Abused

George

"George?" Hermione gasped. "It's really him! I haven't seen him in so long!" Hermione started waving to get his attention. "George! George! Over here!" Hermione stood and ran over to him. 

"Hermione? Is that you?" George smiled when he caught sight of her. "I feel like it's been so long," he exclaimed. Hermione nodded.

"I know! Come on, sit with me and Pansy." Hermione started to lead him over to their table. 

"Wait, did I hear you right? Did you say Pansy?" George stopped in his tracks. "As in Pansy Parkinson?" Hermione nodded. 

"I'll explain. Just go with it," Hermione muttered. George shrugged and continued to follow her. 

Wow, he accepted that way faster than anyone, Hermione thought to herself. Hermione approached the table and smiled at Pansy. Pansy smiled and stood. 

"George, this is Pansy. Pansy; George. I trust you know each other," Hermione said cheerfully. 

"Yes. It's nice to be formally introduced, though," Pansy responded while holding out her hand for George. George smiled and shook her hand.

"It is nice. But, may I ask, why the sudden change of heart in both of you? You both seem friendly with each other, but you hated each other in past years," George stated. Hermione shrugged. 

"I guess we just stopped seeing the differences between us and started seeing the similarities," Hermione replied. Pansy nodded. 

"Would you like to join us?" Pansy asked, pulling up another chair. 

"Sure!" George smiled. He sat down with them at the table. "By the way," His voice dropped down to a whisper. "Do you two know who Mr. Creepy is over there?" George subtly pointed to the cloaked man sitting directly behind them. 

"We don't know," Hermione said, whispering too. "He walked in just before you did. He slammed the door open and managed to get the whole pub's attention for a second. He didn't do anything, though. He just walked over and sat down. So far, I don't think he's ordered anything yet." George nodded. 

"Speaking of, I'm thirsty. Excuse me while I grab a drink." George stood and headed to find someone to fetch his drink. 

"So?" Pansy asked once George was out of earshot. 

"So what?" Hermione asked back. 

"So?" Pansy asked more forcefully while smiling like an idiot and making vague hand gestures. 

"Pansy, are you okay?" 

"I'm just gonna say it," Pansy stated, still smiling wide. "George is pretty easy on the eyes. I haven't seen him for a while, but, you gotta admit-" 

"Pansy!" Hermione exclaimed. "He's like a brother to me." 

"That doesn't mean I can't think he's hot," Pansy responded, unfazed. Hermione rolled her eyes. 

"Be quiet. He's coming back," Hermione stated as she took a sip from her butterbeer. 

"Sorry, where were we?" George asked as he sat back down. Before responding, Hermione looked closer at George. Pansy was right. She had to admit the George did look pretty good. But still, Hermione did think of him like a brother. She felt the same way about all of the Weasleys.  Except Ron, of course. 

"We were talking about the creep behind us," Pansy reminded him. George nodded.

"Oh, yeah. It's not our business, though," George stated, taking a sip from his butterbeer. 

"What if he's evil or something?" Pansy asked mockingly. 

"With our luck, he probably is," Hermione laughed. 

"Well," George laughed with them. "If he starts acting weird, then we'll make it our business. Let's move to a lighter topic. Hermione, how is it going with my brother, Ron?" Hermione and Pansy froze, remembering their heated discussion about her dumping him. 

"Uh- it's going great, I think," Hermione muttered, habitually rubbing the back of her neck out of nervousness. 

"Oh, come on," George rolled his eyes. "Even though he's my brother, I won't be offended if it's not going well. Tell me the truth." Hermione and Pansy exchanged nervous glances. George suddenly laughed. 

"I knew it! You two both seem nervous about something. Let me guess," George scratched his chin. "You're going to dump him soon," George stated confidently. Hermione's eyes widened. 

"No! No, of course not!" Hermione exclaimed. 

"Hermione, I know you way too well. I was right, wasn't I?" George smiled as if to show there were no hard feelings. Hermione sighed and Pansy shot her an apologetic look. 

"You're right. Things aren't going very well between us. It's not that I don't love him, it's just that-" Hermione cut off. 

George smiled sympathetically. "It's okay. I understand. Does he have any idea?" George asked. 

"No. But I think I'm going to break it to him once he gets back-" Hermione was cut off by the cloaked man standing up suddenly, roughly pushing his chair over in the process. The man quickly turned and strode out of the pub. 

"That was weird," Hermione muttered. George and Pansy nodded in agreement. George glanced down at his watch. 

"I'm sorry, girls. Looks like it's time for me to go," George stated as he gulped down what remained of his butterbeer. "Let me know if Ron gives you a hard time," George said to Hermione as he winked. Hermione laughed and nodded, though she was terrified on the inside. George may have been joking, but he had no idea how bad Ron was. 

"Nice to finally be introduced to you, Pansy," George said politely, giving a small bow. Pansy laughed.

"It was nice to finally meet you, too," she responded. George smiled at the pair of girls and left. 

"Did you see what I mean?" Pansy exclaimed once George had left. 

"I guess so. But, still," Hermione muttered. "I still think of him as the older brother I never had, although he was pretty easy on the eyes." Pansy laughed and finished her butterbeer. 

"Do you wanna go on another round of shopping?" Pansy asked, standing up. Hermione nodded.

"Yeah. There was this book I had my eye on-" Hermione was cut off by a groan from Pansy. 

"A book?" Pansy groaned once more. Hermione swatted at her.

"Shut up. Yes, I had my eye on a book. If you go with me to the shop, I'll buy you whatever you want from Honeydukes." Pansy thought for a moment.

"Anything? I don't have to pay?" Pansy asked. Hermione nodded in confirmation. Pansy smiled. 

"Let's go, then! What are we waiting for?" Pansy skipped happily out of the pub. Hermione laughed and followed.