Courtyard, December 17th 1994, 2:57 p.m.

I walked across the courtyard, bundled in my warm clothes. 

A new layer of snow had fallen last night, it was gorgeous out.

I saw George standing near a tree, doing who knows what. 

I quietly walked up behind him, holding an icy snowball. I bent my arm back and threw it at the back of his head, full force. 

He stayed frozen for a moment, before slowly turning around to face me. His ears were red, his eyes slimmed. 

I cocked an eyebrow, matching his intense stare.  

He instantly ran towards me, throwing me over his shoulder like a rag doll. 

I slightly squealed as he grabbed my legs, holding me still. I banged on his back as an attempt for him to put me down. 

He didn't.

"Put me down."

"Funny."

"Don't hurt me then."

"You know I would never try and hurt you."

"But you hate me."

He set me down in front of him. "Not as much as I let on." and with a wink he was gone. 

I was left stunned. 

Hogsmeade, December 24th 1994, 9:23 a.m.

I waited for McGonagall to check off everyone's name, clearing us to walk around freely. As soon as she did, I headed towards Hog's head, the drinks were usually cheaper there. 

I felt a tap on my shoulder, then George appeared right next to me. "Where ya going?" he enthusiastically asked.

"Hog's head." I responded, still walking.

"...Can I join?"

"That would actually be great, the drinks are cheaper there. But it comes at the cost of being surrounded by sketchy men."

He let out a chuckle, "Sounds lovely."

We reached the door and he held it open, letting me inside first. 

I stepped in, immediately taking off my gloves. 

George followed, shedding his layers as well. 

"Could I get a hot butterbeer, please?" I asked, facing the bartender. 

He grunted and gazed at George. 

"Uh.. same here, mate."

He nodded and began preparing the drinks.

We sat in a booth near the back of the pub, facing each other. 

Our drinks were slammed down rather aggressively. "Sickle each." the man muttered. 

I handed him two sickles and took a sip of my drink. 

"Thanks" George murmured, "I've never had this hot."

"Really? What do you think?"

"Tastes like piss." he stated before chugging half of the cup. He set the cup down, revealing an immense amount of foam around his mouth. 

I started to laugh. 

"What?" he casually asked. 

I continued to laugh, trying to silently tell him the situation.

He smirked and continued to act oblivious. 

Once I calmed down, I unconsciously reached across the table, wiping the foam off with my thumb and holding his head still with my other hand. I sat back down and ate the foam from my finger before realizing what I'd done. 

"Appreciate it."

"Yup, yup, no problem."

Fortunately, the awkward silence didn't last very long, but the time it did was agonizing.

"Wanna go to Zonko's?" I asked. 

His head shot up, a smile growing on his face. He didn't respond but merely grabbed both of our glasses, setting them on the bar. 

I followed him and we walked to the brightly colored shop down the way. 

We entered, the man at the counter greeting George like a friend. 

"Ah there he is! My best customer!" he announced. 

George smiled and waved back.

I walked around the shop, investigating the odd items that were displayed everywhere. I picked up a nose biting teacup, reading the label. I set it back down and continued to walk around, taking in the several colors that were screaming at me. 

I turned the corner to see George piling his arms up with stink pellets. 

I scrunched my eyebrows and stood there, staring at him grabbing the items like there was no tomorrow. 

He glanced to see my confused expression, "Fred and I are nearly out."

I nodded and looked to my left. There was a bright display of various candies. 

I picked up a package of sugar quills and waited for George. 

He held his arms together and dropped a multitude of stink pellets on the counter. 

The man rang him up, a wide smile on his face. "That'll be 14 sickles!" he cheerily exclaimed.

George payed the man and waited to the side. 

He rang up  the sugar quills rather quickly and gave me change for the 3 sickles I had handed him. 

We waved goodbye and walked out of the door, back into the crisp, cold air. 

I checked my watch to see that it was already 11.

We walked by multiple storefronts, taking in the sights and smells of Hogsmeade.

The Astronomy tower, December 24th 1994, 10:54 p.m.

I sat down on the edge of the tower, resting my arms on the railing. I folded my legs up, my toes gripping onto my slippers. 

I looked out at the moon, it was almost full, shining brightly into my eyes. 

It was a cool evening, my flannel pants and robe weren't enough. 

I pulled my robe around my torso in an attempt to keep myself warm.

I allowed my eyes to wander around the landscape in front of me. The wide black lake was reflecting the moon's calming light, just under the rolling hills.

Thoughts soon interrupted my short lived feeling of tranquility. 

