Dandelions

A LITTLE BIT OF THIS, A LITTLE BIT OF THAT

If Rory had known what would follow telling Maggie about his little predicament, he would've thought about it a little more.

"There he is," Maggie sighed wistfully, a quiet giggle slipping out afterward, "Man of the hour."

She, of course, was talking about George Weasley--walking toward the two of them sat in History of Magic with a purpose. Like he hadn't done his homework or something. All Rory could do was steam in thinly veiled in embarrassment as Maggie probably wiggled her eyebrows, or nudged his arm mockingly.

"Have the two of you heard anything about McGonagall changing her patrol pattern?" He whispered as soon as he sat across the aisle from Rory, whispering loudly underneath the buzz of chit chat in the room.

"Nice to see you too," Maggie chuckled, shaking her head softly. "I haven't heard anything about patrols changing."

"Why? Has she been getting closer to the restroom or something?" Rory turned to the side briefly, before hearing the heavy, wooden door to the classroom shut.

In floated Professor Bins, a ghostly man who was just as boring as he was dead. As usual, just his presence was enough to send Rory's eyelids on their gradual journey down, only getting closer and closer to being closed as the man droned on and on about--well, about something or other.

The sound of Maggie's quill scratching dutifully on parchment only soothed his nerves more, sending him into that blessed ground of half-asleep that absolutely trashed any hope that he would learn something during this class period.

"Rory," it'd felt like he blinked, when Maggie was poking him awake as students bustled around him--trying their best to get to wherever they were meant to go next. "Class is over."

"Oh," he stifled a yawn, squinting his eyes at the large, dusty clock across the room. "Oh, okay."

"Snooze fest," George didn't bother to cover up his yawn, scrunching up his entire face after letting it escape loudly, "Wonder what that speech was about. I sure wouldn't know."

"You two are a lost cause, I swear," Maggie tutted, letting out an irritated huff between a reluctant grin stole onto her face, "How about we go study in the library until dinner?"

"Can't," George groaned, "I promised Fred I'd go straight to the bathroom. We're working on these taffies--they'll make your tongue swell up. We've just barely gotten the charm right, and-"

"I look forward to my taste test," Maggie cut him off politely, nodding toward the door, "But I don't want spoilers, you know."

"Right, right," George stumbled over his words in his excitement, "Forget I've said anything. Actually, we're also trying to make chocolates that use oblivia-"

"Up, up, up," she fussed, motioning to zip his lips, "No spoilers."

"No spoilers," he nodded sheepishly, throwing the two of them a smile before darting out into the hallway. Perhaps it was just Rory seeing what he wanted to, but he could've sworn George looked at him a little longer than he needed to.

He immediately regretted looking over to Maggie, seeing her look up at him with a devious smile, eyebrows wiggling just to add to the effect. All he could do in response was roll his eyes, scoffing as he felt the back of his neck heat up in embarrassment.

"Wow, wow," she mused, "You two are practically all over each other."

"Shut up," Rory sighed, face scrunching up in humiliation.

He silently followed after a giggling Maggie as she led the way to the library, weaving in and out of students and groups of friends loitering in the halls. Something about the fact that there were so many people around, and George being the way he was, left Rory feeling like a tiny, flustered mess. What if everyone around him could read minds? See what he was thinking about? Would images of George smiling and laughing suddenly pop into their heads, or would it be his mischievous smirk?