One and Only 3 ; George Weasley

264

Genevieve's P.O.V

The hallways were as I remembered them. Busy, full of students and a few teachers. I received so many looks. Most of them were sympathetic as everyone knew what had happened but others were looks of rage and hatred. That was the Slytherins. Luke was right. They'd hate me for getting rid of their Quidditch captain.

I was headed for the Gryffindor common room to see my siblings if they weren't in class. I was happy, excited to be back but I knew it was gonna be hard with both the pity looks and the looks that showed how much some of the people here hated me.

I still had a long way to go with my mental health. I hadn't gained all my weight back yet and I still had the urges to hurt myself but I had gotten better and I just had to continue up that road.

The fat lady welcomed me back when I said the password. I smiled and thanked her before she let me in and when I saw the common room, I let out a breath of relief.

"Vivi?"

My head snapped in the direction of Simon. He was standing at the end of the table, leaning on it with one hand. A notebook was placed in front of him and as he leaned against the table, head raised and eyes focused on me. "You're back?"

"I'm back." I confirmed with a faint smile. "What're you doing?"

I approached him by the table and placed my trunk down, then put my bag on the table and moved to his side.

"I'm– wait. How are you feeling?" he looked at me. "You look good but... but are you?"

"It's been better." I told him honestly as I sat on the table. "But it's also been worse."

His eyes met mine and when he saw the smile on my face, he chuckled softly. He wedged his way between my legs to stand there. He twirled a lock of my hair around his finger before he tucked it behind my ear.

"I'm sorry that happened to you." he said. "I should've knocked his teeth out when he stole your songbook on the train."

I laughed. "I would like to see that. Simon Avery Jordan, knocking someones teeth out?"

"Yeah." he chuckled, placing his hands down on either side of my thighs. "I'm not too big on the whole violence thing."

"You wouldn't hurt a fly." I smiled before I picked up his songbook that laid on the table. "Can I read what you've written?"

He nodded and watched my face as I looked down at the page it was open on. I read every lyric on the page. It wasn't finished but it was good. I mean, of course it was good. It was Simon and he was an amazing songwriter.

"Did you see the song I wrote you?" his voice spoke softly, causing me to lift my chin, realising that we were really close.

"Yeah." I breathed. "Yes. I meant to write you and say thank you. I guess I forgot. I'm sorry about that."

He shook his head and the smile never left his lips as he kept eye contact with me. "You have nothing to be sorry about, Evie. You've had your own things to worry about. I heard what happened at court."

"Oh." I frowned as I put the book back down. "Yeah."

"He might only have gotten five months, but karma will hit him one day." he told me. "He'll suffer."

I smiled softly but the smile faded when his eyes moved to behind me and he straightened up, taking a step away from me. I turned around and my own eyes landed on Emery in the doorway to our dormitory.

Well this was awkward. She visited me once when I was in the hospital but other than that, there had been no contact between us.

"Vivi." she breathed. "You're back?"

"I am." I nodded. "I practically begged my parents to convince doctor Oakwood to clear me."

Christ, this was really awkward. We just stared at each other. I sat on the table and Emery stood at the top of the stairs by the dormitory.

"I'm sorry." she then spoke as her eyebrows came together in a frown. "I'm the worst possible friend."

"Why?"

"I should've visited you more. Contacted you after the trial."

"Why didn't you?" I asked. I wasn't mad. I was just curious.

"I uh... I was scared you hated me." she said. "Even showing up at the hospital the first time was stressful. I feel pretty guilty about what happened."

Silence.

The only sound was the chair that Simon pulled out as he sat down close to where I sat on the table.

"Why do you feel guilty?" I frowned. "It's not like you..."

I closed my eyes and let out a heavy breath. "You didn't do those things. You're not him."

"No, but I saw you after he had punched you, Vivi. And I should've known it was him the first time you showed up with bruises. I should have noticed the signs of the rape and I should've noticed the signs of the self-harm. I should have done something and I didn't and I-I let you continue with him and then he almost killed you."

She was rambling. Her eyes kept flickering to anywhere in the room but me, and the words came out so fast that she was tripping over them.

"I was just scared that you hated me."

"Oh Emmy." I sighed. "Of course I don't hate you. I've never blamed you. Honestly, I was putting up such a fight anytime anyone tried getting me to talk about it. Don't blame yourself, Em, cause I don't and he's in Azkaban now. I just want to forget that this whole thing happened. I want to go back to being in school, studying, attending my classes. I want to prepare for the O.W.L.s and then next year come back and be super happy because it's our sixth year and we get to decide our own schedules. So, Emery. Get the fuck down here and hug me."