| Inked | (George Weasley)

Chapter Ninety-Eight

"Olls." George knocked on the door for the fourth time in several minutes, "Love, are you okay?"

Olive had buried her head in her knees, her arms wrapped protectively around herself. Her palms stung from how tightly she dug her nails into the skin, but it couldn't even compare to the panicked, tightened feeling of her chest or the pounding of her head in tune with her heartbeat.

"Ollie."

She sniffed, squeezing her eyes shut in hopes to prevent any more tears slipping onto her cheeks. Olive was trying, and failing, at calming herself down enough to speak or even take a deep breath properly.

"I-I'm fine." She lied, her voice masking a sob.

So convincing.

It seemed like such a pointless, stupid thing to be crying over. Up until a few minutes ago, Olive had marveled at how she was able to basically bring Cedric back from the dead. She thought it to be a real talent, something she could use in the future to keep her family safe.

And now, after seeing her worst nightmare come to life in front of her, she realized how easily it could all go wrong. She had that memory of her and George running in the corridors, and somewhere with Dumbledore was the memory of the Yule Ball.

After seeing what she feared most, Olive saw what would happen if she couldn't get to the souls of her loved ones. They'd melt and dissolve into the pages of her notebook until they were nothing but a faded memory in the back of her mind.

"You don't sound okay." George whispered, "Can I come in?"

Olive wiped at her face, knowing that she probably looked like a crying, snotty mess. She didn't want him to see her crying over something as silly as a boggart.

But George, being George, didn't wait for her to answer. He knew she was probably going to find some excuse to keep herself locked in the bathroom. So, he apparated in front of her, sitting cross-legged on the floor, his knees practically touching hers.

Having become used to her boyfriend apparating around her at random times throughout the day, Olive didn't find herself startled.

"Hey." He offered her one of his most comforting smiles, leaning forward slightly so he was eye-level with her, "Love, tell me what's going on."

Olive sniffed, closing her eyes. She felt George reach over and grab onto her hands, carefully using his thumb to uncurl her fingers from their white-knuckled fists. The palms of her hands had four tiny crescent-shape cuts, irritated and dotted with tiny specks of blood.

George said nothing when he saw her hands, keeping his eyes on her, waiting for her to speak. The last time he had seen her that scared was when they saw Cedric's dead body come out of the maze at the end of the Third Task.

"I've... I've never seen what my boggart looks like." She spoke quietly, "I thought I was prepared for it... apparently I wasn't."

"What... was it?" He asked, rubbing his thumbs along the backs of Ollie's hands. His eyes dipped down to her palms again, the sight of the tiny cuts making his heart twist. What could make her so panicked that she ended up doing this?

"Everyone was trapped." She explained, "In... in that room I found Cedric in. I couldn't get them out."

Her voice shook as she spoke, her hands tensing up in George's. She felt like a child, sitting on the bathroom floor and crying because she saw a boggart. Olive was seventeen. She was starting her last year at Hogwarts in less than twenty-four hours. Boggarts should have been easy for her.

"It's so stupid." She continued, "It was just a boggart, but-"

"It's not stupid." George reassured her, "Mum was absolutely petrified after she saw her boggart. My dad's still trying to calm her down. I'm sure if any of us went up there and saw our worst fears we'd be feeling the same way."