raison d'être (george weasley x reader)

5.4

The castle had never seemed bigger than it did now and George cursed himself for not carrying the map with him. He searched as many rooms as possible, only running past the ones he knew she wouldn't be in. He wasn't even sure what he would do if he found her, all he knew was that he needed to find her.

He was just about to rush past another one, when he heard a quiet sniffle. He nearly tripped from stopping so quickly, but managed to catch himself and headed towards the door.

The room was one that had been abandoned for years and it was clear that Peeves had claimed it as his own some time ago. It was there that George found Y/N sitting on an old wooden chair with her knees pulled to her chest, hidden behind stacks of dusty books and old papers. She didn't look as distraught as he had thought she would, but more frustrated than anything.

"Hey," he said, breaking the silence. "You okay?"

She jolted slightly, but relaxed upon seeing him. She quickly rubbed her eyes and quietly responded, "Yeah.."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," George apologized, deciding whether he should approach her or not.

"No, it's okay," she shook her head, giving him a faint smile. "I should've known you'd be the one to come after me."

His face heated up slightly, but he pushed the feeling away. "Can I come join you?"

She nodded and he gingerly made his way over to her. She was sitting in front of a dusty desk and the only other seat was a couple feet away from her, so he decided to lean against the desk.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, looking at her intently. He couldn't tell where her mind was at and it unnerved him.

She pressed her lips together and swallowed hard, though there were still a few tears that escaped her. George frowned and subconsciously reached over to wipe them away with his thumb.

"I feel so stupid," she whispered, dropping her head into her knees. "This is so embarrassing."

"You've been friends with Fred, Lee, and I for five years and this is what's embarrassing you?" he asked, trying to make light of the situation.

She let out a small laugh before rubbing at her eyes and leaning back against the seat. "You're right."

He watched quietly as she tried to compose herself. His hand itched to reach out to her, but his thoughts stopped him from doing so; he worried that he may cross a boundary or make her uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry," she added, finally looking up at him.

His heart sped up and he frowned, "Not sure why you're apologizing."

"Well, it must have been jarring to see that," she said. Her voice shook as she continued, "You know...um...since you were one of them."

"It's not like you told the boggart to do that," he pointed out, ignoring the memory of her boggart. It had been disorienting to see himself in that state, but he supposed it was a good thing that he was included in the image. After all, that must mean she cared about him. "Y/N, there's really nothing to be sorry about."

She pressed her lips together and nodded as tears slowly started to form in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I just can't get the image out of my head."

He felt a pit form in his stomach as he watched her fight to ward off the inevitable onslaught of tears that had been building up. He pushed himself off of the desk and held his arms out, "Come here."

Y/N slid off her own chair and fell into his arms with ease. George instinctively wrapped one arm around her torso and held the back of her head with his free hand, holding her in place. She breathed him in and broke out into sobs instantly, clinging onto the back of his shirt as he held her tight.