"So this is how you imagined it, huh?" George smirked, soaking in the mirage the Room of Requirement was currently producing.

"I've imaged it a lot of times, but I think this is certainly the best." I countered, picking up a chocolate covered strawberry from a tray resting on a floating cloud. "I like your addition of course," I nodded to the ocean in the corner of the room.

George gently grabbed my hand and took the strawberry from me. Confused, I looked up at him for answers. He simply grinned and put the tip of the strawberry to my lips until I reluctantly opened up to take a bite. As was natural, the first bite cracked the chocolaty shell.

"You'd think with all the magic around, we'd come up with a way to fix that," George mused, placing it back on the silver platter resting on the floating table beside us.

"Good point," I giggled, concentrating as I ran my fingers over the cracked shell. As I was just about ready to give up, the shell resealed itself in a glow of white light emanating from my fingers. I had no idea what was going on, but my entire body felt incredibly warm.

"Whoa," I stated.

"You're incredible," George said.

His tone made me turn to him. It was unbearably honest. I didn't know how to reply and thankfully George saved me by pushing me onto my back. I would say back onto a bed but that wasn't right. It was more like a cloud if anything, or at least what you would hope a cloud to be. It was pure white masses, floating in the middle of the room like a layer, almost like a second floor you had to climb onto. Unlike a cloud, the bed was warm as the womb and softer than kitten fur and cozier than the warmest blanket.

"How about we play a game?" I suggested.

"How do we play?"

"It's simple. We'll take turns asking each other questions, and if we answer them honestly the person asking the question has to remove an article of clothing. If the person doesn't answer the question, they have to remove a piece of clothing." I explained.

"So 'Truth or Strip', basically?"

"Yeah, basically."

"Why do I get the feeling that you're making these games up?"

"Because you're a clever man," I grinned, taking a sip of France's finest champagne before placing the chalice back on the table. "So do you wanna play?"

"You know I'm not one to turn down a game. Especially not one as promising as this."

"Okay, I'll go first then. What did you image it as?"

George took a moment to look around the room, at the sand floors and the ocean waves bringing in a salty breeze. His gaze stopped at the driftwood fire burning green flames. "I've imagined it pretty much every way possible. The most perfect—"he paused, rubbing his neck. "It didn't really matter as long as it's with you. And you're on top."

"On top? Like this?" I moved so I was straddling him. "Your turn."

"Actually, Darling," George interjected, wiggling his eyebrows, "I answered your question, honestly—"

"Oh, I know." I beamed.

"And I—wait a second. How are you so sure?" George asked, getting sidetracked by his confusion. He took another sip of the champagne we were sharing.

"That—" I giggled, grinding down on George's growing erection. I had never been aware how little and how many two layers of clothes were until that moment.

"Oh, you're clever all right, " George admitted, squeezing my sides, "but not clever enough to get out of your end of the bargain."

"The bargain? What bargain?"

"Don't play coy, Drella. You made up the rules to this game, you might as well follow them."

"Oh, all right," I caved in, sighing loudly for effect before removing my blouse and tossing it over my head. "Satisfied?"

"Very," George growled, placing his hands on my now bare sides.

"Your turn,"

"Right. You'll have to forgive me. You're rather distracting. Not that I mind…. but let's see. What do I want to know….hmmm, ahh yes, I know. Why the sodding hell did you kiss my brother?"

"Which one?" I smirked.

"WHAT?!"

"Oh, calm down. I've only ever kissed Ron, and I didn't even kiss him, he kissed me. And I only ever kissed him to prevent you finding out how I really feel…about YOU!" I defended myself.

"Now, you're the one that needs to calm down," George laughed, sliding his hands upward to rest on my shoulders. "I know you could never like Ron. How could you?"

"Don't sell him short! He's a fabulous bloke, but a little young for my taste," when I saw this wasn't enough reassurance I added, "besides, you're the only Weasley for me. Now take off your shirt, you goon!"

George rolled his eyes but did as I asked, making us both shirtless as I asked the next question, "So how come you didn't tell me you liked me that summer by the lake?"

"I was going to, I really was. You know how Fred and Ron were 'busy' but they wouldn't tell you with what, just that they had to go to town?" He paused and gave me a moment to remember. When I nodded he continued, "Yeah, well I actually threatened them to get out of the burrow for the day and leave us alone so I could tell you. I had it all planned out and everything—"

"You did, what was the plan?" I gushed, imaging a moonlight stroll around the lake or something more romantic; I was never good with those things, but I still appreciated them.

