley."

"Oh, but darling, that's what I do best," George said smugly, his hand tilting her chin up slightly. "You are so beautiful."

Eve's eyes widened ever so slightly, as if this was surprising to hear for some reason. George couldn't imagine why. She had to know how utterly stunning she was, right? How could she not. She didn't say anything, but reached up slightly until their lips met in a gentle, but passionate kiss.

"Mr. Weasley."

The suddenness of the voice made Eve jump slightly, and she pushed herself out of George's arms, much to his distaste. They both looked towards the entrance of the library to find Professor Snape stalking towards them, his gaze on George the entire time. He looked annoyed, though George was pretty sure that was just the way his face was. He stopped just a few feet short of them and finally glanced over at Eve.

"And Miss De Luca," he added. George thought his tone sounded a little odd as he addressed Eve, but he wasn't about to try and decipher the inner workings of Snape's mind. "10 points from Gryffindor and Slytherin. I suggest you get back to the ball before I decide to add detention to that as well."

Eve immediately started walking out of the library and George followed quickly behind her, trying to stifle a laugh. That would definitely earn him at least a week's worth of detention, he was sure. They had just about reached the door when Snape's voice made them stop.

"Miss De Luca." Eve turned to look back at him, George following her lead. Snape's expression seemed less annoyed than usual, but his voice was stern when he spoke. "That is the second time I have had to take points from my own house because of you. Do not make it a habit."

George looked over at Eve curiously, but her gaze was still trained on Snape. There was an uncomfortably long pause and George kept glancing back and forth between the two, trying to understand what was happening. Suddenly, Eve smiled brightly.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Professor," she said, her tone mostly serious, but George could have sworn there was a hint of playfulness in it.

Eve quickly turned on her heels, and nearly ran out of the library, George following closely behind her. As soon as they were out of ear shot, Eve looked at George with an amused expression and he couldn't contain his laughter anymore.

"Second time, eh? What a rebel," George teased, grabbing Eve by her waist and pulling her close. She threw her head back in laughter.

"You know me," she said with a smug smirk. "You really should get back to your date now, you know."

George frowned slightly, but nodded his head in agreement. "You know," he started slowly, carefully thinking about how to word what he wanted to say. "I won't ask what that was about, but … just a suggestion, fire spells are fun and well, but don't have much use other than staying warm."

Eve tilted her head, her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know anyone who can't put out a fire spell, we learned that in like our first year of charms."

Eve's eyes went wide. "George, you're a genius!" she exclaimed, reaching up to meet his lips in a quick kiss before running off.

George was left standing in the open, staring down the corridor she had just disappeared down, feeling a little confused but satisfied nevertheless, unable to keep the smile off his face. He watched the empty corridor for a few more moments, before deciding it was time to head back to the ball.

He turned to head back, but stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of his brother leaning up against the wall, arms crossed and a knowing smile on his smug face.

Damn.

AN:

Hello, lovelies!

I am SO sorry I forgot to post on Friday! This weekend was a little hectic and I just completely forgot to be honest lol. But here it is! Thank you so so much to every person who has left a review, it makes me smile every time. I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story.

This was such a fun chapter to write. Fluff, angry Snape, the ever mysterious Evie still acting odd, and of course the ending! Wonder what Freddie is gonna say... you'll find out Friday (maybe sooner :P)

Mae