Song for this chapter ~ Just Say Something by Nathan Ball
Calista's POV
With only two days left before the start of term, everyone was scrambling to get things done including some last minute shopping in Diagon Alley. Everyone had become so consumed with all the talk about the events that took place at the World Cup a couple of weeks before, that it left many of us forgetting how close we were to the end of the summer holiday.
However, school books weren't the only thing that seemed to have left everyone's minds. Shortly after Mr. Weasley's recount of the events that took place that night involving The Ministry and the sighting of the Dark Mark, everyone who had witnessed Charlie's unusual outburst towards me had seemingly forgotten about it.
Although there were no further interactions between the two of us despite his ongoing stay at the Burrow, it seemed as though George's older brother was not particularly fond of me—walking out of the room whenever I'd enter it and the glares he sent my way when I spoke were only proof of it.
Despite the fact that his dislike for me was quite obvious, it had seemed as though I was the only one who took notice of it. Although it did bother me quite some bit, I chose to not bring it up to George seeing as I didn't want to be the cause of any more arguments, especially seeing as we'd be heading back to school within the next two days.
As I now sat outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour waiting for George to finish his school shopping with his mum, I began to reminisce of my time spent here one whole year ago, and how drastically my life had changed ever since.
It was quite bizarre to think about—the way we used to act around one another had drastically changed ever since which I found to be quite amusing. I smiled at the thought of crashing into him that rainy night in Diagon Alley, taken aback by how brazen he was with me.
I now looked around the cobblestone streets from where I sat, attempting to see if George was anywhere nearby, however, my eyes instantly stopped at a familiar figure I now saw from afar. With their back faced towards me, all I could make out was his tall, lean, frame and his dark hair.
I began to feel my heart race at the thought of who this could quite possibly be, which is why I quickly stood up from my seat, taking rather large and swift steps as I headed down the opposite direction to where I saw the figure.
As I paced my way down the street, I looked over my shoulder to try and see if he still stood in the same place, however, I turned around a little too late, now walking right into someone.
"Dammit—sorry," I mumbled, now looking up to see Cedric's familiar face peering down at mine.
"No worries...are you alright?"
"What?" I looked back over my shoulder, still anxiously looking out towards the crowds of people, no longer seeing who I thought I had. "Oh, sorry...yeah, I'm fine," I spoke, relieved as I turned back to face him.
"Calista, right? We didn't get the proper chance to speak at the match," he spoke calmly, smiling.
"Right, Cedric," I said awkwardly, returning one back as I didn't know what else to say.
"That night turned out to be pretty crazy, huh? Did you...um...did you and the others make it back alright?" he stammered, scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah, we made it back fine."
"So, are you back to playing quidditch this year? I noticed Malfoy took your place for a while."
"No, I don't think I'll be playing anytime soon if i'm being honest. I just got too busy with schoolwork and prefect duties," I lied, attempting to seem unbothered by his inquiry.
"I see...well for what it's worth, it hasn't been much of a competition playing against Slytherin since you left."
"So I've heard," I smiled appreciatively, looking back over my shoulder yet again.
"Is everything okay? You seem distracted," he now questioned as I turned back to face him once more.
"Yeah, sorry...I just thought I spotted someone I knew."
Before he could say anything further, I suddenly felt an arm snake around my waist, making me jerk away in fear.
I let out a small sigh of relief only loud enough for myself to hear, as I now looked up to see George with a bewildered look on his face.
"Sorry...did I scare you?" he asked worriedly as he held onto my waist.
"Just a little," I spoke, smiling up at him as he beamed at me.
"Hi, George," Cedric now spoke up, forgetting for a few seconds that he stood before me.
"Hey," he muttered, the two of them exchanging awkward glances at one another.
"Anyways, I should be going—my mates are waiting on me," he spoke, gesturing to a group of Hufflepuffs who I only now noticed to be standing a short distance away from us. "I'll see you around."
"Bye, Cedric," I greeted him off as he turned around to start walking away with his friends.
I turned back to face George who continued to watch him walk away before looking back at me. "What was that about?" he asked curiously.
"Hm? Oh, nothing—I just bumped into him," my mind now quickly going back to the figure I saw earlier. "Hey, do you actually want to go somewhere else? I don't really feel like ice cream," I spoke, not wanting to be anywhere near here at this moment.
"Yeah, sure...we can go to the Leaky Cauldron if you want," he suggested, unaware of my reasonings.
