The American. (George Weasley)

Nine.

Every single time I tried to talk to George, I chickened out and got nervous. It's been two weeks and I haven't spoken to him. Since there was no Quidditch this year, Katie didn't have an excuse to ask him to speak alone. I wouldn't ask her to do that for me anyway but I know she would if I did ask. But this was between George and I wanted to keep it that way.
   
On the bright side, William and Luna are friends now. I was glad he was showing her kindness if the other kids were mean to her. I know he knows how that feels. They sit together at lunch and he tells me that they do homework together in the Ravenclaw Common Room.
   
He also said she's very patient with him when he's reading or trying too hard to focus, which I liked to hear. A lot of people refuse to work with him because he gets so frustrated when he can't stay focused or if he is having a really hard time reading.
   
Irina is making friends in Hufflepuff too. I knew she would, but I was happy to hear it nonetheless. She was so full of life now, and I loved to see it. Having them transfer here was the best decision that my parents have ever made.
   
Fred and George spent a lot of time in the corner of the Common Room writing letters, working on whatever they were trying to invent for their Joke Shop, and sometimes they did homework. They had a lot of time to work on their Joke Shop since there was no Quidditch this year.
   
It was October when I finally got the courage to talk to George. I had enough of him ignoring me. I wanted my friend back. So, I got up and closed my book and headed over to where Fred and George were sitting.
   
"Fred," I say, making my presence known, "can I have a moment alone with your brother, please?"
   
Fred looks at George, who nods and says, "It's alright."
   
Fred stands up and leaves. I take his spot next to George.
   
"What is going on with you? Why have you been avoiding me since July?"
   
"I'm not avoiding you," he says, his tone kind of harsh. He wasn't looking at me, but at the book in front of him.
   
"Then why haven't we spoken since you kissed me? I wasn't that awful at it, was I?"
   
"No," he says, shaking his head. His long, ginger hair flopping as he did so. "I just need time to sort out how I feel. You scare me."
   
"I scare you?" I ask, confused.
   
"Yeah," he says, "It's intimidating. I've never really liked someone before. I panicked, okay? I'm sorry. I just need some time to process this. How I'm feeling and everything."
   
I actually laugh at him. I made him nervous. Me. Wow. That was honestly hilarious to me and I didn't know why. It just was.
   
"Hey," he says with a chuckle in his voice, "Don't laugh."
   
"I'm sorry," I say, pulling myself together. "I make you nervous. That's too cute."
   
"Shut up," he says through his teeth. I could tell he wasn't actually mad at me.
   
"You could have just told me that you know? I would have understood. It's okay that you need time to process things but you should have talked to me first. That way I didn't think you were avoiding me on purpose. I was starting to think the worst, that you didn't want to be my friend anymore."
   
"I know, I'm sorry, Daisy," he says, finally looking at me and not his book. I can tell from his tone that he was being serious right now. "I just got scared and didn't know what to say."
   
"Well, now I know. So you take all the time you need, and I will be right over there when you've figured things out, alright?"
   
He smiles softly. It makes me smile back at him. "Thanks for not being mad at me."
   
"You're welcome, but next time just talk to me. Tell me what's going on. I promise to listen and try to understand."
   
"Thanks," he says, smiling again.
   
I told everyone in my dorm what George said that night. Devon said I forgave him too quickly, but the truth was I didn't want to lose him. The whole point of talking to him was to get to the bottom of things, which I did.
   
The contestants from the other school arrived on October 30th. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons arrived in great fashions, and we were all surprised to see Quidditch player Viktor Krum with the Durmstrang students. There was an obvious Veela from Beauxbatons school, we just didn’t know who it was. We just knew there was one.
   
On Halloween, Fred and George ran into the Great Hall with vials of the aging potion they had made this morning. I was sitting with Gen near the Goblet of Fire. They pop open the Vials and cross their arms like a newly married couple taking a shot of alcohol and in unison they say, "Bottoms up!" They then drank the potions and they did age, but their plan didn't work. They turned into very old men and ran out of the room as their names shot out of the fire at them. All in all, it was a great laugh in the end.
   
The Champion from Durmstrang was Viktor Krum, which made everyone cheer. The Champion from Beauxbatons was a young woman named Fleur Delacour. And all of the Hufflepuffs cheered very loudly when Cedric Diggory was called to be the Hogwarts Champion.
   
Just as everything seemed to be boiling down after all three of the champions were chosen, the goblet spit out one more name, and it did so unprovoked. Headmaster Dumbledore took the name and unfolded it and read it out loud. “Harry Potter.”
   
