"So you're loaded?"
"George!" Blair cried and felt a form of shame bubble up inside of her.
"Well are you?"
Blair sighed and clutched her Honeydukes bag closer to her chest. The Rosier family were in fact quite wealthy. And even though Blair's father was only a spy in the Ministry of Magic for You Know Who, he still had a stable income from the job. And when he died, his Gringotts bank key was left to her. She never knew her mother so she had the entire family's savings in her name. And how much could a sixteen year old really spend?
"Well this is Zonko's," George saw he wasn't getting anymore answers and left the subject, even though he was still curious. "Freddie and I's holy place."
Blair was grateful that George seemed to get the message that she didn't want to talk about her financial situation and followed him into the crowded shop. He changed into his usual goofy self and grabbed anything he saw on a shelf to explain it in full detail to Blair. For every product he picked up, he had a story to tell about him and Fred using it on some poor soul at Hogwarts. Blair could tell that George was in his element and continued to follow him around the shop, listening to his stories without interrupting.
"These are brilliant," George mentioned as he picked up the new edition of fireworks. "They scare little Ronnie-kins to death in the mornings."
"Blair!"
She physically cringed and slowly looked over her shoulder, seeing the three Beauxbatons that she had been able to avoid up until now. But there was no getting away now as they had clearly spotted her and were pushing their way through the crowd. They were dressed in their blue uniforms as they weren't allowed to wear anything different for security reasons and stood out like sore thumbs among the other kids in the shop.
"Oh boy..." she mumbled and George turned around with a raised eyebrow.
"We have not seen you in ages!" Marceau stated once they reached her. "We were beginning to zink you were avoiding us."
"Right..." Blair murmured and shuffled backwards in order to slip behind George.
"Are you not going to introduce me, Blair?" George spoke up with a gesture to the three boys, smiling widely at them with hidden intentions. She looked up to him and saw his smile holding a mischievous glint to it. She decided not to question it and to play along, if it meant getting rid of the three for the day.
"This is George..." she said plainly but the three boys didn't notice her disinterested tone.
"Ah one of ze Weasleys, no?" Gustave questioned and exchanged a side eye look with his two friends. "Didn't make it into ze tournament I see."
"Yeah neither did you three," George sassed back. "I'm sure Miss Delacour will represent your froggy school better-"
"What did you say?" Rubin snapped and the smirks that were once on their faces fell. "You dare insult our school?"
"Oh I dare," George shrugged. "I also dare to say that you should stop bothering Blair here."
"Bothering?" Marceau scoffed. "We are merely being friendly-"
"Whatever it is you lot are doing, you are not being friendly," he cut off and slipped his arm around Blair's shoulders, holding her against his side. "And I'd appreciate it if you'd leave my date and I alone."
With that, George turned on his heels and pulled Blair up to the counter to pay for the fireworks and dungbombs he had in his free hand. Blair let herself be pulled with her lips parted and could feel her mind buzzing at George's words. He had clearly referred to her as his date and she thought at first that she had heard wrong. But judging by the faces of the boys they had walked away from, he had definitely said what she had heard.
"That got rid of them, didn't it?" George chuckled and Blair looked up to him, seeing him wearing a proud smirk while they stood in line.
"You said I was your date," she pointed out and he turned down to her, narrowing his eyes.
"Well you are," he replied with a simple shrug. "I can't have my date being bothered by a couple of frogs. You'll ribbit by the end of the day."
Blair let out a laugh and covered her mouth from giggling loudly. Not only did she find his reference to the three boys amusing, but she was bubbling inside from the fact of being called George's date. All doubt flew out of the window and Blair smiled to herself as she turned back to face the front. George caught the smile on her face and did the same, turning to face the cashier who took his items and told him the total price. As he pulled out the galleons and sickles, he brushed his free hand against hers and slipped his fingers through the crevices of her own. Squeezing her hand, he beamed to Mr Zonko who took his money and winked knowingly at him.
For the rest of the day, Blair and George held hands in every shop they went to. Multiple Hogwarts students looked their way and whispered to each other at the sight of a famous Weasley twin holding hands with a Ravenclaw. And with it being a Rosier was an even stranger sight. But none the less, no one could deny that they looked delighted to be with each other and were absolutely adorable. Blair's smile was the widest it had ever been and it was the first time anyone had heard her laugh. And George was proud to be the one next to her while she looked so happy and walked around with his shoulders squared and even winked at Ron who sat with Dean and Seamus in The Three Broomsticks.
They sat in a booth in the corner of the pub with warm Butterbeers in their hands. Harry and Hermione sat watching from a far in a separate booth from Ron and his two temporary friends. He had been bitter and isolated from Harry because of his entrance into the tournament and refused to believe that Harry had nothing to do with it. Hermione had chosen to stick with Harry for the time being while Ron stayed with any other Gryffindor he could find to show he had other friends outside of Harry and Hermione.