"Actually, I was thinking about maybe heading out of Diagon Alley for a bit? I know a little muggle coffee shop about a ten minute walk out of here."
"Yeah, sure," he beamed excitedly. "I don't think mum will notice if we're gone for a bit."
I took a hold of his hand, as we headed into the Leaky Cauldron, only to shortly exit out the other way in order to reach the muggle street. As we made our way down the relatively busy sidewalks, taking notice of George watching the many cars driving past us, we had finally arrived at the familiar destination.
As I stopped in my tracks, I nodded my head at George to walk in with me—the pleasantly familiar smell of freshly brewed coffee instantly filling my nostrils. There only seemed to be a small amount of people seated inside the dimly lit shop, quiet as well, minus the low chattering amongst customers and the hissing sound of steam coming from the espresso machine.
I walked up to the counter with George trailing behind me, the server now looking at me uninterestedly, waiting for me to order. "What would you like, dear?" she asked impatiently.
"Just an americano, please."
"And for you?" she glanced up at George, who now seemed distracted by all the intricate machines behind the counter.
"Oh, uh...I'll have the same," he spoke up with uncertainty in his voice, glancing sideways at me.
"No, you won't like it, trust me," I said, now turning to face the cashier once more. "Maybe just a hot chocolate for him."
"That's three pound eighty."
As I rummaged through my bag to take out my money, I peered up to see George reaching into his pockets and proceeding to hand the lady whatever it was in his hands. Before I could say something, she gave him an odd look, now taking notice of the shiny silver coins with dragons embedded on them. I quickly brushed his arm aside before the cashier could get any more irritated.
"Sorry, he's joking," I said, pulling out a five pound note from my bag and handing it to her.
She swiftly took it before handing me back my change and giving the both of us odd stares as the two of us now headed to sit down at one of the nearby tables.
"Sorry, I completely forgot," he sighed, placing his hand over mine.
"It's fine," I chuckled, now waiting for our beverages to be brought to us.
"By the way, I've been meaning to ask...have you spoken to your father recently—Jamie, I mean. It's just that it's been a while since you've mentioned him," he questioned.
"I wrote to him at the beginning of summer...didn't tell him about Sirius, though. Just that I'd be staying with a friend."
"And did he respond?" he asked curiously.
"Barely," I sighed, shaking my head. "Only that it was fine with him and that he wishes me another good school year."
When Jamie had written back to me, I half expected him to bring up the finances involved with school, but there was unfortunately no mention of it, nor did I feel comfortable with bringing it up. I knew more than well that he could afford it, however, the thought of asking him for money just didn't sit right with me.
Sirius had even offered to pay for my expenses—but again, I still didn't feel comfortable with accepting it, especially considering I barely knew him. However, I felt confident that the money I had saved up over the last few years would be far more than enough to get me through my last two year at Hogwarts.
Seeing as it wouldn't be much of a problem and the fact that I didn't feel like causing George any worry over me, I decided on not bringing it up to him.
The server now approached our table, placing our drinks in front of us before heading off again. "What made you think I wouldn't like that?" George asked cockily as I took a sip from my mug.
"Because you have the taste buds of a child, George. It's not sweet...but here, try it," I smirked before he grabbed the cup from my hands and took a rather large sip of the drink. "So...how is it?" I teased, knowing exactly what he thought from the expression he was trying to hold back on his face.
"Bitter."
"That's what I thought."
As we continued to enjoy our drinks, my mind was brought back to who I thought I had seen earlier in Diagon Alley. Although my mind was most likely playing tricks on me, I still wasn't at ease knowing that it could've been him.
"Everything alright?" I felt George's hand glide over mine, breaking me out of my trance now that he noticed there was clearly something bothering me.
"I thought I saw him," I blurted out, nervously.
"What?"
"When I was waiting for you at Florean Fortescue's, I thought I saw Adrian," I spoke, waiting for George to say something, but it looked as though he still couldn't process it. "When I turned back around he was gone. It probably wasn't him, but it scared me for a bit."
I waited for him to say something, however, he didn't, despite the fact that the look on his face now showed he was distraught.
"I'm sorry for bringing him up," I mumbled, now feeling quite guilty about it.
"Don't be," he reassured, squeezing my hand and trying his best at giving me a smile. "Dad found out through word of mouth at work that Harrison and Spencer are coming back this year."
