Over the next couple of day, Aurora spent the majority of her time wondering the grounds of the Burrow. Molly, as predicted, made a fuss of her, and Aurora, being too polite to ask her to stop, found herself wondering around just to get away from her.

She'd persuaded George to go to the shop every day. Before the incident, they'd been working on all the old products, and a few possible new ones, namely the matching mistletoe – it hovered over a couple (or a person who had strong feelings for another) and the two would be stuck until they'd kissed. Aurora could tell it was going to be a disaster with people who weren't together, and would never admit feeling for the other, but she could see the fun side of it too. And every day, George would come back to the Burrow, where he and Aurora would be in the front room, either playing Wizards Chess or coming up with more ideas.

During the day, Aurora would begin drawing again; the nightmares had come back, but she didn't tell anyone. The drawing helped, but like the universe back at the Gallery helped before. But she was starting to get restless; which is why she was glad when Audrey mentioned that the bridal party had their final fitting at the end of the week.

"Oh thank Merlin." Aurora muttered when Audrey reminded her of it.

"Bored, are we?" she asked, laughing as the two of them walked through the fields behind the Burrow.

"Audrey, I hate sitting around not doing anything. I miss the Gallery, I miss being in the shop, helping George with the new products, I miss hanging out with Draco and Blaise, and Daphne. They still don't feel comfortable here. Molly's great, but one more day, I just might explode." Audrey continued to laugh at her friend before making them both stop walking.

"So just leave." Audrey suggested. "You're not exactly a prisoner. You can come and go as you please, surely." But Aurora was shaking her head.

"Molly is there, constantly."

"But she's not here now." Audrey smirked. "Go. To the Gallery, or the shop, its your choice." Aurora smiled at her friend, kissed her on the cheek and aparated to the Gallery. She smiled, when she saw it, and immediately went to the back room, found some paint in one of the many cupboards, and some spare canvases and started painting. Now she was home.

George rubbed his eyes and noticed that it was nearly 7 in the evening. He looked out the window and darkness had already fallen. He stretched and started putting the ingredients away, when a hoot caught his attention. He'd been so engrossed in his work that he hadn't noticed an owl had arrived. He didn't know how long it had been there, but it had been waiting patiently, knowing not to disturb him.

He took the letter that was tied to it's leg, expecting it to fly away the moment it was gone, but it just sat and stayed with him, waiting for him to read the letter. He un rolled it and smiled.

Georgie,

I'm at the Gallery. I needed to get away. It's a 10 minute walk from the Leaky Cauldron, if you wanted to join. I've ordered way too much pizza so I need someone to help me finish it.

Rory x

George's grin grew. He looked at the owl, who gave him one last hoot, before flying away. George chuckled as he grabbed his jacket, quickly locked up the shop and walked the length of the street towards the pub.

After reaching the other side to muggle London, George looked back at the letter in his hand and noticed that on the back it showed a map. He chuckled as he followed the directions until he was outside a well lit building, with artwork in the windows. He opened the front door, surprised to find it open, and went inside.

He stared around him, open mouthed. Artwork hung from the walls; a mixture of landscapes and portraits, as well as photography. He followed the sounds of the soft music that was playing and found Aurora, kneeling on the floor, covered in paint as usual. He smiled at the mess she'd created, and when he finally looked at what she was creating his gasp made her jump and turn round.

There, on the floor, was Hogwarts Castle, the grounds illuminated by the candles in the hundreds of windows. As he stepped closer, he saw that walls were falling, spells were flying from unknown wands, and some places were even on fire. He couldn't take his eyes off it. It was transitioning from the Hogwarts he loved, to the battle that caused everyone so much pain.

George sighed, and knelt down beside Aurora and took her hand. She lent her head again his shoulder, and they stayed like that, just watching the painting transition between the two memories. George gave her hand a quick squeeze, making her look at him.

"Why?" he asked. "Why the Battle?" Aurora sighed and looked back at the picture.

"Because of the nightmares. It's where they are; I thought they'd gone, or at least not be as bad as they were but..." she trailed off as she watched the killing curse being cast across the canvas. Before George could say anything else Aurora stood up and headed towards the table. "Pizza?" She smiled as she passed him the box. "I didn't know what topping you wanted, so I picked one at random." George smiled as he took the box off of her. The change of subject was for the best. They'd both lost someone dear to them in the battle, and the memories were still painful, but he knew that by painting it, it helped Aurora.

"Where did you learn to paint?" he asked as he leant against the table, looked at the artwork that was half finished.

"Dad." She said before taking a bite of her own slice. "He owned this place. Used to use it every now and then, but then students from the local University would pay to rent some of the upstairs rooms, to work on things, and that's what it became. When he died, it became mine, as did the house." George stared at her in amazement. She'd lost so much in her twenty years; how could she be so calm, and happy about everything. He knew that Harry was still finding it difficult to deal with what happened, but Aurora seemed to breeze through life.

"Rory?" he asked. She turned to face him, waiting for him to continue. "How do you do it?" he asked.

"Do what?" she looked at him in confusion.

"How do you go about life as if nothing's happened?" he asked. He wasn't looking at her. He couldn't. "I mean, your best friend was murdered, and you're pretty good friends with the guy who survived that attack. You were caught by snatchers and Death Eaters here, which included Greyback; sent back to Hogwarts because they were too dumb to realise how old you were; were tortured most days you were back at the castle; your brother was killed in front of you by Greyback, and then you yourself get attacked by the same man over a year later, and you go about life as if it never happened. You can come back here and get on with things; you'll be going back to the house soon, even after what's just happened. How do you do it? It took me a year to get over Fred's death, and I'm still not even over it." George angrily wiped away the tears that had blurred his vision. He'd had enough of crying.

