Not long after the second task in the Triwizard Tournament, and Harry's successful completion of it, you were studying for potions in bed when a letter fluttered in through your open dorm room window. Feeling déjà vu from the beginning of the school year, you clambered to your feet and grabbed the note. Your eyes quickly scanned the page, your grin growing wider as you read.

Y/N,

Hello, love. I'm terribly bored. Fred has gone off with Angelina, and I keep thinking about how much I wish you were here with me. I can't believe that git abandoned me when you have to be studying for Snape's class. I swear Snape is trying to keep us apart with all of the work he's been assigning you. I miss you, and I wish you would come to the Gryffindor dorms. If you did, we could study together. I solemnly swear to let you focus on your essay.

Desperately,

George

You didn't think twice as you packed all of your study materials into your bag and pulled on your robes. You shoved your feet into a pair of black boots and hurried out of the room. You grinned at your roommates lounging in the common room, giving them a two-finger salute, which had become their signal that they were going off to spend time with a boy. They had made the signal when both you and Hannah remained in relationships after the Yule Ball. Megan and Susan wanted to be made aware when the other girls would be slipping off for a while, so the signal was made at their request.

The three girls all winked at you almost simultaneously, which made a couple of the other Hufflepuffs in the room turn to look at you. You wordlessly waved to your three roommates before climbing through the barrel and practically running back to the Gryffindor common room.

As soon the fat lady let you in, you raced past the portrait. George was smugly smiling on the couches, as if he had never doubted that you would come. He stood up to greet you as you crashed into him for a tight hug. He chuckled, "Well, someone was excited to see me."

You pushed against his chest and taunted, "Says the boy who signed his letter with 'desperately, George'." You smirked at him while he just narrowed his eyes at you.

Ignoring his expression, you dropped your bag onto the floor and wrapped your fingers around George's wrist. You yanked him down onto the couch with you, and you almost instantly snuggled into one another. You curled up into his side and rested your head on his shoulder while he securely wrapped an arm around your waist and leaned his head against yours.

George exhaled, "I'm so glad you came." He gently began to play with your auburn hair, grinning when this made you relax into him more.

After the two of you cuddled in near silence for a few minutes, George murmured, "I love your perfume. You smell like sunshine."

You turned slightly in his arms and whispered, "Thank you."

Your faces were close together as his eyes flickered down to your lips. Electricity flickered between you as your eyes flickered down his lips as well. You gripped onto the front of George's robes as your faces shifted towards one another. You lifted your face and slightly brushed your lips against his in an almost kiss, but George didn't wait a moment longer as he captured your lips in his. You shifted so your legs laid over his lap when he tugged your body closer. You set your elbows on his shoulders and played with his hair while you kissed.

The sound of someone gagging right beside you made the two slowly pull apart while smiling at one another. You and George turned your heads to find the trio staring at you. Hermione looked impressed and happy for you, already having discussed it in length with you, but Ron and Harry looked... less pleased.

Ron had his nose upturned in disgust as he stared at you two with bugged out eyes. He had been the source of the gagging.

Harry was just blinking repeatedly and staring at you. Harry knew that his sister was dating George, but he had never seen them kiss before, and he was highly disturbed by it. He stared at you with a pained expression and rapidly blinking eyes, as if trying to erase the image from his mind.

You and George didn't make any move to separate and remained in your exact same positions while you chuckled at your flabbergasted brothers. After a moment, Hermione huffed and dragged both boys from the room and up to their dorm. You swiveled your head back to look at George who was already looking at you with twinkling eyes. He shrugged while laughing before he gently kissed you again.

You felt warm and happy when you were with George. Being with him felt like you were on a permanent vacation to some beautiful, peaceful beach. You had no worries at all while you were in his arms, and you needed that as your anxiety about her brother's safety in the tournament remained in the back of your mind always.

George's hand moved to the back of your neck, and he began fiddling with the chain of your necklace he found there. After a few more moments of kissing, you pulled apart, and George hooked his finger under the chain. He brought his finger forward gently and pulled the necklace out from its hiding place underneath your robes. He looked down at the gold locket and whispered, "What is this?" He smiled at you warmly while you touched the locket with your fingers delicately.

