Pairing: George Weasley + Reader
Word count: 1k
Summary: You comfort George after a big fight (The fight in the fifth book with Draco Malfoy)
Warnings: Injuries? I think that is all, but lmk if you notice anything
Hey! if you think this didn't completely suck, feel free to check out my masterlist
I take in a deep breath and then knock slowly at the boys’ door. No response. I knock again, and instead I hear a grumble. I take it as a sign to slowly open the door, I take a peek from behind it, and George is sitting on the edge of his bed, elbows on his knees, and head in his hands. Fred, on the other hand, is lying on the floor staring up at the ceiling.
“Hey.” I murmur, and George tilts his head to see me from in between his fingers. He doesn’t smile at me like he usually does, and it makes me believe that this time is worse than the rest. Fred, sits himself up on his elbows, and he looks as though he’s in much better shape than George is.
I purse my lips and look back at George again. I take a few shy steps towards his bed, and then sit down beside him. He shifts a bit to the side allowing more room for me. I look back at Fred again, but it turns out he’d already read my mind and left the room after giving me two thumbs up.
I place a tentative hand on George’s thigh, and it makes him lift his head up from his hands. I could see the way his face was contorted, frowning, scrunched up brows, and his jaw clenched. I note the obvious, “You’re pissed.”
I almost feel stupid saying it because of course he would be. Malfoy was out of line, more than usual, but instead of a few insults this time it resulted in a fight, and George got expelled from playing Quidditch for the rest of the year, and to make matters worse this is his last year. He replies, “I’m not pissed, I’m hurt.”
It’s my turn to frown because the words that that git Malfoy said couldn’t actually be getting to him, could they? I voice, “George, you couldn’t actually care about what he said. He was just saying it to get a reaction out of you. His best insult was calling you a weasel, he’s an idiot for Merlin’s sake!”
“Doesn’t make any of them less true.” He protests. I’m baffled by his response, I say, “No, they aren’t-”
“Yes, they are.” He snaps, and he scrunches his face up, eyes shut in regret at raising his voice. He cups my hand as an apology, brushing his lips over the back of my hand before explaining, “He’s right. We are poor, and the clothes we wear are hand-me-downs-”
I interrupt him, “I will not go a second longer listening to you talk about yourself, or your family that way. Money doesn’t matter as much as you’re making it seem. And surely, you’re not going to let comments from an idiot who cares more about blood status and money than what a person is actually like get to your head.”
“But, wouldn’t you like to have more than what the money that I have can get you?” He implores, and I give him a weak smile. Raising my hands to cup his face, my thumb grazing the scratch that he has across his eyebrow. I say, “And we’ll have that, George.”
I teased him a little more, “You still are planning to open the shop, aren’t you?” A small smile breaks on his face, and he even lets out a small chuckle. The air feels lighter around us, and George leans closer to me to press a kiss to my lips. I sigh, the feeling of it never gets old.
I look down at his hands, and frown at the sight of the blood. George was the one who gave out most of the blows and punches. He was too angry after the fight, and left stomping to his room. I wanted to insist that he go to Madame Pomfrey for his injuries, but I could tell he needed some time to blow off some steam, that’s the reason why I waited before talking to him.
“Do you want to go to the Hospital wing to heal those?” I ask, and he shakes his head, looking down at his knuckles, presumably, remembering that they were bleeding. He rests his head on my shoulder, and my shoulder is weighed down. He hums, “I’d rather not face anyone for a while.”
“Don’t worry, I can heal them for you. Not as good as Madame Pomfrey, but it’ll do for now.” I decide, bringing out my want from my robes. I start to wave my wand at the cracks in the skin, and mutter small enchantments. The small ones fade away, but the larger ones leave small scars on the skin. I rub my thumb over his hand to signal that I’m done, and George twists his head to leave a small kiss to the base of my neck.
I raise my hand to lift his head from off of my shoulder, and hold his chin, raising my wand to cast a spell over the scar that slashed across his eyebrow. I bite my lip at the sight of it. George questions, “What is it?”
“You look so good with that scar.” I admit, feelings my cheeks heat up at the confession. He smirks at me, and I can already hear the teasing coming from a mile away. He grins and says, “Such a shame for you that it’ll go away in a few days…of course, I can get into more fights, so you’ll never have to do without it.”
I hid my face in his chest in embarrassment and he wrapped his arms around me, laughing at my reaction. I mumble, patting his back gently, “Stay out of fights till we see what we can do about this Quidditch suspension, alright?”
He pushes me away from his chest to look into my eyes. He leans down and kisses me once, and twice and another one after that. He says, “Thank you.”
✾ would make sure if you have everything you might need at the moment or later
✾ would keep checking on you when she has to do something for the Dark Lord
✾ when she would be home, she would make sure you feel alright and if it is needed, she would cuddle with you in your bed
✾ “what is the issue pet?”
✾ she would give you massage and get you all sweets you need
✾ if she would have to go to a meeting, she would cancel it (she would take the punishment when she goes another time)
✾ watches a movie with you
✾ falling asleep on her chest
✾ she would prepare you pain killers and a glass of water, just in case you will feel sick at night
✾ adjusting your pillow 24/7
✾ the next morning - breakfast in bed
When you feel you have been staring at him for too long, you have to tear your eyes away, even if you don’t want to. He can’t realize you like staring at him because if he knew, then he would talk to you and you know that wouldn’t end well. You know you’re in love with him, but the thought of that scares you. Not the part about loving him, but the part about loving. You’ve never loved anyone before and you don’t want to. The fear, the terror, the anxiety that comes with loving someone is what's holding you back. It’s what's always held you back. This boy though, the way his lips move when he talks or how his eyes seem to gleam when he talks about something passionate, he’s different. Different from any other person you’ve met before. You know little about him, only that his name was Draco.
Your closest friend Cedric knows about your little fascination over him, but that's it. No one else. You often find yourself staring at the side of his head in potions class or marveling at him from across the room in the great hall. Fear surrounds you and a blush creeps up on your cheeks whenever Cedric catches you staring at the boy. You always glance around, hoping no one else saw you longing for the bleach-blond boy. Just the thought of someone catching you peering at him has your blood running cold through your veins.
To some people, it was easy to talk to someone. To get to know them. To befriend them and eventually fall in love with them, but it wasn’t that easy for you. You wished it was. You know you wouldn’t survive the heartbreak. Your heart wouldn’t be able to be mended if it was broken into thousands of pieces.
You had closed yourself off to love. You refused to never fall in love again, but when you saw him for the first time, you knew you were screwed.
Today was Thursday. It was the last week before Christmas, and all of your classmates were buzzing with excitement and joy. Classes had been busy as professors were trying to get in last-minute quizzes and assignments before winter break began. You had woken up this morning to find an envelope slipped under your bedroom door. Your name had been written across it in beautiful cursive. You smiled to yourself as you gently opened the envelope to reveal a brief note inside.
Meet me in the astronomy tower tonight at 9. -D
D? Who could D be? If it was Cedric messing around with you, he was going to get it. You neatly folded the letter and set it on your dresser before making your way to the great hall for breakfast before classes started. Cedric had beat you down there, as he was already sitting at one of the tables talking to a cute Ravenclaw girl you recognized as Cho. As you made your way over to them, a group of Ravenclaw girls surrounded them, taking Cho with them and leaving Cedric there. When he caught a glimpse of you walking over, he smiled brightly.
“What was all of that about?” you asked as you sat down beside him and started filling your plate with eggs.
