Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling. I know, I know. It's incredibly disappointing.

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Thanks for everyone out there reading this! Although I suppose I wouldn't mind if you were all just a little less voiceless… Just a suggestion. Happy Reading!

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Chapter 4: George Weasley

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"How long have you been there?" is the first thing that pops out of my mouth. He looks faintly amused just standing in the middle of the road with his hands in his pockets. He shrugs in response to my question and chooses not to answer.

"Were you planning on coming back?" he asks gazing determinedly at my face. I sigh deeply and look away.

"Yeah," I tell him reluctantly.

"You've got mum in a right tizzy," he says nonchalantly. I grimace and finger one of my leaf bracelets.

"I'm sorry," I tell him. "That was really out of character for me. Really. I swear I'm not usually such a… such a…"

"Drama queen?" he supplies helpfully. I snort and grin a bit.

"I was thinking cry baby, but that too." He smiles and it's the first time I've seen him do it. It brightens up his whole face. He's got a nice smile I decide. It's there and then it's gone again much too quickly.

"Mum thinks you hate us," he says conversationally. I purse my lips and crinkle my nose.

"I don't hate anyone," I tell him. "It's got nothing to do with you guys at all really. It's just that…"

"They took away your choice," he fills in for me, obviously having paid attention to my outburst earlier.

"Exactly!" I exclaim, all of the earlier frustration returning. "This is supposed to be one of the two big decisions in my life. The person I bond myself to for the rest of my life should be my choice! The only people involved should be me and the other person. Not some control happy bimbo in the Ministry who gets her jollies by screwing up other peoples' lives."

I was so consumed in my rant and the anger and frustration pumping through my veins that it takes me a moment to notice George is snickering. I glare at him.

"Control happy bimbo," he says, grinning and snickering still. My lips quirk slightly into an almost smile and I shrug.

"Well it's accurate," I defend.

"That's why it's so funny," George tells me.

We fall into silence for a few moments and then George steps off the road and lies down in the ditch wordlessly patting the spot of grass beside him for me to join him. I hesitate and he just folds his arms behind him head and gazes up at the sky as he waits for me. I sigh silently and shuffle my way down beside him (a healthy foot and a half away, don't worry) and mimic his pose. I lift my eyes up to the sky and barely restrain a gasp.

"Wow," I say, awestruck. You definitely don't see these kinds of stars in town. The sky is full to the bursting with sparkling little white lights. Billions and trillions of them. A million tiny suns in the sky…

"Angelina is Fred's ex-girlfriend," George suddenly says, out of the blue. I turn to him in surprise. He continues staring up at the stars with a slight frown tugging down his lips and his brow furrowed.

"Oh," I say, unsure of what else there is to say. "Well that super sucks."

George snorts and finally turns to me and gives me a wry grin.

"Doesn't it?" His grin turns bitter and he turns his face back to the sky. His lanky hair moves away from his face and my eyes widen at the dark hole in the side of his head where his ear should be. I open my mouth and then quickly shut it again and turn away. You can't just ask someone why they're missing an ear Cora, I berate myself. It's hard to quench my curiosity though. We're silent for a few minutes before he speaks again.

"What's the second big choice?" he asks.

"What?" I'm obviously not following his train of thought. Probably because I'm distracted thinking about how he could have possibly lost his ear.

"When you were ranting earlier you said that there are two big choices in life. What's the other one?"

"Oh," I say. "Career choice. That one didn't go like it was supposed to either, but I guess in the end I like how it turned out anyway," I say with a small smile. I actually do miss my job. And even Kingsley... I turn towards George to find that he's already watching me, searching my face for something.

"Well maybe we'll like how all this turns out in the end too," he says. I smile sadly in return.

"Hopefully," I say without really any hope.

Without another word he gets to his feet and offers me a hand up. I'm feeling charitable so I accept it. I brush myself off, hoping I won't look too much like a mess when we get back to The Burrow.

"Milady," George says, offering me the crook of his arm. I snort and smirk at the offer.

"Race you there," I challenge instead and then twist on my heel and disapparate with a pop. I reappear an instant later just outside the front gate to The Burrow. I don't waste a moment and vault over the gate. The second my feet hit the dirt I hear a crack behind me. I don't bother turning to look and sprint for the house, kicking up dirt in my wake.

Unfortunately I've always been a slow runner. Ten feet from the door a hand snags my arm and spins me around. I stumble trying to keep my footing while George jets past me and slams a hand against the door.

"Ha! I win!" he crows with a huge grin. I grin myself just seeing it. It's much more natural than the serious expression he's worn the majority of the time that I've seen him.

"You even had a head start and I won!" he taunts.

"You've got longer legs than me!" I complain. It's my go-to excuse in the case of leg races or anywhere it applies really. George laughs loudly.

"Hardly!"

I look him over and have to concede the point. He's only got maybe an inch or two on me. Time for a new tactic.

"Well then you cheated! Interference when you grabbed my arm!" I insist stubbornly, crossing my arms over my chest and tipping my nose up at him. He laughs again.

