Making my way through the great hall I settled down at the Ravenclaw Table. Sitting across from Cho, I watched as she spoke quickly to Marietta Edgecombe, her hands moving exaggeratedly as she spoke. Marietta glanced at me from the corner of her eye and I raised an eyebrow, silently asking her what was going on.
She rolled her eyes and I turned to pour myself a glass of pumpkin juice after having decided that it was better to not get involved. When Cho became so interested in proving her point, which she did often, the best thing to do if you were watching from the side was to just remain silent.
Unfortunately for me, she'd seen me. Turning her head to face me she outstretched a hand to gesture towards me. "I bet she'd agree with me." She shot Marietta a pointed look.
"I'd agree with you about what?" I asked knowing that there was no way that I would get away from this without becoming involved. It was better for me to just get this over and done with already.
"Hogwarts is a magical place, right?"
I raised an eyebrow at the stupid quesion, "Obviously."
"Well surely Hogwarts would have the magical ability to affect other things."
"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked, taking a sip from my drink.
"What she means," Marietta cut in before Cho could speak up again. "Is that she thinks that the magic around Hogwarts should have the power to affect romantic aspects of life."
"Alright." I was unconvinced and they both knew it.
"Think about it," Cho said leaning towards me. "The flux of magic surrounding Hogwarts could affect the way that we make decisions, like say, what if we decide to give our first kiss to one person because the magic could help make the decisions for who we want to spend the rest of our lives with."
"So what you're saying is that the person we give our first kiss to in Hogwarts is the person we're going to spend our lives with?" Cho nodded and I couldn't help but let out a snort in response.
"You don't agree with me," she stated blandly.
"No and I wouldn't agree with you even if you gave me a thousand galleons."
"Why?" She demanded.
"Alright, so you're saying that if you give your first kiss to someone in Hogwarts that means that you're going to spend the rest of your life with them right?"
Cho rolled her eyes at me," Have you not been listening to a word that I just said."
"Unfortunately I have," I muttered before speaking aloud, "What if the person you kiss has already had their first kiss? Who do they spend the rest of their lives with? Their first kiss or you?"
"Well, they would... I-" She trailed off before she gave me a glare, "You can say whatever you want I still believe in it."
I shrugged, "Believe in whatever you want just don't expect me to believe in it as well."
"So you don't believe that a first kiss in Hogwarts can have an effect on the rest of your life?"
I let out an exasperated sigh before sharing a look with Marietta who only rolled her eyes in response. When Cho acted like this she was a handful.
"I'm telling you," I said as I looked across the table at Cho and saw that her face was set in determination. I swear the only times she was this stubborn was when she was on the quidditch pitch or when she was trying to prove a point. "You can kiss whoever you want without it having a direct effect on your future. I don't believe in stuff like that."
"Why not bookworm?" A voice cut in and I barely supressed an irritated groan as I instantly recognised the voice. Cho's eyes drifted past my shoulders as she watched the Weasley that was standing behind me.
"Why not what Weasley?" I asked before recognising my mistake. If I responded to him then he would sit down and continue to annoy me.
Weasley did exactly as I had predicted and he settled down between Marietta and me completely ignoring the bewildered looks that were sent in his direction from both the Ravenclaws and he Gryffindors.
Letting out a slight sigh I sent a kick in Cho's direction as she looked knowingly between Weasley and me, flinching slightly when Weasley's thigh pressed against mine. She jumped slightly in her seat and sent me a sharp glare as Marietta spoke up.
"Fred you're squishing me," Marietta muttered.
"Actually, I'm George, Fred is setting up a prank," he said smiling easily at her before he moved further away from her along the bench. I made a face as I noticed that it meant that he had sidled even closer towards me. He turned to face me and I wiped the expression off my face as he regarded me closely with a raised eyebrow. "Why don't you believe in stuff like that?"
"You can't honestly believe that sharing a first kiss in Hogwarts means that you're destined to get married?" I asked incredulously as I caught Cho sending Marietta and I a pointed look when she heard Weasley's words.
Really the last thing that Cho needed to hear was that she had someone who thought the same thing as she did. It was hard to get her to shut up already but the moment that she heard that someone was on her side she would be impossible to quieten.
