Good Girl || George Weasley

17

The party is in full swing already, as I expected, but chaos erupts the moment that Harry and I step into the common room.

I'm practically tackled by the twins, and I can't tell which one is hugging me from the front and which one is hugging me from the back, but they're both yelling at me over the music about how they knew I could do it and how they're so proud of me and how their best friend is the Hogwarts champion and-

Once I finally escape the Weasley twin sandwich, Lee runs up to us, and after practically tackling me, too, he shoves my costume in my hands and tells me to hurry up and go change because there's not only three Ghostbusters and we look lame not having our fourth.

Practically every person I pass congratulates me, and once I've finally escaped up to the twins' and Lee's room, I let out a deep breath. From the moment I woke up this morning, this day has been nothing but stress and chaos, and while I'm slightly tired, I definitely can't skip out on a Halloween party. And plus, Lee is right: they need their fourth Ghostbuster.

While the boys looked kind of dorky (which was expected, of course), I have to admit that Lee managed to get his hands on pretty good costumes. And George looked rather cute in his jumpsuit.

I set my clothes on the lid of George's trunk before stepping into the jumpsuit, tugging it up and over my shoulders. Whatever size Lee got for me, it's a pretty good fit, but the one problem is that I can't reach the long zipper on my back.

I hear the door start to open, and I pray that it's Lee or one of the twins, as opposed to a couple looking for an empty room to snog in. I turn around and hold the jumpsuit up to my chest, the back of it still splayed open, as Fred steps into the room, grinning at me and closing the door quietly behind him.

"Hey," he says, "Just came to see if you needed help."

"Well," I reply, turning around so that my back is facing him, "You have perfect timing."

I hear the floor creak under Fred's footsteps as he crosses the room to me, and I feel his fingers brush against the bare skin of my back as he zips up my jumpsuit. I hold my hair up once he gets to the top, and once he's done, I let my hair fall back down around my shoulders and turn around to face him.

"What do you think?" I ask, holding out my arms and spinning in a circle. He looks me up and down, a smile playing on his lips.

"You look better than the rest of us, that's for sure," he says, pushing his tongue against his cheek before meeting my eyes again.

I smile back at him, but I can't help but notice something in his expression that reminds me of that one night during the summer, which feels like ages ago. The night before the Quidditch World Cup, when I thought he was going to kiss me. The night that we haven't talked about since. Or even the fact that we have kissed, once, even though it was just truth or dare.

"Who you are and what have you done with Fred Weasley?" I ask, "The Fred Weasley I know would never admit that someone looks better than him."

Fred chuckles. "You're the one exception, K. But don't let that go to your head. It's already big enough."

I smack his arm as I pass him to walk to the door, and he laughs, but he also reaches out and catches my arm, stopping me from opening the door. I look up at him, and he looks down at me, and his smile slowly fades into a more serious expression - one that isn't seen often from him - and I should just tell him that George is the one that I want, and oh, Merlin-

Someone else has perfect timing, because the door flies open, smacking me in the face. Fred lets go of me, and I stumble back, holding my nose, and I hear Lee start howling with laughter, trying to apologize, but he's laughing too hard.