Just for your information I typed this up on campus, surrounded by all my friends, who don't know I write fanfiction. I did this so I wouldn't take forever to upload this time. Still though, a lot of them read fanfiction and I'd rather they didn't know about this because I'm super self conscious about my writing... So you're welcome.
Also I've decided that it's just easier for me to not have a set schedule of when I post chapters. At the latest I'll try to keep it to once a month, at the very latest, other than that I'll post whenever I have time to finish one. Oh and this is super long in my opinion so let me know if you think this is too much, just enough, or somehow too short.
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"Is it true? Tell me it's not true!" Daphne demanded as she entered our room. Quickly she moved to sit on my bed with me. I didn't look up from my book to look at her. Her tone was anxious but that behavior wasn't exactly rare for her, especially when discussing things like gossip.
"What is it now?" I sighed. She hadn't said anything else since she'd sat meaning she wanted me to contribute to the conversation. Daphne did this sort of thing so often it was almost a routine.
"Astoria told me that Rachel told her that Eliza said that Daniel—"
"Daphne. Daphne" I repeated, interrupting her. The way she rushed her words made me think she wasn't breathing. "Honestly I haven't the foggiest clue as to who you're talking about. I mean besides your sister of course. Get to the point."
"That Weasley sixth year, the one that you disappeared with the other day—"
"I didn't disappear. I told you we went for a walk" I insisted but she ignored my words.
"Did you kiss him?" she exclaimed, placing a hand on my book. Daphne pushed the copy down and stared at me, demanding an answer. When I didn't give her one she rolled her eyes and continued. "Astoria told me that Rachel—"
"Daphne" I groaned not wanting to hear her attempt at an explanation again. Daphne gave me an exasperated sigh and tried to clarify.
"My sister told me that she knows someone who saw you kissing him during the Yule Ball"
"Oh, that" I said slightly relieved. Part of me had begun to worry that someone had seen us sneaking over to Hogsmeade. Not that it was very probable but still it was possible. "There was a mistletoe where we had been standing."
"What?!" Daphne shrieked, placing a hand over her mouth. I rolled my eyes at her.
"What?"
"So it's true? You kissed him!"
"I was trying to read" I sighed, looking back down at the book she had pushed out of the way.
"B—but he's poor!" she went on, seeing as I had yet to yell at her to be quiet.
"So?" I asked her. I was aware of the difference in our families' wealth; I had visited his home after all. But it didn't really matter. I had learned from past experience that the only thing money did was make people treat each other differently. That was why I never cared much for it. Of course I liked it, it bought me whatever I wanted, but whatever others had was of no concern to me.
"How are you going to survive?"
"Survive?" I repeated looking up at her, being taken off guard.
"If you marry him—"
"Marry? Who's talking about marriage?" I asked putting my book down. Daphne was starting to look flustered now too.
"You'd have to live in one of those… one of those two floor shacks! Who in their right mind only owns two floors!"
"Daphne" I tried to call her attention back to me. She was beginning to give me a weird feeling, between extreme annoyance and genuine concern.
"Oh my god… You'll have to cook for yourself!" she gasped still ignoring me.
"Daphne" I repeated.
"And—and you'll have to clean! Your hands will be filthy and wrinkly! What will happen to your nails?! What—"
"Daphne!" I screamed making her finally stop talking. "Nobody is marrying anyone. We went to the Yule Ball and he kissed me and that's it."
"Oh" she sighed looking unreasonably relieved. "You had me worried for a second."
"Either way it's really none of your business what I do."
"But I'm your friend" she defended.
"Which is why I will speak to you even after you annoy me like this. But if I want to or don't want to kiss someone that's really my problem, not yours" I said slowly to her with a look, making sure she understood what I was saying.
"Fine" she sighed, standing up and moving to her own bed. "I guess I should be happy you don't threaten me all the time like you do with Pansy."
"It's not all the time. Just when she pushes me too far" I defended but in a way she was right.
"Alright, well if you'll excuse me, I have some things to take care of" Daphne said picking herself up and slowly making her way to the door. I smiled at her for a second before turning back to my book.
"If by 'things' you mean spreading this newfound information around then go ahead" I shrugged not caring.
"You're... alright with me telling people?" she asked carefully, most likely assuming it was a trap. I giggled a little.
"I could not care less" I said honestly. "Just don't let me hear you talking about me, for your own good."
"We really do make great friends, you know" she giggled as she closed the distance between her and the door. I smiled at her and shook my head.
"Guess so" I waved at her as she closed the door behind her.
Lev laid on my lap for the next few hours as I read. The book Draco had gifted to me was more interesting than I had expected. I was glad he knew my tastes well enough that he knew what I would enjoy. It was the sort of book that was informative yet interesting enough to have you reading for a very long time. It wasn't until dinner time that I finally set it down and took a break.
As usual I ate with the others, joking about whatever we cared to, before eventually going our separate ways. Crabbe, Goyle and Millicent stayed a little longer to eat some dessert. Daphne and Blaise gathered around the pack of underclassmen who they had learned would follow their every word. The two other boys made their way to the grounds arguing about something that didn't seem worth the effort. And Pansy trailed after them, or rather Draco, taking his side in the argument though obviously not knowing enough about what they were talking about to properly defend it.
Bored, and not feeling the need to continue reading for another couple of hours, I started towards the stairs. I was in search of something that I had put off getting for a few days. Thankfully it didn't take long to find what I was looking for, or rather who I was looking for. George was climbing up the stairs next to his brother and their roommate Lee. I sped up a little to catch up to him before stretching forward to grab his sleeve. To call his attention I pulled it back, not feeling like yelling above the cacophony of noise that filled the corridors after meals.
George paused on the steps and turned to me. He looked annoyed, an expression I didn't think I had seen on him before. Quickly, however, that expression turned to one of surprise and genuine joy. Fred's reaction was very similar to his brother's while Lee's stopped at annoyed. George gestured for them to walk ahead before pulling me aside, into one of the corridors, so we could talk without having to scream.
"Did you miss me" he smirked, leaning in so I could hear him more clearly.
"I missed my stuff" I smiled back making him chuckle. He nodded and placed an arm around my shoulders.
"They're in my room. Would you like to go get them with me?" he asked with a particular smile, looking down at me. I shrugged in response.
"Sure, let's go" I replied and he laughed again. "What?"
"You are so cute" George chuckled before patting my head and leading me upstairs again. I frowned at him and ran a hand through my hair.
"Don't do that."
"Then stop being so cute" he smiled before pausing then giving me a serious look. "Actually, don't. Just stay cute. I like you cute."
I rolled my eyes at him making him smirk at me. George led me the rest of the way up to the Gryffindor Tower. We received a few looks from his housemates as they walked down the steps. I wasn't sure if that was due to the fact that he was leading a Slytherin to their common or because he had his arm around my shoulders. Either way, none of them looked very pleased with him. I paused at the entrance to their common room, in front of the painting eloquently named 'The Fat Lady'. She gave me a look like the rest had but made no comment.
"What is it?" George asked turning to me. I gave him a look.
"This isn't my common room. I'll just wait out here" I said though it should've been obvious. The Fat Lady seemed please with that. George looked surprised.
"How did you know this was the entrance?"
"It's really not that hard to tell" I said, beginning to explain. "There is a door-sized portrait where the Gryffindor Tower should be. There isn't much left of the stairs either so if this wasn't the entrance it would have to be further back which seems unreasonable to then build the stairs this far up. And, even if I were to ignore all of that, last year when Sirius Black attempted to sneak into your common room it was this painting that was attacked out of everything else around here. Which reminds me, shouldn't we all still be worried about him? I mean, they still haven't found the murderer" I frowned, just now remembering that.
