XXI

"Come on, Cas," she heard Fred's voice outside the door. "Dinner is almost ready."

She stood up and straightened up the fabric of her dress. Although simple, she knew this was quite a piece and hesitated leaving the room wearing it. It was a sort of special dinner being set up but she couldn't help feeling a bit overdressed.

"Coming."

Downstairs, George was walking around in crazy legs. He'd upgraded his clothes a notch too and was excited to try and impress her.

He was also nervous beyond measure. Earlier that day he'd almost kissed Cassiopeia and he was now overthinking it. What if it was uncalled for? Or she was now uncomfortable and didn't want to be around him any more? He liked her, he really - really - liked her and he had to accept that he saw the girl as more than a friend since the almost kiss, but now he was worried he had stretched their relationship beyond its limits.

"Hey," Bill stopped by his side. "Looking nervous."

"She's taking a lot of time in there," he scratched his elbow nervously.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," his older brother chuckled. "Just wait for the day you'll be waiting for her to get ready for a date. You better get used to this if you want to keep her as a girlfriend."

"She's not..." he started, but Bill interrupted him.

"But you wish she was. Don't lie."

George fell back into silence. He wasn't wrong.

"Mum said she looks at you the same way," he assured him. "Just go for it."

The young brother frowned.

"You don't mind her being… You know… A Malfoy?"

Bill hesitated but shrugged.

"Look… As long as she's not a death eater… I know Ron is a bit upset but it's most likely because of her brother. And because a pretty girl is into you now, of course."

George opened a lopsided smile.

"Really?"

"Really," Bill gave him a pat on the back. "Relax. You'll be fine."

He heard a step on the stairs and turned to see her coming down and smiled in relief, not even seeing his brother walk away.

"Am I late?" the blonde girl questioned, visibly nervous.

"You're the birthday girl," her friend chuckled. "We all showed up too early."

Cassiopeia just shook her head. George took the sight of the witch in front of him with a full smile and red on his cheeks.

"You look…" he tried to find words. "Very beautiful."

And she did. Her dress was the same colour as the one she'd worn to the Yule Ball, although much more simple and shorter.

"Thank you."

"I'm sorry about the whole thing with Ron."

She just gave him a smile and a wave of her hand.

"I don't care about what he thinks, George. As long as he doesn't go out spreading that I'm here, I don't care. I'm here because of you."

The redhead boy gave Cassiopeia a look full of surprise and wonder and something warm and bubbly. He was ready to say something when the two heard Molly's voice.

"Dinner is ready, kids."

They all walked into the dining room and sat at the table, the girl could feel Granger's eyes digging into her before even looking at her and she blushed when their eyes met.

"So..." William cleared his throat. "Cassiopeia. How did you and George become friends? No offence but you're an odd pair."

The blue-eyed girl hesitated, feeling every single pair of eyes on her.

"He saved me," she finally said. "I was attacked at the Yule Ball and George jumped in without hesitation. Then we started being around each other and… I guess we're more similar than different."

"Really?" someone asked, completely surprised, and she moved her eyes to the head of the table to find Mr Weasley with his eyes wide.

"She likes my jokes and inventions," George said with a proud smile. "And we like the same places."

Cassiopeia felt her cheeks warm at how sweet he spoke of her, and the boy by her side continued.

"She likes libraries and I found out they are actually not that bad."

Except for Fred, everybody froze and she and George heard as some forks and knives were dropped.

"What?!" Ronald almost yelled.

"I got the same reaction when I heard that one," Fred continued to eat as the others just stared at the two of them, which prompted his twin to look around the table.

"What?" he rolled his eyes.

"Nothing," William went back to his plate. "No problem."

No conversation was held after that when everyone finished everything, some of the brothers were left to help their mother, which included both the twins.

Someone put music on, she stood a bit far from the rest of the group and was caught by surprise when Ginny walked to her.

"What do you see in him?" she questioned bluntly.

"Beg your pardon?"

"In George. He literally spoke about you like a boy in love there at the table. You certainly have something you like in him to be here now."