“I asked Cho to the Yule Ball, and she said yes.”
“That’s great, Cedric!” you beamed as you gave him a side hug.
“So when are you going to ask Malfoy?” Cedric teased you, causing you to choke on the water you were drinking. Your big eyes looked over at him as you pressed a finger to your lips.
“Shhh, keep it down, will you?”
“Oh, come on Y/N, just talk to him already.”
“Nope. No. Not going to happen.” You said, shaking your head as you took a bite of the eggs on your plate.
“Why not? What’s the worst thing that could happen?”
“Oh, let's see, I could make a gigantic fool of myself and then he would tell his friends and then the entire school would find out and I’d be the biggest laughingstock this school has ever seen!”
“Okay, jeez, calm down.” You let out a breath of air before continuing.
“Were you the one who put that note under my door?” you ask him.
“Note under your door? What? No.” Cedric and you had been best friends since your first year at Hogwarts and you knew he would never lie to you. You slump in your seat, putting your elbow up on the table and resting your head in your hand. You let out a frustrated sigh as you tried to figure out who could have left it. “So are you going to tell me about this note or…” Cedric trailed off as he caught you looking towards Malfoy. “Hello? Earth to Y/N!” Cedric said, snapping his fingers in front of your face to gain your attention. You look at him, startled for a second, before a slight frown forms on your face.
“I was doing it again, wasn’t I?” Cedric shakes his head in agreement as he gives you an apologetic smile. He pats your shoulder gently before asking about the note again.
“So this note…?”
“Oh, right, this morning when I woke up I found an envelope with my name written on it that must have been slipped under the door the night before. When I opened it, there was a note inside saying to meet at the astronomy tower at 9.” You tell him.
“Well, who was it from?”
“That’s the thing,” you sigh. “I don’t know. The person who signed it only put D. There have to be at least a hundred students whose name starts with D.'' You exasperatedly tell Cedric as the bell rings, signaling that breakfast was over and classes started in 10 minutes. You and Cedric both stand up, grab your school bags and file out of the great hall to your charms class.
The day goes by slowly as you wonder who could have left you the mysterious note. Finally, you make it to your potions class. You spend most of the time daydreaming about a certain blonde boy as Cedric takes notes and pays attention to the both of you. With five minutes left until the end of class, Professor Slughorn allows you all to take amongst yourselves as he discusses grades with a few students. You and Cedric mingle a bit before you notice a Slytherin girl walking up to Draco. She has tall, slender legs and beautiful hazelnut hair that flows down her back. She looks beautiful standing next to him as she giggles and flirts with him. You know Draco isn’t yours, but you can’t help but feel a hint of jealousy as the girl playfully nudges his arm. From where you're seated, you can hear the girl talking to him, asking if he has a date yet to the Yule Ball. He smiles down at her and shakes his head no. You know what’s about to happen next. She’ll ask him and of course, he’ll say yes and they’ll go to the dance together and then they’ll start to like each other and begin dating and at that point, you’ll just have to be homeschooled as there was no way you could survive seeing the two of them together every day. Tears form in your eyes as the bell rings and you dash out of the room and up to your bedroom. You flop down onto your bed as you cry into your pillow. You stay there until dinner is over, Cedric coming to check in on you and bring you some leftovers he was able to sneak to you.
“Feeling any better?” he asks as he rubs your back as you finish the food.
“Yeah, I guess,” you murmur.
“Ya know what? I think you need to forget about Draco. You have another admirer who wants to see you in two hours, so let’s get you feeling confident.” Cedric tells you. He’s right. You know he’s right, but how are you supposed to move on from someone so easily? You take a deep breath before looking at Cedric and giving him a smile.
“You’re right. Let’s do this.”
In no time at all is eight and Cedric has to leave to go back to his own room.
“Before I go, just remember to be yourself, and don’t get caught,” he tells you with a laugh.
“Thanks, Cedric. What would I do without you?” You tell him with a smile before giving him a hug.
“I have no idea, just be grateful you have me,” he tells you. "I’ll see ya in the morning. Don’t forget to tell me how it goes!” With that, Cedric closes your bedroom door as you try your best to put some makeup on your face before heading out to the astronomy tower.
The corridors are dark as your wand lights the way for you up to the astronomy tower. As nervous as you are, you try to remind yourself that this is a good thing. When you reach the last step, you take a deep breath before opening the heavy wooden door. At first, you don’t see anyone in there before you spot a head of bleach blonde hair looking down and reading a book. As the door closes shut behind you, he looks up, placing the book down, and walks over to you. This must be a mistake or some kind of cruel joke. Your heart races as your palms get sweaty as you blink owlishly at the boy before you. Draco. You gulp as you squeak out a quick sorry before turning back to the door and opening it.
“Wait,” he calls out. You hesitantly turn back around to see his face flushed, lip trembling, almost as if he’s nervous. As if he’s nervous of you. “Wait, don’t go. I know we’ve never talked before and you probably don’t even know that I’m in Potions with you and you have no idea what my name is but…” he trails off, bringing up a hand to scratch nervously at the back of his neck as he looks down at his shoes.
“Draco,” you murmur as his head raises. “Your name is Draco.”
“Yeah,” he says, giving you a slight smile. “And your Y/N.”
SUMMARY: In which Fred meets an American Witch ordering coffee late on night.
PAIRING: FredxReader
WARNINGS: None
Fred had headed into a muggle coffee shop after a long day of exploring in America. George and him had gone travelling to find new things to add to their line of objects for their joke shop. George had gone to the hotel while Fred wanted to see more even though it was nearing 9pm. Both men apparated to their desired locations, unknown to Fred, the barista working at the coffee shop has seen him appear out of thin air.
Walking into the empty shop the smell of the strong coffee and slightly less fresh pastries enveloped him. He slowly breathed in, inviting the new exotic smell to overwhelm his senses. The tall boy strides over the nearest open table pulling out a chair and plops himself into the seat. Fred glances at the little menu at the corner of the table, leaning over and tucking it underneath his slender fingers to pick it up s, he looks back down at it again. The boy seems to be having an internal debate in his head when he notices a silhouette coming into his line of view before abruptly stopping right in from of him.
"Can I get you anything?" the waitress looks down at the customer with a tight lipped smile, pen in one hand and the pad in the other she looks down and the boy analyzing his features. Different from what you usually sees in that area. Tall, ginger, posture that lightly resembles a fishing pole not curved like a hook but slightly curved at the top. He has got brown eyes and a nice smile on his face.
"I am kind of new to this area actually, what would you recommend?" he says as he tilts his head upward and then letting his eyes follow, he flicks them upwards to meet your e/c ones.
His eyes slowly scan down your body taking in your appearance and work attire. Luckily for you your boss wasn’t too strict on uniforms and allowed his employees to dress however they wanted as long as they have the beautiful vomit shade of green apron on top.
"Cool accent I like it" y/n smiles. "Well not to agree with stereotypes or anything but would you prefer to go out of your comfort zone and try coffee-" you snatch the menu from his pale colored hands
Scrunching his nose the stranger states" I have tried it before and I'm not that much of a fan"
"Maybe you just haven't tried it from a professional coffee maker yet" you say confidentially as you tug at your apron in a proud way.
With a teasing smile Fred answers "Oh, so you're a professional then?"
