stardust ⋮ george weasley

six :

S I X

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Three Broomsticks was bursting with life when the four best friends arrived that Halloween day. Hogwarts students rushed them around them, gossiping and laughing over pints of butterbeer. Madam Rosmerta, while appearing to be slightly stressed over the rush and dementors patrolling Hogsmeade, was still taking the large amounts of customers in stride, cracking jokes with the regulars and making sure the students felt welcome.

The girls' afternoon in Hogsmeade had been nothing short of wonderful. Their bags were packed with sweets from Honeydukes, and, in Adeline's case, endless amounts of spare parchment paper and a stash of owl treats for her brown, tawny owl named Cecilia.

The four girls looked all around the pub, but there wasn't an empty table in sight. Melanie cursed beside Adeline. "Stupid little third years taking up all the big tables."

While Melanie was admittedly right, as there were several younger groups seated at large tables with several chairs spare, Ophelia shrugged off Melanie's complaints. "Give me a second."

Ophelia made her way through the bustling crowd towards Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet who were sitting in a large booth by themselves near the corner of the pub. After a few seconds of talking to them, Ophelia waved the girls over. Adeline had always loved talking to Angelina and Alicia, even if they weren't as close, so joining the duo wasn't a problem in the slightest to her.

"We felt awful that we took up such a huge booth, but there were literally no other available tables when we got here," Angelina explained as Adeline sat down on the edge of the bench next to Estelle.

"These third years are lucky to even be here," Alicia muttered. "They could at least be decent and not hog all the tables."

Melanie snapped her fingers and pointed at Alicia in agreement. "That's what I'm saying!"

"You guys are mean," Estelle chuckled. "Leave the little kids alone."

With a shake of her head, Angelina responded, "I absolutely will not. You guys are cool with getting a little squished when the boys get here? They should be able to fit, but it'll just be a little tight."

Before Adeline could even ask who "the boys" were, a voice cut through the chaos of Three Broomsticks that answered her question almost immediately.

"Ladies! Have any more room?"

Fred, Lee, and George made their way across the room and sat down on the ends of the table, laughing as everyone became squished against each other. Adeline almost found herself blushing when George squeezed on the bench next to her with their knees were pressed against each other with nowhere to move.

George caught Adeline's eye and gestured down to the colorful bag sitting at her feet. "Sweets from Honeydukes?"

"That's what the bag label says."

Adeline had to fight back the urge to slam her head into the wooden table.

George blinked in surprise at her awkward response, taking a second to process the whole situation. To him, Adeline had never been someone who crossed his radar often. The two were in different houses and even then the two were rarely in the same area at the same time. While George could be found on the Quidditch pitch or running through the halls after committing yet another prank with Fred and Lee, Adeline was usually seen in the library with piles of homework and books surrounding her.

Nonetheless, he had never minded it whenever their paths did cross. Despite Adeline's straight-laced personality, she never once turned her nose up at George's pranks or treated him as something less because school wasn't a priority to him. She could even tell him apart from Fred, something that his own family sometimes had trouble doing.