"You are so cute" he repeated what he had said before with a smile. I frowned even more, seeing as he was ignoring a very important point, whether intentionally or not. The Fat Lady looked at us impatiently seeing as neither of us was taking a step forward. She cleared her throat making George notice her again. He blinked at her a couple of times before turning back to me. "Oh, right. Why don't you want to come in?"
"I'm a Slytherin" I reminded him, feeling like he had forgotten the fact. George shrugged.
"I don't mind" he replied. I paused a moment to consider what he was saying.
I took a second to contemplate what my choice of actions were. Part of me was curious to look at the difference between the rival houses. The other part of me, however, knew that consciously stepping into the Gryffindor common room wasn't the smartest thing to do. Then again, it would probably be balanced out by the time Ron and Harry snuck into the Slytherin common room our second year. Although, I didn't think anyone besides those two, Hermione, and I knew they had done so. I had avoided telling Draco seeing as it would have only flustered him more, and now enough time had passed that it didn't really matter now. But, seeing how close I had gotten to actually entering the Gryffindor common room, they would probably be more careful with their security next time, if they were smart at least, so I might as well take advantage of the situation.
"Alright" I shrugged at him. George smirked.
"Balderdash" George called and the door portrait begrudgingly swung open. I suppose that was the password. He probably shouldn't have said that aloud in front of me, then again it was him who wanted to show me inside.
I followed George through the door and into the common room. Inside the area was covered in a strange golden hue. The light came in through the windows gold instead of the usual green tint I was used to from the lake. The armchairs looked squashy rather than the firm and decorative ones I was used to. The whole area looked similar to the Slytherin common room but more like a child's pretend office rather than the formal study look Slytherin's held. George led me to the stairs before I could ponder the differences further. I assumed that had something to do with the several pairs of eyes looking at us. Although I wasn't wearing my my usual robes I was sure enough of them could guess I wasn't from their house.
The spiral staircase leading to the boys' dormitories was surprisingly like the Slytherin one, aside from the difference in decorations lining the walls. The two common rooms were strangely alike for being from rival houses, it was peculiar. I continued to glance about as George kept his arm around me until we reached his room. He moved to open the door but paused at the last second and turned to me with a look, as if just having remembered something.
"Hey, umm, would you wait here a second?"he asked hopeful as I looked at him.
"No" I answered with a look. George sighed at me but nodded.
"I thought not" he mumbled before opening the door.
Inside his dormitory were three four-poster beds, each with a set of curtains to cover them. There was a stove there as well, for some reason, along with a jug of water set off to the side near a window sill. The colors were very obviously Gryffindor and the sun only accentuated the gold decorations. This looked more distinguishable than the common room had, again not including the colors. Or at least that's what I thought it all looked like. It was a little difficult to tell considering the amount of clothing and miscellaneous items scattered around the room. That being the reason George had wanted me to wait outside, I assumed.
"Are you serious?" I heard Lee complain before I saw him. He pulled the curtains back from the bed he was sitting on, which I figured was his, to frown at George.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Fred greeted me with a smile. I smiled back as George let go of my shoulders.
"I brought her" George answered with a very obvious statement before moving away from me.
"Why is it so messy in here?" I asked surprised. Lee rolled his eyes at me.
"We're guys" he said and it took me a second to understand that's what he considered an excuse.
"What does that have anything to do with it?" I frowned at him. "Besides the house-elves should handle the cleaning at least once a week so it takes talent to keep it this unkept."
"Thank you" Fred smirked, placing an arm around me like his brother had. I giggled a little at his answer.
"So what do you want?" Lee asked, frowning at me.
"My things" I answered pointing to where George was standing.
"Why are her things here?" Lee turned to frown at his roommate again. Both he and Fred looked away in what they thought was a subtle way of avoiding the question. Lee rolled his eyes and turned from them back to me. "You could have waited outside the tower."
"I realize" I answered with a smile, only annoying him further.
"I invited her" George told him with a look. I turned back from him to George who now had my things in hand. Moving from under Fred's arm I walked towards George as he handed them back to me, but watched him frown as I took them.
"Why don't you stay a bit?" Fred called, grabbing my attention. "You're here, might as well stay a while."
"And do what?" I asked. Fred smiled wolfishly at me but didn't have time to answer as George spoke first.
"Don't!" he said loudly at both his roommates. Fred stifled a laugh and Lee smiled a little before they both raised their hands in defense. George sighed after a second and turned to me. "You could look over your this before leaving. That way you can be sure that you have everything."
"Did you go through my things?" I asked with a look. George quickly shook his head in response. "Then why wouldn't everything be here?"
"It's an excuse to keep you here" Lee frowned at me as Fred nodded in the background.
"But why do you want to keep me here?" I asked. None of them seemed to be able to think of a reasonable answer, though they looked to be thinking. I couldn't really see one either though they looked to be trying far more than I would have bothered to. It wasn't until a moment after that Lee sighed, looking at George as if tired with him.
"Seeing as a Slytherin just walked into our room like nothing I'm sure people are going to complain. I know I will," he mumbled to the side before continuing. "It'll probably be a while before you can make your way up here again so you might as well stay a bit."
"That's true" George chimed in with a nod. I rolled my eyes at him but smiled.
"Alright, where should I sit?"
George moved to sit on a sloppily made bed, sweeping his arm across it, dropping a few things on the floor to clear some space. He sat down and patted the spot next to him. Shaking my head I smiled before moving to sit there. Once sat I began to look inside the bags at the ingredients. Thankfully all the items I had purchased weren't the type to perish easily. Otherwise I would've been pretty annoyed.
"What are those for?" Fred asked, coming to sit on the other side of me. He peaked over my shoulder curiously to see.
"Potions" George answered for me. Fred smiled at his brother.
"More like poisons" Lee mumbled, happy to stay where he already was. He watched me pull a couple of things from the ingredients bag before frowning at me."Trying to kill someone or something?"
"This one's not poisonous, want to try it?" I asked with an innocent smile. Lee gave me a glare and I giggled. "Relax, if I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead."
"You know, it sounds oddly frightening hearing you talk like that" George informed me, looking down at me.
"Thank you" I smiled up at him. He smiled grandly in return.
"So, if you're not planning on killing us all, what are you making?" Fred asked casually, not at all shy about moving his hand through my things for a better look.
"A sort of paralysis potion, or an anesthetic, depending on how it goes" I explained, placing the things back in the bag and allowing Fred a better look. "I have to mix them properly and delude the poison enough so that it numbs the mouth and nothing else. If all goes right the potion will make it impossible for people to speak for a few hours."
"For your roommate?" George guessed. I smiled at him in response. George smiled back instinctively but then gave me a curious look. "But, wait, didn't the shopkeep refuse to sell you that one poison?"
"Yes" I grumbled making George smile at me again. "But I talked my father into sending me some from home."
"How'd you manage that?" Fred asked. "It's a poison."
"That's how" I smiled though they looked more confused than before. "It's a poison but not one I would use to kill someone with. Atropa Belladona is not very potent so someone would have to consume a decent amount of it before dying. Even then the symptoms would give it away and seeing as it is actually quite bitter it would be hard to trick someone into eating enough of it to kill them."
"And your father bought that?" George asked a little surprised. I nodded at him.
