How am I gonna be an optimist about this? (Georgina) (Warning: Mature language)

It was quite challenging, going to classes without her bag and her notebooks, but it was preferable to going up to Georgina and asking if she had her bag. For a week, Bea avoided the witch very successfully. If she saw her in the hallways, she would duck either behind Allie or Victorie or some random student, or she would simply turn away and take a different hallway to the class she needed to go to. It was rather difficult and she was late to a few classes because of this, but it was what she needed to do. She couldn't possibly face Georgina yet. She was even sitting at the Ravenclaw table for meals, in order to avoid the situation that lead to the fiasco.

On Friday after classes, Beatrice hurried to dinner and, not even looking at the Hufflepuff table, gobbled down her food. She had like, three essays and two charts to finish and she was not looking forward to it. It was Hogsmeade weekend and she was planning on spending the whole two days in the village, so she had to finish her homework that evening.

She was still not used to all the stairs and by the time she climbed the Ravenclaw Tower, the witch was clutching her sides and heaving for air.

"Escaliers putain." she breathed out, cursing the stairs. "Should've stayed at Beauxbatons." she muttered and stopped walking, in order to catch her breath. At least she didn't have a heavy bag to carry around.

Speaking of - or thinking of -, when Bea looked up, she saw her bag lying next to the wall, a few feet away from the door without a doorknob. She looked at the bag for some time, before nodding her head and swallowing the lump in her throat.

"Right. Course she wouldn't want to see me." she muttered to herself, bitterly. She was so angry at herself for just blurting out that she liked Georgina like that. What was she expecting, really? That the Hufflepuff would kiss her, say 'yeah, I totally like you too' and they'd live happily ever after? Ridiculous.

The witch bent down, picked her bag up and noticed a chipmunk standing next to it. She gave it a confused look and then decided she wouldn't worry about it. With a slight shrug, she turned to the door and the bronze eagle-shaped knocker.

"Where do Vanished objects go?" the knocker asked and Bea sighed.

"I don't fucking know." she groaned and wanted to scream. Usually, she loved the riddles and loved to figure out the correct answer, but right now, she just wanted to scream and then get some ice cream, maybe.

Bea heard a soft squeak and felt something collide with her leg. She looked down and smiled at the little chipmunk. Maybe she could keep it as a pet, that's be quite nice. Except the chipmunk began to change and just as Beatrice thought about screaming and running away, there Georgina was, sitting on the floor.

She had no idea what to do, or say, so Beatrice just stared at the other girl, her mouth slightly open. She watched as Georgina stood up and was still at a loss for words. What is the proper response when your crush, who you've been avoiding for a week because you were a total idiot, changes from a chipmunk right in front of you? The strange noise that came from Bea's throat was probably on point.

"I thought you might need your bag. So... I brought it back. Also, the answer is The Room of Requirement. I should... probably go..."

Georgina didn't move though and so neither did Beatrice. It crossed her mind they probably looked incredibly silly, just standing there while the bronze eagle was sighing dramatically. What was that knocker's problem, anyway?

Say something. Anything. She brought you the bag back. Just, something, Bea, come on.

"Thanks. You could also, not go. I mean, you could stay. If you'd like. We don't have dancing plants, like you, but our Common Room's quite nice." she said and fidgeted with the strap of her bag. She was extremely aware that she was talking in rather short sentences and was being more or less an idiot again, but at least she was saying something. And she wasn't being a coward, letting Georgina go, or running away like she did last time.

"You don't have to, obviously. And, um. Well, I'd really like to be your friend, and not just because I... like you." Don't blush you daft - oh here we go, blushing again, like a bloody idiot. "What I'm trying to say is, I completely understand if you don't like me back, in that way and that I'd like us to be friends despite of... well, despite of me having a crush."

Nervous rambling was a thing Beatrice did, and she was aware of it and she had no idea what to do about it. She thought she was rid of it, but no, there it was again. Verbal diarrhea.

"I don't know... I just meant to drop your bag, you don't have to ask me to stay."

