George was pacing outside of her hospital room. He couldn't sit still. The Healer's had insisted that he stay in bed, that he needed rest, but he knew he wouldn't. He needed to know if Aurora was going to be alright. It was his fault that this had happened. If he hadn't gotten distracted he would never have been disarmed and then knocked unconscious.
He heard footsteps running towards him. He looked up and saw that Harry, Neville, Draco and Blaise were walking up to him. "Harry told us what happened." Blaise said, pushing George into a chair. "Are you alright?" he asked. George looked at him as his he'd gone mad.
"Me? We should be worrying about Aurora. I got knocked unconscious, I have no idea what happened." He looked back at the door that Aurora was behind. He had a headache, but he wasn't going to move. He looked back at the others, waiting for them to tell him what happened.
Harry hesitated. He'd already told Blaise and Draco what had happened, and they'd handled it better than he expected but George? He knew that George cared a lot about Aurora, maybe even loved her, so he wasn't sure just how he would react. "Harry?" George caught his attention. "Please. I need to know what happened." Harry nodded slightly.
"Well, first of all, she's going to be fine George, I promise. We got there before anything major happened." George let out a breath, but his eyes didn't leave Harry's. "In all honesty, I don't think Greyback had a plan. He didn't expect you to be there, but that didn't stop him. And then she sent that Patronus, and he – "
"She sent a Patronus?" George asked, looking Blaise and Draco, who nodded.
"We were here." Draco muttered. "It appeared in the lobby. Everyone heard it, and the Healers got hold of the Aurora department. Neville went to the house, where he met up with Harry." George nodded and looked back at Harry.
"Greyback never expected her to do something like that, did he?" he asked, his eyes travelling to the door where Aurora was.
"No. He told us everything." He muttered. George turned to face Harry so quickly he nearly got a crick in his neck.
"He told you what he'd planned to do?" he asked. Images were flashing through his mind. Harry paused, gathering his thoughts.
"He wanted to 'play', as he put it. She got away from her twice before, he wasn't going to let her go again." George frowned.
"Twice?" He asked. "She's gotten away from him once before, not twice." Draco blinked as he took in the new information.
"What do you mean?" Blaise asked "We didn't even know she'd met him before." George then remembered that she hadn't told them. He sighed and ran his hand threw his hair.
"The Battle of Hogwarts. He went after her then, but Archie..." He trailed off as he saw the shocked looks on their faces.
"Archie died instead." Neville finished for him. George nodded. "He must have been after her for a reason. That's always been how he works, isn't it?" Neville looked at Harry, hoping for confirmation, and Harry nodded.
"Greyback usually picks on someone until they're dead, or..." He trailed off as they all fell silent. George looked back at the closed doors. He could see Healer's moving about, but he still didn't know what they were doing.
"So what happened?" He asked as he looked back at Harry. "After she sent the Patronus?" Harry took a deep breath.
"Neville and I turned up, heard her shouting out, and we ran in. You were knocked out in the living room, and we followed the noises upstairs. He was pulling her by her hair, every so often using the Cruciatus curse. He'd kicked her a few times when she'd resist, so she'd got a few broken bones. He didn't know how quickly we'd get the message, but even so, he didn't get to do what he planned. A few other Aurora had turned up by them, and he was surrounded. Neville disarmed him, and I bound him. George, nothing happened. She's going to be fine. Just a little shook up, i think." George frowned.
"Then why haven't I been allowed in. they haven't told me anything." He muttered.
"Because of what Greyback is." Draco answered. "They need to make sure that she wasn't contaminated. But I don't think she will be. She ruined his plans, and he'll be behind bars soon enough." He practically growled the last part out. Blaise's hand was on his shoulder, as if to reassure him.
"Unfortunately, he'll have a trial. It's how it works now." He muttered, but Harry chuckled.
"He'll get a trial, yes, but if he's been targeting Aurora, like we think he's been, he'll be in Azkaban soon enough." They were silent again before they could hear running footsteps coming towards them. They all looked up and saw Hermione, Daphne and Audrey running towards them. They all stood up, ready to reassure them that Aurora was going to be alright when the Healer's came out of the room.
