DISCLAIMER: HARRY POTTER IS THE PROPERTY OF JKR. I DO NOT OWN IT...
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CHAPTER 04
George groaned in frustration. He didn't know the time or the date, but he was sure most probably he was lying in the bed for days. Looking at his partially healed hands, he assumed it was probably little over a week after the accident. Maybe he needed to rest another week or two for the full recovery. He tried to get up and realised he couldn't move his legs. Gritting his teeth George vowed to kill whoever the sibling gave him drowsiness draught and put him under the leg-locking spell. Feeling helpless and furious he shut his eyes and tried to get back to sleep.
Then he heard it. He heard the soft footsteps of someone very light moving in the room, but he kept his eyes shut thinking it was Whizzy. He liked the little elf and didn't want to take his anger and frustration out on the poor creature and thought it was best if he pretended to be sleeping.
Thin hands reached for him and propped him up with pillows carefully. Then he felt a warm dampened cloth on his face. Someone was cleaning his face, and it was definitely not an elf. George easily picked up the feminine touch in the act and only Witch he could think of was Hermione because Ginny and his mother were not allowed in his house. Also, Hermione never used magic when she took care of the sick as she believed tending Muggle way was more caring and soothing.
The person carefully wiped his face and moved away from him, then again he felt her presence near him. She carefully parted his lips and poured few drops of a potion into his mouth. George froze identifying the potion. He knew the taste very well and longed to know the reason Hermione gave him the 'Confusing Concoction'. But when he opened his eyes she had already gone. He spat out the potion and impatiently waited until she returned. He was yearned to know the reason they were drugging him with Drowsiness draught and offering him Confusing Concoction apart from putting him under the leg-locking charm. Most importantly he wanted to hear the reason that made them believed the charm was not enough to keep him under control.
He didn't have to wait longer. A single glance at the woman who entered the room with a tray full of food provided answers to all his questions. Gritting his teeth, he started to shake in rage.
"WHAT THE HELL YOU ARE DOING HERE WOMAN!" He yelled at her, and Pansy glued to the spot in terror-stricken.
"GET OUT OF THIS ROOM AND DON'T EVEN THINK OF SETTING YOUR FOOT IN OR ELSE I'LL SEND YOU BACK TO BROWN." He threatened her.
Blood drained from Pansy's face, and she gave him a terrified look with wide opened eyes.
"You don't deserve the freedom I have given you. Your rightful place is the previous hellhole. No, no I think that place is also too good for you. I honestly think a criminal like you deserve a much heavier penalty and whatever the punishment you received at the pub was not enough for the crimes you have committed." He added spitefully.
The tray hit the floor with a loud crash sending food and broken pieces of dishes everywhere. Pansy started to sweat excessively and shake violently while her lips quirked awkwardly and heart began to pound rapidly. Feeling lightheaded she dropped on the floor and curled up into a ball and commenced to pant heavily. With confusion, George swiftly summoned Whizzy, and it appeared without a delay. Looking at both Pansy and George and the scattered food, it disappeared again without a word. With another loud crack, it appeared back with anxious Ron Weasley.
Youngest Weasley male knelt in front of Pansy and placed his index and middle fingers on her neck to the side of her windpipe. "Whizzy, please take her to her room and give a double dose of calming draught." He ordered the elf after checking Pansy's pulse.
"What's going on here?" He demanded with a scowl.
"You tell me what's going on here!" George snapped. "That bloody woman is drugging me with the drowsiness draught and The Confusing Concoction."
"That's because we asked her to do so." Ron snapped back. "Because we knew you would never cooperate."
"What the hell Ron! Why did you ask her to take care of me? What happened to Whizzy?" George asked dangerously.
"We asked her because Whizzy is busy."
"She is a bloody convict, not a carer!"
"She is your helper and has more free time than anyone else. Mum wants to look after you, but you don't let her in."
"SHE COULD HAVE KILLED ME, IDIOT!."
"She didn't and she won't."
"How can you be that sure? Did she bewitch you?"
"She did nothing you, idiot. I accidently left your wand on the table, and she had put it in your drawer without stealing it. Your wand is not tracked, and she could have easily taken it and fled the country. She didn't even make an attempt to escape. Instead, she took great care of you in both day and night."
