eleven georgieporgie

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       GEORGE FINDS IT RIDICULOUS, ACTUALLY, how adamant Fred and Lee are being about this whole thing. Every morning and every night the two will manage to ambush him, and bring up the same topic, the topic that's been brought up so much since the summer that he thinks they talk about it more than Wheezes. Maybe it comes up naturally in conversation, now that a friendship is growing, maybe he's sitting there, not doing his Transfiguration homework, and Lee suddenly brings it up. Either way, they keep on talking about it, like if they mention it enough times, they'll will it into the universe — that is Briar's doing, he knows that for sure. She's got Fred on the divination bullshit, which has given him mountains of confidence to talk about this, whenever he can... And maybe George brought this upon himself, because he was this bad when Fred and Briar weren't together yet, but still. It's so fucking annoying.

       And that topic is Mia fucking Black.

       You know what? George thinks divination is bullshit, but Briar's definitely left him believing that manifestation works. Or, at least, what you put into the universe is what get back. Or... He doesn't know how to explain it. All he knows is that it's so comical that he didn't like Mia for such a long time, and now he's... He's here.

       He doesn't know what happened. Really, he doesn't. Part of him wants to admit that maybe, just maybe, he had a little crush on her once upon a time, and that's why he disliked her so much, because he couldn't understand how someone he thought was fit was a bit... Mean. He'd say bitch but he hates that word.

       She was a bit of a dick. That's better. And, to be fair, so was he. He was pissed off about that Quidditch match, she was defending her best friend, it made sense they were both dicks to each other.

       And then there was last summer. He still didn't like her. Maybe he felt bad for her, and when she cried into his chest he couldn't help but think, um... the fuck, but still. He wasn't the biggest Mia Black fan. (Is he now? He doesn't know. Briar's been awfully supportive of her. Could be her.) But as the summer progressed he started to realise two things: (a) she was a human being, and (b) she wasn't that bad, she just had a lot going on.

       Truthfully, he cannot say when he started to fancy her, but he knows he does. At first, he thought she was OK, and that she deserved a break, but then he remembered that she was also really fit...

       It really felt full-circle.

       'Course, no one knows about how he used to fancy her. He didn't want to admit that he fancied Mia Black. It was like, treachery. Everyone knew she was best friends with Cedric, and back when he was Quidditch captain, being close to Mia could mean trying to cosy up with the enemy... That's what Fred would say anyway. That's what Fred has said. And obviously George doesn't live his life dictated by his twin, but shit, if his twin's saying something treachery, he's gonna agree.

       But now it's back, full-force. It isn't just, oh, she's pretty fit, and like, being very aware when she was nearby — sometimes she'd tag along when Cedric crashed Quidditch meetings to talk to Wood, and fuck, George didn't know what to do — but that was it. A fairly superficial crush. It didn't feel that way, sure, but looking back it was.

       Because now it's like this: he can't hide it. It isn't just fuck she's over there, I'll just keep to myself so no one notices. Now it's oh my fucking God her type is Quidditch players that's me that's ME. It doesn't help that Fred and Lee and Briar know. They encourage this completely. If it wasn't for Briar and her birthday he wouldn't have admitted he thought Mia was okay, which became a slippery slope to fancying her. And if it wasn't for Briar, the Seer of you know, the future, Fred and Lee wouldn't be as on board...

       Sometimes he wonders if that actually has something to do with it. If Briar saw something. Because that freaks him out a little. He really hates all this future-seeing stuff. He doesn't like the idea that shit happens and he can't do anything to change it. He fancies Mia and it would be nice if she liked him too, but he doesn't want to think it's written in the stars. He's chosen to catch feelings, the stars had nothing to do with that, fuck.

       But anyway.

       He's only thinking about all of this now, because earlier she asked for his help and now he's got Mia on the brain. (He does a lot, nowadays, but still. You get the gist.) She wants help practising Expelliarmus, because she struggled at the D.A. meeting. So he's going to help her.

       After lunch, George, Fred, and Lee decided they wanted to skip Potions, and so, ended up in the toilets. Snape doesn't bother anymore. They'll get given a detention and move on. Sometimes a detention is worth avoiding the agony of two hours with Snape.

       "I bet she'd say yes," says Fred. "If you asked her out."

       George shakes his head. "I wanna wait for the right moment."

       "Well, hurry up Romeo," says Lee, who walks out of a cubicle. He pauses, looks at the sink, and takes a minute to decide if he should actually wash his hands. He does. That's Briar's influence, George thinks. "I'm not being funny, but sooner or later someone else that fancies her's gonna ask her out."

