𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚛 | 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲

• Chapter 9 •

Hallie's POV:
"And that's when he left me." George grumbled
"What?!" I laughed
George had been recounting the days events when Fred had gotten irritated once again that Lee liked Sage and stormed off.

"I don't know why he won't stop being a git about it."
"Because both him and Sage are stubborn idiots." I sighed
"They'll probably end up getting married."
I laughed causing me to slip on the ice.

Luckily George was right behind me and caught me. He looked down at me laughing at my almost fall.
"I know I'm charming but you don't have to fall for me."
"You wish." I rolled my eyes
"Maybe I do, What are you going to do about it?"

My face burned despite the cold wind blowing on it "Oh just come on! I have Christmas gifts to buy." I said marching away
George chuckled before following behind me.

I headed into a cozy looking bookshop already with a gift for Sage in mind. Usually Sage went home with me for the holidays because her parents never wanted her to come home and they didn't celebrate holidays anyway.

But this year my Sister would be bringing home her boyfriend and my parents asked me not to bring Sage since they apparently "didn't want to overwhelm him."
I was livid, especially since they were always saying how she was basically apart of the family.

Of course Sage understood but I felt horrible so I wanted to get her something that would entertain her for those two weeks she's gonna be spending alone.

"Two, whole, book, series?" George asked clearly shocked "Are you secretly a millionaire?"
I laughed "No, I told my parents if they weren't gonna let Sage come home for Christmas then they better give me money to get her a gift that makes up for it."

"Does she usually come home for Christmas with you?" He asked
"Every year, my parents found out about how her family treats her and insisted she come home with me for the holidays."
"Why not this year?"
"Because my sister is bringing her boyfriend." I said in a mocking tone

"So Sage-"
"Is going to be stuck her all by herself because she refuses to go home unless it's summer, and who can blame her when all her parents ever give her is grief and a suitor card. She doesn't even know what it's like to be apart of a functional family!" I vented

George just stood there nodding along like he was actually listening to me share about my best friends traumatized life. He truly was perfection.
"Sorry, I just threw it all out there." I sighed
"You care about her, that's nothing to apologize for."
"Maybe just a Little Bit." I smiled picking the top two book series she'd been talking about

"Soooooo," George started "Got any other book recommendations that she would like?" He asked
"Why?" I questioned
"Because I was going to get her something, I didn't realize she was this into books and reading."
"Well I know she will appreciate it." I replied "Here's a list."
"A list? There's a list?"

I pulled out a piece of a paper that had book titles written all over it, some were crossed off based off of weather or not I had already gotten it for her or if she'd bought it herself.
"Pick from any of those and she'll be happy." I replied
"Okay, cool. Thanks." He said going off to find some of the books on the list

Once we had both gotten what we wanted we headed out and to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer and to warm up for a while.
"Where do we want to head next?" I asked
"I gotta go to Zonkos for Fred."
"Oh! I gotta get him something from there too and then Honeydukes."
"Yes."

"And What about you?" I asked "What kind of things does George Weasley want for Christmas?"
He shrugged nonchalantly "Would it be inappropriate to say you?" He wiggled his eyebrows at me
"George!"

He laughed running his hand through his hair "I don't know, I'm sure I'll like whatever you get me."
"Suck up." I said eyeing him
"A smart man sucks up." George replied nodding in agreement

"So what about me, don't you want ideas for what to get me?" I batted my eyelashes
"Nope, I already know what I'm getting you."
"What?" I sat up "Seriously?"
He nodded as I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You ready?"
"Yeah." I replied
We grabbed our bags and headed out to Zonkos and then Honeydukes. Snow began to fall making the atmosphere that much better.

"So, Sage really doesn't go home unless it's summer?"
"No. I don't blame her... she's never told me but I think she might have been abused when she was little." I confessed
"What?" George's tone had taken on a new level of concern
I nodded picking out Sage's favorite candy.

"Why do you think that?" He whispered trying to respect her privacy
"She has... a lot of scars but everytime I ask she says it's cause she's clumsy or something. No one is that clumsy."
"Is she ok?"
"Probably not, but she's never going to tell anyone that." I huffed

George's lips pressed into a thin line.
"I'm sorry, you don't want to hear about her trauma. She would probably kill me for telling you all this anyway."
"It's fine, I want to hear about it."
I smiled, I think George is the sweetest man I've ever met in my life. I couldn't believe how lucky I was that he wanted to be friends.

We checked out and headed into the snow covered street once again, this time heading back towards the school.
"You didn't!" I cackled
"I did." George smiled proudly telling me about one of the pranks he pulled on Filch with Fred
"Oh Merlin, that made me ugly laugh." I said still giggling at the story

"Hey, I like your laugh."
"At least someone does." I smiled playfully bumping him
He bumped me back causing me to almost slip. I bumped him again only harder this time which actually did make him fall backward."
"Hallie!" He roared "You get back here!"
But I had already taken off down the road trying to get away as I laughed.

1063 Words | Mar. 29 2023

A/N
I am so sorry it took me like three years to get this chapter out. I've literally only had inspiration write one shots that no one other than myself will see. Make it make sense. But taking a small break seems to have helped me gain some motivation back so hopefully another chapter will be out soon and I can make up for my disappearance. My bad you guys
- Jane