Every Step of the Way

Ch 1- Do You Wanna Dance?

Fred looked over at his twin, who seemed to be lost in thought as he looked over toward the other end of the Gryffindor table. He knew George was a bit more than temporarily distracted, but he couldn't help but joke about the topic…that's just who he was. "Lusting over your lady?" he whispered into his twin's ear. George's ears burned scarlet as he turned to glare at his brother.

"Freddie, do we really have to go over this here?"

"No…I'll wait 'til we get back to the dormitory, but you're going to have to talk to her sooner or later," Fred pointed out.

George sighed, knowing his brother was right and stood to follow his doppelganger out of the Great Hall. He listened to Fred go on about his newest idea for a prank and laughed half-heartedly. Fortunately his brother let it slide until they were safely locked in the sixth year boys' dormitories. Before George could make his way over to his bed, Fred rounded on him. "Why are you so nervous? Just ask her to the ball."

"I don't know. I guess it's just different with this girl. I have no idea why and no reason to hold back since it's painfully obvious that I'm interested. She laughs at my jokes and winks at me sometimes, so it's quite possible that she fancies me as well, but I just tense up."

"Well you'd better bloody well untense before some other bloke comes along and asks her," Fred pointed out. "Else you'll be stuck asking one of the girls from the quidditch team to go…not that that would be a bad thing, mind you, but I know you're set on this one."

George sighed. "What am I going to do? I have a crush!"

"Make her crush back," Fred suggested.

"Easier said than done, mate."

"True." Fred eased up and flopped down on his four poster, waiting for George to do the same. "Just give it a go. Take a bit of the confidence crème if you like, but get it done, Georgie. It probably won't be as hard once you've asked her out."

"Maybe you're right…"

"'Course I'm right!"

"I'll just buck up and ask her when she comes back to the common room tonight."

"We could sneak you into the girls' dormitories," Fred said, waggling his eyebrows.

"I don't think seeing me as a stalker is going to warm her up to me, Freddie."

Fred shrugged. "Just an idea."

"You were just hoping to run into Angelina up there," George smirked.

"Not at all…that would have been a bonus though."

George laughed loudly. "Don't try and lie to me, brother. I know what you're thinking…remember?" Fred rolled his eyes and joined George in grinning. He loved his twin more than anything, but of course he got annoyed occasionally, which he was sure George did as well. The settled into eating chocolate frogs and conversing about new products until it was nearly eight, then George sat up to prepare for his chat with the pretty Gryffindor of his daydreams.

Mary McDonald was a pure blooded witch in the same year as the twins and came from a similar situation. She too had a blood traitor parent, her mother Sylveria was the sister of Pansy Parkinson's mother, Valerine and should have been a good Slytherin princess, but when she found out that her husband, Seamus McDonald had been killed trying to protect a muggle infant from Voldemort's wrath, she reevaluated her position. Mary had been raised to value people as people, much as the Weasleys had. She was fairly popular and very pretty, with waist length honey colored hair and dark chocolate eyes. Many boys in her year and above had commented on the curvy body she had been blessed with as well.

As George waited for her to enter the common room, he mused over the fact that she was still single. Of course she was fairly independent but very friendly, so he chalked it up to stubbornness. George let Fred beat him effortlessly at exploding snap three separate times before Mary entered with Katie Bell and Erin Lauder, a seventh year prefect. "Go on then," Fred encouraged before turning to engage Harry in conversation.

George took a bracing breath and stood, not taking his eyes off of Mary. Katie bade her friends goodbye and his hopes mounted…less girls to drag her away from. Mary smiled at him as he approached. "Hi, George," she greeted. He felt his belly quiver with excitement just being around her and steeled himself for what he had to do…he was a Weasley twin, dammit!

"'Lo, Mary. Could I have a word?"

"Sure. I'll catch you later, Erin."

Erin smirked at the pair before disappearing into a crowd of rowdy fifth years and George allowed Mary to lead him out of the common room and into the corridor. "Do you want to take a walk?" he asked.

"Sure." She smiled again and George had to fight the urge to throw himself upon her and kiss her face off.

"So…are you going to the ball?" he managed after a few minutes.

"Oh…yeah. What about you?"

"Definitely. Got to find a date, though."

"The infamous George Weasley doesn't have a date yet?" she asked, raising here eyebrows. "Interesting information."

"So it is…have you got a date?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Well I'd planned on asking you, if you're still available," he said with more confidence than he felt. She was somewhat unnerving, which was something George had never before experienced.

Mary thought for a moment before grinning cheekily at him. "What will I get if I do agree to go to the ball with you?" she asked.

This had George stumped. He had no idea what he was supposed to say here. No girl that he had ever heard of had asked for something in exchange for a date. "Erm…what would you like?"