A vague feeling of anguish washed over me. I sat there, searching for the answer, when a certain ginger popped into my mind, revealing the cause to me. 

Memories from years passed flooded my mind. Thoughts of stolen glances and longing for him to be mine. 

Tears slowly clouded my vision, I made an attempt to blink them away, only for them to fall down my wind blown cheeks.

Using the sleeve of my bathrobe, I forcefully wiped them away. I'm not going to cry over him, I hate him. But I didn't hate him... I loved him, but I hated that I couldn't love him. 

Small images of shared moments between the two of us flipped through my mind like a scrapbook. Future scenarios created in my head only caused me to hurt more. 

George was both the cause of my pain and my happiness.

Standing up from the astronomy tower floor, I took one last glance at the wide landscape. I finally forced myself to accept the fact that he and I would never dance up here.

I wiped my red puffy eyes once more before turning around, only to be greeted by the lover I couldn't have. 

"Weasley, what are you doing up here?" I questioned with slight attitude, trying my best to hide my flushed face in the moonlight. 

My face softened as I looked at the clearly sad boy in front of me. In a split second, without thinking, I held my arms open for him, silently offering a hug. I watched him nervously shift his weight as he continued to cover his red face. 

He stood about two yards away from me, not making any movements towards my arm. 

I stood expectantly waiting for him to hold me in his embrace.

With a deep sigh, he turned on his heels, rushing back to the castle without a word.

I let my arms drop so they hit the sides of my body, taking a moment to process what had just happened. I let my knees bend as I crumbled back onto the cold, damp floor.

George's POV

I listened for Fred and Lee to walk back to our dorms. 

I stared aimlessly into the fire, wrapping my arms around my jumper.

I watched the flames flicker with no particular pattern before deep yet confusing emotions washed over me. 

I visualized all the time spent with Y/N, and the several longing stares that had taken place over the past years. I imagined what it would be like if she were next to me.

I unexpectedly stood up, I walked towards the common room exit. I needed some air.

I quickly made my way down the corridors, working hard to keep the tears from spilling from my eyes.

The air was cool and crisp and the moonlight was almost blinding.

I reached a split in the corridor, one way leading to empty classrooms, the other to the astronomy tower.

I stood and thought for a moment, no longer focusing to stop my tears as they were falling down my cheeks.

With a sense of urgency in my steps, I quickly hustled up the astronomy tower stairs, just wanting to reach a point of peace and quiet.

I no longer held in what I was feeling, letting my emotions run askew.

My hands were shaky, my breath unsteady, my vision clouded.

The flights of stairs seemed to be never ending. 

Finally, I could see the last step. The moon's brilliant light was even more displayed here. 

As I took the final step up, I wiped my tears.

 I slowly turned and standing before me, was everything I'd ever wanted, and as she stared back at me, I knew that she saw nothing she did.

With the lighting behind her, I couldn't make out her facial expression. All I could see was the figure standing before me. Knowing she could see right through me, I made an effort to hide the fact that I was crying.

"Weasley, what are you doing up here?" She slightly sneered. Her voice was filled with hatred, not leaving anything to suggest she loved me the way I loved her. Even when I was in pain and hurting, she still hated me. 

She made a slow and subtle motion of opening her arms up to be. 

I felt a pang in my heart, and an overwhelming urge to accept her embrace. 

As she stood there, waiting for me to accept affection, she became a reminder of everything I couldn't have.

Before I knew it, my brain had told my feet to run. 

Sprinting down the astronomy tower steps, sobbing uncontrollably, my immense love for her was driving me to the point of madness.

Darting down the corridor to the Gryffindor common room, our moments replayed through my head, only causing me to sob more. 

I made it to the fat lady, "Password?" she asked.

"Banana fritters." I quietly mumbled.

"What's got you in such a tussle?" 

"It's none of your bloody business, open the door!" I screamed. 

The portrait swung open, the common room looking as abandoned as when I left it. I marched over and kicked the couch.

My foot throbbed in pain. 

I collapsed onto the couch, shoving my head into a pillow. 

I could feel the pillow grow wet with my tears.

With only the sounds of a crackly fire, I allowed myself to drift to sleep.

Pure emotional exhaustion. 

Gryffindor common room, December 25th 1994, 8:32 a.m.

I woke up, still on the couch from last night. 

I was in the same position, my eyes crusted from my dry tears. 

"Happy Christmas, Georgie!" Fred yelled, loudly... as usual.

I groaned in acknowledgement. 

He walked over and patted me on the back, "I'm going to snag some food from the great hall then grab Y/N, I'll be back."

