marmalade → g. weasley

eleven

Angelina took a deep breath, hand resting on the handle for a moment before swinging it open. Marigold couldn't help but laugh, the look on Angelina's face was enough to scare off a dragon and the boys were about to get the earful of the century. The door slammed behind her and she could make out the muffled shouts of Angelina beyond the wall.

Marigold sat out in the corridor for a while, contently watching the students pass by. Every now and then she could make out a word or phrase being shouted by Angelina, but after ten minutes in the room it seemed she had calmed down to talking level.

The wall of the corridor was cold against Marigold's back and a shiver ran through her under her coat. She kept herself busy with braiding the loose ends of Bernie's Gryffindor scarf and nobody stopped to question what she was doing there. In fact, the corridor on that side of the castle were slowly growing emptier.

After nearly thirty minutes, the door to McGonagall's class flew open and Marigold jumped at the sudden movement. Stepping out were Harry and George.

"Yeah," George agreed to something Harry said, "Umbridge is a bitch." George froze when he saw Marigold, his already beating heart speeding up. She offered him a small sympathetic smile.

"Hi Marigold." Harry greeted almost awkwardly. Harry had struggled since returning from the holidays to face Marigold, every time he saw her he thought of Cedric. He was quite sure every time she saw him she thought the same. Everyone knew that Marigold Knight and Cedric Diggory had been best friends, Harry couldn't imagine losing Ron how she'd lost Cedric.

In truth, Harry didn't know whether she hated him, believed him or thought him a liar and for that reason, he kept out of her way for the most part. Despite that, Harry figured her presence at the DA meetings meant that she could at least stand his presence.

Marigold smiled as kindly as she could back at him, "Hi Harry." She looked between him and George, "Are you boys alright?"

A flicker of relief sparked in Harry's chest at Marigold's warm greeting. He shrugged, "Been better."

Harry noticed how George subconsciously ran a hand over his tousled hair and immediately caught the hint, holding back a small smile. "I have to go, I'll see you guys later."

"Yeah, mate." George nodded him off, his facial expression hollowed by a mix of sadness and irritation.

"Bye, Harry."

Harry disappeared into the next corridor and George looked at Marigold again. She offered him a sympathetic smile and he sighed, walking towards her and dropping onto the bench beside her.

His head fell back against the wall of the corridor and he sighed loudly, "I fucked up, Knight."

She nodded, replying gently: "People do that sometimes, George."

Beyond the door, Marigold could still hear Angelina's voice mixing with the voice of who she could only assume to be Fred.

George opened his eyes and sat forward again, "Umbridge has banned us for the rest of the year. Fred, Harry and me."

He could feel the adrenaline headache thumping against his forehead while he replayed the scene with Draco over and over in his mind. Honestly, he was glad to find Marigold out there in the corridor - he couldn't think of anyone else he wanted to see just then.

She placed a tentative hand over his and George, too preoccupied to worry about what it meant about his feelings for her or what Marigold would think of him, laced their fingers together and lifting their hands to hold them closer to his chest.

Marigold's eyes grew wider, her heart felt like it was going to beat through her chest and land right there on the corridor floor. George looked at her head on for the first time since sitting down, only then did she notice his scarred face.