HARRY POTTER:
THE GOBLET OF FIRE!

WARNINGS:
none!
the main character is hinted to be bi, but it's just for one scene :)
(part 2 coming)

___________

"Good news, George," Fred said as he bounded up to his brother, eyes flickering between him, and who he was looking at.

"Yeah?" George replied, not taking his eyes away from you. You were sat at your house table, chatting with your best friend, and your boyfriend who stood next to where the two of you were. Cedric and you had been dating ever since George had realized who you were, and George had been thoroughly jealous most of that time. But he wasn't paying attention to that, instead simply the way you spoke with a smile at the corner of your mouth, hair pushed back behind your ear so gently. What George wouldn't give to kiss those lips, to tuck that stray hair away from your face so that he could see into your pretty (e/c) eyes properly.

Yeah, it was safe to say that George Weasley was absolutely smitten. You'd met properly at the beginning of the year, having not been in the same house, or have many classes together before that. Angela and a friend of yours had started dating, and because of it the two of your groups ended up in the same carriage on the way up to school. It was pretty much love at first sight for George, as soon as you'd ripped into one of the Bulgarian Quidditch players after the final that'd just happened.

His eyes were trained on you with a certain kind of adoration the whole time, his lips stretching into a cheesy smile as you went into an animated story about what had happened, and Victor Krum's shoddy stick-work (despite the fact that he was there, and knew all of it already). As soon as you all separated to make your way to your house tables, Fred was relentless in teasing his twin. Especially when George made it so painfully obvious.

"You're in love, mate!" He grinned.

"Shut up!" George rolled his eyes, but couldn't stop the smile from breaking out onto his face when he caught your gaze from across the room, and you waved at his familiar face.

As of right then, it was only a month before the Yule Ball. And George wanted nothing more to take you to it, to dance with you the entire night, make you smile, and give you everything that you deserved. Not that he didn't think Cedric could give you that - he was just a little selfish. He couldn't be blamed for his feelings. Not when you were funny, intelligent, absolutely beautiful, and everything he didn't know he wanted.

"Cedric and (Y/n) have broken up," Fred remarked casually, and watched as his brother didn't seem to process it at first, distracted by you.

George's heart dropped once he'd realized, and he whipped his head towards his twin, "Are you serious?" He asked in quiet disbelief, not understanding. Not quite processing what had just been said.

"For once. I promise," He beamed, raising his hands up to show that he was innocent, perhaps not crossing any fingers.

"No," George breathed out, not believing it as he looked over to you. You and Cedric were talking as if nothing had happened, which wasn't exactly normal for two people who had just broken up, "They don't look very heartbroken to me."

"They're just diplomatic. That's what happens when a Hufflepuff is in a relationship," Fred chuckled slightly, "Look, Angela said that they broke up because they drifted apart, you know with O.W.Ls, and the Triwizard tournament and all. They're still really close, but they're not together."

"When did this happen?" He enquired, picking up on the way that Cedric wasn't as tactile as usual. Not in the boyfriend sense, anyway. You would usually be holding hands, or be pressed up thigh to thigh at a table.

"A month ago? They kept it pretty quiet," Fred said, sounding unsure, but estimating.

George simply breathed out in reply, not sure what to say next.

"This is your dream, mate. Why aren't you, like, crying of joy or something?" Fred furrowed his eyebrows, looking at how his brother was uncharacteristically frozen, just thinking and calculating and shaking his leg up and down. Though he did have to admit that George pondered a lot more than he did, he'd never looked so conflicted.

"I don't know . . . I'm just scared, I guess. What if someone's already asked her? Isn't this too soon after the relationship?" He asked, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he finally ripped his eyes away from you, looking over at his brother.

"I don't think so, I mean . . . You'll never know until you ask. And besides, the two of you get on really well. I'm sure she'd say yes to you," Fred patted the other boy on the arm comfortingly. This was probably the nicest he'd been for a while, and he wasn't sure how it was suiting him, "And like I said, they haven't really made the break up a big thing. I'd be surprised if many people knew."

__________

"Hey, George!" You exclaimed, falling into step with him as the two of you walked towards the Astronomy tower for your next class.

He was hoping upon hoping that he would be able to avoid you in it, because as soon as he saw you his stomach filled with butterflies, and a deep feeling found its way into his chest, like his heart was being squeezed. There was no way he could ask you out. Not when you were so beautiful, despite being stressed for OWLs, not when you looked so cute bundled up in your house scarf that barely hid your smile, not when you looked so excited to see him.

"Hey, (Y/n/n)," He replied back simply, looking over at you, because he couldn't help himself.

"We haven't spoken in so long. I was beginning to miss you," You told him, not letting out any signs that you were joking as you bumped your shoulder against his playfully.

His cheeks flared in a pink blush at your words, and he hoped he could pass it off as being from the cold. His head was spinning a mile a minute, because you liked him enough to miss him.

"I missed you, too," George replied simply, shyly, looking down at the path that you were taking instead of seeing your reaction.

