lost cause ϟ george weasley

018

"WORDS HAVE NO POWER TO IMPRESS THE MIND WITHOUT THE EXQUISITE HORROR OF THEIR REALITY."

—

BIRTHDAYS were never a big thing for Arden. Hers was on the first of January, the beginning of a new year. Normally her father would buy her a small cake and she'd blow the candle out and he would treat her to something like a little shopping or a visit to a muggle museum. But since she wasn't home for the holidays, Arden didn't have to celebrate her birthday, which she was fine with.

That was, until George Weasley arrived to the Great Hall during their break with a cupcake and a lit candle. He had a shit-eating grin on his face as he stood in front of Arden. He wished he captured the look of surprise on her face.

"What is this?" She asked, folding the birthday note from her father and putting it in her pocket.

The smile never left George's face as he answered, "I couldn't get a cake so the house elves made cupcakes. It's red velvet, they said it's your favourite. I didn't know that and I'm kind of disappointed. Anyways, happy seventeenth birthday! I'm a little bummed you're four months older than me but it's okay because I'm cooler."

A look of disbelief was spread across Arden's face. "I've never even told you when my birthday is."

"I've got my connections. Now blow your candle out, make a wish, eat the damn cupcake, and then get dressed. We're going to Hogsmeade again."

Arden raised an eyebrow at George's demands before leaning over the table and closing her eyes to make a wish and then blowing the candle out.

Her wish was the same every year: to love.

"Good," George said happily. "I know Hogsmeade is pretty lame but we're kind of limited on places to go. If we weren't stuck at school, I would take you somewhere nicer."

A smile replaced Arden's disbelief and she tucked some hair behind her ear. "Thank you, George. Really, I appreciate this. I'll meet you back down here in fifteen minutes?"

George nodded, watching as Arden flashed another bright smile before disappearing in a crowd of students. Then he quickly jogged around students to get to his dorm room.

Just as he hoped, Fred Weasley was still sleeping in his bed. With a smirk, George threw a textbook at his twin to get back at him from over the summer.

A shriek left Fred's throat as he flailed and dramatically fell off his bed. "What the shit, George? Are you trying to get merc'd?"

"First of all, what even is 'merc' and secondly, I have another date with Arden and I wanted to talk about a new plan."

Fred rubbed his bum and stood up, crawling back into his bed. "I learned it from Arden, it means like, to kick someone's ass. Like, beat the shit out of them, you know? Anyways, I thought Plan SAMPLE didn't work."

The younger twin rummaged through his trunk for a jumper while he replied. "I'm glad Arden is uh, rubbing off on you, I suppose. And it didn't, she's still unable to love, unfortunately. But I think progress is being made. SAMPLE didn't fail completely because I kissed her during a full moon. We have seven more moon phases to try out."

"More like seven more chances for you to snog Arden." Fred scoffed. "But what's your point?"

It seemed George finally found a jumper he approved of because he kept it on. "SAMPLE is just a lengthy plan, but it could work. If we do research and find out if a elixir needs to he made or not, we do that. We keep experimenting till we get it right. In the mean time, I've come up with a new plan."

Fred raised an eyebrow, leaning up on his elbow. "Well?"

"FIT-UMI. It stands for 'Fake-It-Till-U-Make-It.' I'm going to try to explain to Arden later that maybe if we just pretend we're in love then maybe she'll develop some real feelings. If we pretend to date then it could spark something."

The older twin pursed his lips, looking unconvinced. "I don't know George. You could really get hurt, you know? Like you could genuinely start thinking you two are in a happy relationship but when you recall the truth, it'll hit you really hard and I don't want that for you. Besides, wouldn't it have worked with Harvey then? Or anyone else she's dated?"

"It's fine, Freddie. It's all in the name of science. And it didn't work with Harvey because she didn't really ever want to be with him. I really do think Arden wishes she could have some feelings with me so maybe it'll work. Have some faith in me and ALPACA. I gotta go now, I'll bring back some peppermint toads for you!"

Fred groaned and fell back onto his bed rolling over onto his stomach and closing his eyes to go back to sleep.

His twin was racing down the stairs while simultaneously putting his black trench coat on; it was a gift he received for Christmas. He arrived in the Great Hall just as he finished wrapping his Gryffindor scarf around his neck.

Again, Arden walked up to him in her own trench coat. They walked closely in order to suck up each other's warmth. After moments of walking in the cold, which was only bearable thanks to George's jokes and their beloved conversations.

The heat from Madam Puddifoot's Teashop engulfed both Arden and George in warm hugs, making them sigh in pleasure. George led them to a table in the corner without even thinking, knowing that Arden always sat in the corner of rooms for an odd and unknown reason.

They took their coats off and slung them over the back of their chairs before sitting down. A few couples were also in the shop, kissing and sweet-talking each other. It made Arden uncomfortable and annoyed because she just wanted some tea and to hang out with George, not front row tickets to an erotic show featuring Hogwarts sickeningly cute couples.

"Don't glare at strangers," George scolded after catching Arden's cold glare at a nearby couple that kissed and giggled a few tables away. "It makes you seem bitter and jealous."

Arden scoffed. "I am bitter, George. I can't love, I think I'm allowed to be bitter around couples. But because you asked, I'll stop. And also because I wouldn't want anyone thinking I'm jealous of them."

A chuckle left George's lips as he shook his head slightly. He ordered for the both of them, surprising Arden that he remembered how she liked her tea.

Granted, she was unaware that he had a folder on things he wanted to recall. It wasn't something he'd bring up on dates, anyways.

"You know what, Arden? We can be bitter together."

The statement confused Arden and she raised an eyebrow, silently asking for an explanation.

"Well you can't love. It's a good reason for both of us to be bitter."

Arden tilted her head. "Why are you bitter about it?"

"Because that means you can't return any of my feelings."