stardust ⋮ george weasley

thirty-eight :

T H I R T Y - E I G H T

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When Adeline had gotten back to the Ravenclaw dorm Christmas night, well after the ball had come to a close, all three of her best friends were sitting there patiently, wanting to know the exact reason George and Adeline had disappeared for hours from the dance. Adeline, knowing that she'd never be able to hide this sort of thing from her best friends, spilt everything from the moment the two left the ball.

Amelia and Delilah ended up having to sleep down in the Common Room because of how much screaming there was that night.

The winter holidays had flown by after that. For the first time in a long time, there wasn't much Adeline had to think about. Her studies had surprisingly been more relaxed than they had been that past semester, likely because many of her professors had been more focused on planning for the Ball and the Triwizard Tournament rather than give their students many assignments. Adeline had long mastered the Bubble Head Charm, and was now just practicing swimming in the ginormous Prefects bathroom to practice for the upcoming task. For the first time in a long while, Adeline wasn't worried about much.

Well, there was one small thing that Adeline was a little nervous about.

The start of hers and George's relationship was soft and sweet – well, except for the morning after the Ball when Fred decided that breakfast was the perfect time to loudly interrogate George about his whereabouts during the Yule Ball.

But other than that embarrassing moment, things between her and George were wonderful. Sure, Adeline couldn't help but a little nervous every time the two held hands under the table or George pressed a kiss to her forehead as they walked down the corridor, but she knew that she was likely just timid when it came to the new relationship.

And when a Hogsmeade trip was announced for the last Saturday of the winter holidays, it was pretty clear who Adeline was going to go with.

Although, Adeline wasn't sure how much time she would be spending in the actual Hogsmeade village. When George had met up with her in the front of the castle that morning and the two began walking down to the village, he had mentioned to her that he had somewhere he wanted to show her, but refused to tell her where it was.

As the couple walked down the path, Adeline caught sight of a raven-haired boy walking a few meters ahead, and she remembered that there had been something else she had been meaning to do for most of that winter break.

"Could you give me a quick moment?" Adeline asked. "I want to talk to Harry really quickly."

George nodded, and Adeline sent him a quick smile before running down the path to catch up with Harry.

"Hey, Harry!" She called out. "Could you hang back for just a moment?"

Harry turned around and looked at Adeline in surprise. Next to him, Hermione gave a little wave to Adeline, who just as eagerly returned it, before grabbing Ron by the arm and leading him off down the path towards Hogsmeade.

As she took a few steps closer to him, Adeline smiled softly and asked, "How have you been, Harry?"

Harry thought about how the Second Task was only a few days away, and he had yet to figure out the clue of the Golden Egg. "Spectacular. You?"

Ignoring his question, Adeline continued with, "Listen, I don't think I ever thanked you properly for telling me about the dragons. You probably saved my life out there. I'd probably be burned to a crisp."