T H I R T Y - S E V E N

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Christmas night came much faster than Adeline could have anticipated.

The four best friends spent hours in the Ravenclaw dorm, laughing and playing Christmas music from Melanie's small radio as they got ready for the Ball. Adeline could've sworn that she could've spent hours carefully tying back and pinning both Melanie's and Estelle's hair. Even Ophelia – who seldom dressed up for anything – couldn't help but get invested in the excitement.

"This Muggle makeup is so nice," Melanie commented as she went through Adeline's small stash that she had brought along with her from home. "It's nice to wear eyeshadow that's so magically sparkly that it can blind people."

"There's magical makeup like that?"

Estelle nodded as she carefully zipped up the side of her shimmery silver and gold dress robes. "And lipstick and lip gloss that won't ever come off no matter how much you scrub."

"Or kiss someone," Ophelia added as she pulled her short, brown hair back with a clip that matched perfectly with her sleek, golden dress. "It's practically impossible to get off."

The sound of a small chime rang through the room, signifying that it was time for the girls to leave the room and meet up with their dates.

"Is this dress too much?" Adeline questioned worriedly as she carefully held up the skirt as to not trip on it while walking down the stairs, exposing her dainty silver heels that ached when she wore them for so long but were so pretty that Adeline didn't even care. "I think the skirt's too poofy. I'm going to stand out too much."

"You already were going to stand out," Estelle pointed out. "And you look absolutely gorgeous. Like that princess in one of those Muggle movies you showed me."

"Cinderella?"

"Cinderella," Estelle confirmed once Adeline had reminded her of the name. "Trust me, you don't need to worry. You look amazing."

"Says you! You look like a gorgeous snow princess," Adeline gushed, earning a grin of delight out of Estelle.

Cedric Diggory was already standing outside the Ravenclaw tower door in neat-pressed black dress robes, and began to grin from ear-to-ear when Melanie stepped out. After planting a small kiss on the back of her hand, Cedric hooked his arm with Melanie's and led her away to the Great Hall. As the pair walked away, Melanie snuck a glance over her shoulder at her best friends, beaming at the group before turning back to Cedric and talking quietly with him as they made their way towards the Hall.

"With the looks Cedric was giving her in Herbology last year, it's about time he asked her," Estelle commented as the three girls began walking towards the Great Hall.

"How did I never notice that?" Adeline questioned. "The two of us were in the same class as them!"

"You actually wanted to do the work. Meanwhile, I hate Herbology, so I was trying to do everything possible to distract myself."

The trio had almost reached the staircase leading to the Great Hall entrance Estelle met up with a Beauxbatons boy named Louis that her cousin Celeste had set her up with, claiming that the pair were absolutely perfect for each other. It seemed as if Celeste had been right, as there seemed to be no awkwardness between the couple right from the moment they met up.

"Oh, I see Lee!" Ophelia pointed out before running so fast down the staircase that she nearly tripped over halfway down. "Good luck with the ginger!"

Meanwhile, the bottom of the staircase, a group of sixth year Gryffindors were waiting excitedly for the Yule Ball to start. While Fred, Angeline, Lee, and now Ophelia were cracking jokes about the outfits some of the professors had chosen to wear, George was standing anxiously beside them, trying his best to focus on the conversation but instead thinking a lot about the night ahead.

Angelina was the first to notice Adeline. "Merlin, George's about to lose his mind," She whispered, causing Fred to nod in agreement and begin to laugh.

Rolling his eyes at the teasing couple, George slowly turned around to face the stairs as he began to say, "I'm not that bad you know–"

Angelina's prediction ended up being spot-on.

George had always known Adeline was pretty. Sure, it wasn't always on the forefront of his mind. But George had always been aware of the fact that Adeline was a very cute girl.

However, there was just something different about Adeline that night. George didn't know whether it was her princess-like blue dress or they way her brown curls fell on her shoulders or how she seemed to be glowing even in the dim candlelight, but in that moment, Adeline looked radiant.

And George knew from the moment he saw her round the corner that he was a goner.

Adeline wasn't faring much better. Even having to navigate the steep and slippery Hogwarts staircase in her heels and long dress wasn't enough to distract Adeline when she saw George in his dress robes standing at the bottom of the staircase.

Almost everyone in attendance was staring in awe at the Hogwarts Champion as she descended the staircase. But there was really only one person who really mattered to Adeline.

The pair met at the bottom of the staircase, and for a moment, neither of them knew what to say to each other.

"Hi," George eventually said in a soft voice, his brain so muddled that he could barely form a coherent sentence.

"Hey," Adeline smiled shyly, her cheeks burning so much that she felt like they were on fire.

"Wow, such a riveting conversation," Fred muttered nearby before crying out in pain as Angelina smacked him in the shoulder and lead him away from the couple.

"Ignore him," George rolled his eyes, Fred's teasing seemingly snapping some sense back into him. "You look beautiful, Addie."

"You look amazing too, George," Adeline beamed, feeling her face begin to burn as she stared up at George. "If you'd like it, I have something for you."

