CHAPTER ELEVEN: KISSING
The Weasley's, plus Hermione, Harry, Buffy and Joyce sat down at the suddenly extended dinner table, eating and drinking, joking with each other and studiously ignoring everything that Percy was saying. In the middle of the table, Mrs Weasley was arguing with Bill about his earring, which seemed to be a recent acquisition.
"…with a horrible great fang on it, really Bill, what do they think at the bank?"
"Mum, no one at the bank gives a damn how I dress as long as I bring home plenty of treasure," said Bill patiently.
"And your hair's getting silly, dear," Said Mrs Weasley, fingering her wand lovingly. "I wish you'd let me give it a trim…don't you agree Joyce?"
Joyce just laughed and shook her head. "I'm not even going to try and get in the middle of that one," Joyce replied.
Buffy shrugged. "I kinda like it," she admitted. "Not many guys can pull off long hair, but…it really works."
Bill grinned and winked at Buffy who smiled back. George scowled and ran a hand through his own short hair, wondering what he'd look like with his red locks a little longer.
There was suddenly a quiet pop as a slightly tubby man with balding hair suddenly appeared in the kitchen. All eight Weasley's greeted him simultaneously, Harry and Hermione joining in. Arthur Weasley's eyes lit up as he took in the almost-forgotten face seated beside his wife.
"Joyce Potter," Arthur said as Joyce stood to hug the man in greeting. "It's been nearly fifteen years. Oh, and young Eliza as well. When Harry told me he wanted his aunt and his cousin to visit, I thought he was taking the mickey, but…here you stand."
"It's great to see you again Arthur," Joyce replied, smiling widely. "It's been far too long."
Arthur took a seat, squeezing in beside Percy and Bill.
"Did you get them?" Ron asked excitedly.
Arthur nodded and quickly produced an envelope full of tickets of the Quidditch World Cup Match. Bill quickly took them, looking at them closely. He flicked through them, glad to see that all the seats were together. And then he noticed something very odd.
"Uh, dad…if mum's not coming, why'd you get eleven tickets?" Bill asked.
Arthur's brow furrowed in confusion. "I didn't. There should only be ten." He took them off his son and quickly counted them. "Well, I'll be…eleven. Molly dear, are you sure you don't want to come?"
Molly shook her head. "It's all a bit violent for me really. Never been a fan of Quidditch," she said.
Arthur turned to look at Joyce. "What about you Joycie?" Arthur asked.
Joyce shook her head as well. She wasn't sure why, but she couldn't stand the thought of watching a Quidditch Game. She'd never been to one where her brother wasn't either playing or watching. It would feel wrong, and she just couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Eliza?" Arthur asked.
Buffy sighed and knew she'd need to get used to people calling her two different names. Although as names went, Eliza wasn't exactly terrible to get used to.
"Yeah sure," Buffy replied. George bit into his bread to hide his wide grin. "Just one question though…what's Quidditch?"
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Buffy sat with George on her left and Harry on her right, completely enraptured by what was happening on front of her. When everyone had explained what Quidditch was the night before, she'd never imagine it to be anything like what was happening before her eyes. The players were flying at breakneck speed, fifty feet about the ground, throwing around a red ball as two other black balls tried to knock them off their brooms.
Buffy had never been a very big fan of sports, regardless of the fact that she'd been a cheerleader, but watching Quidditch was pumping her adrenaline as much as any patrol had ever done. The atmosphere was phenomenal. Mr Weasley had somehow procured top box seats, and Harry and his friends were attempting to ignore a flaxen-haired boy named Draco Malfoy and his parents.
But apart from sharing the box with the snobbish trio and a strange looking house-elf (that thankfully hadn't been as creepy as the now-deceased Kreacher) who was afraid of heights, the day had been spectacular.
Fred and George had bet their entire savings, Buffy pitching in ten galleons from her own pocket to make the total bet forty-seven galleons, fifteen sickles and three knuts. They'd bet that Ireland would win, but the Viktor Krum the Bulgarian Seeker would catch the snitch. They'd agreed to split the money three-ways if they'd won.
And so far, it looked as though the twins guess would be right. There was a sudden deafening groan from the entire crowd; Krum's nose looked broken from a fast-paced bludger to the face. Buffy winced in sympathy. She'd had more than her fair share of broken bones over the years and knew that it had to be painful.
Harry and Ron were yelling for a time out, but the Irish Seeker suddenly shot his broom into a dive and Krum immediately followed. The entire crowd got to their feet, leaning over the seats in front of them, clambering for a better look. People were holding their breath as the two Seekers plummeted towards the ground.
"They're going to crash!" Hermione shrieked.
"They're not!" roared Ron.
"Lynch is!" yelled Harry.
Lynch hit the ground with a tremendous thud. Charlie was yelling questioningly about the snitch and then the magically magnified voice of Ludo Bagman boomed through the stadium
"Ireland win!" shouted Bagman. "Krum gets the snitch, but Ireland win! Good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!"
George and Fred were grinning madly, George throwing his arms around Buffy and jumping up and down excitedly. Fred grabbed hold of them both and joined in the fun, no one thinking they were nuts, because many others in the stadium seemed to be jumping up and down as well.
The two Quidditch teams did laps of honour around the stadium, and the Irish team were presented with the World Cup. The roars of the crowd were deafening for both the winning team, and the Bulgarian Seeker. When the two teams retreated back into their change rooms, Bagman, who had been seated in the Top Box with the Weasley's and co. unmagnified his voice and looked to George and Fred who had their hands out, ready to be paid for winning the bet they'd placed with Bagman.
