Sinners and Serpents {g.w.}

Chapter 27

Once the joint George had rolled had made its way round the circle, finally burning to a non-smokeable stub when Lee Jordan took a particularly enthusiastic hit, the group slowly began to disperse. Luna and Neville meandered out of the dorm in search of food with Ron and Hermione and Harry was off to find Ginny, leaving you quite alone with Fred, Lee, and George. Not in any hurry to get up, not when your body felt so warm and heavy, you were content to stay sitting, the footboard of Harry's bed digging into your back slightly. It seemed the three boys were of similar feeling; they, too, lounged on the floor even as everyone took off.

It would've been strange if you'd been sober, you were sure, but you were quite intoxicated, so it wasn't. The intoxication wasn't the unpleasant kind, the kind that made the room spin and your mouth feel gritty and acidic and your stomach churn with every breath. It was the kind where you'd eaten just enough that day to give the alcohol cushioning in your stomach, but not so much that you were in danger of it reappearing.

Watching the three boys interact was good fun, if you were honest. Their energies seemed to play off each other, feed off each other in a way that meant there was always delightful laughter bouncing around the room. You noticed that Fred would look your way, then back to George, then back to you quite often, and you couldn't really tell what that meant. Maybe nothing. You wished that it was George looking at you, but he hadn't spared so much as a glance at you since the rest of the group had made their exit.

Thirst suddenly gripped your throat, making you realize just how dry the smoke had made it, and ever so clumsily, you tried to push yourself to your feet. As you stood unsteadily, your knees wobbling in a way that nearly reminded you of a newborn dear, you saw George rising to a stand as well. In a few short steps, he was next to you, a hand behind your back, as if he was willing to catch you if you fell. His hand didn't touch you, but floated a few inches away from your back. You could tell it was there, though, from the way your skin warmed.

You certainly weren't going to fall, as much as it had looked like it. You had just been sitting for so long that everything in your system had settled. A few moments was all it took for you to regain your bearings, and you looked at George, as if to say see? I can stand all on my own. There was a faint red tinge to his eyes, one that you only noticed because you'd never been able to keep your attention away from them for very long. At least, not as of late. You weren't to blame, though; who could resist when his eyes were the color of dark honey, of aged whiskey that you saw your parents drink on special occasions, of light through a chunk of amber?

"Where are you going?" he asked, in a voice scratchy from inhaling smoke. Oh, you thought. That was not good. That sound trailed across your skin, heavy and hot, making your mind wander to things that you probably shouldn't think about while in less control than what you normally had over what you said.

"Water," you said. "I'm thirsty." Why he cared where you were off to was beyond you, but you couldn't say you didn't feel a flutter in your chest at the question.

Fred and Lee were off in their own little world, laughing about something both you and George had apparently missed. They had hardly noticed his absence and George, noting this, asked another question. "Do you want me to come with you? It seems like you might need some help down the stairs." A humorous twinkle in his eye that you could read, even while crossed, told you he wasn't making fun of you. That was new.

"I'll be okay," you said, both because you believed it and because, as much as you wanted to touch George so badly it felt like your fingertips were on fire, you didn't trust what you might say around him while in this state.

A disbelieving raise of George's eyebrows told you he did not accept that. "You don't seem entirely steady on your feet. You really think you could make it down those stairs without falling spectacularly?"