His scars were a constant reminder to him of the great losses that occurred in that battle which no one dared to speak of anymore. His scars brought torment and misery to his mother who was instantly reminded of the pain she had gone through. His scars were a permanent scarring in his flesh that he could never run away from.
He tried to cover them up with anything he could find, yet nothing seemed to work. He tried to hide his missing ear and the scars on his face with a hat, yet it would itch terribly and he would be forced to tear it from his head.
For the single white scar that ran across the back of his leg, he covered it with long pants. However, once the weather turned unbearably hot, he was forced once more to let it show.
His scars and marks always reminded him and those around him that he suffered along with everyone else.
It was impossible for him to forget and to move on.
Everytime he looked at himself in the mirror, he was reminded of his twin. The scars just added insult to injury as if to taunt him. He got off with a few mere scratches while his other half was vanquished; no more.
Frederick Weasley was not coming back and it was his fault. If he hadn't been watching out for the love of his life and making sure that she was safe from any curses, he could have prevented those two fateful words directed towards his twin.
George Weasley didn't understand why he was left on earth and his twin was not.
They had never spent more than a day apart and now it was almost a year to the day that he had been alone. Alone to walk on this earth with no one by his side. He had long since buried his feelings for his little brother's best friend deep inside him and they rarely seeped through.
She was burying herself in her work and rarely had time for a love life which contented him dearly. Why should she be happy while he was miserable?
No, that's not what he truly felt.
He wanted her to be happy. He wanted her to see him as his twin had seen him and not just Fred's twin, but as George...the friendly, fun, witty Weasley that just happened to have a matchingly handsome twin.
He would never know that she felt the same.
While Hermione Granger buried herself in her work and her books, she would occasionally peek over them to study George. She was fascinated by this perfect creature and she wanted nothing more than to bury herself in those strong arms and to block the whole world out.
She knew how he felt about the losses and the scars.
To him, they were a burden, a curse even.
Yet to her, they were the most beautiful things she had ever seen.
To her, those scars showed how brave and lucky he was to make it out of the battle alive. It reminded her that he was strong and he was there. It also reminded her that he could take a hit or two, so she could relax.
She casually glanced up from her spell book and watched as he tried to cover his damaged head with a hat with great difficulty. She gently placed the book beside her and stood up, steadying herself.
At hearing sudden movement, his bright blue eyes snapped up to look at her curiously.
She slowly made her way over to him, neither making a sound as he watched her closely with those blue crystals of his.
"Don't," she said, reaching out to take the hat gently from his grasp. He let the fabric loose as soon as she gave a slight tug. What she did next astonished him.
She chucked the hat over her shoulder and bent down, softly brushing her lips against his scarred head where a right ear used to be. "Don't cover up, you're perfect the way you are," she informed him, withdrawing and glancing back down at him.
He merely blinked in shock, unsure of what to say.
Everyone hadn't spoken of his scars out loud, yet he thought he knew how everyone felt about him.
Then, their eyes locked on each other and he reached up, hungrily catching her lips with his own. Everything then seemed to speed up and move with lightning speed.
Hermione was moved into George's lap and as she explored his face with her hands, he ran a hand through her own wild locks. "Never touch that hat again," she warned, smiling widely for the first time in a long time and kissing him once more. Needless to say, the hat was later thrown into the trash and never once did George think twice of it.