"Oh, you'll see soon enough. Anyway, the point is, I was nervous… thus why I got completely pissed. And I don't know, I guess the plan backfired because I got really drunk but no less nervous and I ended up passing out before telling you."

"Well, regardless. That was still one of the best nights of my life." I smiled, leaning in to kiss him.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it was perfect. We spent the whole day together, completely alone, which I had been dying for. And sure, it would have been ten billion times better if you told me then—but everything worked itself out when it was ready, so it's all okay," I laughed.

"You know what's going to be a perfect moment for me?" George asked, raising his eyebrow seductively.

"What?"

"When you take off those pants, which the rules of your game demand."

"You're such a jerk, sometimes," I scoffed, standing up on the cloud (which was surprising solid enough to withstand that) to unbutton my jeans and kick them off my legs.

"Do you really mean that?" George asked in a loving sort of way, as if it was a good thing. I had my suspicions he wasn't focused on our conversation anymore, so much as on the flower pattern on my panties.

"You like?" I teased, taking my time sitting back down on his lap.

"You're a murderer, Wendling. A cold blooded killer," George groaned from underneath me.

"Your turn to ask a question."

"Why do you enjoy slowly torturing me to death?"

"I can't believe I'm about to say this but, be serious George!"

"Oh, believe me. I am. I'm dying."

"Oh, just ask your question or you'll be forced to forfeit!"

"Oooh, what happens if I forfeit? What's my prize?" He wiggled his eyebrows.

"You won't get a prize cause you forfeited. We'll both put our clothes back on and go have a nice early night in the common room playing a nice and totally not sweaty game of chess."

"You're no fun," George pouted.

"You sure about that?" I asked, pressing my chest hard against his until our bodies morphed into one.

"No." George kissed me before pulling back and sighing, "Alright, fine. Here's your question. Did you really like Charlie? And why don't you like Fred? I mean we're identical, unless you do like Fred and you're just not telling me, do you have something to tell me?!"

"First off, calm down. Second, that's two questions. So which one do you want me to answer?"

"Both! We'll just count it as one okay?"

"Fine. I guess since I'm the one that made up the rules I can let this one slide."

"Alrighty then, soooo…"

"So, yeah. I did have a crush on Charlie. He's a hottie with a hot Quidditch captain body!"

"And I'm not?" George scoffed.

"No, no. You totally have a hot body, trust me on that," I assured him, rubbing my hands over his abs for good measure. "But you were just my best friend then and I either wasn't looking at you that way yet or I wasn't aware of it, but Charlie was totally fair game cause he's so much older."

"Okay, whatever. Well what about Fred then. He's the same age as we are."

"Fred's…well, 'Fred', ya know?" I shrugged, not being able to think of a better way to phrase it.

"Not really,"

"I mean, you guys look almost the same, don't roll your eyes at me! There are some differences. Yeah, you look and act very, very similar to each other but you aren't the same person. Sure, Fred's a cutie, there's no denying that," I giggled, pinching George's cheek for effect, "But I just don't feel anything when I look at him. But when I look at you…" I trailed off, fingers dragging across his stomach.

George replied with a smirk, as I forcefully made good on the rules of the game, yanking at the zipper on his pants. "Problem?"

I leaned forward so our faces were nearly touching and I was looking him dead in the eyes. I stared at him for a full minute before glancing quickly down to his pants and demanding, "off."

Relinquishing my favorable position on George's lap, I laid back on the cloud so he could kick off his pants and socks. When I raised an eyebrow, he answered, "Count the socks as freebies. I'm feelin' generous."

"Couldn't you be generous in um, better ways than socks?" I groaned.

"Don't worry, the night is young," George chuckled, reversing our positions as he leant down to kiss me.

"All right, alright, my turn," I giggled, pushing George gently away from my neck, and more importantly the giant hickies he was sure to be making.

"Some one's a little eager, eh?" George joked, raising his eyebrow.

"Shut up," I slapped him lightly on the shoulder, before getting distracted by the muscles in his arm and soon I was just caressing his skin, directly where I had slapped. "Where do you see yourself in five years?"

"Well, five years is a long time, so who knows, really. But let's go with the best possible option here, and say that Weasley Wizard Wheezes will already be up and running. Fred and I will have an apartment above the shop and we'll be right across the street from your Potions shop, and life will be great."