"What? But I thought they were expelled—"
"Apparently not...Pucey was, but...I guess the others were only suspended," he mumbled, now looking down at his feet.
"I don't understand how easily they can let them come back..."
"I'm not surprised...they didn't really do much that night besides stand around and watch," he stammered, as I suddenly felt gutted over the mere mention of what went on that night. "Anyways, it'll be fine...they're not the ones I'm worried about," he reassured me, now taking hold of our intertwined hands and kissing mine gently.
Although I hated being reminded of the state I saw him in that night after I had first seen him laying in the hospital wing, I was at least thankful that he was starting to feel comfortable talking about it with me.
As we continued to enjoy each other's company for the next little while, I suddenly took notice of the time, the clock hung up on the wall now telling me we should be heading back.
"We should get going before your mum finds out where we've been," I now said, George standing up from his seat right after me before we quickly made our way outside the shop.
After a couple of minutes of walking down the streets of London, I began to take notice of the grey clouds that formed overhead as well as the occasional droplet of water falling onto my head. Within a matter of minutes, the small droplets turned to heavy downpours, the two of us now soaked as we ran the rest of the way to The Leaky Cauldron.
"Think my mum will notice we went far?" George chuckled, as we arrived at the entrance to the tavern, amused by the fact that we both now stood drenched.
As he went to reach to open the door, I swiftly grabbed onto his arm, causing him to stop what he was doing. With the rain still showering down on us, I reached up to grab a hold of his face.
Heat rose throughout my body as our lips became closer, my breathing shallow. My lips parted, and as they met his, I felt the stirring feeling in my stomach that I always had around him.
His hands moved to grab a hold of my face as his tongue began to trace my lips, the fluttering feeling continuing. As he now wrapped one of his hands gently around my neck, my lips encased his lower one, tugging at it gently before pulling away.
As I came down from my tiptoes, we both let go of one another—the heavy drops of water streaming down our faces.
"C'mon, let's get inside," he spoke, now holding the door open for me to walk in.
Upon entering, there appeared to only be but a few wizards who now all appeared to be staring at the two of us. "What are they all looking at?" I asked, glowering at them with suspicion.
George seemed confused just as much as I until he looked down at me, his eyes going wide in an instant. "Cali," he rebuked, pulling me into him. "Your shirt."
I looked down to see that my blush pink bra was now perfectly visible underneath my white soaked shirt, giggling at his overreaction.
"Cali, it's not funny," he said sternly, guiding me away from the stares of the men and towards the fireplace to get back to the Burrow.
"Oh, you're not being serious right now, are you?" I teased, the two of us now reaching the fireplace to where no one could see. "Jealous of a few older men?" I spoke innocently, biting down on my lip as I backed myself into one of the walls.
"They shouldn't be staring at something that doesn't belong to them," he cautioned, going along with my actions.
I boldly took both his hands in mine and placed them on either side of my tits. "And who says these belong to you?" I whispered, one of his fingers now moving to trace the neckline of my top where the lacy part of my bra peaked through.
"I do—understand?" he spoke, his face close to mine as his ringed finger now ventured down the flesh of my breast.
"Yes, sir," I smirked.
"That's what I thought."
His thumb now went to graze my lower lip while his body pressed into mine. He lowered his head down to my ear, his breath hot against my skin as he whispered, "we should go," breaking me out of my trance.
With the two of us still in drenched clothes along with the chance of Mrs. Weasley and the others being back already, I agreed that now was not the right time for this, so I complied by following George to the fireplace and making our way back to The Burrow.
George's POV
Stepping out of the fireplace, with Calista following shortly after me, I peered around the space and listened intently only to discover that no one was home.
"Don't think anyones back yet," I muttered, tugging her in slightly by her shirt.
She contemplated for a moment, only to pull away in reluctance. "Yes, but they'll probably be back any minute and I'm currently freezing in these wet clothes."
"Fine by me," I smirked, purposefully letting my hand trail upwards my stomach so that my shirt hitched, her eyes instantly moving down to my v-line.
Before she could stare any further, I teasingly turned around and began walking up the stairs to my room. As I reached the second set of stairs, I looked back to now see her trailing behind me instead of going into Ginny's room.
"And what do you think you're doing?" I asked skeptically. "I didn't realize your room was up here with mine."
"I just remembered I have a change of clothes in yours," she replied with an innocent smile.
"How convenient."
