raison d'être (george weasley x reader)

4.7

Classes were back in session and life was bustling once again at Hogwarts. There was chatter around every corner, but it was also paired with an ominous tension. It was as if everyone was waiting for something to happen.

And happen it did.

Barely a week had passed before the attacks started. A series of muggle-borns had been attacked during the later hours of the evening, resulting in an even worse divide between the students.

Oliver, of course, was both worried about his muggle-born friends and also the upcoming quidditch match. There had been a couple of chasers on the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff teams who had been attacked by the chamber's creature.

"He should give us a break," George huffed, collapsing on the couch next to Y/N after another rough practice. "I love quidditch as much as the next bloke, but he's in over his head."

Y/N stayed silent, having buried herself in Hogwarts: A History for the third time that day. The increase in attacks had brought upon an unhealthy amount of stress and anxiety, nearly pushing her over the edge.

George, however, was too busy staring at her to even process his own distress. She had decided to keep his sweater and it had quickly become her clothing of choice - a fact he would not be complaining about any time soon.

Lee, Fred, Angelina, and Alicia were chatting about practice rather loudly, but the thing that pulled him out of his trance was Y/N letting out an aggravated groan. She covered her face with her hands and threw her head back against the couch.

"I can't find anything!" she exclaimed. "I have read this godforsaken book three times today and nothing!"

"What are you even looking for?" Lee asked, looking over at her.

"Anything. Literally anything," she grumbled. "Something."

"English, Y/N," Lee replied. "English."

"Chamber," George answered for her, causing Y/N to gesture exasperatedly. "She's been looking since the chamber first opened."

Y/N let out another irritated noise and jumped to her feet. She piled her books into her arms and stormed out through the portrait hole, leaving her friends in mild surprise. George, however, had a small grin paired with his surprise.

Fred looked back at him in amusement and shook his head. "You love to see her go, don't you?"

"Shut up," George muttered, though he couldn't deny it. He loved seeing his name on her back.

Y/N practically flew down to the library, nearly running into every student she saw. Her brows were furrowed as she rounded the shelves, looking for the brunette girl that she knew would be there.

"Hermione!" she called out, spotting Hermione buried in books. "I assume you're trying to figure this out as well. There's not a single bit of history in this damned book."

Hermione looked at the copy of Hogwarts: A History that Y/N had just thrown down in front of her and nodded in agreement.

"I've started looking through books on magical creatures," she started.

"But nothing," Y/N confirmed. "I scoured Newt Scamander's books."

A moment of silence passed the two, during which Hermione had a contemplative look on her face. She shook her head and leaned forward, "Harry's been hearing voices. He says it's in the walls."

Y/N's eyes widened before narrowing into a frown. "A snake."

Hermione nodded and the two quickly split up to find every single book they could on creatures, myths, and snakes.

Once a sizable pile had been formed on the tables around them, they got to work reading. Books they deemed useless were discarded on the floor in a heap and ones that were promising were left tabbed and open on the nearby chairs.

This continued for the next few days, during which more students were attacked and their pile of books grew. The pile had grown so large that Madame Pince gave up on trying to get them to clean it every night.

It wasn't until the third night that they made any progress. Y/N had found a dusty old book in one of the back shelves. It hadn't looked very promising, but they were becoming desperate.

Hermione had been flipping through it when she let out a surprised noise. She practically slammed the book on the center table and turned it to Y/N.

"A basilisk?" Y/N questioned, leaning forward to get a better look. She skimmed the text, eyes narrowing and widening as she digested every bit of new information. "The pipes! It's probably traveling through the pipes."

"Of course!" Hermione exclaimed. "Harry's been hearing the voice in the walls."

She ripped a piece of parchment off and began scrawling down a few words onto it as Y/N continued to read the text.

"Wait, but it says here that if you look a basilisk in the eyes, you'll die," Y/N read. "But no one has died."

Hermione furrowed her brows in thought.

"Well, Nearly Headless Nick is a ghost," Y/N thought aloud. "He couldn't die since he's already dead, but that doesn't explain the others."

"Wasn't there a Ravenclaw boy with him?" Hermione asked. "Why wasn't he killed?"

Y/N folded her hands together and looked up in thought. "Where was he standing? Was he right next to Nearly Headless Nick?"

"Wasn't he behind Nearly Headless Nick?" Hermione asked.

Y/N's forehead creased before her eyes widened in realization. "He didn't make direct eye contact. He probably saw the basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick."

"And Colin probably looked at it through his camera!" Hermione connected.

Y/N nodded and quickly reached for her bag. She dug around in it for a minute before pulling out a compact mirror.

"So, now we know how to stay alive," Y/N said.

"Don't look at it in the eye," Hermione nodded.

Y/N handed Hermione the book and led the two out of the library. The castle was now shrouded in darkness, so they were extra cautious when leaving.

Afraid of the recently identified creature, the girls kept a tight grip on each other as they rounded each corner with the mirror in hand. Knowing that the basilisk targets muggle-borns, Y/N made the executive decision to go in front of Hermione.

They had almost made it to the changing staircase when a bright pair of yellow eyes appeared in Y/N's mirror.

Footsteps rounded the corner an hour after the girls were supposed to be back in the common room.

"Oh, Argus," McGonagall gasped. "Wake Poppy and fetch Dumbledore."