Cassiopeia hesitated. She didn't like talking about feelings.

George was probably the first person in her life she never had to impress or wear a mask in front of. The girl felt free with him along with something she didn't really know what to call. It made her heart race and made her crave his presence more and more.

"He's George," the blonde girl decided. "What else is there more to say?"

She stared at the guest in silence, half surprised and half trying to find words.

"What's up?" the redhead boy questioned, standing by the Malfoy's side quickly.

"Just talking with Cassiopeia," she eyed the Slytherin from head to toe. "I'll leave now."

The two watched her walk away and George turned to his friend with a frown on his brows.

"Did I miss something?"

She shrugged. It was weird, indeed.

"Here," he offered her a cup and the girl glanced at the liquid for a moment. "Wanna get out of here for a bit?"

Cassiopeia glanced at the garden for a moment and confirmed.

"Please. What's in this?"

"Mum made some fruit juice. Are you allergic to anything?"

She shook her head and the tension left his shoulders.

"Nothing that will be actually be put in a juice," the girl assured him. "Is everything okay?"

George looked nervous, and the way he was literally using the cup of juice to buy time for his answer was one big sign of it.

"Yeah," he decided. "Did you like the dinner?"

Cassiopeia nodded.

"I did. I want to thank you actually."

His eyebrows rose up for a moment and she looked into his eyes.

"You moved all of your family just so I wouldn't spend the weekend alone. It was very sweet of you."

George shrugged with a smile.

"It's okay. It was no big deal."

Cassiopeia was ready to say something back, it was obviously a big deal but George didn't let her just as his face lit up.

"Okay, close your eyes. I have something for you."

This time, the girl complied with no questioning and George placed something very familiar in her hand.

When she opened her eyes, they fell on the rose he'd placed on her palm, identical to the one he'd given her not even 3 months earlier.

"Happy birthday."

The blonde teenager smiled.

"Oh, George..."

"I have a real gift too," he added quickly, pulling a small package from his pocket and offering it to her. "Here. Open it."

When she ripped the paper and pulled the black string, her blue-grey eyes widened. A rose quartz necklace.

"George!" she exclaimed his name once again. "You shouldn't have bought this. Don't waste your money on me!"

"It wasn't expensive, I promise!" he defended himself. "I found the quartz and I know someone, I only paid for the cord. Don't you like it?"

Cassiopeia shifted on her feet, bashful and smiling.

"I do. It's beautiful. But don't do that again," the girl insisted. "I don't care about gifts. Having you around is enough."

George's heart swelled inside his chest and he tried to hide his quick blushing by offering to help her put it on. Once he did and she turned around, she was still eyeing the pink stone against her pale cleavage and he bit his lip.

Cassiopeia looked more peaceful and happy than he'd ever seen her. She'd cracked more smiles with him this weekend than in a whole month at Hogwarts, he almost couldn't bear the fact that she would need to leave in just two mornings.

"It looks great on you," he whispered. "Everything looks great on you."

The blonde girl looked up at him, feeling her cheeks hot and George could see as her pupils were blown wide.

"You know that's not true," she chuckled.

Dang, when did they get so close?

"It is" he smiled. "I saw you when you were sick. You know how you get with a fever? Your eyes look very red, your hair was all messy and your face..."

"Shut up," she hit his chest playfully, resting her hand there. "I get it. I looked awful!"

"No," he shook his head. "You looked great. You looked adorable. You looked..." his voice fell into a whisper. "You looked..."

Cassiopeia licked her lips, moving her eyes between his mouth and his eyes while trying to process if she was understanding his clues or not. Did George really want to kiss her or was she just going crazy?

His hands touched the girl's jaw slowly and softly.

"You..." his thumb met her pink lower lip and she could feel his skin was slightly cold.

Cassiopeia closed her eyes just as he wrapped his arms and hands around in her waist, bringing her face to his, and it finally – finally happened.

Neither of them knew who was the one who moved the last centimetre that made it happen, but it happened.

They finally kissed.