Troublemakers • Weasley & Jordan

The Loose Ends

"I need you on the passenger side, a house gets cold with nobody inside." - Yoko Ono by Mob Rich

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The night was quiet. And yet, the dance in the Great Hall was so loud– but for two boys walking up the steps of the Gryffindor tower.

George kept his arm around Lee every step of that staircase. And every step of the staircase that went to the boys' dorm. It didn't loosen until the door to the room had creaked shut, and Lee was sniffling.

George looked down at his best friend and saw that he had begun crying.

"Shit..." Lee was mumbling, wiping at his eyes, "damnit..."

George put a hand on the boy's shoulder. Lee had been shaking since they met in the corridor. He wanted to ask what exactly happened with Angelina, because all he had heard was "kiss" and how that seemed to not go down well on Lee's end, but he did not expect to see his friend having a panic attack.

That was not normal for him.

"Lee, it's okay," he said quietly, watching the boy running his hands over his tear-stained face. "Come on, take off your jacket. Here..."

He slowly slid off the jacket from him, seeing his arms shaking underneath. George swallowed. Lee had started shaking a little again. Surely, whatever events that had played out were playing out again in his head.

George put the jacket aside and helped him towards his bed. Lee was hugging his arms tight to himself. George was staring at him the whole way to that bed.

Why was he so panicked?

What happened?

He gently guided Lee to lie down and watched as he put an arm over his forehead, his eyes closing. He loosened Lee's tie enough to pull it off, putting it on his nightstand. Lee was breathing a little slower now. George kneeled next to his bed, staring as if Lee was going to break again.

He was going to make sure he wouldn't.

It was a long while before Lee finally spoke, eyes still closed: "George... you can go back to the dance."

George ran his eyes across the boy to see if the shaking had subsided. "Do you need some water?"

"George..."

"I think I have a glass on my nightstand–"

"George," Lee said again. His voice was softer than it had been for a long, long time.

George looked back at him. "You always try to get rid of me."

Lee's mouth twitched a little. It was relieving for George to see this.

"I tend to take you away from things," Lee said quietly. The memory of him being dragged drunk to his bed in the middle of the Gryffindor party drifted through his brain.

George rested his head on his arms against the edge of the mattress. "I don't care."

Lee closed his eyes again, breathing in and out, very slowly. The feelings were settling. The quiet was helping, and the boy kneeling next to his bed was, too.

That may have been most of the help.

"Go to sleep, Lee," he said. "Don't think."

Oh, how nice that sounded. But he was afraid he'd be thinking about this for a long time. That kiss... god, it was just haunting him.