Forget Me Not || George Weasley

Chapter 54

Olive leans against the counter of Weasley Wizard Wheezes, swaying her hips back and forth. She tries very hard to not hum, but she can't resist making some sort of noise. She's too happy to be quiet, her brain full of steam like clouds. This morning was something else--

"You're ridiculous."

Her head whips up, cheeks burning at Lee's knowing smile. He snickers and reaches out to tug on one of her damp curls, teasing, "I take it you're the reason we opened late this morning? I knew you were trouble, Olive Murphy, but I think I underestimated you."

"On the contrary," Olive's eyes narrow playfully, "George is the reason. I will not stand for such character slander, Lee Jordan."

"Of course, love," He smirks, and she can't resist reaching out to pinch his cheek between her thumb and pointer finger. He swats at her hands, scoffing, "Remind me to tell George to shag you more often."

Olive grins, nodding her head, "Please do."

Lee rolls his eyes so dramatically she feared for a moment that they may get stuck. She leans forward, using her arms to lift her toes off the floor before dropping back down to sway her hips back and forth again. She couldn't stop moving, dancing. Humming and smiling. It was certainly due in part to her wakeup call this morning. But the other part, a bigger part, was the way George Weasley had looked at her over his shoulder while they got dressed in his bedroom. Their cheeks flushed, their bodies still wet and warm from their shower. George had smiled, a kind of smile she wasn't familiar with. A smile that was softer, one that hit her right in the solar plexus like a punch from the universe. 

She thought she knew what it was, she hoped she knew what it was. She didn't remember how to be brave enough to ask. Was George also feeling that emotion? The one that felt like a shaken bottle of champagne, bubbles fizzing and golden and tickling the spaces between her ribs. She knew the letters that made up that word, that emotion. She wondered if George knew them too, felt the urge to unscramble those letters and put them together to make the word that was responsible for her positive mood after a rough few days. 

Olive shakes her head quickly, swallowing a few times to make sure that sodding word isn't going to fly from her throat. Once she's sure, she leans forward and pokes Lee before asking, "What's been going on with you and Charlie?"

Lee's smile wavers, enough for her to notice anyway. It's back in the blink of an eye, full force and shiny like a prized jewel. She adored Lee, enough now to know when he wasn't as happy as he would prefer to seem. She softens her voice, "Just so you know, I might forget we ever had this conversation...so you can say whatever, Lee. I'm the best kind of secret keeper."

His eyes soften, holding hers as if to see if she's being honest. He finally lets out a sigh that feels like one he'd been holding for some time. She watches silently as he shakes his head slowly, "He's wonderful, Olive. Really. Like fucking amazing." He glances away from her for a moment before offering up a half smile, "I had such a major crush on him. I still do, you know? Like I can't fully realize that he's with me. Actually with me...and I love him. I love him."

Olive slowly nods. Lee moves around the counter, reaching for a box that needed to be stacked. Olive hurries over, scaling the ladder quickly and reaching down for Lee to hand her the box. He grins slightly, passing up a box and waiting for her to stack it neatly on the display before handing her another. He liked to be busy while he talked, Olive realized. She glances back at the closed office door where George had kissed her silly earlier before she'd insisted he work on the bills he'd been worrying over. She's glad he's in there. She wouldn't want to upset him when she asks, "Did Fred know?"

Lee nearly drops the box he's holding, hurriedly recovering and handing it up to her before she could comment on it. He laughs nervously under his breath, "That I was in love with Charlie? No, but he and George listened when I joked about it. I think that's what bothers me so much. That I joked about it for so long when I really was serious."