Protégée (George Weasley)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lisa had almost never had a fight with Noel ever since they became friends.

So it was a little hard for her to be looking at him from the other end of the dining table. He looked just as miserable as she was feeling, the boy jabbing at the food on his plate, his chin resting on the palm of his hands. Lisa sighed again, before turning to her own plate, all appetite lost.

"Hey," Katie said, catching her attention, "Come on, you have to eat something. We have training later and you can't train on an empty stomach."

"Sorry," she mumbled, "I just don't feel like it right now. I'll make up for it during lunch and dinner."

After her row with Noel, she had ran straight to her dorm room with tears in her eyes. In her grief she had spilled everything to both Katie and Leanne, who were in the room when she burst in. Katie decided not to tell her that she had known about Noel's feelings all along, so as to not make her feel worse.

Lisa perked up as she saw two familiar redheads in her peripheral vision, heading their way. Before she knew it, Fred and George Weasley sat beside Katie, with George right in front of Lisa, a huge smile on his face. Katie could only flash her a sympathetic smile, seeing the look of dread settle on her face.

Seeing George was the last thing she needed, as she was still processing the information she had found out yesterday. She was also severely conscious of the way they were seated, as Noel might look over and feel even more awful.

Thinking it was the only rational thing she could do, Lisa got up, swung her book bag over her shoulder, and made her way to the exit of the Great Hall, a confused look dawning on George as he watched her walk away.

Fred's brows shot up in surprise, turning to his twin brother, "Have you two been fighting?"

George shook his head, "Not to my knowledge, no."

"She looked upset," Fred said, before leaning forward to try to catch Katie's attention, "Oi, do you know what happened to her?"

Katie shrugged, focusing on her plate, "Just give her some time for herself."

George stood up as well, doing the exact opposite of what Katie had advised, "I'm gonna go check..."

"George... leave her be..."

"You know I can't do that," he said, before following after her.

Lisa had not gone far when George came out of the Great Hall, hearing the sound of someone sprinting across the hallway, Lisa bracing herself for the interaction.

"Elisabeth." He said, putting a hand on her shoulder and spinning her around to face him, "Lisa, hi. Are you quite alright?"

Lisa kept her gaze on her shoes, as if they were the most interesting object in the world, "Yes, I'm fine. I just remembered I have homework I need to finish before class started. I'm on my way to the library right now."

"Oh," said George, not quite believing her alibi, "Well, I'll come with, then."

"There's no need..." Lisa said quickly, letting out a nervous chuckle, "Really, I'm just going to study, George. I'm sure you have things to do that will be a better use of your time."

"I have a lot of time in my hands. I can come with you to the library."

"I said no." she said curtly, an irritated tone in her voice which made George's facial expression fall, his brows drawing together in a confused frown, "You're avoiding me, aren't you?"

"George... I'm not."

"You're not?" He echoed, "Lisa, you're even refusing to meet my gaze..."

She sighed, before looking up to meet his eyes, seeing a hint of hurt in his expression, "I'm sorry... Today's just not a good day."