Karina was an uninspiring, sixteen-year-old, lover of the Harry Potter series. She wasn't ashamed of her obsession. In her Harry Potter crazed mind, she had come to a serious conclusion. If she had the chance, if she could save any single person in the HP world, it would be Fred Weasley. She was sure that he was the one that needed to be saved as every other death had an overall purpose to the plot, but his, no. His was just to epitomize the idea of war and tragedy. Now this was something she had determined while still believing that it was all just a bunch of brilliantly-written fiction.

Nothing could have prepared her for falling into the Wizarding World in 1997, waking up in a hospital bed after the Death Eater attack on Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding reception. She was interrogated by Kingsley Shackebolt – the future Minister of Magic – and Nymphadora Tonks about her identity and Karina was hard pressed to answer. As far as she was concerned, she was dreaming, and she hadn't actually appeared in the Harry Potter world during the reign of Voldemort. After much confusion, worsening when she was faced with a wand supposedly found in her pocket while she was unconscious, Karina simply claimed memory loss. It wasn't far from the truth, after all. She didn't know what was going on.

After a Veritiserum dose to ensure her loyalties were not on the side of Voldemort, though how they thought she could confirm or deny that baffled her, Karina was moved into a safe house with none other than the Weasleys and several other Order members.

Her connection to the Twins was immediate. Not only because they were her favorite characters in the books, but because they had to be two of the greatest guys she had ever met. They possessed that legendary humor, astonishingly brilliant minds, a deep-abiding sense of loyalty, and had smiles that warmed the darkest of hearts, whether the owners of those hearts were willing to admit it or otherwise.

They weren't the same, though. Definitely not.

Fred – the one she had thought to crush on back in reality – was the twin who was just that bit louder with a smile a bit brighter, the twin who led and inspired. But he was so bright, it was often hard for him to see the little things right in front of him, washed out by his light.

That's where George came in. George was all the things Fred was not, though no one would ever attempt to call one twin better or worse than the other. George was the twin that listened the little bit harder, smiled a bit warmer, the twin who paced himself and his brother, and directed the inspiration. And where Fred was sometimes too bright to see, George was muted enough to.

And so, Karina fell in love with George Weasley. With him, she felt a warmth and safety she did not know existed. She didn't realize how much she craved it until George. But he still possessed so much passion and zeal for life that the hairs on her arms stood on end and her skin cells seemed to vibrate with electricity long after he'd gone.

From the start, she had been sure her heart would lie with Fred Weasley, the "best" twin. When she met them, though, he was too much. Too overwhelming for her quieter nature. George, well, she clicked with him.

Her mind didn't change about saving Fred Wealsey, of course. Only now she wasn't saving him for her, she was saving him for him. For George. The man she loved who would never be the same without his twin.

On the day of the Final Battle, as children fought the monsters of the wizarding world in defense of their home, Karina – who had long-since learned the use of her wand – fought viciously through the packs. She needed to get to the seventh floor where Fred Weasley was doomed to die beneath a collapsing wall.

The only problem: she had never attended Hogwarts. She had no clue where she was going. Heaving up the stairs, down hallways, sending vindictive flashes of light at any of the threats she encountered, Karina stormed through the building. For him.

Then she saw it.

The scene once played by her imagination, guided by white and black printed pages, now performed before her.

But she was on the wrong side of the scene.

Fred and Percy were right in front of her, starting to run towards the exhausted, yet celebrating forms of the Golden Trio who had just destroyed the Diadem.

As it always does at the end, time slowed for Karina as she sped to a sprint, body jolting through the steps, desperation sending her careening after George's brother. The Weasley boys weren't running very fast, so she closed the distance between them quickly. But not fast enough. She didn't get close enough to push him out of the way. So she did the last thing she could.

Summoning every bit of fading energy from her body, Karina shouted, "Protego!"

The wall beside them exploded inward, stone and mortar caving in over them and the only thought in her mind was maintaining that shield even as her body suffered under the assault. In truth, she felt oddly numb to the pain, though some part of her emwas/em gritting her teeth to prevent screams of agony.

Before the blackness took over, the last thing she saw was Fred crouching over her, very much alive.

For the second time, Karina woke in the hospital. The nurses told her she had already had forty-two bones regrown, massive reconstruction done to her internal organs and was still covered in bruises to show for it. After swallowing a bit of water and porridge, Karina surrendered to the darkness.

When next she woke, it was dark and she wasn't alone.

"Fred?" The dozing man jostled a bit, snorting, and then focused on her.

"Karina!" He smiled at her happily. "Good to see those eyes of yours again."

She smiled back tightly. "Is George okay?"

His smile dropped a bit, and he frowned a bit. "George is fine –" His eyes widened then with an epiphany as she relaxed at the reassurance. "You…did you…when you saved me…did you think I was George?"

Karina started at this and began to shake her head but soon thought better of that when her skull throbbed. "No, I knew it was you."

He stilled looked confused. "I don't understand. You nearly died to save me, but unless I'm entirely mistaken…you love George."