Your lips tugged up into a fond smile as you watched over how nervous he seemed to be. George was so sweet, with his charming little freckles splattered across his face, and his red hair that fell to his shoulders. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you've developed a little soft spot for me," You joked, but felt your heart beating out of control anyway. You'd always felt a certain connection with George. He could make you laugh uncontrollably, but he was also so gentle. There were moments when the two of you were alone, where you'd find yourself talking about things that you'd never said to anyone else. But with each other, it just felt right to say.

His head tilted to look at you, brown irises meeting yours in a warm gaze, a smile played at the corner of his mouth, "Good thing you know better, then."

You let out a small laugh, rolling your eyes as you'd reached the base of the tower and began to walk up. "Ha ha," You replied sarcastically, and George knew he wasn't going to get off that easy.

George didn't seem to want to reply, not looking at you, simply staring intently at his boots as they crunched in the snow.

"Have you asked anyone to the Ball yet?" You pried slightly, eyes twinkling with hopefulness.

His vision caught yours for a second and he coughed into a balled fist, clearing his throat. "Uh . . . no, not really. Do . . . you have a date?" He asked in response, skirting around himself as butterflies ate away at his insides.

"No . . ." You tapered off, and the both of you fell into silence until a few stories of the twisting tower passed. "Screw it," You stopped on a platform that formed on the stairs. George followed suit curiously.

He was now finally looking at you, an expectant look on his friendly features, brown eyes peering into yours. He tucked a strand of fiery hair behind his ear, pulling at his sweater. "Screw what?" He asked, watching as you huffed, averting your vision nervously.

"Do you want to go to the Ball with me?" You asked finally, not sure why you'd decided on this walk that this was what you wanted. But you knew you wanted it. George was sweet, he was a good friend, and you didn't even think you'd want to be there with anyone but him.

His face filled with a red tint, and he laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck. His lips tilted into a smile as he spoke, "Um, yeah, that'd be great."

You held back a grin, but George could tell how happy you were, practically bouncing with a yellow aura. "Wow, okay. Thanks," You said, not sure what else to say.

He chuckled at your reply, "Sure thing. Wanna head up?" He gestured to the top, knowing that you were probably late by now already.

He wasn't hiding his smile as you made your way up, stealing glances at you, with a bundle of astronomy scrolls spilling from your rucksack, and a tinge in your cheeks.

________

For the entirety of class, you hid behind your hair, and from the moment George sat down, he couldn't keep his eyes off of you. Fred (who had already taken his place at their shared table) would have thought that it would have been pretty normal, if you weren't stealing looks back, both of you hiding smiles and looking giddy.

"Oi," His twin held a questioning look, slapping his brother's shoulder, ruffling his coat sleeve dramatically as he waited for George to pry his line of sight from you. When he finally looked over, Fred asked, "What? Did you actually finally ask her or something?"

George almost looked like he'd gotten into their products and sampled a love potion, but what was new? He looked as dreamy and thoughtful as ever. Fred has to roll his eyes; because George had always been a hopeless romantic compared to him, and having to hear him pining after you was just frustrating. Especially when you were in a relationship before (don't even get him started on that). He was hoping your new relationship status would change that - and it seemingly did.

"No . . ." George admitted softly, "She asked me."

There wasn't much else to say as Fred raised his eyebrows, seemingly impressed with your courage as he crossed his arms over his chest. He hadn't even known that you liked his brother, much less this much. Leaning back in his chair, he listened as the teacher began the lesson, both you and George not even realizing.

—

You could see Cho laughing quietly behind her hand, watching something over your shoulder. She seemed to be amused, but clearly didn't want to stick around, as she brushed your shoulder gently, whispering, "Good luck."

More confused than ever, you furrowed your eyebrows, turning to look behind you, and the sight you saw made your cheeks burn despite the cold. George was walking towards you, eyes glued to the floor and the bottom half of his face was covered by his Gryffindor scarf. In has hands were a bunch of flowers: bright red, green and white, cradled by his big winter gloves.

Impulsively, your hand went up to cover your smile, watching as his eyes sheepishly met yours. Your heart was in your throat and as he reached you, you could hear him let out an awkward laugh, a grin at the corner of his lips despite his apparent embarrassment.

"Hey, George," You said once he'd reached close enough to you. He loved it when you used his name.

To the side you could see Cho with some of your other friends, getting a kick out of making fun of the both of you. And yet, you couldn't bring yourself to be mad, or blame them at all. You almost felt giddy. Part of you thought that maybe they weren't for you (which would be terribly awkward even by your standards), but the way he looked more nervous than usual in front of you made you think otherwise.

"H-Hey," He remarked smiling gently down at the bouquet wrapped together with brown paper and tweed, then up at you as he held them out, a hopeful twinkle in his eye. "These are for you. Um . . . I thought you deserved them since I never really got the guts to ask you myself," He admitted, and the tone of his voice and his worried temperament made your stomach twist in knots.

You immediately reached out to take them, beaming at his thoughtful gesture, "Oh, thank you so much! You didn't have to, really," You shook your head, admiring red roses, daisies, babies breath, and other things you couldn't begin to name. You couldn't imagine he'd come up with this by himself, but it was so kind nonetheless.

He waved you off, and as his words settled in your mind, you bit your lip, "You were planning on asking me?" You teased.

