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

SEPTEMBER 5TH, 1995

George Weasley would never admit it, but he was jealous of four eleven year old children.

Liv had only known Alice and the Darling children for a few days, but they had claimed her as their own almost instantly. They would follow her around like ducklings in height order, Wendy right behind Liv and little Michael trailing along at the back.

Despite this petty jealousy, George had come to realise he had been clinging on to Olivia since he was the same age as them, and he should probably learn to share her. For the future, of course.

And he couldn't really complain, because they loved him too.

They laughed at all his jokes, even when they were awful ones Liv would jokingly roll her eyes at. They loved listening to his stories about past pranks and scrapes himself, Fred and Lee had gotten into. They loved how tall he was and would often wonder who out of them would grow to be that height when they grew up. (If George had to put money on it, John would be his top pick.)

They loved Liv more though, but that was okay. So did he.

She was the first person they would go to if they had any questions or worries about their new timetable or teachers. She made them feel at home in this strange new place, and she told the most wonderful stories.

They also stole the seats beside Liv every morning at breakfast, which was probably the thing that annoyed George the most.

It annoyed him so much, in fact, that he was wide awake at six in the morning to try and beat them there.

Fred could sleep through a natural disaster, so waking him up was a near impossible task, but Lee Jordan was very grumpy in the mornings. It was something George had been unlucky enough to experience on a few occasions, usually when he and his brother were trying to leave for Quidditch practice at stupid hours under Oliver Wood's orders. It was a sight to see, the boy who was made of sunshine turning stroppy the moment Fred knocked something over in a sleepy daze, and the two boys who were normally so confident would try to escape the room as quickly as possible.

Thankfully, both of George's roommates were dead to the world as he finished getting ready, fussing with his hair in the mirror. Some old muggle song was stuck in his head as he brushed his teeth, and he made a mental note to ask the girl what it was as he snuck downstairs about an hour later.

She was in the same place she always was, a new old book in one hand and a mug of tea in the other. A smile crept onto his face at her complete obliviousness, his girlfriend frowning as she raised the mug to her lips only to find it empty.

"How quickly do you get through them?" He asked, appearing over her shoulder. Liv smiled as he took the mug from her hands, sitting himself down beside her.

"Don't even realise I'm doing it, just happens."

Her eyes went back down to the page, subconsciously tilting the book so that George could see it too. It had become standard practice at this point, just another thing she didn't realise she was doing.

"I have this song stuck in my head."

"What's it sound like?"

George hummed a broken melody as he stirred two new mugs of tea gently, placing one down in front of his girl and keeping one for himself.

"That's Penny Lane, the one by The Beatles." Liv said, closing the book and wrapping her cold fingers around the hot ceramic.

"That makes sense, the only words I could remember were Penny Lane."

Liv giggled, shutting her eyes as she inhaled the steam from the top.

"It's in Liverpool."

"We should go someday."