"If I wanted to kill someone I would have asked for Nerium Oleander. My father knows this so he was less concerned with the other one." I explained with a wave of my hand. "We also have oleander growing in our garden. Ingesting the plant will cause symptoms varying from nausea and vomiting, which can cause severe dehydration, to drowsiness, coma, muscle spasms, seizures, and death, depending on how much is eaten. And it's not only more potent but all parts of it are poisonous, from the flowers to the sap. It has a sweet taste to it making it rather easy to slip it into someone's food without them noticing too. Or it can even be made into a tea."
"How the hell do you know all of this…" Lee let the question hang in the air for a second before I shrugged at him.
"I like to read."
"Well, if you manage to make the 'not speaking' potions work without killing someone, can you give me a copy of the recipe?" Fred asked with a mischievous smile, ignoring the looks he was getting from Lee. Though the boys knew my interest in poisons and such things I really didn't believe Lee had known about it too.
"If it works I'll show you how to make it myself. If I accidentally kill her, you never saw any of this" I warned. Fred let out a laugh and nodded at me.
"Deal" he chuckled and took my hand to shake. I laughed but shook it back.
"Didn't anyone ever teach you not to make deals with shady people" Lee called out before sitting back on his bed and closing the curtains around him. I looked at them curiously before turning back to the twins.
"Don't mind him, he's just grumpy from eating too much" Fred told me as Lee poked an arm out from between the curtains to throw a pillow at him. Ignoring the gesture Fred smiled at me and I shrugged back.
"I don't really care. But, hey, why do you guys have curtains on your beds? Is it for privacy or to block out the sun?" I asked hoping for a genuine answer. The two looked at me for a second, confused, before a look of realization came over them.
"Wait, so you don't have curtains on your beds then?"
"No, we don't" I answered George. He made a curious sound in response.
"Must be because of the sun then" Fred mumbled though keeping the curious expression.
"Must be" I repeated with a nod. "And that goes for all of Slytherin. In the boys' dorms the beds don't have them either. Unless that was only in Draco's room anyway."
"How do you know what his bed looks like?" George frowned at me. Fred paused from looking through my things and turned to look at me. I frowned back at them.
"What do you mean, how do I know? Obviously because I've been on his bed before" I said slowly, thinking that was an obvious enough statement.
"Hey" Fred called, making me turn to look at him. He took a second to look at his brother above my head before looking back at me. "Hey, well, it's just that we didn't know if you meant thy only girls didn't have curtains on their beds. But obviously that wasn't what you meant. Now we know."
"Alright" I said still frowning slightly. It was obvious Fred was just lying to hide his brother's annoyance but it didn't seem like a good reason for him to be annoyed. I should have expected as much seeing as George always soured when hearing Draco's name but I didn't think it a very good reason.
A light knock on the door distracted us. Without waiting for a response the door opened, allowing someone to walk in. It was the girl that Fred had gone to the Yule Ball with, the one whose name I had once again forgotten. Having barely even knocked before entering I guessed she was very close to the boys. That or she was just a very ill-mannered person. I assumed it to be the former as she waved happily at them before closing the door behind her, smiling particularly at Fred. Lee poked his head out for a second to see who it was. She smiled at him too before turning our direction
"Hey, I wanted to see if you guys—" the girl began but broke off as soon as she saw me. Her smile faded away and she turned to scowl at the other boy next to me. "Oh god, George!"
"We'd love to" Fred said quickly, setting my things to the side and getting up from the bed.
"I didn't even finish asking" she answered him but continued to frown between the two of us.
"Doesn't matter. Come on, Lee" Fred called, reaching between the curtains of his bed to pull him out.
"This is a bad idea" Lee grumbled, struggling for a second to find his footing as Fred let him go.
"Come on, you don't even know what she was asking" Fred said cheerfully. Lee frowned at him.
"You know that's not—"
"Alright, let's go, Angelina" Fred smiled wrapping an arm around the girl's waist. He turned from her to where George and I were sitting. "We'd invite you two but I think three is enough for what we're doing."
"And what is it you are doing?" I asked knowing full well he didn't know himself.
"No idea" he answered cheerfully, not bothering to pretend he knew. I giggled at him and shook my head.
"Fred, I don't think—"
"So long, you two" Fred interrupted Angelina, leading her and Lee out of the room, but not he before he smirked at his brother as the other two frowned at us. Fred waved to us and closed the door behind him.
"That wasn't obvious" George said in a sarcastic tone, frowning slightly at the door. I shrugged at him.
"Well it was a good excuse to get Lee to stop complaining."
"I'm pretty sure that's not their intention" he smiled, leaning down towards me as if to prove his point.
"Then what was?" I asked. George chuckled, sitting up again.
"Well, at least it actually wasn't obvious" he said sounding a little surprised.
"Weren't you being sarcastic before?" I asked him as he nodded. I frowned at him. "You're confusing me."
"That's because you're adorably cute about this sort of thing" he said a light tone in his voice.
"What sort of thing?" I asked, still frowning.
"Forget it" he smiled, waving off the question. Instead he got up and stretched down to grab my hand. "Here, let me show you something."
George pulled me up gently to stand next to him. He started towards the trunk between his Fred's bed, moving me along with him. Without letting go of me he kneeled down and pulled something out of it. It was a small, rectangular box, plainly colored a faded blue. Standing back up he placed it in the hand he had been holding. George moved behind me, wrapping his arms around me to hold the box as well. Before I could say or ask anything he smiled at me and opened it.
As soon as he did light shot out of it. The light began to crackle and make noise, making me realize it was a small set of fireworks. Sparks grew and continued to fly for a short minute, changing into various colors, before settling down and fading away. They disappeared with very little trace, only the faint scent of an explosive powder emerging from the box.
"That was really pretty" I said quietly before turning to George. When I did I couldn't help but smirk. "So, what did you mess up?"
"I don't know" he whined, resting his head on my shoulder. George leaned forward, resting part of his weight on me and pushing me forward too. He let out a groan and I laughed at his responce. "It's supposed to cover the entire room and be a hell of a lot louder. I mean sure, this is pretty, but that's not really what we were going for."
"I figured. I do like it though" I smiled at him. He smiled back but let out a breath. Looking back at the box I thought about the explosion, or lack there of. "Have you already considered just adding the same ingredients in a more compact space, to make for a bigger reaction. Or what about charming them to react to magic?"
"What do you mean?" he asked curiously, about the second question I'm assuming.
"Well you could use a certain kind of shield charm on them. I've never tried it myself, never really had a reason to, but I've read that it can make it possible to harvest the power of spells. It was used some time ago, not so popular now seeing as it's not really necessary, but it has the ability to absorb enemy attacks and their power temporarily. I'm guessing if that's done properly and adjusted in the proper places you could make it so that the fireworks expand to a grander scale if you fire certain spells at them once they start" I informed his now very interested face.
I couldn't remember the exact name for the spell but I was sure I could find it among my library if I searched for it. George looked at me surprised having obviously not thought of that before. It took a second but he smiled widely at me, thankful for the new information. Tightening his grip around my shoulders George pulled me towards him and kissed me. It took me by surprise and made me slightly blushed. But before I could react in any other way he pulled away.
"You are brilliant, you know that" he smirked loosening his grip on me and leaning back.
"Thanks" I mumbled looking forward, still surprised by his recent behavior. Leaning in I noticed that in the trunk there seemed to be a variety of items, and I doubted all of them were lackluster fireworks. It distracted me and grabbed at my curiosity. "What else do you have in here?"