I nodded, happy that I was included in his future, but I couldn't help feeling like an afterthought. Sensing this, George added, "But you didn't ask the right question."

"I didn't?"

"No, you should have asked where I see myself in ten years." George answered smugly.

"And what would you have said?"

"That after six years, you and I got sick of living apart, got married and moved to the country into a beautiful home of our own. And we'd still have the shops, and they're still be going great. And you and I have twins of our own, Ophelia and Isidore, because I know for some silly reason you want to name your children after characters from that dead guy's plays, what's his name? Shapelear? Snakepeer?

"Shakespeare?"

"Yeah, that's it. Oh, and we have a white picket fence, but it's purple instead of white. And a Quidditch pitch," George added with a grin.

"Sounds perfect," I mumbled, reaching my hands behind my back to unclasp my bra.

"You're perfect," He replied, catching the skimpy lace fabric I tossed in his direction.

"Because you make me perfect," I breathed against his lips.

"What does that even mean," George laughed, pressing his lips into mine to take the kiss.

"It means that I love you," I answered breathlessly, breaking apart from George's lips a few minutes later.

"And I," George started, running his hands over my bare flesh, his fingers tickling my skin like a feather, " love you," he finished his sentence only after I shivered from his touch.

"I'm ready," I mumbled into the crook of his neck unaware of what I actually said a few minutes later when George snapped up and asked, "what?"

I took a moment to think about what I said before replying. "I don't want to play any more games, although this particular game has been rather fun," I conceded with a giggle. "I mean it, I'm ready. I want you, and I want to be with you."

"Are—are you sure?" George asked timidly, staring directly into my eyes.

"More sure than I've been about anything in a while. I love you George. I really do, and I want this," I reaffirmed, ending my statement by getting off the bed. George stared at me perplexed for about two seconds before I slowly began to slide my underwear down my thighs and onto the floor.

I didn't wait for a response before crawling back into bed and straddling his lap once more. I felt vulnerable, never being this exposed to anyone before, but at the same time comfortable. I knew George would never treat me with any sort of disrespect, and the way his eyes roamed over my body made me feel something in the pit of my stomach that I hadn't felt before, but really, really liked. I could feel something solid and warm pressing against me, and I knew at once that George was in agreement.

"You're so beautiful," George groaned, breaking away from our kiss to catch his breath.

"You've said," I giggled, kissing my way down his chest to steadily rising and falling stomach.

"And I bloody well mean it, Drells,"

"Well then, I like the sound of that," I murmured, honestly loosing my attention on the conversation as I kissed his squirming hips, my finger tips trembling with the hem of his scarlet and gold boxers with enchanted, roaring Gryffindor lions. I was just glad that they didn't make any sound, my own embarrassment at my lack of experience already showing.

Thankfully George reached down to help me, and within a minute we were both stark naked and staring at each other. Neither of us knew what to do next. George reached a hand around my back and pulled me close to him. He didn't kiss me at first, but bent his head down to brush his lips against mine, while staring into my eyes with an emotion I couldn't place.

After what felt like a blissful eternity and barely more than a second, George pulled away, whispering, "I love you."

It was a like a switch had been hit inside of me. One second I was vulnerable, worried, happy, but a little anxious and the next I was entirely relaxed, empowered, truly ready like I had claimed I was. And I was kissing him, every inch of him that my lips came in contact with. I couldn't think about anything else, just that I wanted him and I never wanted to stop kissing him.

He reacted with equal enthusiasm. Indeed, after getting over the initial shock of no-this-really-wasn't-a-dream George boldly let his hands roam over place they had never explored before. George traced circles around the tender skin of my nipples, causing them to stand erect and ache with a pleasure I never thought possible. I started squirming, it wasn't enough, it was…teasing. Just when I thought I couldn't handle it anymore, his fingers trailed lower, pausing only to circle my belly button and send me hunched over from giggles.

I exhaled sharply, all hint of laughter gone. George's forefinger had found my most sensitive spot and was hovering over it tentatively, as if looking for some sign to continue. My sigh was enough for him, and he became acquainted with my lower workings, his touch feather light. I felt my stomach clench as his finger finally pressed down on my clit firmly, and my thighs were instantly sticky and wet.

"Like that, did you?" George flashed the most devilish grin I had ever seen, and that was saying something.