"It's the first time I've ever seen her smile," Hermione mentioned as they watched the two laugh at something while in the corner.
"I always thought Fred and George only liked seeing Ron in pain," Harry voiced and Hermione scoffed into her cup of Butterbeer.
"They're not the only ones," she said before sighing at the sight of George and Blair's entwined hands. "But they are cute. Maybe she'll knock some sense into him."
"Why are people so afraid of Blair?" Harry questioned. He had noticed the looks the girl got when walking in the hallways and whenever George mentioned her (which was often), an air hung above the conversation. George always seemed oblivious to this air but Harry saw how people fidgeted and looked to be uncomfortable.
"Her father was a known follower of You Know Who," Hermione explained. "He betrayed the Ministry and made the first Wizarding war in favour of the Death Eater's side. He was killed by Professor Moody in the end and Blair's his only descent."
"Professor Moody?" Harry repeated and Hermione nodded.
George thought multiple times throughout the day to try and attempt another kiss. He had been tempted when they had walked into Gladrags Wizardwear to get Blair her new Quidditch gloves. The way she stared down at the leather material with that small smile on her made him think he had truly found the girl of his dreams. Someone who loved Quidditch as much as him and walked around with a frown, only to light up whenever she'd come across a cat. But he refrained from lifting her chin and placing a peck on her lips and decided it would be better to wait for the perfect moment. He still wasn't sure if she'd reject him or not.
"Is there anywhere else you want to go?" George asked as he slipped his hand once more into Blair's.
"Not really," she answered. "I need to go and feed Jasper. I'm sure he's waiting for me."
"I'll come with you," he replied and they stood up from the table. "If you don't mind, that is."
"I'm sure you're fine."
George led Blair back towards Honeydukes and pulled her back through the shop, nodding to Ambrosius on the way. He pulled open the hatch and let Blair slide through first, before following after her and seeing that she had already lit her wand with the Lumos charm. They wandered back through the tunnel and soon came to the back of the one-eyed witch statue. They made sure no one was watching when they shuffled through the opening and appeared in the corridor surrounding the courtyard.
While walking up to the Ravenclaw tower, Blair questioned if George would want to be as close as they had been in Hogsmeade. Maybe he had only chosen to hold her hand because he knew they wouldn't be looked at as much by people they knew. But Blair was relieved to feel his large hand slip into hers again and squeeze it tightly, talking nonstop about the sort of detentions Professor Snape had given him since the start of the year.
"He made Fred and I clean up the explosion Longbottom apparently left in the Potions classroom," he rambled. "It was a mess! But the prank we did on those Slytherins was so worth it. You should have seen Montague's face!"
"Oh hey Blair!"
The two looked up to see Mina, Poppy and Nancy leaving through the Ravenclaw door on their way to the Great Hall. Blair stopped on her walk and bit her lip at being caught by her dorm mates with George, but he didn't seem to be embarrassed as her.
"Hey, you guys are Blair's dorm mates right?" he asked and the three girls nodded, hiding their smirks that were fighting their way on to their faces.
"I fed Jasper for you. He was meowing nonstop so I thought I'd give some treats since you weren't back yet," Nancy mentioned.
"Oh thanks," she nodded and Nancy smiled back.
"Well we'll... leave you guys to it," Mina said and glanced down towards Blair and George's entwined hands, shooting Blair a sly look. The three girls walked past the two and disappeared down the corridor, whispering to each other and giggling until they couldn't be heard any longer.
"They seem nice," George commented.
"Yeah, they're cool."
They stopped in front of the door and the eagle lifted its head, eyeing the two before saying its riddle.
"What can travel the world while staying in its corner?" the eagle questioned and Blair racked her mind for a possible answer.
"A stamp," George answered and the door swung open. Blair whipped her head around and eyed him suspiciously, making him turn and see her stare.
"What? Gryffindors can be smart too."
A few third years were in the common room already but kept to themselves in the corner that had a table set and chairs. The fire had already been lit in the fireplace so Blair and George took their places on the sofa in front of it. This time, George made sure to make it obvious that he was sitting closer than he usually would next to someone. And judging the fact that their hands were entwined, their sides were touching and left no space between them.
Blair blushed at this contact and stared into the fireplace that in fact, wasn't the only thing keeping her warm in the chilly common room.
"Thank you for today," she said.
"Eh, don't thank me. Everyone should go to Hogsmeade," George repeated with a wave of his hand, before feeling a pair of soft lips press against his cheek. His breath hitched in his throat and he turned his head, seeing Blair smiling up at him.
"Even so, thank you."