raison d'être (george weasley x reader)

5.10

The winter weather was just starting to fade into spring when the Gryffindor tower became plagued with panicked shouts coming from the boys' dormitory. The noise was loud enough to startle the surrounding rooms and the commotion that followed awoke a few of the girls' dorms as well, leading to a sleep-filled stampede down the steps into the common room.

Y/N, who had been shaken awake by Angelina and Alicia, was probably the last of the Gryffindors to descend the stairs. Sleep still blurred her eyes and she let out a yawn as she mindlessly wandered into the crowd. Luckily, Lee had found her and pulled her towards the others, who were near the front.

She half-consciously bumped into George, who habitually pulled her a bit closer to steady her; his sleep-deprived mind gave him permission to keep a hand lingering on her arm. They were standing to the right of Ron and Harry, who were both facing a bed-raggled McGonagall and an unamused Percy.

"That is preposterous, Weasley. How could Sirius Black possibly get through the portrait hole?" she asked. The words snapped Y/N awake and she looked concernedly in Harry and Ron's direction.

"I don't know how he got in," Ron exclaimed, voice frantic. "I was a bit busy dodging his knife."

"Percy, have you seen Sir Cadogan?" McGonagall asked, inducing Percy to scan the portraits littered around the room.

"I- uh... Oh, he's there, Professor," Percy said, pointing to a painting of a woman behind Y/N.

"Sir Cadogan. Sir Cadogan," McGonagall called out.

"Ah!" the knight exclaimed. "How may I serve you, ma'am?"

"Excuse me, is it possible that you let a mysterious man into Gryffindor tower tonight?" she asked, watching as Cadogan walked through a series of paintings.

"Certainly, good lady," he answered. "He had the password. He had the whole week's, in fact, on a little piece of paper."

McGonagall's face hardened as she muttered, "Which bismally foolish person wrote down the passwords and then proceeded to lose them?"

The question, however, was clearly rhetorical since her eyes immediately narrowed in on Neville Longbottom.

"Is it always going to be you?" she asked with irritation.

"Professor, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation," Y/N cut in, feeling bad for the younger boy. "I mean, Sir Cadogan is a nightmare. You can't expect us all to remember his ridiculous passwords."

McGonagall gave her a look and sighed. "Well, no matter. Sirius Black is gone tonight. I think you can all safely assume that he will at some future time attempt to return."

Y/N caught Neville's eye and gave him a reassuring nod.

"Now, I speak for every staff when I say that while we take every precaution to ensure your safety, it is incumbent upon yourselves to act responsibly," she lectured. "Understood?"

The room recited a synchronous, "Yes, Professor."

"Very well then. Off you go," she instructed. "And remember, act responsibly."

The room quickly dispersed apart from the Weasleys and their friends, who always had the habit of lingering.

"And this bloody cat ate my rat," Ron said angrily, piquing Y/N's attention.

"That's a lie," Hermione defended.

"It is not and you bloody well know it," Ron snapped before storming towards the stairs.

Y/N looked between Ron and Hermione, who had now joined Harry in front of the fireplace. The entire trio seemed to be in a sour mood and while Y/N could guess why Harry was upset, she had been completely unaware of Ron and Hermione's disagreement. I mean, she knew he wasn't a fan of Crookshanks, but she didn't realize it went this deep.