Bea opened her mouth to say that she wasn't doing it just to be kind, she actually wanted Georgina to stay, but then she changed her mind. The girl obviously didn't want to spend time with her and that was alright. Well, it hurt and it wasn't alright at all, but Bea could deal with it. She couldn't expect Georgina to want to hang out, not after the incident.

So the witch nodded and gave the girl a small smile. It was just a crush, she could live with it.

"I... you do know that... I'm... You're really pretty, and you seem nice,"

"But you're straight, yeah. I got that." Bea said at the same time Georgina said she was too pretty for her. "Wait, what?" she asked, her confusion written all over her face. Beatrice knew she was pretty, but she was certainly not too pretty to date someone. Especially someone as hot as Georgina and what the hell was she even thinking.

"What are you - why - what is happening." She must not have understood Georgina correctly, yes that was it. I mean, yes, she spoke fluent English, but there must have been a different meaning to those words, a meaning Bea didn't know, because in the meaning she did know, the words didn't make any sense. At all.

"I am going to Hogsmeade, yes." Bea said distractedly, when she realized Georgina had asked her a question. She was still too hung up on the witch's previous statement and didn't really connect them hanging out together with a visit to Hogsmeade.

"I am pretty, yes. So are you." Bea replied. She could see Georgina was trying to keep calm, but wasn't doing a very good job, so she smiled comfortingly and gestured to the floor. "Do you wanna sit down? Or come inside? There's couches and most people are still at dinner, so nobody would bother us." she suggested and bit her lower lip subconsciously in worry.

She didn't know why exactly Georgina looked so freaked out, but it made Bea anxious and she just wanted them to talk about it. At first, she thought the problem was that the Hufflepuff didn't like her, but she just said she thought Bea was pretty, so that couldn't be it. Maybe it was... Oh. Maybe Georgina hasn't figured out her sexuality yet and was confused about it. Well, Beatrice could certainly help with that. She just needed Georgina to talk about it, and that seemed nearly impossible.

"Do you... you said something about food... do you still want to get food... together?"

Beatrice smiled and nodded. "That sounds good. I actually have never been to the village before." she admitted. "Well, except for when we Apparated there when I got a tour of Hogwarts, but I didn't really see anything, except a few houses."

Beatrice frowned when the Hufflepuff shook her head, but she couldn't just tell Georgina how beautiful she was. She had to show her, with as much affection as humanly possible. As long as, you know, Georgina was okay with it and it didn't regress into harassment. She made a mental note to start working on a plan. Right now, though, she had to make sure the girl in front of her was okay.

"Sit down..."

"Sure." she replied, shook the doorknob, answered the riddle and then opened the door for Georgina. Once they were inside, she lead them to a couch near the windows, hoping the magnificent view would help calm the girl. It worked for her most of the time, but it could only make Georgina even more nervous.

"Listen, it's okay." Bea started once she was sitting and sent the Hufflepuff a reassuring smile. "It's okay if you don't like me, or if you do. I'd like to be your friend either way and get to know you better. If... If my crush makes you uncomfortable, I, well, I cannot do anything about it, but..." she paused, looking for right words. This was difficult, but it was somehow easier to talk about it in English than in French. She had had this exact conversation before, in her native language, and it just sounded pathetic.

"I don't just want to be your friend because I like you that way. I also wouldn't be your friend, hoping that one day, you might want to kiss me or something. I'd be your friend because you're a great person, I'm presuming, not because I want to date you. Is this making sense?" Bea shook her head, before running her hands over her face. "What I'm trying to say is, I wouldn't think I'm in the friend zone, or whatever."

She took a deep breath before continuing. "However, if you do like me, and you don't have to say anything right now. If you do, I think it'd be incredibly stupid of us to just be friends."

"I do like you!"

"You do!" Beatrice said, surprised and excited at the same time. "I mean. You do?" All that was going through her mind was 'YES YES HOLY SHIT YES THIS IS AMAZING' and she tried very hard to keep a neutral expression. It took a lot of effort not to kiss Georgina right now.

"I'm just not gay! I mean, it's... My parents... I'm not. I like girls, but I can't be gay."

