"UNPROTECTED"

UNPROTECTED: not protected or kept safe from harm or injury; Lorelei Black was sick and tired of the inquisitorial squad that walked around Hogwarts thinking they owned every corner of it, if it was up to her she'd drop kick their ugly arses off the Astronomy Tower and then stomp on them for extra measure, but sadly she couldn't do it because she was too young to go to Azkaban. She sneaked out of the Ravenclaw common room and into the Room Of Requirement, it was filling up and kids looked excited, they were about to practice the patronus charm once again, but today was different.

There was a weird feeling in Lorelei's gut, she felt restless, it wasn't because of her uncle getting into her head either (although he should stop doing that, seriously, that man is so sad he leaves her feeling empty) she shook the feeling out, raising her wand and casting the patronus charm just to watch her little fox run around and join the wolf and stoat.

Hope smiled at the brunette and Lorelei smiled back, but Hope's smile was different — she was sad, Lorelei could tell, her smile looked forced and her eyes were droopy, she also looked tired — but from the way she eyed her patronus, Lorelei supposed it had to do with her patronus being a wolf, she could never escape that part of her life no matter how much she tried.

A magpie made its way over to her fox, sat down on the fox's head and the fox shook her head, but the magpie didn't move — it seemed to enjoy sitting there, Lorelei felt herself chuckle as she looked around to find the owner, she saw George holding up his wand and suddenly it all made sense.

Of course it was him.

George caught her eye and winked, Lorelei passed him a mock glare.

The Room Of Requirement's door opened and closed, and then Lorelei watched a small elf with tennis green eyes make his way over to Harry, he tugged on his robes and they both started talking, Lorelei looked confused, she looked at Birdie to see if she had any idea what was going on, but she didn't — no one did.

The sudden feeling of restlessness hit again.

Oh shit.

Lorelei's eyes found George's once again as both of them looked at each other after Donny announced the news of the pink toad finding out about the D.A.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Harry asked as everyone looked at him, the room was deadly silent, you could hear a hair pin drop, Hope looked at him from where she was sat crossed legged in the dim light, "Run!" everybody moved, and Lorelei did too, she first went to find Hope who was probably still in recharge mode, and then Birdie joined them. The three girls got out of the room and Birdie immediately placed her head girl pin back on her cloak, that gave her enough protection and she could also ensure that Lorelei and Hope didn't get in trouble for being in the Room of Requirement as she could just say they'd been in the library in the after hours.

"Come on, follow me." Birdie hissed at the two, they did as they were told and she made her way in the corridors, Hope and Lorelei were both confused, but still they followed Birdie's lead.

"Hey, wait!" Lorelei heard a voice speak from behind them, she turned around to see a girl making her way towards them, Pansy Parkinson, "You're all from the club, aren't you?"

"No, Parkinson, they were in the library, and what club?" questioned Birdie and she watched Pansy scoff, oh what she'd do to have enough freedom to punch her right in her face.

"Got any proof of that?" she challenged.

"I saw them" Regan said, her slytherin tie a bit loose around her collar and her hair tied up at the top messily, she looked tired — she was having trouble sleeping too, Lorelei could tell, "They're fine"

"And I'm supposed to take your word for it?" Pansy raised her eyebrows, Regan's eyes looked dangerous right now, she looked like she would put Pansy six feet under right here, right now if she could.

"Depends on whether you want to pass potions or not" Regan passed her a smile, Lorelei looked between the two girls and watched the smug look fall from Pansy's face. Regan had won, "Go on, I'm sure you have plenty more lives to make miserable with your presence..."

Birdie released a sigh, "Thanks, Reg, honestly I choked up a bit there..."

"No worries" Regan nodded stiffly, "Go on then, try to keep yourselves out of trouble"

🫐

LORELEI VIOLENTLY STABBED THE CHICKEN ON HER PLATE. Harley passed her a look of annoyance, but didn't say anything — Umbridge becoming headmistress meant two things for the children, no fun, and no freedom, so obviously Lorelei wasn't allowed to sit with her friends, and she was angry at every little thing she saw — she yelled at a first year for bumping into her, she felt super bad about it afterwards and then handed her some chocolates, but still — she needed to calm down before she popped a blood vessel.

She wishes she didn't care about graduating as much as she did, she could've been fucking shit up with George and Fred if she didn't, even Hope and Birdie seemed to be having fun, but no, she has to care about her stupid grade, and the stupid school and a stupid job instead of bullying Umbridge like she should be.

Suddenly a piece of crushed up parchment hit the back of Lorelei's head, she turned around furiously almost ready to murder anyone in sight, but instead she saw a pair of chocolate brown eyes and a mop of red hair looking back at her, she smiled just a bit before getting up and joining him outside the hall.

The two of them sneaked into a broom closer to avoid being seen by Umbridge as she was still on high-alert with the members of Dumbledore's army, "Hi" she whispered at the boy.