       "I don't know if she fancies me, though," says George.

       Fred and Lee exchange a look.

       It's a fair point. She's been pretty hateful with everyone, for a while. She's softened up recently, sure, but... for a long time she hasn't been super friendly with anyone. Maybe this is how she treats friends. George wouldn't know, would he? And besides, there was another bigger thing — Cedric. George doesn't even know if Mia's ready for someone else. Sure, there was that guy over the summer but she still hasn't properly dealt with Cedric, has she? He doesn't want to rush her into anything.

       "And anyway," says George. "She might not be ready for anything, and if she is, I don't want her to feel as if the second she's ready, I jumped for the chance."

       Lee shrugs. "I guess..."

        Fred sighs, and has a knowing look across his face — the same one he's had since the summer. George knows Briar's told him something, but he's trying his hardest to deny it. Briar Crouch did not predict me and Mia going out, I made the conscious decision to fancy Mia, this is not fucking fate—

       "It was different for you," says George, to Fred.

       Lee snorts, nodding.

        "What do you mean?" says Fred, sitting up, frowning.

       "You were just scared of asking Briar out," says George.

        "He has a point," says Lee.

       Fred grumbles. "It was more than that."

       "... Was it?" says Lee.

       "Maybe for Briar," says George. "But she was going through shit."

       Fred looks ready to fight. "Well, that's the same for you, then!"

       Lee winces. "I feel like Briar's... problem wasn't the same."

       "She was attacked—!"

       "Yeah, but the self-confidence was back as soon as she realised we didn't care," says Lee. "Mia's best friend was killed... Not to mention, she dated him too. It might take her a while to process that. You know what feelings are, don't you, Weasley?"

       Fred shrugs. "Yeah, OK."

       "I've got your back," says Lee, to George. "Don't you worry."

       "What, that I've got it worse?" says George, raising an eyebrow.

       Lee nods, and smiles. "Exactly. Deal with that."

       George exchanges a look with his twin; both of them don't know what to make of Lee's comments, a lot of the time, and this is one of those cases. If anything, George wishes he wasn't the one here, with the worst situation — actually, no, it's not that he's "worse off." Mia's going through something and he needs to bear in mind, if he actually fancied her, he'd be fine with that. It isn't about the time it takes to maybe admit his feelings. It's about if she's reciprocating, and if she's ready, emotionally.

       They spend the entirety of the afternoon in the bathroom, deciding there's no point showing up to double Potions halfway through. George isn't nervous, but as the second hour mulls through to the final bell, he's very aware of the minutes counting down. In fifty minutes, he'll be meeting up with Mia. In forty minutes, he'll be meeting up with Mia. In thirty... Twenty... Ten... Five...

        Part of him wonders why, out of everyone in Grimmauld Place, it was him that got along with Mia. Maybe they're similar, he doesn't know. He knows Briar would say something like "Because it's fate!" and then wink, but again, he thinks that's bullshit. He just finds it odd. How, out of everyone, it was him.

       He leaves ten minutes early, so he can grab a couple sandwiches from the kitchens. He has no idea what food she likes — yeah, she's sat near him at dinner before, but why would he pay attention to the food she eats? — so he prays to God that she'll like whatever he picks up. He's pretty good at making sandwiches, even his mum says so. Secretly he hopes she'll eat it, and be like, holy shit, this is amazing! He says secretly because this is the type of shit that his brother would tease the living shit out of him for saying.

       When he walks into the Room of Requirement, he realises he's there first, so he waits around for a couple minutes, sitting down on the floor. Part of him wishes he made an extra sandwich so he could have two, but Mia opens the door.

       She looks across at him, and pauses, as if surprised.

        "Hey," he says.

       "Hi," says Mia. There's a frown on her face. "You're early?"

       I left my friends early to make you dinner... Please go out with me.

       "Oh," says George, and he shrugs. "I had a free."

       "OK," she says.

       He stands up, resting his hands on his hips. Mia, for the second time in the past minute, is taken by surprise. She's never noticed it before, the effortless sort of confidence he's got... Stop it, she thinks.

       "OK, so," she says again, blinking to snap out of her daze. She cannot believe herself. This was not why she asked for his help. Merlin.

       "So you just wanna... start practicing?"

        George nods. "You're the boss."

       Mia blinks. "... 'K, cool."

       It's weird for the first few minutes. Mia's more than aware that they've spent time alone together before — actually, thinking back to the past couple months, it's weird how much time they have spent alone — but this time, it feels strange for a little while. Maybe it's because Mia asked for his help, the only time she's ever actively shown any liking towards him. Maybe it's because he's supposed to be nice to her, what with Mrs Weasley's deal. Maybe it's because... Mia doesn't know.

