First Choice • George Weasley

2. Dinner

Ok. Don't panic, there's no reason to panic. You've known him basically your whole life, and nothing's changed since the since the last time you saw each other, right? Right.

I caught myself holding my breath as we reached the bottom of the stairs, and looked up to see two stunningly tall red headed men standing in the kitchen talking to Molly as she finished preparing dinner. Harry, Ron, and Arthur were already seated and waiting, making it clear the twins had just made an entrance. As we entered the room, their heads snapped in our direction, and mischievous smiles crept onto their faces.  

My eyes flew immediately to George, who somehow looked much more handsome than the last time I saw him. His hair was parted down the middle, the front bits just barely framing his perfectly structured face. His jaw sharp as he lightly clenched it. His tall, lean figure leaning against the kitchen table. He somehow becomes more and more perfect every time I see him. 

"Well, well, well, there they are. Took you gits long enough." Fred teased, smiling as he approached us, rubbing the top of each of our heads making sure to mess up our hair as much as physically possible. We laughed and gave him a light shove, and as everyone began taking their seats to eat, I caught myself looking up to see George staring at me, still standing there with one hand gripping the chair in front of him. I quickly looked away, feeling like his stare would burn right through me if I looked a second longer. Why was he looking at me like that? I'm sure i'm just reading into nothing, but i'm certainly more nervous now than I was five minutes ago, if that's even possible. 

As I sat down, I had the painful realization that I was essentially in scrappy pajamas meanwhile Fred and George are perfectly dressed in their tailored suits they wear when at the shop. They must've come directly from work. Immediately feeling even more insecure, I pulled my chair as far into the table as possible to avoid any unnecessary eye contact with my exposed legs and gray pajama shorts. George took the seat directly across from me, which I tried not to react to. Fred took the seat right next to him, and I had Ginny and Hermione on either side of me. 

As dinner went on we all had pleasant conversations about the school year, the twins' new inventions for the shop, and Arthur's latest muggle infatuation. This weeks was pens, I don't think he's gonna let that one go for a good while. He talked about it for nearly twenty minutes. Throughout the entirety of dinner, I kept noticing George looking at me out of the corner of my eye. Maybe i'm just crazy, or wishfully thinking. But I swear I noticed so many times, like he was barely even trying to hide it. I'm most definitely not jumping to any conclusions, remember, thoughts straight to the back. There's no point entertaining an idea that is never going to happen anyway.

Dinner eventually wrapped up and everyone started to help clean up. Ginny, Hermione, and I were helping Molly with the dishes while the boys put away what little leftovers remained. Everyone shuffled around the kitchen as we finished cleaning up, and as I was washing the last dish I felt a hand just barely brush by my lower back as I turned my head to see George had just walked past me. Okay, that couldn't have been an accident. I mean no way, right? I need to stop, I haven't even been here a full day and I'm already losing my mind reading into every little thing he does. Just ignore it Paige, It's nothing. 

Everyone finished up, and decided to get ready for bed, as it had gotten late much faster than anyone had realized. I overheard the twins talking to their parents, and it appears they'll be spending most of their time here this summer when they're not working to spend more time with everyone, rather than staying at their apartment in Diagon Alley. I could feel myself tense up while listening to the conversation, seeing him every morning and every night... It's not going to be easy. But part of me also isn't complaining. 

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The girls and I went up to Ginny's room and finished unpacking our things. The house was quiet and it didn't sound as though anyone else was awake, so I decided to head to the bathroom to take off my makeup and brush my teeth before heading to bed. I made my way into the tiny bathroom as quietly as I could, and began washing my face. I used a makeup wipe to get rid of any left over mascara and proceeded to brush my teeth, when I heard a knock at the door. 

"Ginny for Merlin's sake is that you in there, come on. I have to take a piss." I froze as I heard the low voice grunt through the door. 

I panicked, quickly spitting out the toothpaste in my mouth and rinsing it as fast as possible. I brushed through my hair with my fingers and tried to wipe off the black mascara still clinging to my eyes the best I could before bracing myself to open the door. 

"Ginny I swear to God open the d-" He stopped as I quietly opened the door, sheepishly looking up at him. 

"I-I'm sorry, I thought everyone was asleep. Bathroom's all yours." I choked out, sliding past him trying to make my way back to Ginny's room. 

"Paige, wait." I heard him whisper, and nervously turned around in the dark hallway. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be a prick, I assumed you were Ginny. She always takes her sweet time doing whatever it is she does in there." He explained, feeling bad for snapping through the door. 

"It's fine George, no worries, okay? Goodnight." I smiled at him and went to turn back around.

"Hey, Paige?" I anxiously turned to faced him once more, trying not to let my nerves show.

"It's really good to see you, you know. I just wanted you to know." I immediately felt my cheeks turn a dark pink, and tried my best to hide the obnoxious smile trying to come through on my face. 

"It's good to see you too, George. I'll see you in the morning" 

"Goodnight." He smiled back at me, heading into the bathroom as I turned around and hurried back into Ginny's room. The girls had fallen asleep while I was out of the room, so I quietly crept into my bed and laid there, just staring at the ceiling. 

There's no way I'm going to be able to sleep tonight. Not after... Whatever the hell that was in the hall. 

Something's different about him, maybe I'm crazy... But, what if I'm not?