"I saved you because I love George." Karina smiled. "Because if you died, a piece of George would die. He would never be whole without you. Not to say, I don't care about you for you. You are a wonderful person. I'm just not in love with you." She teasingly nudged him at the end.

He slouched back in the chair with a sigh of relief. "Thank Merlin! I was terrified I would have to reject the woman who saved my life. That would have been a doozy. You see, I'm quite infatuated with one Angelina Johnson. Not to mention, I could never steal the one my brother loves, goes against the rules of twinly brotherhood."

Karina sucked in a breath so fast she was sent into a brief coughing fit. "What did you say?"

"I think he's said quite enough." The warm voice washed over her, finally easing that last chill to her bones. Then she stiffened. What had he heard? Perhaps Fred was just joking. George didn't think of her that way, and he would feel obliged to be romantically involved with her, because she saved his brother's life.

While her thoughts wandered, Fred strutted out of the room, and George sank into the chair in his place. "Karina." She snapped back before groaning and pulling the thin sheet over her face. George chuckled at her. "What's wrong? My face isn't that scary."

Under the sheet, Karina rolled her eyes and mumbled, "More like the other way around."

"What was that?" A finger poked at her ribs gently.

"Oi! I just regrew those bones!" Karina swatted at the offending appendage through the sheet.

George went quiet, before whispering, "Did you really save Fred for me?"

Karina hesitated before lowering the sheet slowly. "Not entirely. I mean, he is a friend after all, but I knew what that would do to you. Losing him, you know."

"Fred told me, you know. How you held the shield over him until you passed out. You could have literally died to save him." His voice cracked a bit at the end. "Karina, how can I thank you enough? My brother, he's alive because of you and only you."

Karina ducked her head. "I think the Wizarding world will need to both of you and your crazy inventions to truly recover from this war. It was worth it."

George looked at her like she was crazy. "Karina, what would I have done if you had died? How could I recover from that?"

Karina shook her head with a small smile. He doesn't want to lose me, his friend. That's all. "You would have moved on after a time. If you lost your twin, I don't think you could get over that so easily."

"You think I could get over you easily?!" George half stood, his face dark as the chair screeched across the tile floor. "Are you kidding?"

Karina's eyes widened in surprised and the smallest amount of fear.

"Karina, for the last year, I have been insane about you. Didn't you notice how I'm always looking for you, sitting by you, touching you? I wanted ever bit of you I could get even if it was only as a friend. Hell, for the longest time, I thought you were in love with Fred. I was terrified you were going to get your heart broken, and I would have to kick his ass. Merlin, I thought I could hate him for a while because he spent all that time mooning over Angelina right in front of you." George ran his hand though his forever-mussed, Weasley hair and slouched in the chair again. "Karina, I have loved you since the moment you first spoke my name. I would never get over you. Especially not now after you risked your life for my family. You are it."

She lifted trembling hands to dash away the tears on her cheeks. "George."

He looked up at her then, eyes still dark with lingering fear and love. He stared at her for only a moment before he lunged forward. With her cheeks in his palms, he tilted her face up to meet the sweetest kiss. Her hands caught at his shirt, fisting the cotton material to pull him closer. The kiss grew deeper and hotter as George pressed her further into the pillow and mattress, leaning over her. When they ran out of breath, he slid down next to her on the bed, propping his head up on his hand.

"You know, when I was first introduced to you and Fred, I really did think Fred would be the one I would fall in love with." Karina began. George's eyes immediately shuttered, his expression going completely blank. "No, hear me out. He just stuck out. That's who he is. But when I would talk to him, I found myself leaning away. I felt like I needed to escape. He was just too much, too bright, too loud. I felt drained of energy once he was gone. It was completely different with you. Whenever we spoke, I leaned in because I was so engaged in the conversation or the story that I couldn't seem to look away. I energized around you, because even though you have all the same energy and life that Fred does, you were more settled. I always felt safe and warm with you." George's eyes glittered and heated as he listened, his body relaxing and easing closer to her. "It took me about a week and a half to figure that out. I have been madly in love with you since."

With a gentle smile, he dropped his head to rest it against hers. "Are you saying I could have had you for nearly a year and instead agonized in my imaginary friend zone?" He teased lightly.

"Pretty much, yeah. What were you thinking?" Karina nudged him with her nose.

He leaned in and kissed her again. "You're never getting away from me now, you know that right?"

"I feel pretty comfortable right now actually. You'll have to use a crowbar to get rid of me." Her hands traced the muscles rippling in his back as he held himself over her.

"What's a crowbar?"

"A heavy metal bar use to lever things apart, Muggle item." She replied shifting a bit against him.

"I'll just have to make sure you don't have access to any crow bars in the future then." He grinned and pressed butterfly kisses across her face. Karina couldn't help her happy giggles.

Some years later, a beautiful baby girl was born to Fred and Angelina Weasley named Roxanne Karina Weasley.

Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it!