Hello everyone :)
This chapter is written from someone else's point of view and not Holly's like usual...
Have fun!
- A

Chapter 16 George Weasley

Holly hurried to take her shower, leaving George behind with his twin, Fred.
George sighed in frustration as he watched her disappear into the girl's bathroom, her dark hair falling over her back, waving as she moved away from him, waving good-bye.

His brother grinned in his direction now, eyebrows raised so high they nearly touched his hairline. Fred was obviously more than a little confused about what he just walked in on, even though he couldn't have seen anything happen, thank Merlin.

After all, nothing had happened, George thought disappointedly.
He just shook his head at Fred, silently begging him not to ask and went to have a shower himself, just as all the others came back from the bathrooms.
As the hot water ran down his body, the stinging sensation of disappointment overrun his body more and more. If Fred hadn't disturbed them, he finally would have kissed Holly, felt her lips on his after weeks of dreaming about them, about her…
Why did his brother have to come in at the very moment this longing would be satisfied?

"Damn you, Fred." he whispered through his gritted teeth.

But it hadn't been Fred's fault, not really.
Yes, his brother had chosen the most inconvenient moment to stroll back into the changing room, but there had been several minutes before that in which George could have acted.
He couldn't help getting angry at himself.

He had blown his chance with Holly, probably the only one he would ever get.
He might have finally been able to kiss her, after all this time yearning for her touch, but he had taken too long, letting this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip through his fingers…
Just because he had been insecure if it was what she wanted too. Just because he wanted to leave her a choice. He wanted to give her enough time to decide for herself, to back away, reject him.

Yet, she hadn't. A content smile crept back to his face.

Yeah, he'd given her a chance to decide for herself and she had obviously chosen to stay. Heck, the way she had touched him…
A shiver ran down his body at the memory of her small hands' touch upon his body. She seemed to want this kiss just as much as him.
Didn't she?

George sighed and rolled his head back to wash his hair.
If only he had moved earlier, grabbed her around the waist and kissed her like he had imagined doing a hundred times. Had he just been a minute earlier, his dreams might have turned into reality:
Holly touching him, wanting him as much as he wanted her while he held her close to him, her slim figure so fragile in his hands as he finally kissed her, deeply, showing her how much he treasured her, how much she meant to him.
Blimey, he couldn't help but wonder what her sweet lips would have tasted like, how they would feel against his own, her soft sigh as she opened her mouth for their tongues to dance with one another.
He pictured his hands moving down her body, stroking the sides of her arms, shortly resting at her tiny waist before slipping past her hips and finally cupping that perfectly round ass of hers… All the while her hands moved over his skin, up to the back of his head, fingers entwined into his hair and pulling him even closer against her stunning body, her perfect breasts pressed against his chest…
He imagined his skin tingling at her touch the way it had earlier, her fingers leaving patterns of burning fire on it. And then, the sound of her moaning in lust and his name coming from her mouth as her desire for him was just as strong as his longing for her-

His manhood had started to wake again at these thoughts, the images of Holly in his mind making him bigger and harder by the second and George forced himself to think about something else. After all, there were more suitable places he could think of to give himself the (obviously much needed) release than the communal showers of the Quidditch bathrooms.
Also, Fred was probably still waiting outside, dying to ask him all about that moment earlier.

George sighed and turned off the shower, stepping onto the cool white tiles of the floor and patted himself dry with one of the towels while thinking of what to tell his brother.
He loved Fred, with all his heart, and he loved how close they were, sharing every thought, always knowing everything about the other. But in situations like this he'd rather not have to explain everything.
What would Fred think about this new revelation of him liking Holly the way he did? Surely, he would think it unwise, after all, she was their youngest brother's best friend and therefore out of reach, not to be touched. Even though Ron and her had only ever been friends.
And of course, hadn't she become nearly like a sister to them over the past years? Surely it wasn't deemed natural to think about her the way he did…

George sighed once more while wrapping the towel around his hips and worked up the courage to face his brother outside.

Holly and all the others had already left for dinner, so he and Fred were all alone.
George changed into a fresh pair of black jeans (the colour reminding him of Holly's hair) and pulled one of his Gryffindor jumpers over his head while Fred just sat next to him, waiting for him to start speaking.
Since that wouldn't happen, Fred finally said:

"So?"

His brother grinned at him again, just like he had before.

"What 'So'?'"

George tried his best to act as if nothing had happened.
Something Fred didn't seem to accept.