"Just some experiments. You make poisons, we make explosives" he smiled, letting go of me to dig through his things. I smiled again and followed him. "Want to help me figure some of these other ones out?"
"Isn't this something to be kept between you and your brother?" I asked, genuine in what I was saying. It seemed like the experiments they did were more than just for fun, they were bonding. But George just shrugged at me.
"He won't mind, trust me. Besides, I like the way your mind works" he winked at me. I laughed and nodded, deciding to help him out if I could.
I didn't spend too much time in the twins' room. While I was able to talk with George about different ways to go about their experiments, in others I was at a loss in. I knew a lot of scattered fact and information but pranks were never something I was too interested in. If I acted against someone I would most likely be trying to make a point, and if I wanted to make a point then I could think of a lot of different ways to go about it than a prank. Besides that, I felt incredibly out of place in the Gryffindor Tower. Either way, after a short time, I made my way out of the tower and back down towards Slytherin territory.
George walked me most of the way to the dungeon, helping me carry my things. It wasn't until after much insisting from my part that he finally let me take the things myself, once we reached the ground floor. It was one thing if he wanted to take me to his common room but I was not going to take the time to argue with everyone about taking him to the Slytherin Dungeon. I was already being annoyed enough about our date together to the Yule Ball, as Daphne made an example of earlier in the day. Not that I didn't like spending time with George but it would be nice if I didn't have to hear everyone whine about it for several hours at a time. So with a goodbye he headed back up the stairs and I made my way towards the room.
Inside the room I made my way towards the cabinet. It was a traditional apothecary's cabinet, specifically designed to keep plants and general ingredients fresh. I had put a lot of thought into designing this room. I knew that I was mostly likely going to spend a lot of my time in it so I made sure it was stocked with very useful product.
Gathering the rest of the non-ingredient items I had purchased at Hogsmeade I made my way towards my desk and sat down on my armchair, letting out a sigh. The potion I was planning was going to be a difficult one. A lot of steps would be needed, and I would need to practice it several times. That or it could actually kill Pansy. But I wasn't stupid enough to attempt giving it to her if there was a high chance of fatality involved, I would get in trouble with Dumbledore. Either way, I would be wise to reserve the potions room before attempting the brew, lest someone clumsily interrupts the very delicate process.
As I sat thinking of how to go about explaining my experiment to Professor Snape I felt a warmth spread against the outside of my thigh. It made me jump slightly out of surprise. I had forgotten about the parchment there, even though I regularly had it with me. Curiously I pulled it out of its place in my thigh garter to read. It surprised me Draco was using the parchment when he could plainly have come get me himself. But what surprised me more was how few words he had bothered to write.
"Common room. Now."
I took me a second to process them, still not understanding why he hadn't just come and looked for me himself. The grounds were big but still. Slowly I place the parchment back in its usual place. It got me curious enough, and confused enough, to leave my things and decide to see what he wanted. I left the room and headed for the common room just a corridor away. As I entered I found Draco already walking towards me. Behind him were the others, looking to us with curiosity. Part of me wondered if he had shown them the parchment though I doubted it.
"Hey—"
"I need to talk to you" he said roughly interrupting me. I frowned at him.
"Draco—"
"Now" he commanded and grabbed my wrist.
I let him pull me forward as I stumbled to follow after him. Draco was very rarely assertive, much less rough, when he was with me so something was really off about the situation. The others watched us from the corner of the room. Pansy looked unusually pleased as most of the others had an odd look of curiosity. For some reason it felt as if they knew exactly why Draco was being so rough with me but none seemed in any hurry to tell me, or hide the obvious glances. Daphne, however, turned away the instant our eyes met. I narrowed my eyes at her as we climbed up the boys' dormitory stairs, just before she disappeared from my sight; she had done something.
Draco's grip never loosened around my wrist as we made our way to his room. I was still too surprised at his behavior to say anything and I wasn't the only one. Though not uncommon for girls to be in the boys' dormitories, seeing as we were technically allowed, some of the others looked at us in surprised as we passed by them. Draco didn't even glance at any of them. Once we got to his door Draco pulled me inside slamming the door behind him. He dragged me into the room and threw me onto his bed. With a stern look he stood in front of me, posture stiff and arms crossed.
"Explain" he said after a moment of silence. I sat up on his bed but didn't answer. He let out a frustrated sigh before leaning forward. Draco placed a hand on either side of me, leaning against the bed and closer to my face. "I'm really not in the mood to deal with your stubbornness. I said explain."
"First calm down and maybe I'll consider it" I replied using the same tone he had. Draco gave me an angry look but knew that if he wanted to get me talking he needed to do as I said. With another frustrated breath he pushed himself off the bed and back to the standing position he had held earlier. It wasn't necessarily calm but it was better, at least a little bit. "Fine, now, what's wrong? What exactly do you want me to explain?"
"What happened at the Yule Ball?" he frowned down at me. I frowned back.
"How should I know? There were a lot of things—"
"What happened with your date at the Yule Ball" he clarified through gritted teeth. I sighed which didn't help his attitude. "Answer the question."
"Why are you asking me when you know better than I do what you want me to say" I replied in a quiet tone.
"Daphne just told me that she saw you two kissing" he glared at me in return. Oh. No wonder she had been avoiding my glance.
"Because she's such a reliable source of credible information" I retorted but he didn't buy it. Draco's posture was still stiff and I doubted he would believe it but he wasn't going to be too favorable of the truth, I knew that much. "It's a lie. She never saw us kissing"
"Are you denying it happened?" he asked knowing that just because she hadn't seen us didn't mean it hadn't happened.
"She never saw us kissing" I repeated and looked to the side, avoiding his scowl
"Are you serious?" Draco laughed without humor.
Out of the corner of my eyes I saw him running his hand across his face in frustration. He ran a hand through his hair and his posture changed. It was no longer stiff which only worried me more. When he held a rigid stance it usually meant that he was angry but not beyond reason; I could still calm him down. But if his stance calmed when his mindset didn't that only meant he was so upset he could no longer bother to focus on what his body was doing. Draco was furious.
"What on earth would make you want to do that?"
"It's not exactly like I planned it" I began explaining in a gentle tone, hoping to calm him down. "There was mistletoe everywhere. We happened to be standing under one and he kissed me"
"And then?" he asked catching me by surprise. He gave me a look. "You wouldn't have lied if that was the only thing that happened."
"Technically I didn't lie. She never saw it, Astoria's friend or something—"
"Answer me" he interrupted in a tone verging on shouting. I took a breath to keep myself calm and stood slowly. I didn't like being spoken to that way but if I became angry too then that would only cause more shouting and wouldn't actually help anything.
"A few days ago we spent the morning together… and he kissed me again" I answered hoping he wouldn't ask about today too. Draco stepped towards me.
"Tell me you're lying again" he closed his eyes and I sighed.
"I told you that technically—"
"Fine, then tell me you're lying now" he demanded opening his eyes to stare down at me.
"Would you stop interrupting me" I crossed my arms but the gesture didn't seem to mean anything to him. He ignored me completely.
"As if it wasn't bad enough that you spend time with him as is but you also decide to go to the ball with him and now I find out that you've kissed him, on several occasions at that! And I find this out from Daphne of all people!"
"Don't yell at me" I frown at him. Draco gave me another look before turning away again.
"I'm not yelling at you, I'm just voicing my very aggravated thoughts."
