THE ANGEL OF WOE | RON WEASLEY [BOOK THREE]

8. MEET ME AT THE FIREPLACE

Gene sat in the Great Hall alone for breakfast, beating the others to it for once. Her sleeve had accidentally brushed over her hand, causing her to hiss in pain, the skin still sensitive from the night before.

She had sat in Umbridge's office for at least two hours, writing and writing until her right hand went stiff and her left hand seared with pain, and she couldn't decide which hurt more.

"What happened to your hand?" A voice said from behind her, causing Gene to jump before quickly placing her hand in her lap, though it was too late.

She looked up as Finn sat beside her, only to catch a glimpse of Ron turning away, to her confusion. He had quickly slipped out of the Great Hall and Gene even waited for him to come back for a few moments, her brows furrowed before looking back to Finn.

"I heard about your first lesson with Umbridge." he said, causing Gene to raise an eyebrow, "Is that what she did to you?" he nodded toward her hand.

"Why do you care?" Gene asked, though it wasn't malicious. She was just curious as to why he had taken a sudden interest in Gene.

Finn smiled softly, shrugging, "I just do."

Gene almost felt the blush creep to her cheeks, only making her more embarrassed as she averted her eyes for a moment, out of fear that they lingered on his own a little too long.

"It's fine." she says, lifting her hand from her lap and waved it dismissively until Finn caught it, and her eyes widened, "It doesn't hurt anymore." she lets him inspect it anyways, his thumb brushing over the area with more care than he might have intended.

"Anymore?" he asked and she shook her head.

"It's fine. But thank you, anyways." she smiled, standing up from the table.

"What are you doing tomorrow night?" Finn asked as she barely made it past him, stopping in her tracks, her eyes wide for a moment.

"Tomorrow night?" she repeated and he nodded, the hint of a smile tugging at his lips. It was a Saturday, so- "Nothing. Why?" she quickly replied, realising she was silent all this time.

"I'll find you." he returned with a smile, causing Gene to frown. She hated surprises.

But she didn't have time to complain as she was going to be late to first period, so she had no choice but to rush out of the hall anyways, only to bump into Ron, to her surprise. Luckily, they shared the same class, and she expected him to follow, until he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to a stop.

Gene stared at Ron, waiting for an explanation with her wrist still in his hand. He went to hold her hand now, causing Gene to nearly flinch, before he pushed her sleeve up, holding her hand tighter as he read the words embedded into her skin. Her hand began to visibly tremble in his, and he seemed to hold it tighter and it stopped.

"Were you going to say anything?" he asked, annoyance clear in his voice, though Gene couldn't figure out why.

"I figured Harry would tell you. And he did." Gene returned, not entirely seeing the problem.

"Well, you told Finn Maddox." he said bitterly, before his eyes widened for a split second, "I just thought you'd tell me yourself is all." he let go of her hand, and it instantly grew colder.

"What are you going to do about it, Ron?" Gene asked, exasperatedly. "Knock down Umbridge's door and give her a good old telling off?"

Ron frowned at her.

"You could tell McGonagall," though Gene began to shake her head, "Dumbledore. He'll do something about it," and Gene scoffed now. There was as much a chance of that happening than her mother coming back to life, at this point.