I pushed the door open and entered along with her, immediately peeling off my shirt that now clung to my skin as she simultaneously went to reach for her pile of clothes left on the chair. I watched her intently as she began pulling off her leggings before taking notice of my gaze, now shaking her head at me.
"Look away," she teased, rolling my eyes before I went to sit on the edge of my bed so that my back faced her.
I began to strip myself from the rest of my clothes until the only thing left remaining were my boxers. As I was about to sit up to put on some new clothes, Calista suddenly walked up from behind me, still in her damp, sheer top, however her leggings now completely removed as she stood in her lacy blush panties matching the bra she now wore underneath.
"That colour looks good on you," I spoke, my eyes roaming her whole body before pulling her in between my legs from where I sat at the edge of the bed.
My hands trailed the backs of her thighs as she stood there, my head leaning down to where her scar rested at the crease of her hips, allowing my tongue to glide upwards before sucking down hard and letting go.
Stifling her low whimper, she gave me a small, innocent smile before slowly getting on her knees, her hands trailing down my body until they rested on the innermost part of my thighs.
I let out a strangled gasp as her hand rubbed the sensitive area, now gently placing my fingers through her hair. She looked up at me with her doe eyes, holding my gaze for a few seconds before she suddenly looked down at the floor.
"Oh...my mistake," she muttered, her eyes shifting around at the ground. "I thought I dropped something," her gaze moving back up to me with a small smirk on her face before quickly going to stand up.
"You little fucking tease," I retorted, pulling her into me by her hips so that our lips desperately crashed into one another.
As our lips continued to move against each other, she went to climb on top of the edge of the bed so that her knees rested on either side of one of my thighs, her heat hovering over it.
Her tongue devilishly sneaked its way in between my lips, causing me to moan and grab her by the ass, firmly pressing her down so that she now straddled my thigh. As her clothed wetness pushed against my leg, she let out a small gasp, showing me that the feeling of it gave her pleasure.
I began to slowly sway her hips up and down my thigh, all while she sat there looking down at herself sliding on my bare skin.
"You like my leg pressed up against your cunt, don't you?" I blurted, continuing my grinding movements, the look of embarrassment now creeping upon her face as it began to go pink. She bit down on the inside of her cheek, attempting her best at hiding how good it felt.
"If you're not going to answer, I'll stop," I spoke, suddenly letting go of the grip I had on her ass, leaning back on my palms and watching her sit there with a desperate look on her face. She whined, giving me a pouty look as she reached for my hands to be brought back to her ass.
"Use your words, princess."
"Y-yes, it feels good," she mumbled, as I now began to feel her clench onto me for relief.
"And are you going to be a good girl if I let you ride my thigh?" I spoke, my hand reaching to caress her face gently while I let my finger tease the entrance of her mouth, her lips parting as she began to suck on the pad of my thumb.
She soon let her tongue trail off from my finger before responding. "Yes, sir," she whined, nodding her head.
"That's all I wanted to hear," I muttered as I reached my hand down in between her legs to push aside her panties, her wetness easing her gliding movements against my thigh.
I reached her ass once more, this time with my fingers sinking roughly into her skin as I slowly started to rub her against my thigh. She moaned in sync with my quickening movements, her head burying into my chest as I began to bounce my leg against her core, now feeling myself go hard.
"You like that, my little slut?" I groaned into her ear, the sound coming from her mouth as well as the sight of her desperately rubbing up against me making me go rock hard. "You like how Georgie's thigh feels?"
As her moans became louder and uncontrolled, the sweet friction she was getting from her clit rubbing against my now sleek skin, I quickened my movements even more. "Tell me, do you want to cum?" I asked, her head quickly nodding against my chest as she dug her nails deep into my shoulders.
"I need you to beg for it, sweetheart."
"I-I promise I'll be a good girl...if you let me cum...please," she whined into my ear, her breathing shaky.
I let one of my hands drop, smacking down on her ass, causing her to whimper in pleasure. "Yeah? Then cum for me, darling...cum for Georgie like the good little slut you are," I demanded, shoving my thumb into her mouth to suck on while I began to watch her lose control in an instant.
"F-fuck," I whined, throwing my head back as I began to feel my dick jerk, the sudden feeling of my cum shooting onto myself underneath my boxers.
She breathed heavily into my neck as she began to unwind with her arms wrapped around me, her legs shaking from pleasure and exhaustion. My hands reached for her thighs, rubbing them gently to help ease it, a few minutes of this putting the shaking to a complete stop.
