Annabella The Sidekick (Sequal To Defiance)

Chapter 38

    That night, Harry comes into my room just to talk. "Are you okay?" He asks. "I'm fine Harry. Why wouldn't I be?" He looks at my hand. "Because of this," he says, pointing to the ring George slipped onto my finger.
    My eyes burn with tears but I refuse to let them fall. "I'm fine Harry. Honestly we aren't even back together." My voice breaks on the last few words and the dam breaks. "Oh Bell," Harry says, hugging me. "Do you remember when George was kissing Angelina during the Yule Ball?" I ask. Harry nods in reply, a frown on his face.
    I look up at him with tears in my eyes but I don't see him. Instead I see that night. I see George kissing Angelina, the look of rage on Harry and Draco's faces, and I see Fred flinching like he deserves it.
    "I'd rather that have happened again because at least then it was like he didn't care. Now I know he does and it's killing me inside," I say. "I thought it would be okay when we got back together but he broke me all over again!" I exclaim, angry now. I pull of the ring and hurl it across the room.
    Harry looks at me sadly. "Bell, throwing the ring he gave you isn't going to fix anything. I smile at him weakly. "I guess so," I respond. Harry rubs the back of his neck nervously. "Look Bella, I know you're a Slytherin and all but why don't you come join Dumbledore's army. You can get all that agression out in dueling." A real smile comes to my face. "Really?" Harry smiles and nods. "Really."
    The teenagers saying at Grimmuld Place decide to have a New Years Party. So at seven on New Year's Eve, Harry and I floo over there. One of the bigger rooms on the top floor has been cleared out. It's away from the adults and it's actually clean. George and Fred's magic probably.
    Harry and I walk in and see the two redheads bow dramatically. "Welcome to the awesome party of Gred and Forge," they say together. For the first time in a while, I laugh at something George has said. "The party doesn't actually start until seven thirty," Fred says. "I'll just be in Ginny's room then," I say. The twins look disappointed. "You don't want to hang out with us?" They ask. I smile devilishly and pull my makeup from my backpack. "Can I put makeup on one of you instead?"
    "Hey," I say, walking into Ginny's room. She smiles. "Hey Bella. Which shirt should I wear?" She motions to three laying on her bed. "The green sweater," I reply. "It will go nicely with your hair." Ginny's smiles and slips it on over her tank top. "Can I curl your hair?" She asks. I shrug and sit down at her vanity and start putting on makeup, which Ginny has already done. "Go for it."
    By seven thirty, I have dark eyes and red lips. My hair is curled beautifully. It adds volume to my usually flat hair. "We look good," I say to Ginny. It's weird, I can't remember hating her not that long ago. I guess times change though, and so do people.
    We walk upstairs and step inside. The lights are dim, but fairy lights are strung up. A table with snacks and drinks are set up. "This is some party," I say. Ginny nods in agreement.
    The twins walk up to us and grab me by an arm each, just like the first time we met. "Does the ickle Bells want some butterbeer?" Fred asks, sipping something that smells like firewhiskey. "Are you already drunk?" I ask, taking his cup and sipping from it. "No, but I can hold my liquor," he laughs and takes the cup back. "I can drink!" I say. Harry pops up with a stern look pointed towards me. "What about you and liquor?" He asks. I just laugh.
    Music starts coming from somewhere, and I really hope the twins put a silencing charm on this room. Later, Ginny and I are both doing ballroom dances with each other and laughing. I haven't had any fire whiskey since Fred's earlier, but this is a diffrent kind of buzz.
    Around ten, the music stops and George grins. "Let's play truth or dare," he says. Five minutes later, everyone is sitting in a circle. Me, Ginny, Harry, Ron, Hermione, George, and Fred in that order. Fred spins an empty butterbeer bottle and it lands on Harry. "Truth or dare?" Fred asks. Harry replies with truth. "Who was your first kiss?" He asks. Harry blushes. "Cho Chang," he replies. I can't help but laugh, remembering the details Harry told me. Everyone looks at me like I'm loony.
    Harry spins the bottle next and it lands on Ginny. "Truth," she says. Harry grins. "Who was your first kiss?" He asks. Ginny blushes and looks down. "Bella," she says. Everyone looks over at us. "It was an accident!" I exclaim. "We tripped coming out of the portrait hole." Ginny spins quickly and it lands on me.
    "Bella, truth or dare?" She asks. "Dare," I reply. She smiles evilly. "Do you know what bed, wed, behead is?" She asks. I put my head in my hands and everyone looks confused. "I give Bella three names. She picks one to marry, one to bed, and one to behead," she exclaims.
    "Last time it was Snape, Dumbledore, and Voldemort," I say. "I'll make it easier this time," she laughs. "Okay. Fred, George, and Charlie," she says. I moan and put my head in my hands. "She's obviously going to pick to bed Charlie because he's the hottest one," Hermione says, stunning everyone. "Agreed," I say. Everyone snaps their heads over to me in surprise and I shrug.
    Fred looks at me, feigning sadness. "That means one of us has to die," he says, gesturing to himself and Fred. Weighing my options I finally say, "Behead Fred. Just because it rhymes," Everyone laughs and I spin the bottle. It lands on George. "Truth or dare?" I ask. "Dare," he replies. I laugh evilly. "I dare you to do whatever I tell you for the rest of the night." He shrugs and I smile.
    We play until 11:55. We put a clock in the middle of the circle face up and watch it count down. I make a face. "I have to go to the bathroom!" I say and run out, determined to make it back before the new year.
    George is leaning up against the wall when I come out. I think he's just waiting for the bathroom so I go to walk past. However, he grabs my wrist and pulls me against his chest. "I miss you," he says. I shrug. "That's not my fault George," I say.
    I can smell his cologne with a mixture of something that it pure George and I know that if I don't go back to the party I might start crying. "I know it's not. We still can't be together Bells," he says. "Why are you here?" I ask. "I don't know," he responds. I look into his eyes and it looks like home. His watch starts beeping. Midnight. "Do you remember that you have to do everything I say?" I ask. George nods. "Kiss me."
    All of a sudden, I'm home. His lips touch mine gently. I throw my arms around his neck. He takes a step closer to me and puts his arms around my waist. He pulls away and rests his forehead against mine. "Bells, we can't do this again," he says. I don't want to listen. I just want to kiss him again.
    I lean forward, but George pulls his head back. "Are you listening to me?" He asks. I nod and feel my eyes watering up. "Bells, no. Don't cry," he says. "Go away George," I say. He doesn't of course. He kisses every tear as they run down my cheeks. "You look so beautiful tonight. Your hair and your makeup and just you took my breath away," he says.  That only makes me cry harder. "I said go away!" I exclaim finally, sinking down to the dusty ground. "I love you," I whisper, looking up to his face. "I love you so much and it hurts every day," I tell him. Something wet falls onto my arm and I realize he's probably crying too.
    I laugh without humor to myself. "It's not good enough to change anything though is it?" I say bitterly. "I'm not good enough." In a flash, George is kneeling down in front of me. "Don't you ever say that. Not ever again," he says. "Just stop George," I say. He stands up again. "Are you staying overnight?" He asks. I nod.
    Suddenly I'm off the ground. "Put me down!" I say. "No," he replies, carrying my bridal style to his room. "I'm protecting you, can't you see that?" He asks me. "I love you." I lay down on his bed. I reach my arms out and suddenly he's there. He kisses me lightly all over my face and lays down beside me. He opens his arms and I burrow my face into his chest with a smile. He pulls a duvet over us. "Five minutes," he says. "Five minutes," I agree.