He didn't wait for a reply. His mouth was kissing (sucking more accurately) down the length of my stomach, getting closer and closer to my core. I couldn't stop myself from asking the question that popped into my mind, "George, what, uh, are you doing?"

"Oh, just had an idea…" He said nonchalantly.

"An idea?" I frowned; ideas were dangerous things for George to be having.

"If you liked the way my hand felt, how would you like it if-" Instead of finishing his sentence he deciding to illustrate his words, by flicking his tongue over my most sensitive part, causing me to writhe uncontrollably in his grip.

After a few minutes of what was pure ecstasy, it started to become too much. My eyes were closed, and my entire body was consumed by the almost uncomfortable feeling of intenseness that George had created. That wasn't the scary part; the scary part was the sudden feeling of rushing weightlessness where I felt like I was floating upwards and a white light flashed behind my eyelids. I opened my eyes as a loud moan I was trying desperately to fight, rolled out of my mouth and echoed around the room.

"G-George," I panted, tugging his hair trying to make him come up, and relieve the both of us, "I-I-" I couldn't finish my sentence. He was back at my lips at once, kissing me deeply. My legs were shaking from what he had been doing only a moment before.

"I love you," he whispered, breaking our kiss only long enough to gaze into my eyes, as if forcing me to see the sincerity in his words.

The words I was looking to say were "I love you, too," however, as George choose that exact moment to enter me slowly, but forcefully, the words came out as "oh!"

I braced myself, getting over the initial shock of George entering me inch my inch. I was glad he didn't go for it all at once, I'm quite sure I would have split in half. I hadn't so much as seen a boy naked until today, much less….I couldn't distract myself anymore. George was nearly in; I felt his hips pressing closer and closer against mine until our skin molded into one. We never broke eye contact, and I was grateful for that. For some reason it helped, to just stare into his eyes and literally see and feel love looking back at me.

"Are you all right?" George asked, his nerves evident in his voice.

"I'm fine," George raised an eyebrow. "Really," and it wasn't a lie either. After a moment or two of being still together, of me adjusting to the feeling of him inside me, the initial pain of it all had begun to subside.

"But are you sure though, I don't want to hurt you or make you uncomf—" George prattled on, most uncharacteristically.

"The only thing that might make me uncomfortable," I punctuated this with a kiss, making sure he paid attention to the next words I said, "is if you don't start moving soon."

"Are you sure?"

I grabbed a handfuls of his hair and pulled him back to my face-for he had leaned away to get a better view of the reactions to his questions—and said in the most commanding and assuring voice I could manage, "Yes."

He did what I asked, too gently at first, as if I would shatter at any moment. He stopped this only after a stern glare, and assumed a more natural pace. Only once he had made perfectly sure that I was, in fact, not going to break, did he allow himself to enjoy himself. This was to both of our advantages, because being gentle suddenly tumbled to the bottom of his priority list. I felt that sudden longing to kiss him again and George put up no fight. Any pain I had felt before, felt like a distant memory. I couldn't remember anything else except how good it felt to have George moving inside me. I felt closer to him than ever before, and yet I longed to get closer.

I wrapped my arms tighter around George's back and my legs around his hips, bringing mine closer together. The new angle was a successful experiment, resulting in the discovery of the elusive g-spot—"Oh wow!"—Which I've read about in the trashy muggle magazines.

The pleasure culminating in my core at the most annoyingly sluggish pace was almost enough to block out the building heat under George's long, slightly stocky body. Almost. George wasn't heavy, but he wasn't light either. Without really thinking about it, I used all the strength in my thighs to reverse our position.

"'Wow' is right," George chuckled, catching his bearings after our unexpected flip.

"Sorry," I giggled, placing my palms on his chest to steady myself. I was now straddling his thighs, his entire length buried inside me.

"Don't be," George grinned wickedly, taking in the view.

I leant down to kiss him, exaggerating the motion on purpose. Our lips touched, but I didn't stop bending until my breasts were pressed flat against his chest and his dick had just nearly slipped out…. before I snapped up straight again, giving George a grin of my own.

"Oh, you're bad,"

"Bad? Me?"

"And you know it, too,"

"You love it," I giggled.

George took a moment to fully appreciate the view of me on top of him, bouncing gently on his dick, "You know I do,"

"Guess what?"

"What?"

"So do I," I purred, taking the opportunity to start moving again. Using my palms on his chest as leverage, I began lifting myself up slowing, and slamming them back down.