"Come on, Georgie, you know just exactly what I mean!"

George raised a single eyebrow, still refusing to give in.

"What was up with you two when I came back from the showers?"

George startled. He had thought Fred hadn't seen them since they jumped apart before he had turned around the corner.

"Why? What did you see?" George nearly flew into his brother's face.

Fred held up his hands between them.

"Calm down, stupid, I didn't see anything. I just came back into this room and the two of you stood over there, acting all awkward and Holly ran to the bathroom with a burning red face. So, even though I did not see anything, dear brother, I think I know something was going on between the two of you. Did you kiss her?"

George sighed in frustration, probably for the hundredth time that day and shook his head.

"No Fred, we didn't kiss."

"But?"

Fred didn't give up this easily and George darted a warning glance at his twin.

"But?" Fred repeated. "Come on now, just spill it already. There is nothing you can tell me that will shock me or even surprise me as it is.
You two are just so obvious, don't you know?
I've expected for some weeks now that something might happen between you and her."

Fred might not be surprised, but George definitely was.
He hadn't known it had been obvious to anyone and now was afraid about how many people had noticed his behaviour.

"That obvious?" he silently asked.

Fred nodded.

"Yeah, it's like I can feel the tension between the two of you… The closer you are, the stronger it gets. And then of course, I sometimes catch you looking her way, watching her every move… Do you… love her?"

George shrugged his shoulders at that question, he really didn't know. He also tried not to think about it too much, since his chances with Holly were nonexistent.

"I like her… A lot. But I'm not sure you can speak of love yet, I don't even know how she feels towards me, if she returns any of these stupid things I feel for her."

Fred laughed at him at these words.

"Yeah, right, I forgot for a moment just how blind you are!
Georgie, dear brother, Holly is clearly into you. I saw her face today as she stormed off and whatever happened between you before I entered the room, she liked it well enough, trust me."

Fred patted his shoulder and stood up.

"Now, let's have some dinner, my stomach's going to start digesting itself if it won't get some food soon."

At their way up to the castle, George felt slightly better.
He actually was glad his twin knew about everything and the things he'd told him brightened his mood.
The tension between him and Holly had even been obvious to Fred, therefore something must actually be there, existing not only in George's mind.
And Fred even thought Holly liked what had happened today…
George wanted to believe it and tried to trust his brother. After all, Fred did have some more experience with women than him, since he had been dating Angelina for a few months after the yule ball.
Not that George had no experience at all, but he had never been in a relationship so far and only ever kissed a few meaningless girls over the last few years, including, two years ago, Elaine Bourgan, who had at that time been one of the most popular and prettiest girls at school.
And yet, she wouldn't even come close to Holly's beauty, George thought.

The next few days Holly seemed to avoid him at all means.
Whenever he entered the Gryffindor common room, she would make up some excuse to go early to bed for being tired or having to look something up at the library.
At every meal she sat as far away from him as possible without drawing attention to her behaviour. That wasn't an easy task since she always sat next to Hermione and Ron, who usually liked to sit near his brothers. Therefore, she was forced to sit within merely some feet of George, the closest she could tolerate.
When they randomly met in a corridor, she would turn around as soon as she spotted him and walk off into the opposite direction.

The closest George got to Holly during that following week was when they accidentally bumped into each other while climbing though the portrait hole of the Fat Lady. They both stumbled at the impact and nearly fell over. George caught their fall and let his hands linger at her shoulders for just one moment too long. Holly stared into his eyes in a way George couldn't understand, and he let go of her immediately. She turned around without a word and left him standing there, speechless.

George noticed his twin watching him several times during that week, obviously concerned about how things were between him and Holly, but Fred never said a word about anything George had told him, and he deeply appreciated that.
For now, he had to figure out things for himself.

He knew of course why Holly behaved like that, but it hurt nonetheless.
After his talk with Fred he had really hoped she would give him another chance, but maybe she had changed her mind after their nearly-kiss on the weekend.

Maybe she had given it some thought and was glad Fred had interrupted them.
Maybe he had misinterpreted her actions that day and she never wanted to kiss him in the first place.
Maybe he was really just a fucking dumbass to think she would feel the same about him as he did about her.

No matter the reason for her behaviour, he couldn't go on like this, it hurt too much.
He had to speak with her, at least to clear all of this mess he had created.
He only had to figure out what it would take for her to talk to him again, so he started working out a plan.