Here is Chapter four! I hope you like it! Enjoy!
Chapter Four Official
That night Ella had continued to sit with George in silence, holding his hand until he declared it was late and that they should go. She had watched him walk down the street until he disappeared into the joke shop, where he lived in the loft above it.
Weeks passed and autumn came, bringing changing color and chilly temperatures. It also brought Quidditch season. Hogwarts, as a whole, was buzzing about the upcoming Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match.
George and Ella had met religiously on the weekends. The meetings at been kept light and they never again spoke of George's deceased twin.
The Thursday before the big match Ella went up to the owlery to George an invitation to join her for the math. She had never been a huge fan of Quidditch, but she figured George would enjoy it and she would certainly enjoy seeing him.
Friday morning she received another purple envelope.
"You're getting a lot of those envelopes. Things must be getting serious," Neville observed.
"It's hardly been two months," Ella retorted.
"That doesn't matter. People know a good thing after a date or two," Neville said.
Ella shook her head.
Neville smiled sheepishly. "I'm a romantic."
Ella laughed lightly, sipping her coffee.
The Quidditch match began at eleven o'clock on Saturday morning. Again, Ella was ten minutes late. George was waiting for her at the entrance to the pitch.
"We've probably missed the whole match by now," George pretended to be impatient.
"You could've gone on in," Ella replied.
"I couldn't walk in without my arm candy." He gave her a roguish grin.
"Arm candy, huh? That's what I am?" Ella walked into the pitch and up to the staff seating.
George laughed, clearly joking, as he sat down next to Ella who had sat next to Neville who was accompanied by his wife.
"Hey George!" Neville smiled. "Couldn't resist watching Gryffindor tear the mickey out of Slytherin?"
"It's my favorite thing to watch." George chuckled.
It didn't matter that they had missed the first ten minutes of the match because it ended up lasting over two hours, Gryffindor finally catching the Snitch.
Neville and George stood up and cheered leaving Ella and Hannah shaking their heads in their seats. The men gave each other high fives and cheered some more.
George pulled Ella to her feet. "Aren't you excited?"
"I'm excited it's over." Ella pulled her coat tighter around her. The weather was not enjoyable.
"Oh don't be such a poor sport." Neville was grinning from his House's victory.
George put his warm hands on her frozen cheeks. "Let's go inside."
Ella nodded.
"Professor McGonagall!" George yelled at the headmistress. She looked at him and smiled indulgently. "Do you mind if I give Professor Hawthorne my version of the Hogwarts tour?"
"Only if you don't get into any trouble, I'm much too old to deal with you."
Ella had never seen the headmistress smile or speak kindly to anyone and she almost fell over from the shock.
"I'll be on my best behavior, you have my word," George promised.
He then led Ella into the castle and through the many corridors and up a few flights of stairs. He finally stopped in front of a bare expanse of wall.
"What do you want the most right now?" He asked Ella.
She thought for a moment. "A huge fireplace and some hot chocolate."
"Alright, stand back."
Ella was expecting some very complex magic, but George merely walked back and forth a few times. A door formed in the previously bare wall and George opened it.
"After you." He stood aside and let Ella pass before him.
She glanced at him curiously over her shoulder before walking n. The room before her looked like the living room of a cabin. There was a huge, blazing fireplace with a fur rug lying in front of it, a coffee table with two large, steaming mugs of hot chocolate, and plush sofa with a fleece blanket folded, over the arm.
"How did you do all of this?" Ella asked, peeling of her coat and scarf.
George plopped down on the sofa. "This, my dear, is the Room of Requirement. It can give you whatever you want." He picked up the mugs of hot chocolate and held one out to Ella.
Taking the mug, she sat down next to him and pulled the blanket over her lap.
"It's great," she told him. "Exactly what I wanted." She sipped the scalding hot chocolate.
They drank in silence until George put his mug on the coffee table. "Ella," he said softly.
She looked over at him, a question n his eyes.
"I wanted to apologize. I've been thinking about it for weeks." George looked at his hands.
"What?" Ella asked, confused.
"I shouldn't have told you about my brother. It probably really freaked you out and it certainly wasn't the proper time." George glanced at her with his soft, brown eyes.
