messy // george weasley

ch4: Surprise Visitor

    Willow's hand flew to her mouth as her eyes darted to the orange envelope sitting on her unmade bed. She took another glance out her window only to see Fred and the girl walking back up the stairs to their apartment.

With no more drama to witness and the girl's words lingering in her mind, she felt like there was no avoiding the letter any further. She took a calming breath as she walked to sit on her bed. Pulling her legs onto the mattress, she picked up the envelope.

Willow ran a finger over the purple wax seal that held the letter closed. She wondered if she was about to read a love letter, but pushed the thought away as she finally ripped it open.

Her nose was flooded with the scent of fresh parchment as she pulled out a small, off-white card. It read:

Willow–

I apologize for missing you, but truth be told I was nervous to face you in person again. I hope that I do get to see you again sometime. Please feel free to test out any recipes on Fred & me. Come say hi soon.

George Weasley

(your neighbor)

She let go of the air in her lungs as she read over the letter eight more times for luck. This didn't sound like a love letter, but it wasn't the hate letter she had prepared herself for.

What stuck out the most was how he had claimed to be nervous to see her again. Why would he feel nervous? They had only met last night and hadn't even spoken for longer than 20 minutes. She had been nervous, too. But that wasn't unusual for Willow.

She began reading the letter again when an idea popped into her head. She wanted to write him back. It would show that she appreciated the effort he put into cleaning the plate and also that she liked the letter. Plus, it was a way to keep communicating with him without having to meet face-to-face.

Before she began the search for some ink and parchment she walked over to her bookshelf. She skimmed her eyes over every title before landing on the one she was looking for. Willow pulled out a tattered cookbook that her grandmother had passed down to her.

She slipped the letter in between two random pages before stuffing it back to its spot on the shelf. It was one of her favorite cookbooks, but she had practically every recipe memorized at this point so she had begun to use it more for storage. It was also the place where she kept a few special letters from her parents and the slip of paper that had the sign idea.

Willow rose from her position on the ground to begin the search for everything she needed to write George back. She already knew she'd have to go out tomorrow to buy envelopes, but she wanted to have the letter written out tonight.

After searching for a good thirty minutes, she had finally managed to turn up several scraps of parchment, an almost empty inkwell, and a broken quill she'd stolen from Charms class during her seventh year. Willow strolled out to her kitchen island, arms full, to sit down as she wrote.

She began to chew on her nail as the blank parchment stared back at her. She twisted open the pot of ink to dip her quill into the black liquid, pausing at the top of the parchment before she wrote:

Dear George,

Hello, friend.

Willow immediately regretted writing that. What a weird way to start a letter to a man she didn't know. She ripped the top of the parchment off where she had written for a fresh start.

George–

Thank you for the clean plate and silly letter. Both brought a smile to my bleak face.