"Hi" he whispered back, he couldn't keep the stupid grin off his face — he hadn't seen her in a few days yet it felt like years, he took in her appearance — she seemed to have caught up on some sleep but he could tell she was still tired, but even with all that Lorelei Black was beautiful, "Listen, Lorelei...I need to tell you something" he started before he could convince himself to stop.

"Yeah, what's up?" she asked, she had her brows furrowed as she looked up at him in the dark.

"I..." he said.

Lorelei raised her eyebrows at him.

"I'm" why was this so hard to say? He'd been practicing in the mirror all morning, he'd thought about it before going to bed, and he'd planned out everything he was going to say to her, yet here he was struggling to get the words out.

What was he scared of? Lorelei not reciprocating his feelings? Her finding it weird? The friendship he'd gained back after being gone for so many years ruined once again? Or him simply not being able to compare to Cedric? Because he was there. He was there when she was with Cedric, he was there to watch Lorelei watch Cedric like he was the only person in the room, he was there when the two acted like a couple, he was there when everyone in Hogwarts knew they were a thing except them. He was there for it all.

Cedric was amazing for Lorelei, he was funny, he was smart, he was good, and he was handsome. He was everything that Lorelei deserved, but George...was he ever going to be enough for her?

He looks at her and he sees this star who shines so bright, but he's also there to watch her flicker. Was he going to be enough for her when she needed him most? What did he have to offer? His most couldn't be enough, not for her...

She was a star, and he was just a speck of dirt.

Maybe it's the fact that he's so desperately in... maybe it's the fact that he likes her so bloody much that's suddenly caused this insecurity within him, or maybe it's some deep rooted stuff about being the second favorite twin that causes this shit for him, but George could never be what Lorelei needed, and perhaps...

Perhaps it would be better if he didn't try.

Save them both the heartbreak.

"What, Weasley?" asked Lorelei, he sighed as he looked down at her once again — damn, those grey eyes.

"I'm not going to be here anymore" George watched her frown, "Fred and I, we have a plan — we're going to get expelled for it, we're sure, but it's going to be worth it."

"What?" Lorelei asked, her tone was serious — she felt her heart drop to her stomach as she stared up at the redhead, the feeling was bad, it reminded her of how she felt when she had to leave Hogwarts, or when her dad left, she should've been expecting this right? He was planning to leave, he didn't care for his grades, and he didn't need to — he had enough ambition that his business would succeed. Damn it, she should've been expecting this!

She should've prepared herself, he was bound to leave, maybe not completely from her life, but she was going to be in this castle without him...he wasn't gonna be there to brighten up her day anymore, and while she wasn't going to be completely alone, she was going to have Birdie, Hope, Regan and Harley, then why did she feel like someone was ripping her away from the comfortable wall she'd built around herself?

"It's going to be worth it, Lorelei" George told her reassuringly, "Besides you know that we've never cared for our grades as much, our business has been doing well, we reckon it's time we start up the shop, and—"

"So, you're just leaving?" Lorelei asked him, she was aware she was being selfish, but she didn't care. She needed him to stay, she needed him to stay with her. She needed him.

"Yeah..." George nodded, she scoffed and George frowned at that, "What were you expecting, Lorelei? We've been talking about it for a few days now..."

"I don't know, George, maybe I hoped you'd stick around" Lorelei told him as she crossed her arms, "But if you want to run away that's fine with me, be my guest, do whatever the hell you want!"

"Why are you acting like this?" George asked her, he didn't know where all this anger was coming from, "I'm not leaving you, I'm not leaving anyone, I'm just leaving this school, Lorelei"

"But you are, George" Lorelei argued, "You are leaving me, you're leaving everyone — you're running away, and I'm gonna have to stay here without you?"

"Isn't that what you always wanted?" George tried to lighten her up with a joke, but Lorelei wasn't in the mood for one.

"It is now" Lorelei told him, she opened the broom closet and then walked back leaving George inside but he didn't waste any more time and ran up to her, he grabbed her wrist and turned her around.

"Lorelei, you're making a way bigger deal out of it" George told her, "This isn't supposed to be the goodbye, we only have a few weeks left until you're done with studie—"

"Few weeks without you, George" she told him, "But it clearly doesn't affect you as much as it does to me, so I guess I am making a bigger deal out of it then it needs to be"

It didn't affect him? George's nostrils flared, "You're being irrational, think about it, just a few more weeks—"

"Then why don't you stay, George?" Lorelei asked him, her voice raised but she didn't care if Umbridge heard or not.

George thought about what he should say — maybe he should tell her how much it would affect him, how much she affects him, but he didn't — in fact, he decided to say something stupid, something stupid to drive her away, "Because I want to leave, Lorelei, and I'm not the kind to stick around at a place just because I'm too terrified of change."

"Very well then" Lorelei told him, her voice cracking, "I have other things to do, have fun with whatever it is that you've got planned."

That day Lorelei Black stayed in her dorm and watched George Weasley leave that place as the sound of applause surrounded the entire castle.

so um it's nice out today isn't it? 😁