𝗗𝗜𝗘 𝗔 𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 ☼ 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘆

↘︎ chapter fifty-four

54 | Umbridge punishes Marley

As Marley Macmillan and George Weasley walked to the other end of the room, the girl could feel all eyes on them. The first-year students who had previously been around Fred, George and Hermione were now staring at them. But luckily, they all went back to normal. After she stopped and removed one of Hermione's ugly woolen hats she was making for the house-elves, she realised she wasn't ready.

"If you're going to howl at me like Hermione, better go right now." said George, looking at Marley. She had taken one of the woolen hats and started to play nervously with it, almost tearing the seams. Hermione looked at her sharply and asked her to drop the hat. Marley howled over to her and threw it into the nearest chair, angry.

"No, George, I'm not doing that." she said softly, breathing heavily and trying to comfort herself. "I don't care what you're doing. It's not unduly and Hermione can't find any rule so she can punish you. I wanted to talk with you about Ginny."

George just rolled his eyes and he was about to go, but Marley grabbed him for the wrist with surprisingly strong grip. She would fix their relationship and would not allow George to behave like a baby.

"You're not going anywhere, Weasley." she looked at him with persistent hazel eyes. "Sit on this sofa with me. This wasn't a request."

George just looked around and noticed how Fred was grinning at him. Hermione, Ron and Harry had forgotten about their homeworks and looking curiously at the couple. George followed her order and sat on the sofa, Marley next to him.

"Good boy. Now you'll listen to me, okay? I know what happened at breakfast sucks. But Ginny didn't mean to hurt you in any way. She was joking. I spent my free period with her and we talked about it."

"But when will she stop repeating that I'm stealing you from her?" he questioned in despair. "That's not true, Mar. We're older than her and we have other things to do. It's not your fault you're too busy and sometimes you don't have time to hang out with her. But I did nothing to deserve her anger."

"But you spilled out it on her today." emphasized Marley, looking at him. "I know, it was too much for you. But she's feeling awful. Do you know what, George? I considered it today. Maybe Ginny is saying that because she's missing her brothers."

"What do you mean?" George furrowed his eyebrows and took a glimpse of Fred, who was now talking with Lina and Lee Jordan. "She has me, Fred, Ron, Bill and Charlie."

"Bill is too busy with the Order, Charlie is in Romania, we don't talk about Percy right now, you and Fred are too busy with your joke shop ideas, Ron is sometimes with her but now he's busy with his OWLs..." said Marley, realizing that if it wasn't for Mrs. Weasley, who was taking care of her daughter, no one was paying attention on poor Ginny. Not even herself. "See, George? She wants at least one of her brothers, back."

"I'll always be her brother and she knows it." retorted George and his cheeks had started to get red. "We've all been so busy recently..."

"Show her you love her and care for her. Show her you'd always be her brother, no matter what." Marley let out a weak smile on her face and looked at the door of the common room. Ginny Weasley had just entered the room with some girls and the red-haired quickly noticed George and Marley, who were talking with serious faces. Marley looked at her in neutral, but her eyes made Ginny pretend not to notice them. Ginny just nodded and continued to talk with the girls.

"Why are you doing this?" asked calmly George, looking at his girlfriend.

"Because you were supporting me when I needed support, when I was going through bad times." she replied, her gaze stuck at her feet and the floor. "And even if you don't want to admit it, I know it's hard for you. But I'm here at anytime."