Protégée (George Weasley)

Chapter Twenty Three

"Okay, fess up. What's wrong with you?" Fred had asked his twin brother out of the blue, as they were sitting in an empty classroom trying to figure out the exact concoction to enhance the effect of a certain potion that they were developing. George had been staring aimlessly at the wall for the past ten minutes, even after Fred's repeated attempts at catching his attention.

George blinked as his twin brother's hand waved in front of his face, startling him, "What?"

"Yeah," Fred confirmed, "Something is very, very wrong with you."

"How so?"

"Don't be an idiot. You know why. Now what happened?"

"Nothing," George denied, pushing the bothersome thought of Lisa to the back of his mind as he put on his best 'okay' face, "Maybe I'm just a little tired. I didn't get much sleep last night."

Fred flashed him a deadpan look, "Really? That's the best excuse you could come up with? Why would you even attempt lying to me? I know you. And I know that when you're tired, you fall asleep in random places, not mope for days."

"I have not been moping!" George protested.

"Yes you have!" He shot back, "Now stop being such a wuss and tell me what's bothering you."

George hesitated for a second, before letting out a loud, exasperated sigh, "I think..." he paused, clenching his jaw momentarily before proceeding, "I think I may have a crush on someone."

Fred's eyebrows arched in surprise, taking a few moments to process what his brother had just said.

"I have to ask... is it Lee? Because, you know, I'll be a hundred percent supportive even if it is... I mean, not like there's anything wrong with that, ofcourse not, but you know—"

"Okay, Freddie, no!" George cut off promptly, stopping Fred's imagination from drifting further and further away, "It's not Lee, okay? It's a girl. I'm just not sure if I'm ready to say it out loud."

"Oh no..." Fred said as another possible person had popped into his head, "Oh dear. I mean, the possibility of this happening was slim to none, and I actually didn't think it would. You have to understand though, George, that Nicolai might swing both ways, but as you know she currently has a girlfriend and you and her...fake dated before remember? It doesn't work, you and her. I just didn't see the chemistry."

"Merlin, stop trying to guess!" he exclaimed, "It's not Nicolai."

"Then who? Don't tell me not to guess! Not now when this is the first time in awhile that you've ever confessed to having a crush on someone."

"Just leave it alone, it's stupid." he dismissed, "Plus, we're wasting our time too. We have about twenty minutes left for our free period."

"Well then, you ought to hurry up and tell me so we don't waste those precious minutes." Fred said stubbornly, "I'm not gonna do anything else unless you tell me."

"Seriously? Come on, Fred, are you hearing our conversation right now? We sound like second year schoolgirls."

"Correction, you sound like a second year schoolgirl. Just grow a pair and stop acting like a baby."

"Sure, because that's exactly what you did when you fancied Florence, right?" George retorted, "Bloody hypocrite."

"Fine," Fred shot back, "If you're not going to deal with your crush on Lisa, then I won't force you anymore."

"Thank you."

"Aha!" Fred exclaimed, "So it is Lisa?"

George froze in his seat, before slowly turning to his twin brother in frustration, "Fuck you."