Y/n shakes her head with a small smile beginning to tug upward on her lips, "Never said I was"
"How about you surprise me and I will be the judge of that"
"You are on, I will be right back". Heading behind the counter y/n begins to think to herself, wondering if the young red head in the shop with her could be magical too. Of course her mind could be playing tricks on her and he did not actually appear out of no where, but it clearly looked like he apparated into the front of the shops door. You shake your head ridding your mind of those ridiculous ideas. Smiling to yourself you thought about how cool it would be to be friends with a wizard who didn’t go to Ilvermorny
You quickly cast a spell to make the coffee appear. Grabbing the drink you head over to the table carefully placing the cup on the table you sit down across from the boy and look at him in anticipation as he takes a sip from the glass mug.
Before you have a chance to ask him how the coffee is, his voice disrupts your thoughts. "That was quite fast, how did you do that?"
Leaning over with a smirk and a quick wink. "magic"
Intrigued Fred questions with a smile that could only be described as a mix between knowing smile and a smirk "so you are a witch then?"
"No haha of course not I was just messing around" . y/n's eyes darted around the room. Her e/c eyes not being able to look at his brown eyes and voice slightly higher than before.
With a soft voice and a half smile Fred looks at you, "I see you think you are slick, I saw you use magic to make my coffee"
"Well I sure hope you don’t think you are as sneaky either, I saw you apparate here" you answer in an accusing tone.
Not wanting to stop the conversation Fred glances at the clock resting just above the exit of the store before turning back to you.
"I better get back my brother is probably wanting me back, bored without me really."
Fred smiles cockily and proud at having made the young girl laugh. "If you would like, my brother and I own a joke shop in Diagon Alley, it's called Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes; you should stop by sometime y/n"
Sighing Fred scoots his chair back so slowly that only a faint screech could be heard in the shop. He stand up towering over his new acquaintance if he could call her that and begins to walk toward the door but not before being interrupted by you.
"Yea sure- " y/n shoots him a kind smile hoping to see the cute guy again but suddenly halts her actions and turns toward the unknown guy with a confused look on her face. "wait, how do you know my name? I never told you. "
As the young ginger exits the building he turns toward the girl with a smirk and a wink "magic", and apparates away.
Once again she caught herself smiling at his actions.
As you close up shop your mind was off in different places thinking of two things. Where is Diagon Alley and why didn’t you get the guys name?
“I hate you guys so much right now” You whisper over your right shoulder as you flex your fingers from the copious amount of writing you’ve done. You side eye Sirius before turning back to your piece of parchment. You somehow landed yourself in detention with ‘The Marauders’ as they stupidly called themselves. Sure they were your friends, but this particular incident had nothing to do with you. This time you were just an innocent bystander just like everyone else.
“You can never hate someone you love,” You heard Sirius whisper from your left. The others giggle as you roll your eyes.
“Who said anything about love? Now, shut it before she comes back in,” As you finish your sentence Professor McGonagall sweeps back into the room.
“Your hour with me is done here. You may leave once you hand in your parchment.” You pack all your things in a flash, and are the first one out of the room. You almost make it back to the (Y/H) dormitories before James magically appears in front of you.
“How in the world d-?” you start, exasperated by his sudden appearance. “Never mind. What do you want now? Come back to get me in more trouble?” You grab onto the straps of your backpack defensively.
“Actually, that’s what I came to apologize for.” He leaned up casually against the wall, and stuck his hands in his pocket. “I really didn’t mean to get you in trouble today.” You rolled your eyes as he ran his fingers through his hair. It was always something that he did when he wanted to look cool.
“I’m not going to forgive you just because you rumple up your hair,” You say while crossing your arms in front of yourself. “And how was charming the suits of armor to scare students in the corridors supposed to be funny?”
“Well, I did see you laughing after you charmed them to run down Peter, Sirius, Remus, and I” You cracked into a reluctant smile as he raised an eyebrow.
“It was the first thing I could think of.” You replied as you tried to stop your smile from spreading at the thought of them sprawled out on the floor confused. James peeled himself away from the wall, and pulled your arms away from yourself, so he could hold your hands. He tilted his head down to peer at you from over his glasses.
“C’mon, I don’t want us to be fighting on our Hogsmeade trip tomorrow.” You scrunched up your face, thought about it for a second, a then broke out into a big smile.
“Fine, I’ll forgive you. IF our trip tomorrow is just us,” James eyebrows raised up, “meaning no Marauders following us around,” as he opened his mouth to interject you snuck in, “even under your invisibility cloak.” James seemed to deflate a bit.
“Fine.” he said narrowing his eyes.
“I forgive you then,” You replied pulling him in to give him a quick peck on the lips. As you walked away to finally walk into your dormitories you called over your shoulder, “You three under the tapestry better stick to that promise.” Smiling, you heard muffled laughter as the door closed behind you.
Susan receives a letter from her close friend (and secret love), Hannah Abbott, inviting her to the new Abbott's Ale House and Accommodations... She already knows she's going to go. Even though it's a truly terrible idea.
can you maybe write a ff where y/n is paired with George Weasley, initially she is a muggle, yes she knows about the twin's magical world she had told them all about muggle things and pranks for their ideas. Kindly make it a slow burn but not too slow (1500 - 2000 words or you can adjust it according to yourself) don't end the ff on where they get together end it on the part after Hogwarts war where he proposed (Fred was alive (you can add a timeskip if you like)! thank you so much! :))
Hello! this is a lot late, I know, but I really hope you enjoy it. I sort of went a little overboard with the word count, I hope you don't mind.
Magical (George Weasley Fanfiction)
word count: 4000+
warnings: the battle of Hogwarts, heavy angst at the end but also a lot of fluff. but lmk if you find anything
a/n: all the pictures are from pinterest! Hope you enjoy!
If you think this didn't completely suck, feel free to check out my masterlist
“What are you doing?” George asks, and I look up from the embroidery that I’m doing on the sofa. He’s in his pyjamas just like me. I lift up the hoop and give him a look. He flops onto the sofa next to me and he watches me as I lace the thread into the fabric and out of it, following the outline that I made. It’s going to be a flowery pillow, or at least I hope it will be. I’m still learning. I ask, “You couldn’t sleep either?”
He shakes his head, even though he yawned. The moon casts a glow inside the room that’s enough for me to keep working, I wouldn’t want to turn on the lights and wake everyone up. I say, “You’re tired, George, go back to sleep.”
“I’m not tired.” he protests, and his eyes blink slowly. It’s been this way ever since I can remember. Every night before they go off to Hogwarts, we have a sleepover, and every night, I can’t sleep, my heart aching from the idea of missing my friends so much, and George would sneak in downstairs, eyes droopy and force himself to stay awake.
“We send each other letters everyday.” I say, reminding him that we would still be close, and maybe reminding myself too. He lays his head on the back of the sofa and he hums, “It’s not the same.”
“I wish you could come to Hogwarts with us,” he muses, and I try not to think about it too hard. My friends, my closest friends every year would go off and spend the entire school year far away from here, all the way in Scotland where they would learn magic and I would stay at home, missing them. He says, “Remember when mom and dad found out that you knew about us?”
I chuckle, remembering the memory fondly. It’s forbidden in the Wizarding World for a muggle to know about magic, but one day, when I was I think eight or nine, I was wondering outside my home, and I noticed a tall large house that was leaning so slightly, and I can’t remember why but I went towards that house, only to be flung backwards by a mysterious force.
George and Fred had stolen their older brothers’ wands and a spell had gone haywire. They rushed to help me, and they couldn’t hide from me the magic that I just experienced, maybe because they knew that I’d tell my parents who would eventually talk to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley who would then ground them for the rest of their lives.
