My Love ✧ George Weasley

12 - Quidditch and Butterbeer

George

I turned back to Adriana, and she was looking up at me with a smile.

"Did you not notice that they disappeared at basically the beginning of our conversation?" she questioned.

I let out an awkward laugh. "I guess not. I'll admit, I wasn't very focused on our friends."

"Ah, yeah. I wasn't either, but I often observe my surroundings, so I noticed that they were gone a while ago," she said.

I nodded my head. "Interesting."

Adriana nodded her head as well, turning to look at the shelves of candy in front of us. She picked up a couple of Sugar Quills and began to walk around the shop, turning to make sure I was following. I continued trailing behind her as she arrived at a shelf full of chocolate, picking out a couple of Chocolate Frogs.

Once she had both the Sugar Quills and Chocolate Frogs balanced in her arms, she turned to me, saying, "Alright, I'm done. Is there anything you want?"

"Nah, I think I'm good," I told her, shaking my head slightly. "I'll probably just end up stealing something from Ron."

"Alrighty then," she smiled. Adriana quickly went up and paid for her candy, and we left the sweet shop together, joining the busy streets of Hogsmeade.

We swiftly made our way through all the crowds and into the warmth of the Three Broomsticks, where I immediately spotted Fred, Lee, and Naomi all sitting at a table together, laughing their arses off.

"Well would you look at that," I said, nudging Adriana and gesturing to our friends.

Adriana laughed and shook her head in amusement, and proceeded to grab my wrist and pull me along with her, away from where our friends were sitting, to a small table in the back of the pub.

When we got to the table, she let go of my wrist and sat down, looking up at me once she was situated.

"Well? You going to sit down or just stand there?" she asked with a growing smirk.

I cleared my throat for what felt like the tenth time that day, trying to unsuccessfully get rid of the blush I could feel growing on my face, and sat down across from her.

"So," Adriana started, putting her arms on the table and resting her head in her palms, "what shall we talk about today?"

"Uhm," I said, trying to think of topics that might interest us both. "Are you interested in Quidditch at all?"

"Somewhat," she answered. "I don't keep up with the professional teams and matches much, but I do go to all the Quidditch matches here."

"Do you play?"

"I've played for fun over the summer holidays with my friends," Adriana replied.

"So, you're not on the Hufflepuff team then?" I asked.

"Nope," she said with a shake of her head. "Naomi, Cedric, and Katherine are, but I don't really care to play competitively. And, besides, even if I did want to join the team, I couldn't. I don't have my own broom."

"You don't have your own broom?"

"They're too expensive," Adriana shrugged. "I mean, the owl my parents got me was basically an investment, and we sometimes struggle to afford the new books each year. Not much money comes in from a small bookstore in a small muggle village. Hence why my dad works other jobs while my mum takes care of the shop."

I nodded my head. "Yeah, that happens in my family as well. My dad works for the Ministry, in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, which really doesn't pay well. So, combine that with seven kids, and we've always just been tight for money."

"Yeah. I can't imagine what my life would be like if I had siblings," she smiled a little. "That might actually be why my parents decided to have only one child. Y'know, because children are fucking expensive."

We both laughed at that, and after our laughter died down, it remained quiet between us.

Adriana was the one to clear her throat this time. "Shall I go get us some butterbeers?"

"Yeah, sure," I replied. "Only if you want to, of course. I can easily go and get them as well."

"I'm fine with it," she said. "I'll try not to be gone too long."

She then got up, gave me a little wave and walked to the bar of the pub, patiently standing and waiting to get Madam Rosmerta's attention.

"Y'know, staring is kind of creepy."

My focus was drawn from Adriana at the bar to her friend, Naomi, standing at our table, Fred and Lee next to her.

"I wasn't staring," I defended. "I was just... watching her as she went and got our drinks. What else was I supposed to do?"

"You could've watched her without looking so infatuated, mate," Lee teased.

"I didn't look infatuated," I said, glaring at the three of them as they snickered.

"Yeah, whatever you say, Georgie," Fred said, turning to look towards the bar. "Oh, would you look at that, Adriana's on her way back here with your drinks."

My eyes widened and I looked away from my brother, seeing Adriana walking back towards the table, a confused, and yet almost amused look upon her face.

"What party am I missing out on?" she jokingly asked, setting the butterbeers on the table and sitting in her chair.

"A party that's about to be disbanded," Naomi answered with a grin. She started walking away, dragging both Lee and Fred with her. "See you two at the castle!"

Adriana and I watched as Fred and Lee tried to wriggle their arms out of Naomi's grip, complaining that they "hadn't got the chance to embarrass George yet" all the way out the door of the Three Broomsticks and onto the streets of Hogsmeade.

"How strong is she?" I asked, turning back to Adriana. "Naomi dragged both of them with ease. And Fred's a bloody beater!"

Adriana laughed at that. "Well, Naomi's a beater as well. I guess they've both got that beater strength."

"She's a beater?"

"Yep," Adriana said, amusement spread all across her face. "Naomi's a beater, Katherine's a chaser, and Cedric's the seeker."

"Good to know," I said while nodding my head. "What position do you like to play? You know, in those 'for fun' matches you play with your friends."

"I like being a chaser," she answered. "I was definitely not strong enough to hold a bat and hit bludgers, I did not do a good job at hitting the quaffle away from the goal, and I couldn't find the golden snitch whatsoever. I did the best at being a chaser, though. And I enjoyed it the most."

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing that you aren't on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team," I told her, a smirk growing on my face.

"Why?" Adriana asked, confused as to why I was smirking.

"Well, you see, if you were on the Hufflepuff team, and you did play as a chaser, I would have to hit bludgers at you, since I'm a beater. Now, if I'm being honest here, I don't think I'd be able to do that."

"Why?" she asked once again, except this time, the confusion melted into understanding. "Are you too scared of hurting me? You've never seen me play, which means you have no idea how good or bad I am. How sure are you that you're even going to hit me if I play?"

"I'm not sure that I'm going to hit you," I responded. "But, the chance is still there, and I wouldn't want to take it. If I did end up hitting you, there could be a chance that you'd be sent to the hospital wing, and I would feel very guilty about it. There's also the chance of you getting upset at me for hitting you, and that, I think, would be the worst punishment ever."

"Why would me getting mad at you be a horrible punishment?"

"You probably wouldn't talk to me much if you were mad at me," I answered. "At this point, that seems even worse than detention with Snape."

"I wouldn't get mad at you. It's just a part of the game, yeah?" she winked, taking a sip of her butterbeer.