♡ - George Weasley!³

The Great Hall gleamed with its winter decorations; the walls sparkled with enchanted frost and the ceilings reflected the slowly falling snow. The Christmas Ball, the famous Yule Ball, was in full swing. And there you were, in a dress that fit you like a well-cast spell, arm in arm with your date. It wasn't George. You'd waited. For weeks. You'd even masked your hopes with sarcastic jokes whenever he mentioned the ball, as if you didn't care. But he never did. Never asked you. So when another student, pleasant, but lacking his spark... asked you, you accepted. What else could you do? You weren't going to sit around waiting for something that seemed like it would never happen. From the moment you walked into the ball, you felt it. George was watching you. From afar. From close up. Always with a sidelong glance. And even though he had his own Dareja, he didn't even bother to feign interest. His eyes followed you with a mixture of frustration and something else... something you didn't want to admit at first: jealousy. You danced. You laughed. You pretended to enjoy yourself, Dero. Every time your eyes met his, the world stopped for just a second longer than it should have. But the real breaking point came at the end of the dance. When the music stopped and the students began to disperse, you found him waiting for you outside the cafeteria, alone, his fists in his pockets, his jaw clenched. "So you came with him?" he blurted out, without even greeting you.