If You'll Have Me | George Weasley

Chapter 4

FIREWHISKY tasted about as awful as it smelt, but it quickly did the job. All but the twins were two drinks in—As they'd already had three—And were slurring their words and laughing amongst one another as the flames of the bonfire rose.

Ron was perhaps the worst of them all. He insisted on going night swimming in the creek, or even taking the Ford Anglia for another spin, but Hermione had managed to talk him down. And eventually, he fell onto the lawn, rolling over onto his back to catch a glimpse of the sky. The overgrown grass outlined his figure as he lied there beneath the stars, which were scattered about like the freckles on his skin. Hermione didn't bother to get him up.

"He always overdoes it." She informs Eleanor, turning once to glance at her boyfriend whose eyes were now shut, a lazy smile stretched across his lips. "Him and Harry."

And as if on cue, a very drunken Harry rises from his seat, joining Ron where he had been laying on the grass, and Eleanor chuckles as she watches them. Both staring at the starry sky above, eyes heavy from the liquor, and talking quietly about something that neither Elle or Hermione could hear. She assumed, though, that they were talking about their girlfriends, given the many times that they looked up to catch a glimpse of them.

"When did you two start dating?" Eleanor asks in a low voice, causing a small smile to form on Hermione's face. Though she acted fed up with Ron almost all of the time, it was easy to see that she adored him just as much as he did her. That despite all of the bickering that they did, it was purely out of their love for one another. A selfish part of Elle envied it.

"Just last year, actually." Hermione's smile widens at the thought, and she lifts her cup to her lips to take a drink, a bitter expression following after. "Truthfully, I never thought it would work out with him... But he's great. Annoying at times, but great."

Ginny chuckles from the opposite side of Eleanor, staring into the bonfire flames that shone brightly against her pale complexion. "That's an understatement."

Ron differed drastically from his brothers, Eleanor knew that much, but he was just as funny as them.  And whenever he would look at Hermione, the love in his eyes was so clear. So obvious and genuine that it made her heart swell just by witnessing it. She had never experienced that kind of love. Never felt it for anyone else, either.

"And what about you?" Ginny nudges Elle with her elbow, eyebrows raised. "Anybody back in France who's waiting for you?"

No, there hadn't been anyone. Not for a long while, anyhow. The last person that she was with was kind enough, but he was dull, and the entire relationship eventually drained almost every part of her until she simply grew tired of it. Of him. It wasn't until last year that she finally worked up the courage to break it off, and since that, she couldn't have cared less about finding someone to replace what she had lost. It would find her when the time was right.

Eleanor shakes her head, though, avoiding spilling all of those details that were better left unsaid, and stares into the flames of the bonfire. She feels herself falling into a trance as she watches the orange's and yellow's dance amongst one another, flickering brightly amidst the dark, but something makes her pull her gaze away. Something makes her look up past the flames, and straight ahead at George.

And shamelessly, he had been watching her.

Her heart skips a beat as her eyes meet his. As she watches the orange light cascade against his skin, the long hair framing his face, and the faint lines etched around his mouth from how often he smiled. He looked so eccentric in that moment. His features so soft yet strong... And she sees the corners of his mouth turn up just before he looks down to his feet, his tongue in his cheek.