Blue moon ; George Weasley

Thirteen

"Esme."

George was waiting for her when her class ended, and she took one look at him, then turned and walked in the opposite way of where he had been standing.

"Esme!" He shouted, running after her, and due to his long legs, she quickly caught up with her. "Essie, listen to me. I'm sorry."

"Piss off, George." She said through clenched teeth, fighting the urge to punch him.

"I shouldn't have said those things. I just... I don't want him to hurt you."

"So instead you hurt me?" Esme let out a laugh. "You can't walk around, constantly being scared of getting hurt. I'm dating Elliott and if he hurts me, he will, but right now everything's going great and I am not going to base the future of my relationship on something you are scared of."

George scoffed, shaking his head at her and he felt the anger rise as she mentioned a future with Elliott Cross.

"Future? Like the future you had with Cedric? Or—"

Esme stopped dead in her tracks, staring into the corridor for a moment before she slowly turned towards George.

"George... he's dead." She said, her voice so calm that George instantly realised that was the wrong thing to say.

Even if she had forgiven her before, she would never forgive him now after using Cedric against her.

"That's not..." he sighed. "...no, I just meant... he dumped you. He hurt you. He was dating Cho Chang when he died."

Esme shook her head at him and continued walking.

"Leave me alone."

"No!" he followed her again. "I want you to come back to the group. You don't want to be sitting with him and his friends."

"Oh, you mean my boyfriend and his friends?" She asked him. "They're actually nice. You don't know what I want, George. You need to leave me alone."

He grabbed her wrist and stopped walking, forcing her to look at him.

"I'm not leaving you alone, Essie. I love you."

Esme didn't realise the way he meant it. She took it as friendly love so she didn't think much of it, but he meant it in a completely different way.

"I'm not gonna forgive you so easily this time." She said and looked up at him. "This is the second time you've slut-shamed me because I've got a boyfriend, now fuck off and leave me alone!"

George was obviously taken back by the way she cursed at him, the way her voice sounded.

He stepped back a little, letting go of her and she continued walking, feeling her eyes sting with tears.

The corridor was clearing out and then George caught up with her again, shutting the door before she could make her way out onto the stairs.

"Essie..."

"Just drop it!" She snapped at him. "I don't want to talk to you!"

"You can't just— we need to talk about it!"

"Mate, she clearly doesn't want to." Elliott's voice caused Esme to turn her head and look at her boyfriend who walked down the corridor.

"Mate... mind your own business." George spoke, mocking his use of 'mate'.

Elliott continued to approach and George turned towards him while Esme stared at Elliott.

"It is my business when you are harassing my girlfriend."

"Harassing? That's hilarious. You're a fucking joke."

What happened next, caused Esme to gasp loudly while stumbling back.

Elliott punched George straight in the face, and before Esme got to react, they were fighting.

It wasn't just a small fight.

They were both going at it, punching each other over and over again until they were both bleeding from either their noses or their mouths.

Esme stood frozen. She stared at what was happening. She couldn't look away and she couldn't move a foot.

Her hand was clutching her bag tightly and then there was fast footsteps. The two boys got separated and Esme saw Fred holding his twin brother back while Elliott was helped off the floor by his older brother Garrett.

Garrett pressed a hand to Elliott's chest, pushing him back while saying something in a quiet voice that made Elliott nod.

"Fuck..." George cursed quietly, turning away from Fred to wipe at his mouth, and then his eyes landed on Esme. He saw the look on her face. She looked traumatised. "...Essie—"

He reached for her but she held up a hand and stepped back.

"Don't touch me!"

"George—" Fred reached for George and pulled him back and out of reach from Esme.

"Get away from her!" Elliott shouted when George tried to reach for her again.

If Garrett hadn't been here, he would've started another fight.

Fred grabbed onto his brother and dragged him out of the corridor, through the door right next to where they stood.

"Hey... hey." Elliott walked over to Esme and took her face in his hands, making her look at him.

Blood was smeared across his upper lip, he had a cut across his cheekbone and he was bruised multiple places on his face.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, rubbing her jaw with his thumbs. "I'm sorry..."

Esme placed her hands on his and removed them from her face.

"I need a second." She said quietly, hurrying out of the corridor.

She hurried towards the girls bathroom and once she was in there, she finally felt like she could breathe.

She dropped her bag to the floor, loosened her tie and marched over to the window.

She leaned her hands on the sink, closing her eyes.

Why she was reacting this badly on a fight, Esme had no idea, but it shook her somehow badly and she was feeling very hot, her hands and her legs shaking.

She lifted her head and looked at herself through the mirror and as she stared into her own blue eyes, the first sob escaped her lips and then she just broke.

She heard a door and then she quickly grabbed her bag, hurrying into one of the stalls.

She sat on the toilet seat, pulled her feet up and clamped a hand over her mouth to drown out the cries.

She could hear a group of girls talk and laugh and she hoped to Merlin that they wouldn't hear her.

She squeezed her eyes shut. She had a hard time breathing with how hard she was pressing her mouth against her mouth and nose but when they finally left, she had calmed down.

She leaned her head back against the stall wall, looking up at the ceiling.

"You're such a fucking baby." She whispered to herself, shaking her head before standing up.

She grabbed her bag, left the stall and went back to the mirror. She9 was happy she hadn't worn any makeup today. Her eyes were red, her cheeks wet and her lips were swollen.

She brushed her fingers through her dark hair and she felt a deep desire to dye her hair again.

Maybe something little more unnatural.