       But she's got to get this figured out.

       Mia steps a suitable distance away from George, wand at the ready. The plan is the same as the D.A. lesson — they'll both try to disarm each other, and see who gets it. Obviously the focus is on Mia, but if she has to use this in real life, the other person isn't going to pause to let her have a go. So, Mia looks ahead at George, as he counts from five, down to one.

       "Five... Four..."

       She remembers her dad earlier.

       "Three... Two..."

       She can do this. She can do this.

       "One—"

       And she does it.

       George's wand goes flying, hitting the wall. Mia stands in shock, mouth gaping. She didn't think it would happen that quickly.

       "Shit, Mia!" says George, starting to smile.

       But Mia's overwrought by the thought of, what if that was just chance?

       "Let me do it again," she says.

       So they practice again, and again, and again. Her dad's words ring through her ears the entire time. "I know you can do it, I always have... But you've got to think the same." She knows it's contradictory, her dad saying she's got to think that, and the only reason she does is because he's said it, but she doesn't care. Maybe all Mia needed was her dad, shockingly. A lifetime of idolising him does that.

       A smile begins to spread across Mia's face.

       "I did it," she says, softly. She looks up at George, who's gone and picked up his wand for the hundredth time, and quickly, her smile's reflected across his face. He grins back at her, as she moves forwards, hugging him. "I did it!"

       George hugs her back. Her arms rest on his shoulders, around his neck, and she feels his arms, his hands, around her waist. She's forgotten what it's like, to be this close to someone. This is the sort of closeness she got from, like, Cedric. Chest to chest, her face super close to his. She can't help but feel that George hugs her as if he's holding her, but her thoughts trail back to that other thought. The closeness she got from Cedric. Suddenly she feels grossed out.

       Mia's the one that breaks up the hug, stepping back. She smiles softly.

       "Thanks for helping," she says.

       George shrugs. "It's no problem — but, I mean, if you ever use that power to kill someone, don't get me involved?"

       Mia rolls her eyes. "Ha, ha."

       Quickly George remembers Mia's mum, and he thinks, fuck.

       "I didn't mean that like—"

       Mia frowns at him. "Like what?"

       "Um..." George wrestles at the idea of whether or not to tell her. Obviously she isn't going to think of her mum, Mia probably doesn't care about the whole Capulet Salvatore thing. George doesn't think of murder victims and remember, like, his mum's brothers. Shit. Maybe he should just change the subject. That'll work... "How come you wanted to practice?"

       She pauses for a minute, before saying, "My mum was attacked by a Death Eater."

       George gapes. "Oh, shit," is all he can say.

       He doesn't know how to respond to my mum was attacked. It's never happened to him, has it? It's one of those things where you can think of every response but they all sound stupid. "Are you OK?" sounds fucking moronic. Of course you're not OK. "That's really bad," sounds condescending. Everything sounds wrong. But he looks across at her, a frown creasing his forehead, as she looks up.

       "She's fine now," says Mia. She doesn't want him to worry, honest to God, and the look across his face was making her think that. Her mum's fine, there's no need for George to feel bad. She's fine. It's cruel, making someone worry when they don't need to. "But I spoke to my dad and we made up... And I don't know, some of the stuff he said sort of just made me realise that I can do this stuff, if I put my mind to it."

       George smiles. "And you did."

       She smiles back. "I did!"

       This is when George feels a little brave.

       "I knew you could do it," he says.

       This is when Mia's heart skips a beat.

       "I think I needed to realise it myself," she replies.

         George pauses. He doesn't know how to word this, so forgive him for whatever shit's going to come out of his thoughts — but fuck. He can't explain how much he fancies her... Not even how much she fancies her. The fact that this girl, right, lost her dad when she was a toddler — a man everyone thought was a murderous Death Eater — and then when he returned, he didn't treat her properly... And then, her best friend is murdered by You-Know-Who... Not to mention, right, the fact that because of her mum's shitty upbringing, her magic's influenced by her emotional control, and, up until today she couldn't even perform Expelliarmus because she's been through so much — but she's figured it out, like that...

       "What?" she says.

       "You're brilliant, you are," he tells her.

        If I knew you could do it made Mia's heart skip a beat, this stops the whole damn thing.

       "Um," says Mia. She doesn't know how to reply. "Thanks."

       "No, I mean it," says George.

