George and Harry had been gone for over a half hour, and I was really beginning to panic. Ron had disappeared after the match, probably sulking. I was worried for Harry-he'd been put through far too much this semester-but I was also really worried about George. I was more worried about him than I actually wanted to admit. I didn't know what was going on, but I was really starting to enjoy spending time with him.
Finally, the portrait hole burst open and a livid George and Harry walked through the doorway. They were both extremely pale and looked like they had just lost their best friend. Harry fell down into the first seat he reached, but George walked up to Fred.
"We've just been given a lifetime ban from quidditch by Umbridge," he said, his voice hallow. "She banned you as well." Fred sunk to the couch in horror, his eyes wide with shock.
"Banned," said Angelina in a hollow voice."Banned. No Seeker and no Beaters . . . what on Earth are we going to do?" I shot her a reproachful glare as I walked over to the Fred, George, and Harry. They looked up at me with despairing faces. Harry shook his head letting me know he wanted to be alone.
George, however, was staring at me like he wanted my company. It thrilled me secretly, but I didn't know what to say to any of them. I sat down beside him and laid my book on the table.
I looked around the room, trying to decide what to say.
"Its just so unfair," Alicia finally said, numbly. "I mean, what about Crabbe and that Bludger he hit after the whistle had been blown? Has she banned him?" Anger flared up inside me and I shot a glare at the door, thinking I'd like to hex those two Neanderthals.
"No," Ginny answered miserably; she was sitting beside Harry. "He just got lines. I heard Montague laughing about it at dinner."
"And banning Fred when he didn't even do anything!" said Alicia furiously, pummeling her knee with her fist. I was furious as well, but was struggling with a different thought. George's hand was sitting on his knee limply, and I wanted to grab it. I wasn't sure how he'd take it though. What if he didn't like me? I really had the urge to comfort him though, I just really didn't know how. Harry never minded my touching him when he was upset, but Ron always acted like it was awkward.
"It's not my fault I didn't," Fred replied to Alicia with a very ugly look on his face. "I would've pounded the little scumbag to a pulp if you three hadn't been holding me back."
"I'm going to bed," Angelina finally said, getting slowly to her feet. "Maybe this will all turn out to have been a bad dream . . . maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and find we haven't played yet . . ." Honestly I was glad to see her go. I understood that she was mad about the fact that she'd just lost half her team, but really! George, Harry, and Fred had just been given a lifetime ban from quidditch. Their brooms had been taken away from them! The one thing Harry truly felt free doing was flying. It was the one time he was free and not self conscious. Anyone who watched them could tell it was the same with Fred and George. After Angelina left Alicia and Katie did to.
The common room was now empty except forHarry, Ginny, Fred, and George. His hand was still sitting on his knee, and I finally acted on my earlier impulse. I extended my hand and grasped his hand in mine. His eyes shot from the fire to our intertwined hands. He then lifted his eyes up my arm, and to my face, finally finding my eyes. They had been tense and angry, but now they softened. He squeezed my hand in his and I found myself almost smiling. He had beautiful eyes, I could get lost in them.
Fred said something and then got up glaring at the fire like it was its fault that they were banned. George glanced at his brother before giving me an apologetic glance.
"See you tomorrow Hermione." He whispered before joining his twin and heading upstairs. It was now just, Ginny, Harry and me.
Harry was looking at me strangely, his green eyes wide. He stared at me like he had never really seen me before. Ginny was smiling widely and looked like she was having trouble staying quiet.
"What?" I asked worriedly.
"What was that all about?" Harry asked with a confused voice. I felt my cheeks flush and I fidgeted in my seat uncomfortably.
"You were flirting with George!" Ginny exclaimed, a look of pure joy on her face.
"I…" I what? What exactly was I supposed to say to that? Thank Merlin I didn't actually have to come up with an answer, Ron finally arrived.
Finding out about Grawp did nothing to improve my mood. I was starting to stress out with my prefect duties as well. What was left of November passed by in a haze of papers, prefect rounds, and stress. It was December before I knew it and I was planning what to do for Christmas vacation and heading towards the last DA meeting of the semester. I had been walking with a very moody Ron. He'd become grumpier as the year went on and I was at a complete loss as to why. Anyway, I was walking with him when I spotted George over my shoulder. I hadn't gotten to see terribly much of him over the last few weeks and I was actually missing his company. I slowed my pace down until I was beside him and smiled happily up at him.
"What's up, Hermione?" he asked. I smiled brightly and shrugged.
"Nothing much, I'm actually excited that we're getting near to Christmas vacation."
"Really?" He asked grinning. "Are you going to be hanging out at Grimmauld place with us?"
