asking in vain // george weasley

chapter eight

If I had thought George was ignoring me before, he was definitely ignoring me now.

I mean, before he would avoid eye contact with me but otherwise would still somewhat acknowledge my presence. Now it's as if I'm truly invisible and inaudible.

I couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with me and Oliver "hanging out" but that had begun to slow down a bit anyways as he was grasping the facts and attributes of creatures much easier.

I sat on the sidelines of Gryffindor's quidditch practice as I pondered the subject. Come to think of it, George was being careless with the bludger when it was headed in the general direction of Oliver.

And he was giving him the death stare.

But that didn't necessarily mean it had anything to do with me, as they could've easily had their own falling out that's affecting their relationship.

Speaking of relationships, Oliver had finally broke down and told me who he had a crush on. Katie Bell!!! I was so excited to hear that, because I knew she was a sweet girl.

I begun to get lost in my own world, looking towards the field but not paying one bit of attention to what was happening on it, which is why I jumped when Angie yelled from just a few feet away, "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS YOUR GUYS' PROBLEM?!"

I quickly snapped back to reality to see Oliver and George were on the ground, having it out.

The rest of the team hurriedly landed around them, and Fred pushed himself between the two boys, pulling them off of each other.

At this point they were too far away for me to hear what was being said but it was clear neither George nor Oliver were in very good spirits.

I saw Angelina and Alicia glance over to me with concerning looks on their faces, but I'm sure it was just because they were hoping I was alright over here on the wooden bench. . . Right?

The more I thought of it, the more I got worried too. Fights, while they might not have been often, we're also not unheard of in quidditch. Players get mad at each other for any slack, or because their stressed, or for any number of reasons. But for a captain to be fighting with his own teammate. . . That wasn't exactly ideal or ordinary.

"Alright!" Oliver shouted, his voice loud enough to carry over to where I was, "Practice is over, everyone get packed up and go back to wherever, just not here!" He then stormed off, clearly unhappy about something.

Angie and Alicia headed towards me. When they reached me, Alicia gave me a strange look while Angie said, "We need to have a talk as soon as we get back to our dorm."

*

My stomach had begun churning earlier and by the time I was seated on my bed in our dorm, I felt as though I could hurl any moment.

"Will you please dear god tell me what the hell happened down there?" I asked Ali and Ang. Their dead silence the whole way up here didn't help my anxiety and I was seriously feeling ill. Bullet was pressed firmly into my side, and his nose had been shoved into my thigh since we left the Quidditch field.

"George and Oliver. . ." Ali started, glancing at Angie and then slowly closing her mouth.

Angelina sighed. "George and Oliver said some bloody fucked words to each other, but the most important part is that George pressured Oliver into telling him, along with everyone in earshot, that Katie Bell was his crush. Obviously, Katie Bell was one of the people in earshot."

My stomach sunk. I knew how nervous Oliver had been telling me she was his crush, to imagine how pushed he had to have been to say that.

"How the help did it get to that in the fight anyway? Unless George also has a crush on Katie Bell, then I could see it, otherwise it makes absolutely no sense," I said.

"Well, George does have a crush!" Ali exclaimed, giving an awkward laugh after she spoke.

He does? But, not on Katie Bell? Then how could his crush on another girl make him want Oliver to say his crush? Unless. . . he had seen Oliver hanging out with the girl he liked, and often. . . My head was spinning around these thoughts, trying to make sense of them. All I said was, "He does?"

"Yeah," Angie says. "And it's a pretty big one I'd wager."

"On someone we know?" I asked them slowly, unsure of what the answer would be.

Both girls gave me the kind of glare that says 'you already knew the answer to your dumb question' and they were right.

Even if I didn't want to admit it, all signs leaned towards me as the clueless girl in the middle of this shit.

"I need to talk to George," I say, knowing I'll give myself a panic attack if I don't say anything to him about this. Bullet was already pressing half of himself on my lap, the calm me down. Luckily, it was working.

"He still hasn't come in from wherever he went," Angie said. "But he'll have to come to his dorm eventually. Stake out the common room, Ali and I can stay with you til it clears out down there, in case he comes back early and you don't want people to over hear you."

I nodded, feeling my self relax even more knowing this will soon all be revolved.

*

We had been sitting here for over two hours, and there was still no sign of the twins. Ali just left to go get us grub from the Great Hall and she promised to look for the boys in there, just in case.

When she got back with plenty of goods in her hands but a 'sorry' expression, I knew she didn't see them.

"Who's to say those boys don't have a back way into their dorm? With all the secret passages in this castle?" I asked, beginning to think they knew another way in.

"Impossible. Dumbledore makes sure there's only one possible way to get in here, through that door," Ali answered.

I shook my head, knowing she was right but also that the twins were a lot smarter than we thought they were.

*

Around midnight, Ali, Ang, and me began sleeping in shifts. It wasn't until around 3am when I had just finished my shift 30 minutes before I begun to hear scuffling around us.

Angelina's soft voice said, "Hey Freddie. Let me wake up Alicia, Ace was hoping to have a talk with our Georgie here."

Ang shifted on the couch to push Alicia awake, then said,"George, wake her up when you're ready to talk, but you better talk. I'll know if you don't."

I felt the heat of the two girls on either side of my disappear and couldn't help an involuntary shudder of chills.

"I'll stoke the fire," George said quietly. "Get you warm."

The heat began to lull me back to sleep, a long with the hand raking thorough my hair softly.

I fell back asleep quickly, completely forgetting who was sitting with me, and why they were.

Everything went dark, and my mind was finally peaceful right after I felt Bullet crawl up onto the free side of the couch, pinning me onto the person next to me.

-

*edited*