Before I had any chance to protest or process what he had just said, he was out the door. 

I slammed my face into the dense pillow, this would be fun. 

Y/N's POV

I slowly opened my eyes to see Fred holding several food items in his arms, and dropping almost all of them. 

"Hurry up, we're doing Christmas in the common room and I need help carrying the food." He whispered.

I smacked my forehead. Well shit... this outta be fun. Am I right? Or am I right?

I got out of bed and grabbed my jacket from the foot of my bed, zipping it once it was wrapped around me.

I slipped on a pair of crew socks and followed Fred out of the dorms.

He handed me a considerable amount of edible items.

I held them in my arms as best I could, shuffling along the halls behind him.

"Gosh what is up with you and George this morning? You're both so grumpy."

"I'm just... tired."

"Right."

We reached the common room portrait and awaited for a snarky response before stating the password.

"While you're in there, check on that boyfriend of yours, he was quite moody last night!" She bellowed. 

"Not my boyfriend." I sharply stated with an unnoticeable sigh.

George sat up as we set the food down on a large coffee table in front of the fire.

He scooted over to one side of the couch and closed his eyes too long for it to be a blink.

I sat on the opposite side of the couch, pulling my hood over my head and slouching into the back of the couch.

"Well alright you two bundles of joy, let's get started, shall we?" Fred sarcastically announced, despite there only being three of us in the large and open room.

After eating in extreme awkward silence, Fred distributed gifts.

George and I had still not said but a word to each other.

Fred smiled widely as he opened my gift, he looked like a giddy toddler. 

I nodded with the smallest smile I could muster in that moment.

George leaned forward and grabbed my gift from the wooden table.

He carefully unwrapped it, looking spent.

The lightest chuckle escaped his lips in reaction to my present.

He seemed to be in a haze of extreme exhaustion. 

I knew why.

I soon realized that it was my turn to be stared at as I awkwardly unwrapped presents that I didn't deserve.

I thanked Fred and took a deep breath, leaning forward to Grab the box labeled, "From, George." 

I opened the small box to see a simple gold chain necklace with a sage gem at the bottom. 

I delicately picked it up and examined the intricate but simple detail of the necklace. 

"Thank you... I really love it." I managed to mutter.

"Goodness! What is wrong with you weirdos?" Fred finally yelled.

"Nothing." "Tired." We murmured, overlapping each other with our soft voices.

All I wanted in that moment was to throw my arms around George, confess my love, and hear him say it back. 

But that would be ridiculous. 

So I went to the bathroom instead.

I closed the door and slid down, my legs hitting the floor with accidental pressure. 

I tried to accept the fact that this would be my new normal.

Not realizing how quickly the time had moved, a drowned out knock was placed on the door.

"I'm fine." I loudly declared.

"Let me in, Y/N" Fred just as strongly responded.

I slid away from the door, allowing him to open it.

He kneeled down next to me, gazing at me with a knowing look.

"I know." was all he had to whisper before the control I had over my emotions had become absent, tears hitting the floor faster than my body had only minutes before. 

He cautiously entwined his arms around me, he had clearly never tried to calm someone down before.

"I can't get it through my head that I'll never be able to love him..."

"He feels the same."

"No."

Ravenclaw tower, December 30th 1994, 5:38 p.m.

"I can't believe it's tomorrow!" Ruth squealed.

She was excited to say the least

I pulled my dress from my trunk to hang up. It was stunning. My mom had sent me a shin length dress. It was made of black velvet and it hugged my body perfectly. It was also sleeveless. There was a slit on the left side, reaching up to my thigh. She also happened to send velvet heels and silk elbow high gloves, I was kind of excited to dress up... and maybe to see George in a tux.

Ruth hung up her dress as well. It was emerald green and complemented her skin perfectly. It had a slight V-neck and flared out at her waist, she looked like a princess. She began to tell me how she was going to do her hair... for the sixth time. I listened anyway. She wanted to curl her long brown hair and pull the front back.

But George in a tux...

Ravenclaw Tower, December 31st 1994, 6:17 p.m.

I walked into the dorm from dinner, Ruth in front of me. She clapped her hands together, "Well, let's get ready!"

I picked myself up from my bed that I had just flopped on. I walked into the bathroom to shower, grabbing my towel on the way.

10 minutes later

I re-entered the dorm room, wrapped in a towel to see several girls frantically running around. Some half dressed, some with their hair half done, all stressed.

I grabbed my dress and undergarments, going back to the bathroom to change.