Blue moon ; George Weasley

Six

The door shut and immediately Esme sat up straight, the twins moving closer together and closer to her so that they could talk.

Lee had gone to the bathroom so now was their chance to talk about the order and what had happened over the summer.

"I can't believe mum doesn't think we're mature enough to be in on the meetings!" Fred exclaimed. "We're of age!"

"I'm not." Esme spoke, but Fred ignored her.

"We should be allowed to join! We should be allowed to help!" Fred continued. "The Dark Lord is back and we need as many people as possible if we're going to win!"

"And I'm sixteen!" Esme said. "I should be allowed to be there too!"

George grinned and she frowned at him, causing him to shake his head.

"What?" She asked, confused about his reaction. "I should be allowed!"

He leaned back, a hand covering his mouth as he laughed silently into it. Fred looked at his brother and Esme scoffed, offended that he was laughing at her.

"George!" She shouted. "Stop!"

Fred rolled his eyes and turned to Esme again, but the volume of George's laughter only increased and suddenly he was wheezing.

"Alright, George, get out." Fred said. "Take a moment before you come back in here."

Laughing, George got up and left the compartment, leaving Esme utterly confused.

"What was that all about?" She asked as she turned to Fred who shrugged in response.

"No idea, but now that George's gone... what in the world was that?"

Esme scanned his face, then folded her arms over her chest.

"What was what?"

"McCoy." He spoke, raising his eyebrows. "He walked by earlier and you smiled at him."

"So?"

"McCoy, Esme. You've hated him for years and now you're suddenly smiling at him?"

Esme didn't answer. She had no idea that Fred had seen that. She felt her heart speed up a little, and the thought of Fred finding out about her and Elliott, caused a lump to appear in her throat.

"I— I was just being friendly, that's all."

"Friendly?" He asked. "He was out in the hallway when we looked for a compartment and suddenly you just had to use the bathroom?"

"What— I had to pee!" Esme laughed, trying her best to keep up the lie. "It's not my fault he was in the hallway."

Fred narrowed his eyes as her, knowing she was lying. He knew her better than she knew herself and sometimes she forgot that.

"He was waiting for you, wasn't he?" He asked in a whisper, leaning closer to Esme. "You're either fucking him, or you're planning to leave us and be his friend again."

Esme scoffed.

"And why can't I be friends with you guys and Elliott?" She asked. "I mean... I'm not, but so what if I was?"

Fred wanted to press on and force her to tell him the truth, but the door to the compartment opened and George re-entered, smiling as he dropped down next to Esme instead of his brother.

Esme looked at him to see him leaned back, hands folded on his stomach. He had his head turned towards her, smiling up at her.

"I'm sorry I laughed at you." He said. "The way you said it was funny."

"No it wasn't..."

George nodded, a grin glued to his face. He was watching every feature on her face, every little freckle, every crinkle, and even when Esme rolled her eyes at him and turned to look out the window, he was still watching her and the way she pushed hair behind her ear.

Fred noticed and kicked his shin to earn his attention. He widened his eyes at his brother and shook his head as if to tell him to stop staring at their younger friend.

Lee got back to the compartment a moment later and gasped when he saw George in his seat.

"Move your arse you little shit!" He exclaimed while shutting the door behind him.

"Little shit?" George asked and eyed him up and down. "You sure you aren't talking about yourself?"

While the boys argued, Esme found one of her books from her bag and started reading it while Fred's voice was constantly in the back of her head.

She glanced towards him to see him laugh about something with Lee and George.

If he knew, that would be the end of her and Elliott. She didn't want anyone to know, because the more people who knew, the bigger the chance of George finding out, and Esme really didn't want George to find out.

She didn't want them to fight like they'd done every single time Esme had been with someone.

But then at the same time, George was interested in Angelina Johnson. Of course he was. Angelina was beautiful and smart and she was the same age as George, while Esme was a year below them.

George would never go for her.

As those thoughts invaded Esme's mind, she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head gently.

Why was she thinking about George in that way when she had a boyfriend? George was just a friend, nothing more.

"What're you reading?" A certain voice caused Esme to look up at George who was now sitting across from her again.

Esme stared at him and the way he was leaned forward with his arms resting against his thighs.

He had a finger resting against the book, his eyes searching for permission to take it and look at it.

Esme pushed it towards him and as he grabbed hold of it, she let go of the book, her eyes glued to his face.

George made sure to have the page marked with his hand as he looked at the front of the book and then the back.

"What's it about?" He asked even though the description was on the back.

George wanted her to tell him. He loved hearing her talk about her favourite books. She got so passionate about it and he loved seeing that familiar smile.

"It's uh..." Esme chuckled. "...it's about friends."

Her nose scrunched up and she pressed her hands between her knees while their eyes met.

George was smiling.

He liked the nose scrunch.

"Well, it's these two friends." Esme continued. "He's in love with her but she doesn't know. She's rather oblivious, actually but at the same time he doesn't want to admit it because he's scared that it will change their entire friendship if they became a thing."

George nodded slowly. That seemed way too familiar for him.

He handed the book back and Esme marked the page before putting it next to her.

"How does it end?" George asked softly, his chin resting in his palm. "You've read it before, haven't you?"

Esme nodded.

"She dies."