Part 13 - Busted

"Start talking, Georgie."

"You know, Freddie, I'd love to, but I best be getting back to my date, don't ya think?"

George went to walk past Fred, towards the ball, but Fred stopped him with a hand on his chest and a booming laugh.

"George," Fred started, still chuckling slightly. "Jane left ages ago, mate. Actually, pretty much everyone's gone to bed. I think our sister and Neville are the only ones left at this point."

"Oh," George said dumbly.

He really hadn't thought he had been gone so long, but he must have spent more time with Eve than he realized. He hoped Jane was able to enjoy the rest of the evening without him, and he made a mental note to apologize the next time he saw her.

"Oh," Fred mocked.

Fred started down a corridor, headed towards the Gryffindor common room, and George followed him silently. He was half panicked, half relieved. He hated lying to Fred, and he wasn't much good at it anyway, so it was a bit of a relief to have been found out, but he also knew Eve didn't want anyone to know about them yet, though he still didn't know why, so he had no idea to explain any of this.

"So that's what you've been hiding from me?" Fred started, breaking the silence. "Malfoy's cousin?"

The clear distaste in his brother's tone made George frown. "She's nothing like him," he defended without hesitation, his voice a little harsher than he had intended, but Fred just laughed.

"Is it serious?" he inquired, playfully nudging into his shoulder.

George rolled his eyes, but didn't answer right away, taking a moment to consider the question. He quickly realized he wasn't quite sure. They had definitely come a long way from snogging in closets, but she was still so guarded around him and they had yet to really discuss what they are.

"I'm not sure," George admitted with a sigh. "Honestly, she's so hard to read. Every time I think I have her figured out, she does something I never saw coming, and I'm back to square one. I can never tell what she's thinking and it's not like she ever tells me, so hell if I know. I swear, she drives me absolutely mad, Fred."

Fred was quiet for a moment, and when he finally spoke, all hints of humor were gone from his tone. "You really fancy her, huh?"

George hadn't really considered that before. In fact, he actively avoided the thought and was almost a little annoyed that Fred brought it up. George hadn't wanted to admit his feelings, even to himself, without first knowing where he really stood with Eve. But denying it didn't make it any less true.

His feelings were clear, even to Fred. Tonight was more than enough proof of that. He really did fancy her, probably more than he should, and while he certainly hoped she felt the same, it wouldn't change how he felt even if she didn't. She, at the very least, seemed to enjoy spending time with him and that was enough. At least, for now.

"Yeah, Freddie, I think I do," George finally replied with a small smile.

Fred returned his smile for a moment, before frowning. "Why didn't you just tell me?" he groaned.

"She asked me not to," George said, chuckling quietly at the memory. It really was really more of a threat, but same thing, right?

"How come?"

George scowled at the question. Of course Fred would ask that, leave it to him to bring up the one thing George was really hoping to avoid in this conversation. He wanted to know, he really did, but he hadn't quite worked up the courage to ask her why. He had many theories at this point, each one worse than the next, and they all involved some form of her being ashamed of being with him.

If that was the case, he definitely wasn't ready to face it just yet.

Fred laughed suddenly. "That bad?"

George sighed and gave his brother a sheepish smile. "I'm afraid to ask."

Fred laughed and George joined. Even he could admit the pure ridiculousness of the situation was a little funny. If the roles had been reversed, he would've been giving Fred hell for it, that's for sure. He was grateful that Fred seemed to be taking it pretty easy on him, more or less. Though the fact that he was made George a little nervous, knowing the only reason Fred would do that is if he knew it was serious.

Somehow Fred seemed more confident about this whole thing that he did himself. But then again, Fred hadn't seen how closed off Eve was. If he had, surely he wouldn't be this confident.

"Wait!" Fred cried suddenly, stopping in his tracks. George turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow. Fred stood still for a moment, looking deep in thought, before finally meeting George's gaze. "This all started because of that kiss, didn't it?"

George couldn't help the loud chortle that came out of him, his whole body shaking with laughter. "You're seriously just now getting that?" Fred rolled his eyes, punching George in the arm as they resumed walking. "I don't know, I just couldn't stop thinking about it after that and I had to know if she was, too."

"Of course she was," Fred said with a wink.

George chuckled, shaking his head. "At first, that's really all we were doing, just sneaking around to snog in whatever empty room or closet we could find."

"But?"

"But then I asked her to the ball, which you already know she shot down. So I started dodging her after that, until she confronted me. Apparently girls don't like being ignored."

"Wait, what?" Fred asked with feigned surprise and they both laughed.

"Yeah, who knew. So, anyway, then I told her to meet me at the Quidditch field. Snuck out at night, after everyone had gone to bed."

Fred's hand flew to his chest with a sharp inhale and he looked at George with hurt eyes. "You snuck out without me?" he whined. George rolled his eyes, but otherwise ignored his brother's joking comment as Fred chuckled. "So how was that?"

"Good, we sat and chatted for a bit. Then I found out she's afraid of flying." Fred looked genuinely shocked and George couldn't help but laugh. "That was my reaction, too! So, naturally, I made her go flying with me," he said nonchalantly, making Fred laugh. "She really wasn't kidding, at first she was holding on so tight I could hardly breathe."

"So since then, it's been less 'snogging in closets' and more 'secret romance,' eh?" Fred asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"I don't know what it is. Like I said, she's really closed off. I don't think she trusts me."

"Well, she doesn't trust much of anyone from what I hear." George raised a curious eyebrow at his brother. "Lee was saying Paul was talking about her the other day, finds her quite odd, I suppose. Says she doesn't really mingle with anyone, just sort of follows Malfoy around everywhere."

"Yeah," George responds thoughtfully.

That was another mystery he still hadn't solved. Eve and the Malfoys. It still seemed like such an odd match to him, especially with how close her and Draco seemed to be. Close enough that he told her about George being on the Quidditch team. George wondered briefly if she had told him about them, but quickly dismissed it as it seemed rather unlikely considering she was the one who didn't want anyone to know.

"It's odd, isn't it?" George started, looking over at Fred. "Granted there's still a lot I don't know about her, but from everything I've seen, Eve is nothing like the Malfoys, but she does seem to be quite close with Draco."

"Have you asked her about it?"

George shook his head no. "Honestly, I usually try to avoid the subject altogether when I'm with her."

Fred laughed, patting George on the back. "Probably for the best, mate."

When they got back to their dorm room, Fred knocked out almost as soon as he had laid down, but George was left awake with his thoughts. He laid in bed pondering Eve's relationship with Malfoy, replaying every interaction he had seen the two share. While he was curious about the rest of the Malfoys as well, he had nothing to go off of for that.

It felt like hours had passed before George finally made up his mind. With his resolve settling in, he could finally relax enough to get some sleep. He would definitely need his rest for tomorrow. George drifted off to sleep that night, determined to finally ask Eve about her relationship with Malfoy and his family.

AN:

Hello, lovelies!

Sorry for the late update again, guys! I honestly just forgot lol maybe Mondays might be a better day to schedule updates since I seem to always forget on Fridays hahaha

As always, a huge thank you to everyone who has read, followed, favorited, and reviewed this story!

Mae