Waldosia/// George Weasley

Chapter 7

The night had passed as a blur for Clover, simply three hours trying to avoid the questioning and knowing stares from Babs. She knew they had a lot to talk about and a lot to catch up on, but after being drained from work she didn't think she could handle it. The nightmares were relived in her head every night; there was no need to have to relive it during the day too.

Luckily for her, Babs had his hands full with pretending not to enjoy the obvious flirting Lee was doing with him. It's not that he wasn't interested in the curly-haired boy, he just didn't want to involve anyone else in his issues. Babs knew he was gay; it was evident as soon as he laid his eyes on the DADA teacher they had in their 5th year, Professor Lupin. But, he also knew what his family believed in. And boys liking boys were certainly not part of that. So instead, he strictly stuck to one-night stands and nothing but hookups, something that both him and Clover had in common. There was no room for romance in their fucked up lives.

After successfully avoiding her best friend's questions throughout the whole night, Clover and the other 3 boys found themselves walking back to the shop. Somewhere along the way, the blonde girl had decided to trade her work blazer for a random sweatshirt she had made sure to grab before leaving to the bar. But as soon as her two bosses had laid their eyes on the embroidered word on the emerald green fabric, she realized her mistake.

"Georgie, I can not believe my eyes," Lee stopped in his tracks and dramatically gasped while pointing at Clover, "Do you see what I see or am I going bloody mental?"

George, who Clover had noticed was mentally distant the past few hours, smirked for the first time tonight and crossed his arms over his chest, "Looks like we've got a snake on our hands."

"I can't believe we hired a snake," Lee playfully teased as they once again proceeded walking. The orange building came into sight and Clover took the lead this time, flipping off the two boys now behind her.

Babs had caught up to the girl and threw his arm around her shoulder, "Loud and proud."

"You're Slytherin, too?!" The curly-haired boy shouted, a smirk forming on his face as he locked eyes with the other dark-haired boy, "In that case, I'd love to see your snake."

"In your dreams, Jordan," Babs called out behind him, Clover chuckling into his shoulder as they arrived in front of the shop.

"How'd you know?" He winked at Babs, who held back a smile and simply rolled his eyes instead.

George remained quiet; his hands were stuffed in his pocket and he was clearly bitting on his inner cheek in discomfort. Clover noticed it right away because she knew what he was doing all too well. It was his way of physically remaining present, even though his body was mentally beginning to shut down on him. She could see it in his eyes that he didn't want to pretend anymore; George had reached his limit for the day. He wanted to go.

As if sensing her gaze on his, he slowly landed his eyes on hers. She shot him a curious, yet knowing expression and watched as his cheeks tinted pink in embarrassment. But instead of looking away, she kept eye-contact with him and spoke softly to the group, "Alright, it's getting late. George, do you mind me coming inside to get my bag?"

He stood there silently for a moment before he gratefully nodded, saying a quick goodbye to the two other boys before heading inside. Both Lee and George stared at her, wondering what had just happened. But instead she shook her head and placed a kiss on Babs' cheek, "I'll see you lot later."