"Who's family?" She asked, looking from one to the other. No one answered. They weren't strictly family, but that's what they'd become. George felt a nudge from behind him. He saw that Neville, Draco and Blaise were pushing him towards the door. He frowned at them, but the Healer led him through the door.
"She's asleep at the moment, but she'll he fine. She'll be sore for a while." George thanked her as she left them alone. George went straight to the chair next to the bed and took hold of Aurora's hand. He'd nearly lost her today, and he knew he never wanted to go through that again. He was defiantly in love with her; he just needed to pluck up the courage to tell her.
Draco fell back in the chair, suddenly exhausted. He was supposed to be finishing his shift, but the Healer had just told him to take the rest of the day off. He noticed from the corner of his eye that Blaise and Neville hadn't let go of each other's hand since Neville got back to the hospital. Hermione took the chair next to him.
"She's going to be alright, isn't she?" She asked as Harry started filling Daphne and Audrey in on what happened. Draco nodded.
"She'll be fine." Hermione let out a sigh of relief and relaxed in the chair. Draco closed his eyes, listening to the chatter around him. He was shocked when Hermione squeezed his hand. "Coffee?" She asked, but she didn't wait for an answer. He'd already been pulled out of his seat and was following her towards the stairs that led to the upper floors. They only went up a few flights of stairs before Hermione rounded on him, her hand still in his.
"Draco, don't hide behind that wall of yours. Aurora's like a sister to you, you care about her. Talk to me." Draco looked at her in shock as the tears started to blur his vision. Before he knew what was happening he'd pulled Hermione into a hug and was crying on her shoulder. Hermione's arms automatically went around his neck, pulling him closer, letting him know that she was there for him.
"I nearly lost her." He mumbled against her bushy hair, his body shaking as the sobs kept coming.
"But you didn't. She's going to be fine." Hermione whispered into the darkness. "She's got all of us to look after her, she's not going anywhere without a fight, you know that." Draco chuckled slightly as he pulled out of Hermione's embrace, and wiped the tears from his eyes.
"Thank you." He mumbled as they started making their way up to the cafe. Hermione didn't answer; she just took hold of his hand again, making Draco smile slightly. He didn't know what was happening, but he was glad that he had Hermione as a friend now.
Aurora could feel the softness of the bed underneath her and she sighed at just how soft it was. She still hadn't opened her eyes. She knew it was dark outside, she just didn't know how much time had passed. She felt something shift at her side and her curiosity got the better of her. She reluctantly opened her eyes to the darkness of the room. She looked to her left and saw that George was asleep in the chair next to the bed she was in, his head resting against the sheets, his hand still holding her. She smiled slightly, and shifted so that she was facing him, her hand still in his.
"George." She whispered. He groaned slightly in his sleep, making her chuckle. "George." She said, a little bit louder. He jerked awake and blinked back the sleep in his eyes.
"Rory?" He mumbled. She smiled at him as she waited her him to wake up properly. Once he realised he wasn't dreaming he was out of the chair and pulling her into a hug. "I thought I'd lost you." He muttered as Aurora wrapped her arms around him, breathing in his scent.
"You can't get rid of me that easily." She whispered as he pulled out of the hug.
"I'm sorry." He muttered, not looking her in the eyes.
"George, you've got nothing to be sorry about. We were both taking off guard. I completely forgot that he was still out there, and possibly still after me." George looked at her then.
"But why was he? You told me about Hogwarts, but Harry said that you'd gotten away from Greyback another time." Aurora closed her eyes and sighed, resting against the soft pillows. She patted the space next to her, indicating that George should join her on the bed. She felt the pressure change as George settled himself next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer towards him.
"The day the Death Eater's came to the Gallery." She muttered, her eyes still closed as she remembered that day. "Greyback was part of the group. He likes girls, Greyback does, and the moment he saw me he wanted me." She involuntarily shivered, causing George to pull her closer to him. "The group he was with would let him, and took me to Hogwarts so that Greyback didn't get carried away. From that moment on he'd wanted to find me, so at the Battle of Hogwarts..." She trailed off as sleep began to take over, and she snuggled closer to George. She didn't need to carry on; she'd already told him what had happened that night, and she was sure that Harry and Neville would have filled him in as to what had happened at the house.
