Annabella The Sidekick (Sequal To Defiance)

Chapter 8

The next day, my mum is a frenzy. I guess she wants to make a good impression on George.
Around seven, the doorbell rings. Mum hurries to answer it, and there stands George. "Good evening! Please come in." She says. "Thank you Mrs. Black." He says. "No problem dear. Just sit here with Bella, her father, and Harry. Dinner will be ready in a minute." My mum goes into the kitchen to finish dinner, and George sits beside me on the couch. "Hey Bells." He says. I notice that Harry barely flinches at his old nickname for me. "Hey George." I reply. "Harry." George says with a nod of his head, which Harry barely returns. "Hello Mr. Black." George says. "Call me Regulus, please." My dad says. "Hello Regulus." George says. "Hello there George." My dad says.
George makes small talk with my dad, but I see his eyes keep straying to my wrist. When dinner is announced, George walks slowly, and I walk with him. "How's your arms?" He asks quietly. "Still bruised." I sigh.
Dinner that evening consists of spaghetti, garlic bread, and salad. I help myself to bit of everything, and George follows suit. We eat while making small talk and laughing, a normal occurrence in our household. However, one thing is missing. Harry isn't chiming in with his opinion with the Ireland quidditch team. He's not commenting on the fact that there's extra tomatoes in the spaghetti for me, and then tease me because I'm a picky eater. No. He just sits there and eats.
After dinner, my father pulls George into his study while mum gets dessert prepared. I can't hear anything, so I assume he's just giving the father talk about boyfriends.
After the study door opens, both my father and George come out laughing. My dad places a hand on George's shoulder. "I like you." He says, making me smile.
Dessert is lemon meringue pie, my favorite. Over dessert, we sit and talk about Hogwarts and how my father's job at the ministry is going. Everything is normal except for the fact that Harry's not talking and George is here.
A while later, George has to go home. He hugs me and promises he'll owl me before disappearing in green flames with the cry of "The Burrow!"
After dinner, I'm laying in my bed, lonely. Usually this is the time of day where Harry and I would have serious conversations. We'd also laugh until we cried and wrestle around. Now however, I'm alone. I roll over and put my face in my pillow. Then I hear a peck on my window. I open it and an owl flies in and crashes into my wall. I take the letter, which has my name on it in girly handwriting. Handwriting I've seen in class a ton. Ginny.
Dear Annabella,
I can't believe you got Harry grounded! Now he can't visit, the poor thing. If you think the first term was bad, wait until we go back to Hogwarts. While you're at it, stay away from my brother! He doesn't need scum like you! But if I can trick Harry into hating you, I can trick George into it too. Don't you dare show this letter to anyone or you'll wish you had never heard of Hogwarts.
-Ginny
Panic flows through me. She can't get George to hate me! I don't know whether to show the letter to Harry, mum, or just keep it to myself. Finally, I decide to take it to the person who's always supported me in the past.
Two minutes later, I'm knocking on Harry's door. He opens it and looks surprised. Before he can react, I thrust the letter in his hands. "Read that, then look me in the eye and tell me it's my fault." I say before going back to my room.
A few minutes later, Harry comes into my room, his eyes filled with regret. "Bell! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me." He says. "Thank you!" He exclaims, and goes to hug me. I scoot back. "That doesn't mean I'm not mad or that I trust you again. You still picked her over me, and I'm still bruised." I say pulling up my sleeves to reveal blue bruises. They were purple at first. Harry winces, and a tear slides down his cheek. "That's fair. I'm so sorry. I'm owling Ginny right now." He says before going back into his room.
I hear a tapping at my window to see the same owl that brought Ginny's letter. We do live kind of close to the Weasleys. They're on the outside of the opposite side of the village. This letter has sloppy handwriting and I know immediately who wrote it.
