Waldosia/// George Weasley

Chapter 20

His hand was resting on her thigh, small shapes being drawn on top of the fabric of her jeans. Her body was tucked under his free arm and her head was dipped into the crook of his neck. She was whispering something to him, looking up at him hopefully. The ginger boy laughed in response, but his eyes were clouded and distant. Where are you, George, Clover thought to herself, where has your mind taken you today?

Clover then looked back at Angelina, wondering if she noticed that George wasn't listening to her. A small ache stung in the blonde's chest when she realized that Angelina did notice, yet was talking anyways. Of course Angelina knew, she reminded herself; Angelina knew George better than anyone. A frown slipped on her face and she took another swing of the firewhiskey held tightly between her fingers.

A small laugh quietly let out from besides her, causing Clover to look up at Babs and glare at him.

"Still pretending you don't like him?" He whispered lowly with a smirk on his face, low enough that nobody else could hear the two.

"Avada fucking kedavra," she jokingly spat back at him, his smirk never leaving his face. They both huffed out a laugh, failing to realize the room had fallen silent and all eyes were on them.

Clover was the first one to notice. Her head lifted and gazed around the room, a pink tint of embarrassment climbing onto her face. George and Angelina had both snapped their heads over at the sound of her words, along with Lee who was now sat on the floor next to Babs. Ginny raised a curious eyebrow from under Harry's arm and Ron's jaw quite literally dropped open. They all froze, looking both terrified and confused at the two Slytherins. Well, that was until Clover heard a chuckle escape from the group.

She locked eyes with Harry who was struggling to contain his laughter. Ron shot him a funny look before the spectacled boy spoke out loud, "Ahh, the sweet sound of my childhood. You know, that spell was probably the closest thing to a lullaby I've ever gotten."

The room once again fell silent, Harry's eyes once again met Clover's. A look of pure understanding passed between them, of broken childhood and a parentless past. And, that's when they both lost it. Both Harry and Clover bursted out in laughter at the joke, causing everyone to shake their heads in shock and astonishment.

"You would've fit perfectly in Slytherin, Harry," Babs mused as he sat back with an amused smile on his face.

"That's right," Ginny laughed as she reached over Harry and shut Ron's jaw closed for him, "I forgot you both were in Slytherin. How was that?"

"How was it being in Slytherin?" Clover asked to clarify her question.

Ginny nodded, and once the initial shock from everyone else in the room died down they all tuned in to the two snakes' answers. Clover and Babs exchanged a look before they both started speaking.

"It was...," the blonde started off and the darker haired boy finished for her, "Independent."

"Independent?" Angelina questioned in confusion.

Clover risked a glance over to where she was sitting under George's hold, but immediately regretted it when she found that the boy's eyes were drilled onto her. She stared back challengingly and pushed down the color that threatened to stain her cheeks.

"We were basically on our own for the entire 7 years," Babs continued to explain, speaking in a tone that suggested it should've been an obvious answer, "Nobody really cared about us."

Clover nodded her head in agreement, not understanding why everyone seemed even more confused than before.

"But it's Hogwarts...," Harry trailed off, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.