The Fear You Won't Fall

George Weasley had no problem with crushes. Really, he was confident enough when he had a crush and always acted on them, but as much as he considered himself somewhat good with women, Cassiopeia was a completely different territory.

She was a Malfoy, Lucius' oldest daughter.

The first time he'd noticed her was in their sorting ceremony along with other first-years. He didn't know her name or family before then. She, however, had her chin up the moment she'd sat down to be selected, and had a very large smile on her face when the sorting hat pointed her right into Slytherin.

After learning who she was he didn't need to exchange one word with the girl to know that she was just another spoiled Malfoy – just like her brother – who thought of herself as superior to anyone who wasn't pure of blood and judged and hated his family.

But there was a thing… Cassiopeia was never like Draco brother to him or anyone in his family.

She didn't talk down to any of them. When in class with him and Fred, she was even gentle and polite with them, and he'd caught her smiling at him not only once or twice, but five times since last Christmas. And she had a beautiful smile. Somehow, the same features that made Malfoy look weird, gave her an interesting look. One day, in the middle of winter, she'd fallen on her butt onto snow and he'd frozen in his spot right at the moment. From afar, he could see the way her white-blonde hair perfectly framed her thin face. He couldn't help but watch her gray eyes glimmering joyfully before shooting a snowball in a random direction. She just was too pretty to be a Malfoy.

So, maybe he liked her a tiny bit more than he was really supposed to.

Or… A lot more.

It didn't matter, though. They were two people from very different words and would never even be friends, much less anything else.

The first time she had seen George Weasley and not looked past him was at the 422nd Quidditch World Cup on her way to watch the game between the Irish and the Bulgarian teams.

Of course, Cassiopeia knew the Weasleys were there to watch the game and didn't care in the least, but that was the first time she'd paid any attention to any of them, specifically George.

She was walking up to the Luxury Box to meet her brother and parents when she slipped on the stairs and fell on someone's arms.

Her grey eyes had closed shut in response to the future impact, and when she opened them, the girl absolutely froze. Shiny brown irises were staring right into hers and long strands of red hair were brushing against the skin of her forehead.

He needed a haircut, that was a fact.

"Well," she let out in a breath, swallowing down saliva. "Hello."

"Cassiopeia!" she heard Draco's voice, and her head practically snapped in the direction, finding her brother staring at the two of them from a few stores above. He didn't say anything else, just stared and waited while she recomposed herself.

"Thank you," the blonde girl nodded discreetly, putting back her usual cold facade before walking away, and George was left behind with a smile on his face.

When she reached her brother, he appeared profoundly confused bothered.

"What were you doing with that Weasley?"

"I slipped, he kept me from falling," she said as it was obvious. "I thanked him and left."

"Why?" he frowned. "He's just another Weasley. Which one is that one, anyway?"

She didn't know. She knew he was one of the twins, Fred and George. The two of them were in the same year as her and sat behind her in some classes. They weren't exactly silent or quiet.

"Even though you'd lost yours, I still have my manners," she reminded her younger brother. "And I don't know which Weasley he is. There's too many of them to count. Now, can we just go or do you have anything else to ask?"

He just offered her an arm, and Cassiopeia accepted silently, walking up with him.

"Sit down," Narcissa pointed as soon as she caught a glimpse of the two. "The game is about to start."