"You are bad," George growled, pulling himself into a sitting position. His arms found my back and pushed my body forward, until my breast were in his face, and his tongue was swirling across my left nipple.

I continued lifting myself and bringing myself back down in various degrees of speed and strength, never allowing either of us to catch our breath. At first I tried to keep a somewhat slower pace, if nothing but to tease him. For I learned that when I teased him in one-way or another, he would bite aggressively at my neck. But then I couldn't bare it any longer. I needed to move faster, harder, to bring my hips closer to his. I was moving as fast as I could, but it wasn't enough. George seemed to agree because he seized me by the shoulders and reversed our positions once more.

George wasted no time getting comfortable to the switch in position, and immediately picked up the pace, his hips swinging more forcefully than I ever could. My eyelids were heavy and although I loved watching George watching me, I gave in and closed them. My cheek bobbed against wisps of the enchanted cloud, refreshingly cool. I felt as if I was on fire, and I was definitively breaking out into sweat. I couldn't bring myself to care and I didn't think George would either; our bodies were now sliding against each other lubricated by our glistening sweat.

My thighs were aching, but George had finally found the ideal pace. That white light and the floatiness from before suddenly reappeared, as quickly as it had disappeared earlier. I didn't open my eyes. I didn't want to; I wanted to float in these cloudy waves of ecstasy for the rest of my life.

"Oh, fuc- I'm—I'm about to—"George broke the silence.

I was about to say 'me too', but at that exact moment I opened my eyes and the white light blinded me. I blinked and felt my body succumb to pleasure at the precise moment as George. We both contracted inward, twitching and groaning in George's case, near screaming in mine. The light I imaged was real, and there were rainbow colored orbs surrounding us, as we had in fact risen into the air, halfway between the cloud bed and ceiling.

More importantly the closeness I desired had finally come to place. It was a feeling, deep inside me, but it was inside George as well, I could feel it, filling the air. It was light, and it was happiness, and it was love. George eyes were open, not taking in the magnificent sight happening around us, but staring deeply into my eyes. I knew he could feel it too; I could see the confusion but joy in his blue eyes. Still winded from our climaxes, we started to come down, still twitching, George still inside, we floated back to the ground.

As my back hit the surface of the cloud, the only movement between us for several moments was the steady rising and falling of our chests. But our eyes remained in steady contact. George was buried to the hilt inside, filling me with an incredible warm even as the twinkling lights fading from existence overhead.

"I love you," I said, my voice a mere whisper.

"And I love you," George replied sincerely.

"That was—"I inhaled, trying to find the right word.

"Yeah, I know. "George grinned.

"Should we, uh—"I spared a glance to where we were still connected.

"Oh yeah, right, right." George murmured, slightly embarrassed, before pulling out of me. My thighs were covered in sticky white. "Were we, uh-"looking down at the mess he made, it was now George struggling for words.

"Safe?" I offered.

"Uh, yes, that."

"This is a great time to be asking, don't you think?" I scoffed, looking around the room for my wand. I knew it had to be around here somewhere; it was in my skirt pocket, if only I knew where that was…

"Well, were we?" George asked again, gently turning my chin upwards.

"We will be," I answered, getting off the bed to search for my wand, seeing as just looking around the room failed.

"What does that mean?" George asked affronted.

"Oh relax," I rolled my eyes at him, "It's a simple potion. I've got some up in my dormitory. Oh, for heaven's sake! Where is my wand?"

"I dunno," George said quickly, "But we're good then?"

"For the last time, yes, George! We're in no risk of having a baby, nor were we ever. You think I would just have sex with you if I wasn't prepared."

"Well, no," George answered doubtfully," But it's always good to check. Anyway, what do you need your wand for?" he covered.

"Just—"I didn't know how to explain it. As I was struggling for the words, a clean rag appeared in my hand and was rewarded with a relived sigh. I immediately set forth on cleaning the mess from my thighs, sulking as I watched George haphazardly pull his clothes back on.

He bent down to put on his socks and came back up with a lacey scrap of material. "It's with deep regret that I'm giving this back to you right now," George said in a morose tone, returning my underwear to me.

I rolled my eyes at him, but otherwise remained silent as I dressed. I felt immediately awkward for some reason I couldn't place. Not bad…but uncomfortable, I had no idea what to say…and I always knew what to say to George…

"Hey, Drella," George broke her train of thought with an amused tone, "Whatcha' thinking about?"

