Sparks Fly || A George Weasley Story

Year 5: "Falling" In Love

It was pouring outside, but I knew that Hogwarts was not a school with much common sense, and that the game would go on. Hufflepuff wasn't even supposed to be playing today, but because Malfoy went and got himself hurt during Care of Magical Creatures, we switched with them and got to play first. Although, there was a chance that this game would go on forever since nobody would be able to see the snitch through all of the rain.

Either way, I still had to play, no matter how exhausted this week had left me, back and forth trips to the shrieking shack to feed Sirius, studying with my friends, not to mention the homework, and the practices and keeping up with Hog-Gossip. There was so much going on, but yet, here I was, dragging myself out of bed, early on a Saturday, and tugging on my yellow jumper to get ready to be out on the pitch in these possibly fatal conditions. Although, the worst part of it, was the possibility of seeing George.

It had been two weeks now since mine and George's argument, but it had felt like years, and if he were to come up to me, I wasn't sure I'd really know how to speak to him anymore. What do you say after your friend brutally embarrassed you in the middle of town, and then you two avoid each other like they've got the plague for two weeks? I wasn't sure, but I did now that if some of his first words to me weren't a sincere apology, I wouldn't be saying much back.

I slathered my hair in gel, from root to lip, slicked it back as tight as possible, and did it in a sleek plait. And, like most game days, I forwent putting on any makeup. There was always dirt or blood on my face by the end of the game, and I always took a shower afterwards anyways. It was just a waste of time, when I had other things, like checking in on how Oleander was handling this latest turn in the weather. He'd played in snow, light rain, and even some rather rough winds, but even I hadn't played in conditions like these before.

So, I struggled with my boots while Colleen was polishing her broom, Tamara was casting waterproofing charms on her headscarf and jumper before she fixed the scarf on her head, and pulled her jumper on. Her main worry was the lightning. Tamara said that her main fear with the rain was someone getting struck by the lightning and dying right before her eyes. I'd told her that the chances of that were slim, although I knew that was quite the opposite of the truth. Professional quidditch players got struck by lightning all the time, unfortunately, and since we were somewhat more resilient than muggles, it didn't affect us all that bad. A month or so out of the game maybe, but it very rarely killed us.

That didn't make it any less terrifying though. I hoped that I was hiding my worry a lot better than I knew Oleander would be when I ran into him this morning before the game actually began. He was probably, and quite literally, shaking in his boots, and I thought that maybe he could use a quick pep talk before breakfast so that he could actually stomach it. This game felt like it was going to drag on forever, and we were going to need some serious energy.

I bid all that were up goodbye, and hurried out of the room, my plait swinging behind me. By the time that the door closed behind me, I was already at the end of the hall, and pushing open the next door that led out into the common room, hoping that Oleander would be down here already, and thankfully, he was. In fact, he and Cedric were both standing in the common room together in their matching yellow jumpers. It looked like Cedric was already giving him a talk to try and calm him down.

"How are my two favorite boys?" I asked, throwing an arm around each of their shoulders.

"Are we not counting George as one of your favorite boys anymore?" Oleander laughed.

"They're not talking right now because George still hasn't apologized," Cedric said, "I honestly wish they would make up, I'm getting pretty bloody tired of looking at her all the time since he's not dragging her behind him everywhere he goes."