misdirection ⤷ g. weasley

[15] tea tuesday

Marlee's POV

I took the longest route possible to my first class. Everything in me was wishing, hoping that something would turn up and somehow let me not see George or any of them.

I approached the doorway and slowly lifted my head. My heart sank as I saw George sitting in his seat right next to my empty one. He was chatting with Lee like usual and Fred and Angelina were in their assigned seats.

"Hem hem, Marlee," Umbridge called and everyone's heads turned to look at me. I froze and my palms became sweaty. I gulped slowly as Umbridge continued, "Close the door would you?" I nodded and obeyed her.

I could still feel eyes on me as I sat down next to George. I checked my peripheral vision to see if he would take any notice of me but he never looked my way. We didn't say a word to each other but this time felt different than the past few times we weren't speaking. This time it felt like there was a brick wall in between us that would only break down over time.

I couldn't comprehend a word Umbridge said and before I knew it, class was over. As the rest of my day flew by, I felt like I was floating outside of my body.

When school was finally over, I laid down on my bed, exhausted from my day. Thankfully the room was nice and quiet as my roommates hadn't come back from their classes yet.

As I laid on my stomach with my face smushed into the mattress, my eyes landed on an item that wasn't mine. Zane's coat. I groaned and got up to go return it back to him.

I opened the door and he was already standing there as if he knew I was on my way to find him. He was still in his uniform but his tie was a bit messed up and his hair was all misplaced.

"Oh Marlee! I just came to retrieve my coat," he beamed.

"That's odd. I was just about to go give it back to you." I eyed him as I handed him his coat. Our hands briefly touched in the exchange and I felt butterflies in my stomach.

"I guess you just read my mind," he winked which made me roll my eyes. "I also wanted to check in on you," he added more seriously.

"Wow Zane being nice for the second day in a row?! Shocking," I replied sarcastically and we both giggled.

"I'm serious! I just don't wanna see you get hurt." I looked into his eyes and could swear they softened when we made eye contact.

Before I knew it we were kissing although, I didn't know why I was kissing him back. I immediately wrapped my arms around his neck as his found their way to my waist. A rush of relief flew over me as I let out all of my worries on the kiss. I went up on my tippy toes to pull him closer to me and he lightly grazed his tongue on my bottom lip before we heard someone clear their throat.

Both of us immediately stepped away from each other on opposite sides of the door frame, pretending like we weren't just snogging. I looked to see Pansy Parkinson shaking her head at us. I turned red and Zane told her to move along. She rolled her eyes but continued to walk up the stairs.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Zane said, casually.

"Yeah. Tomorrow." I blushed. I watched him walk down the stairs but then panicked when I saw Aries, Harlow and Fabienne walking up past him. I quickly ran back into the room, pretending to be busy making my bed.

"That's weird. Zane was just walking down the stairs," Harlow said as they came in.

I realized I could play it off casually and replied, "Oh yeah. I had to give back his coat...and we might have kissed."

"Marlee!!" exclaimed Harlow. "I told you he just wants to get in your pants!"

"I know but I mean...there's nothing wrong with that," I giggled. Deep down I knew that I was just using this to cope with everything else going on but I tried to deny it. Harlow shook her head at me but then smiled. "Oh come on you guys get to have fun with boys and I don't?" I protested.