A/N/Disclaimer/Dedication: I wrote the stuff that you never knew from reading JKR’s books. I’m dedicating this chapter to Amy who spotted the tribute to the Heskin/Seale version of “Pride and Prejudice” in the last chapter. I disclaim that dialogue as well. Wait, do I even own this disclaimer....If you’ve read this before, then I’m in trouble...
“Please, no more sweetness! I need a break.”
“You know, Fred, there’s an easy way to solve the problem: you could leave us alone,” George told his twin, not taking his eyes off of Andrea.
“We need to find Fred a girl,” Andrea smiled. “I happen to know plenty of available girls.”
“So do I; many girls in fact,” Fred said slyly.
“Fred, I don’t understand why you don’t find just ONE girl.”
“You really ought to; having one girl is wonderful,” George said seriously.
“Why do I need to find one of my own when we’ve got Andrea Benning?” They all laughed. “Besides, I’ve got pretty much the rest of my life to be married. Meanwhile, if you two will excuse me, I’ve got an appointment that I wouldn’t dream of missing.”
“Well then, by all means, don’t let us keep you,” George smiled as he looked into Andrea’s eyes.
“You two are insufferable,” Fred muttered just loud enough that he knew the two on the couch could hear him as he exited the common room.
“For the record, I second the opinion that we need to find a girl for Fred. He intrudes far too much on our alone time. Being a twin, I’ve had to share everything with him, and I don’t mind so much when it comes to other things,” he brushed his lips softly in a kiss on her nose, “but I refuse to share my girlfriend.” He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, and she smiled sweetly.
Even the smallest signs of affection from George could still make her insides melt and butterflies buzz in her stomach. She loved every moment she was with George Weasley. He always made her smile, even when their eyes just met for a second across a room. He could put her into fits of laughter any time he set himself to the task. There was also the steady, strong, and very sweet side that he showed her whenever they were together, but especially when they were alone. He genuinely cared about what she was thinking. He always asked how her day had been, and not merely out of habit, but because he seriously wanted to know about it.
She could easily get lost looking into his vibrant blue eyes, so full of passion and a zest for life. He was able to make her speechless with some of his romantic gestures. There was also the fact that he was an incredible kisser. As if he could read her mind, George kissed her that very moment. It was a slow, beautiful kiss. A tingling sensation spread throughout her entire being and a few fireworks went off in her head.
After a few minutes, Andrea broke off to look at her watch. “I should go; I’ve got to get clear to the North Tower.” She had Astronomy that evening.
“Just five more minutes!” George locked eyes with her, and she groaned, knowing that she was powerless to those intensely pleading eyes; not to mention the fact that she would much rather just stay here comfortably spending time with him.
Five minutes of kissing and speaking in hushed tones later, Andrea stood up and reached for her school bag. George stood as well and walked with her over to the portrait hole. They were both hesitant to say goodnight. “I guess I should go. I think I’ll probably be late.”
“Yeah, I should probably head up to bed,” he rubbed his neck, speaking these words reluctantly.
“Walk me?” Andrea asked hopefully.
“Sure!” George and Andrea both split into huge grins, and he took her bag for her. Their hands quickly found each other’s, and they entwined their fingers and made their way to Astronomy.
As it was late at night, and anyone who wasn’t supposed to be on their way to Astronomy was in deep trouble if caught, they took a number of hidden staircases and corridors so that George wouldn’t be seen out of Gryffindor Tower at the late hour. George pretended that a number of said corridors were haunted and creepy. Andrea pretended to be scared so that she could cling to him for protection. They both enjoyed the other’s acts and knew that the other knew it was all for show.
Finally, they reached the base of the North Tower. George handed Andrea her book bag and she slung it over her shoulder. “Now, mind that you’re careful on your way back,” George warned in a serious voice, a twinkle in his eye.
“I’ll have to be,” Andrea answered in a worried tone. “I won’t have you there to protect me!” They laughed for a moment.
“I am a bit serious though,” George added as an afterthought. “You never know who you’ll meet in the corridors.”
“I know,” her smile softened and she placed a hand on George’s cheek. “Thanks.”
He placed his arms around her waist and they kissed again. When they broke the kiss, she couldn’t help but whisper in his ear as he hugged her, “I love you.”
George stiffened and Andrea’s breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t believe it had come out. They broke away. “I mean - I didn’t mean -”
“Thank you,” he said nervously, it was almost a question. George kicked himself mentally.
