#bashfulness

᾽ιόπλοκ᾽ ἄγνα μελλιχόμειδε Σάπφοι θέλω τι ϝείπεν ἄλλά με κωλύει αἴδωσ.

- Sappho

Violet-weaving, chaste sweetly smiling Sappho, I would speak but bashfulness restrains me.

❝ His smile... i-it gets my heart racing like a hare running from its predator. Who would've thought that a smile could be so treasuring, so beautiful, so endearing? Not me, but meeting him made it seem to be true. ❞

❝ If we did get together... I only wish that nothing evil shall come out of it. I just want to be reassured that I will be safe and loved... ❞

word count: 2.9k

pair: george weasley x reader

warning(s): none

a/n: This has been in my drafts for quite a while and I am very pleased with how it turned out. Feedback is greatly appreciated!

-

“(Y/N)? What are you doing here? And why are you up so early? I clearly remember you saying that you weren’t exactly a morning person.” said Hermione after offering you a polite smile. You sighed softly in response, causing the brunette girl to furrow her eyebrows in question. You smiled, though you were certain she could surely detect the tiredness hidden behind it.

“Good morning to you too.” You muttered. Her smile soon faded and before she was able to question you, you flinched at the weight of a hand being so unexpectedly placed onto your shoulder. You turned around abruptly, only to be met with the sight of a grinning Ron who so desperately tried to conceal the amused chuckle that was threatening to spill out. Harry gave you a sheepish smile before taking a seat next to Hermione.

“What is it (Y/N)? Did I give you a bit of a scare?” You rolled your eyes at Ron, making him put his hands up in defense before sitting next to you. Hermione shook her head in disapproval, though her lips were on the verge of forming an amused grin.

One by one, the students started gathering around the dining hall and before you knew it, the place was absolutely filled with loud chattering. Christmas holidays were just around the corner and everyone seemed eager to finally return back home and spend time with their families. Everyone except you. It was only yesterday when you had received a letter from your parents informing you that, due to their jobs, you wouldn’t be able to celebrate Christmas together this year. Not that you were necessarily shocked, in fact, you were aware that it was bound to happen at some point. Frowning at the thought of having to spend Christmas alone without any of your friends’ company, you gave the trio one last smile before standing up and heading over to sit on your usual spot at (Y/H)’s table.

-

“Oh come on (Y/N), don’t you at least want to give it a try?” said Fred. Eyes looking down at you full of hope as a sly smile made its way onto his face. Your fingers gently grazed over the edge of the page you had just finished reading, only to then continue onto the next chapter.

You had no intention of breaking your focus. Afterall you already knew very well that Fred would not stop bothering you even if you gave him a ‘no’ for an answer. Something you had already done the very first time he had brought up this suggestion. A quiet protest left your lips as the book you had been reading was suddenly out of your reach and onto Fred’s steady grip.

He placed the book onto the table with a sigh of defeat, a tint of fake irritation apparent on his features. “Seriously (Y/N), I mean- half the school already knows about your crush on my brother. Everyone but him of course.” he muttered lowly, a smirk reappearing on his face.

You simply gave a huff of annoyance, “I believe you are being just a tiny bit dramatic Fred. As per usual.” you smiled and he returned it, flashing you his playful grin.

“Okay I’ll admit it. That might’ve been kind of a stretch but you know what I mean!” he argued before falling silent. His sudden pause caused you to slowly look up, he mumbled something under his breath, making you raise your eyebrow in question. Feeling your stomach twist and turn at his silence, you spoke up. “What is it?”

Remaining silent for a couple of seconds, he took a step back and smirked. Your entire body tensed up as you were well aware that something was definitely up and it wasn’t good by any means. He simply muttered a quick "Nothing.” before making his way out the library, leaving you absolutely terrified.

-

The next few days passed by way quicker than you anticipated. Christmas was a couple of days away and the majority of students from (Y/H) were getting their bags ready.

Being good friends with Harry,Ron and Hermione meant spending a lot of time in Gryffindor’s common room. Especially now since you were going to be spending Christmas at Hogwarts with very little to no company. According to the trio, you seemed much more tense than usual. A statement that you knew wasn’t completely wrong, after Fred’s little stunt in the library you just could not bring yourself to fully let loose. He was surely planning something and you highly doubted that ‘something’ would be beneficial for you in any way.

The twins always had a small tendency to tease you as they had, many times, claimed that seeing you ‘get your knickers in a twist’ caused them great amusement. However you had to admit, they weren’t the only ones who enjoyed poking a little harmless fun at you. Ginny and Ron also had their fair share of teasing you but you couldn’t say you necessarily minded it. Your family had always been in really good terms with the Weasleys and ever since you were young you had grown quite accustomed to it.