"An early Christmas present?" George teased as Adeline opened up her small silver purse that she had been carrying with her. "Just for me?"

"It's a boutonnière," Adeline explained, fiddling with the pin on the small flower accessory as a way to distract herself from her nerves. "A lot of Muggles wear them for really special dances and events, and it's usually the girl who pins it on the jacket of her date."

With a wide grin, George took his dark overcoat off. "Do you think you could pin it on for me?"

Nodding, Adeline carefully pinned the boutonnière on George's waist coat, making sure not to hurt him with the needle. "Now you're even more handsome than before, if that was even possible."

Now it was George's turn to go red in the cheeks, and in an effort to keep Fred and Lee nearby from noticing, George extended his arm out and asked, "Should we head over to the Champions?"

Harry already stood at the entrance of the Great Hall with Callisto Chang, the two of them beaming and talking happily as they waited for the Ball to begin. Adeline waved at Harry and Callisto before catching sight of Fleur and practically running over towards her, pulling George behind her.

"You look gorgeous," Adeline gushed, pulling Fleur into a tight hug. "Not that that's unusual for you. But tonight you look even more so, if that's even possible."

"As do you," Fleur beamed, laying a light hand on the blue tulle on Adeline's sleeve. "'Zat dress is beautiful on you. Where did you get it?"

"A Muggle shop in my hometown!" Adeline answered brightly, not caring if any of the pureblood wizards or witches around sneered at the thought that Adeline had chosen to wear a Muggle dress rather than witch dress robes.

But Fleur didn't look judgmental about this. Instead, she just looked surprised. "I never knew Muggles made such beautiful gowns."

"You'd be surprised," Adeline laughed before saying a quick goodbye to Fleur, who had dragged her date off to go talk to some of her friends from Beauxbatons.

The closer the time got for the ball to start, the more crowded the entranceway to the Great Hall became. It almost surprised Adeline because even with all the buzz with the Yule Ball, she still hadn't expected so many people to show up.

What shocked Adeline the most, however, was when she saw Hermione approach the group in a stunning pink dress with Viktor Krum. If anything, she had expected Hermione to show up with Ron Weasley.

It seemed as if Adeline wasn't the only one who was shocked. "No wonder little Ronnie was in such a foul mood earlier," George smirked next to her.

As soon as Hermione reached the group, Adeline rushed over to her. "You need to tell me all about this later," Adeline whispered, earning a small giggle from Hermione.

"If I don't die from these heels," Hermione said with an annoyed look on her face, gesturing down to her admittedly pretty shoes. "My mum insisted that I wear these, and they're an absolute pain."

Adeline gestured down to her own pair. "I think they can be classified by a torture device. But they're pretty, so I'm trying my best to survive. You look amazing, by the way."

"You look incredible too," Hermione beamed, and the three talked to each other for a few minutes before Hermione went over to talk to Harry, who seemed just as flabbergasted as most of Hogwarts upon seeing Hermione arrive.

"I really hope you and Fred won't make fun of Ron too much," Adeline said to George, glancing quickly over at his little brother, who was staring at Hermione with wide eyes and bright red cheeks.

"We won't make fun of him...when you aren't around."

When Adeline turned to stare at him with a shocked look, George burst into laughter, earning a sharp look from Professor McGonagall. A few moments later, the professor walked briskly over to the group of Champions and gestured for Harry and Adeline to come over to her.

"Are you all ready?" Professor McGonagall asked, glancing between the two Hogwarts Champions and their dates.

"Ready for what, Professor?" Harry questioned in a confused voice.

"To dance," Professor McGonagall stated as if her answer was obvious. "It's tradition that the three champions, or in this case four, are the first to dance. Surely I told you that."

Adeline and Harry glanced quickly at each other, and Harry looked absolutely mortified about opening up the Ball with a dance. Of course, Adeline had known for weeks that she'd have to open up the festivities.

But unfortunately, Adeline had forgotten to mention it to her date.

"I totally forgot to tell you," Adeline admitted awkwardly as she turned to look up at George. "Are you alright with being the first to waltz?"

"You seem to think that we have a choice in this."

"I didn't pay attention in waltz lessons," They heard Harry whisper frantically behind them as they lined up for their grand entrance. "I didn't know we'd actually have to dance in front of everyone!"

"It's the Yule Ball!" Callisto laughed. "And you're a Champion!"

Callisto and Harry's – and all the other Champions – conversation were cut short by the grand doors to the Great Hall flying open. As the students applauded the Champions, Adeline tried her best to focus on her best friends, who seemed to be the loudest out of all of them.

"Look at all this applause for me, Addie," A smirking George said in a quiet voice so only Adeline could hear. "Looks I'm the real celebrity out of the two of us."

Adeline subtly rolled her eyes, which seemed to make George's grin grow even wider. There was a brief pause between the Champions reaching the dance floor with their dates and the music starting up. Adeline took that small moment of quiet to whisper, "Do you dance, Mr. Weasley?"

It took George a second to understand what Adeline was referencing, but when he did, he grinned and took Adeline's hand. "Not if I can help it," George said before leaning in to say, "Fortunately, I'm making an exception for you tonight, Addie."

