Sparks Fly || A George Weasley Story

Year 3: Not A Material Girl

The ride back to Hogwarts was a bit more awkward than I was expecting. Adrian had begrudgingly followed the twins and I into Zonko's and I kept catching him staring them down out the corner of my eye. However, if he had any rude thoughts, he kept them to himself. He even slipped away from my side to speak to the twins for a few moments before buying a box of no flame fireworks. He had given them to me as soon as we, along with Cedric had piled into the carriage for the short ride back for dinner.

I had nodded and thanked him, until he told me that it was to make up for how he acted towards the twins. I suppose that maybe it was a normal way to go about things in his household, but I absolutely hated when people just buy you something and move on as if whatever they were apologizing for had never happened. It, in a way felt cheap, as though I was held at the same value as a pack of fireworks from the joke shop.

And yet, I kept this all to myself. I didn't really feel like dealing with having to explain everything that happened to Cedric, who had been noticeably absent when the twins and I had exited the small shop. Instead, we all shared a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans that I had snagged from Honeyduke's with the last of my money right before we were all rounded up to be taken to our home away from home.

"Merlin's saggy bollocks, that's awful!" Adrian shouted as he coughed, tears welling up in his eyes.

"What flavor did you get," Cedric smiled, happily chewing on his own bean.

"Not sure. It's something between moldy cheese and an old tube sock," Adrian shook his head. "What did you get, you lucky dog?"

"Watermelon," he laughed.

"It isn't fair that we are torturing ourselves while you just sit there with that bloody smile on your face. You bought them, you have to eat some too!" Adrian huffed, his attention turned from Cedric's shit-eating grin to me.

"Fine, I'll take one for the team," I rolled my eyes before looking down into the red and white box, mounds of colorful sweets inside.

I reached in, absolutely terrified of what flavors awaited me. When they say every flavor, they mean it. Rosemary said that she even got a soap flavored one once, and Amaryllis swears that she got spoiled milk when she was younger and now she won't eat them anymore. I've had very few encounters with them myself, but I can say that I could have done without most of them. It was very rare that you actually get a good flavor due to all the bad ones they have mixed in.

"Come on, Juniper, just pick a bean." Adrian whined.

I took a deep breath and pulled out the chosen bean. It was brown. That could be anything from dirt to sausage to dog food to Merlin knows! Other than chocolate, I could not think of a single way that this could go good for me.

I braced myself and tossed the sweet into my mouth. I considered just holding it there or just swallowing it whole. However, instead of those two ideas, I bit down on it, my curiosity getting the better of me. The flavor exploded across my tongue, and I instantly brought my hand up to my mouth, the want to vomit strong and clear in my stomach. But, this was the worst idea as of yet because the flavor decided the fill my nose as well as my mouth. I don't understand just how I could taste the dirt in my nose, but I did and it was awful.

"Well, what did you get?" Cedric asked, his grin still strong on his face.

"I'm pretty sure it's dirt. Thanks for asking," I said forcing a smile as I forced it down, wanting nothing more than to get his done and over with.

"That sounds like a travesty." Cedric laughed as he put a hand over his heart in mock sympathy.

"Oh sod off," I rolled my eyes.