THE SECOND TASK WENT BY IN A BLUR. Dev found it was nearly impossible to pay attention, not with the impending prospect of finally talking to George after so long away. Not to mention, it was quite boring to just stand in the crowds, with no way of sensing what was going on below the murky waters.

Dev found herself releasing a breath she hadn't known she was holding in when Cedric emerged with Cho at his side. Some part of her felt guilty for not worrying more before, but ultimately she knew she couldn't have guessed where the girl was. All that mattered was she was safe. Now, she was left to wait with bated breath for the others to return.

"Who's bloody idea was this anyways?" May chastised as she scanned the lake.

Her anger hadn't seemed to fade as the task went on, and her emotions only grew worse when she realized what was truly happening. The competitors were tasked with retrieving the person who meant the most to them. Dev agreed that it was absurd, but she didn't quite have the energy nor the attention span to channel any anger towards the task makers.

"Dev..." A realization seemed to hit May, and she was soon grasping on to Dev's forearm. "Does Victor Krum have any siblings here?"

"Why would I know that?" Dev cocked her head to the side. "That's a question for Ron. Although, I doubt you'll be able to ask him. I'm sure he's who Harry was tasked to retrieve."

Then, it dawned on Dev why May had grown so worried. If Krum had travelled to Hogwarts with no family or close friends (and judging by his general lack of social interactions, it seemed he had), then there could only be one person he was saving. Hermione Granger.

"You don't see her anywhere, do you?" May scanned the crowds, but it was futile. Even if Hermione was tucked into the crowd somewhere, there's no way they'd be able to spot her. And even though Dev didn't want to worry her more, some part of her knew she was hidden in the lake.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Dev began to calm the girl. "Krum has too big of a reputation to protect to fail this task, she'll be fine."

Dev knew her efforts were pointless, there was nothing she could say to sooth the girl's worries. Although she'd noticed the changes in May months before, neither had properly talked about it. Dev knew it wasn't quite her place to ask, even if they were best friends. The feelings Dev suspected May had for the younger, bushy-haired girl, were hardly socially acceptable. If she were correct about her assumptions, she'd allow May to come to her on her own terms, when she was ready. 

Not longer after that conversation, Krum returned with Hermione. Then, Harry with Ron and a small girl, whom Dev assumed Fleur was meant to save. The crowd went wild, and Harry was rewarded for his bravery in saving more than he was meant to. May bid Dev a goodbye before tearing off to check on Hermione, but Dev hardly processed it. Her mind was set on what came next, on finally speaking with the twins.

The crowd began to make their way back to the castle at a leisurely pace. It was a Friday, so undoubtedly many celebrations would be taking place in a few hours. Dev craned her neck, trying to look over the sea of students, only to be stopped by being caught on the wrist. Spinning, she saw Fred, who began pulling her away from the crowd. They weren't going back to the castle, but rather to the outskirts of the lake, where George had brought her so many months before.

"Thought I was meant to find you?" Dev cocked her head to the side, doing her best to joke lightly in an effort to calm her own nerves.

"Well, you were looking in the wrong place." Fred grinned down at her, but it wasn't quite genuine. It seemed both were pretending for the sake of the other. 

"George actually agreed to this?" Her voice came out small, smaller than she had expected. It caused Fred to falter in his steps, glancing back ever so slightly at the much shorter girl. Pressing his lips into a fine line, all he offered in response was a small nod. Dev felt less than reassured.

Finally, they were rounding up on him. Luckily, it hadn't rained or snowed in a few days, so the ground was firm. Cold, but firm. That was why, just a few feet ahead, George was sat with his knees drawn close to his chest, his arms lazily thrown around them. He didn't look up, not even as they approached, but rather kept his eyes locked out over the lake.

"Well," Fred finally dropped Dev's wrist, raising his hand to instead scratch at the back of his neck. "I'll leave you both to it, then."

"Where are you off to?" Dev and George spoke in unison, both of their heads flying to gape at Fred.

"Seems like something you two should settle, er, alone." Fred lamented, beginning to back away before either could protest. 