"That's because she is cunning. Maybe she was waiting for the best moment to run away with it. I didn't know you are such a careless fool to leave my wand on the table."
"As if you cooperated with us on the day you came from the hospital. If you had acted as a responsible wizard, then I wouldn't have to focus entirely on damage control."
"So it's my fault now?" George snapped
"Who else's?" Ron snapped back. "Now tell me what did you do to her?"
"Why do you care?"
"Of course, I care. She had a panic attack just doing us all a favour by taking care of a ruthless man like you. What did you do?"
"I may or may not have told her she deserves a tougher punishment for her crimes, and the treatment she received at Brown's was too soft for a criminal like her."
"WHAT? ARE YOU INSANE!" Ron yelled.
"Your wife is the one who is insane to drag me into this mess," George added stubbornly.
"George, no matter what I thought you have a heart, but today you proved that I'm wrong," Ron said in disappointment.
"Criminal like her deserves to be chained and locked up in a cell."
"Heartless monsters regularly raped her when she was defencelessly chained to a wall of a tiny closet. She couldn't even run away from those bastards, and you told her that treatment was too soft."
Bloody hell!. How did I forget that part? George felt terrible but didn't show his guilt to his brother. "You talk as if you saw that with your own eyes." He grunted
"You talk like you don't know the protocol, George. You know we have to follow the victim for a day before deciding on rescuing. Unfortunately or fortunately, I was the one who followed her under a disillusionment charm. I managed not to hex anybody in the pub but broke the rule when I was watching her in the closet. I couldn't listen to her screams anymore when that bastard burnt her with a cigar while forcing himself on her. I imperiused the man and led him to Knocturn ally then obliviated him. I know I had put my life, Parkinson's life and our Order in grave danger by interfering but my conscious didn't let me act like it was insignificant."
George gritted his teeth and clenched his fists making both his partially healed wounds bled again. His pain replaced with remorse and he looked at his brother with contriteness
"I don't think even a criminal like Bellatrix Lestrange deserves a punishment like that. Lifetime incarceration in Azkaban is much better than this so called rehabilitation." Ron said in anger.
"You know what her charges are." He further added. "I'm not going to say Lord Parkinson was a good man, but he was a father, and he wanted to keep his daughter safe. He didn't ask her to kill or take the Dark Mark. He just asked her to deposit money to keep her from Voldemort's wrath. I am a father of a little girl too, and I'm willing to do anything to keep her safe." Ron said emotionally.
Ronald then rubbed his temples in stress. "Alright, for everyone's sake I'll employ another elf to take care of you." He added with a sigh.
"No, as you said before, she has plenty of free time. I paid a lot of money for her, and she should make herself useful than being idle who lives on free food. So she may continue her work as usual." George spat with aversion.
"I don't think it's a good idea. You'll continue to harass her." Ron said in worry
"That's none of your business. I treat her as I please." George said savagely. "Remember I'm still her owner and like or not she is bound to obey my orders." He hissed then summoned Whizzy. "Whizzy, please go and asked that woman to be here as soon as possible." He ordered when it appeared. Whizzy nodded and disapparated.
Pansy doddered in looking groggy and exhausted. She leant against the wall near the door and avoided looking at both men.
"You woman, as much as I hate to see your miserable face-"
"George!" Ron warned.
"I told you to stay out of this!" George snapped then looked at the panicking woman again. "I hate to see your pathetic face, but you should do some work and make yourself useful because I don't want to provide free food for a death eater scum-" George hissed, and Pansy flinched hearing his cruel words
"George, that's enough! You don't have to be nasty." Ron interrupted his brother.
"You will continue to perform whatever the duties they have asked you to do." George continued ignoring his brother. "But this time, you'll do them in my way taking only my orders. Do you understand?"
Pansy looked at Ron helplessly, silently begging his support who gave her a weak, helpless nod.
"No more using drowsiness draught and The Confusing Concoction on me. Do you understand?" He said firmly, and she frantically nodded. "Then get out of my room!" He barked, and she ran out taking wobbly steps. "And you too get out of my place." He yelled looking at Ron.