"George," Ella took his hand again and this time he grasped her hers. "There's never a good time to tell someone that, but I'm glad you did. It helped me to know you and understand you a little better." Ella tucked herself under his arm.
"Really?" He asked, relieved.
"Of course," Ella replied. She looked up at him, her green eyes reflecting the smoldering flames.
George bent towards her hesitantly, keeping his eyes on hers. Growing impatient, Ella closed the distance between their lips. Immediately, his hands were in her raven hair and he had pushed her back against the arm of the sofa. His hands stayed respectfully in her hair or on her face or arms and he was the one to pull away.
Hours later, Ella woke up, fully clothed, and looked around. There was an arm around her waist and she remembered where she was. She looked at her watch and groaned.
"George," she said, gently nudging him. He only groaned into her hair. "George," she said again, a little louder.
He opened his eyes and looked at her blearily. "What?"
"It's three o'clock in the morning. We should probably get out of here."
"Probably," he agreed, sitting up.
They collected their coats and left their private paradise. As they made their way through the castle they were nearly scared to death by Filch, the aging caretaker.
"Hey you two!" He yelled
George jumped and Ella yelped in alarm.
"What do you think you're doing roaming around the castle at this hour?"
Ella put her hand to her heart. "Mr. Filch, it's me, Professor Hawthorne." Ella laughed nervously.
Filch's face took on a look of pure rage. "And Weasley!"
George laughed. "I'm too old for you to punish me now, but don't worry I'm leaving." He turned to Ella. "I better go before I get us both into trouble." He kissed her gently.
Ella turned to go to her rooms and she could hear Filch as she went.
"I chased you and cleaned up your messes for seven years! The end being that blasted swamp!"
Ella could still hear George laughing.
The next Monday, Ethan decided to give her trouble once more.
"Professor Hawthorne, I saw you with some red-headed bloke after my match Saturday." He raised an eyebrow at her. The class waited with baited breath to hear her response.
"And I watch you flirting with Kara everyday and failing miserably at it, but I don't say anything to you, Ethan."
A girl in the front row turned bright red and opened her book quickly. Again, Ethan sat speechless.
A couple of weeks later Ella was teaching her, now subdued, class of seventh year Gryffindors and Slytherins when her classroom door banged open. The students' heads snapped up and looked to the back of the classroom.
Ella was just as surprised as her students because her class had never been interrupted in such a manner. When she looked to see who the intruder was, she became irritated. Her devastatingly attractive ex-boyfriend was moving up the aisle towards her.
"Pierre, what are you doing here? You have to go, I'm teaching!" She said in rapid French.
"I had to see you. I miss you. I'm absolutely miserable without you," he responded dejectedly.
The students were watching intently, even though they had no idea what was being said.
"Class dismissed," she said sharply, switching back to English. The students were slow to move, wanting to watch the foreign drama unfold. "I said class dismissed!"
"Pierre, I'm not coming back. I love it here," Ella continued when the class had gone.
"I can make it so you love it in France, with me. What do you want? I can give you anything!" He took her hands in his.
"You can't bribe me to go back," Ella said firmly.
Pierre opened his mouth to speak, but before he got anything out the classroom door opened once more.
George was grinning broadly, holding up a bag from Honeydukes. "I brought your…" he trailed off seeing the man holding Ella's hands. "Favorites."
"Who is that?" Pierre demanded.
"You should go." Ella took her hands back and looked away. Pierre looked from Ella to George and stormed out of the room.
"Did I interrupt something? I don't speak French." George sat the bag of sweets on her desk.
"Just my ex-boyfriend trying to buy me back." Ella took a sweet from the bag.
"If you went with him I would understand. You don't have anything holding you here." George sat on her desk. "We've never really talked about actually being together."
Ella stepped in between his legs. "I don't want to go back. I want to stay here. With you."
George smiled and wrapped his legs around her.
"So you want to be my girlfriend?"
"Of course."
So there you have it! They're an official couple. I think I'm going to get into some more dark stuff with George in the next chapter so brace yourselves! I love reviews, no hate comments or flames please!
Happy reading,
Avonmora