Felix Felicis- A George Weasley and Adrian Pucey Love Triangle

78. Rising Temperatures

"You don't have to sit over there. We can sit together, just... no kissing alright?" I tell him. George and I sit together on his bed, watching the movie as he holds me in his arms. He drags his hands along my shoulder, raising goosebumps. I shiver lightly under his touch.

"What's wrong?" He asks me.

"Can I borrow a sweater? I'm actually quite freezing." I tell him. He nods and goes to his drawers, pulling out a large sweater with a golden letter G knitted onto the front. The sweater I had worn when I watched him play quidditch.

He hands the sweater to me, leaning down to kiss my forehead. "Woah, you're burning up!" He tells me, bringing his hand to my face. "I think you've got a fever. I'll walk you to Madam Pomfrey's, yeah? Don't want you getting sick." He says with a smile.

I nod as I pull his sweater on; it smells perfectly like him. I get out of his bed, stretching and walking to his door. He meets me there, kissing me lightly on the forehead once more. We walk together, but when he reaches out for my hand I pull away, wrapping my arms around my chest.

We don't speak; my mind is too full of thoughts. I thought I would feel better, I thought it would feel like I'd moved on. Now, my heart is heavier than ever. Guilt eats at me, I get the chills as I think of what I had done.

I had kissed George. Why, I did not know. I just know that even for a split second, it made me feel better. But I know that if I want any chance at getting my Adrian back, I can't do anything like that ever again.

We reach the hospital wing, and George opens the door for me. I thank him in a whisper, walking up to our nurse's desk. She fixes her glasses and sets down a pen before she speaks to me. "Hello, dear! What seems to be the problem?"

What a loaded question. I clear my throat. "Erm, just a fever I think. And I've been feeling fatigued."

"Easy fix! Seems there is quite the bug at Hogwarts. Third one in today for the very same thing." She smiles, walking behind a curtain and reappearing only a breath later. "Drink up." She tells me. I follow her instruction quickly; my head feels clearer and my muscles relax.

"Thank you, Madam." I tell her. She nods and hands me one more vial.

"Drink this tomorrow morning, and you'll be back to one-hundred percent!" The nurse tells me, sitting back down and writing with her quill once more. She looks up after a moment. "And you?" She asks, motioning to George.

"I'm fine. Antibodies of a king." George says, giving Pomfrey a thumbs up.

She sighs. "Weasley, if your girlfriend is sick then it will only follow suit that you'll catch the illness as well. Many of these coughs and fevers are contagious through-"

"He's not my boyfriend!" I cut in, looking at George from the corner of my eye.

"Right. Well, you know where to come when you're burning up." She says, waving us off.

I turn to George and he smiles, taking the vial from me and allowing me to walk in front of him. We walk out of the hospital wing together, and he grabs my hand. I allow him to, although I know I shouldn't. "You're so pretty." He tells me.

"Georgie?" I whisper.

"Yes, lovely?" He responds. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Yeah, but... I have to be honest with you." I tell him, looking away.

"Go on." He says in a whisper.

"About what she said... It wouldn't be right for me to date you again. I can't just go back and forth between you and Adrian anymore. It drove me mad."

"You... you don't want to date me?" He asks. I shake my head, and he yanks his hand from mine. "Then what has that in my room?" He asks angrily. I quickly turn to look at him; shock filling me.

I don't know what to tell him. "We only kissed, and we both knew to stop." I whisper.

"You know I how I feel about you!" He shouts, the juxtaposition of his previous quiet tone making me jump.

I look to the ground. I knew exactly what he felt. I know this makes me a terrible person. "I'm sorry." Is all I can muster. I blink quickly to dry the tears in my eyes before they begin to spill onto my cheeks. I refuse to cry.

"I-I'm sorry I yelled," He tells me.

"No, you're right." I tell him.

He takes my hand once more, placing another hand on my chin so I look at him. "A lot was going through your head. I know you didn't mean anything ill towards me." I close my eyes. He tucks my hair behind my ear, and then lets go of me completely. "It's late, come on. It's been a long day for you."

"Long week." I tell him. I open my eyes and begin to walk with George once more. He wraps and arm around my shoulder, and I lean into his chest. The walk is quiet; he whispers jokes to me lightly which make me giggle, but we don't speak of anything of substance.

We reach the common room, which makes my heart drop. "Come on, you'll be fine." He tells me. "You can hang out in my room. You don't have to talk to anyone."

I nod and he opens the door to the common room, quickly walking past the few people left. Our group of friends sits near the fire, but George shields me from them as we walk towards the staircase. We ascend the steps, and George throws open his door for me.

"Thank you, Georgie. You're the best." I tell him. He smiles, and leads me to his bed.

I sit and he turns to his drawers, beginning to dig through them, looking for something. He begins to open his mouth to speak to me, but there is a knock on his door. He turns and walks over to it, opening it only slightly.

"Hi," a wavering voice squeaks, "I was trying to catch you earlier, but you said you were busy."

"Oh, sorry about that. What's going on, Katie?" George asks. My blood begins to boil. Katie? As in Katie Bell? What could she possibly be so desperate to speak to George about?

"Well, erm, you know that dance Dumbledore was talking about? I was just wondering if, y'know... If you'd want to go with me?" Katie asks.

"Oh, Katie, erm. I hadn't really thought about it. I don't even know if I'll be going, you see. I'll think about it, though." George smiles, closing the door in her face. He turns to me and laughs out loud, causing me to rack over with laughter. I am breathless with giggles as I look to George, who sits next to me, chuckling lightly. "Alright, let's get you to bed. Tomorrow will be a new day." He tells me, pulling his covers open for me to crawl into.

He wraps the covers around me, grabbing a few covers from his drawer and making a bed for himself on the ground. "George, you don't have to sleep on the ground." I whisper into the quiet room.

"Are you sure?" He asks, sitting up. I nod, and he moves to lay in the bed next to me. He carefully wraps an arm around me, pulling me into his chest lightly. My heart begins to race. Friends can sleep in the same bed, I remind myself. But the feeling of George's strong arms around me make my heartbeat go even faster.

This was different than laying with Adrian; while Adrian was warm and comfortable, George's autumnal scent was enough to make my eyes close with fatigue. Oh, Adrian. My heart aches as I think of him. We couldn't be over, this was mad.

Only a few days, he had said. So much could happen in just a few days. I ache with longing as I fight sleep, not wanting today to be real.

Finally, I let sleep take me away from my thoughts; George's calm breaths lull me into the abyss of rest.