Bea nodded slowly and smiled. "Do you like boys too? Or maybe you just like people, and their gender doesn't matter, like myself. You could be bi, or pan, or just queer. It's not necessary that you're gay just because you like girls, but... But there wouldn't be anything wrong if you were gay." She hoped she was explaining this right.

It took her an entire year to work out her sexuality, but she was never ashamed and didn't have to worry about what her parents would think. Maman and Papa always made it clear that sexuality and gender are fluid and that it didn't matter what Thomas and her would identify as. It was incredibly comforting.

"About your parents... I'm sure they would accept you and love you and wouldn't care about your sexuality. If they would, though, they can talk to some people who can explain that being bigoted assholes has never worked out before." the French witch said with a little grin. Then she realized she probably offended Georgina with that. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or your parents."

Beatrice watched Georgina nodding and had to consciously refrain herself from jumping the girl right then. Honestly, people shouldn't be allowed to be so hot. And those glasses... Bea shook her head slightly, firmly telling herself that this was not the time or place. Even though it was dinner time, some of the Ravenclaws were being true to their academic intellectual and were studying feverishly. Nerds.

"I don't think I find boys... I like girls more..."

"That's okay." Bea said softly, wondering whether taking Georgina's hand would comfort the girl of freak her out even more. She decided that it couldn't possibly hurt and placed her hand on the Hufflepuff's and gently squeezed it. "It's okay to not know who you're attracted to. For me, it's more or less everyone. Gender doesn't really matter. My last relationship was with a non-binary person and they were wonderful... Up until they started cheating, but that doesn't really matter now." Bea chuckled slightly, trying not to think of Alex.

They were so hot and adorable and endearing and then broke her heart. She got over Alex remarkably fast and it didn't hurt as much anymore, even though she still thought of them sometimes. It helped enormously that she didn't see them every day anymore.

"My mamma and papa mean everything to me, I can't make them angry."

The words brought Beatrice back to Earth and she leaned her head on the side, smiling. "I'm sure you mean everything to them, as well and your sexuality wouldn't matter to them. Maybe they wouldn't be okay with it right away, but when they'd still love you. And then, when they'd have had time to adjust, they'll see it really doesn't matter who you're attracted to."

Beatrice watched the other girl's face carefully for the reaction and was ready to take her hand back, when Georgina relaxed. The Ravenclaw breathed out in relief and kept her hand on top of Georgina's, enjoying the intimacy of the touch while still trying to be comforting.

"I... I haven't done this before."

The witch looked at the Hufflepuff, confused. What did she mean by that? Bea didn't know, but she smiled reassuringly nonetheless. Whatever it was, she wanted the other girl to feel comfortable and less frightened.

"Dating? It's okay... It doesn't really matter when you start, if you want to date at all. And, I know it can be scary and you don't have to do it if you don't want to, it's okay."

Would she be a bit disappointed if she couldn't date the hot girl? Yes. That didn't mean she would force the girl to date her, though, or make her think there was something wrong with her. She wanted Georgina to be comfortable with being around her and to be comfortable with herself. If that meant being her friend and not date her, then so be it.

"Listen, seriously, it's alright. Like I said, we can be friends and not be awkward around each other. We can still have lunch and we can hang out, without any pressure." Bea said. She smiled at Georgina, squeezing her hand once again. She really hoped she was making sense and wasn't confusing the girl even further.

"I'm not... not scared. I just don't know how it works..."

Bea smiled reassuringly. "We'd spend time together, doing things we like. For example, judging people." she grinned, mainly joking. She really liked Georgina and she didn't want to mess this up, whatever 'this' was. Sure, Bea may have seemed confident, but the truth was, she was as scared and confused as Georgina was, even though she had dated before.

"We can figure it out together."

"How about... how about we go for lunch... and we'll see how things go?"

"That sounds good." Bea nodded, sighing with relief quietly. "So, tomorrow at noon, at, uh, the Broomsticks thing? I don't really know what it's called or where it is, so I'm very sorry if I'll be late." Bea smiled apologetically. Of course, she had no plans to be late and would make sure she found the pub at least half an hour early, just in case.