A/N: This chapter comes with more apologies that I can muster. I've been so busy and so stressed that I haven't gotten around to writing it. I'm so sorry everyone, but summer's here, so I will hopefully have more time to write! Hope you're still reading...

The days passed easily, and George found that he was able to get along better with Nicolette. They both still felt slightly awkward, but George watched over her with a protectiveness that Nicolette appreciated, especially when she came home nearly exhausted from working with Hermione, who was now married to Oliver Wood. Hermione seemed to believe that since she wasn't available more often for lessons, the lessons should be five and six hours long at a time.

George disagreed mightily.

Hermione hexed him.

That was the last argument on the subject.

Nicolette tried with all of her might to absorb everything that Hermione was trying to teach her each time they got together, but after a while, the spells, their pronunciations, and their uses slipped right out of her mind. It was at times like this that Hermione gave a rather dramatic, long-suffering sigh and demanded that they begin again. "You have to think," Hermione would stress. "Concentrate on what you want to do, and you'll do it. Try again."

During these lessons, Nicolette noticed that her friend seemed to be more and more agitated. Being married and still being in school seemed to be taking a toll on Hermione, but she refused to shirk either duty, no matter how much Oliver begged her to. She waved off everyone else who tried to get her to see reason, and soon, everyone stopped asking about her. However, it was Nicolette who became more agitated as well when she realized that George was hiding something from her.

She hadn't noticed it to begin with because most of his life was a mystery to her, but as she became more and more familiar with the dealings of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, she began to realize that there was something very important that he was keeping from her. George became more distant than before, spending hours debating with Fred late into the night. Every time she tried to eavesdrop on their conversations, however, there would be the faintest buzzing sound and then, the world went silent.

He was using silencing charms. On his own wife, no less!

Reason told her that he might have a perfectly good excuse. Perhaps he was planning something for Christmas holiday. Yes, that was most certainly it! But the next time Nicolette caught a glimpse of one of the conversations, Fred and George's faces looked far too grim for them to be planning any holiday cheer. It was then that she decided to get to the bottom of…whatever was going on.

She waited and waited, hoping for just the right moment to approach George. She had thought of first going to Fred, but then she realized that this was something between her and her husband alone. And so she waited some more, pushing her questions to the back of her mind when George repeatedly stumbled upstairs to the flat after work, so tired that he could barely mumble a 'hello.' Business was busier than ever as people strove to find some sort of cheerfulness in their lives during the War.

Nicolette's opportunity came in the strangest of ways, however, when she dragged herself through the floo one night after one of Hermione's impromptu sessions. She found George on the couch, reading a crumpled piece of parchment, which he hid from view as soon as he caught sight of her. With raised eyebrows, Nicolette ignored that familiar lurching in her stomach that came with flooing and crossed her arms over her chest. "Alright, spill," she ordered.

"Spill what?" George asked casually. Far too casually.

"Whatever you're keeping from me," she answered him. "Whatever's on that paper of yours."

George shook his head. "That's none of your business," he said tensely.

Nicolette bristled. "It is my business!" she cried angrily. "I'm your wife! I have a right to know!"

An anger that George had not felt in quite some time reared up inside of him and he shot off the couch before he could even process the movement. With two large strides, he was standing in front of her, gripping her forearms so tightly that Nicolette winced. "You have no right," he said, his voice deathly calm. "You belong to me, and what I do is none of your business." Ignoring how wrong he was, George gave her shove that sent her stumbling back against the fireplace, and then he apparated out of the flat with a loud bang.

Grief gnawed at Nicolette and her knees gave out as she sank onto the well worn rug at her feet. Everything had been going so well for the past few weeks. They had been making progress, and she had grown so used to seeing no hint of hatred in her husband's eyes that now, she was at a loss of how to deal with it. The hatred that had flashed across his eyes as he held her was something that she would not soon forget. No argument was worth that.

Even if she was indeed right.

A tear made a track down her cheek. How could this have happened?

George had no idea where he was going when he apparated out of Nicolette's sight, so it was fortunate for him that he didn't find himself spliced or worse. Instead, his subconscious had done the work for him and he found himself standing at the bottom of the steps leading up to Lee Jordan's house. Since his mind seemed to have been made up, George ignored the nagging voice in the wee corner of his mind that warned against such a reckless idea and proceeded to climb the stairs and knock on the door.

"Come on Lee," he growled when there was no answer. "Answer the door." "Before I change my mind," his mind whispered.

The door opened, and there stood Lee. "George," he said, surprise lacing his voice.

The words momentarily stuck in George's throat as he gulped and fiddled with the parchment he still held. As though on cue, his mind brought forth memory after memory of his wife over the last few days, assaulting him with reason after reason for why this idea was such a stupid, brainless one. But instead of listening, he squared his shoulders and said, "Hi Lee. I've thought it over, and I've changed my mind. I'll do it."

A/N: It was longer that it looks when I typed it out, and the next one should be much longer still. Thank you guys so much for your patience. I appreciate it so much! :D