Silence took over the entire room. Harry Potter, how? He was only 14, how did he get past Dumbledore’s age line? How did he get his name in the goblet without Dumbledore’s magic rejecting it? The Weasey twins tried, and they were rejected right away. How did Harry manage that? It was the question on everyone’s mind right now as Harry awkwardly strutted over to Professor Dumbledore, took his name card from him, and then headed back to where he was sitting.
   
I went up to the Hospital Wing to check on Fred and George since they missed the Goblet's decisions on the Champions. They didn't understand how Harry had gotten his name into the Goblet when they couldn't. I told them I wasn't even sure if Harry knew how his name got in there he looked so shocked, and scared, when his name was called.
   
The three heads of the schools agreed that rules were rules and that since it had spit out Harry’s name, he had to participate in the Triwizard Tournament. Harry didn’t seem very happy about this. Over the next few days, everyone wanted to know how Harry did it. How he got his name into the goblet. He claimed to have no idea how his name got there, and he didn’t do it himself. I believed him, because I believe that Harry wouldn’t put his life at risk just to be popular in school. If he claimed he didn’t put his name into the goblet and that he didn’t know who did then I believe him.
   
Some of the kids at school didn't believe that Harry didn't put his own name in the Goblet. Ron had even stopped talking to him over it, saying he should have put Ron's name in there too. Harry of course was upset by this but he didn't let it get to him too much. I could tell he missed his best friend though. 
   
We found out in November that there was going to be a ball on Christmas Day. The Yule Ball, it was called. Fourth year and up could attend. It explained why we had to have a formal outfit with us this year. William said he was planning on asking Luna to go with him. I thought that was very sweet of him to do that.
   
The first task of the Triwizard Tournament was at the end of November. It was held in the Forbidden forest. My brother approached us, and from the look on his face he was very excited. He nearly jumped up and down. He was so excited he could hardly talk.
   
"Luna said yes!" He exclaimed.
   
"She said yes to going to the ball with you?" I ask, trying to get some clarification. He nods his head vigorously, his dark brown curls flopping as he did. He was so cute when he got excited like this. I stood up and hugged him, saying, "Awe William, I'm so happy for you!" While we hugged. He left then to go sit with her while they watched the task together.
   
"Are you hoping George asks you to the ball?" Asked Gen as my brother walked over to Luna.
   
"Of course, I don't know if he will, but obviously I'd like him to."
   
"I think he will," says Ginny, who was sitting in front of us and she turned to talk to us. "If he doesn't I'll kill him."
   
"Awe," I say, not hiding my smile, "Thanks Ginny."
   
She smiled at me before she turned back around. Then the task started.
   
Cedric came out first, up against a Swedish Short-Snout dragon. He used a Transfiguration spell to turn a rock into a dog to distract the Dragon. He seemed to be getting away with it, too. It actually worked long enough for him to get the egg.
   
Then the chosen Beauxbatons Champion, Fleur Delacour, came out second, up against a Common Welsh Green Dragon and enchanted the Dragon to sleep long enough for her to get the egg.
   
The Durmstrang student Viktor Krum came out against a Chinese Fireball. He used the conjunctivitis curse on the dragon to get the egg.
   
Harry came out last against a Hungarian Horntail, which Harry had told me that Charlie Weasley said was the fiercest of them all. He used a Summoning Charm to retrieve his broom and zoomed around the dragon to get the egg, but he did get scratched by the dragon in the process.
   
After the First Task, they gave out the points without the champions present because they were all being tended to by Madam Pomfrey. Harry and Viktor were tied for first place, with Cedric in second, and Fleur in third. The champions were told that the Golden Egg they retrieved contained a clue for the Second Task.
   
Harry was treated like a king in Gryffindor Tower that night. We all wanted to know what the egg did, so we made him open it and it omitted a terrible screeching noise. He closed the egg right away. Once people started going to bed, us girls got on the topic of the Yule Ball. Katie and Leanne had been asked by some Beauxbatons boys, and Devon has already been asked by a Durmstrang boy.
   
Genevieve and I were both waiting for Fred and George to ask us to go with them. Gen knew that Fred asking her was a long shot, and that he was probably going to ask Angelina to go with him. But George asking me to go with him was a real possibility. If only he'd just ask me already.

__________________________
Here's part 9!

George needs to get his shit together.

Like fast, too.

-Emily Winchester.