Weasley wouldn't be that affected by her incessant rambling because he shared very few lessons with her whereas Marietta and I were in almost all of her lessons and we were her dorm mates. She wouldn't shut up about this for days.
Weasley shrugged and answered me instantly, "Why not? It happened to my parents."
"Alright so it happened to your parents but that doesn't mean that it happens to anyone. What about mistletoe appearing above two people? You're probably going to tell me that when mistletoe appears above two people it means that they're 'soul mates' aren't you?" I demanded with raised eyebrows.
"This is Hogwarts." He shrugged as if that explained everything. "If something like that happens, it happens for a reason."
I shook my head and muttered a quiet, "You're delusional." I spoke up louder, "Honestly Weasley there's this thing called free will which means that we're all free to make our own decisions which includes whether we want to spend the rest of our lives with someone or not."
I rolled my eyes and turned away from him but he took a hold of my hand. Raising an eyebrow I turned face him. Immediately, I became uneasy as I caught sight of the mischievous smile tugging at his lips. That smile only brought trouble.
"If I remember correctly, I was your first kiss wasn't I?" he asked mischievously causing Cho to look rapidly back and forth between the two of us.
I groaned internally as I caught the look on Cho's face; she'd go on and on about this until our final day at Hogwarts. From the day she'd seen Weasley and me interact for the first time, she declared that she 'shipped' us. Whatever that meant.
"You two kissed!" Cho squealed in excitement making the people around us fall silent. My head whipped round to face her and I gave Cho a look that silenced her immediately as everyone, thankfully, turned back to their own conversations.
"Only because of that game of truth or dare, Weasley." I levelled him a look when he went to open his mouth to speak. "Besides, it's not as if it was your first kiss."
"Actually-"
As his grin grew, I knew that it had been his first and added a quick, "That doesn't change a thing Weasley, don't think that it meant any thing."
"No of course not." By this point, my palm was itching to slap that self-assured smirk off of his face. Curling my hand into a fist I dug my finger nails into my palm to resist against the urge to hit him.
As I continued to watch him closely an idea came into my mind. An idea that meant that if everything turned out the way that I wanted, and it would, then I could get Weasley off of my back for at least the rest of the school year.
"Let's make a bet." As he straightened up at my words, I knew that he was interested. "If I can disprove this rubbish that only you and Cho believe in then you have to leave me alone. Completely. For the rest of the year."
"And if I win." He began, leaning closer to me as his smirk grew. "You have to go to Hogsmeade with me."
He offered his hand and I shook it before I stood and turned to leave. I paused in my way when something stopped me from moving. I let out a sigh. "Weasley. Let go of my hand."
**********
Walking quietly through the library I traced my fingers across the spine of the books that I thought could help me prove Weasley wrong. Continuing along the book shelf I scanned my eyes briefly across each of the titles before one caught my eye.
Hogwarts a History; the book that was most likely to help me.
Pulling it out from the bookshelf I carried it to the table and opened it to the contents page. Trailing my pointer finger down the page I scanned for the page number that I needed before I turned to that page. Sitting down comfortably I let my eyes scan across the page as I searched for the necessary parts.
"You're not going to find anything in that," I jumped slightly in my seat as I heard a voice whisper in my ear, ripping my concentration away from the book on the table.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, looking up from the book and watching him carefully as he sat himself across from me.
"Reading. Just like everyone else." He answered as he set an unopened book on the table before him.
"You voluntarily came to the library, Weasley. You of all people?" I turned my attention away from him and back onto the book as I kept speaking, "I didn't even think you knew where the library was."
"Oh ha ha." He deadpanned reaching over to snap his fingers in front of my face to gain my attention. I glared at his hand; what was I? A dog. Raising an eyebrow I looked up at him as he pulled his hand back. "You're so funny."
"I know I am," I said only looking at him for a few seconds before I looked back down at the page.
His hand came into view, pulled the book towards him as he glanced at the cover. "Hogwarts a History? You know Granger could tell you all about this, you don't even need to read it."
I moved my hand towards it to pull it away from him, but he just took my hand in his and held it firmly, his grip not budging. I let out a huff as his grip remained steadfast, no matter how hard I tried to pull it back.
