Elusive // The Weasley Twins

6. Abandoned

George and Cosette exchanged a similar look, and she assumed that he too was remembering the last time one of her body parts came in contact with his head. Cosette could tell he was holding back a smile as he pulled Lottie out of the living room to have a more private conversation.

"I'd kill to listen in on them right now," Hermione said quietly enough so only Cosette and Fleur were able to hear. When Cosette sat back down, Hermione raised her eyebrows, "Did you really hit him?"

"He had me pinned. I had no choice," Cosette explained. "He'll be fine. Molly's a wonderful Healer, she'll fix him up no problem."

"Her and Arthur went up to Fred's room," Fleur told her. "I say we give them a minute or so before we tell her that you bruised her son's face."

Cosette nodded but she was more focused on watching George and Lottie who were standing next to the staircase talking in hushed voices. She wasn't the only one who was wondering what they were discussing though. Bill and Ron were also occasionally turning their heads to get a glimpse.

She saw Lottie reach up and lightly touch George's face but he flinched out of the way and brought her hand back down between them. His eyes met Cosette's for only a second before all of them sitting down could very clearly make out Lottie exhale loudly.

Lottie reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her wand but before George was able to say anything else, she apparated out of the burrow. The group of them in the living room tried to act as though they weren't trying to eavesdrop and pretend that they were all having their own conversations, but they didn't keep up the facade for long as George turned and walked into the kitchen.

Cosette took it upon herself to follow him, ignoring Hermione's voice in her ear telling her to just give him a minute. She headed towards the kitchen as well and saw George reaching for a glass to fill it up with water.

Cautiously, she took a few steps towards the center of the kitchen, glancing over her shoulder once to see if anyone in the living room was watching but they were all involved in their own conversations.

She walked over to where George leaned against the kitchen counter. He most likely noticed her walk in but didn't say anything as he took a sip from the glass.

"You alright?" Cosette asked him, resting her hip against the counter as well. When he looked up, he wasn't at all surprised to see her. He probably figured that if anyone was going to follow him, it would be Cosette.

"She doesn't listen to me," George huffed out quietly, obviously referring to Lottie. "She's great and I love being around her but I swear there's a switch that goes off in her mind and she only listens to me when she wants to."

"Is this about her showing up unexpectedly?"

He nodded slowly, "I told her last week that today had the potential to be a little stressful for everyone and I didn't invite her for that reason. It's not really a good time for her to get to know the family."

While Cosette had not come right out and said that she didn't get a good feeling from George's new girlfriend, it was clear to everyone in the burrow that she wasn't Lottie's biggest fan. However, she cared about George and didn't want to put a dent in his happiness, "Look, obviously I don't know Lottie very well but if what I said made her angry enough to leave then I'm sorry."

"You had nothing to do with it," George glanced her way and showed off what maybe could have been considered a smile, "Well, it wasn't just you."

"So then why did she leave?"

"I told her to."

"Oh," Cosette nodded to herself, unsure what else to say. It didn't seem as though he was eager to talk about Lottie at the moment, but she also didn't want to just leave him alone feeling sorry for himself. Her eyes darted from the floor to the window above the sink before landing on the bruise just below his eye.