"Huh? Wha—?"I said stupidly, getting my head caught in the hole, as I was too lazy to unbutton it all the way.

"Just then. Where did you go?" George persisted. "You were smiling and then you weren't."

"I just—" yeah, I had absolutely not idea how to convey these feelings to him.

"Yes?"

"I don't know…"I started weakly, but continued after glancing up at George's furrowing brows. "I guess I just felt… awkward,"

"Awkward? Why?" He immediately looked concerned and made his way over to me slowly, as if not to frighten me. Before I could think of how I was going to answer his question, George added, "You don't…regret it, do you?"

"Oh, no! Not at all, not at all…I enjoyed every minute of that," I giggled, allowing my eyes to fall back to the bed.

"What then?" George persisted.

"It's just that we've only been dating for a little under a month now—"

"And?"

"And," I sniped, "I just don't know how to act I guess. It was a little fast…but then again, it wasn't."

"It was and it wasn't?" George repeated, quizzical eyebrow rose.

"There's no denying that a month into dating is a little soon to be doing that," My eyes landed on the bed again, I couldn't help it. "But I've liked you for ages now, and I really can't count how long I've been thinking about that—"

"You've been thinking about that, have you?" He wiggled his eyebrows, having the audacity to full on wink on her.

"And you haven't?" I countered.

"Oh, no. I have. It's just to hear you have, too," George smiled, his voice less teasing this time. He picked up her wand from it's hiding spot underneath his side of the cloud, near the edge of the sand, and made to hand it to her, "And what I should be gathering from all this is…"

"That I'm happy, and I love you. And I regret nothing, but let's not go bragging about it either?"

"Are—Are you embarrassed of me?" George mocked insult.

"Don't be stupid. Half you're family is in our house; I don't want them teasing us at all times. And don't say that Ginny or Fred wouldn't because we both know they would,"

"But why do you care?"

"I don't care, really—" My flippant tone ceased when I saw the expression on his face. "It's just that I want to keep this to ourselves, you know? It's still special and new, and I just don't want to share it with anyone else for the moment. I mean eventually I know you'll have to tell Fred or he'll guess, but let's just keep this weekend for ourselves?"

"And Renee?" George asked skeptically.

"Well, yes. I suppose she'll be as bad as Fred. But still, how hard can it be to keep one tiny little secret to ourselves for forty-eight measly hours," I evaded, choosing to shrug my shoulders instead.

"Mum's the word, then," George sighed.

"I hope not!" I giggled, not wanting to think about Mrs. Weasley for days after what George and I had just done. I couldn't image the look on her face—actually I could and I don't like it.

"How 'bout we kiss on it?"

"Now that's an arrangement I can get behind," I said, happily leading in towards George for a kiss. We were caught in this terrible in between. In between the door and in-between the bed. What we knew we needed to do, get down to the party in the Gryffindor common room, someone was certain to have noticed their absence by now, and what we really wanted to do—peel off all the clothes we just put back on and repeat the last two hours. It was a difficult decision to say the least, one that ended in George groaning, forcefully pulling back from a kiss and swearing several times.

"What?!" I yelled, suddenly concerned by his anger.

"I promised Fred I would bring the fire whiskey from its hiding place in the passageway the next time we had a party," George groaned miserably.

"And you don't think he hasn't already gone to fetch it by now? The party started hours ago," I reasoned with him.

Seeing the logic, George's grin returned, if possibly, more wholeheartedly, "Then we have enough time to stay for a while and—"

"No, I don't think we do," I said firmly.

"Why not?" George pouted, trying impressively hard to make his blue eyes as convincing as a puppy basset hound.

I debated for a second, debating if I was really chicken enough to lie because the truth was embarrassing. Deciding that if we were mature enough to have sex, we needed to be mature enough to be honest to each other, I answered, "I'm still rather sore from the first time,"

"Oh, oh, right. Right. Of Course," George stammered, momentarily loosing his cool. "Back to the party then?" he broke the pregnant silence a few moments later.

"Yeah, in a few minutes, but first—" I insisted, pulling him into a kiss by his haphazardly tied tie.

XXX

"Okay, am I good?" I asked George as we stood outside of the Gryffindor Common Room, the Fat Lady watching me shrewdly as I fixed my hair for the fourth or fifth time.

"For the thousandth time, yes," George said firmly, as if he wanted nothing more than for his message to be understand.