His lip twitched as he scanned the page that I had been reading briefly before he gave me a knowing smile. "Magical anomalies? You're trying to prove me wrong. That's never happened before, book worm."
"Are you deluded Weasley? You've been proved wrong plenty of times."
"True," he admitted as he shrugged a single shoulder, "But not by you."
"There's always a first time," I jumping slightly as his thumb began to rub small circles on the back of my hand. He gave a small laugh at my involuntary movement and I glared at him in response.
"You won't find anything here."
"Really?" I raised an eyebrow and used my free hand to pull the open book towards me. "According to this, because of the amount of magic in use at Hogwarts, magical anomalies can occur including the appearance of mistletoe."
He tilted the book towards him and continued reading on from where I stopped. "But this has not been reported since the end of the nineteen century." He gave me a superior look. "Even if it had always happened, we were talking about kisses, not mistletoe. You're not even looking up the right stuff, what sort of Ravenclaw are you?" He asked jokingly.
I rolled my eyes and gave him a look, "Why are you here Weasley and don't say that it's to read because you haven't even opened the book that you brought with you."
With a small sigh, he discarded the book to the side. "What's the deal? I heard that you hexed Bulstrode."
I sat up quickly, jostling the hand that he still held. "I did no such thing."
He lent forward, eyes sparkling in amusement. "I think you did. You seem like the person to do that."
"How do I?"
I let out a reluctant laugh as he went off on a rant about why I seemed exactly like that kind of person.
**********
Walking through the corridor I paid minimal attention to my surroundings as my head was filled with theories and thoughts of how to prove Weasley wrong and get him off of my back. Stopping in front of the common room I waited impatiently for the riddle before supplying the answer quickly and stepping through the door. As the door closed behind me I faced the people that occupied the common room.
Scanning the common room my eyes fell onto the person that sat alone, completely focused on the parchment before him. Which, knowing him, was either his essay for Snape or his newest quidditch play. Making my way over towards him I swerved between the over excited first years who were heading towards the exit and stood before him, waiting for him to acknowledge my presence.
"What do you want?" He asked and I smiled knowingly; he was working on his quidditch plays. He didn't even look up.
"Roger, you're a pureblood, right?" I asked as I peered down at him, waiting for him to answer me.
He looked up at me, raising an eyebrow at my question. "You already knew that, didn't you?"
"I was just making sure." I mumbled as I sat down beside him. He gave me an indulgent look and I heard him give an amused sigh as he folded his parchment up and stuffed it into his pocket. "Did your parents share a first kiss at Hogwarts?"
"Why do you want to know that?" He stared at me incredulously. "You've asked me some pretty weird stuff over the years but Merlin this has to be the strangest thing yet."
"I'm trying to prove Weasley wrong." I said as a way of explaining myself. "So just answer the question."
"That explains it." He muttered to himself. "But to answer your question, no they didn't. My Dad shared his first kiss with some other girl in his class, but it didn't mean anything. But he was my Mum's first kiss and I know that meant something."
"Thanks Roger." He'd just confirmed what I'd already figured out from my extensive reading. Rising from my seat I turned to walk out of the common room before pausing when I heard him call my name.
Looking back at him I said. "Yes?"
"Where are you going?"
"To prove a Weasley wrong."
"Good luck," he called out absentmindedly, pulling the parchment out from his pocket and opened it up again.
Rolling my eyes I made my way out of the common room and walked quickly through the castle. Turning the corner I bumped into Cho as she stood in my way.
"Where are you going?" She asked curiously as she adjusted her grasp on the books in her arms.
"The Gryffindor common room."
"Oh," she said in a far too knowing tone, "You're going to meet up with Weasley then?"
"Yeah I'm-"
"I knew it!" She exclaimed cutting me off, "I knew there was something going on between you two, when are you-"
"Hold on, hold on, hold on," I said quickly stopping her mid-sentence, "There is nothing going on between Weasley and me, Cho. How many times do I have to tell you that before you understand it?"
"An infinite amount of times," she said stubbornly, "If there is nothing going on between you then why are you going to meet him now?"
"To prove him wrong once and for all."
I moved to walk around her and continue on my way to the Gryffindor common room but she stepped in my way halting me.
