raison d'être (george weasley x reader)

6.9

With exams beginning and classes coming to an end for the term, students were even more stressed about securing dates for the upcoming ball. This, combined with the pre-existing anxieties around exams, made for a very tense time.

Y/N had been asked a few more times by boys who had yet to ask her, but also by those who had already asked her and been declined the first time around.

With each subsequent day, she could feel her hopes for a certain someone to ask her dwindling. Simultaneously, she knew she was running out of time, especially since the ball was approaching and she had told Adrian that she would give him an answer soon.

"Maybe, I just won't go," she said, causing Hermione, Angelina, and Alicia to shoot up in their seats. The group of girls had conglomerated in the library to cram in a few more notes before their first exams. "I mean, I don't think he's going to ask and I don't think I can be there if he walks in with someone else."

"Y/N, he hasn't asked anyone yet," Alicia pointed out.

"That we know of," Y/N said, looking off to the side.

"You can't just not go," Alicia insisted, shutting her book to give Y/N her undivided attention.

"She's right," Angelina nodded. "It's the first Yule Ball in over a century."

"Yeah, but I can't just wait around hoping he'll ask," Y/N whispered. "You don't see Hermione waiting on Ron to ask."

Hermione's face flushed at the comment and she cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Well, Ron and I aren't anything like you and George. I'm surprised George hasn't even mentioned it to you."

"Don't be," Y/N said. "Besides, it's not like there's anything going on between us anyways. I just thought... Never mind."

While Y/N spent the recent days semi-wallowing in self-pity, George found himself becoming short-tempered. Every time he noticed a boy look in Y/N's direction, he felt compelled to either storm off or snap at them.

The change in temper had been noticed immediately, especially considering that George was usually the calmer of the two twins. He was also less aggressive and slower to anger, but it was like the roles had reversed in the past few weeks — Fred was now the mediator.

For instance, when one of Cedric's friends approached Y/N earlier that week to ask if she would be his date to the ball, Fred had to stop George from slipping a nose-bleed pastille into the boy's drink later that day.

At some point, George had grown so disappointed with himself that he began spending less time with Y/N in one-on-one settings, opting out of their usual nightly chats in the common room for fear that she would notice his behavior. That, however, only seemed to worsen Y/N's already fading hopes about what she thought was a possible change in their friendship.

Nevertheless, Y/N did not allow herself to wallow for long periods of time, especially since the first of their exams was Potions. The girls had grueled over their textbooks for days in preparation of Snape's notoriously nightmarish test. Y/N, Angelina, and Alicia were seated one table over from the boys, likely Snape's way of preventing them from cheating, and had all been laser-focused on the questions in front of them.

Y/N sped through the first half, only slowing down to ensure that she remembered the amount of each ingredient needed to brew the Draught of Living Death. Beside her, Angelina spun her pencil, deep in thought.

Angelina was just about to jot down a response to a question when a balled-up piece of parchment hit her in the face. She shook her head in annoyance before snapping her eyes up to see Fred waving at her.

Y/N, who had been collateral to the paper ricocheting off of Angelina and onto her, also looked up. Her eyes found Fred just in time to see him point at Angelina and mime dancing. She quickly looked back at Angelina to see a cheesed smile creep up her lips as she nodded at the older twin.