The music began to play, and the Champions began to waltz across the floor with most of them doing great. Poor Harry was stumbling through the steps, but Callisto still had a bright smile on her face and was helping Harry throughout the whole process, which certainly made Harry feel much better about his mistakes.

"For someone who claims they rarely dance," Adeline said with a bright grin as the two danced. "You're certainly good at this."

George didn't want to admit that he'd paid close attention in those dance lessons just for the Ball, so instead he twirled Adeline around once more, earning a small giggle out of her, before the two went back to properly waltzing with the other champions again.

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George and Adeline had yet to leave the dance floor.

Sure, they had taken brief breaks to grab some punch or for Adeline to take off her shoes so she could keep dancing without her feet being in so much pain. But other than that, George and Adeline had spent the entire evening dancing and having the time of their life. George was a little thankful when the waltzing came to an end and the dance became a little more like a party, as he had never been a big fan of the formal dance and had only worked on it so much because he knew how much it meant to Adeline.

The mood had certainly quieted the later into the evening they got. The Weird Sisters had moved on from their raging music and were now playing a slow, soft song that George and Adeline had been slow dancing to up until it's finish.

"Do you want to go on a walk with me?" George asked Adeline quietly in an attempt to make sure none of their friends nearby could hear him. "I want to show you something."

After Adeline nodded and put back on her heels, George took her hand and led her outside of the Great Hall. Despite the frigid air and snow falling gracefully on the ground in front of her, Adeline never felt cold. Maybe it was because how warm she had been in the Great Hall just before, or the warmth that came with holding onto George's hand, but the cold seemed to have very little effect on Adeline.

"Fred and I found this when we were hiding from Filch after setting off some fireworks," George explained as he led her to a small garden with a perimeter lined with large, flower-covered bushes. "I thought you would've liked it."

"How do you know so many hidden places around Hogwarts?" Adeline asked, staring wide-eyed at the beautiful hidden garden.

"You learn a lot about the best places to hide when you're constantly having to do it," George answered with a wink, carefully pushing through the snow-covered bushes and making sure none of the thorns snagged on Adeline's gown. "Maybe I can show you some of my best hiding places some day."

George led her to a small bench seat in the center of the garden area. The stone bench appeared to be old, as the elaborate designs that once covered it seemed to be weathered and worn down with age and there were small cracks and dings on the edge of the seat.

The two sat in a comfortable silence for a while with George's arm wrapped around Adeline's waist and her head rested on his shoulder, the only sounds seemingly being the occasional giggle of a couple sneaking away from the Ball and the faint sounds of waves from the Black Lake crashing along the shoreline.

"Why did you bring me here?" Adeline asked in a soft voice, not removing her head from his shoulder. "Not that I mind it. It's just...you seem like you have something you want to say."

"There's a lot I want to say actually," George said in a nervous voice. Taking a deep breath, George decided to get over his fears and admit, "I like you a lot for you, Addie. And not just in a friends sort of way."

He didn't even dare to look at Adeline, scared of how she might react to his confession. "I– I've felt like this for a while now," George stammered. "I've fancied you for the longest time, but I've been terrified to tell you. You're absolutely incredible, and I don't want to ruin things between us and..."

George trailed off in the middle of his sentence when Adeline reached up to cup his cheek. "You don't need to be scared of ruining anything," Adeline whispered before pressing her lips against his.

This wasn't Adeline's first kiss. Her first kiss was in an embarrassing game of Spin the Bottle, and the only other time she had kissed a boy was when she happened to be caught under a sprig of mistletoe set up be Peeves. Both of those had been awkward and mortifying, and the entire time, Adeline just wanted them to end as quickly as possible.

None of those even compared to kissing George Weasley.

The two broke apart much sooner than Adeline – or George – would've liked, but Adeline had something to say to him.

"I've never been good when it comes to my feelings," Adeline confessed in a soft voice. "I'm not the at best at showing how I feel about people. I didn't grow up in the loving home that you did. But I care for you so much, George Weasley. And I want to be with you too."

"You...you do?" George asked in a tone of disbelief.

Adeline nodded, and George's bashful smile shifted into a wide grin. "So...what do you say then, Addie?" George asked as he laced their fingers together. "Do you want to make this official?"

She took a deep breath before beaming up at George. "More than anything."

George felt as if he was floating. He couldn't believe that Adeline was sitting next to him and was telling him that she wanted to be with him and that she kissed him. "You have no idea how excited I am right now," George said to her with wide smile, earning a small excited giggle out of Adeline. "Do you want to head back to the dance soon or...?"

"We...don't have to head back to the Ball just yet," Adeline said quietly, ducking her head so George wouldn't see her embarrassed face.

Laughing to himself, George tilted Adeline's face up by her chin so she had to look at him. "Well how could I say no that?"

George leaned in to happily kiss her again, and the two didn't leave their little hidden paradise for a long time.

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a/n:

we did it besties 😌✨ this chapter is super long but i honestly think it's Worth It

i hope you all enjoyed the chapter!! leave a vote, comment, etc. love you!!

- g ♡