“We kept it a secret for a long time.” I add, it took them years to find out, and maybe it would’ve taken them longer if I hadn’t slipped up. George laughs, “If only you wouldn’t have mentioned Hogwarts.”
“I was sad you were leaving! What was I supposed to do?” I exclaim, but my voice still low trying to be mindful of the rest of the members of the Weasley family that were sleeping upstairs. George shuffles closer to me and he repeats, the corners of his lips turned down, “I wish you could come with us this year especially.”
We’ve done this five times before, but it doesn’t get easier each year. Why couldn’t summer vacation be longer than just six weeks? I mirror his actions, placing my hoop beside me and moving closer to him, our thighs almost touching. I ask, “why this year especially?”
“I heard from Charlie that there will be something special happening, a tournament, other wizarding schools coming too…” he trails off, his eyes unfocused before adding in a low voice, “a Ball…”
“A Ball? You’ve never had a Ball at Hogwarts before.” I note, surprised, from their stories Hogwarts didn’t seem like a place for such festivities, they always had to be the ones to liven the place up with their brilliant pranks. Another thought enters my mind, a ball is basically a fancy dance, and a dance means that he’ll have to ask someone. I avoided his eyes, trying to sound as casual as I could. I inquired, “Do you have anyone in mind…for that?”
“Not really…I was thinking Fred and I could go solo,” he hums. I don’t think about the relief that I feel and I chuckle, “As if Fred would pass up an opportunity like this with Angelina.”
He chuckles as well. Fred has never been one to be shy when talking about the girls he likes. He has been going around flirting with their entire Quidditch team, first it was Spinnit, then Bell, and this year it’s Angelina. I do think this time it’s different though, he couldn’t stop talking about her gorgeous hair all summer.
“That is, if Charlie isn’t bluffing. He could be finally trying to get back at us, besides, I think this year I want to focus on our jokes more,” he says, moving the topic of conversation, and I’m grateful for the switch. The image of George dancing the night away with someone other than me, gets me all jittery. I ask, “what prank are you going to start with?”
“Hmm I don’t know, but I was thinking we finally do the fake knife thing you mentioned.” he suggests, and I clap my hands excitedly, and I move closer to him on the sofa. I add, “The one where you and Fred fake a fight in the Great Hall and he ends up ‘stabbing’ you in front of everyone?”
He nods, “I’m sure it’ll give everyone a big scare, especially the professors. Fred and I just have to figure out what to fight about, and set the scene well. If we’re doing this, then we’re going to do it well.”
“Ohh, I wish I could see it.” I say, before I have the time to process my words. George doesn’t mind it, he reaches over to grab my hand, he says, “I’ll make sure that you get a video.”
“How? I thought muggle stuff wasn’t allowed in Hogwarts.” I say, remembering the time when I tried to give George a pager so we could talk while he’s at Hogwarts, but it exploded as soon as they arrived inside the castle. He says, “Yes, but there’s this kid in Ginny’s year, and he always walks around with this camera of his, I’ll tell him about the prank before and I’ll tell him to take a video of it.”
“I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise.”
“You wouldn’t be ruining a thing, besides, It would be worth it so you can see it.” he mumbles, and his cheeks flush. I’m sure mine are the same. I try to not move my body so he doesn’t realise that he’s still holding my hand. He whispers, “I’m really going to miss you.”
“I’m going to miss you too.”
***
I’m laying on the grass in the middle of the field in front of the Weasley’s house. Bill and Charlie are visiting this year and I decided to pop in to say hello. I always visit Mrs. Weasley throughout the year, she says it gets lonely without everyone around. I have to agree with her, the quiet during the school year is eerie and uncomfortable compared to the joy and noise during the summer and winter breaks.
Spring has only just started a few weeks ago, but the flowers are already blooming to their fullest. I close my eyes and breathe in the soft air that blows from above the hill. A shadow covers my face, blocking me from the sun. I open my eyes softly and see a mop of ginger hair standing over me. It must be Bill or Charlie, no wait, it’s- I ask, “Fred?”
“In the flesh,” he says with a smile on his face. I quickly stand up and grin. I ramble, “You’re back, you’re back! You’re back early! What are you doing here, it’s the end of April? You still have a lot of weeks left in school.”
“We left, we quit!” Fred cheers, he explains, “Couldn’t stand Umbridge in the slightest and we don’t need the degrees anyways, we won’t need them for our joke shop.”
“Ugh, it’s so great that you’re here.” I exclaim, clapping my hands together. Their new professor was an awful person, the things they told me about in their letters is simply unforgivable. I feel better now that they’re both away from her. I look around a bit, and I find that George isn’t anywhere near the field where we’re standing. I pout and ask, “Where’s George?”
“At least act like you’re happy to see me a bit more than that before asking for the love of your life.” he teases me, a large laugh erupting from his throat mid way. My cheeks heat up, and I playfully punch his arm. I say, “I am happy to see you, and besides he’s not the love of my life-”
“Who’s not the love of your life?” George says, as soon as he appears in front of me in a flash. I stumble back and place my hand on my chest, in surprise. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to his apparating thing that they do. My cheeks turn even more red as I wave him off, “Nothing, no one.”
He turns to Fred in question but Fred only shrugs his shoulders, and sends me a subtle wink when George gives him his back. George finally looks at me and he smiles. He closes the space between us, and he covers me with his arms. I wrap my arms around him in a hug. I inhale the smell of cinnamon and fireworks and his cologne. He whispers in my ear, sending goosebumps over my neck, “we’re back…I just couldn’t wait to see you.”
“You liar, Fred told me that you quit school.” I say, pulling back from the hug, and Fred interrupts the private moment, he says, “I don’t think he’s entirely lying, love.”
George’s head snaps to his brother and he glares at him. A terrifying voice booms from the bottom of the hill, a terrifying voice that I know all too well. We all tense as we hear Mrs. Weasley shout out the twins' name. I ask, “I take it you didn’t talk to her about this before you left.”
“I’ll go talk to her. You two catch up.” Fred says, while walking down the hill and towards the burrow. Mrs. Weasley starts shouting again, but the voices quiet down as they close the door behind them, taking the conversation inside. George sinks down to the grass, his knees close to his chest and his hands covering his face.
“It’s going to be okay, George.” I reassure him, but honestly, I have no idea. Mrs. Weasley has often expressed her distaste for their liking for jokes and pranks and especially when they decided they want to pursue it as their jobs. I do think they can make a career out of it, but I don’t know if Mrs. Weasley will support them.
I sat down beside him, our hips flushed together. I repeat my thoughts, “I fully support your dreams, George, no matter what.”
“Yeah, I know,” he replies. He uncovers his face and the sun shines its bright rays across his face, making his beautiful brown eyes glimmer. My breath hitches. I only now notice the large scar on the bag of his hand with the words ‘I must not tell lies’. I reach out and grab his hand gently, looking over at it with concern in my eyes.
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” George says, trying to make it seem like it’s nothing. It looks like someone carved the words into his hands with a knife. I grave the cut over with my thumb, holding his hand gently. The words are cut in deep too. I sigh, “George, this is terrible.”
“Don’t worry, we rub an ointment on it every day, so it only hurts a little now,” his words offer little comfort as I gasp, “It still hurts?”