George's POV
    I look down at Bells, who has her eyes closed. I'm going to memorize every inch of her face. The tiny scar above her eyebrow, the curve of her lips, the bridge of her nose, everything. After tonight, I'm going to forget I loved her. Or at least pretend to. I can't hurt her like this. I can't give her kisses in shady corridors and five minutes with her in my arms only to take it away in the morning.
    I don't know why she's here in my arms. I don't know why I brought her down here. Maybe it has to do with the firewhiskey I had earlier or maybe it doesn't. Five minutes are up but Bells fell asleep. I'm not going to wake her up. Instead, I nuzzle my face into her hair and close my eyes.
Fred's POV
   About one, we all head to bed. Bells never came back. George said he was going to bed. I walk into our room and smile. He did go to bed. He didn't mention that he was bringing a certain raven haired girl with him. They're both asleep, and I haven't seen either of them looking this relaxed in a long time.
    George usually wakes me up with thrashing and mumbling in his sleep. "Not her," he'll always say. And Bells usually wears a frown these days. This open and relaxed face is something I haven't seen in a while. I slip into Ginny's room to tell her where Bella is and come back.
    I sit on my bed and smile sadly. I love Bells. I mean I seriously love her. I was stupid to kiss her. I can't take away this happiness from either of them. They're in love. I am too, but with the wrong person. I pull my blanket over me and go to sleep.
    I wake up the next morning to screaming. "Screw you George!" Bells is yelling. "It's not like that!" He replies. I cast a silencing charm on the room silently and act like I'm still asleep.
    "Why did you bring me in here?" She asks. "Because I love you!" George shouts in reply. "Yeah, and then you make sure I know nothing has changed!" She takes on a low voice and imitates what I assume is George. "Now I know you slept in here but I still can't be your boyfriend. Don't bother to cry because it won't change anything," she says. "Bells," George says, sounding hurt. "I am not something for you to do when you get bored!" She says. "Maybe I'll start being around Angelina then!" He says. "Yeah," Bells is suddenly quiet. "I'm sure she'd love for you to do her when you're bored."
    There's a slapping noise and I half expect to see that Bells has slapped George. But I jump out of bed when I see it's the other way around. "Yeah, and if I want a guy who slaps me I'll go back to Blaise." She storms out. George is stating open mouthed. He looks at me and I shrug. "I don't know why you did what you just did, but it was- it was- I can't even look at you right now," I say and jog after Bells.