George immediately flushed even more, letting out a chuckle as he shifted in his spot uncomfortably. He was used to being pretty straight forward with people, but he always seemed to be so anxious around you (of course, he knew exactly why). He cleared his throat, trying to match his gaze with yours because he so loved an opportunity to look at your eyes; they were warm, and pretty and maybe he didn't remember what he was even saying. "Um, yeah . . . I would have . . ."

"Why didn't you?" You asked, eyes wide with curiosity, all your attention solely on George, and he thought maybe you'd knocked all the breath out of him.

"Well . . . You and Cedric just broke up," He clarified, kicking himself because maybe talking about your ex wasn't the smoothest thing to do at that moment.

"Oh, I get it," You nodded, once again admiring your bundle of flowers because you couldn't bring yourself to look at him. When you peered up after a moment of silence, you saw that he'd already been looking at you with shameless admiration. You didn't know what it was about it, but you couldn't help but step forward and wrap your arms around him in a hug, careful not to squash your lovely gift from him. He seemed to be stiff at first, before holding you back, arms wrapped around you tight. You couldn't see how is eyes immediately fluttered shut, savoring the feeling of you against him, and how it felt to hold you. You lingered for a while with your head resting beneath his chin, and he was just hoping that you couldn't feel his heart beating against you.

When you pulled apart both of you couldn't keep the smiles off of your faces, stealing glances at each other with rosy cheeks.

"Thanks again," You mumbled genuinely, "I'm so glad you said yes," You admitted truthfully. You didn't know exactly how you felt about him, but you were sure beyond anything else, that George was amazing, and kind, and a really good friend. You knew he'd make the ball special for you.

He seemed surprised to hear it, flustering as he looked to the side - anywhere but you. He was afraid that he might slip up and he'd let you realize how much more he liked you than 'just taking you to the dance'. He scratched the back of his neck, "Um, yeah. It's really no problem." He cringed at how awkward he was around you, and he couldn't seem to get rid of his jitters. But at the same time, he couldn't stop smiling.

______

"Why'd you decide to ask me?" George enquired, head stooped slightly with nervousness. You were both sitting on a bench that overlooked the Black lake. It was frozen over for the Winter, and you wondered when the twins were going to bust out a bizzare ice skating routine and rope all their friends in with them. Maybe they'd even invite you. "I mean, you and Cedric are still close."

A blush sprung to your cheeks and he couldn't help but admire it as your lips parted to speak, "If he took me as his date everyone would think we're still together." Your hand went up to grab your elbow, almost looking guilty, "It's not that I don't love him . . . it's just that I . . . don't want to be with him anymore," You finally admitted.

He seemed surprised by your honesty, as you carried on quickly. You didn't notice how he'd shifted to face you, eyebrows furrowed as he listened to you speak. Hand ghosting you as he subconsciously wanted to comfort you.

"I mean, those feelings have kinda just turned into platonic ones. I don't know why . . . but he seems to understand. He's taking Cho now," You mumbled out the last part.

His head tilted in worry, and you could feel his warm eyes looking at your side profile in worry, "You don't like that?" He assumed.

"It's complicated," You told him, shooting him a wry smile. "I had a crush on her for the longest time, but she liked him. We were all friends, so I guess it makes sense that he'd ask her."

George didn't know anything about you, he was realizing. He guessed that he should have expected that, you being a complex person and all. Now he only wanted to know more about you all over again. "Do you think he likes her?" George asked you, tone soft, as to show that he was being genuine. He wanted to know if it upset you.

"Maybe . . . I'd be happy for her if he did. I've heard her gush about him for years. When me and him started dating and I fell for him, she swore she was okay with it - but it never felt right," You divulged, pulling at a strand on your scarf. You'd never really told anyone that, but you knew that George was just the right person to find out first. You trusted him.

"It is complicated," He nodded in agreement with you, watching as your mouth tugged into a small smile - him soon mirroring you.

"I don't know . . . things are kinda becoming clearer to me than ever," You peered up into his bright eyes, heart catching in your throat as you watched him grin at you. You admired his long red hair and his handsome face in the afternoon sun.

"Oh, yeah? How so?" He queried playfully.

"I've gotta a pretty good idea of who I want to my spend time with now," You admitted, a hand pulling up your scarf to hide blossoming pink cheeks, and a stupid smile.

His heart was rattling against his ribcage. He licked his lips slightly, "If it's not me then this is bound to be awkward," He remarked, causing you to let out a small laugh.

"Of course it's you," You shoved him a bit at his words, rolling your eyes, "Way to ruin the sentiment."

"Oh, c'mon," He took your hands in his, warm fingers wrapping around your colder ones. "I'm not trying to ruin anything," He smiled, eyes gleaming down at you.

You couldn't help but lean up and tuck a strand of his hair away from his face, watching how he leaned into slightly, a rosy hue to his cheeks. Your hand returned to his. George didn't know how his chest hadn't exploded, his stomach twisted with knots at being this close with you. You'd been close before, but it still made him as boyishly shy as the first time.

After a second, he couldn't help but pull away with a hot face and a nervous laugh.