stardust ⋮ george weasley

seventy-nine :

S E V E N T Y - N I N E

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The next two weeks were an absolute blur of preparations as the two prepared to leave. The only person besides Adeline who had been clued in to the whole escape plan was Lee, who had been helping the two plan how they were going to make the grand exit.

Almost everything had been prepared. The joke shop was purchased, the seventh year boys Gryffindor dormitory was almost completely cleaned out of their items – minus a few prank items they had left behind for Lee. Fred and George had even managed to get their trunks to the flat by sneaking down to Hogsmeade and apparating from there. All that was left was just to say goodbye to Hogwarts, their school for the past seven years.

But, in true Fred and George fashion, they planned to make it an exit no one at the school would forget for years to come.

George only had a few minutes left until his and Fred's plan was set into action, and he didn't want to waste it. Even though it would only be a few months apart, George and Adeline were already dreading have to spend that time apart.

"It's just until June," He said, partly reassuring her but also himself. "Then you'll be living with me at Diagon Alley, and we'll be out of stupid Umbridge's control."

"It feels like forever until then," Adeline breathed. "I'm not sure I'll be able to manage until then."

"You'll do incredible. You always do."

"You're too nice to me," She mumbled, wrapping her arms around him and resting her forehead against his. "Just make sure you stay safe, alright? I don't want to make it through these last few months, but then go and discover you blew yourself by trying to test a product."

George had to fight back laughter, although it seemed as if Adeline was quite serious about this. "Who are you, my mum?"

"Well, we both worry just as much about you sometimes. You're very disaster-prone."

"Can't be disaster-prone if I'm the one purposefully causing them. I'm just a disaster-creator."

"I'm not even going to try and respond to that," She muttered, shaking her head in disbelief. "That's somehow worse."

He let out a small laugh, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. Adeline frowned at the sight. "Something's worrying you, isn't it. What's going on?"

George didn't want to say it aloud. He never liked admitting his insecurities, instead choosing to hide behind jokes and teasing his friends when the subject got to heavy. Or, when the situation came to it, hiding behind Fred. But Adeline had this strange ability to see straight through him and not allow him to hide for too long, no matter how much he tried.

"What if it doesn't work? What if the business fails?" George asked in small voice, his eyes not leaving the ground. "Fred and I have put our whole lives into this business, and we don't have any other plan besides this. If we leave Hogwarts now, we won't even have N.E.W.Ts scores to back us up. We'll be drop-outs."

Heart-broken at the fear and anxiety in his voice, Adeline removed on arm from around him to tilt his chin up so he had to look at her and then rested it back down on his shoulder. "George, there's no way the joke shop isn't going to succeed. The business is already exploding here at Hogwarts, and you're running it out of a trunk with limited supplies. Every time I turn around, you're making more of your products because you already sold out or you're inventing something new that's somehow even more brilliant than the past one."

"If you think the joke shop won't succeed, then you must be going mad." She paused for a moment, but then commented in an amused voice, "Actually, I know you're going mad because it sounds like you're trying to find ways to stay at Hogwarts."