Blue moon ; George Weasley

Thirty-two

Pulling the jeans up, Esme jumped towards the mirror, making a small noise while sucking in her stomach.

She buttoned her jeans and then turned to her side, pulling her shirt up to reveal her stomach.

"Nice and flat..." she muttered, smiling at her reflection.

Esme wore a pair of white mom jeans and a crème-coloured jumper that was a tad oversized but she liked that.

She ran her hands through her hair which was freshly cut and her natural blonde colour.

She stared at herself, feeling mildly okay with the way she looked. She wore makeup, which she rarely did these days because of how little energy she had to do stuff like that.

It was January, it was a new year and it was the day when the Hogwarts students would return to school.

Esme would continue her sixth year, she'd go back to acting like her heart wasn't aching for George, and she was going to continue preparing for the day she'd be alone at Hogwarts without any of her friends.

Oreo was meowing behind Esme. She was standing on the bed, trying to get Esme's attention, and Esme smiled as she walked over and picked up her cat.

"I can always count on you, huh?" She smiled and kissed the head of Oreo.

Oreo wasn't coming with Esme back to Hogwarts. Lately, she had noticed that the cat was happier with less people, and Hogwarts was full of people. Esme wanted her to be happy, so she made the tough decision.

Luckily, David agreed to take care of the cat, while his daughter was off to Hogwarts.

"I'll miss you." Esme whispered and Oreo purred before Esme put her down, opening the door to let her out.

She turned around and walked across her bedroom to her nightstand where the book she currently read, laid.

She picked it up and turned, eyes landing on her brother who stood in the doorway, about to knock to let her know he was there.

"I'll be taking you to Kings Cross instead of dad." He said, pushing his hands into the pockets of his trousers.

"Okay. Dad's got work, or..."

"No, uh... he has some other business to attend. He won't say what it is." Ethan shrugged. "My guess is that it's a woman."

Ethan turned and walked away at the same time as Esme felt her heart drop to the bottom of her stomach.

A woman?

Instantly, her mind went to her mother.

Her mouth got dry, her hands sweaty and she felt like crying. Her dad couldn't possibly have moved on to the point where he was ready to be with someone other than her mother.

Twenty-two months.

That's how long they had lived without Yasmine Night and in Esme's opinion, that wasn't long enough.

Esme stormed out of her bedroom, managed to catch up with Ethan and continue past him.

She found her dad in the living room, in the middle of closing the garden door.

"Are you seeing someone?!" Esme blurted, causing David to look up, seeing his daughter and how upset she looked. "Is that why Ethan is taking me to Kings Cross and you aren't?"

David continued shutting the door, before he turned towards his daughter, folding up the sleeves of his shirt.

"I'm not taking you to Kings Cross because I have a meeting, Esme." He said. "And as a matter of fact, yes, I am seeing someone but this sure wasn't how I wanted to tell you."