"Why did mum try and hook me up with Lav?" George asked the minute we reappeared in his flat. Well, that wasn't were I had intended on going but oh well. I kicked my shoes off and went to his cabinet. I pulled out two mugs before going to his cupboard.

"I don't know. Why did she try and hook me up with Oliver? I mean, he's four years my senior and is completely obsessed with Quidditch." I said waving my wand over my head and stopping the spell that made me look ill. I glanced over at George to see him pulling off his dress robes and undoing his tie. A grin lifted my lips and I opened his cupboard pulling out two tea bags and set them in the mug before I filled them with water. I pointed my wand at the mugs and the water started to boil. A moment later the tea was steeped. I handed George the cup and headed towards the couches in the center of the living room. I sat down and he sat next to me, facing me on the couch.

"My date was still worse." He said, trying not to smile.

"Mine tried to order my dinner." I said, facing him and grinning. We always challenged each other to see who had the worse date.

"Mine wanted to follow me to my flat." He rebutted, grinning even wider.

"I don't know, mine was trying to grope me under the table." I said, smiling as I took a sip of the tea.

"He what?" George asked, his tone darkening. It almost sounded possessive, which thrilled me. I paused and forced myself to take a deep breath. I was probably just imagining it. George wasn't into me that way. However, I was beginning to seriously think I was into him that way.

"He kept running his hand along my leg." I said, trying to sound nonchalant. I picked up the remote to the wizard Wireless and turned it on. "I think he was trying to turn me on, it just turned me off." George leaned back into the couch, draping his arm around me like he always did. This time though, it made me light headed and giddy. Those blasted butterflies rose up in my stomach again and started doing the conga.

"What's say next time we just sit on the outside of the booth, or together?" He said, staring at the TV.

"Sounds like a plan." I said softly, staring at him out of the corner of my eye. He froze momentarily before nodding his head.

He flipped through the channels until he stopped on some game show, but I wasn't paying attention to it, my mind was focused on George's hand. He still had his arm wrapped around my shoulders, but his hand was in my hair, he was gently playing with it, running his fingers through it and twirling them around the curls. It was something he always did; I'd never given it much thought until now. It was comforting and endearing, making the butterflies in my stomach even more excited.

It was definite; I like George as more than a friend. It wasn't really all that surprising. He'd been my best friend for a while now. We'd grown incredibly close in the years since Hogwarts; it was only natural that my feeling towards him would grow.

No, liking George wasn't a problem, the problem was figuring out what I was going to do about it. I couldn't tell him, he might not feel the same way. I couldn't risk losing our friendship; it was the thing I looked most forward to. He was what I looked most forward to, sitting with him, talking to him, and watching silly shows with him. It was the favorite part of my week, the favorite part of my day.

I'd just pretend like nothing was going on, like he wasn't anything more than my friend. I'd pretend that his arm around my shoulder wasn't driving me crazy, that the way he quietly answered the game shows questions didn't make me want to lean over and snog him senseless. That he was simply a friend.

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"GINNY!" I called out, my voice high and squeaky as I looked at my closet. She came running into the room, her eyes wide and worried until she saw me standing in front of the closet. A grin worked its way up her lips and she let out a laugh as she walked up beside m.

"What is it?" She asked, staring at my assortment of dresses. I had four; I wore them one after another. None of the guys had ever seen them before so it wasn't like I was wearing something they had seen before. I realized just a few minutes ago though, that George had seen me in every single one of them dozens of times. What's more, none of them were extremely modern or alluring. I wasn't going for George, but I really wanted to look nice for him tonight.

"What'll I wear? I want to look nice!" I squeaked, still horrified at my discovery.

"How about your red dress?" Ginny suggested, going for my favorite one. I shook my head adamantly, he'd seen me in that one dozens of times.

"Why not transfigure it?" Ginny asked, a bigger grin quirking her lips up. That was embarrassing, how hadn't I thought of it? I snatched the dress and put it on before stepping back to look at it.

"Here let me help." Ginny said, stepping forward and raising her wand. She started making adjustments, lengthening and shortening as she went around me. A few minutes later she stopped and smiled. "Perfect!"