You glanced down at the locket and leaned back against his chest. You murmured, "It was from Sirius, but I didn't know that it was from him for a while. Are you ready for a long story?"

"Always," George grinned while he gently wrapped his arms around your stomach.

You began, "Well, in the summer before we met Sirius, I was at the Dursleys, and I woke up to a wolf howling." You noticed the way George frowned at the mention of the Dursleys. All of your friends knew how terribly the Dursleys treated you and Harry, but you tried not to complain too much. At least you had Harry while you were there, and at least Professor McGonagall had been able to guilt your aunt and uncle into taking you in this time, so that you didn't have to return to the orphanage for the summers.

Returning to your story, you took a deep breath and continued, "Harry didn't wake up, but the howl sounded close, and it scared me. Then, I felt a breeze, and this confused me since Harry and I didn't sleep with the window open that night. So, I looked over, and I saw that the window was open, and the curtains were gently blowing with the wind. On the desk underneath our window was something glittering in the moonlight, so I tiptoed over to investigate. It was this necklace with a note secured underneath it."

George rubbed his hand up and down your arm soothingly as he wondered, "What did the note say?"

"Y/N Potter, this necklace belongs to you, and I'm sorry for my delay in returning this childhood gift to you. This necklace is powerful and protective. Keep it close to your heart always, and it will protect you in your most dire moments," You recited to George.

You had read the note over and over so many times that night that you had permanently memorized it. When you had looked out the window that night, you had seen a big black dog standing on the other side of the street, seeming to be looking up at you, so you quickly shut the window and shuffled back to the bed. You had carefully put the necklace on and opened it to find photos of a couple you had assumed to be your parents. On one side was a man who reminded you of Harry with his round glasses and small smile. The other side was a woman whose red hair was just a brighter version of your auburn hair. The woman in the image had the same smile as you, and it comforted you to know that you looked so much like your mother.

Whenever you looked at a mirror, you tried to envision your hair a bit redder, and you wondered if that's what your mom looked like at your age. You had run your finger over the images of your parents that night since you couldn't fall back asleep after that. You showed Harry the next day who confirmed that that's what they looked like in the Mirror of Erised. He was too distracted to ask where the necklace came from, and you were grateful for that, knowing you wouldn't have had an answer to that question.

When you and Harry had an encounter with the black dog again the next day before being taken on the worst bus ride of your life, you knew that it couldn't be a coincidence, but you didn't tell Harry. You didn't want him to take your gift away, so you kept quiet about where it came from until the night when they met Sirius under the Whomping Willow.

In that dingy room, he had approached you and fished the necklace out. He was relieved that you were still wearing it and ignored the fact that Ron, Harry, and Hermione had all trained their wands on him and screamed for him to get away from you. You already had a feeling that things were not what they seemed in that moment, so you felt calm. How could such a gentle and thoughtful man have murdered your parents? When the truth came out that he had been framed, you were relieved in knowing that your intuition was correct.

Maybe that was why you assumed your intuition about Draco was correct too.

You explained all of this to George. George listened attentively the entire time while rubbing circles into your arm. At the end of your story, he wordlessly opened the locket and looked at the images of your parents. George murmured, "You look just like her, Y/N." He briefly touched the images of your parents, and you felt vulnerable telling George all of this somehow, but you wanted to. You wanted him to know every part of you. You wanted to be seen and cared for by him.

You held your breath as you stared up at him with round eyes. He carefully closed the locket and tucked it back underneath your shirt before he gently ran his thumbs over your cheeks and then kissed each one. Next, he kissed your forehead and then your nose before finally placing his lips on yours in a soft kiss. He pulled you against his chest protectively and mumbled, "Thank you for telling me all that, Y/N. I love hearing about your life. I just wish I could have been there when you were little and alone."

You placed a hand on his cheek and grinned, "I'm just happy you're here now."

"I'll never leave your side," He promised as you snuggled your face into his neck, feeling the comfort of his arms around you once again. George was your safe haven, your home, your comfort, and you never wanted to lose him.