Her grin widened and George's heart sped up to a dangerous pace. The naughty spark in her eyes was enough to keep him hooked on her for a lifetime. "Oh, I couldn't tell you that…that would ruin the fun. The spontaneity of the whole thing would be gone if I just told you what I wanted out of the experience."

"I think I'm in love," he blurted out, earning a laugh from Mary. He blushed straight to his ears, but forced himself to stand proud. "If you'll have me, I'll take on the challenge of acquiescing to your wishes for this ball," he told her.

"Alright then, George. Consider it a date." She smiled wider when his blush started to abate. "I've fancied you for quite some time, you know," she confided as they rounded the corner in front of the charms classroom.

"I could say the same thing."

"I was nervous though…didn't think I'd be all that appealing to you. You're smart and funny, handsome and charming and quite frankly I'm just a girl who likes a laugh."

George looked at her curiously. "You do know that you're crazy, right?" When she chuckled with him, he continued. "You're gorgeous…among other things."

"I was hoping you'd say that," she told him with a grin. She looked around quickly before pulling George into a deserted classroom. George's heart was racing, but his normal countenance was returning. She was making him so comfortable, he didn't even remember his nerves until she locked them in the classroom.

"Not that I mind being in here with you, but what are you doing?" he asked.

"You'll see," she replied, eyes twinkling. She let her school robes fall to the ground and stood in front of him in her school skirt, shirt and tie. His mouth formed a silent 'O' as he watched her slowly loosen the tie and move toward him.

"Isn't this a bit fast?" he asked her. She said nothing, but tossed the tie into the pile of discarded robes. George briefly considered just letting her continue as she worked on unbuttoning her shirt, but his mother hadn't raised him to be a 'wham, bam, thank you ma'am' type of guy and he wanted to show this girl whom he had been enamored with the respect he knew she deserved. Before she could unveil the glory that was her full bosom he placed a hand over hers. "Look…I like you a lot, Mary. I wouldn't want you to do something you'd regret later and believe it or not, I'm not the player some would believe. When we get to know each other a little better maybe."

His libido kicked him mentally, but he knew he was ultimately making the right decision and that was confirmed when Mary beamed at him, her eyes showing the warmth that she felt. "You really are a good man, George Weasley," she told him as she righted herself.

"Yes, well I'll probably regret stopping you when I'm tucked into bed reliving this experience."

She laughed gently and resumed her robes before moving toward him once more. "You passed."

"Passed what?" he asked curiously.

"My test." She said it as though it was the most simple thing in the world, but he was still baffled. "George, when a guy wants to go out with me I have to make sure he's not some creep. I sort of test the waters a bit by seeing how far he'll let me undress."

"What if he let's you go all the way?" he wanted to know, surprised that she could be so open. She had seemed like a respectable girl.

"I never go farther than taking my top off. You'd see as much if we went swimming together. If he lets me get it all the way off or if he's upset when I stop unbuttoning, I know he's a jerk and just after sex…and then I hex him and write him off, then tell all my girlfriends to look out. You're only the second guy who's asked me out and has actually stopped me from putting myself in a compromising situation," she informed him.

"Who else stopped you?" he asked, relieved that she was still as respectable and good as he had originally thought.

"Oliver Wood."

"Wood stopped you?"

"Yeah…I'm pretty sure he was more surprised than really chivalrous, though." George silently agreed to that sentiment. "When I explained it to him, he was way more confident in himself for being a gentleman than any actually gentleman would have been." She rolled her eyes and George had to laugh. He had found out why she was single, at least, one less mystery to discover: she only dated guys who had some decency about them.

"While that is probably an effective method of rooting out the scabs, that is a bit dangerous," he told her.

"I can handle myself," she assured him. "Draco Malfoy actually tried to touch me during his test and ended up in the hospital wing with a baby elephant trapped inside his arse."

George snorted. "That explains why he couldn't sit properly for the month of February," he said.

Mary looked him over. "I'm glad you passed the test, George. I had really hoped you would."

"Yes well it was a damned hard one…nearly failed. You are a very beautiful woman." He grinned when she blushed.

"We should probably be getting back," she suggested.

"Right." They didn't talk much as they made their way back up to Gryffindor tower, but once outside the portrait she stopped him from going inside.

"I'd like to get to know you a little better before the ball if you don't mind."

"That'd be nice."

"Want to meet me by the lake after classes tomorrow?" she asked.

"Ok." She nodded and he paused once more before giving the password to enter the common room. "Mary?"

"Hmm?" She looked up at him to see him closing the space between them. He brushed his lips lightly against hers, then quickly pulled away. She opened her eyes to see him smiling at her. "Shall we?"

George had quite the story for his twin before they climbed into bed that night.