Dev shifted on her feet for a few moments, the silence that settled over them killing her. Eventually, she took a seat in the grass a bit away from George. She too drew her knees up to her chest, letting her chin rest against them as she looked out at the water. She knew she was meant to make the first move, but she found she had no clue what to say. Once their lack of vocal interaction became too much, she took in a deep breath and said the first thing that came to her mind.

"Do you hate me?"

"What?" George seemed taken aback by the question, not expecting that to be the first thing she would say. "Why would you think that?"

"You can't even look at me." Again, her voice was small. It was true, her eyes were now trained on him, but he looked everywhere but her.

"It's just hard, Dev." George lamented, looking back over the water. Slowly, he let his legs stretch out before him, his palms coming down to rub at his thighs. It seemed as though that had become some kind of nervous tick for him, something he did to busy himself when the thought of that night filtered into his brain. Still, he had said her nickname, and that had to mean something.

"I know." Dev nodded, letting her eyes return forward. 

Another bit of silence encased them. The waves lapped at the shore, a cool breeze brushing past them. They could still hear students not far away, seeing as not everyone had chose to return to the castle quite yet. It was somewhat comforting, seeing the kids just being kids. Youth that had yet to be tainted by all of the bad the world had to offer.

"I didn't do it for no reason." Dev finally spoke up again. 

"Why did you do it, then?" It was George's turn for his voice to be small. The question he had longed to ask for two months finally coming out.

"For May." Dev glanced over, a shiver running up her spine when she found his gaze finally met hers. "I had a bad feeling that something had happened to her. And maybe that's stupid, but you know I've always had a good..." Dev drew in a deep breath, trying to find the right word. "Intuition. I've always trusted it, and I knew something was wrong."

"What does that even mean, Dev?" George sounded exasperated, but she couldn't really blame him. She wasn't making a whole lot of sense.

"I just knew I needed to get to her, so I did. I can't really explain it beyond that." Subconsciously, she found herself tugging her hat lower over her ears. She was lying, of course, and she needed to conceal the tell Fred had pointed out months before. "I'm surprised Fred hasn't told you, but I was a wreck. He saw it, I needed to get to her."

"We haven't spoke about it, at all." George admitted. Dev just nodded in understanding.

"Maybe that's not a good enough reason, because he still died." The way George stiffened at her words didn't go unnoticed. "But, it's all I can say. And I understand if you do hate me, or if you can't look at me ever again, because I hate me. And I can't look at myself, either. And I'm not saying that to make you feel bad, because even if you weren't upset with me, it would still be true. I would blame myself, whether you did or not."

"I don't hate you." George pursed his lips, his words nothing louder than a whisper. "I never could."

With that, he inched his body, slowly, closer to her. His arm came out to wrap around her, and she found herself resting her head against his shoulder. This was her olive branch, and she could feel her eyes welling with tears at the prospect. The tears fell silently, but she knew George could feel the way she shuddered ever so slightly.

"I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know." Dev responded quietly. "Don't blame yourself for how you choose to get through it. I've just missed you, s'all."

"We've missed you, too." George gave a light squeeze to her shoulder. "May too. Can't say I missed her yelling at us, though."

Dev laughed lightly at that, pulling back to eye George. With her gloved hand, she wiped away the few stray tears before shaking her head.

"You know she didn't mean most of that, it's just how she gets when she's upset."

"I know." He nodded. A small smile played on his lips, and Dev was delighted to see it actually reached his eyes. "I'm still gonna have to get her back for calling me a coward, though."

"I'd expect nothing less." Dev grinned. "What d'ya have in mind?"

George's smile grew at the prospect of prank planning. Quickly, the two fell into a back and forth discussion of the proper way to get May back. It ranged from small things, like replacing her quills with charmed ones that would only write the word 'coward' over and over again. To bigger things, like slipping her a potion that would dye her hair bright crimson and gold. Still, all of their ideas were harmless.

Dev couldn't help the feelings of elation she felt to be back in this routine with George. Undoubtedly, things weren't completely fixed. They still were dealing with trauma, but she hoped this meant that now, they would be doing it together. 