"If there really is nothing going on between you, if you really don't feel a thing for him then why are you so obsessed with this bet?" She demanded, refusing to let the matter go.
"Come on Cho!" I said in exasperation as I walked around her, "You know me, I don't like to back away from something. Seriously don't make something out of nothing."
"Whatever," she called out after me as I walked away from her and continued on my way to the Gryffindor common room, "You had better make me maid of honour at your wedding!"
Turning on my heel I shot her a glare as she continued to smile sweetly at me. "Cho-"
"Alright fine, forget about maid of honour, I had better be a bridesmaid at least."
Rolling my eyes I turned away from her and walked to the common room. Stopping before the portrait of the Fat Lady I was presented with a problem.
"Password?" She demanded.
"I don't know it-"
"Well then no entry!"
"Look," I said cocking my hip and staring up at the stubborn portrait, "I just need you to get someone for me."
"No can do," she announced staring down at me. "This is the Gryffindor common room, not the Ravenclaw common room meaning no entry for you young lady."
Letting out an exasperated sigh I perked up as I noticed a Gryffindor first year approach the common room. As a first year paused before the Fat Lady to utter the password and enter the Gryffindor common room, I stopped them. The first year eyed me wearily.
"Can you please get George Weasley out here?" He looked at me curiously before straightening up and sending me a pointed look. "What?"
"You need to cover your ears." He said in a matter of fact manner and I raised an eyebrow at him.
Rolling my eyes I did as he said and mumbled under my breath, "Why would I even want to know the password?"
As soon as the portrait had swung open, I dropped my hands and watched the first year disappear into the common room. Waiting outside of the common room I tapped my foot against the floor before stopping as I heard the portrait swing open once again. Rolling my eyes I watched as he stood just outside of the portrait, his eyes raking over me with interest in them.
"I'm curious," Weasley admitted as soon as he had stepped away from the portrait and into the corridor, his eyes sweeping over to me. "Why'd you call me here book worm?"
"It has to mean something." I rushed out, the words wanting to leave me as soon as physically possible.
He blinked twice. "Excuse me?"
"The first kiss; it has to mean something," I explained, "Since ours didn't, it means that we won't marry each other."
"You really don't want to marry me, huh?" His voice lost the amused edge and he sounded...hurt? Why did he sound hurt?
"What? It didn't mean anything to either of us. You should be happy." He looked away from me and I understood immediately. "George," I said quietly and his head snapped towards me. "It meant something to you, didn't it?"
I turned to walk away not able to stand the award atmosphere that had settled between us. I didn't get far when he stopped me. "I know it meant something to you as well."
"Really?" I looked back at him, doing my very best to avoid his eyes. "How have you managed to convince yourself of that?"
"How else would you be able to tell the difference between me and Fred?"
"Common sense?" I suggested quietly, staring down at my shoes. It would be so easy for me to just turn around and walk away. Yet here I was, standing still in front of the Gryffindor common room.
"Really? Sometimes our own mother gets us confused."
I uttered one of the many reasons that I could tell him apart from his brother. "You have lighter eyes."
He looked at me his eyes lighting up as he stalked towards me. "Tell me, how long do you spend staring at my eyes?" A long time.
I turned away again. "It didn't mean anything."
As I walked away, I heard him announce. "I'm going to prove that it meant something to you."
**********
"I want to show you something," Cho announced as she appeared at my side.
"Where did you just come from?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I exited the library.
"The common room," she said as she scanned the empty corridor.
"How did you know I'd be here then?" I watched as she stood impatiently before me.
"Where else would you be?" She glanced down at her watch before she took a hold of my wrist, "Come on."
"Where are we going?" I asked as she ran down the corridor, pulling me after her. She didn't answer me and I widened my strides to keep up with her. "Cho!"
Letting out a slight sigh I allowed her to pull me after her as she continued to run through the corridor. Following after her silently I watched as we approached the Great Hall. Cho's paces began to gradually slow down until she threw my wrist away from her and ran away. The sudden movement meant that I was thrown away from her and as I collided with something I let out a soft squeak.
"What the hell Cho!" I growled as the 'something' that I had collided with stabilised me. Looking up into the 'something's' face I let out a slight groan.
George smirked down at me. "Fancy meeting you here."