"Bulloc-!"

"George!"

George nearly falls on his arse when Mrs. Weasley suddenly whips open the door he's been leaning on to scold him for his language. I manage to muffle my snicker, but he still glares at me although still grinning slightly. Mrs. Weasley ushers the two of us into the house and towards the sound of voices coming from the sitting room.

As I follow behind her down the hallway my feelings of embarrassment and dread return and the silly mood I'd fallen into with George fades away.

At least it does until George gives me a wet willy.

Acting on instinct I curse loudly and slap his hand away and then kick him in the shin.

"OUCH! Bloody hell woman! There's no need for violence!" George yells hopping on one foot and clutching his injured leg.

"I beg to differ!" I shout while using the shoulder of my shirt to try and get his saliva out of my ear. Yuck. "And I'm a violent person. You'd better get used to it. You're just as stuck with me as I am with you."

"Ugh. You're right. Poor Fred," George groans as he lifts his pant leg to examine the afflicted area while leaning against the hallway wall. He gives the spot an experimental poke and winces. "Poor me. That's gonna bruise."

I ignore his final remark.

"Yeah poor Fred," I snort. "Welcome home Freddie!" I say, putting on a fake high pitched voice. "We're so glad you're not dead! Oh, by the way, we betrothed you to some girl you've never met before while you were gone and your wedding is set for some time within the next month. Surprise!"

George laughs loudly.

"Yeah and the brilliant part is that he's going to think I'm just trying to prank him!" he manages to get out while still laughing.

I grin a bit as he calms down and then we finally enter the sitting room. I hesitate in the doorway.

If George was trying to distract me from feeling embarrassed or nervous he'd succeeded, but now I'm the center of attention and everyone is just staring at me and the feelings are back. Seriously, they're all just staring at me like I'm an alien or something. But I do figure I owe them all an apology.

"Umm, sorry guys," I start lamely, awkwardly shuffling my feet in place and picking at my bracelet again. Now that I'm seeing them (the bracelets) in the light I realize how truly ugly they are. "That was out of line earlier and I don't have anything against any of you it's just that the situation kind of overwhelmed me a bit."

"Oh it's quite alright dear," Mrs. Weasley says from where she's standing by the fireplace mantle looking teary. "Nothing to forgive. We understand of course." She turns slightly and discretely wipes at her eyes. In an instant everyone joins in expressing the uneededness of their forgiveness. I just smile vaguely and walk over to where my parents are seated. They rise to stand with me, clearly ready to leave.

I'm still staring around the room though and trying to figure out what is going on. Mrs. Weasley is definitely battling tears and I know they aren't because I delivered such a beautiful, heartfelt apology. And while everyone has been very nice since meeting me, they haven't exactly been this warm and accepting. They were more curious and withholding judgment.

I catch sight of George on the other side of the room and he looks… irritated. That's strange. He was fine a second ago. And beside him Angelina looks annoyed as well. Everyone else though looks positively cheerful. So if George and Angelina are both upset, but the family is happy then whatever caused the shift must have something to do with George. I haven't the foggiest what though. This family just doesn't make sense.

"I'm taking Angelina home," George grumbles, meanwhile Angelina is standing behind him looking anywhere but at me. The family says their goodbyes and Mrs. Weasley pulls him into a tearful, rib cracking hug that he does his best to get out of.

"Geroff mum! I'll see you this weekend."

Mrs. Weasley reluctantly lets him go and just as he and Angelina are about to exit the room George pauses.

"See you Cora," he says before turning again and leaving.

"See you," I reply dully, still confused on what just happened. We wait in an awkwardish kind of quiet until the front door shuts behind them on their way out. Then Mrs. Weasley throws herself at me and I'm subjected to the same tearful and bone breaking hug that she inflicted upon her son. I pat her awkwardly even as I run out of air. Finally she lets go and I greedily gulp down the oxygen I'd been deprived of.

"What was all that?" I wheeze.

"Oh we're just so grateful dear. You'll be a wonderful addition to the family," Mrs. Weasley gushes. …What?

"George hasn't laughed like that since Fred…" Percy trails off looking distraught.

"I wasn't trying to make him laugh," I try to explain. "It just happened." They don't appear to be listening. Bill thumps me on the back and grins at me.

"You'll be good for Fred," he says. They definitely aren't listening.

"What?" I ask.

"You'll have to keep the two of them from blowing themselves up in the shop of course, but I think you're up for the task," Ginny tells me with a smirk.

"Blowing up-? Shop? What?" My sputtered protests go ignored once again.

"And don't let them pressure you into being a test subject for their pranks," Hermione warns.

"Just watch out for their pranks in general," Ron adds seriously.

"They can be pretty sneaky," Harry says.

Then there is a whirl of farewells and me and my parents are ushered into the fireplace and back home. I tumble out of the fireplace and collapse onto the couch immediately, staring in stunned disbelief at the ceiling.

I think I've just been inducted into the Weasley family.

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