"No." His grin faded and he looked sad, so I hastily finished, feeling thrilled at the thought that he might miss me. "My parents want to go skiing, and I promised them I would go with them but I've never really like the sport so I won't stay long. I should be at Grimmauld place before Christmas." He grinned again and I felt a slight thrill at the sight of his intoxicating smile.
We'd reached the room by now and he was polite enough to let me through first. I stepped into the room and took my usual spot on the floor, George settling down beside me. I felt like someone was staring at me, but a quick scan of the room didn't turn anything up.
"Ok," Harry called out. "I thought this evening we should just go over the things we've done so far, because it's the last meeting before the holidays and there's no point in starting anything new right before a three-week break-" He was cut short by the least liked member of the DA, Zacharias Smith.
"We're not doing anything new?" he said in a disgruntled whisper. "If I'd known that, I wouldn't have come." I glared at the back of his head, thinking of several hexes I'd like to try on him.
"We're all really sorry Harry didn't tell you then," Fred said really loudly. I snorted, bringing my hand up to my mouth to keep from laughing out loud.
"We can practice in pairs," Harry said, continuing like nothing had happened. "We'll start with the impediment jinx for ten minutes, then we can get out the cushions and try stunning again."
We all stood up as he finished talking and began to break off into pairs. I was turning towards George when Terry suddenly came up to me again.
"Would you care to be my partner this time?" he asked, apparently having forgotten my earlier dismissal. He was staring at me strangely and it was beginning to unnerve me.
"Perhaps you didn't hear her last time," George said, coming up behind me. "She's my partner." He grabbed my arm, looking forceful, but his grip was exceedingly gentle and I could have gotten away without any effort at all. He pulled me over to a more secluded corner and we began to practice again. I was getting really good at nonverbal spells, and was actually able to hang with George now. We froze each other several times, making fairly light conversation as we did so. Ten minutes had passed before I knew it and we were dragging the cushions out. George and I sat out for the first round and we spent the time chatting.
He was really brilliant, far more so than I had ever given him credit for. He and Fred wanted to open up a joke shop when they graduated. They actually even were making arrangements for a spot in Diagon Alley. If it had been anyone else I would have thought them crazy, but I knew the two of them could pull it offand probably be ridiculously successful to boot. It also made me realize another thing.
They'd be gone after this year. I wouldn't be seeing George's smiling face every morning at the breakfast table, or hear his silly jokes at night in the common room. I wouldn't see him flick his hair out of his face while he worked on perfecting a prank, or hear the joy in his tone as he teased Ron. This thought left me unexplainably sad and I felt like crying by the end of the meeting.
"You're getting really good," Harry said at the end of the meeting, beaming around at all of us. "When we get back from the holidays we can start doing some of the big stuff - maybe even Patronuses."
That should be fun, still the prospect didn't lift my depressed mood. As we filed out of the Room of Requirements, George made all sorts of hilarious jokes, clearly seeing I was feeling depressed. I laughed appreciatively, and felt slightly better by the time we got back to our common room.
I curled up comfortably on one of the couches, grabbing out a quill and parchment. I started on a paper Professor Flitwick had assigned in charms. It wasn't actually due until after Christmas break, but I wanted to get a head start on it. I was a little surprised when George and Fred came up to the couch and sat next to me, George sitting on the cushion while Fred sat on the floor beside him. I was sitting with my legs tucked under me, and he was sitting indian style, and it caused our knees to barely touch. I didn't know why, but that little bit of contact was driving me to distraction. He'd occasionally bring his hand up to rest on his leg and his fingers would brush my leg, causing my whole body to shiver.
I needed to get help, this was getting ridiculous.
Ron came up then and sat on the chair across from me, setting up a game of wizarding chess, which caused me to get even more distracted because he kept shooting me funny looks. Ginny joined him, a determined look on her face. George and Fred began playing a game of exploding snap, laughing happily as the stack got taller. Ginny kept giving me pointed looks, which I was pointedly avoiding.
Our conversation was light and easy, talking about what we all wanted to do over our Christmas break, what we thought about the DA, things like that. It was getting late, and I was getting tired, so I went up to bed, bidding everyone good night. My mind was racing as I walked up to my dorm. What was going on with George and me? I honestly liked him, like, liked liked him and the thought terrified me. What if he didn't feel the same? What then? I needed a girl to talk to, probably Ginny. That's what I'd do tomorrow. My mind made up, I snuggled down in my bed letting the sweet peace of sleep overtake me.
A/N: Okay, I've officialy figured out where I'm going with this story, not sure how long it's goint to be though... Leave a review and let me know what you'd like. Reviews are love, and they really do inspire me to write faster, and can give me great plot ideas.
Until the next chapter!
Ps. Thanks to Ninja Goldfish for taking the time to beta read this chapter.