Aurora moved closer to him and pulled him into a hug. His arms instinctively went round her waist as she started rubbing circles on his back, her other hand running through his hair. "I don't George." She whispered, not letting go. "I take things one day at a time, that's all. I've had the support of my friends and family. So did you, you just didn't let them in, and I don't blame you." She pulled away so that George was looking her straight in the eye. "I found it hard to talk to Blaise and Draco after everything. It was Daphne that snapped me out of it. Her no nonsense attitude was what I needed and I started to open up."

"It wasn't until I started to get to know you that things got better." He mumbled.

"We need each other, that much is obvious." She chuckled. George's arms were still round her waist, and he didn't want to let her go. He wanted her, more than anything, but he knew he couldn't push her.

"George?" she asked. He looked at her expectantly. "You said something at the hospital, and it's been playing on my mind." George's eyes went slightly wider. He thought he's dreamed that. He didn't say it out loud, did he? "Did you mean what you said?" she asked, looking in his eyes for some sort of recognition.

"That depends on what I said." He muttered, unable to look at her anymore. His heart was bounding in his chest, he was sure she could feel it. Aurora swallowed and took a deep breath before continuing.

"You said that, you don't ever want to be that scared again, and that you..." she waited until George was looking at her once more. "That you love me. Is that true?" she asked. There was silence between them; George was trying how best to say what he was feeling.

"At first, I thought it was because we both lost a twin, that I became attached to you. But then Percy and Ron mentioned that I'd never been like this with anyone. I want to know how you are, how you days have been. I want to be the one to make you smile and laugh, and be there for you whenever you need to talk. I didn't want to admit it, because it felt like I shouldn't be allowed to move on. But yes, Rory, I love you."

Aurora bit her bottom lip before smiling up at him. She hadn't been to get what he said out of her head, and now that he'd said it out loud, and seemed to mean it, caused her heart to beat so much faster than before. "There's something about you George." She whispered. "I don't know if I can call it love at the moment, but it's something. I know that I'm better when you're around. Knowing you're in the next room helps. The nightmare's are back, but not to the point where I wake up screaming, and I think it's because I know that you're near. I'm not explaining it properly." She frowned slightly, making George chuckle.

"I have a suggestion." She looked up at him expectantly. "Why don't I ask you out on a date, and see where things go from there?" Aurora bit her lip.

"What would this date consist of?" she asked.

"Food, and good conversation." Aurora thought about it.

"Georgie, you've just described what we're doing right now." George started laughing, causing Aurora to smile.

"You have a point. See, we've got this dating thing sorted." Aurora rolled her eyes at him, but she saw him turn serious. "Rory, I mean it though. I want to see where this goes." Aurora looked up at him and smiled before reaching up and pecking him on the lips.

"Me too." They stood there, smiling at each other, before they decided it was time to leave. Rather than going to the Burrow, the decided to explore Muggle London instead, and just enjoy each others company.

Molly was worried sick. It was coming up to 10, and Aurora still wasn't back yet. She'd already argued with Audrey about letting her go, but Audrey was adamant she'd done the right thing. Molly knew that she was probably over doing it all, but she knew that George cared deeply for the girl, even if he would never admit to those feelings. Aurora was a sweet girl with a kind heart, and everyone loved that Molly knew loved her. Aurora had unknowingly become part of the Weasley brood. If anything had happened to her, Molly would never forgive herself.

She was in the kitchen, washing the plates, pans and cutlery she'd used for dinner, by hand. Her hands needed to be doing something; otherwise she'd have been pacing the whole house in agitation.

"Molly, dear. She'll be fine." Arthur reassured her for the 10th time that night. "She can look after herself. The incident with Greyback was a onetime thing. He's now in custody, awaiting trial. He'll be in Azkaban soon, she's perfectly safe, I have no doubt." Molly saw Arthur look at his watch and sighed.

"Remind me what time George usually gets home?" he asked.

"Normally about 8, why?" Arthur smiled.

"Well, don't you think that maybe they are together? For all we know George could have finally done the decent thing and asked her out." Molly smiled slightly. Arthur always knew what to say to make her mind at ease, but she was still worried. It was then that they heard a faint pop from outside. Molly spun around just as George came through the back door, Aurora following behind.

"Oh my goodness." Molly screamed as she ran over and pulled Aurora into a hug. "I've been worried sick. I had no idea where you were, whether you were safe or not." Aurora refrained from rolling her eyes.

"Molly, I'm fine. We were at the Gallery and we lost track of time. We should have sent an owl or something." Aurora pulled out of hug and looked the older woman. "I'm sorry for making you worry. I just couldn't stand being cooped up here much longer. I'll be going to the Gallery 3 days a week, and then helping George at the shop on the other 2, but I promise, I will be back here every night and be here for the weekends." Aurora gave a quick glance at George before looking back at Molly. "I just have one question to ask." Molly shared a look with her husband before turning back to face Aurora.

"Would it be possible for me to stay here until the New Year? I don't fancy going back to the house just yet." Molly pulled her into another hug.

"You're always welcome here Aurora, you know that." Aurora smiled and thanked her before following George into the living room. Molly smiled at their retreating back, before turning back to face her husband. Arthur smiled back at her. He, too, had noticed their entwined hands.

AN: I own nothing except Aurora

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