The scar looks like it’s been there for a long time, it’s already started to heal. It’s no longer a deep red but rather a softer sort of pink. He chuckles nervously, trying to soften the blow, “I mean, no it doesn’t hurt, of course it won’t fade but-”
“It’s going to be this way, forever?” I exclaim, and I take in a deep breath looking off into the distance. I always remember that as magical as their world is, it’s also very dangerous. I shouldn’t have to worry about them when they’re just at school, but I am, and with the things they’re telling me, with what’s coming. I haven’t been this worried since they were attacked at the big Quidditch game last year. George doesn’t answer and that’s all the confirmation I need.
“I don’t want you to worry.” he says, and I look at him incredulously. Tears appear in my eyes, I wish I’d been there when this all happened, so I could’ve helped, but what help can I be with magical problems when I’m not magical? He pulled me into his chest, and I said, “How can I not?”
“At least I’ll get to see you all the time now.” George says with a coy grin on his face. Yes! No more of them leaving for ten out of twelve months a year. No more weird letters appearing out of nowhere that catch my parent’s attention. I could even see them everyday. I laugh, “That is a good consolation prize.”
I snuggle deeper into his chest, ignoring the way he tenses up first before wrapping his arms around my stomach. The blades of grass and the flowers all bend to the side as the gusts of wind wooshes through. I sigh, “I’m really happy you’re here, George.”
“Can I ask you a question?” he says, and I nod my head, of course, he can ask me anything. He scratches the back of his neck, anxious, and he stutters a bit before tilting his head towards the burrow, he says, “When I was inside…Bill told me something.”
Oohh no, what did Bill say now? All the Weasleys are such nosey people, I hope he didn’t tell George about how I’m madly in love with him. This could ruin everything. I say nothing, and it urges him to continue, “he said that you were dating someone, some guy named Rick or something.”
Ah yes, Rick, the guy from my A-level English class. He was almost nothing, I only told Bill because Rick once sent me a message when I was at the Burrow, and as previously mentioned, the Weasleys are nosey. I explain, “It wasn’t anything too important, it was a two week thing, at most.”
George just hums, his chest hitches from behind me. He asks, “Do you…like him?”
No, oh god, no I do not. I have not liked anyone other than George, but how can I say that, how can I say that to him without ruining everything. We’ve been friends for over a decade, just because I feel like I might die whenever he mentioned that he went to the Yule Ball with Spinnit or that I get so happy whenever he’s around and because I want to kiss him, always. That’s not a good enough reason to say anything that might ruin this, unless he gives me a sign-
“I really hope you don’t.”
My head snaps to his face, my heart in my chest. He couldn’t mean… could he? I know George better than I know anyone else, and I don’t understand a single thing that’s happening. Why is he looking at me like that? My stomach tumbles like I’m riding a rollercoaster, oh, George would love going on a rollercoaster. I stutter, “No, I-I don’t like him.”
“Oh?” he hums, and he’s not looking at my eyes anymore, he’s looking at my lips. I feel like I might throw up, my heart is beating so fast. He licks his lips, and I add, with very little courage in me but with a lot of hope, “I like someone else.”
“Anyone I know?” George muses, and he tugs me closer to him by my waist. Our legs tangled up like some unorganised wires together. I place my shaking hands on his chest, and he looks back at me, waiting. I know exactly what that look is now. Before I hesitate, and while my heart beat is right in my ears, I say, “Just kiss me already, George.”
And he does.
***
It’s been two hours while I wait at the Burrow. The lights closed and the only thing shining was the moonlight. I’d open the lights but I can’t get myself to move from my spot on the sofa. The spot where I was when George explained to me that the entire Weasley family were going to go fight an evil wizard, never mind that the last time they ‘faced’ them, the Burrow was burned down.
Nothing could make him stay, not begging and not tears. The dark and grim atmosphere is a sharp contrast to the usual happy mood of the burrow. I sat there for hours with one eye on the clock and the other eye on the Weasley family clock, each hand on the clock representing a member of the Weasley family. All the clocks pointing at Hogwarts and all of them still hanging on.
Another hour passes, and I start pacing, maybe I should clean up a bit? The brooms and the dishes usually do their work with magic, but I’m sure I can still use them. I pick up the broom and start out with George and I’s room, where we’re staying when we’re at the Burrow. As soon as I walk in, I’m hit with a wave of nausea, looking at all the picture frames and the messed up bed that we were too lazy to make in the morning, staying in bed for just a little bit longer.
The pictures of George at Hogwarts with the Quidditch team, pictures of our first date, and second and our apartment together with Fred above the shop, where I’m legally allowed to be, but that never stopped us. A helpless sob escapes from my mouth, what if something happens to him? He already lost an ear a few months ago, what if he dies? What if any of them die?
This is a horrible idea, I close the door to the room and go back downstairs, I’ll clean up here instead. I clean like I’ve never cleaned before. Vacuuming, cleaning all the stairs, washing the walls, and dusting and anything I can possibly think of. I do the dishes and I look back at the clock. It's been three hours already, and nothing. They will be hungry when they all come back, I should make them something to eat.
I should make something sweet and salty. I’ll make muffins and I should probably also make a casserole, or maybe they’d want something lighter to eat. Should I make eggs? But eggs don’t taste well after they sit for a long time, but why would they sit for a long time? They should all be back any minute now.
Another hour passes.
This one I spent crying, everyone in this family was a major part of my life. Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley who have been my second parents ever since I was eight. Ginny who is the little sister I never had. Will I ever get to see Ron and Hermione admit their feelings for each other? Bill who finally moved back home after years and Fleur who I only started to get to know better. Charlie who actually tried to give me a dragon egg when I was ten because I wanted one so bad before Percy took it away because how reckless is it to give a ten year old a dragon egg. Fred who has been my best friend for years and only finally started to live his dreams. And George-
I keep crying until another hour passes. I hear a stumble outside the door of the burrow, and at lightning speed, I rush to see who it is. I swing the door open and outside it is Fred with bruised skin and blood splattered over his clothes and body. I sob and rush over to hug him. He’s okay, he’s okay, he’s okay.
“Come on, I have to get you somewhere?” Fred announces, and he takes his wand out of his jeans and takes my hand. I look between his face and the wand that’s in his grip and the horror goes through me. Where’s George? I’m just about to say it when Fred says, “This is going to feel weird.”
And it did feel weird. My body contorts and swirls and flips through space, and in a flash I’m in a new place, I almost throw up, the bile rising up to my mouth and I have to force it back down while clutching my stomach. How did they apparate as often as this did? This is awful. I regain my composure and I feel the gust of wind, and I notice that I’m standing in front of a castle that’s covered in ruins, I almost throw up again when I notice all the blood and a few bodies just a few metres away.
Fred is smiling, that means that nothing bad could’ve happened, right? He motions for me with his finger to turn around, and I furrow my eyebrows before spinning to look behind me. It’s George. With all his limbs and only a broken lip, and some bruises up his arms, and his clothes covered in dirt and dust. I close the gap between us and hug him. I start crying again, and he tightens his grip around me, squeezing me tight. I sob, “you’re okay, you’re okay.”
“I know this isn’t the best of circumstances but I wanted you to see it.” George says, and he nods his head towards the castle. I turn to look at it, the words clicking, this must be Hogwarts. It’s so much more grand than the photos. I imagine it must’ve looked better even before all this. He says, “I always wanted you to see it before…”
He trails off, and I pull myself back closer to him, the distance unbearable now. I urged him on, “Before?”
He clears his throat, and he starts another sentence, “I was going to wait, do it at a better time, but I- this day was not good-” he chuckles, he always finds joy even in the worst moments, but why was he talking like this? Is everything okay? Is he going to die? He continues before I break down again, “The entire time we were fighting I just kept thinking, Merlin, I’d be an idiot if I died without marrying you.”
