Junoesque ✿George Weasley✿

9.

"My back is killing me," George grumbled at his hunched over posture.

"If you weren't such a giant, we wouldn't have this problem."

Luckily, they had made it to the portrait that displayed the Fat Lady. They pulled off the invisibility cloak and the woman in the painting jumped in fright, not expecting to see the two appear out of thin air. She spilt her small glass of what could only be wine and glared viciously at them both.

"What are you two doing out at this time?!" she cried before zeroing in on Blair. "And why on Earth is there a Ravenclaw with you?!"

"Official Gryffindor business," George rolled his eyes before he clamped his hands over Blair's ears, saying the password so that the woman had no choice but let them through.

"Is she always like that?" Blair whispered once George had removed his palms and stepped through the portrait hole first.

"Unfortunately."

Once George had stepped out of her line of vision, she was greeted with the sight of a cozy-looking common room filled with people laughing and mingling under a banner that said 'Congratulations, Harry!'. The table at the back of the room was filled with food and drinks that were most likely from the kitchens, and the fireplace was roaring with a large fire that warmed the entire room. Blair's tense muscles relaxed at the warmth that greeted her but couldn't help but feel nervous around the amount of people she didn't know. She knew most of the Quidditch team as their last names were usually displayed over the top of their numbers on their jerseys, but others she only knew faces.

"Georgie!"

Fred appeared while stinking of Fire-whiskey and swung his arm around George's shoulder, grinning up at him. Angelina Johnson held on to his other arm in an attempt to keep him standing and looked uncomfortable to be seen at such a time. She noticed Blair standing there and shot her a small smile, to which she mirrored in slight amusement.

"Merlin Fred, I left for a couple of minutes and you're already hammered," George joked and Fred scoffed.

"So what? I'm older than you!" Fred pointed an accusing finger at him before turning his gaze to Blair. He immediately grinned and beamed at her through his heavy-lidded eyes. "Ah Rosier! Should have known he'd bring you here. You know he's basically obsessed with you right? Oh Freddie, she's so mysterious! But she's so beaut-"

"Alright Fred! I think it's time you sit down and get away from me!" George hissed and shoved his brother away, glancing nervously towards Blair who looked between him and Fred with a confused look.

Angelina was able to stumble off with Fred hanging around her shoulders and George rubbed the back of his neck with his ears turning red. He knew it was a bad idea to talk to Fred about his social life (or what he thought could be his love life) especially before an event filled with alcohol. But regardless, he turned to Blair and found her looked around curiously at the tapestries that hung on the walls.

"Are you hungry?" George questioned and Blair nodded lightly, making him lead her towards the table that was overflowing with food. She took a few cauldron cakes as well as a cup of pumpkin juice, before George led her over to the sofa that was unoccupied in front of the fire.

Settling down, the two were silent as Gryffindors talked loudly around them about the possible outcomes of the tournament. Most people seemed like they were overjoyed to have a Gryffindor in the tournament than to question how Harry had even gotten his name into the goblet. Blair was surprised at how different the house was to Ravenclaw and found it less bearing to think the opposite of her peers while in the Gryffindor common.

"How's Harry taking it?" Blair decided to ask as she bit into one of her cauldron cakes. She spotted the boy himself standing near the stairs that lead up to the boys' dormitory, obviously looking for a quick getaway without being seen.

"Alright I guess. Ronnie-kins is being a git about it already though," George motioned his head towards his youngest brother who stood with Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas. Ron was obviously bitter towards Harry as he stood with a permanent scowl on his face and refused to engage in the conversation that Dean and Seamus were having in front of him.

"I feel sorry for Harry. He can't seem to get a break from anything," Blair said while looking down at her cup of pumpkin juice. It was then that she realised how close George was sitting next to her as she could see his knee basically touching hers. She felt her heart skip a beat at the closeness but made no attempt to shuffle away. Maybe he had just coincidentally sat a little closer on the sofa than he usually did.

"So... about Hogsmeade weekend..." George trailed off and Blair turned to face him, again noticing how close his face was to hers. If she had sat back against the sofa's back cushions, her head would touch his arm that was stretched out across it. "Is there anything that you want to do specifically?"

"I don't really know anything about Hogsmeade, so I couldn't tell you," she shrugged lightly. "But I guess I need some new Quidditch gloves..."

"I'm sure they sell Quidditch stuff at Gladrags Wizardwear," George mentioned. "If not, I can get my Mum to go into Diagon Alley for you and go to Quality Quidditch Supplies."

"She'd do that? She doesn't even know me," she looked at him oddly and he suddenly blushed.

"That might not be entirely true," he mumbled and Blair was confused, pinching her eyebrows together.

George turned his gaze to Blair's eyes and admired how dark they were. She was completely different to the people he surrounded himself with, yet he couldn't seem to get enough of her. Always dressed in black, she stood out among the blondes, redheads and brunettes he usually associated himself with. She was the complete opposite of what a Veela was, yet she had the same effect on him as a Veela did. Even now, he could smell the fruity scent that she always carried and felt himself leaning closer without knowing it. He was so close that he could see the cat hairs that were littered over her clothes, reminding him of her adorable obsession with her cat Jasper.

Blair could see that George was leaning closer and he was so close that she could see his pupils dilate against his dark brown irises. In any other situation, Blair would have pulled out her wand from her shoe and jabbed it into the eye of the person who'd dare get so close to her. But the sight of George's bright orange hair and freckled nose clouded over the thought of doing such a thing, and she couldn't help but hold her breath. His nose was now touching hers and she swore she saw him purse his lips while flickering his gaze down to her own. Was he really going to kiss her? Right in the middle of the Gryffindor common room? In front of everyone he knew?

"Blair, I don't think we've been properly introduced."

The two jumped apart and looked up to see Ginny standing behind the sofa while smiling obliviously down at Blair. George had never hated the sight of one of his siblings so much in his life and looked to the fireplace, imagining Ginny's head in it for ruining a once in a lifetime opportunity. But then again, the interruption allowed him to think about what was just about to happen. He was going to kiss Blair. Was that something he wanted? Judging by the excessive beating of his heart and the hatred he felt for his sister, he concluded that he did want to. In fact, he might even be craving to do it again.

"O-Oh I suppose we haven't," Blair stuttered and stood up from the sofa, trying to hide the blush that was now taking over her entire face. It wasn't hard for Ginny to notice this and looked towards George, who was glaring angrily at the fireplace and she realised what she had done.

"Oh no! Did I just..." she didn't let herself finish and switched her wide eyes back and forth between her brother and the girl in front of her.

"Yeah, you did," George spat without turning around and Blair gulped dryly, stretching out her shirt in an attempt to appear less uncomfortable.

"Well um..." Ginny cursed her bad timing and took hold of Blair's wrist. "Let me introduce you to some other people, Blair."

She willingly followed after the ginger butdared to glance over her shoulder, seeing Lee take her place on the sofa and immediatelybegin interrogating George about the scene he was forced to witness across theroom