Though, what you had very recently come to realise was that George was suddenly not so fond of his siblings’ behaviour towards you. The red headed twins were practically known for their never ending mischief so you were quite shocked whenever he’d step in and end your playful banter.

It was only recently where he had started acting this way and you couldn’t help but be suspicious. Wondering whether the twins were teaming up against you.

“Hermione, would you please let me-”

“No Ron.” Hermione cut in, “I am not letting you copy anything, instead, you could just go ahead and do it yourself.”

Ron gave a sigh, letting his head fall back as he quietly muttered. "Bloody hell…”

Harry chuckled at the scene in front of him before giving Ron a pat on the shoulder, which granted him a small frown from the red headed male.

Giving you a hopeful smile, Ron leaned towards you slightly. “(Y/N), would you mind helping me with Potions? I am completely lost-”

“(Y/N)!” “There you are!” “We’ve been looking for you young lady.”

This time being interrupted by his older brothers, Ron exhaled a frustrated sigh before cursing lightly under his breath.

The twins smiled cheekily at his little tantrum before their attention drifted towards you.

Fred stepped forward, throwing a smirk your way and that’s when you noticed. George had both of his hands hidden behind his back, signifying that he was most definitely holding something.

“What are you two up to?” you curiously asked, your voice barely above a whisper.

The twins looked at each other for a short moment and after that, Fred gave the youngest a small nod. George turned towards you and smiled, making you frown in question. He then handed you what seemed to be a letter. You reached out to take it from his grasp though you were a bit hesitant at first. Looking at them both in the eyes, their intentions truly appeared to be innocent as they looked back at you without any mischief glinting in their eyes.

You began reading out loud and as soon as you were done, the trio grinned happily while the twins remained smirking cunningly at your shocked expression. You chuckled lightly before pulling both of them in a tight hug, making them laugh at your excitement.

“We know we’re great, you can thank us later.” Fred said, earning him a punch on the shoulder to which he responded with a yelp of pain.

George stayed silent instead. A smirk still plastered onto his face as he ruffled your hair gently.

“How did you know?” you asked.

They both shrugged in unision.

“We have our ways.” George added.

-

“(Y/N) dear! Oh it’s so lovely to see you. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” said Molly, offering you the sweetest smile to which you returned with one of your own.

“It really has. Thank you so much for inviting me to spend Christmas with you, I really hope I am not a burden.” you spoke and your voice faded slightly at the end of your sentence. George gave you a playful nudge on the arm before walking past you with a welcoming smile on his face.

“Don’t be stupid (Y/N), of course you’re not a burden.”

Molly eyed him warily before enveloping you in a tight embrace and pulling you inside. Each time you stepped inside the Weasleys’ house you felt an instant wave of warmth and safety wash through you and this time it was no different. The family reassured you multiple times that your presence was more than welcomed in their household and since you went along with pretty much everyone, you were used to spending the night and sharing Ginny’s room. This time, however, you volunteered to sleep on the couch, much to Hermione’s hesitance. Convincing her of the fact that you did not mind in the slightest was tougher than you expected but you still managed to ease her worries.

Soon it was dinner time and Arthur went on rambling about how things were going at the Ministry, to which whilst Molly nodded along. Chatter quickly filled the room as well as the playful banter shared between Fred and Percy, earning both males a light scolding from their mother. Ginny breathed out a small laugh after catching Fred’s seemingly irritated expression and it wasn’t long before Hermione joined in. George simply gave a small smile at his brother’s antics before looking up at you with his gaze lingering a bit longer than usual. Admittedly, that irked your curiosity a tiny bit and needless to say it took a whole lot of self-restraining not to comment on it.

-

“(Y/N) are you sure you don’t mind?” asked Hermione, her unruly curls tied back in a loose ponytail as she silently scanned your face for any sign of discomfort.

You gave her a faint smile before nodding in reassurement. The girl nodded in return after mumbling a quick ‘good night’ and heading upstairs.

Nothing but the sound of the crackling fire filled the room and you gave a sigh of pure bliss at the warmth radiating from the fireplace before gently laying back. Hours passed by much slower than what you had anticipated and during those hours all you did was tosh and turn in a failed attempt to fall asleep. Actually, you’d be lying if you denied how completely drained you felt; though it wouldn’t be hard to believe judging by how you could barely keep your eyelids open. Even so you still couldn’t exactly pinpoint why that was the case; after all you were no stranger to spending the night in the Weasley household. You assumed the main cause of it was just feeling homesick unconsciously.

All of a sudden, you heard shuffling coming from upstairs and your muscles tensed up instantly; after having placed your weight onto your elbows you pushed yourself up and tried to look around whilst your eyes took some time to adjust to the darkness. In a matter of seconds the shuffling stopped and though you still felt a bit shaken up, you quickly realised that someone had probably just woke up.