“Er, you’re welcome.” The awkwardness was mounting by the second. “Astronomy. I’m already late.” She opened the door to the staircase. George stepped forward to kiss her on the cheek as she swung the door open, and it hit his shoulder. “Sorry!” she said quickly.
“Goodnight.” George stood motionless for a moment, still in shock, listening to Andrea’s steps up the staircase grow more faint with each step. He ran a hand through his hair.
“I love you?” he questioned aloud.
“Love you too!” Peeves cackled at George and began throwing huge mothballs at him. George quickly ducked into the nearest passageway and ran from Peeves and his mothballs. He didn’t go straight back to Gryffindor Tower though. He took the longest route back, stopping by the kitchens for a bit of a snack, as well. He’d been a little tired and had fully intended on going back and sacking out before, well, before Andrea had just gone and said those three words.
When he finally got to the floor of the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, his head was still reeling, and he ran smack into someone as he came to the corner of the hall.
“Oy, watch yourself there, George. A bit preoccupied tonight?”
“A bit, yeah,” he smirked.
His twin laughed at him. “You wouldn’t believe the trouble Peeves gave me on the way back here from my little stroll with Cindy, the little blighter! I swore Filch would come running, lucky he didn’t. Anyway, Peeves just pops out of nowhere and starts screaming, ‘Love you too! Love you too!’ throwing these huge mothballs at me!”
“About this big around?” George balled up his fist to indicate the size he meant.
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
“Came across him myself.”
Fred gave the Fat Lady the password and they climbed through the portrait hole. No one was in the common room since it was well after midnight. They went up to their room and were met with Lee’s familiar snoring. They crawled into bed. George was still thinking about what Andrea had said and what he hadn’t said, when Fred interrupted his thoughts.
“Hey George.”
“Yeah Fred?”
“I’ve just had a very interesting thought cross my mind.”
“Not again.” Last time Fred had said that very thing to him, it had been when Fred realized he’d interrupted his and Andrea’s moment under the mistletoe the last night before the Christmas holidays.
“Well, I was right last time, was I not? Just hear me out on this.”
“Go on.”
“Well, Peeves is just as insane as we are, maybe more so.”
“Yeah.”
“But I’m thinking to myself, ‘Fred, why would Peeves go around yelling that he loves me?’ It’s odd, no?”
“He’s Peeves.”
“He can’t tell us apart, can he?”
“Not a lot of people can.”
“Exactly, and I’ve just had a very interesting thought cross my mind.”
“You already said that, Fred.”
“I know, George, I know. Did you walk Andrea to Astronomy?”
“Yeah.”
“And?”
George sighed, figuring he may as well confess. “And she said she loved me.”
“And what did you say back?”
“Thank you,” George sighed.
Fred didn’t say anything for a moment. “Well, at least you were polite. I guess we’ll be able to get a lot of work done this weekend, eh?”
“What do you mean?
“She said, ‘I love you,’ and you said, ‘Thank you.’ Could you have messed up any worse?”
~*~*~
“Well, at least he was polite,” Sophie offered.
Andrea shrugged.
“It probably surprised him is all.”
“Like he was surprised that I feel that way?”
“No! No,” Sophie corrected, “that’s not really what I meant. What I mean is...” she seemed to be choosing her words carefully, “he probably hadn’t thought about it yet. It’s rather a big thing, you know. I mean, just think, you two both liked each other for months before either of you made a move.”
“I guess you’re right. What happened when you told Terry you loved him?”
“Nothing, because I haven’t,” Sophie shrugged.
“Do you think I’m rushing? What if I’m just making a fool of myself and he doesn’t love me back?” Andrea looked horrified.
“Oh, no, Andrea, I don’t know what George is thinking, but I know that if you think you’re in love then you probably are. I haven’t told Terry I love him because I don’t know if I do. I like him, but I don’t know if we’re in love.”
“Oh.” Sophie saw that this seemed to calm Andrea down a bit, but she was still really tense. “Listen, just ask yourself if you can see yourself still feeling the way you do about him now in a hundred years. I think that what you have with George is very different from what I have with Terry. You know that I’m not the romantic type, but I have to admit that I think what you have with George is rare. Like I said, if you think that you love him, then you probably do. It’s always a big deal for a guy to say he loves someone.”
“I guess that is true,” she smiled. They crawled through the portrait hole and were halfway to the base of the girl’s staircase when a voice met their ears from over by the fireplace.
“ANDREA!”
Andrea had to look twice before she saw it wasn't from around the fireplace, but from the fireplace itself. Her brother’s head was sitting in the fire.