She unwrapped her arms from my neck and pulled back, her hand now reaching down towards my crotch, gently grabbing her wrist to push it away.
"I already came," I spoke, a shocked look on her face as she now took notice of the dark patch on my boxers.
"Have you ever—"
"No," I grinned, placing my hand at the back of her head to pull her in for a deep kiss.
As we pulled our lips apart, she clambered off of me, her legs wobbling momentarily as she stood up to gather her clothes. She threw on the leggings she once wore before grabbing her fresh set of clothes from the chair.
"Coming to join me in the shower?" she asked, smiling as she walked towards the door.
"Not that I wouldn't love to, but I think we've pushed our luck today," I grinned. "Everyone could be back any minute now."
"Fine...I'll be in the one downstairs if you wind up changing your mind," she teased as she headed for the door.
I grinned widely at myself as I watched her leave the bedroom, now going to grab clean clothes so that I could shower myself. I walked out of the room and down the hall to reach the bathroom, stopping in my tracks as Charlie suddenly came out from Percy's bedroom.
I quickly moved the handful of clothes I held over my crotch in an attempt to hide my wet boxers, my mouth agape as he stood there in front of me with his eyebrows raised.
"How long have you been back?" I now asked nervously.
"I never left, brother."
"Fuck," I muttered underneath my breath.
"You should never go without the silencing charm until you know for certain no ones around. I thought you'd know that by now," he sniggered.
"Shit, if Cali finds out—how much did you hear?"
"Enough to know what she sounds like when—"
"Shut your mouth."
The sudden sounds of flames bursting from downstairs told me that everyone was now arriving, the sound of my mother's voice soon echoing throughout the house.
"Everyone down in thirty minutes for dinner!" she shouted from below, Charlie quickly making a snide remark.
"Better take that shower before mum finds out," he sniggered before walking himself back downstairs, as I now took his advice, quickly making my way into the bathroom to clean off.
***
Calista's POV
After finishing washing up and getting changed, I grabbed my clothes off from the sink counter, now heading out of the bathroom.
I jumped back slightly at the sudden sight of someone standing right outside the door—Charlie, who now stood leaning against the wall opposite from me with a towel flung over his shoulder.
"About bloody time," he muttered, walking past me to the bathroom.
For a moment, I thought of just ignoring, however, I was tired of his incessant rudeness towards me these past few weeks. "That's not my problem. You could've used any bathroom," I said glaring at him, causing him to turn back around and face me.
"My bedroom's on this floor as well, and last time I checked, this is my house," he snapped, now pushing past me to get into the bathroom and shutting the door on my face.
I felt my blood boiling now as I marched into Ginny's room, throwing my clothes into my bag angrily.
"Everyone downstairs! Dinner's ready!"
I forced my expressions to change before heading downstairs, seeing as I didn't want George or anyone else asking questions.
As I walked down the stairs, clearing my mind of what just went on, I stepped into the kitchen where George and the other began to sit down around the table, taking my place next to him.
"Don't worry, my mum didn't ask where we were," he now leaned down to whisper in my ear, grinning cheekily as I rolled my eyes back at him.
"Sorry we're eating so late, everyone. I had a lot more stuff to get done then I thought," Mrs. Weasley apologized, taking her place at the table as everyone began to dig in, when Charlie suddenly appeared with a scowl on his face.
"Someone's used up all the hot water," he complained, sitting down across from where George sat and shooting an annoyed glance my way. I quickly looked away, not wanting anyone to notice the tension.
"Dear, is Rowan going to King's Cross with us or her parents the day after tomorrow?" Mrs. Weasley now turned to ask Fred.
"Her parents. She has some stuff to do before school starts."
"I see—oh, I've been meaning to ask, dear..." she spoke, directing her attention to me. "...you must've gotten your O.W.L results this summer. How did you do on them?" she asked me.
"Pretty well, I think...I got eight O.W.L's," I shyly spoke up.
"Eight! That's fantastic, dear. Congratulations," she beamed at me as I smiled back at her.
"Fantastic seems like a bit of a stretch."
All heads turned to now look at Charlie, who had decided on not being able to keep to himself.
"I beg your pardon, Charlie?" Mrs. Weasley asked threateningly, daring him to say another word.
"I'm saying eight O.W.L's isn't that impressive. You're praising her for doing an average job."