"What do you want?" I asked in irritation.
"Nothing. I'm just wondering how mistletoe appeared in the middle of February?"
"Mistletoe?" I muttered in confusion before I followed his gaze and I stared up at the sprig of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. "How the hell did that-" I cut myself off as I caught sight of his wand that was still pointed at the ceiling.
"Now how did that get there?" He asked, grinning widely at me.
"You mean it had nothing to do with the fact that you pointed your wand to the ceiling and muttered a charm?" I couldn't hold back a grin.
"You could always leave you know, there's nothing keeping you here." I looked at him suspiciously but then decided to walk away. I only got about a metre or so away from him before it pulled me back with such a startling amount of force that I collided with his chest. Bracing myself against his chest, I noticed the cocky smirk that he wore and pushed away from him.
"I knew you wanted me." I rolled my eyes. Maybe I could find a spell to knock the mistletoe off of the ceiling?
But people soon began to gather in the corridor once they had caught sight of us. Noticing a grinning Cho in the crowd I narrowed my eyes at her. Fred pushed himself towards the front of the crowd and a glint filled his eyes. I'd seen that glint one too many times- he was going to do something that would either humiliate or annoy me. He did something that managed to make me feel both.
Moments later he startled a chant of "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Shooting him a glare I turned back to face George.
"You heard the people," George said as he began to lean towards me. "It's not a big deal." I looked around for another route of escape. "Besides, it's not like it's our first."
He kissed me, his lips moving persuasively against mine, his eyes open trying to elicit a response from me. Finally as I began to respond, he closed his eyes and mine soon followed. I pulled away as soon as air became a necessity and caught sight of his smirk.
"I knew that it meant something to you."
"That hardly proves a thing," I muttered quietly as I stepped away from him.
I walked cautiously away from him, half expecting the force that had held me captive mere seconds ago to fling me back towards George. But when it did no such thing, I walked away acutely aware of the sea of stunned faces.
"You know, this means that you're going to Hogsmeade with me, right?" He called out after me.
**********
"You know it's alright for you to be nervous, don't you?" Cho asked as we clambered onto the carriages on our way to Hogsmeade.
I raised an eyebrow as I settled down on the seat across from her, "What exactly should I be nervous about?"
"Your date with George!" She exclaimed making me roll my eyes.
"Oh please." I rolled my eyes. "It's just George, what's there to be nervous about?"
Cho only shook her head at me in response before she crossed one leg over the other. "Where did he say he wanted to meet you?"
"Outside of Honeydukes," I answered before narrowing my eyes suspiciously at her, "Why?"
"Nothing, I'm just going to make sure that you get there as early as possible."
"Cho you spend far too much time focusing on my 'love life'. It's kind of distressing."
She crossed her arms as the carriage began to slow down, "It's hardly my fault that your love life is far more interesting than my non-existent one."
As the carriage stopped we clambered out of it and head off into Hogsmeade. The closer we got to Honeydukes the more Cho would fidget beside me.
"You know," I said quietly as we walked slowly, "Anyone would think that you were the one going on a date."
"Well you're not feeling nervous," she muttered almost petulantly, "So I'm feeling nervous on your behalf."
Rolling my eyes I chose to stay silent. We turned the corner and Cho clutched my arm to stop me as Honeydukes came into view and I noticed the flaming head of red hair standing outside of it.
"Last minute check," she murmured before she straightened out the invisible creases on my dress and fixed the stray fly away strands of hair that managed to escape Cho's masterpiece.
"Cho," I said swatting her hands away from me as she continued to fixate on the smallest 'imperfection' of my outfit.
"Just a bit more," she protested as I pushed her hands away from me. "And you're good to go."
I stumbled forward a step as Cho walked behind me to push me forward. I began to protest quiet as she continued to push me towards George. Crowds of people turned to watch us and I let out a quiet sigh before relenting and letting her push me. The closer we got to George the more forceful her pushes became until she pushed me a final time and we stopped in front of George.
"Bye Weasley," she chimed before she ran away from us.
"Bye Chang!" He called out before turning to look at me in amusement.
"I have no idea why I'm friends with her," I murmured quietly.
