Good Girl || George Weasley

23

When I pull Harry into a broom cupboard the next morning after breakfast to tell him about the First Task, he asks me if I'm lying to him. He seems just as, if not more, shell-shocked as I was, but he thanks me for telling him before we part ways.

Nothing else really interesting happens for the rest of the day, besides some obvious tension between Alicia, Fred, and now Angelina. I wonder if she brought up anything to Alicia after we talked last night.

Friday morning, while I'm finishing up breakfast, McGonagall approaches the Gryffindor table and asks to talk to me once I'm done, before my first lesson of the day, which is Potions.

"Sure, Professor," I tell her, shoving the last bit of my toast in my mouth before telling my friends I'll meet them in class.

I leave the Great Hall then, wondering what she wants to talk to me about. I hope that she didn't hear somehow that I was out sneaking around in the middle of the night, but then again, she'd have asked to talk to George, too, if that was the case. And either way, if I were in trouble for some reason, that'd be Flitwick's responsibility to deal with me.

When I make it to her classroom, she's already there, seated at her desk with her hands folded on it. She smiles at me and motions towards the chair across from her.

"Take a seat, Miss Clearwater."

I pull out the chair, lowering myself into it. I feel considerably more relaxed than I did when I was in this same situation with Moody.

"The First Task is in a few weeks," she says, "I'm not allowed to tell you anything about it, which you know, but how are you faring?"

I force a small smile at her, trying my best to not give away the fact that I know what the First Task is, or that I just told Harry yesterday.

"I've been doing alright," I lie, because in reality, I'm completely stressed out of my mind, "Just kind of nervous."

She nods slowly, and as her eyes bore into mine, I can't help but get the feeling that she can see right through me, and she knows somehow that I know. It's not like she doesn't know how close I am with the Weasleys, and therefore Charlie, who I'm sure she knows is helping out with the dragons. And McGonagall is plenty smart enough to put two and two together.

"Just be careful," she says, "You're an extremely intelligent and talented girl, but just... try to be cautious. Act wisely. Understood?"

I nod. "Understood, Professor."

She hesitates for a moment. "Is there anything else you'd like to talk about? I know you have quite a bit on your plate this year, and dare I say that you've seemed a bit distracted lately. Not that your grades have been effected, but-" She pauses and smiles gently at me before continuing, "-I suppose I find myself worrying about you, dear."

I return her smile. She may be a tough professor more often than not, but she's also one of the best people I've ever met. I will admit that I've stuck her into the mother figure category in my head, right along with Mrs. Weasley: someone I know I can rely on and go to if I need anything.

Plus, she's been through a lot... She ought to have some good advice, right?

"Hypothetically," I begin, slowly, and I see a smile playing on her lips as she settles back in her seat to listen to me, "Say you had a friend group that were all really close, but then you found yourself falling for one of your best friends, but you don't want to say anything because you don't want to ruin the friend group but you also feel like there might be a chance that he may fancy you back... What would you do?"

McGonagall nods, the small, knowing smile still playing on her lips. I can't help but wonder if she read the Daily Prophet article.

"Well, Miss Clearwater, I would tell him how I felt, because I would remind myself that if my friends are truly my friends, they will support me and my happiness. But that's all hypothetical, of course," she adds, and I grin at her.