George was sitting in Transfiguration bored out of his mind. He had his head in his hands and had stopped paying attention long ago. Professor McGonagall was rambling on about being able to change your appearance at will by using a simple spell. Yeah, right. Simple. Lee had made a jab at him about being able to change his hair colour to something that didn’t make him look like he was on fire. George, however, was too bored to listen and reply.
George's head snapped into attention when McGonagall asked a question and four hands shot into the air. Sitting up, he watched as McGonagall picked a Ravenclaw to answer her question: “What was the great importance of the spell?”
“Tactical advantage,” the girl said smartly, tucking a piece of blonde hair behind her ear. “Aurors especially would find it useful for stealth. To disguise ones appearance would keep them safe if the dark wizard they’re hunting gets away.”
George stared at the girl, fully awake now. Lee noticed him looking and laughed softly.
“Nerdy Ravenclaw,” he told George. “Thinking of a prank?”
“Who is she?” George asked in a whisper. He finally found something in the class to keep him awake. But why hadn’t he noticed her before?
“Ravenclaw Prefect. Dawn Hollows.” Lee looked at George with curiosity. He was obviously confused by his friend’s behavior. “George?”
George ignored him and kept looking at the blonde girl sitting near the front. From his seat in the back row, the boy could see most, if not all of the room, but she was the first thing since entering that had caught his attention.
Dawn must have felt his eyes on her because as she ran her fingers through her hair to get it out of her face, she looked behind her. Her eyes landed on the red-head and not longer after they had did she blush and quickly return her attention back to Professor McGonagall. George saw her tap her friend's arm, making her lean over. The two girls spoke for a moment in hushed voices before the brunette looked over her shoulder at him. She turned back around and started whispering in Dawn's ear. Whatever she said made Dawn shake her head in disagreement.
Dawn looked over at him again and when she saw him still watching, she turned back around and released her hair from behind her ear, creating a curtain to hide her face. That was when George realized he was making her uncomfortable. Blinking, he looked away and dropped his head back into his hands like before. The only difference was that this time, he couldn't help but sneak glances at the mysterious girl every so often and by the end of class, he had his answer as to why he had never noticed her. She was extremely quiet and seemed very shy.
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There was no doubt in his mind that George found Hollows appealing. She had turned his boring day, then week, then month of lessons into something bearable, but there was no denying there was something not entirely ‘right' about her. She didn’t seem to show any truly strong emotions, like joy. He had seen Hermione ecstatic over something as trivial as test results so why wasn’t Dawn the same in Transfiguration? She was a Ravenclaw after all, and they loved getting the results of tests. Then again, Dawn wasn’t Hermione and only one Weasley could find Hermione and her quirks attractive and that wasn’t George. But it wasn’t as though Dawn didn’t have emotions; it was more like Dawn wasn’t confident enough to show them.
George headed out into the courtyard with his brother and friend one day after a Potions lesson. They had a free period and had chosen to take advantage of it and the peaceful weather by hanging out by the lake and messing around. As they drew closer to the lake, they saw a figure sitting under the beach tree. They only had to walk a bit closer to recognize the figure as Dawn Hollows. She was sitting under the tree reading a book. The sight of her like that made George stop in his tracks. She looked so different to what she looked like in class. Her eyes were darting over the page so quickly that they were almost a blur. A small smile on her lips was evident and her face seemed to be glowing with emotion. She truly seemed to be experiencing the emotions in the book. But what emotion could it be that could make her look like that?
He had to know. She looked so different. So tranquil.
He and his friends decided to sit at the water’s edge, instead of disturbing the girl. From where they sat, George could see the title of the book and Dawn’s face clearly.
He decided to look up the book she was reading during lunch. He could have looked it up during the free but he wanted to continue studying this ‘new’ Dawn. Fred and Lee had tried to pull him into a conversation, but they had eventually given up when they realized that he wasn’t going to pay attention. He no longer found Dawn just appealing; he liked her a lot more. George loved all things unique, and she certainly was different to all other girls.
When he finally tracked down the book she had been reading, he found it was a story called Pride and Prejudice and it was a romance novel. He didn’t bother to read it but he did skim through it. If it was anything like the romances his little sister and mother read, then he probably knew the story line. Now he understood what made Dawn look so different. Her eyes were shining with the love she was reading about and the love for literature that she held.
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George walked down the deserted, slightly dark corridor. He and Fred had no idea what to do for their next prank. They needed inspiration; a reason to pull the prank. They didn’t prank just for fun: they sometimes did it to attract the attention of certain people. Fred had been pulling pranks for a week straight, all because he wanted to impress Angelina. It was working, at least. So now George was wondering around the school, by himself, aimlessly.
Sighing, George looked up from the ground. As he did, he saw a door in front of him opening slowly. He knew he was out past curfew and didn’t feel like getting into trouble for that. Seeing an empty classroom nearby, George slipped into the room, keeping the door open a fraction so he could see out into the hall.
As he watched, the opposite door opened wider and a blonde girl stepped out. George knew it was the Prefect’s bathroom. The girl was in her pajamas, which were: a red tank-top and small red shorts. Her blonde hair was damp and she radiated with the aromas of the scented water she used. When she turned from closing the door, George saw it was the Ravenclaw Prefect in his year, Dawn Hollows; the girl he couldn’t get out of his head. She walked down the hall quietly, her bare feet padding along the floor softly. The moment Dawn had disappeared around the corner, Mrs. Norris appeared at the other end. She meowed and walked up to the door Dawn had just closed. Mrs. Norris wasn't aware that Dawn had just reappeared at the corner. She drew her wand and used a non-verbal charm. Suddenly, all Mrs. Norris’s fur had disappeared. The furless cat gave a strangled meow as Dawn dashed away, her footsteps not heard because of the fact she had no shoes to echo the sound off of the stone floor.
George was speechless. He knew that Dawn was annoyed at Filch for giving her friend a detention because she had forgotten her allergy potion and therefore sneezed when Mrs. Norris had passed, but for her to seek revenge was shocking.
Mrs. Norris scampered off to find Filch and the boy slipped out of the room, creeping down the hall. He pulled out the Marauders Map, which he had borrowed from Harry earlier that night. He quickly located Dawn making her way to Ravenclaw tower. Taking some well chosen shortcuts, George cut her off.
“Well, that’s not something you see every day,” George said softly, leaning against the wall and submerging half of himself in shadows.
Dawn looked at his silhouette as she couldn’t see his full form, before looking down at her small outfit. She blushed bashfully and did her best to cover her legs by holding her toiletries in front of her.
George chuckled, realising what Dawn thought he was talking about. “No, not that... although, yes, that is a sight! I actually meant that fabulous prank you pulled.” George moved out of the shadows so that Dawn could see it was he, the famous prankster that had given her praise. “Bravo.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” With that, Dawn walked passed George and went into the Ravenclaw common room.
George wondered if he should have told her that he liked watching her walk away, but then decided that if past examples showed him anything, it was that she was shy.
That girl was certainly different, and he was never going to stop trying to get to know her.
Never ever!
Never Ever by Black-Sand
Chapter Notes: I love getting reviews almost as much as I love George... but not quite as much
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