“Darren?” she was shocked to see him there.
“Drea, you have to help me! I don’t know what to do. I’m totally at a loss for what to do. When I sit here and try to think of what I’m going to do, nothing comes to mind. See how I can’t help the rambling? The only thing I could think of is to talk to you. I couldn’t very well tell Mum what happened because, I don’t know, I just can’t. It’s too weird telling her. So, you’ve got to tell me what to do,” he said all of this very quickly.
“Well?” he asked expectantly as Andrea kneeled in front the fireplace. Sophie waved at Andrea and mouthed that she was going up to bed.
“Well yourself! You might want to tell me what happened. I’m not a mind reader,” she smiled.
“Right,” he laughed, “I forgot. Okay, I’ll tell you what happened. So, you remember Rachel?”
“Of course,” she smiled.
“Well, we’ve been dating for a while now. Six months tonight, in fact.”
“Congratulations!”
“Thanks,” he smiled sheepishly. “So, I decided I’d take her somewhere really nice, got her some roses, the whole deal.”
“Is she allergic to roses?” Andrea queried, not really getting why Darren was in such a right state.
“No. I mean, we had a great time, and she looked completely gorgeous! So I’m dropping her off at her flat, and we have our usual goodbyes, and then that’s when it happened.”
“What? What happened?”
“She said. . .” he hesitated.
“Did she say you should be just friends?” Andrea hoped this wasn’t the case.
“No, worse.”
“She hates you and never wants to see you again?”
“No, she loves me!”
Andrea laughed outright at her brother.
“Don’t laugh! It’s not funny, An!”
“All right,” she covered her mouth and tried to stifle her laughter. Darren glared at her. “Sorry. Then what did you say?”
“Nothing! It’s like I totally froze, and I made this kind of weird coughing, or choking noise, I don’t know. I just Apparated out of there as fast as I could!”
Andrea was now glad that things had gone at least a little better with George.
“An, you’ve got to help me!”
“Okay, let’s just think for a minute. Do you like her?”
“I wouldn’t have dated her for six months if I didn’t.”
“Do you think about her often?”
“All the bloody time,” he beamed.
“Do you think that she is the most beautiful woman you’ve ever met?”
“Absolutely! I mean, she’s got these eyes, and this hair, and. . .” he sighed.
“Have the two of you ever fought?”
“Once we did, yeah,” he frowned a bit.
“And were you absolutely miserable?”
“Yeah,” he answered morosely, probably thinking of how it had been.
“And when you made up, how did you feel?”
“Like the happiest man in the universe,” he laughed. “I was so happy I couldn’t concentrate during our match that day, and I took a Bludger to the head because I was so busy smiling at her across the pitch.”
Andrea laughed, “That’s why you got injured?”
“Yeah,” he blushed.
“Okay, well, I’m going to ask you one last question. Do you love her?”
“Yes,” he answered immediately. Then he gasped. “How’d you know?”
“It’s obvious. Just look at how worked up you got. Now here’s what you’re going to do. In a few hours, you’re going to Apparate into her flat while she’s still asleep. You’re going to put up, let’s see, daisies, yes, daisies everywhere. You’re going to make her some breakfast. Then when everything is ready, you’re going to go in her room and kiss her good morning. She’ll be thoroughly surprised, and that’s when you’re going to tell her.”
“Tell her what?”
“That you love her, you git!”
“Okay. Okay, I think I can do that. What if she doesn’t say it back?”
“You fool! She already said it to you! You’re the one saying it back!” she yelled at him, though she had a huge smile on her face.
“Oh, right. I forgot,” he grinned. “Okay, daisies you said?”
“And a really, really good breakfast. She loves breakfast. Don’t you remember when she was at our house for Christmas?”
“Andrea I can’t cook!” he had a panicked look on his face.
“You’re a wizard, Darren, use some magic!”
“Oh, right. Okay. Daisies and breakfast.”
“And tell her you love her for Merlin’s sake,” she smiled at him and he smiled back.
“Guess having a little sister finally came in handy,” he winked.
“I’m still wondering what you’re good for.”
“Nice one, An,” he seemed proud of her comeback.
“Thanks, I had my fair share of intensive training from the best.”
Special thanks to Emily and Shanae - my wonderful betas - and to Paul - gave me a (somewhat) honest opinion. If you are interested in getting direct updates, just contact me through my author page and let me know.I will also say, yes, part of this was inspired by The OC (as many scenes are) but the situation is very true to life that was "copied" here.