Shit, I'm Falling For A Weasley || George Weasley

Chapter Fourteen - In which Fred offers wisdom beyond his years

Staring at the house, my stomach twists into knots. This place has become a home to me in the past few days. Whether it be hearing Ron yell at Fred for taking too long in the shower, or having Sirius pop into the room and give me a knowing smile, or even playing card games with everyone till late hours in the night; this place has stolen a piece of my heart and I'm not sure I want to let go of it yet. 

But like all good things, they come to an end and it's time for us all to go back to the real world. I don't know if I'm ready for that, but glancing at George as he places my trunk in the Knight Bus, I smile. At least I've got him to get through this. It makes things a whole lot easier.

"Lily get on the bus!" Lupin calls and I snap out of my thoughts and hop on, the twins on my tail. "Come on, you guys are with me at the back," Lupin says leading us towards the other end of the bus. Ginny takes a seat on one of the empty spaces and Fred sits on another seat. There's only one left and I raise my eyebrow at George. 

He smirks at me and sits on the seat. I frown at him, that's not gentlemanly at all. Where am I supposed to sit? But as if he read my mind, he points to his laps and I have to refrain from cursing a loud. Truth be told I'm rather intimidated by Lupin. He's always got this look on his face like he's dealing with his own monsters and when you've got internal battles you tend to be a whole lot stronger than you let on.

Also, I'm pretty sure he had some interesting run-ins with my infamous mother as both he and Sirius are caught whispering in low voices. 

I'm about to retort that I am not going to degrade myself and use him as a seat when the bus swerves violently almost causing me to smash face-first into the window. Scowling, I perch myself on George's lap for what feels like the millionth time this holiday. He wraps his arms around me and rests his face on my back causing me to smile despite it all. 

Fred rolls his eyes at us and I know he can't wait to get back to Hogwarts where he'll at least have the company of Lee to diffuse the weird dynamic George and I's relationship has now taken.

Thinking about school worries me, just being friends with George gave me a lot of attention and my face darkens as I remember Lavender's reaction when she thought George and I were on a date. What will people think now that it's actually real? It's not really me I'm worried about. I've had to deal with rumours and horrible people all my life for my past but I'm scared for George. I'm scared he'll find it overwhelming and give up on me. Or worse still, I'm scared he'll not tell me how he really feels and then I won't be the only one keeping secrets between us. 

I glance up and my eyes meet Fred's who gives me a questioning look. For once I'm so glad I'm on George's laps so that he can't see my face, because he would not let it go for a second if he knew that I was worried about something. He always feels the need to be my knight who rescues me when really all I worry about is whether I'll be strong enough to save him.

Saving him might require me leaving him and even thinking about that causes my eyes to tear up. I blink furiously, angry at myself for thinking about this all now. But it's been bothering me for days now. Fred's look becomes more concerned and I give my head a slight shake as if to tell him not tell George anything. He stares hard at me for a moment but doesn't say a word and looks away. It surprises me as I half expected him to say a snarky comment or something. 

Soon we're at the gates of Hogwarts and I follow everyone off the bus vowing not to let anyone's opinion of me change anything or get to me. 

"You were awfully quiet on that bus ride, are you okay?" Ginny whispers and I nod at her glancing back at George. The last thing I want is for him to think that there's something wrong with me. Ginny doesn't look convinced but, thankfully, doesn't press me for further information.