They pulled away after several moments, as if woken from a dream. Ollie was flushed and breathless, her hands slipping out of George's grasp. Her eyes looked down, her lips tingling, releasing a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
George was speechless, as he had been before. His eyes were closed for a moment or two afterwards, heart racing in his chest.
Once his eyes were opened, they stared at each other some more. Months of shared moments, of unconscious flirting was suddenly making sense to both of them.
"George." Olive suddenly said. While the kiss had been good, amazing really, her thoughts were starting to get the best of her, "I-"
Had he liked it too? Was his silence good or bad?
"Olls."
He always called her that. Olls. The name rolled off his tongue like honey.
He reached over, thumb brushing her cheek, tucking a dark curl that had slipped out of her braid.
"Hmm?" The fast-paced beat of her heart felt like a hum in her chest. To her, the ghost of his lips was still on hers, warm and soft, slightly parted in surprise.
"Would you dance with me?" George asked, holding out his hand like the gentlemen he was in that moment. His head was bowed slightly, eyes looking up with a charming playfulness to them.
He was trying to amuse her, to hide his true giddiness that the kiss had left him with. Olive quirked a brow, the corners of her lips twitching upwards into a smile. If it were possible, her cheeks blushed even more.
"Of course." She took his hand, giving it a squeeze as he began to lead her back towards the Great Hall.
Olive felt dreamy-eyed and weightless, not caring that her shoes were somewhere out in the courtyard, or that she accidentally got a small smudge of lipstick just in the corner of George's lips. Walking with him hand in hand, she felt that same breathless, thrilling feeling that made her feel like she could do anything.
They got to the dance floor, and from what Olive could see, it was like it hadn't changed from when she had seen it nearly twenty minutes ago. A slow song was just winding down, the Weird Sisters playing a particularly upbeat rock and roll set that drew a lot more people to the dance floor.
Finding a spot that gave them some room, George spun Olive around once or twice, letting out a laugh as she gasped in surprise.
"George-" She couldn't help but laugh too at how perfectly funny it was, "I'm not much of a dancer-"
"Nonsense." He steadied her, "It is my philosophy that everyone, deep down, is a dancer. Even you, Ollie."
The Ravenclaw hit him playfully in the arm, "I can't tell if that was supposed to be a compliment or not."
"A compliment." George answered like it wasn't already obvious, "With you I couldn't say anything less, Olls."
She was surprised at his words, "Oh?"
He started swaying to the beat, doing the safe step-touch and making it bigger and sillier with every passing moment.
"Did I mention that I can't dance either?"
"No?"
"Well.... I can't dance either."
Olive mimicked his pose from before and offered him her own hand, "I guess we could figure it out together."
Once again their hands locked. George spun her again, more slowly, watching the smile on Olive's face as she twirled around. Her blue eyes lit up, her cheeks tinted with a blush that hadn't left since they kissed. Her blue dress spun around her, hair starting to fall loose from its braid. He spun her again just so he could take it all in once more.
She was beautiful.
"Come on."
"George, where are you taking me?"
"It's a surprise."
"I know the castle just as much as you do. How can it be a surprise?"
A finger pressed to her lips, "Shh."
Barefoot, her feet frigid and tingling from the cold stone floor, Olive followed closely behind George as they tiptoed through the corridors of the castle. He kept a grip on her hand, fingers intertwined.
"George-"
"Shh." He smirked, "Surprise."
They had left the ball nearly half an hour ago, just as the last song rolled out. George was walking Olive back to the Ravenclaw Tower when she remembered she left her shoes in the courtyard.
It was on their way there when he got the idea.
Her free hand lifting the skirt of her gown just so she wouldn't trip, Olive stayed close to the ginger in front of her. There were more teachers and prefects out that night than there were usually, so they had to be extra careful.
Olive suppressed a giggle as he skidded to a halt, causing her to bump into his back. They both shushed each other, biting their tongues and sticking close as the more mischievous of the two peaked out from behind the corner.
"Clear."
"You know, I still don't have my shoes."
"That's only a minor setback."
"Then if we go outside you have to carry me."
"Of course."
George pulled her across the corridor, and as soon as Olive saw which part of the castle he was leading her towards, she knew where they were going.
The Astronomy Tower.
She walked side by side with him, now confident in the directions, but still stuck close just in case he decided to surprise her and take a different route. Her bare feet chilled against the cool stone floors, but at least she could feel assured they wouldn't be walking through the snow.
"You know." She whispered, looking behind her to make sure nobody was following them, "I'm sure a lot of people have thought to go up to the Astronomy Tower tonight."
"Oh?" George smirked. He had already thought of that, "I'm sure they did."
Olive slowed her pace, brows furrowed as she searched for the meaning behind his tone. Had he found some way to ensure that the Astronomy Tower wouldn't be taken by other groups of dates? Did he have someone make sure no one even could get up there?
Then she figured it out.
"George." She tried to seem questioning, but the smile on her face took away all interrogative intimidating she had, "What did you do?"
The ginger's mischievous smile widened, a chuckle escaping his lips. It was no use pretending, since he was bound to tell her anyways.
"In the Gryffindor Common Room, the stairs are enchanted so if a boy tried to get into the girls' dormitories, the stairs disappear and you slide all the way down." He explained, "I... may or may not have found that enchantment... with Fred's help."
"That doesn't surprise me." Olive admitted with a small shrug of one of her shoulders.
"Figured it wouldn't."
They approached the tower's entrance within minutes, giggling and breathless from their fast-paced hustle across the castle. Quickly checking the area around them to make sure the coast was clear, George took out his wand to undo the enchantment on the stairs.
"Imagine sliding all the way down these stairs." The Ravenclaw mused, adjusting the slightly wrinkled skirt of her dress as she watched George take off the enchantment, "I wonder how long it would take."
Before he could utter the spell, the ginger paused, contemplating the idea that had come from the girl beside him.
"That." He turned to her, taking Olive by the shoulders as his face lit up with a smile, "Is a bloody brilliant idea. We're doing that."
"I... I didn't mean actually."
"Don't care. Still going to do it."
"George-"
"It's already in my head. There's no stopping me now, Olls."
"We have to go back for my shoes at some point."
They had been up in the Astronomy Tower for nearly an hour, sitting with their legs dangling, staring out at the starry sky.
"We do?" George bumped her arm playfully, "I thought you took them off as a fashion statement."
Olive laughed, her eyes tired and weighted from being awake late into the night after such an eventful evening. The cold was one of the only things keeping her fully awake. She looked up at George, shaking her head in amusement.
"Sure I did, George."
The Weasley smirked, "I'm only joking."
"Were you?" Olive faked surprise, brows raised.
She laid down, hands folded over her stomach. Her eyes were looking up at the ceiling, which had several skylights to give a better view of the sky. George matched her position.
"I had fun tonight." She admitted, stealing a glance at the Weasley beside her to get a glimpse of his expression.
"Yeah?" He was blushing, and was hoping that she didn't see it, Olive having made him blush like an idiot all evening, "Me too."
"I'm glad that I went. I feel like I would have regretted it if I didn't go."
"I'm glad you came." George spoke quietly, his voice just loud enough for Olive to hear next to him, "Really."
He reached over and carefully grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. Her fingers were cold, but they still sent a warm feeling throughout his body, almost as if he had one too many shots of fire whiskey.
Olive closed her eyes, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. She honestly couldn't believe how her day had turned out. When she woke up, she was set on not attending the Yule Ball, and now she was shoulder to shoulder with George Weasley in the Astronomy Tower, wearing a gown that was slightly wrinkled from hours of dancing and running around.
It was a perfect night.