"Charles Weasley!" she raised her voice, the whole table now in silence as the two continued to bicker.
From underneath the table, I could see one of George's fists clenched, attempting to hold back his own anger.
"Right, I forgot that we're all meant to keep our mouths shut about that night, especially around her," he snapped, nodding his head towards me. "Tell me again why we're all supposed to spare her feelings when she's the one who got George nearly beaten to death?"
"You don't even know—" George spat, suddenly shooting up from his seat in a fit of rage before Fred quickly pulled him back down.
I glanced at Mrs. Weasley who now sat shocked, not knowing what to say—as did the rest of the table, including myself.
I looked down at my plate in an attempt to hold back my tears from embarrassment, but no matter how hard I tried to hold them back, I knew that they'd come down any moment.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Weasley. You'll have to excuse me," I stammered, before quickly getting up from my seat and rushing out of the kitchen, making my way up two flights of stairs to reach George's room.
I went to sit down at the edge of his bed with my face buried into my hands as I the tears instantly spilt over, streaming down my face. All the hostility that he had built up towards me these past two weeks suddenly all came rushing out of me at once. I had let my feelings pent up, and because of it, I now felt not only embarrassed at the commotion I had somehow caused, but also pathetic knowing George's family felt the need to not bring up certain topics around me.
As I let the tears slow down over the next few minutes, I could hear many voices shouting and talking over one another, knowing I would be too ashamed to go back down there tonight.
The door to the bedroom suddenly creaked open, my back facing towards it as I quickly wiped my face with my sleeve. I quickly managed to throw myself underneath the covers before who I knew to be George, saw me.
"I'm going to head to bed early, if that's alright," I choked, lying down on my side with the sheets brought up to my face in an attempt to hide my tears from him.
I felt him lay down on the bed next to me with my back still facing away from him, his arm reaching to wrap around my stomach as he brought his face to the side of mine.
"Why are you trying to hide your crying from me?" he now asked calmly, his face still hovering over mine.
I stayed silent, not wanting to go back to my original state of sobbing. With this silence, he gently grabbed my forearm to turn me over onto my other side to face him. I tried lifting the covers up over my face but he simply pulled them back down.
"Because I feel like that's all you ever see me do," I now managed to let out, his hand being brought to my face as his thumb wiped away a stray tear.
"You have every right to...it doesn't change the fact that I love you."
As much as I had been wanting to say the same to him, I had struggled doing so for quite some time. It felt too foreign coming out of my mouth, only making me feel uncomfortable talking about it, so I continued to lay there, not saying another word as he continued stroking my hair.
"Is it true...about your mum asking your family to not bring that night up whenever I'm around? George, I've told you how bad I feel—"
"I know. That's why she did. She doesn't want you to feel guilty over something that's not your fault, Cali," he uttered, his hand now rubbing circles around my back. "I only told her some parts of the situation with Pucey...I didn't think it was my decision to tell her what he's done to you."
I felt somewhat relieved about how his mother felt, but still uneasy with why Charlie had such a large amount of resentment towards me.
"I don't know why your brother hates me," I finally let out.
"He doesn't hate you, he's normally a prick...that and mum said she could smell the Firewhisky on him," he sighed, brushing my hair away from my face. "I'll make sure he apologizes to you."
"What—no, George. Please don't do that."
"I don't care if he's my brother, I'm not going to let him talk to you like that."
"Then don't...just let this time go. Like you said, it was probably just the alcohol talking and he just said what was on his mind," I attempted to reassure him.
Seeing as I didn't want to be the cause of any more family disputes, I thought it best not to further instigate George's anger towards his brother right now.
"Alright. Only because you asked."
"Thank you."
He leaned his face into mine, pressing his lips softly to mine before pulling away and peppering kisses all over my face, my mood changing almost instantaneously.
"I think I'll head to bed early as well. Why don't you get into something more comfortable and I'll be back up in a minute," he suggested, quickly nodding my head in response as he got up to leave the room.
I got up slowly from the bed and made my way to my bag to get a change of clothes, before deciding on George's shirt that now lay over his dresser. I stripped myself of all my clothes besides my knickers, and threw the baggy shirt over my head, his comforting scent filling my nostrils.
I quickly clambered back into his bed, the sudden sound of a door from downstairs slamming, causing me to jolt. Shortly after the sound, George walked back into his room with a vexed expression on his face, undressing and angrily throwing his clothes onto the floor.