Draco ran both of his hands through his hair and exhaled before letting them rest on the back of his head. Slowly and without saying a word he began to pace back and forth in front of where I was standing. He was very clearly upset though I understood why. George was not exactly his favorite person so it made sense that he would be upset to hear this. Draco wasn't George's favorite person either and he got mad whenever I mentioned him. Still, I didn't see how this was any of his business. I could do as I pleased and it wasn't like I needed to tell Draco every aspect of my life, I just chose to most of the time. Yet looking at him made me feel as if it was my fault, as if I was guilty for making him act like this.
"Alright, so I should have told you before Daphne did. But would you have really wanted to hear it?" I asked not really looking for an answer, just a reaction. Draco stopped his pacing and turned to me.
"Don't talk" he said quietly. Draco looked to me but slowly turned away and shook his head. "Just… don't."
"Draco—"
"Would you stop" he interrupted loudly now, walking closer to me. "Though I know it's hard to listen to me, to actually listen to me, would you at least stop talking. For god's sake, do I look like I want to hear it? Do I look like I want to hear anything that's coming out of your mouth at the moment, when all you're telling me are things that are seriously and deeply frustrating me? Not just because of your excruciatingly poor life decisions but also your lack of concern about anything but yourself. I am not happy, damn am I not happy, about your stupidity lately so please just stop."
Draco let out a jagged breath as he looked down at me. I sighed and stepped closer to him, my hands stretched out in front of me. He frowned guessing what I was about to do. It wasn't something I had done in some time. When we were younger and I found he was getting too annoying I would simply place my hands over his mouth to quiet him. It was usually successful. Besides the fact that his words came out muddled it aggravated him enough that he would just stop talking. But this time, seeing as he expected me to do just as I had before, I moved my hands slightly upward and over his eyes instead, lacing my fingers over the bridge of his nose.
"Hush" I said and watched as he frowned. I smiled a little knowing it wasn't going to help in the slightest. I could barely reach his eyes without standing on the tips of my toes and if he simply took a step back I would topple over, freeing him from my grasp.
"You didn't have to say yes to him" Draco said quietly having decided to stay put.
"Well who else was I going to go with then?" I asked knowing he was talking about the Yule Ball.
"I had assumed we would be going together" he replied in a low voice. Even though my hands were still over his eyes I knew that, if they weren't, he would have been looking away. I sighed.
"I did too actually. I figured we would go to the Yule Ball together but since you never asked me aloud when George did I said yes. I figured that you had decided to go with Pansy after all."
"What?" he asked loudly, taking my hands off his face. "Why would I possibly have wanted to take her?"
"Well you did" I reminded him, though admittedly happy with his reaction.
"Yeah, obviously, since I couldn't bloody well go with you I settled for her" he frowned looking down at my hands that were still in his.
"Well I know how annoying she can be, we share a room, you know. I thought that maybe she had annoyed you into agreeing."
"You know I would never choose her over you" he narrowed his eyes at me as if my thinking anything but was an insult to him.
"I know," I smiled a little at him, "just like you should know that I would never choose George over you."
"You already have" he frowned at me, letting go of my hands. I sighed as he stepped away again.
"Are you really so selfish that you can't let me have any other friends?" I crossed my arms and he glared at me.
"Well he's obviously not just a friend is he" Draco spat at me. I glared back.
"Look I understand why you're angry but what I do is my decision and I don't need to hear you tell me all of this."
"Obviously you do seeing as how whenever I let you do as you please you make the stupidest decisions! Have you thought of the consequences of all the stupidity that you're radiating? Think for once!" Draco screamed at me again but this time I'd had enough.
"Do not raise your voice at me!" I screamed back. Draco outstretched his hand and wrapped it around my waist. In one quick movement he pulled me against him, scowling down at me.
"Fine then how is this" he spoke clearly but furiously. Technically his voice was stable but it felt the same as if he were still yelling.
"Don't be such a jerk!" I hit his chest but he didn't move. "Stop calling me stupid and realize not everything in my life has to do with you! I have other friends and a life outside of us and I'm allowed to live it however I please!"
"And by that you mean abandoning all you've been raised to know and getting a little too friendly with a dirt-poor, pathetic excuse of a man, who you'd be better off never having met?"
"If I want to, yes!" I said slowly but loudly. Draco's expression darkened.
"Why don't you have some goddamn respect for yourself!" Draco screamed in my face. It took me a second to process what he had just said but once I did I was more furious than ever.
"Excuse you!" I shrieked back, pushing him back as hard as I could and away from me. Draco stumbled back but only a few feet away. "What did you just say to me? What makes you think you can speak to me that way?!"
Draco looked taken aback by the tone of voice, or perhaps it was my expression. One thing I did know was that he had never said anything so cruel and I had never been so angry at him. He had made a mistake. Looking at him I could tell his expression was one of surprise, frustration, and some leftover rage. Draco knew he shouldn't have said what he just said and that it would be in his best interest to apologize while he still could. But, after another second, he frowned instead.
"No, I am not falling for this again!" he snapped, standing his ground.
"Falling for what?" I demanded, still furious at him.
"This!" he exclaimed, waving his hands between us. "How, for some reason, you are always able to spin the blame off to me! As if you did nothing wrong I end up apologizing for everything! This whole thing is your fault!"
"I'm not trying to spin anything! I am legitimately angry at you and will remain to be angry if I damn well please to be!"
"Watch your language!" Draco suddenly snapped, never having liked hearing me speak that way. Normally I complied but these weren't normal circumstances.
"You are not my father! Do not tell me what to do" I asserted, stepping closer to him. "I can say any damn thing I want, because it is my damn life and none of your damn business what I damn well feel like doing with it!"
"I said don't!" Draco yelled, taking hold of one of my wrists as if to prove a point. This pushed me too far. With my free hand I slapped his face, proving my own point.
Draco let go of me in surprise. His hand moved to his cheek as mine moved to my wrist, both of us realizing what the other had just done. The conversation had gotten away from us. It was incredibly rare for me to resort to physical aggression but I couldn't help it this time. Draco seemed to be having a similar thought as he looked down at me. We needed to talk this out before it got too out of hand.
"Get out" he said in a low voice taking me by surprise.
"What?" I replied when noting he was serious. Normally we were on the same page, or understood what the other wanted at the very least. This time… it's like I didn't even know who he was. "I'm not moving!"
"Katerina—"
"No!" I interrupted him this time, stomping my foot. "I am going to stay here and you are going to explain to me why you're acting like this! I am not moving from this spot and if you want me gone well then you'll just have to drag me out yourself!"
"Fine!"
Draco moved towards me, with that angry expression still on his face, having taken my words to heart. He wrapped one of his arms firmly around my waist then swept the other under my knees, making them fall from under me before I could even think to react. With his arms wrapped around me Draco raised me a little higher and began walking towards the door. Seeing how far he was willing to go I began to shake. Draco recognized it as a sign of anger.
"What?" he asked but kept his eyes fixed on the door.
"Are you really this angry with me?" I asked in a quiet tone. Draco stopped upon hearing my voice. It was trembling slightly, just as my body was. He let out a deep breath but still refused to look at me. "Why are you like this?"
"Why am I like this?" he repeated in a disbelieving tone.
"Yes!" I said frustrated and pushed against his chest, making him let go of me. Once my feet touched the ground I moved several steps back and away from him. "Why do you have to take these insignificant things and make fights out of them? You are overreacting to all of this!"
"I am not overreacting!" he growled at me but I wasn't having it.
"Yes you are! You were willing to literally drag me out of your room just because you disagree with what I'm saying!"