"Shall we get going?" He asked as I walked closer towards him. I nodded and started when his hand closed around my wrist before he let his hand relax and take a hold of mine. Linking his fingers between mine, he began to lead me into Honeydukes.
I bit my bottom lip; suddenly I was nervous.
**********
10 YEARS LATER
I had the extreme urge to fidget.
I had been sat in this chair for over half an hour as Ginny and Cho hovered behind me, tending to the finishing touches on their 'canvas'. The canvas in question just happened to be my face. But I supposed that I should have been grateful for the two of them always hovering around me. Their constant presence had fended over alteast four bouts of the nerves, only because I was determined not to embarrass myself in front of them.
"How does it feel to know that you'll become Mrs George Weasley in a few short hours?" Ginny asked as she fixed the final strand of my hair into place. When she was done she set her hands on my shoulders she watched me through the mirror.
"Nerve wracking," I answered quietly, the truthfulness of my words ringing out in my slightly shaking voice. Ginny squeezed my shoulders and I stared at my reflection, chewing on my bottom lip.
"Stop that," Cho chastised as she appeared by my side. "You'll ruin your lipstick and then fuss when we have to fix it again."
"I can't help it. I'm nervous."
"You know," Cho muttered as she walked around the room, searching for something. Her hands sought out a shoe box as she turned to talk to me over her shoulder, "I think I preferred it when I was the one that was more concerned about your relationship than you were."
Cho continued to look for the shoe box and I met Ginny's eyes through the mirror. She sent me an encouraging smile before looking at the clock.
"Let's get you into the dress," Ginny said as she helped me stand up.
Walking into the bathroom I found my dress hanging off the back of the door. Closing my eyes I let out a deep breath; I was getting married in less than two hours. Slipping into the dress I smoothed out the creases before clutching the front of the dress to my chest. Unlocking the door I walked out into the room and waited as Cho and Ginny both walked around me to zip up the dress. Stepping back from me they began to move around to make sure that nothing was wrong.
Giving me a teasing smile when she caught sight of my hands that were cluthching the skirt of the dress in sheer nervousness. Cho crouched down on the floor and pulled my shoes out of the box. Setting them down in front of me she stepped back. Lifting the bottom of my dress up, I slid into the shoes before lowering the hem of my dress so that it touched the ground again.
Cho disappeared to search for my veil and bouquet when Ginny stepped closer to me and started to talk quietly.
"I was talking to George yesterday," she began, crouching down to fix the bottom of the dress. "And he's convinced that you're hiding a secret from him."
"A secret?" I replied, my eyes widening slightly. My hands uncurled from my dress, one hand moving to nervously fidget with my earring and the other pressing against my stomach.
"Yeah he's convinced your hiding something." Ginny rose to her feet and I dropped my hands.
"Don't worry," I reassured her with a smile. "There is no secret."
Meeting my eyes, Ginny held my gaze. "If that's what you're saying then I'll pretend I don't know."
With that she turned to face the door just as someone knocked on it. Cho stiffened, letting out a deep breath as she handed the veil to Ginny who was busy glaring at the door to accept it. She took the veil from Cho when the older girl elbowed her.
"George Fabian Weasley. If that is you again, I'm going to kill you," Ginny warned loudly as she turned towards me to secure the veil in place. Shooting a look at the door she waited for a response. I leaned down to make it easier for her to put the veil on me.
The reply came through the door, his voice managing to remove my nerves all together. "But why would you do that to my book worm? She'll live the rest of her life in loneliness."
"No I won't." I smiled as Ginny fixed the veil around my hair. "There's always Charlie."
"Am I really that easy to replace?" I could practically hear the pout in his voice as Ginny stepped away from me.
"No."
"Good!" He exclaimed loudly through the door as I reached out for my bouquet.
"You're exceptionally easy to replace."
He began to reply but Ginny cut him off. "George," she warned stepping away from me once she had brought the front part of the veil down.
"Alright. I'll leave," He said quickly before I heard him let out a slight chuckle. "I just have one more thing to say."
"Fine." Ginny gave an amused sigh, staring at the door before meeting my gaze in the mirror. I rolled my eyes and she did the same.
"No matter what you say love. Remember, I was right." I rolled my eyes. Merlin at this rate I'd have to listen to that for the rest of my life. "That kiss did mean something to you."