A different beginning (George Weasley)

Chapter 8

"You're going to pay for that!" I yelled, rolling off of the floatie to go drown George, who wore a goofy grin as he swam away from me, and under the waterfall. I followed of course, hiding behind the rocks so that when he finally stopped at the back end of the small cove, he thought I had given up and gone back to the others. I jumped on his back and pulled him down into the water, laughing like a maniac. "Told you you'd pay."
He grinned even wider. "Fine, you got me, I'm your prisoner." he held out his hands, which I jokingly took.
That was my first mistake. He somehow managed to get his hands around my waist as he threw me to the shallow water around us.
"Jerk!" I tried to get him under too, but he was too strong. That was when I noticed that he had his shirt off, and his sculpted stomach lay underneath. I tried to shake the feeling of butterflies in my stomach. This is George. I tried to tell myself. George, your best friend since 1st year. What are you doing looking at his abs?
Suddenly I saw his eyes soften, and he started leaning in to me, almost like we were about to kiss. But I must be misreading this, because George and I were just friends, best friends. It's not like I have a crush on him or something. Right?
Just when our lips were only centimeters away from meeting, Fred yelled from outside, "What are you two doing in there? Seems awful quiet."
George kept his eye contact with me as he pulled away slowly and yelled at the entrance to the waterfall, "Just kicking Potters ass."
I smiled weakly as I walked back out, realising how stupid we were being. What happened when we stopped working? What happens when he loses interest? We wouldn't be able to stay friends, there's no way we would be able to, and what would I do without my best friend?
When I made it back to the main pool, I just knew my face was bright red, and I prayed that no one would notice.
I should've known better, because when the boys started doing flips, Ang swam over to me. "Why is your face all red? Did something happen with George?"
"I'm just hot." I lied. It would've worked on anyone else, but Ang knew me too well.
"You do know you're a horrible liar right?"
I looked over at the boys, who were within hearing distance now. "I'll tell you later, I promise."
She looked like she was about to argue, but then Fred threw a volleyball at her head, which she caught of course. "Good try Weasley."
I laughed at my friends and went to get water while I watched them start a volleyball game, using the net that was set up over the center of the pool. "Rose, come join us!" George shouted at me.
"Fine, what're the teams?" I asked, trying to ignore George's stare.
"I'll be ref!" Lee said, making us all start laughing like crazy remembering the interesting comments he's made at matches.
"Me and Freddy are already on this side, so you and George?" Angelina said, winking at me.
"Sure, why not?" I jumped in next to George as we started the game.
It was a long game, considering that Fred and George kept arguing each point scored, making almost every play a redo.
Regardless, I had the most fun I've had in months. Me and George ended up winning, earning us a victory lap around the pool with me on his shoulders.
I hadn't forgotten what happened earlier, but things were still the same between us, we were still George and Rose, not two people who almost kissed under the waterfall.
At 7, my dad came to the pool house with 4 of the pizzas, and he dropped off some sodas and plates for us at the bar area, where we all sat and wolfed down the pizzas.
Not to anyone's surprise, there were only a few pieces left by the time everyone was done eating, and at that point everyone was busy talking amongst ourselves.
I left the table with Ang, but she soon left me to talk to Fred. I made a mental reminder to ask her about what was with them later, and I noticed the sun was starting to set over the fields.
Then I had an idea. I walked over to George and grabbed his hand, leading him out of the pool house.
"Where are you taking me Rose?"
"Just trust me." I said, leading him to the spot I had been looking for.
"Where are we?" George asked when he saw where I had led him to.
I opened the small creaky wood door and led him inside. "Bingley cottage. My great grandparents built it for my grandparents when they got married, so that they would be able to live on the property without having to be in the same house as their parents. I think my mum and dad lived here for a bit, but they haven't been here in years." I went up the windy staircase until I reached the top, which didn't happen for multiple stories.
"It's... beautiful. But why are we here?" George asked when we got to the trap door at the very top.
I opened up the trap door and led him in, grinning in pride at the small place I had made for myself, and feeling the nostalgia of when she used to play in here when I was younger; it had been at least 2 years since I came in here.
"Here's my own little nook." I said, sitting down on the hammock that made up half the room. There used to be tons of little toys up here, but I cleared those out a few years ago, and now the room consisted of the twinkle lights that covered the ceiling, and the old-fashioned candle holders that were between the small windows. I used mental magic to open up the drapes, and sighed at the beautiful view.
George sat down next to me and stared at the sunset like it was the world's most beautiful painting. Maybe that's because to us, it was.
"Now you see why I love this place. It's been a few years since I've gone up here though, I guess life just took over."
"Yeah, it's beautiful. The sunset over the hills, it's almost like.."
"A painting." I finished, looking over at him, seeing that he had turned to me. I felt the butterflies again, but I tried to push them away. I couldn't ever date George, he was my best friend. What if it messed up things between us? "About earlier, George I'm sorry."
He took my hand, making my heart beat even faster. "I'm only sorry that Fred interrupted us."
I couldn't believe it. "But George, what happens if it doesn't work? I can't lose my best friend."
He stared straight into my eyes. "You won't. If we break up, then I'll still be here for you, I promise. I'll always be here for you."
My body started leaning in, as if it had done this a hundred times before. As if it knew that my heart was beating a thousand times a minute. As if it knew that this was what I wanted, that this was what I had always wanted.
And slowly, our lips met. It was a soft kiss, both of us too scared that the other might pull away in disgust, but neither of us did, and the kiss deepened.
When we pulled away finally, I rested my head on his shoulder and he had one hand on my head, playing with my hair lightly as we watched the sun set over the hills.