"It's more than just a 'disagreement'!"
"It doesn't matter!" I screamed again, still shaking with anger. "You were willing to drag me out of your room because of it! In all the years we've known each other, when have you ever done something like that?"
"In all the years we've known each other, when have you ever done something this stupid?" he screamed back, and I'd had enough.
"Fine, I'm done. You want me gone so badly, I'm leaving" I stated and turned to walk the rest of the way out of his bedroom.
Quickly I pulled the door open not even bothering to slam it behind me as I exited the room. Daphne and Blaise were in the corridor looking more than ready to leave too. I started descending the steps before they could even start to think of an excuse as to why they were there, not looking back at the room I had just left. In the common room there were a scarce number of students of which included the rest of our group, sans Blaise, Daphne, and Draco. Lev sat next to them, between Theo and Daphne, watching the stairs, seemingly having been waiting for me. I signaled for him to follow me as I made my way to the common room's exit, not wanting to speak to anyone else for a while.
As soon as I exited into the dungeon I made my way towards the room, not even bothering to see if anyone was around as I probably should have. Once inside I began to pace. It was frustrating to argue with Draco but when it was over something so trivial it seemed just plain counterintuitive. I sat down on my chair just as I heard the door to the room forming. I turned to see Lev hurry into the room only seconds before jumping onto my lap. He licked my hand sympathetically before curling into a ball. I smiled at my puppy and placed a hand on his head. But after only a moment of silence I let out a sigh. The door to the room was forming again but I didn't turn around to look at it this time. There was only one other person who would have wanted to step inside
"Hey."
"Get out" I replied in the same tone he had used on me earlier. Draco sighed and did the exact opposite to what I had requested.
"Katerina" he called stepping closer to me. I still didn't look up, instead just looked down at Lev who was starting to realize things weren't right between the two of us. From the corner of my eye I saw Draco clench his fist. "Katerina, we need to talk!"
"I thought so too but that time's passed. I told you, I'm done talking" I said trying to keep my voice even. Lev had started growling quietly now, his body vibrating slightly because of it.
"Look, you need to understand—" Lev barked as Draco reached for me. I saw him clench the back of the chair and turn to look at Lev. "Now is not the time you mutt!"
"Do you just hate everything I care about?" I asked, holding Lev closer to me before he decided to do something rash. Draco sighed at me.
"That's not fair and you know it."
"Well how do you think I feel?" I frowned, turning to look at him. "Whenever someone becomes important to me you just have to hate them, don't you."
"I don't do that" Draco argued though he didn't seem to believe that very much.
"Sure you do" I sighed at him. "You did that with Fred and George."
"I hated them from the beginning!" Draco protested moving a little closer to me, trying to ignore Lev's growling.
"You did that with Hermione" I continued.
"That mudblood is no good for you!" he replied with his attempt at a defense.
"You did that with Lev"
"We both know he had it out for me from the start" he insisted, stepping closer to me again. I gave him a look.
"You did that with my brother too."
This time Draco didn't answer. There was no answer he could give that would make it better. I didn't say anything either, instead waited for him to speak. He remained quiet for a moment before letting out a long breath. Slowly he slid to sit on the floor next to the arm of my chair, his hair being the only thing visible above it. Lev grew quiet as well, probably having sensed Draco's resignation.
"So are you just friends then? Or is it more than that?" he asked slowly, as if afraid to reopen the subject. I shared his hesitation.
"No…" I began but reconsidered thinking of how different his recent behavior had been. "Well, I don't know…"
"Well, which is it?" Draco asked impatiently, though trying to hide it. Since he tried I ignored it.
"George… he likes me, doesn't he? He kissed me that night—"
"Are you or aren't you?" he interrupted, not wanting to hear it.
"I don't know" I replied. It had been more than just a one time thing. George had acted this way at the Yule Ball, on hour trip to Hogsmeade, and not that much earlier up in the Gryffindor tower. I let out a frustrated sigh. "I mean, friends don't just kiss each other but… I just don't know, alright?"
"No, it's not alright" he answered through gritted teeth, making it a lot harder to ignore his frustration. "You said you were just going to the ball with him. What are you doing kissing him? Would you have kissed anyone who took you?"
"Don't say things like that! You make me sound terrible" I protested.
"Answer the question!" Draco barked and stood up.
"Don't yell at me" I barked back, aggravated. Lev was getting more restless too, tempting me to let him go and deal with Draco himself. "No I wouldn't have. He kissed me under the mistletoe. What was I supposed to do? Push him away?"
"Yes!" Draco laughed without humor. "That is exactly what you should have done! Now, what, you're thinking of dating the prick?"
"Don't call him that" I told him. Draco's face slowly changed as he took in my words.
"You are" he said leaning against the side of my chair. "You're thinking of dating him?"
"No, not exactly" I said quietly.
"'Not exactly'!" he repeated, outraged.
"George likes me. I can't just ignore that."
"Why stop now?" he said with a look. I frowned at him.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, why now? You had no problem avoiding him before."
"I've never avoided him. What are you talking about?" I asked, still frowning in confusion.
"Just forget it" he shook his head at me, frowning too.
"Look, I don't know what you're talking about. You're just confusing me further and it's really annoying me. I'm going to talk with George but until then can we just drop it?" I asked, leaning back against my chair. Talking wasn't helping, especially with so many unanswered questions.
"You're not serious" Draco said in a tone that caught my attention. His expression turned to one of disbelief. Before I could ask he stood straighter and moved towards me. "You are serious!"
"I didn't say anything!" I protested and turned forward.
Letting go of Lev I leaned forward, resting my head on the table in front of me. Lev jumped off my lap but didn't growl at Draco as I was expecting he would; he probably figured I would rather he didn't. Suddenly my chair moved back, forcing me off the table. I sat surprised to see it moved seeing as it was not a small chair. Draco moved to stand in front of me, placing a hand on either of my chair's arms, and glared at my face. His expression was angry.
"What do you want me to say?" I sighed at him.
"I want you to say you'll stop seeing him" Draco frowned at me.
"Why would I do that?"
"Because, for some unknown reason, you're thinking of dating that prick!" he yelled leaning forward to emphasize his words.
"I don't know what I'm thinking and your yelling isn't helping" I frowned at him in return.
"I've said this before and I'll say it again, he is not good enough for you!" he snapped.
"Isn't that for me to decide?" I snapped back, not meaning to do so. Draco's expression darkened.
"Do you think he'll be worth anything in life? That he'll give you the things you deserve, what you're accustomed to?" Draco growled, leaning in to me once more.
"What is with you and Daphne? One kiss and you already have us married!" I exclaimed, shaking my head. Draco lowered his eyes at me.
"It was not one kiss" he reminded me with a cowl. I frowned at him.
"Alright so not one kiss, so what? Besides how do you know he'll even want to date me?"
"God, how can you be this dense?!" Draco screamed making me shrink back. "What kind of idiot would say not to you? And why would he have kissed you if he didn't want to?"
"Stop yelling at me!" I shouted, covering my face. But the tone of my voice did make him stop. After a second I let out a breath and took my hands off my face, but continued to look down. "Just stop it…"
"What do you want from me?" Draco asking, a similar question to the one I had asked him, in a frustrated tone. I turned to him. "Do you want me to be okay with this? Do you want me to tell you it's a good decision and pat you on the back? That's not going to happen."
"I want you to understand that this is my decision to make, whether it be right or wrong. You're supposed to accept that."
