Sparks Fly || A George Weasley Story

Year 5: No Weasley Business

Juni's POV:

Have you ever had the feeling that someone was staring at you, and realized that there really was someone looking at you? Well, imagine that times a thousand, and you'd be feeling everything that I was right about now. Yet, it didn't make me cringe away and want to hide. It felt good to show off and have people staring in awe. It seemed as though they wouldn't see me as just the rough around the edges, athletic, smart girl, but maybe I could be seen like Cho or Scarlet. I certainly felt like they saw me that way.

For once in my life, I actually felt like the pretty girls that had always made me insecure. The ones with the perfectly shiny hair that always seemed to cooperate. The ones whose eyes sparkled like diamonds or emeralds or some other precious jewel. The girls with their spotless skin and blush the shade of some exotic fruit. They looked good in everything, even the frumpy Hogwarts uniforms, and even better when they draped themselves in expensive fabrics for days that we had free dress. Their smiles were always crisp and white, perfectly lined with bright lipsticks that stayed shiny all throughout the day, and yet, never caught any flyaway hairs.

I was one of those girls in this moment, and my confidence was higher than it had ever been off the pitch. I was showing more skin than I ever had before, and yet, I didn't want to crawl away into a hole. My uniform clung to me in ways that I'd never thought possible and the way that Scarlett had done my makeup this morning made me feel like a million bucks, even if I had previously been very insecure about my newly gained weight.

Leilani was clearly just as surprised by this change in my demeanor as everyone else was. Her pink glossy lips were pulled apart in a look of shock, and her long mascara coated lashes made her wide eyes look even wider as she stared at me over her goblet of pumpkin juice. Next to her were the golden trio, who all held different reactions to my makeover.

Hermione had a pout on her face that told me that she was not happy with anything that I had going for me this morning. Her brown eyes scanned me up and down, searching for everything to critique me on the next time she was given the chance. I wasn't sure why she was so rude towards me this year after I'd comforted her on the train her second year, but I wasn't going to let it bother me. I don't really even let Leilani get under my skin anymore.

Ron was staring at me just as hard as any other guy in the room, and while I was a little uncomfortable with that, I didn't expect much more from a thirteen year old boy. His freckled cheeks were stained a light pink and were rounded outwards with the amount of food he had stuffed inside of them. He didn't look too far off from his brother Fred, who was also staring me down with a slight smirk on his face.

Harry's dark brows were pulled together in the center of his forehead, and he didn't look all that pleased with my evolution. It was as though seeing me like this made him uncomfortable. I couldn't think of a single reason why, but his reaction more closely mimicked Hermione's than Ron's.

Then, finally, the reaction that I had been bracing myself for, George. For a moment, I was worried that when I looked over at him, I'd seen a look of disgust painted over his handsome features, and yet, when my eyes met mine, I saw nothing of the sort. His features were soft as he stared over at me. There was the same hunger in his eyes that I saw in Derrick's that afternoon in his dormitory, but it was much tamer, gentler. His eyebrows were turned up in concern and his deep brown eyes help no sign of distaste, but were instead overfilling with concern and hurt. His freckled cheeks were void of any blush or smile, and I wasn't sure how I felt about that, but I knew that it wasn't a good feeling.

I turned from the Gryffindor table, looking over at the other three houses, all of whom had turned to look at Derrick and I as we entered. I knew that for the most part, it had nothing to do with how I looked, but more so the fact that Derrick walked in with me. At this point, with him taking me to Hogsmeade, and now walking me to breakfast, it was almost fair to assume that the two of us were together. With me all dolled up, we looked like we fit quite nicely. We were that untouchably perfect couple that everyone gossiped about and were probably all jealous of. It wasn't the type of couple that I necessarily wanted to be, but there isn't anything I can do about that now.