First Choice • George Weasley

1. First Night

It was the last day of the school year after Paige Parker had finished her seventh and final year at Hogwarts along with Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Paige was the closest with Ginny, who was a year younger and still had one more year left of school. They all stood together with their luggage impatiently waiting to board the Hogwarts Express, which would be met by Molly and Arthur Weasley excitedly awaiting their arrival at Kings Cross Station. The five of them boarded the train and found an empty booth to sit in together as the massive piece of machinery got ready to embark on their journey home. 

Paige, Hermione, and Harry were all staying with the Weasley's this summer. This was nothing new for Harry and Hermione, as they had stayed there for multiple summers already, each of them having dated Ron and Ginny for a while now. But this was new for Paige, she had only stayed at the burrow for a few days to a week at a time over a few shorter holiday's, but this was her first time staying with the Weasley's for an entire summer. She would usually just go home during summer break, but things changed after her parents passed away last year. They had been killed in a tragic car accident at the beginning of last fall, and Paige has been staying with the Weasley's for breaks ever since. She doesn't have much other family, so the Weasley's are all she really has left. 

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"I'm so excited we get to have you for the whole summer," said Ginny, flashing a wide eyed smile my way. "Mum and dad are going to be so happy to have another girl in the house!" 

"Thank you so much for letting me stay with you guys... I know it's a big favor. You have no idea how much it means to me, seriously." I responded, feeling a twinge of guilt at the thought of burdening their family with my presence for three whole months. 

"You never have to thank us Paige, you know you're just as much family to us as the rest of our siblings." Ron chimed in, sensing I was a little off and trying to make me feel better. 

"Thanks Ron, you guys are my family too. I don't know what I would do without you all, especially this last year." The booth fell quiet for a moment, it was still hard for me to talk about my parents. I was really close with them, and losing them both was the hardest thing I've ever had to go through. The group knows I still struggle with it sometimes, and I can tell they try to be careful when it comes up in conversation. I hate feeling so fragile, I just want to feel normal again.

"Anyways, let's not make today depressing shall we. We literally just finished our very last year, I still can't believe it's really over." I said, trying to lighten the mood and take the attention off of myself. 

"Uh, hello?" Ginny scoffed jokingly rolling her eyes, I always forget she's still an entire year younger than the rest of us. Everyone laughed, and Harry teasingly nudged her in the elbow. 

"Right, right. Well, sucks for you I guess. Still applies to the rest of us!" I teased back at her, playfully shrugging my shoulders followed by a burst of laughter as Ginny jokingly shoved me.

The rest of the train ride was filled with laughter and stories from the school year as we made our way home to the infamous burrow. I could feel my nerves starting to grow as we came closer and closer to approaching our arrival. One thing had been lingering in the back of my mind since I found out I was staying here this summer, one thing I couldn't even bring myself to say out loud. 

George. 

I guess you could say I've had a bit of a crush on George Weasley since I was a first year at Hogwarts. Since I met the Weasley's, I would always feel nervous and antsy around him, and never really knew why. As we got older, I realized I may be having real feelings towards my best friend's older brother, but I couldn't bring myself to really admit it. Everyone always had eyes for Fred, his twin brother, but not me. I only ever really saw George. I've always told myself that he only sees me as a sister figure, and would never in his wildest dreams ever see me in that kind of light. But that didn't stop me from feeling the way I did about him, no matter how hard I tried to deny it. The twins are about two years older than me, Harry, Hermione, and Ron, they're around 21 years old. The rest of us are mostly 18 and 19, Harry and I turning 19 this July. Ginny is still 17, being a tad younger. Point being, we're not kids anymore, and my once innocent preteen crush was now morphing into very confusing and real life feelings that no one else knew about. And I intend to keep it that way.

Being around George, let alone living in the same house as him, was going to be interesting to say the least. I tried to push my thoughts to the back of my mind and forget about the whole thing, wanting to just focus on having a great summer with my friends and our new freedom. 

The train began to slow, and everyone looked out the window to see ourselves inching towards the train station. My heart began to race, trying not to make it obvious how nervous I was as we prepared to get off and meet Molly and Arthur. Crowds of parents and families huddled around the train as students began to exit, loud cries and yells of excitement and reunion filling the thick summer air. 

We stepped off the train and began pushing our way through the crowd trying to find the Weasley's parents, Ron in front and myself tailing behind in the back. Ron spotted two sets of flaming red hair slightly in the distance attached to two frantically waving and jumping bodies. 

"There they are! Come on!" Ron yelled to the rest of us, signaling he'd found his mum and dad. We hurried to meet them, and Molly pushed Arthur aside to pull all of us into a gigantic, warm hug. 

"Oh my goodness, look at all of my babies! Oh how I've missed you all!" Molly yelled, grabbing each of us one by one and giving us all a kiss on the cheek. "Oh Paige, I'm so happy you'll be joining us for the summer. We've got everything prepared for you back at home, and the twins are dying to see you!" Her last few words made my stomach drop. Dying to see me? Why? 

"Thank you so much for taking me in Molly, I really do love you guys." I gave her a big hug once more, and she squeezed me tight, pecking the top of my head. 

"Of course my dear, we love you just the same. Our home is your home!" She comfortably wrapped her arm around me and rubbed my arm, as we began walking back towards the Ford Anglia to make our way home. 

Home. That's gonna take some getting used to, but I like it. 

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We made a bumpy entrance into the dirt road leading up to the burrow, the crammed car barely being able to hold itself in the air with this many people crammed inside. After a rather crass landing, everyone shuffled out and began grabbing their things. 

"Oh Arthur, would you and the boys please be dears and take the girls' luggage up to their rooms while I take them inside?" Arthur opened his mouth to respond, but after a look from his wife he simply shut his mouth, smiled, and nodded. 

"Ron, Harry, pick a suitcase." He said to the boys, as they lazily began unloading the car. 

Molly opened the door as Ginny, Hermione, and I filed into the cozy house. It was around 6pm by this time, and the sun was just barely beginning to set. Golden light was pouring in through the windows, giving the place an even homier feel. I stood there for a moment, just taking in my surroundings. I hadn't been here since Easter break, and I forgot how much I missed it. Dinner was already preparing itself in the kitchen, pots and pans flailing around in the air. The aroma of freshly cooked steak and vegetables flooded the entire first floor, and I suddenly realized how hungry I was. 

The boys brought all of our bags up to Ginny's room, where Hermione and I would be staying. There were two extra twin beds in her room that had become a permanent part of the decor due to how often we stay here and how crowded the home already is as usual. We started doing some light unpacking, not finishing as dinner would be ready soon. I decided to change into something more comfortable after being in jeans all day, and threw on a loose, baggy sweatshirt and some pajama shorts. The other girls changed into something similar as well as we prepared to head back downstairs. 

We began walking down the staircase, Ginny in front and myself last, and I heard something that caught my attention as we got closer to the base of the steps.

"Smells delicious mum, can't wait to eat. I'm starving." A familiar voice spoke in a deep tone. 
"What he said, can the girls hurry up already so we can eat. What are they doing up there that takes so bloody long anyway." Replied a similar, yet slightly higher pitched voice. 

The twins.
More importantly, George.

Shit.