"Well alright then," I sighed, realizing we'd just have to rip off the band-aid and go into the party.

"Oh, decided to pay me some attention, have you?" The Fat lady remarked snidely as we both turned to look at her portrait.

"Banana Fritters," George said dully.

"Yeah, well. Banana Fritters to you, too!" The Fat Lady shouted, banging open, loud enough to draw partygoers' attention to us, as we stood dumbstruck in the hallway.

"And there's no use with that hair girl, everyone will know," She added haughtily, as I pushed her back into the hallway behind us.

George and I took a few steps into the room, feeling as if almost all eyes had turned to us. Worst than that, it felt as if they knew. Before the discomfort could really sit in, Fred snuck up behind us, swinging an arm around both of our shoulders, pulling us too tightly into his side.

"So, whatcha' guys been up to? Anything….fun?" Fred wiggled his eyebrows, squeezing tighter.

"No, no," George said too quickly, "We were just in the kitchens,"

"Really?" Fred mocked disbelief, "Because I had to go down there when you too didn't show up, and uh, I didn't see you. Must have just missed you, right?"

"Must've," I added casually, "We just stopped in to get food for…the picnic,"

"Picnic? Isn't it a little late for a that?" Fred glanced at his wristwatch, holding it out to us to read forty-seven after midnight.

"We went up to the astronomy tower. You know, to gaze at the stars," George added somewhat lamely.

"Right," Fred grinned wider than ever. "I've got to get back to Angelina, but who knows maybe in a few weeks we'll be going for midnight picnics in the Astronomy Tower," He added airily, patting George on the shoulder as he left.

Once Fred was out of earshot, George and I exchanged a look before both saying, "He knows."

"So much for a keeping it a secret," George mumbled.

"Andrella Raynee Wendling," came the distinct sound of my name being called in a mirthless fashion. I turned around just in time to see Renae stomping toward me, and not a second more to defend myself because she immediately launched into a rant. "You were supposed to be up in our room almost an hour ago! What could you possibly be doing that was more important than us catching up? Weren't you the one that said tonight was the only night you could free your schedule? Then you go and bail on me! What is that?"

"I'm sorry, Renae!" I apologized, trying to make my tone sound remorseful and less dumbstruck, having forgotten our plans in their entirety. "We just got carried away—"

"With what? What was keeping you so busy that you forgot about me completely?" She demanded, crossing her arms over his chest. She was wearing her pajamas already, as if she had been waiting for me to get back.

"A picnic in the Astronomy tower," George added, unhelpfully. Renae simply turned her glare onto him, which was more comical rather than intimidating seeing as he had a good thirty centimeters on her.

"Yes, well," Renae stated in a tone that screamed that answer simply would not do, and proceeded to grip my arm with painful force. "You've kept her long enough doing whatever it was you two were doing, and it's not fair. You already made her late! So, say good night. "

"I didn't do anything," George said, throwing his hands up in defense.

"Oh, yes you have," Renae retorted, pulling me toward the staircase to the Girl's Dormitory. "You've done quite enough for one night, I think."

"I-what?" George said, bewildered by her sudden sour tone. She was glaring at him as if he had just stolen her kitten.

"Good night, George," I sighed, knowing better than to hope she'd just let me go. "I love you,"

George softened at these words, and stepped toward me. He let his palm lay flat on my cheek for a more seconds before swooping in for a gentle kiss. "And I love you,"

"Gross!" Renae squealed, dragging me up the stairs behind her.

George remained at the bottom, not desiring a trip down a stone slide while sounding an alarm, forcing McGonagall to break up the party. I waved at him briefly before forcing myself to pay attention to my walking before I fell down the stairs. Besides, I had very good reason to believe I needed every spare second I could find to prepare myself for the conversation bound to take place once we reached our dorm room.

XXX

Wow, okay. Here we go! It's only been like, what, three years? Anyway. I decided I wanted to continue writing this so that's what I'm doing. I'm not promising any miracles just sharing that it is my goal to complete this story. That being said, A lot needs to be edited. So before I write a new chapter I will most likely revise the first thirteen. The most major changes I intend to make are changes to the timeline, for I realized I'm way ahead of where I'd like to be. So yes, expect changes and updates super-semi-frequently.

I love all you guys, and please if you feel the need to say anything at all about this story (even if its just to abuse me), let me know!

Ex's and Oh's

Audrey V. Sullivan