It stops me in my tracks, my mouth parts open. No way, right? No way. He takes a step from me, and I keep my arms linked to his before he releases it. He starts to lean down, my heart is lurching in my throat, no way. He sinks down on one knee with his back straighted, plucking a small velvet box out of his pocket. I hear a cheer and I turn around to fit every Weasley family member watching behind us; including Harry and Hermione.
I chuckle and tears start to fall from my eyes. I wipe them quickly and a smile graces my face. They’re all okay. George clears his throat, and grins, he starts, “Will you-”
“Yes.”
“Let me finish.” George chuckles and a few echo from behind us the same laughter. I bite down on my bottom lip and George shakes his head fondly, he repeats, “Will you marry-”
“Yes!” I interrupt again and lurch forward into his arms. The box almost falls from his hands as he catches me on the ground. He laughs and shrugs his shoulders towards his family, he whispers, “Close enough-”
I interrupted him again this time by placing a kiss on his mouth.
Summary: A stranger sends you the an accidental love confession to the wrong number, but you can't let it go, what happens when you two cross paths later?
Pairing: James Potter + Reader (modern au)
Warnings: James being hung up on Lily, meeting strangers, Sirius being Sirius, James being hot AND a hockey player Reader has some anxiety when it comes to new things and new people. I think that's all but if you find something else, lmk.
Word count: 4.5k (I know I promised that this series would be 2k each plss)
Hello, Lily, it’s me James. I know that it’s been a while, but I still haven’t stopped thinking about you. I love you, I know it’s getting crazy repetitive after all these years, but I can’t help it, it’s true. I love you. I love everything about you from your hair to your clothes and especially the way you act, even when you’re yelling at me. Call me if you get this, or text or send a pigeon, anything.
I look at the message again for the fourth time since I’ve received it this morning, the message that I got on my new phone after I changed my number, a message very clearly not intended for me. I shouldn’t meddle, whoever this James is, he will surely understand sooner or later that he sent this (sweet) message to the wrong number. My phone dings.
I’m sorry, that was too forward, but it’s nothing you didn’t already know, right? Ha, well I’m making a fool of myself here, I’ll talk to you at the reunion in a few weeks alright?
Oh, I sure hope everything ends up well from him. I lean over my phone, shielding it with my body, moving side to side on my chair, avoiding all the work that’s glaring at me from my computer’s screen. My chair swivels around quickly to the other side, someone’s hand twirling it on its base, making me face them.
“What are you looking at?”
Lizzy asks, taking my phone away from my hands, even after I desperately clutch it in between my fingers, accidentally pressing all the buttons. The screen turns black, but Lizzy only inserts my password to turn it on. I can never escape her. I groan, “Come on, Lizzy. We’ve talked about this. Not at home and at work-”
“You didn’t tell me your name is Lily,” she says, furrowing an eyebrow at me in question. She pushes and probes at the screen as if it’s going to give her any more answers other than the heartfelt text that was sent. I shake my head, “It’s not.”
“It’s an endearing message, are you going to reply?” she says, handing me back my phone by the tips of her fingers, carelessly. I clutch it in my lap and quickly look at the messages before looking at her, her body leaning on her desk, arms crossed. I shake my head again and say, “no, definitely not. It’s none of my business.”
She nods but then she bites her lip the way she always does when she’s plotting something, most of the time, that something is not tasteful. She explains, “But what if he mentions the text at this reunion and completely embarrasses himself?”
“I didn’t think of that part…” I mumbled, my heart launched itself in my throat like a rocket when I saw the message. I couldn’t remember when was the last time someone told me something even close to that. Lizzy continues, “Exactly, and he seems nice enough, just give him a call and let him know that it’s the wrong number.”
“Maybe a text would be better,” I say, I can’t imagine what a conversation on the phone would even look like, it’ll be easier to break the news via text. Lizzy rolls her eyes at me, taking my phone away from my hands again, this time I don’t resist. She clicks a few times before asking, “Do you think he’s hot?”
“What?”
“He sounds like he’s hot.”
“How would I know-” I say, the first thing I checked when I received the message was the profile picture, that didn’t have any picture present. Our boss yells out from the door to her office, and Lizzy sprints back to her desk, and I turn, fast, hitting my knees on the desk beside me as I turn to face my computer, moving the mouse, haphazardly, acting as though work was the thing on my mind.
Hey, James. I text as soon as our boss turns around after I looked behind me to make sure that she isn’t looking. I put my phone on my desk, and clear my head of all this nonsense. There are still six more hours to this workday and one hour till lunch, I need to get all this work done.
My phone rings, loudly, echoing through the walls of the office. I rush to mute the ring before looking to find my boss glaring at me. I look at the caller, and- oh, god, it’s James. Caller ID showing his name in full James Potter, I don’t know any other James but him. I stand up abruptly, and whisper an apology to my boss, “I’m sorry, I have to take this.”
I walk out to the office, and stand outside the glass doors, finding Lizzy looking at me, curiously. I take a breath before sliding my finger on my phone, answering the call.
“Lily?”
James says, his voice soft and hopeful. I scrunch up my nose, this is exactly why I didn’t want to do this on call. I clear my throat and I say, “No, actually this is…um well, you can call me Birdie, everyone does.”
“Is this not Lily Evan’s phone?” he says, deflated. I shake my head, and my face flushes, I reply, “No-I uh I just got this number a few weeks ago, she must’ve changed her’s.”
There’s silence on the other end of the line, it stays for a few seconds and I have to check if the call wasn’t cut off. There’s a long sigh before he asks, “So you read the message that I sent?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude or anything-”
“It’s okay, I’m glad I found this out before the reunion or else I would’ve completely humiliated myself trying to talk to her about the text,” he whispers, his words all breathy. The disappointment must be astronomical. I try to lift the burden by saying, “It was a really sweet message, maybe try to find her number and tell her again.”
“Nahh, I don’t think she’d want to hear it again,” he says. It must not be the first time he’s told her his feelings, though I gathered that much from the message. But why would he tell her again? No, no, this is none of my business, though James rambles, “I mean, it’s been years and I’ve been asking for a sign, maybe this is my sign. Do you think this is a sign?”
“I-uh”
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t involve you in this,” he says, saving me from having to answer. I shrug, “It’s okay.” I support my weight on the brick wall next to me and look inside the office through the glass doors. Lizzy, still looking at me curiously and our boss, still glaring. Another moment passes, and I hear shuffling on the other end of the phone. He says, “I think it’s a sign.”
“I don’t know what’s happened between the both of you, but if this isn’t the first time you’ve confessed your feelings and all the times before they weren’t reciprocated…then as much as I hate to say it…it might not be meant to be,” I say, offering the advice that he didn’t ask for. My face turns red, who am I to act all high and mighty involving relationships when I’ve never had one?
“I’ll think about it,” his voice quivers at the end, “you said your name was Birdie?”
“Nickname- uh, yes.”
“Well, thank you, Birdie, I don’t want to waste any more of your day. Thank you for replying,” he says, and I bite my lip and roll my shoulders, trying to ease out the tension. That wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. I stand up, straightening, tearing my body off the wall, and walking the few steps to the door of the office. I say, “It’s okay, I don’t mind.”
***
“We do not need name brand cereal,” I say, convincing Lizzy to put the expensive sugary breakfast back on the shelves. She points her finger at me, threatening, “If we don’t get the name brand cereal, then we should splurge on our hair.”