They didn't say anything for a while, and Aurora was sure that George had fallen back to sleep, when he made her jump with his next words. "I don't ever want to be that scared again. I love you Rory." She practically stopped breathing. His words were muffled, so she wasn't sure if he was talking in his sleep or not. When he didn't say anything she shifted so that she was nose to nose with him. She leaned forward slightly and pecked his lips.
"I think I love you too, Georgie." She whispered before she rested her head against his chest and let sleep take over.
The next day the two of them were woken up as the others all walked into the room they were in, all beaming at the sight of them. "Oh, you guys can bugger off." George grumbled as he pulled Aurora closer to him as if hoping he could hide from them all. Aurora laughed and opened her eyes and saw Billy and Fleur beaming at them.
"Morning guys." She muttered as she untangled herself from George, who once more groaned and pulled the covers over his head. "Fine then," she poked his side, "I'll just have to eat all this food by myself." George was up in a flash, looking around the room and scowled at Aurora.
"Liar." He muttered as he looked up at his older brother and his wife. "What are you two doing here?" he asked. Aurora rolled her eyes and was about to get out of bed when George stopped her. "No. Healer's said bed rest." Aurora narrowed her eyes at him.
"I'm physically fine, George. But no doubt that nightmares will be back." She muttered. George frowned.
"But you didn't have any last night." Aurora smiled and chuckled at him.
"That's because I had you here." She said as she got off the bed and walked over to Fleur and hugged her. "Let's see." She asked. Once again, George frowned, but realised what was happening. Bill and Fleur were here for her 12 week scan of the baby. George looked at Fleur and couldn't help but smile. She was positively glowing.
"Boy or girl?" he asked as he too got out of the bed and have a look at the ultrasound. Aurora passed it over to him as she grabbed the bag from Bill, who nodded at her questioning look.
"It's too early to tell just yet." Fleur said. George nodded as he looked at the picture in his hand. Aurora was at his side, having quickly got changed out of hospital gown and into her normal jeans and hoodie.
"Whatever gender it is, Molly's going to spoil it rotten." The four of them chuckled as they sat in the spare chairs in the room.
"How are you?" Billy asked as he took notice of Aurora taking hold of George's hand. Aurora shrugged.
"I'm alright." Bill and Fleur gave her a sceptical look. "Really, I'm fine. I've been through worse." Fleur gave her a knowing looking, remembering the third task and nodded.
"I do 'av a question for you." She said, looking at Aurora. Billy told hold of Fleur's hand and nodded in encouragement. "Would you be Godmother?" she asked. Aurora looked at the two of them in surprise.
"You want me to be Godmother?" she asked. When they bother nodded, Aurora was out of the chair and hugging the pair of them. "I'd love to." She whispered. Just then the Healer came into the room, wanting to check on Aurora.
"Now, have you got a place to stay, somewhere safe?" she asked. Aurora was about to answer when three voices spoke up at once.
"The Burrow." Aurora stared at the three of them.
"And when was this decided?" she asked, looking from on to the other. The Healer just looked amused.
"Last night." Bill answered. "We'd all feel better if you were there." Aurora sighed, knowing she couldn't argue her way out of this; she didn't even have the strength to try. She just shrugged.
"Fine, the Burrow it is then." George squeezed her hand and she smiled at him. The Healer asked a few more questions and seemed satisfied with the answer because Aurora was free to go. Bill grabbed the bag as Fleur linked her arm with Aurora and they made their way towards the lobby.
"Everyone's waiting at the Burrow. They want to make sure you're all right." Aurora rolled her eyes but went with it. She just wanted to sleep for as long as possible, and hope that the nightmares wouldn't return.
AN: I own nothing except Aurora and Karen. All right go to JKR
This one wasn't my best, but with a new story in my head this one's starting to suffer because of it, I'm sorry. I'm trying. But for my first HP fic that I've had the courage to post, I'm proud :)
Review and Follow. Everything is appreciated!