There he was.
She didn't want to see him, but it was hard not to. In the dreary rainy grey of the rest fo the world it was nearly impossible to miss him with that bright orange hair and vibrant blue shirt. Why did he have to be wearing blue, she loved it when he wore blue…especially that shade, which brought out his eyes-
No! Lissy, don't you dare go there, you're angry, remember! Right. Angry. Furious. Hurt. Aching; as if someone had torn out a chunk of her heart and left the hole there for the cold morning air to fill with ice.
She ducked her head, shrugging deeper into her coat as if they would hide her from his gaze as she hurried past him. She had to go past him. Until she bothered to go grocery shopping, she took her meals at the café. And Weasley's Wizard Wheezes sat right in the middle of her walk between the café and the Leaky Cauldron. The place was bustling, bright and colorful as she'd expected it to be. But she had yet to step inside, even though some of her own inventions sat in the front windows.
Maybe he wouldn't recognize her in the rain? That was her only hope. If she'd brought an umbrella she could have used it as a shield…
A hand on her shoulder made her stop. She knew it was him. Without even looking at his hand she knew it was him. Who else could it have been? "Lissy?" Oh yeah…it was him.
She jerked her shoulder from his hand and looked at him over her shoulder, pale green eyes closed off of all emotion. "What?"
She could see the surprise in his eyes. The hurt there at her reaction. It made the icy chunk in her chest hurt even more, but she forced the pain away. "Lissy, it's me. George! When did you get back? Didn't school get out a couple weeks ago?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"You never stopped by to say hello. You live here, I figured you would. I assumed you were visiting your family or something…"
"Yes, well if you'd bothered to write me, maybe you would have known I was here, wouldn't you?" She turned and started walking again, but the maddening boy hurried after her, moving to block her path and ignoring the rain himself as it started to soak his shirt and hair.
"What are you talking about? Fred sent enough letters for both of us, didn't he pass on my hellos?"
Lissy's eyes were starting to fill with tears and she blinked them away. "George…you just left me." She whispered, her trembling voice barely audible over the pouring rain. Cold water drops were dripping under her collar now, but she was already trembling with emotion. The cold didn't matter.
"Liss, we had to go. You know we did, we couldn't just put up with-"
"It's not that." Lissy shook her head, pulling a hand from a pocket to brush away a strand of hair that had plastered itself across her forehead with the movement. Her braid was heavy on her back, soaking through her sweater now. "George I don't care about the leaving school part. Or the brilliantly dramatic exit, I was so proud of you both!"
He frowned now, starting to look frustrated. "Then why are you so angry? You still wrote to Fred all the time, he did the same thing I did!"
"No, he didn't!" To her alarm a tear rolled down her cheek, and she prayed he hadn't seen it through the rain. The warm trail felt odd on the coolness of her skin. "Fred left a note before you left, saying he was sorry I couldn't have helped with the show or come with you. Fred sent me a letter when you arrived here, telling me all about your plans for the shop and asking how badly Umbridge had flipped out. Fred has written me constantly, keeping me updated, making sure I was doing alright, and came to visit on Hogsmeade weekends! What did you do George? You asked Fred to write 'P.S. George says hullo' to the end of his letters. I can really feel the love." She added, the sarcasm clear with her narrowed eyes.
"One of us had to keep an eye on things here! Besides, I figured you'd be angry that we hadn't stayed to finish off the year. And if Fred was keeping you updated, then why did I have to? Lissy, you hate writing letters, you've told us so a hundred times."
"That's because I've never has best friends before!" Lissy exclaimed angrily. "I've never had two people in my life that I could depend on. I've never even let myself depend on them! George, you knew all the crap that was going on, but you didn't even take the time to let me know you were leaving. You couldn't even be bothered to say goodbye. You just…left!"
Her rant made her feel better, the anger chasing away the sadness and a glare on her face now. She moved to brush past him, twisting so her shoulder wouldn't even bump his on the way. But his hand hooked her elbow before she could move more than a few steps away.
"Lissy…I didn't say goodbye because the thought of leaving you behind hurt." He said. She didn't turn around, but his words zoomed right to the chunk of ice in her heart, piercing the coldness there. "I didn't write, because I had no idea what to say. And because I felt awful for leaving you on your own. I didn't visit…because it meant leaving you again, and I don't think I could do it a second time."
Well…shit. With only a few sentences all her anger seemed silly and she was almost ready to forgive him right then and there. She turned, pulling her sweater sleeves down over her hands to ward off the chill.
"George…I was afraid I'd done something wrong." She whispered, not daring to look up at him, instead locking her eyes on the sloppily tied knot of his tie. She almost reached out to fix it out of habit alone before she stopped herself. "I thought…that I hadn't been a good enough friend for you to bother keeping in touch with."
"No." he took a step closer and she looked up in surprise, his blue eyes capturing hers and refusing to let them go. "No, Lissy…it was exactly the opposite. You were too good of a friend. But…you were getting over that arsehole and it was never the right time to mention it and-"
"Mention what?" Lissy interrupted, her voice a bit stronger. "George…mention what, what are you talking-"
There was no warning. Lissy wasn't sure she even knew what happened. One minute his blue eyes were boring into her green and the next his hands were gripping her arms, pulling her lips to his. For an infinite breathless moment her heart pounded in her ribcage, the ice melting and the missing piece grew back. The rain pouring over them felt like fire rather than the chilly water it was. And his lips burned against hers, heat like melted butter dripping over her skin from her head down to her toes.
He pulled away much too soon and she weaved where she stood, blinking in leftover shock. "I'm talking about that." His voice was deep with its softness, a roughness to it that made her knees tremble.
"Oh…"
He chuckled, resting his forehead against hers. She couldn't see his grin, but she could hear it in his voice. "Oh? That's all I get?"
She pulled back to give him a proper glare, her hands braced against his chest for leverage against his pull. "You broke my brain; it's the best you're going to get right now."
He chuckled again and pulled her close once more, his mouth easing over hers and his lips teasing until she could do little more than hang in his hold. His arms slipped around her waist and her fingers curled around his shirt, entirely pleased with this new method of shutting her up.
"I'm still mad at you, you know." She told him when he pulled away again and she could look up at him with a pointed look. That infuriatingly smug smile appeared on his lips and her own twitched upwards a bit.
"I guess I'll just have to make it up to you then, won't I?"
"Yup." Now it was her turn to look haughty and smug. "You owe me months worth of attention."
"Sounds fair." He whispered before he leaned down to brush his lips on hers once more. Her fingers tightened around his shirt, smiling into the kiss. At this rate he'd be forgiven before supper.