"Why would I accept something as stupid as that?" he snapped at me.
"Because you love me!" I answered angrily. Draco paused and turned away. I sighed but didn't look away from him. "You're my best friend. Isn't it your job as my best friend to accept whatever I do and still love me?"
"You idiot…" Draco shook his head and leaned in once more, closing the rest of the space that was between us. He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against mine. After a second of silence he spoke again. "It is because I love you… that I can't stand to see you be with him. He is not good enough for you."
"Then who is?" I asked looking up at him. "Who do you think is good enough for me, Draco?"
"No one," he answered quietly. He didn't look at me, his eyes were still closed. "I highly doubt anyone will ever be good enough to deserve being with you."
"So you just want me to be alone forever?"
"Not alone" he mumbled pulling back and opening his eyes. "You'll always have me."
"Apparently not" I frowned turning away. Draco grabbed my face and turned it, forcing me to look at him. He was frowning too.
"Katerina, you need to understand what you're doing here. He is an idiot, a vagrant, and not worth your time. Do you think I would allow you to be with someone like that?"
"Well I see him as a good friend, a good person, so excuse me for having broken any preconceived notions embedded in me by my parents" I snapped at him, which didn't help with his irritation. "And what do you mean by allow? I don't recall making you in charge of my life!"
"Don't take that tone with me!" Draco said sternly. I pulled away from his grasp on my face and turned away from him. He sighed. "Please, just tell me, is there anything I can say, anything I can do, that will make you realize what a mistake you're making?"
"If I'm making a mistake then let me figure that out myself."
"But what if you don't" Draco said softly, in a tone that makes me think I wouldn't have heard him if we hadn't been so close. I turned to look back at him but he was looking down, hiding his face.
I let out a sigh and leaned forward. Slowly I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him towards me. He fell forward and onto my shoulder, turning to face my neck. It was far enough away that Draco had to place his knee next to mine on the chair just to keep his balance. But he didn't complain; he just let me hold him. I ran a hand through his hair and his posture relaxed, though only slightly.
"I don't like being mad at you" I complained, still running my fingers through his hair, "you're really cute, you know. But you're so hardheaded it makes it almost impossible to reason with you."
"Are you reading my mind or something" he mumbled against the collar of my shirt. I smiled a little and tapped the back of his head.
"Why can't you just accept this?"
"Because I don't want to. I don't want to believe that you'd actually do something like this" he answered leaning into me a little more. It didn't seem like he noticed he was doing it. I turned my head slightly, leaning it against his.
"Stop talking like that, you sound like a girl."
Draco didn't reply. He seemed irrationally upset, definitely worse than I was expecting him to be. And it's not like anything was set in writing either. I still hadn't spoken to George and anything we were talking about was really just speculation. There was no need to argue about this now and if he wasn't so stubborn we wouldn't need to be arguing. But he was stubborn, and delicate, and I would just have to deal with him accordingly.
"You know, this is usually the part where you scream 'I'm not a girl', make me laugh, and then make us forget this argument ever happened."
"I know," he sighed against me, "but I don't want to just yet. Are you sure there's nothing I can say that will talk you out of this?"
"None that I can think of" I shook my head.
"Fine" Draco sighed, pulling away from me. He made a ball with his hand and hit me on the top of the head with it. "Quit calling me a girl!"
"Ow!" I cried at him. "What was that for?!"
"For being a stubborn idiot! I'm still pissed!" he snapped, hand still clenched. I scowled at him.
"So get over it already. That hurt you know."
"Good" he frowned at me moving away from my chair. "And don't tell me what to do."
"Your little girl side is showing" I called as he moved to the newly formed door.
"Shut up!" he shouted back as he crossed the vines and exited the room.
I frowned at the door for another second before smiling. As much of a pain as he could be he was acting that way because he cared about me. To him George was a mistake, to a lot of people George was apparently a mistake, but I didn't see him as that. Lev climbed up and growled at me, unhappy I hadn't let him do anything through our argument.
"Don't worry, I'll get back at him for that. And you can help" I assured my puppy, petting him softly on the head. Lev barked happily as if okay with that plan. I giggled at him and leaned back against my seat.
With a sigh I closed my eyes and tried to relax. I had hoped for a quieter or at least calmer talk with Draco. Though I suppose it was partially my fault for waiting until after Daphne found out to talk to him about it. And she should've known better than to tell him before double checking to see if I had said anything first. This was all partially her fault too. Either way I needed some fresh air.
Lev whined after I told him to stay put. Not necessarily in the room but just in the dungeon. I didn't want to be chasing after him, I just wanted some alone time. But, although not happy about it, Lev did as I said and stayed behind as I climbed the stairs up and out of the dungeon.
As I made my way out of the castle I noticed the evident lack of students around, no professors either. I wasn't sure how much time I had spent in the room after Draco left but it must've been at least a couple of hours. The moon was plainly visible in the sky as the only source of light and there were no more people outside than they had been in the hall. It was very likely after curfew. Whatever the time I kept my course to the Forbidden Forest, the only place I could be sure I could be left alone without fear of being caught by Filch and his annoying cat. Or so I though seeing as it took no more than a few minutes for someone to find me reclined against a tree.
"Are you okay?" a voice asked, catching me off guard. I jumped and turned to find George allowing me to relax a bit. His tone sounded worried and his expression wasn't much different making me guess I looked upset.
"Yeah I'm fine, hi" I greeted him.
"Want to talk about it?" George asked crouching down next to me.
"I just... had an argument with Draco is all" I explained and his expression changes.
"Honestly that doesn't sound like a bad thing" he mumbled to himself.
"Well it is" I replied with a small smile. George sighed and moved to sit down next to me.
"I know he's your friend and I hate that you're upset but the guy's a prick" he grumbled making me smile a little more. George moved closer to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. He used his hand to lean me against him before wrapping the other around me too, pulling me into a hug.
"What are you doing?"
"Hugging you" he answered looking down at me. Leaning a little closer he kissed my forehead. "Also, I'm kissing you. I'd kiss you a little further down but that seems inappropriate considering you're upset."
I smiled and let him hold me. Realizing I was okay with it George kept me close to his side and rested his head on mine. It was still cold outside, what with it still being winter and all, but against George I felt warm. He was always warm for some reason. But then again so was Draco. Maybe my body temperature ran just under what was the norm, enough so that whenever I hugged someone they just seemed naturally warmer. Either way I let out a sigh, knowing this was as good a time as any to talk to George about what I should've talked to him about earlier today.
"George?" I asked, pulling back though not completely. George raises his head from mine and gave me a curious look. "What are we?"
"Well I don't know about you but I'm pretty sure I'm human" he answered poking his arm with one hand as if to prove it. He turned and smiled at me. "As far as you know at least."
"No" I shook my head. "I mean... Friends don't just kiss each other. You... you like me."
"I do" he admitted with a nod and moved one of his hands to start playing with my hair. "And I knew what you meant."
"Then answer the question."
"Is that what you two were arguing about" he asked curiously still playing with my hair.
"George" I called swatting his hand away. "Answer my question."
"You really think I'm the one who would decide that?" he said honestly though trying to lessen the situation with a playful smile. "We're whatever you want us to be. I mean you can be pretty dense so I never thought of bringing it up before—"
"I'm not dense. What makes you think I'm dense?" I asked with a frown seeing as Draco had called me that too. George smiled more sweetly now.