Dear Bells,
Mum wants you to join us for dinner tomorrow at six. I would suggest not eating the entire day, because although you're absolutely perfect, she will try to fatten you up. Don't worry though, she's not like the witch from Hansel and Gretel. Owl me back soon.
Love,
George.
Mum agrees that I can go, so I send my reply with Storm.
Dear George,
I'd love to come to your house for dinner. My mum says it's fine so I'll be there at six tomorrow. It's a good thing I have a high metabolism. I'll see you tomorrow. By the way, Harry apologized after i showed him a rather nasty letter Ginny sent me earlier. We'll hopefully be able to talk more tomorrow.
Love,
Bella.
That night, I fall asleep filled with excitement at going to George's.
The next morning, my mum is complaining jokingly about how Harry sleeps forever. "I'll go wake him!" I volunteer, and run up the stairs. I throw open his door and jerk his blanket off him. He sleeps in pajama pants of course.
Harry grumbles a bit, but when he sees me, he smiles. I smile back. This is normal. "Mum says breakfast is ready." I say. Harry gets out of bed, puts on a shirt, and we walk downstairs. "I'm going to George's for dinner tonight." I say. Harry says "Oooh." And makes a kissy face. I punch his shoulder, and we walk into the kitchen laughing. "What did we miss?" Mum says. Harry and I look at each other, shrug, and say "Nothing." At the same time.
During breakfast, everything is normal. Harry and I sit by each other, and Mum, Dad, Harry, and I all talk like usual. "Are you going to join your house team next year?" Harry asks. "Yes. I'm only the best seeker that ever lived." I boast. "No way! I am." Harry replies pompously. "It sounds like you're challenging me." I say. "You're on!" He says and we run upstairs to change and get our brooms.
Ten minutes later, Harry and I have had Mum use a charm so the snitch can't leave our yard. She releases it for us, and we wait a minute before we go. I fly up to look for it, and fly around the yard. Then I see it. I pull a feint, and Harry follows suit. I pull up, and so does he, but he goes down so far the bottoms of his feet scrape the ground. I go up really fast on my Nimbus 2001. Harry has one too, but I got a head start. My fingers close around the snitch, and I let out a victory shout. "Who's the best seeker now?" I shout at him. "I can't lie, it's definitely you." He says sarcastically. "Just wait until school next year." He says.
That evening, my mum decides to apperate me to the Burrow, so she can talk to Mrs. Weasley for a moment. I knock on the door, and Fred opens it. "George! Your girlfriend is here." He shouts. "Thank gosh you're here now. George has been going on about you all day. He's been so excited. Oh, come in." He says gesturing inside. My face is as red as Fred's hair. "Hi Mrs. Black. I'm Fred. I'm the one your daughter has a crush on. The poor thing gets us mixed up." He says, patting my head. "Shut up. He's just kidding Mum." I say. "Okay. Call me Sky by the way." My mum says. Fred goes to get his mum, and George comes downstairs. "Hello Bells. Hello Sky." He says. "Hello George. I'm off to find Molly." She says.
As soon as she's out of the room, George takes my hand. "I missed you." He says. "You saw me yesterday." I point out. "Yeah, but I miss being alone with you." He says."I miss being alone with you too." I say. We hear footsteps, and we spring apart. It's only Fred, who grins. "Try making a bit less obvious. He teases.
Our mothers into the room, and Fred jumps up, and grabs one of my arms, just like when we first met. George does the same. "We're going to show Bella the lab!" He says. "Half an hour until dinner!" Mrs. Weasley replies, sitting in an arm chair, while my mum sits on the couch. We pass by a few floors until we reach the third one. "This is our lab!" They exclaim. "It looks like an extremely messy bedroom." I reply. Fred hits me lightly on the head. "It's our lab!" He exclaims again. "Candy?" Fred asks. George slaps it out of his hand. "Don't give her that!" He says. Fred rolls his eyes and laughs. "It's a chocolate frog idiot." He says. "Chocolate!" I cry and dive to the floor. George holds me back and I fall onto the bed that has a giant "G" on the wall above it. "You don't want it if Fred had it." He says, holding out a hand to help me up. Instead however, I pull him down so he falls too. All he does is sit up and wrap an arm around me. I sit in Fred and George's room, and we laugh until we cry at not funny jokes.