You gave a tired sigh and tugged the blanket closer to body before closing your eyes once again. For a split moment you felt as though you were about to drift off into dreamland until a pair of hands gripped your upper arm and shook you awake. You yelped in panic and, out of instinct, your hands reached up and placed themselves over your heart; panting slightly your eyes met with a pair of seemingly ‘seeking of forgiveness’ brown eyes.

You clenched your jaw in furry and before you could question the guilty, George put his hands up in defense and slowly sat down next to you.

“I know you’re mad at me but I swear I didn’t mean to scare you. Really.”

You glared at him intensely for a few seconds before relaxing your muscles and letting your shoulders fall loose. You looked up at him and George frowned deeply before averting his gaze elsewhere. That did not last long though as he quickly found your eyes again, only this time he offered you a sheepish smile.

“I’m sorry.”

You breathed out a chuckle in disbelief and George joined in with that same smile still covering his face. You could easily detect a hint of hope radiating from his expression and as much as you attempted to conceal it, a shy smile still appeared on your face.

“Can’t sleep?” Asked George.

You huffed, “What makes you say that?” you questioned with a tone full of sarcasm. The red headed male rolled his eyes playfully at your words.

“Guess that makes two of us.”

Now that raised your curiosity alright. You furrowed your eyebrows in question and George simply gave a shrug. “Kinda hard to sleep with Fred’s obnoxious snoring.”

The attempt to stop your laughter from slipping past your lips was far too difficult and it quickly turned you into a giggling mess. George grinned at your amused state which caused your cheeks to flush a bright red color which then lead to you internally wishing that he wouldn’t take notice of it.

“I am not quite sure I believe your excuse Georgie. Are you sure that’s why you decided to pay me a visit?” you asked, hoping to get something more out of him.

Unexpectedly, George just smiled and shook his head in denial before muttering, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Throwing him a look of disbelief, a playful smirk settled upon your face and soon enough you scooted closer with your shoulders now touching. Silence quickly took over and the atmosphere was far from awkward. After spending so much time with the Weasleys you grew incredibly comfortable in their presence, especially with the twins or even more specifically with George.

The exhaustion of the day soon started kicking in and no matter how much you tried to keep your eyes open, they still fluttered closed. George noticed fairly quickly and urged you to lean your head against his shoulder after having shuffled even closer. A small smile formed on your lips at the feeling of his fingers shyly brushing against yours, silently asking permission to hold your hand and without hesitation you intertwined your fingers in a gentle grip.

“Comfy?”

His voice was no louder than a whisper, you hummed in response before looking up at him “You are forgiven.” you said. George’s eyes lit up at your words and he then gave a small nod. After observing your expression he realised that your eyes were focused elsewhere, his eyes followed your gaze and spotted the mistletoe hanging above the two of you.

You broke the silence with a huff, “I don’t remember that being here.” masking your embarrassment with confusion you looked at George with a small frown.

George kept his gaze focused on the small mistletoe and by the looks of it you were almost certain he was thinking of something. After no more than a second he mumbled, “Neither do I…” under his breath. His eyes made contact with yours once more and before you had the chance to break it he spoke up.

“May I?” The boyish, almost shy smile he had on his face paired with his unruly bed hair made your heart rate pick up rapidly and the lump in your throat only worsened. Knowing that words would one hundred percent fail you you smiled reassuringly and nodded.

George leaned in eagerly yet slowly, your noses brushed lightly and before you knew it your lips collided in a sweet kiss. His grip on your hand loosened before moving upwards to brush the hair out of your face and when you both pulled away he quickly placed a kiss on your cheek.

“I’ve always wanted to do that.”

His words made a smile reappear on your face but not too long after that, your smile faded away abruptly at his next words.

“Though you do look ridiculous with your hair all messed up.”

You gaped before giving him a harsh shove against his shoulder and pushing him lightly. On the other hand, he was quick to mask his amused laugh with a pout but that didn’t make you any less harsh.

“Look who’s talking!” You said, an amused smile present on your face as well. Meanwhile George leaned closer and whispered quietly.

“We’re not alone you know.”

Immediately realising who he was referring to, you smirked to yourself and with the most sarcastic tone you could master you spoke up, “Stop spying on us you creep!”

George chuckled at that before whipping his head around to find a very satisfied looking Fred with his hands crossed over his chest. The older twin gave you an offended look before muttering something along the lines of ‘This wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for me so you should be grateful’ or something like that but instead of responding you just pulled George in for another kiss. Fred made a noise of both disgust and disappointment before making his way upstairs only after having informed George of the fact that he had no excuse to spend the night here.