       Mia feels jarred. His words are running around in her head. She cannot believe this. George fucking Weasley is saying this to her. This time last year, she despised him, and vice versa. This time a couple years ago... This is so fucking full circle, she doesn't know what to think, what to feel, what to say...

       "Oh, I got us sandwiches from the kitchens," says George. "In case we missed dinner."

       No he fucking didn't.

       Mia watches George take out the two sandwiches from his bag, both cling-filmed. She doesn't know how to react. This is, like, next level. Who does this?

       He reaches out to her, one sandwich being ham, the other cheese. Mia can't help but think, did Cedric ever do this? And she has to tell herself off, mentally, because she knows she shouldn't make those sort of comparisons... But she can't help it. Cedric bought her food in Hogsmeade, sure, but he never made her a packed lunch?

       "You're unreal," says Mia, taking the cheese sandwich.

       George grins at her. "I know."

       Mia starts to laugh, and George notices the little dimples pressed into her cheeks, as she smiles. They're cute, he thinks. He doesn't think he's seen her smile properly before — or, at least, he hasn't seen her smile since Cedric.

       "I spoke to your mum earlier," says Mia, beginning to smirk. "You've been talking about me? In your letters?"

       George pulls a face, frowning. "When did you see my mum?"

       "She was at Grimmauld Place," says Mia. "But, uh, you're missing the point?"

       "Oh," says George. Mia's smirking still. He coughs, scratching the back of his neck. "Well, you know, since we see you around fairly often nowadays..."

       Mia raises her eyebrows. "OK."

       "Just thought I'd let her know," says George, with a shrug.

       Mia takes another bite of her sandwich. It's fucking good, honest to God. She isn't even being nice because he made it for her. This is a good sandwich. The right amount of toasted, a little butter, fresh lettuce, the perfect slivers of cheddar cheese... Yummy.

       "She did say you had to be nice to me," says Mia.

       George pauses. "She did?"

        Mia goes quiet for a minute, confused. Then what's... this?

       "Don't... you remember?"

       "Wait... for the shop?" says George. He still looks dumbfounded, though, and Mia can help but think, what? This is so bizarre. How did he forget?

       She nods, frowning. "... Yeah?"

       "Oh," he says. "I completely forgot."

       "So you've just been nice to me?" she says. "For no reason?"

       There's another pause. Mia doesn't know if this room blocks out all sound from the surrounding corridors, but she feels as though the entire school's fallen silent. All she can focus on is George, and the frown across his face.

       "That's what you thought?" he says, slowly.

       "At first," she says. "But not now."

       George smiles softly at her. "Good."

       And this is when he reaches forward, placing his hand on her knee.

       Her heart stops. It does. It truly does. She sees the candles around the room struggle to stay alight. Her bag, sitting on a desk to the side, slams onto the floor, her metal bottle making a loud crash. Her eyes move down to his hand, on her knee, and then up to his.

       "I think you're cool, Mia," he tells her.

       But Mia's already starting to spiral.

        Immediately her mind rushes back to Cedric, to the before. She remembers tagging along with Cedric, when he went to speak to Oliver Wood about Quidditch captain things, because she wanted to see George, but he never spoke to her. She remembers admitting to Cedric that she fancied George Weasley, and making him promise to not tell anyone, in case it got to Briar and it got to George. She remembers convincing herself that there was no way George fucking Weasley would like her back, and tentatively asking Cedric if he thought the same. "Do you see yourself, Mia? Anyone would fall head over heels for you."

       She remembers when George and Fred had the argument with Cedric, and everything was shattered. She remembers the crush turning into pure hatred ("I cannot believe someone I thought was so cute ended up being such a bitch!") She remembers moving on, as one does, and eventually finding herself falling for Cedric, of all people...

       Cedric saw it all, from start to finish. What would he say now, if he saw all of this happening? He'd be disappointed in her, she knows it. She knows he'd want her to move on — that's why she didn't feel guilty about Alfie — but if moving on meant George... He wouldn't approve. He wouldn't.

       But that's why the before hurts so much — why "the before" has such a hold on her. Because it isn't about her schoolgirl crush, but rather, Cedric, Cedric, Cedric.

       "Do you see yourself, Mia? Anyone would fall head over heels for you."

       Sometimes she feels like her entire life's become dictated by Cedric, by the memory of him. He can't speak to her anymore, and so she's got to guess what he'd say. And this? She knows he wouldn't like it, especially considering the before...

✨ my ✨ mind 😌✨

i really hope u guys liked the shared/changing perspectives though!!! i was worried it might be a little confusing but i think it's fine?? but yess pls let me know what u thought <3