Junoesque ✿George Weasley✿

40.

"Fred..." she called out after a loud sigh. Fred's scrubbing halted but he didn't turn his head, keeping his gaze on the small trail he had been able to clean and rid of the bright paint. Blair crossed her hands and squatted down next to the boy, avoiding the paint that was inches away from the tips of her shoes. She looked at Fred who blinked at the floor, resisting from turning his head and meeting her stare.

"Why can't we just be friends? It would make everything so much easier for everyone," she continued and she wasn't surprised to find him unresponsive. She knew that George had been trying to get an answer out of Fred for the same question but hadn't succeeded. But she thought that if she were the one to confront him and show that she was willing to be civil, she might get a different reaction. Not that she ever showed anything different, but his constant jabs and tendency to tease her sometimes made her act irrationally. But it was just banter and nothing that was meant to target Fred personally.

"Why don't you like me?" she tried again, his scrubbing starting up again and busying him once more.

"I've told you. I do like you," he mumbled and Blair sighed once more.

"Okay, why do you do the things you do, then?"

"I don't know, Blair, why do you do the things you do?"

Blair didn't answer and choose to send him some non-verbal messages through her strong stare. He had finally turned and met her eyes, seeing her unimpressed expression. He put down his brush and straightened his hunched over posture, sitting back on his hands with a sigh of what he could play off as relief from having a rest. But he was really sighing in preparation for launching into his lengthy explanation that he had been bottling up for a while now. Every time he felt the irritation build up in him when he saw Blair and his brother together, he would think of all the possible reasons on why he didn't like Blair. But he had recently realised that it wasn't anything like he had thought.

"You know Georgie and I have been together since birth, right?" he questioned and Blair nodded, giddy at the possibility of hearing the start of a genuine explanation. "We do everything together. Our own mother can't even tell us apart. We're always known as Fred and George, not individuals. People say that could be a bad thing, but I don't think it is. We're the best when we're together.

But then you came along with your snotty attitude and ignored George when he was being his annoying but friendly self. I didn't even want to sit in the same carriage as you on the train last year, but he insisted. Then he set out on this mission to be your friend and brought you to bloody everything! You were at the Gryffindor table and then you were in our common room. And when you weren't around, he was always saying 'Blair this' and 'Blair that'. He was fucking obsessed with you! But you just pranced around with your mangy cat and your depressing air, oblivious to the fact that you had all of his attention! We barely had any time to start things up for our shop! It wasn't until Harry came along with his money and brought George out of his little daydream and buckled down to get some work done. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if he loved you. You're all he cares about."

Blair was expecting maybe a ten second answer which would include something like 'you're too pompous and I just don't like you'. She wasn't expecting a complete journal entry on the exact emotions that Fred had been feeling for the duration of knowing her. He had told her previously that he didn't trust her, but this was a completely new view on their situation.

"You don't like... that I have George's attention?" she repeated in a summary, trying to comprehend it and compact it to be more understandable.

"ALL of his attention," Fred emphasised and huffed, turning his head away to stare at the corridor wall. "Well now that my therapy session is over and I've embarrassed myself beyond measure, how about we forget this ever happened and go back to our old ways?"