"It's cute don't get me wrong it just makes things... a bit more difficult on my end" he said with a small sigh, reaching over to grab my hand. George intertwined our fingers, looking at them for a second before continuing. "Like I said, it's up to you. Though I will say, it's going to be hard to stop doing this sort of thing, so don't make me."
"You're really not going to stop, are you?" I asked as he leaned closer to me again. George chuckled and kissed my cheek.
"Probably not" he admitted with a smile. "But what do you want?"
"I don't know" I groaned trying not to think about the argument I'd just had regarding that very question.
I tried to stand up but having forgotten his hand was on mine I fell back not too long after. George reached over and caught me, slowly placing me back down before I hurt myself. He wrapped both of his arms around me again and sat me carefully next to him. With a smile he pulled me closer to him.
"Why don't you become my girlfriend? As you can see I've grown rather attached to you and I can tell you've fallen for me too."
"Funny" I rolled my eyes and he chuckled.
"Thank you, I try" he smiled letting go of me. Being more careful than I was George stood up. "But I was serious, at least for part of that."
"What exactly would I have to do?" I asked as he helped me up too. It took a second for him to realize it was a genuine question, when he did he laughed.
"You are the cutest thing" George cooed and pressed his cheek against mine. But before I could say anything about that he spoke again. "Nothing you don't want to do, of course. I don't think too much would change as of right now, except that I would want to spend a lot more time with you."
"Alright, so long as you realize I have homework and other things to do" I told him making him chuckle. I gave him a look. "Now what?"
"This sounds like a business contract."
"My father told me to always speak of every detail when making any sort of agreement" I shrugged at him. George shrugged back.
"Alright then" he began, moving to stand close in front of me. He outstretched his hand towards me. "You will be my girlfriend and spend more time with me so long as I don't interfere with your schoolwork and other things you do. Although if you get distracted by my roughed good looks then that's on you."
"Sure" I laughed but took his hand. George pulled it back, pulling me along with it. He moves his other hand to my back and smiled down at me.
"Sure" he repeated with a nod. "Considering it's from you, I'll take it. "
George pulled me gently towards him and kissed my lips. It took me off guard as it always did when he kissed me, distracting me so that I could only barely noticing the soft sounds in the back ground. It took me a second to realize the soft noise was actually rustling from between the trees. I pushed George back and turned to it. Even though it never really stopped me, the place was forbidden for a reason. There were several dangerous creatures who wandered about and it wasn't unlikely that one of them had found us. But unlike me George looked relaxed, and maybe even a little annoyed at the noise.
"Really?" George called to it, making a face. "You couldn't have waited a few more minutes?"
"I couldn't help it" Fred called back, emerging from between the trees. He smiled at me before turning back to his brother. "It's not really my fault. I thought you might need some help considering how long it took you to ask her to a stupid dance in the first place."
"How long did it take you to ask me to the Yule Ball?" I asked curiously making Fred laugh.
"Shut up! No, not you!" he quickly defended when I gave him a look. Fred continued to laugh in the background making George let go of me and move to his brother. I looked at them tussle around on the ground for a second before realizing something.
"Hey, what are you two doing out here anyway?" I asked noting it was strange to run into them there.
"Oh we were just restocking some things we need for our merchandise" Fred answered getting up from the floor as George walked back to me. He wrapped his arms around me, getting some of the dirt he had gotten on himself also on me.
"Are you always going to be this close to me now?" I frowned, trying to shake off some of the dirt.
"If I can" George grinned at me. I rolled my eyes at him but smiled back.
"Now you won't be all alone" Fred joked as his brother gave him a fake laugh.
"Why would he be alone" I asked. They had each other, didn't they? The two seemed to understand my question.
"I'm dating Angelina now. This way he won't feel like the third wheel" Fred answered happily, George shrugged.
"Shouldn't she be the one feeling that way?" I asked feeling that out of the three she would be the one on her own.
"Well now neither of us have to" George laughed, tighten in his grip on me. I patted his arm and he smiled.
"Why do I feel like I know that name though?" I frowned trying to match a face to it. Both of them laughed.
"That's probably because you've met her at least ten times" Fred chuckled as George nodded on my shoulder. He shook his head once he saw I still didn't know who he meant. "She was in our room earlier today."
"Oh, right" I nodded, finally remembering. "Isn't she part of your Quidditch team too?"
"Yeah, she's a Chaser."
"I should probably try harder to remember her name then" I grumbled. Fred nodded and made an apprehensive expression.
"It would probably help. She certainly remembers yours."
"How come?" I asked and they gave me a look telling me the answer should've been obvious. Fred smiled devilishly.
"Let's just say, it took longer than you'd think for George to ask you out"
"Who asked you?" George snapped at him though not looking genuinely upset.
"She did" Fred defended pointing at me. I giggled a little before letting out a sigh, turning to look up at what was visible of the sky.
"We should probably be heading inside soon. What time is it?"
"Way past curfew" Fred answered making me frown at the moon. Noting how close it was to the center I could tell he was right.
"Want us to help you sneak back into the castle?" George asked trying to help. I shook my head at him.
"No it's not that far of a walk to the dungeon entrance. Filch doesn't have the best eyesight so if you keep to the shadows he never notices students wandering around there. The only ones I would have to worry about would be the Bloody Baron and Professor Snape.
"Those two aren't ones to take lightly, but the way you say it makes it seem like they're nothing to worry about" Fred frowned at me.
"It's fine" I waved off the comment and yawned slightly before continuing."The Bloody Baron would just tell me to head to the common room and laugh at the lack of surveillance around the school. Professor snape would most likely ask me a few questions first, like where have I been and if anyone saw me while I was out, but he would just send me to my room too. But I think it goes without saying that both of these are scenarios in which I am not seen with either of you."
"Fair enough" Fred shrugged at me, yawning like I had just a few moments before.
"So you're leaving?" George pouted, scooting a little closer to me. I rolled my eyes.
"I'm tired, and it's cold, yes I'm leaving" I told him with a shake of my head. George sighed.
"Fine, but first you say goodbye."
"Goodbye" I smiled and began to pull away.
George shook his head at me and wrapped his arms a little tighter around me, holding me close to him. He leaned in closer than he already was to me with a smile. But before he could kiss me we were interrupted by a sudden weight leaning against us. Fred hugged onto me but wrapped his hands around George too, pulling us all closer together.
"Goodbye" Fred cooed as George tried to push him off with one hand.
"You're not helping" George complained to his brother. Fred let go of us and smirked.
"I think I've helped with this enough" he shrugged, moving back towards the trees. He ruffled my hair before completely stepping away. "I'll be over by the corner if you need me. Goodbye Kitty."
I waved but my attention was pulled back by George after barely a second. He tilted me back slightly and kissed me, supporting my weight in his arms, though I wasn't very afraid of him dropping me. It did feel strange having him kiss me in a place like this; not bad, just strange. But again he continued to kiss me. I became very aware that if I wanted him to stop I'd have to be the one to let him know. Gently I pushed against his chest, not very powerfully but it was enough to let him know. George finally pulled back, reluctantly but still.
"I'm going to like this 'spending more time with you' thing" George smiled at me, helping me straighten out.
"Really? This is already more time than I thought you meant" I said making him laugh
"I like you too" George chuckled and leaned in for another kiss. I gave him a look and he stopped, kissing me on the cheek and letting out a nod instead. "Or I'll wait, that works too."
"Or you have self control issues" I smiled, walking closer to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. George followed me out.
"Or maybe you're just that cute" he smirked back before waving goodbye. I rolled my eyes but waved back saying goodbye to my apparently new boyfriend.