I watched as he threw a shirt over his head, his back muscles tensing as he did. He turned back to face me, now climbing into his bed with me. He pulled my body closer to his so that my face was now buried into his chest, his hand resting at the back of my head.
"I love you too," I finally let the words spit out of my mouth, his lips softly pressing on my forehead for a moment as he let out a reassured sigh.
***
As I woke up the next morning, George closely lying next to me as he snored, I lifted his arm up off of my stomach to where it was now lazily draped over. I sat up and rubbed my eyes to now see Fred fast asleep in his bed as well.
I looked out the window, the sun shining the most bright I had seen probably all summer. Although I was still upset over last night, I wanted the last day of summer to end off on a good note, which is why I told myself I wouldn't let Charlie's hurtful comments spoil the rest of it.
I quickly got changed behind the dresser before heading out of the bedroom and making my way downstairs and into the kitchen.
For a moment, I only saw Mrs. Weasley cleaning up after herself, however, as I walked further into the kitchen, I now noticed that Charlie sat at the table eating his breakfast, his bare back facing me as he bit down into his toast.
"Good morning, dear," Mrs. Weasley spoke chirpily, now taking notice of me standing around.
"Morning," I muttered, attempting at a small smile as I looked away from Charlie.
"Would you mind helping me take down the laundry from outside before everyone else wakes up?" she asked kindly, nodding my head at her before the two of us headed outside into the warmth.
She directed me to start taking the clothes down from where they now hung, placing them into the basket as she did the same.
"You don't use magic for these kinds of tasks?" I asked curiously.
"Sometimes I do, other times I like occupying myself," she smiled kindly at me.
"I see," I mumbled, suddenly stopping what I was doing. "Mrs. Weasley...I never apologized."
"What was that, dear?" she asked, distracted as she continued to throw the dry clothes into the basket.
"I never told you how sorry I was about what happened to George," I spoke, now catching her attention. "...what I caused for him to end up in the hospital wing."
"Dear, there's certainly no apology needed," she spoke, grabbing a hold of my face. "George has only told me some parts of what happened, but he did tell me that you risked yourself for this family...for Arthur's job," she choked, her emotions beginning to show. "That in itself speaks numbers," she said, now letting go of my face and going back to taking down the clothes.
"And I want you to ignore what Charlie said," she spoke bitterly at the mention of his name. "He hasn't got the faintest idea of what he's talking about."
"Thank you," I said, smiling appreciatively at her as I helped her take down the final clothes.
As we headed back into the house, I already felt much more optimistic about the day to come, smiling brightly as George stood in the kitchen with his siblings as well as Harry and Hermione, Charlie no longer to be seen.
"Good thing everyone's up now," Mrs. Weasley spoke, placing the basket full of laundry down. "Your aunt's going to be gone this week so she's offered you all to spend the day at Shell Cottage. I thought it'd be a nice way to spend the last day of summer and the weather's perfect for a swim."
At the mention of this, everyone began to loudly chatter, the room filling with excitement.
"Your father and Percy are going to be at the Ministry all day and I've got lots of errands to get done, however, that does not mean I don't expect good behaviour from all of you," she now scolded.
"That's perfect..." Fred now mumbled to George. "...we can test out the fireworks—"
"Absolutely not! If I find out from Bill that either of you are doing anything of the sorts, there'll be even more chores for you," she exclaimed, scoldingly pointing her finger at the both of them who now only rolled their eyes.
"Breakfast is ready now, so you can all get changed into your swimsuits and head up there straight away," she explained as everyone now began to hurriedly start eating. "Calista, if you don't have a swimsuit to wear, you can borrow one from Ginny, alright?" she said, turning to me as I nodded my head at her gratefully.
As I sat down to eat with the others, I suddenly felt gutted knowing that swimming was involved. I had never taken any lessons as a child nor was I ever brought anywhere near a swimmable body of water to even practice, which is why I just decided on coming up with an excuse when the time came.
After we all rushed to finish breakfast, I headed upstairs, Ginny now pulling out a blue one-piece and handing it to me. I went into the washroom with it, deciding that I at least wanted to enjoy the sun while they had fun.
I slipped my legs into the holes of the swimsuit, squeezing into it as I pulled it up the rest of my body. Although I still managed to fit into it, I didn't think that it was meant to look this revealing, but I quickly dismissed it as I threw my clothes back on over it and headed downstairs.