"Yes, I'm going, but keep in mind your hands need another week or two to recover fully. Do not do anything stupid or else you'll lose your hands." Ron warned. "Light wand movements only. No heavy work, no experiments or inventions, no punching, no sma-"
"GET OUT!" George growled impatiently, and Ron headed towards the floo shaking his head in frustration.
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George tried to move and swore in frustration. He couldn't believe he forgot to ask Ron to fetch his wand. He hated bed resting and desperately wanted to get rid of the leg-lock jinx. When he was about to summon Whizzy, he heard her soft involuntary footsteps approaching the room. For the first time, he impatiently waited for her presence. Pansy entered the room nervously. Though she managed to hide most of her emotions under a blank mask, some of her facial expressions betrayed her. If her duty was not obligatory and she had given freedom of choice, she wouldn't even think of been in the same room with him. Pansy looked like a fish out of water who was eagerly waiting for the first opportunity to run outside and catch her breath before the suffocation.
Ignoring the awkward situation both of them were in, George grunted giving her permission to proceed with her duties. Pansy most uncomfortably reached him and placed the small metal tray on the nightstand and knelt beside the bed.
With her trembling hands, she slowly picked up his right hand, the one that suffered the most damage and carefully started to remove the bandage. George flinched in disgust when he felt her touch but forced himself not to shove her hands aside in repugnancy.
She diligently and thoroughly cleaned the wound and applied medication gently then got a new dressing and prepared to bandage.
"Do it in the way I can move my fingers."He ordered.
She didn't look at him or responded him but wrapped each finger separately allowing him to move them freely. Then she attended the other hand and treated it the same way as the first one.
As soon as she finished her job, George quickly reached the top drawer of his nightstand and grabbed his wand cursing the fool who ever left it there without casting a proper security charm when a criminal was freely moving inside his house. Pansy's lip twitched slightly with his awful comment, but she was more horrified when he got rid of the leg-locking charm in one swift movement.
George quickly swung his legs off the bed and sat there. Guided by instinct Pansy darted to his side.
"Stay away! Don't dare to come near me!" He waved his arm angrily and made an effort to get up.
After a week in bed under Leg-lock charm didn't help him at all. George's legs were too weak to support his body, and Pansy rushed to his aid before he tumbled over. She was a petite, delicate witch, and he was a well-built wizard. He had heavily leant on her tiny frame, and she struggled to keep the balance without collapsing. Then somehow miraculously she managed to get him sit on the bed. Muttering something about sodding useless witches, George sat there and took a couple of deep breaths.
"Come here." He ordered her. "Help me to get to my desk."
Pansy looked at him with worry filled eyes. She knew he shouldn't get back to work, definitely should not continue with his experiments. She stood still without reaching him to help.
"If you have forgotten woman, I give orders, and you follow them without a delay." He yelled in anger, and she bit her lower lip nervously without looking at him.
"Help me or I'll throw you out!" he barked. "I can't levitate the damn thing without compromising the quality of the product I'm working on; otherwise, I would never in million years ask help from a damn criminal."
Pansy trembled in hesitation.
"Don't even think of calling my worthless brother or Whizzy. If you want to live under this roof, do as I say." Hew hissed spitefully.
Pansy mechanically moved to his side. She didn't want to assist him but couldn't disobey him risking her freedom. Placing his left hand firmly on her shoulder, he tried to get up, but his wounds were too tender and couldn't deal with the pressure caused by his body weight.
Hissing in pain, George gave up standing and scowled at Pansy, who gently helped him back to bed. Propping himself back in bed, he gave her another death stare.
"Be useful and go and get me the pink colour parchment roll from the desk." He howled. She hurried and got him the jumbled mess of parchments and handed over to him, then she stood near the wall away from him and waited for his next command.
George ignored her for few minutes and went through the parchments like a madman. He deeply focused on reading while rubbing his chin or mumbling to himself, then suddenly raised his head and frowned at her.
"What are you still doing here? Go and get me something to eat." He barked.
She didn't leave him but looked at his wand and the parchment roll in worry.
