blue → george weasley

nine

gentle » adjective ⇢ having or showing a mild, kind, or tender temperament or character.

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The week after the ball had been a relaxing one and Lane welcomed it wholeheartedly after the first half the school year had drained her. Most of the students who stayed for the ball had ended up making their way home to spend the New Year with their family. Lane and the majority of her friends stayed behind – deeming it pointless to go home for just a week. Since the ball, she'd begun hanging out with the Weasley twins and Angelina Johnson more often and it was beginning to become a routine to skip right past the Ravenclaw table at meals and sit with them instead (Luna coming too of course but she had gone home as well). It was December 31st and the night before the castle grounds had been dusted beautifully with a blanket of snow so most of the student's plans for the day consisted of spending the day outside enjoying the snowy wonderland.

"Do you reckon Hermione will sit with us?" Ron asked with his mouth full of food.

Since the Yule Ball, Ron and Hermione had some sort of falling out meaning she was avoiding him like the plague—something he obviously wasn't happy about. His feelings for the bright witch seemed to be obvious to everyone except for them and Lane found it quite amusing watching his siblings tease him without him seeming to notice they were.

"Just apologize to her and say you wish you'd asked her to the ball first," Ginny said with an eye roll.

One thing Lane had learned about the Weasley kids is that they could eat. Fred defended himself saying he had to stay bulking for Quidditch, Ron said he was a growing boy and Ginny merely shrugged. "I've got to keep up with 6 older brothers."

As the meal was wrapping up, a few owls swooped in with the day's mail. Lane never usually got mail besides the odd letter from Remus so when she recognized his tawny owl Marlin approaching, she perked up. The owl seemed to be struggling with the weight of a package and Lane frowned when he passed right by her and dropped the package in front of Harry. She knew she really had no right to be hurt... Sure they'd grown a bond and she saw him as more of a father figure than her own dad but at the end of the day, he had much more history with Harry. Remus had opened up to her about his past and friends on only a couple of occasions, but his smile always lit up the whole room whenever he spoke about his time at Hogwarts. She poked at her food but was brought back to the conversation when the twins looked at one another and cheered.

"Errol!" They perked up at the owl.

Errol looked like he was knocking at death's door, but he still managed to drop a bundle of packages before crashing into some first years and passing out. Ginny sighed and got up. "I'll make sure he's alive."

The twins grabbed the packages and handed them out to their siblings before ripping their own open and grinning with a childlike excitement that Lane couldn't help but find extremely endearing. They always managed to make her feel better no matter what she was feeling.

"A dragon tooth!" Fred said holding up a necklace from their older brother Charlie. "Wicked." Both boys said in sync and slipped the necklaces over their heads.

Ron had gotten a Chudley Cannons (Romania exclusive) hat and Ginny a dragon horn dagger that she looked at with wide eyes.

"Why on earth would Charlie send you a weapon!" Ron said in shock making Ginny shrug and read the note before laughing. "He says I have to keep you lot inline."

George had an extra package addressed to him and read the note before smiling and tucking the package next to him making Fred frown. "What's that?" He said trying to take a grab at it from his twin.

"Nothing. Just something from Mum." George replied turning back to his meal after pushing Fred away.

"It's no fair you get an extra gift!" Fred said looking hurt before George sent him a look to shut him up. "It isn't for me."

Fred shut up and raised his brows before sipping his pumpkin juice without another word on the matter. The Weasleys explained that Charlie was always the one to send his gifts late and blame it on how long the post took from Romania when he was really just distracted by all the dragons. They didn't mind though and Fred made sure to point out how his gifts were always the coolest to get. Breakfast was wrapping up and the hall was emptying when Harry got up and cleared his throat in front of Lane. The two had never spoken directly before so she blushed slightly when she looked up and saw him smiling down at her: he was the chosen one after all. 

"Remus sent this for you." He said handing over a small package. "Was easier to send out gifts together I suppose." He chuckled and gave her another smile filled with so much kindness she couldn't help but smile back.

"Thank you, Harry." She said opening the package and blushing at the beautiful charm bracelet.

She held it up in awe and admired the charms, a little pawprint that made her smile because he always called her cub due to her wolf-like tendencies. She always rolled her eyes and explained that she just liked being up late and staying on guard nearly all the time was 'normal'. The next charm was a little book that was self-explanatory to their relationship considering most of it was spent reading together in comfortable silence. Despite how gorgeous it was, she felt slightly guilty – she knew Remus was tight on money, and to spend his little cash on something for her felt like a waste.

"That's really pretty," George said from next to her as he slid across the bench to fill the spot once held by Fred and Angelina who had left the hall to get ready to go outside.

She smiled at him and nodded before holding her wrist out shyly. "Can you help me put it on?"

He nodded before gently taking the clasp in his long fingers and nimbly undoing it. He held her wrist softly as he concentrated on putting the bracelet on. His tongue peeked out as he focused, and Lane smiled watching his face rather than the bracelet.

"There we go-" He said looking up and meeting her eyes making him blush when he noticed her staring.

He looked down again and still held her wrist as he thumbed with the charms and admired them. Ginny raised her brows at them from across the table and really wished Luna and Rosie hadn't gone home for the New Year so she could shoot them a look as if to ask if they saw the chemistry too.

"I should go get ready..." Lane said softly not wanting to ruin the moment.

Since the night of the ball, there was a gentleness around Lane and George. An unspoken bond neither of them seemed to mention since the moment they had in the common room. Lane smiled one last time before walking away. George seemed to snap back into it and ran after her.

"Wait! Lane-" He said rounding a corner and pushing past a couple of students who got in his way, shouting apologies as he went.

She turned around and covered her mouth to cover the smile she had from how silly he looked with his long hair bouncing around as he ran. He reached her with a goofy smile and handed her the package he'd hidden from Fred earlier.

"I know you said you'd think about it, but I mentioned the situation with your parents to mum and she said you're always welcome at the burrow..." He smiled expectantly as she unwrapped the parcel. "She likes to knit a lot, so she made you this."

Lane held up a wonderfully made blue beanie with an L on the front. It was the best mix of handmade and perfect and Lane immediately put it on with a big smile. George smiled back at her and gently adjusted the hat on her head.

"I told her you were a Ravenclaw so I assume that's why she made it blue. Y'know, house-" He began before she finished with him. "House pride."

He tilted his head towards the ceiling and let out a laugh making her laugh too. His joy was contagious, and Lane vowed to herself to try and make him laugh more often -- the sense of pride she felt from being able to elicit the sound from him was one she'd never felt before. He offered to walk her back to her common room and neither of them said a thing as the older boy's fingers brushed against hers as they talked.

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