As everyone was now gathered by the fireplace, ready to leave, I quickly scanned across the room to see if Charlie would be coming along. However, he was still nowhere to be seen, thankful that I'd at least not have to endure his presence.
"Ready?" George asked, now walking up to me smiling.
I nodded my head and stood by the fireplace until it was my turn to get in, now having become much more use to this form of wizarding transport. I grabbed the powder in one hand, and let go of it, quickly becoming engulfed in the green flames before arriving at the destination.
I rubbed my hands of the ash to look inside the seaside cottage. It didn't surprise me that this home was owned by a member of the Weasley family seeing as it was decorated similarly to the Burrow.
The others finally showed up one after the other, quickly rushing to take their clothes off from over their swimsuits. I did the same, throwing my clothes into a pile as I now stood in my swimsuit with the others.
I suddenly felt George's hand reach for my ass from behind, quickly swatting it away before the others saw.
"I didn't think you'd show up in something this cheeky," he said, grinning as he continued to stare at both my front and back.
"This is your sister's," I now smirked, George's face instantly dropping as he instantly regretted what he had said.
"Then forget I said that," he mumbled, placing his hand behind my back, leading me outside along with the others.
Although I made out some of the scenery through the window moments ago, I now looked ahead of me to see a long stretch of blue water alongside a sandy beach. I turned back to see the house from the outside, amazed at all the seashells embedded on the exterior.
The cottage stood alone upon grassy sand dunes, the vast and empty space allowing me to hear the water crashing onto the shore. It was probably the most peaceful place that I could think of in my mind.
George quickly grabbed my hand, urging me to follow him to the water until I stopped him near the shore.
"Do you mind if I sit this out?" I asked guilty. " I think I'd rather just lay in the sun...I'm not really up for swimming right now."
Although I could tell by his expression that he was disappointed, he didn't pry to which I was thankful for.
"I'll go in the water for a bit with everyone then come join you, alright?"
"It's fine. Take your time, George," I said, now placing my towel down onto the sand as I watched him and the others run out into the water.
I sat with my legs laying out, propping myself up with the palms of my hands as I now let the sun beam down onto my skin. I closed my eyes, not only taking in the sun's warmth, but also the smell of the salty coastal air as it breezed through the wind.
With no more than ten minutes of relaxing by myself, I was suddenly interrupted by the sound of someone shifting around near me. I opened my eyes, allowing them to adjust to the brightness for a few seconds before seeing Charlie now seating himself a few feet away from me on the sand.
I shut my eyes again, thinking it to be the best way to avoid talking to him altogether.
"That's a nasty scar, how'd you get it?" he spoke, interrupting me from my relaxation.
My eyes shot open and glared at him as I threw the edge of the towel over my leg to cover it up. "Is this your way of apologizing?" I now bitterly asked.
"Who ever said anything about an apology?"
My nostrils flared as I began to feel my blood boil once again at his rude remarks. "I just thought that after the way you spoke to me last night you'd feel the smallest bit of remorse," angrily snapping back at him.
"If you're looking for sympathy, I'm not the person to turn to."
"You don't even know the full story. You think I wanted to see George laying all beat up in the hospital wing?"
"No, I don't think you did. But at the end of the day, would he have landed himself there if you weren't his girlfriend? If you hadn't involved him with the issues you and your ex were having?"
I didn't even want to explain the story of what really happened, and how completely wrong he was in assuming a single thing about me, so I quickly stood up from my spot with my towel, making my way to find a spot further away from him. His hand, however, grabbed a hold of my ankle as I stood up, stopping me in my tracks.
"There's no need to move, I'm going inside," he murmured, instantly letting go of me as he took notice of the glare I now gave him.
He quickly stood up, and without another glance, headed back inside just like he had said. I fell back onto the sand, my mood once again being ruined by something Charlie did. I brought my knees up to my chest, and reached down to wrap my own hand around my ankle.
I quickly put a stop to my intrusive thoughts, seeing as I felt my eyes begin to water, George now also making his way back onto shore.
I shot him a fake smile as he beamed brightly at me, the glares from the sun having already caused his nose to start turning pink.
"Enjoy sunbathing?" he asked.
I showed him another fake smile as I nodded my head, reminding myself that there was no use in telling George about how his brother continued to treat me.
Besides, tomorrow we'd finally be back at Hogwarts where I could completely forget about everything that had happened over the course of these past two weeks, telling myself that things would only get better this school year.