Flourish and Blotts//George Weasley

13 ~ Awkward Questions

Aurella was growing to like the snow. The way it seemed to silence the Hogwarts grounds and make everything soft. What she didn't like was the cold. Even though the carriage was designed to look and feel like Beauxbatons, it couldn't replicate the warmth of the Pyrenees mountain valley. In spiralling patterns, frost crept over her bedroom window, and Aurella rolled over on her stomach to watch it. 

Across the room, Kira was snoring softly, her dark curly hair just poking out from under the thick blue comforter. Near her feet, Marzipan-- her white cat-- was curled in a ball, whiskers twitching. It was the weekend, and for a rare occasion, neither of them had any work to do. She didn't envy Henri, who was no doubt out early, taking care of the pegasi. 

Resting her chin on the silk pillow, she could begin to feel sleep pulling her under again. She had spent so much time lately on Charlie's translation, and the heaps of other translations she had to do for her specialization that she had become exhausted.

Thud.

Aurella jolted upwards in bed, propping herself up with her hands. She narrowed her eyes, scanning the dimly lit room. Faint light was seeping through the window, like a weak cream. Marzipan raised his head, immediately alert as he looked for the source of the noise.

Thud.

Aurella saw where it came from that time. With a grumble, she shoved back her quilt, cringing at the cold that gripped her and stood. The tiled floor was cold, and she dashed across the room in bare feet to the window. She leaned against the windowsill, staring out it. Through the layer of frost, and now the snowball smashed across it, she could just make out red hair tucked underneath a knitted toque. 

She exhaled sharply, and unlocked the window, shoving it open just in time to avoid another snowball being thrown. A thick chill swept in, cooling the room. She narrowed her eyes, glaring down at George Weasley.

"What do you want?" She hissed as he grinned up at her, a large snowball gripped in his mitted hand.

"Come outside! We can go for a walk. It'll be a great fake date." 

Aurella scowled, crossing her arms over her chest in a weak attempt to ward off the cold. It had snowed last night, and a fresh blanket of snow was covering everything. In the distance, she could make out other Hogwarts students picking their way through the fields, the ones who had stayed for the holidays anyway. 

"It'll be fun. I'll find you a warm drink after."

Aurella's lips twitched upwards. Sure, he might be her fake boyfriend, but he knew how to win her over.

"Fine," She responded. "Stay there, I'll be out in a moment."

Aurella closed the window and with one last longing glance at her bed, she began to dress.

Just as she was about to duck out the bed-- dressed in warm layers and the cloak her father insisted she wear-- Kira grumbled from underneath her bed. "Have fun on your fake date."

Aurella laughed and closed the door behind her. 

She met George outside, and they quickly fell into a comfortable silence, wading through knee-deep snow. They approached the edge of the ice over the lake and began to walk.

"So, how are the translations coming?"

Aurella side-eyed George. There was a waver in his voice. Something she only ever heard when he was struggling for words. It had been a while too, normally it only ever happened when she had somehow bested him in one of their numerous arguments. 

"What?" She asked, pausing. Snow was starting to fall again.

George raised his eyebrows at her.

"What's up? What's bothering you?"

He started to speak in the faux French accent that he knew she hated, but stopped himself, staring down at her.

Aurella gestured for him to speak. In the cold morning air, his face had taken on a darling pink gleam. He blinked at her once, his eyes taking on a relieved warmth.

"Do you want to go to the Yule Ball with me?"

Aurella stared at him for a moment, tucking her hands into her pockets. She laughed quietly. "Of course, I figured that was a given."

George raised a hand to rub the back of his neck. Just underneath the worn fabric of his jacket, she could see that he was wearing one of Mrs. Weasley's knitted sweaters. "Fred convinced me to ask."

Aurella laughed, and linked arms with him, pulling him along with her until they were stepping in time. They wandered through the snow. It was cold and if it weren't for the waterproof charm Kira had been working on that stopped the snow from leeching through, she would be grumpy as all.

There was a comfortable silence for a moment before George remarked. "Did I tell you that Ludo Bagman cheated Fred and me?"

Aurella gestured for him to continue, and he did. 

"He owed us money from the Quidditch World Cup for winning a bet on who would win and he gave us leprechaun gold."

Aurella scowled. "That cheap old man. You should blackmail him into giving it to you. If he can't pay you, he must have thousands of other things he can't pay back. He was a famous Quidditch player for gods sake. They get paid an insane amount."

George stared at her for a moment, before breaking into a beam. "I love how your brain works, I can't believe we didn't think of that. I could kiss you right now!"

Aurella's eyes widened, and she stiffened against him. 

Sensing her discomfort, George stiffened as well. "That's not what I meant-- well I mean of course I'd kiss you, you already know that of course. I just meant that I am excited, and am thankful for you for coming up with that idea."

Aurella suppressed a smile as he rambled his way farther into a hole. "That's okay, I could kiss you too."

~~~

Aurella flipped the page of the documents that Charlie had given to her. She was fairly certain she had started to solve the code, but to figure out the rest of it, she was going to have to find a specialized code. It was invented several centuries ago and was typically kept restricted due some of the rather graphic nature of the languages. 

Kira slid into the seat across from her, a somewhat lopsided grin on her face as she ran her fingers through her hair, forcing the curls to flatten. 

"What did you get up to?" Aurella set down her quill, staring at her with a cheeky smile. She had seen that look on her friend's face before. The self satisfied smile meant Kira had gotten what she wanted. 

Kira grinned at her. "Alicia kissed me."

Aurella let out a cheer. "Congrats, I know you've been waiting on that."

Kira nodded. "Thanks, we are going to Hogsmeade later this week, just before the Yule Ball."

"I'm excited for the Yule Ball," Aurella commented. "It will be fun."

Kira eyed her once. "Yes, it will. Especially now that George has asked you."