I turned towards the mirror, nibbling my lip nervously as I looked at my new modified dress. She'd lengthened the skirt so it hung just to my knees. She'd brought the neckline down, showing off more of my cleavage and making me look like I had more. She tightened the dress so that it clung to my curves more, but I could still breathe just fine. She's also managed to add delicate beading to the top, something I hadn't known how to do. It was really pretty, it looked like a completely different dress.

"Wow!" I gasped, examining it happily. "Thanks!" She smiled brightly, giggling at how excited I was.

"Come here, I'll fix your hair the way George likes it best." Her eyes grew wide and she looked at me worriedly. I smiled softly and walked up to her, turning and sitting down in the chair.

"Thanks Gin."

Five minutes later the door bell rung. I jumped, feeling nervous and excited. George was here to pick me up. Ginny smiled and shook her head, putting a few finishing touches on my hair before heading out to answer the door. I stayed in the bedroom for a moment, checking myself over. I didn't look bad, but I didn't look to drastically different. I took a deep breath, grabbed my clutch, and headed out of the bedroom. George was standing in the living room, facing the wall opposite me. Ginny was talking to him, smiling excitedly. Her eyes found me when I arrived and she pointed towards me. George turned around easily, smiling until he saw me. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open a slight bit. He opened and closed it several times before he swallowed thickly and smiled again. His ears turned a faint pink and he stepped forward until he was right beside me.

"Ready to go out 'Mione?" He asked his voice a bit higher than normal. I wished more than anything that it was just the two of us going out tonight. I actually had no idea who it was I was actually going out with. I looped my arm through his and smiled up at him.

"Yes, shall we go out for another round?" I asked, forcing myself to act like I always did. "Remember, we sit at the end of the booth or together." His eyes lit up at that and he grinned widely.

"Yeah, at the end or together." He walked us outside the apartment and then apparated us away to Madame Puddyfoots. I didn't drop my arm like I usually did; instead I just walked forward with him, laughing as he made jokes.

"Do you have a reservation?" The hostess asked as we entered. George nodded his head, smiling pleasantly.

"McLaggen." He said, I tensed at the name. Surely it wasn't that McLaggen. Mrs. Weasley wouldn't do me like that, Harry would have warned her, I hope. George glanced at me out of the side of his eyes, raising his eyebrows.

"Right this way." She led us to the back of the restaurant to a booth with two people sitting at it. McLaggen and Katie. This was awful, she picked a man who only wanted to grope me, and a girl that had cheated on George. I took a deep breath and slid in next to McLaggen.

"Hey, doll, how are you?" He asked, smiling smoothly at me. George slid in next to Katie with a relaxed smile. My heart gave a painful lurch before I forced my eyes over to Cormac. It was going to be a long night.

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I slammed my bedroom door shut, tears streaming down my eyes as I threw myself on my bed. I'd never had a worse night. Cormac had groped me under the table unashamedly, not caring at all when I put my hand on him to stop him. George and Katie had laughed almost nonstop, he'd had a wonderful time with her. I got up to leave and it was McLaggen who offered to take me home, not George.

It was official, George Weasley didn't like me as more than a friend, he just saw me as a friend. I was crazy about him, painfully so, and he wanted nothing more than friendship. How had everything gotten so messed up?

It didn't matter, none of it did. I wasn't going to get George, and weeping on my bed wasn't fixing or changing that. I pushed myself up roughly, wiping my hand against my cheek and ridding myself of my tears. I changed into my night gown and curled up on my bed with a book, deciding I'd just lose myself in one of them. The first one I found 'Little Women.'

After five minutes of reading I put the book down, I didn't want to read about Jo and Laurie. I reached for another book and almost bawled when I saw it was Wuthering Heights. I laid the book back down and rolled over, I'd just go to bed; maybe things would be better tomorrow. Well, they couldn't get worse.

I crawled under the covers of my bed and snuggled into my pillow, trying not to cry anymore. My eyes drifted around the room, settling on my night stand. There was only one picture on it, it was one that Lee had taken during the 'Voldemort's dead bash.' It had Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Fred, Angelina, Percy, Neville, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, George, and me in it. We were all huddled together in a big hug, smiling excitedly and laughing. The George in the picture had his arm wrapped around me and kept winking at the camera. Tears filled my eyes again and I shut them angrily, rolling over on my back.

Tomorrow had to be better, it couldn't get worse.