When dinner is called, we head downstairs. I see Ginny come out of a hideously pink room, and I try not to burst out laughing. Ginny however, sees me and pushes me against the wall. "You ruined it!" She exclaims. "I told you not to show that letter to anyone and you showed it to Harry!" She says, getting in my face and squeezing my shoulders. "Get off my girlfriend Ginny." George says, grabbing her and throwing her off me. "You can't always protect her George." Ginny says with an evil grin.
Fearfully, I go downstairs. Fred and George promise they won't let her near me, but Ginny is right. They aren't in my classes, and they're not always in the halls.
Mr. Weasley shakes my hand, as does Mrs. Weasley. We sit down to dinner, and I'm asked all kinds of questions about my life. Mrs. Weasley puts so much food on my plate that I nearly puke at the thought of eating it all. George sighs and looks at his mother. "I told you that she doesn't eat as much as Harry Mum." He says, making me laugh. Dinner consists of soup, chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas. I eat a bit of everything, but not a lot.
After dinner, all the Weasleys and I go into the living room to sit and chat for a while. After about fifteen minutes, Fred breaks out the chess set, declaring that I'm the best in the world. Ron scoffs and challenges me. Twenty minutes later, I win. "But last year I beat McGonagall!" He says. I shrug and sit back on the couch. We spend the evening playing wizard's chess, and around eight thirty, Fred and George take me outside to their old treehouse. "You're welcome." Fred tells George before climbing out and going to stare at constellations. "My family loves you." George says. "My family loves you too." I reply. George smiles. "So tell me about how you and Harry made up." He says. So I start from after he left, about the letter, and about Harry apologizing, and about how we acted this morning. George rolls up my sleeve and rubs his thumbs over my bruises. "No matter how mad he was, he shouldn't have done this." He says. I shrug. "I've forgiven him." I reply. "Well I'm still mad at him for hurting you." He says. "If he hadn't though, I wouldn't have grown close with you and Fred." I say. "And I wouldn't be able to do this." George replies. Then he kisses all the bruises on my arms. I smile at him and reach forward and kiss him quickly on the lips. "Look Bells. I know you're only eleven and I'm only fourteen, but I seriously think I'm falling in love with you." I'm shocked. I had been thinking the same thing but i didn't know how to phrase it. "Really?" I ask. "Really." He replies. "I think I'm falling in love with you too." I reply. "Just kiss!" We here Fred say from outside. And so George touches my face gently, and leans towards me. "I changed my mind." He whispers, and my heart stops. "Love doesn't have an age. I am in love with you." He says, and then kisses me. This kiss is like our first, except not quite as soft. However, it's still gentle and sweet. When we pull away, I rest my head on his. "I love you." He whispers. "I love you too." I whisper back.
That night, I floo home and Harry is sitting in the living room. "Hey Bells." He says. "Hi." I say, giddy. Harry looks at me suspiciously. "Do you want to go upstairs?" He asks. Ah, another thing normal. "Sure." I reply, and we head upstairs. We sit on my bed and I cannot keep the smile off my face. "So what happened at George's?" Harry asks. Should I tell him? I decide to. "He said he loved me." I say. Harry immediately looks livid. "But he's fourteen and you're only eleven!" He exclaims. "Did you have your first kiss too?" He asks. "Umm no." I say. "That was a few months ago." I tell him. He jumps up. "What?" He asks angrily. "So you're in love!" He says. "Yes?" I reply, sounding more like I'm asking a question. "Wow. I sure did miss a lot." Harry says.

It's still not Thursday, but I can't help myself. It's the longest chapter yet!