the gentle moon / george weasley

she didn't need to be saved

Snow was falling and the common room finally fell silent after Angelina freaked out about having three of her best players banned. Fred was sulking in a chair in the corner, mad that he didn't get a chance to hit Draco. Harry was sitting on the couch, he had let go of the snitch he had caught earlier, and it was now zooming around and around the common room; people were watching its progress as though hypnotized and Crookshanks was leaping from chair to chair, trying to catch it.

"I'm going to bed," said Angelina, getting slowly to her feet. "Maybe this will all turn out to have been a bad dream. . . . Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and find we haven't played yet. . . ."

She was soon followed by Alicia and Katie. Fred soon sloped off to bed sometime later, glowering at everyone he passed, and Ginny went not long after that. George sat, looking up at his lap at August. She gave him a small smile and got up putting her hand out to him.

"Want to stay with me tonight?" She asked. He nodded and followed her out.

"Do you regret it?" August asked, with a toothbrush hanging out of her mouth.

"Punching Malfoy?" George laughed, "I regret stopping."

"Then why do you look so ashamed?" August asked. George stopped smiling, looking at her with concern. His eyes fell to the floor, and his hand wrung in his lap.

"Geo, what's wrong?" August said, and George's head snapped up. She had never called him a nickname, besides calling him 'Weasley' when she teased him and Gorgy that one time. Her eyes were wide.

"What did you just call me?" His mouth formed a smirk.

"I didn't call you anything." August spun around, scurrying back to her bathroom, "I called you George."

"That did not sound remotely like George." He laughed, pushing himself off her bed and running to the bathroom door. She looked up at the mirror at him, leaning against the doorframe behind her. "You just nicknamed me."

"No, I didn't." August pushed passed him, wiping her mouth on her sleeve, "You've had a long day, let's go to bed."

"I definitely can't sleep now, that I finally have a nickname." George smiled brightly at her.

"Fine sure," August scoffed throwing a sweater on, "It slipped, you were not supposed to hear that... It's what I call you during my sessions with Ase."

George smiled proudly, sitting down on her bed.

"So will you tell me what is wrong with you?" August turned around to him, "You've been all mopey since you got back from McGonagall's office... But you clearly don't regret beating the shit out of Draco. Is it because you were banned? I figured you and Fred would have been gone before the season was even over."

"You're not upset with me?" He asked

"Why would I be mad at you?" August sat next to him, "I would have done the same thing."

"I didn't scare you, right?" George asked, looking ashamed.

"No?"

"I couldn't stop." He admitted, "I would have kept going if Hooch didn't stop me." He said, "He called you mutt... And it made me so angry. And then he called your mum a mudblood and then your dad... I don't know... At first, I could control it when you got called names, but... now, it just-" He took a deep breath, "it just made me... It just..."

"I know." August said, gently caressing his cheek, "I was mad too."

"August, I would do anything for you." He told her, grabbing her face in his hand, his thumb rubbing her cheek, "Anything."