They hadn't quite realized how long they had been out there until the sun was setting over the horizon, and darkness began to encase them. Dev let out an involuntary yawn while George was carrying on about some new project him and Fred had been meaning to start, drawing his eyes to her.

"When's the last time you've slept, Dev?" He cut himself off, squinting at the girl through the dim lighting.

Dev had to think about the question to answer. It certainly hadn't been the longest she'd gone without sleep, but she knew it had been quite a bit. Two days before, she had fallen asleep in the Ravenclaw common room for one hour, before being waken up by other students. Still, even now that the prospect of losing the twins wasn't haunting her, she didn't look forward to sleep. While what she had been doing certainly wasn't healthy, it had kept the nightmares at bay, and she didn't want them to return.

"It's been a few days." Dev answered truthfully, beginning to pick at her cuticles.

"Because of me? And Freddie?" George sounded ashamed, and in the darkness he reached out to place a comforting hand on her arm.

"No." Dev was quick to shake her head, not wanting him to have that on his conscience. "The nightmares, like, uh, the one on the train." Dev gulped, thinking back to the boys' startled faces that day. "They've only gotten worse, so I just... Haven't been sleeping much."

"That's not healthy, Dev." 

She wanted to snort, but she contained herself. Of course she knew that, but she wasn't sure she could handle what waited for her when she closed her eyes. She couldn't continue to see Fred, or her parents, or that boy, close in on her anymore. It would be the death of her.

"You know, after that day on the train, Fred started working on a product." George's tone had shifted to smug as he drew his arm back.

"Oh?"

"He hasn't got it quite figured out yet, probably 'cause the git is hellbent on doing it alone—and we all know I'm the brains of the operation." He smirked, causing Dev to roll her eyes and giggle. "But he's been trying to tamper with a regular sleeping draught, make one that ensures good dreams."

Dev felt the color drain from her face at his words. She tried to be rational, tried not to let her heart get ahead of her. Fred was just being a good friend, he was just worried about his friend. Still, images of that infamous night filtered back into her head, of her in his lap, of him about to tell her something. What had he meant to tell her?

"He's a good friend." Dev pursed her lips, willing herself to say the words out loud to solidify them. In response, George barked out a laugh.

"Right." George nodded. "A good friend."

"We've hardly spoken in two months," Dev raised a finger, prepared to fight off George's arguments. "And, I've seen him around with Angelina. Don't get my hopes up, Georgie."

"The only thing Fred is better at than being a friend," He used air quotes around the word this time. "Is being a brother. I think it's nearly killed him staying away from you, but he did it for me. Even if I never asked him to." Dev bit down on her lip as the boy paused. "Plus, I'm the one always pulling Angelina along. She's been good to get my mind off things." His grin was illuminated in the moonlight.

"Gross!" Dev swatted at the boy's arm, although she couldn't help but grin back at him. She knew Angelina loosely from the boys, and she'd always thought she was a nice enough girl. George had crushed on her for the better part of the last year, and she was happy she had been helping him.

"Not like that," George tutted. "You've got a dirty mind, Bane. Maybe I shouldn't be trying to help get you with my brother after all."

Dev rolled her eyes in response. She knew her cheeks were a crimson color, and she was suddenly thankful for the dim light around them. Slowly, she stood up and reached a hand out to him. They had grown far too cold and by now she was certain parties had to be waging on in the castle. 

"No more Freddie talk." Dev stated as she tugged the boy up. "I wanna hear all about you and Angelina."

"Oh, is this what girl talk is like?" George raised his brows. He next words came out in what Dev could only assume was his best attempt at a feminine voice. "Well, she's like, totally fit. And a good snogger, too."

Dev shoved the boy lightly, her eyes rolling once more. Still, the grin on her face was unwavering as they made their way back. Even if she was exhausted, the prospect of a party was calling to her. She had reconciled with George, and that deserved a celebration.

author's note !

George and Dev content!

also I'm clearly not British but if my slang ever seems forced or out of place PLEASE tell me lmao it's my biggest fear

okay that's all

rose <3