She fails to realise that throwing money at cereal is much less costly than throwing money on a bunch of hair care products. Unconsciously, I twirl the ends of my hair around my fingers and I straighten my face to stop myself from wincing. I reach out my hand and shake hers, “Deal.”
The store’s bell rings and a noisy group starts to walk through the aisles. I push our trolley away to the other side, heading to the personal items section. Lizzy starts to pick out specific products for her tightly coiled hair while I try to find a shampoo that will suit us both.
“Sirius, just try not to waste all our time here,” someone says a few feet away from us. There’s a group of men that are also searching for shampoos of their own. The one named serious (?) replies, “Come on mooney, one doesn’t just wake up looking this good.”
He flips his hair while doing so, his friends roll their eyes and continue to peruse the rows of products. I turn back to Lizzy, seeing her attention drawn to the boisterous group next to us, her eyes trained on the one named Sirius? She leaves the bottle of gel on the shelf and whispers in my ear, “He’s gorgeous, isn’t he?”
I look back at the group, focusing on their appearance. There’s three of them. The first, the one who was referred to as moony, is much taller than the other two and he has brown hair. The second, Sirius, who’s caught Lizzy's fancy has longer black hair and is dressed in a leather jacket. The last one is more muscular than the other two with dark curly hair and glasses perched on his nose.
“Well you sure do try,” the last one teases, with a beautiful smile on his face. Sirius ribs him in his stomach, but it doesn’t bother him that much. Sirius flips his hair over his shoulder, overdramatically, saying, “Shut up, James. Maybe if you gave in a little more effort the ladies would like you as much as they do me.”
James? Funny how that name has been popping up so much in the last few months. He actually does sound kind of like…Lizzy continues that thought, “How funny would it be if it were James that texted you his un-dying love?”
“He didn’t text me-” I start but my eyes fall to the group coming closer towards us and that’s how I notice the shelves of men’s shampoo right next to me. They toss us a few smiles before standing in front of the shelves picking up the strong smelling shampoos. Lizzy’s eyes trail over Sirius’ body before she grabs my hand for us to head over to the conditioners. She says, “Come on, Birdie.”
“Birdie? James isn’t that the same-”
Someone taps my shoulder. I turned around to face them, Lizzy’s fingers still wrapped tightly around my wrist, my shoulder tugged towards her. Sirius is standing with a wide inquisitive grin on his face. James hides behind ‘moony’, his face burning. Sirius clears his throat before asking, “Excuse me, this might sound a bit odd, but do you happen to be the Bridie that my dear James confused his undying love to mistakenly three months ago?”
Lizzy shoves me to the side, and peeks her face from behind me. She places both her hands on my shoulders and shakes me. Lizzy answers for me, “Yup, that’s her.”
James perks up from behind his tall friend, and before I can question anything, Sirius is on his knees on the ground, with his palms clutched together, as if he were pleading. He starts to say, “Thank you, thank you, after years, and years, you finally got it into prongs’ head that Lily doesn’t want him. Thank you!”
“Prongs?”
“That’s James’ lil’ nickname. Anyways, thank you for doing what none of us could. THANK YOU!” he ends with his forehead landing on his clasped hands with his hair falling from behind his shoulders. My eyes flicker to Lizzy in questioning, what is happening? ‘Moony’ steps up and lifts Sirius up from the ground and he has an apologetic look on his face.
“I’m not really sure I did much, maybe he just had that revelation on his own,” I mumble, my ears are red, people from the store are already watching this encounter. James finally speaks up, shoving Sirius to the side, giving him a tiny glare, “I’m really sorry about him, Birdie.”
“It’s okay,” I say, trying not to flush under his gaze. I guess Lizzy was right, James is more handsome than I imagined. Sirius bounces on his feet and he says, looking back at ‘moony’ for a second, “We have to thank them, we should go buy them drinks.”
“Sirius, we really shouldn’t-”
“Oh, Remy, don’t worry-” he turns back to look at us, “You pick the place obviously, whatever makes you both comfortable.”
I look back at Lizzy, we’re still doing our shopping despite how this situation is, we couldn’t just go out with them? She has a smile on her face, and she lifts her finger, while she pulls me behind, "Excuse us for a moment.”
“So what are you thinking?” Lizzy says, as soon as we’re out of ear-shot, hidden behind one of the aisles. I take a peak back to where we were standing and notice James giving Sirius a heated talk while Remy watches in amusement. I answer, “I don’t know…”
“I think we should go. I know we don’t know them, but we’ll just pick our regular coffee shop, the people there know us, and it’s bright out, and I can’t imagine us staying out for long. We can finally do something spontaneous and not spend the day arguing about what to spend on. Plus, they’re really hot,” Lizzy concludes, this time her head turning back for her to take a look.
She doesn’t say it, but I know she wants to, she wants me to finally go out and do something else, something new. She wants me to date, and she thinks this will be a stepping stone, though I don’t know how this will help with that. I shrug my shoulders and mumble, “Alright.”
She grins and we walk back to them. Remy notices first, clearing his throat loudly, alerting the other two of our presence and they both look away, straightening up. Lizzy says, “I know this great spot for coffee, you alright with coffee?”
They all nod and we head on our way.
***
“What do you want, gorgeous?” Sirius asks as soon as Lizzy and I sit down on the couch, giving Lizzy a sly grin. She mirrors the expression and slides her hair behind her shoulder, she replies, coyly, “A shaken espresso with oat milk.”
I shove her playfully as soon as Sirius is out of view and her cheeks flush a light pink that I rarely see. James juts his bottom lip out and asks, “What about you Birdie? And Remus?”
“It’s okay I don’t mind anything,” I reply shrugging my shoulders, avoiding looking directly into his beautiful brown eyes. Remy? No- Remus says, “You really don’t mind anything?”
I’m about to repeat the same statement as before when Lizzy nudges me with a look. I flush and say, “My favorite is actually a caramel latte please, if you don’t mind.”
“Your wish is my command,” James jokes with a pretty smile before turning to Remus, “The usual?”
Remus nods, and he sits down on the chair beside the couch we’re on. Lizzy’s too busy staring at Sirius’ back to notice Remus wanting to say something. I turn to the brunette and he starts, “I hope you’re not feeling too uncomfortable, Sirius always means well even if he doesn’t always get the social cues.”
“Oh, it’s okay, what’s wrong with a little bit of spontaneity?" a reply with a grimace at the last part, I can’t remember the last time I did something without extensive planning, Lizzy squeezes my thigh under the table in comfort. I thank her with a smile. My eyes glance over to where James and Sirius are getting drinks, and I mumble, “I’m not sure James wants to do this though.”
“Oh-I I think he does, he’s mentioned you a few times, I think it’s a surprise-” he stutters before Lizzy turns to him quickly as soon as she sees the two men walking over hands filled with drinks. She asks, “Is Sirius dating anyone?”
“No-”
“Perfect,” she says, before leaning forward on the table, forcing her chest out. I chuckle under my breath at my friend’s antics, and even Remus’ lips quirk upwards. Sirius sets down Lizzy’s drink in front of her with a wink and she wraps her lips around the straw and sets her eyes on him. I look away, Lizzy sure is bold.
James looks away from the ongoing interaction and clears his throat. He sets down Remus’ drink from his left hand and my own with his right, then he grabs his cup that was suffocating between his bicep and forearm. I try not to look at the condensation dripping on his muscles from the cold drink. The only difference between Lizzy and I is that I keep the thoughts in my head.
