LOVE ISN'T EASY (but it sure is hard enough)

MARCH 4TH, 1995

George Weasley had dreamt about what it would be like to love Olivia Danes for about 1,964 days, give or take. Not that he was counting or anything.

And it hurt so much more than he ever could have imagined.

After Lee had made sure that he had eaten, having skipped dinner to wallow in self-pity, the curtains to his four-poster snapped shut and he dreamt of the first time he had truly craved for something more.

September 1st, 1993.

He didn't remember it as the day the dementors attacked the train, he only remembered it as the day he realised how infatuated he was with her.

His mother doted over all five of them, growing emotional over it being the last time she would ever bid Percy goodbye on the platform for the start of the school year. Ron had already found Harry, Ginny was hugging her mother goodbye and Fred was muttering about Percy the Prat and his plans to make their year hellish. George was about to send a joke back in his direction, laughing slightly at what he said.

And then he saw her.

Half of her curled hair had been swept back, tied with a blue ribbon. A pale blue sundress peeked out from underneath an oversized cream cardigan, trainers the same colour as her ribbon. Her lips curved into a smile as her mother kissed her cheek, eyes creasing in laughter as her dad told a joke and spun her around.

He felt his cheeks glowing red as he took her in, the distance on the platform feeling even greater than it was in reality. His mother fussed over him, worrying like she always did, asking the boy if he was sick or feeling unwell in any way. He told her he was fine, ducking away from her and praying that Olivia hadn't seen it.

Fred laughed at him, muttering something about how George was definitely coming down was something. It was the first time he had ever called him lovesick, and even though George had shoved him he knew he really was.

As she walked onto the train with Cho, laughing about something, he made a promise to himself.

Someday, before George Weasley graduated from Hogwarts, he would be able to call Olivia Danes his girlfriend.

It had been 549 days since then, and he felt as though that promise was becoming more unrealistic as the days went on.

About a week after George realised that this wasn't just the schoolboy crush he had always thought, he walked into the Great Hall for breakfast with his two best friends and saw her sitting there.

She was brushing her bangs out of the way lightly, the sunlight streaming down from the ceiling giving the brown hair a glow unlike anything he had ever seen. This morning was like any other, George staring over from the Gryffindor table at the completely oblivious Hufflepuff girl with the book in her hand and the sky in her eyes.

Until she had looked up.

George didn't realise he could feel so nervous. In a hopeless attempt to look cool, he had managed to knock over two full glasses of pumpkin juice. His face turned red as Fred and Lee burst out laughing at him, rubbing the nape of his neck as he raised a hand in an awkward greeting.

But she giggled, grinning back at him before looking down at the book. George realised he was taking great pride in making her laugh, and in an instant there were a million prank ideas racing through his mind as he tried to figure out what ones she would find the most impressive.

It had been 543 days since then, and he was lying alone, kicking himself. He had been so close.

Juno lay across Liv's bed, looking over at her best friend.