Elusive // The Weasley Twins

54. Familiar

Mature content ahead (aka 18+)

Much to her dismay, Cosette didn't get the chance to see George until almost 24 hours after her return. She picked up an extra shift at the studio to make up for the days she took off and by the time she made it to Diagon Alley, it was nearly sunset.

The store was still open and she said hi to Ron who was standing behind the register.

"Is George back there?" She asked, nodding towards the hallway leading towards the offices.

"No, he took the day off to help Lottie unpack and organize," Ron told her, leaning against the counter behind him. He crossed his arms over his chest and peered in the direction of the staircase. "If he's not upstairs he's at Lottie's place."

Cosette stepped out of the way so that he could ring a customer through. She wasn't done talking to Ron yet so she waited for him to finish up, wanting to get his opinion on this sudden move.

She couldn't help but continuously look at the staircase, expecting George to come down but if he had taken the day off it was very unlikely he would need to come down here.

Ron smiled at the customer after finishing up the transaction and looked back at Cosette, "You don't like that she's moving in, do you?"

"Do you like it?" She asked in return. "I mean, this decision came out of literally nowhere, Ron."

"Look, we all know that you and Lottie don't particularly get along," Ron started off and Cosette resisted the urge to roll her eyes because he really wasn't wrong. "But George seems happy with her. You're going to have to learn how to tolerate her like you do Harry."

Cosette wished she could tell that he was completely missing the point. There was so much more to this story than her not liking Lottie. It was the fact that she had fallen hard for George only to come back and find that those feelings were no longer reciprocated.

"The difference between Harry and Lottie is that Harry isn't a stuck-up bitch," Cosette scoffed and Ron's eyes widened in surprise for a split second at the insult. But in reality, she could say a lot worse about her.

"Lottie isn't a bitch," He sighed, lowering his volume at the swear due to the fact that there were still a good amount of customers in the store. "Have you ever even tried to have a conversation with her?"

"Yes," she blurted out. "The first day I met her she was offended that I was at the burrow, as if I wasn't even allowed to be there. As if I didn't consider that place home for six fucking years. She walked in like she owned the place and that she owned George."

"Well maybe that's it," Ron shrugged his shoulders, clearly not wanting to get in the middle of this more than he already was. "You and George were always close, what if she just felt intimidated by you or by your friendship with him? Hermione's the same way when people we went to Hogwarts with come by the shop. She gets protective and comes across very passive aggressive if she thinks they're flirting with me."

Cosette had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from laughing out loud, "Ron, do you really expect me to believe that girls come in here just to flirt with you?"

"Well it doesn't happen all the time," he quickly defended himself. "But it has happened and when it does, Hermione gets jealous."

Cosette was having difficulty picturing Hermione as the jealous type, but Ron seemed very adamant on what he was saying so she wasn't going to question him anymore and went back to the original topic.