James sits opposite to me and Sirius next to him. I sip my drink quietly enjoying the sugar flavor on my tongue. I look to my left and notice the espresso shot that Remus is drinking, I ask, “You don’t drink it with any sugar or cream?”
Remus gulps down the sip he was taking and sets the small paper cup down with a small clunk. He shakes his head and explains, “I like coffee, I don’t need anything to drown the taste.”
I nod my head and feel the awkwardness to seep in, what was there to talk about? I barely know a thing about these people, and as I face the right and find Lizzy still making eyes at Sirius, I feel the urge to say anything. As seamlessly as possible I try to open my phone, and scroll the chat between James and I, trying to find a clue on what to say, looking up every few seconds to make sure that I’m not offending anyone- yes, okay this is good.
“You mentioned that you had a high school reunion or something like that?”
“Ah yes, it was uh- a few weeks ago,” James answers, connecting the dots since he mentioned it to me around a month ago. That pulls Sirius’ attention and he slams his hand on his friends shoulder, a strong hand that doesn’t move James in the slightest, must be all the muscles. Sirius says, “It was exactly seventy two days ago, I will remember that historical day for all my life.”
“Why exactly is it historical again?” Lizzy asks, and just as Sirius beams, James sags. Sirius leans back in his chair and tangles his fingers on the table in front of him. He explains, boistrously, “The day that James finally proved that he moved on from Lily.”
“An ex girlfriend?” Lizzy asks, I musn’t have filled her in on all the details. Sirius repeats all the information that I already know to Lizzy with every explanation and facial expression flirtatious. It’s a special talent to make a simple conversation flirtatious. I feel someone’s eyes on me and I find James, watching me. I flush and look away again while he inconspiciously grabs his cup and starts to suck on the straw.
I stare out of the window and think, what is the goal here again? Obviously, Lizzy and Sirius have it figured out, but what am I doing here? I’m definelty not going to ask James out, he seems embaressed by the whole ordeal actually. I know I would be if the roles were reversed.
“Hey, Biride, can you go get me a cookie?” Lizzy interupts my thoughts and bats her eyelashes at me. I purse my lips, suspiciously but nod anyways. After I stand, Sirius looks to James and says, “Hey, mate, can you go get me a cookie too?”
Sirius also bats his eyelashes at James. It only makes me look at Lizzy with more suspicioun. When did they plan this? James doesn’t give his friend a response, he instead stands and tilts his head to ask me, “Come with me?”
I nod my head and scoot between the table and couch and behind Remus’ chair. We walk the two feet together, but not before I shot Lizzy a look, she instead gives me two excited thumbs up. My face heats up and I hear James saying, “Two cookies please.”
He hands his card over to Charles the cachier, and I stumble over my words, “Oh, you don’t have to-”
“Come on, Birdie, let your handsome date pay for your things,” Charles interupts, and I glare at him and ignore the way he eyes James, not that I’ve been any better. James says, “I forgot you were a regular here.”
I nod my head and internally beg Charles to stop talking but he starts to- oh, god- threaten James, “I see Birdie here every few days, if you so much as even look at her the wrong way, I will have your head. I might not look it, but I can swing a nice punch.”
“It’s not-”
“I’ll take good care of her, don’t worry,” James says, and Charlies smiles, genuinly and wishes him a nice day while giving him his receipt, reverting back to his customer service voice. We move aside away from the line waiting at the cachier and stand to the side to receive our order. I lift my hands up to my face and press the back of my fingers to my cheeks trying to cool down the heat.
“I’m sorry about him,” I say, giving Charles a glare while he takes the order of the next customer. James chuckles deep with his chest, and says, “It’s okay, I’m sorry about this whole thing too.”
“It’s okay,” I mirror his words, and he leans on the ceramic table. His arms bulging under his weight, I move my eyes back to his face quickly, hoping that he didn’t catch me oogling his arms for the millionth time in the last hour. He asks, “when you called me, you were at work, right?”
I nod my head and remember the stern talking to that my boss gave me after I hung up the phone. I’m not in the mood to talk about my own job, so I turn the question around, “What do you do?”
“I’m a hockey player,” James replies, and my mouth forms an ‘O’ in understanding. I say before I can stop myself, “Well, that explains it.”
“Explains what?” James asks, innocently but with his lips turned upwards. Oh my god, what am I supposed to say? That explains your amazing muscular body, I can’t- I swear I see his pecs flex under his shirt. I ramble, “I- I mean, you’re just- I don’t know, well, you know, you seem-”
“I’m just messing with you,” James laughs, and I cover my face with my hands. This couldn’t be going any worse. My face must be burning. James leans down, and through my fingers I can see him. I pull my hands away from my face, and he grins, oh, he’s going to kill me, instinctivly, I look away, my eyes falling on my friend who is pulling out all her moves right before my eyes; the lip bite, the hair toss, the works.
I also notice that Sirius’ hand is itching to grab her’s over the table. They seem to be really hitting it off. To the other end of the table, there is Remus sitting, phone face down, and espresso cup empty, looking anywhere but at the sight in front of him. I say, “we should go save Remus.”
“You’re very kind, but he’s used to it by now,” James says, and I frown slightly. Does Sirius do this sort of thing a lot? I wouldn’t want Lizzy to get too invested and have her heart broken. James adds, “Don’t worry about your friend, Sirius acts all flirtatious but he has a good heart.”
I nod my head and look away from the table. Marjorie slides two plates over to us, gliding over the ceramic counter, each with a cookie on top of them. James grabs both before I can act, and we start walking towards the table. Just two feet away, still out of earshot because of the chatter in the cafe. He stops and says, “Birdie.”
I hum, and turn to face him, I notice the tight grip he has on the small circular plates. He stares at his shoes and then looks me in the eye. I press my lips together and he starts, “Excuse me if I’m being too-uh forward, but are you seeing anyone right now?”
I accidentally slightly bite my lip in surprise. I let out a small pained noise, and James takes a step forward qujickly apologizeing, “I’m sorry I asked, it’s none of my business-”
I wave him off and take a moment to let the sting in my mouth quiet down. I explain, “Sorry, I just bit my tongue,” James laughs and I can’t help but chuckle too as the pain simmers down, “no, I’m not seeing anyone, right now.”
He smiles and nods his head, sheepishly. We take another step towards the table when he adds, “You wouldn’t mind if I called you sometime?”
I shake my head, and say, “Not at all,” his smile widens, and his eyes crinkle at the sides. I look at the wooden boards, feeling my own grin on my face. Lizzy notices, of course and her eye brows quirk up with a knowing expression. We sit back down on the table, and it’s only an hour before we have to leave to go on with our own days.
I try not to think about James calling, most men say they will, but don’t, or say they will and actually call many days or even a week later. Still, I can’t help but make sure that my phone is on the maximum volume, making sure I don’t miss the phone when it does ring. On our way home Lizzy says, “It’s sort of like fate, isn’t it? A sign?”
I shrug my shoulders, the words simillar to what I heard from James three months ago. I try not to get my hopes up, but I have a good feeling about all this. Lizzy gave Sirius her number too. Later in the day, just an hour after the sun went down, my phone rings, Lizzy laughs when I jump to where it is. Caller ID says, James Potter.
He called so quickly, this has got to be a good sign, right? I take in a deep breath and let it ring for an extra second before I pick it up, “Hello?”
“Hey, Birdie.”
a/n: I hope you enjoyed reading! If you think this didn’t completely suck, feel free to check out my other masterlists. You can also support the blog or buy me a coffee here.
