Broken Hearts
George didn't know why Harriet was so insistent for him to talk to Draco.
Actually, he knew. He definitely knew. He had been an ass. George had been avoiding Draco. He didn't even have a good reason.
Now here he was, all his Gryffindor courage barely enough to keep him here, opposite Draco Malfoy in the room of requirement.
"Hi," he said lamely, scratching his elbow.
"Good afternoon." Draco sounded stiff, the formal phrasing not helping.
"How've you been?"
"I was going to ask you that."
"Sorry for avoiding you."
Draco's head snapped up, blue eyes wide with surprise.
George immediately felt worse. He must have been acting worse than he thought.
"Wha - Why?" Draco asked.
George didn't know what to say, so he said nothing.
Draco sighed. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No! No, you didn't." George looked at the ceiling as if help would just drop down on him. That or a meteor. "It's me."
Draco snorted. "Why don't I buy that?"
"It's me, I promise."
"Nevermind." Draco said and made to leave.
"I like you." George whispered under his breath.
Draco froze. An ice sculpture was jack shit in contrast. "What?"
"I - uh - nothing." George stuttered.
He turned around and walked back towards him. "What did you just say?"
George took a glance at Draco's face. Big mistake, because now he couldn't look away. Those sky-blue eyes were desperate, begging for the truth. Any truth. George wished he was braver. Brave enough to lie.
"I like you." He breathed.
Draco sucked in a breath, almost painfully. "That's why you're avoiding me."
"I feel guilty." All the knots in George's stomach tightened. "I like you, but I was with Jiyu and she's dead. She's dead and I feel guilty for liking you so I'm avoiding you because I don't want to like you anymore."
The expression on Draco's face was close to tears. "You think it's a bad thing to like me?"
"I didn't say that."
"It was heavily implied." He turned and rushed out of the room.
"Wait!" George tried to follow. The door slammed in his face.
George tried to open it to follow, but it was suddenly a lot heavier than it had been o the way in. By the time he had opened it, Draco was nowhere to be seen.
"Fuck!" George cursed and kicked a nearby bin. Why couldn't he get his shit together?
Draco didn't stop walking until he was safely in one of the secret passages. Maybe it would just collapse and bury him. He barely cast some silencing charms before screaming down the tunnel. He had wanted George to like him. He had wanted this for so long and now? Now he wished he didn't. If he didn't, it wouldn't hurt so much. Why did it hurt so much?
All the smiles and all the laughs flashed before his eyes. The dances at the Yule ball. The moment George had blown glitter at him jokingly, eyes so alight. Sitting outside at one of his mother's balls, listening to George talk about the pranks he and his brother had done with a huge grin on his face. The looks George sometimes would give him.
Draco kicked the wall. And again and then one more time before falling against it.
"Don't cry," he whispered to himself. "Don't cry. Don'tcrydon'tcrydon'tcry!"
A sob escaped him. Maybe it was a bad thing to like him. He was a mess. Who would want that?
He covered his face with his hands.
"Don't be so weak!" He hissed at himself. "Stop being so weak!"
He always cried over everything. It was one of the reasons his father was always disappointed with him. He was too soft. That was why his mother was disappointed in him.
He needed to do better than this.
He dragged in a deep breath. Then another and another.
After a while the tears stopped. Draco scrubbed his face. A few spells later you couldn't tell he had even been crying. He dragged himself to his feet and left his space, joining the crowd of students heading anywhere.
He saw George at the end of one corridor, looking around wildly, trying to find him.
Draco turned and rushed in the other direction.