The Space Boy and The Red Head

26 - Fashion Forward

Tuesday - 2nd April 1996

Apollo woke up with a sore head and achy bones. He accredited this to last night's alcohol consumption and the upcoming full moon. His mind replaying the incredible night before as the sun slowly peaked through the windows. The curtains around George's bed were ever so slightly open, allowing a solitary beam of sunlight to shine right in Apollo's eyes.

He sat up watching George sleep dreamily, the situation not too dissimilar to how yesterday morning had played out. Apollo was abruptly pulled from his thoughts by Lee, who had also woken up early and was pulling back the bed curtains on George's bed to talk to Apollo.

"Did you two really have to do that in here last night? Hard to sleep when you're friends are moaning each others names all night you know" Lee said, turning Apollo's cheeks a vibrant red.

"We didn't, y'know. Just made out a bit." He said bashfully. Hardly able to make eye contact, looking down instead at the red head who was still gently snoring.

"Might want to put a top on mate, before they wake up and see that scar" Lee passed a tshirt to Apollo, letting him cover up the scar Greyback had left him with.

"Merlin's beard Apollo, you went a bit mad with the hickeys. Poor lad looks like a weird Dalmatian." Lee was snickering at Apollo's discomfort now. "Oh my god! Did you bite him?" Lees eyes widened seeing the imprint of teeth on George's shoulder.

"Oh my god I bit him?" Apollo was beyond embarrassed now, but then a dark thought
"Oh God, I BIT HIM!" He was panicked now.

"What if I've infected him Lee? Lycanthropy is transmitted by werewolf saliva entering the bloodstream" he jumped up out of bed, miraculously not waking George.

"Shit! I didn't think about that. I mean it wasn't a full moon, it should be fine right?" Lee wasn't easing Apollo's nerves.

"I need to go to the library" he said, pulling shoes on.

"What are you doing?" A mumbled voice asked, wiping sleep from his eyes. George was sat up in bed now.

"Nothing, my love, I just need to check something. I'll see you in a little while ok?" Apollo placed a kiss on George's nose. Ignoring how the boy had blushed profusely at the pet name.

And with that Apollo burst out the door, wearing pyjama bottoms, a single slipper, one of George's t-shirts, one trainer, no socks and hair that resembled the toy doll that Angelica carried around in the muggle cartoon "Rugrats".

Apollo couldn't feel the pain that he had woken up with, his anxiety was over riding all of his functions. Mind solely focused on getting answers. Apollo didn't think he would be able to live with himself if he had accidentally infected George.

Apollo sat, disheveled and frantic as he scoured through the pile of books on the table. Lee, had been sat beside him reassuring him that there was no possibility of his worst fears coming true. His words falling on deaf ears as Apollo scanned through every book, cover to cover. Lee eventually had grown tired of being ignored and had sat bored until a certain Hufflepuff had poked her head round the corner. Lee had promptly excused himself and hadn't yet returned.

There was nothing, not even a single mention anywhere in the books Apollo had read that spoke of what would happen if someone had been bitten by a werewolf that hadn't been shifted.

"Why are you so troubled?" A soft airy voice asked. Looking up he saw Luna had sat opposite him.

"I'm sorry Luna. You probably don't want to see me, I can go" he began to move his things. Luna stopped him gently, pulling a sheet of parchment he'd been taking notes on closer to herself so she may read it.

"Is this about George? Have you finally confessed your feelings yet?" She said, smiling wistfully.

"Yes, I mean no. What? Is it that obvious?" He was dumbfounded.

"Oh yes. Painfully obvious, really. Did something happen to him?" She asked, Apollo had noticed how her fingers grazed over the scar on her opposite wrist. The scar he'd given her. It was red and painful.

"Yes. Well I don't know really. You're a Ravenclaw, you're a really bright lass. Ok, hypothetically, if a werewolf, let's say bit someone, but it wasn't a full moon. What would happen to the person they'd bit?" Apollo asked, he was desperate for an answer at this point.

"Nothing would happen to them. The scar wouldn't fade properly, but other than that, George, I mean, the person would be completely fine" she stood up, tucking her chair back under the desk "I must get going now, breakfast starts soon". And with that she skipped away, humming a tune to herself as she went.

Apollo had been walking to breakfast when he was stopped by Ron.

"Mate, what are you wearing?" The youngest Weasley boy asked. Apollo looked down at his strange ensemble.

"Och! Honestly Ron, I couldn'y tell ye, must've gotten dressed in the dark" Apollo turned on his heel, off to get dressed before breakfast. Faintly hearing a mumble from Ron, something along the lines of those blooming Scots!

When he got back to the room, Fred was stood applying some sort of balm over the wound on George's shoulder.

"You two got a bit wild last night huh?" He said as Apollo walked in.

"Shut it Fred! Hurry up already, that stuff stings" George defended. Sending a warning jab to his twins arm.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Next time though, not in the room ok? We were trying to sleep y'know. Didn't want to be hearing my twin moaning all night. Bloody awful, it was. And no biting, what are you, some kind of animal?" Fred ranted.

"Right George. That's you all patched up, scar doesn't seem to be fading yet but maybe give it a few days. Lucky we still had this cream from when you took that bludger to the head in practice last year" Fred packed the bottle away, before heading off for breakfast.

Apollo was getting dressed quickly into his uniform, though opting to leave George's t-shirt on for as long as possible. Only going into the bathroom to change it when he'd put everything else on. He told himself it was so George wouldn't see his scars, though in reality he knew the scent that it held was a more contributing factor.

"Apollo, can we talk?" George asked, he was leaning against the door frame, stopping Apollo from leaving.

"Of course Georgie" Apollo smiled.

"Do you regret last night?" Apollos face dropped when he heard the hurt in George's voice. Shaking his head furiously as he walked over to the red head, putting his hands on George's cheeks.

"No. Of course I don't regret it. Last night was amazing, why do you think I'd regret that?" He asked.

George looked slightly relieved. His goofy smile returned to his face. "Good. Just when you ran off, I panicked. Stupid of me to think that though. I mean who could resist this?" He gestured to himself, laughing. George draped an arm over Apollos shoulders. George pressed a quick kiss to the boy's lips.

"Well then. I'm starving, let's go show everyone at breakfast how carried away you got" George wiggled his eyebrows as Apollos cheeks blushed pink. Leading the McLaggen along the corridors, no one would ever believe that the reserved looking Apollo that had tamed THE boisterous George Weasley. Especially when Apollo carefully picked at his food during breakfast, trying to avoid the overly dramatic flirtatious looks George was giving him. The blush never left Apollo's face for the remainder of the day.