"You are my servant, not my healer or my carer, so stop pretending to be concern. Just follow my orders and I'll take care of myself." He shouted. "I'm not an idiot to go against Healer's advice." He further added when she didn't move. "JUST GET OUT WITHOUT STANDING HERE LIKE A GUARD DOG! Don't pretend like you are really worried about my health and wellbeing!" He screamed
She ran out and returned with a tray full of food. Her face was blank, but he understood she was trying to feed him when she started to fiddle with the cutleries.
"Keep the tray on the bed and leave! I don't need your help. I can charm them to feed me." He said proudly waving his wand.
George charmed the spoon to feed him. His bandaged hands didn't help as he anticipated. His wand movements were not sharp and accurate and food spilt from the spoon, and he had to charm a napkin to follow the spoon. Things were much more complicated with his wounds and food wastage was higher than he foresaw. He lost the ability to do wandless magic on the same day he lost his ability to produce his corporeal Patronus, so he left with no other option than using scouring charm repeatedly on the mess.
Then Pansy did something he never expected. She slowly sat on the bed next to him. George winced in distress by her close proximity to him. Ignoring his visible discomfort she laid another napkin under his chin. Pansy lived on food scrap for more than four years, and she couldn't stand there and watch precious food get wasted even if her action would make George furious. Then she gently picked up the bowl of soup and guided the spoon steadily without spilling its content. He squirmed in disgust every time Pansy caringly wiped side of his mouth, or she accidently came into contact with him. George loathed her more than anyone and hated to be in contact with her, but then he realised he hated himself more than her for being weak and helpless and depended on her assistance.
Flicking his wand, George uncharmed the spoon and let her had the full control of the spoon. When she finished feeding, He excused her with a slight grunt. He didn't thank her nor did yell at her or even left a snide remark. He simply ignored her and went back to his reading.
Next time when Pansy came to change his dressing he maintained his unusual silence but cooperated with her. Then he gave her a roughly charmed Sickle as a method of communication. The Sickle was charmed to heat up when he required her presence. She accepted it with relief knowing she didn't have to hang around his room anymore worrying he might need her assistance. With the aid of the Sickle, she could go back to perform her other duties with peace of mind and get back to him only when he needed her help.
Until the day George was able to use his hands, he let Pansy feed him without protesting. Most of the time he ignored her or treated her with his usual scowl. Unless he was giving orders, he never talked to her. Sometimes he insulted her or shouted at her other than that he just grunted or hissed or cleared his throat to acknowledge her presence.
Pansy endured his sullenness better than before. She was aware of his obvious hatred toward her and knew it was killing him to have depended on her. She understood her dedication and devotion to her assigned work bruised his ego severely and damaged his dignity badly and made him even sulkier and grouchy. So she ignored his insults and bitterness without feeling hurt.
One night when George had woken up by a regular nightmare, he found her in his room. She was sitting on the floor leaning against his bed, and her head was slightly resting on the foot of his mattress. It was such an uncomfortable position to have a good sleep, and he clenched his fist and controlled the sudden urge to kick her head out of his bed. He clenched his jaws and ground his teeth fiercely after realising she had spent last three weeks sleeping on the floor next to his bed. She had taken care of him very well. Even sacrificing a comfortable sleep, she stayed with him in case if he needed anything. Day or night she provided his potions on time without a delay, attended to his wounds with care and got his meals when he needed them. He tried to convince himself that she had an ulterior motive behind her action. He accused her of being cunning and waiting for the perfect moment to harm him and run away with his money and the wand. He even tried to not to appreciate her work and believed sleeping on his floor was not causing discomfort to her when compared to her previous sleeping arrangement. But deep down in his mind, he knew he was wrong. He was aware that she had no ulterior motive. He knew sleeping on the cold floor was not easy, but she did it willingly to show her gratitude and care. The reality was killing him. He didn't like it. He just wanted to escape from the truth, but his guilty conscious didn't make it easy for him.
Without even making a slightest noise, he got up from the bed and walked to the door. Before leaving the room, he turned back and levitated Pansy to his bed with one quick wand movement and headed toward his office room without turning back.
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