"I owe you…how much?"
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When they reached the tents where they were staying for the evening, none of them were even remotely tired, and Mr Weasley agreed to allow them to stay up for a final cup of hot coca. They sat around the tent, arguing agreeably over the match, Harry and Ron often jumping to their feet and actively presenting a move they'd been impressed by. It was only when Ginny fell asleep in the middle of the table and spilled hot coca all over the tent that Mr Weasley announced that they all needed to be in bed.
Hermione, Ginny and Buffy went into the next tent, quickly changing into their pyjamas. Buffy was just glad that the blankets were warm, seeing as she hadn't realised that British Summers were still fairly cool, compared to the Californian Summer she'd just come from. All she was in where a pair of short shorts and a singlet top that left a good inch of her stomach showing.
The Weasley boys and Harry clambered into their bunks attempting to sleep. Nearly everyone had dozed off when suddenly the raucous yelling took a different turn. It was no longer the yells of jubilation, they began to turn into cries of fear.
The Weasley's and co. were suddenly out of bed and out of their tents, and they could see people running away into the woods, fleeing something that was moving across the field towards them. Loud jeering and drunken yells were drifting towards them, then came a burst of strong green light, which illuminated the scene.
There was a group of wizards, all dressed in black robes with white masks marching below three people who were suspended in mid-air. On the ground, tents were being blasted out of their path and burned as the group continued to laugh and cause havoc.
"That's sick," Ron muttered.
Bill, Charlie and Percy emerged from the boys tent, fully dressed, their wands out.
"We're going to help the Ministry," Mr Weasley shouted over all the noise, "You lot – get into the woods and stick together. I'll come fetch you when we've sorted this out!"
Fred grabbed Ginny's hand as George grabbed Buffy's hand, the twins leading the group towards the cover of the woods. In the confusion of the green light suddenly going out, the group became separated, splitting into three.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were together, Fred and Ginny managed to stay with each other, and George and Buffy gripped each others hands tightly.
Buffy wasn't used to hiding amongst the trees while all the action was happening outside, but she knew that this wasn't something she had the knowledge to deal with. Everything inside of her was screaming to go and help the poor people who the black wizards were tormenting, but she didn't know enough (or any) magic to help them.
George pulled them to a stop, the two of them hiding behind a tree, Buffy pressing her back against it as George stayed protectively in front of her, standing incredibly close to each other.
"Alright there?" George whispered.
Buffy nodded and swallowed hard, the adrenaline still running. She was shivering slightly from the cold, having not grabbed a jacket when they'd been pulled out of bed earlier. George seemed to notice the slight shaking of Buffy's bare shoulders, and, after taking a moment to stare at the girl he had a crush on, he shrugged out of his Hogwarts cloak and placed it around Buffy's shoulders, running his hands up and down Buffy's arms to keep her warm.
"Thanks," she whispered softly.
George just nodded and fought to keep his heartbeat at a regular pace. Of course, after the run through the woods, and the fact that he was standing incredibly close to Buffy, it was making it slightly difficult.
The two of them fell silent, listening to each others breathing as they tried to gauge how far away the riot was.
George looked at Buffy, about to tell her that he thought that it would be safe to try and find the others, but he stopped suddenly, completely transfixed by the girl in front of him. He swallowed hard and lifted his shaking hand to touch Buffy's blonde hair for the second time in two days.
He hesitated for a moment before slowly bringing his lips closer to hers, applying the gentlest pressure as their lips met in a soft kiss. He drew back, looking into Buffy's eyes seeking for her approval to repeat his actions, and something in them, a deep pained look made him stop.
"Should I not have…"
"It's not that," Buffy whispered. "I like you. Definite like, George…but…I – I can't do this just yet."
George nodded sadly. "There's someone else," he guessed.
"Yeah," Buffy replied sadly. "Or…there was. It's just…he…things were complicated between he and I, and…we…it ended badly. I'm not ready to…"
George nodded and pressed a gentle finger to Buffy's lips, silencing her. He already knew the rest. "I get it," he whispered. "I can wait."
Buffy nodded and rested her head against his shoulders, tears welling in her eyes. George hugged her tightly unable to believe that someone he'd met only the day before could make him feel so much.
"Friends?" he whispered.
Buffy nodded and pulled her head away from his shoulder and gently kissed his cheek. "That'd be really nice."
George nodded, thankful for that small comfort. He took hold of her hand, and they began walking carefully through the woods, back towards their tents. George suddenly stopped.
"There is one thing you should probably know," he said seriously.
"What?" Buffy asked worriedly.
"I'm Fred, not George," he dead-panned.
Buffy's jaw dropped, and she was about to begin sputtering out an excuse when George's lips twitched into a grin. Buffy glared at him and hit his stomach forcefully.
"That was not nice," she said in mock-anger.
"Oh come on…we're friends," he reminded her. "That's what friends do…we tease each other."
In the darkness, Buffy grinned, thankful that things seemed to be looking up for her year at Hogwarts, and that she hadn't completely ruined things with a really great potential boyfriend just because she wasn't quite ready to move on just yet.
Beside the Slayer, George sighed, wishing that things had gone how he'd hoped they would, but he was just grateful that he hadn't been completely rejected by her. And perhaps in time, his girl would be ready to begin something with him. And until then, they would remain friends.
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Hmmm, I KNOW that parts of this chapter resemble Sam-453's, but…dammit this was written nearly three weeks ago! *sighs* Oh well. So, no I'm not some meanie plagiarist, we just happen to think alike. Many thanks for all your feedback, you guys completely ROCK!
Toodles.
DKG.