Chapter 10
I Remember
"Hogwarts!" George shouted sitting up in bed. It took him a moment to realize he was sitting in a hospital bed, Hermione sat at his side while Fred paced back and forth in front of his bed. As George shouted both Hermione and Fred's face looked up in surprise.
"What?" Hermione's voice wavered a bit.
"She's at Hogwarts baby, Arianna is at Hogwarts," George tried to get up but felt the sharp pain in his head. He lifted his hand and put it to his forehead. He could feel the bandage wrapped there securely.
Fred shot George a clearly confused look. "Hogwarts? What do you mean?"
Hermione cast George an anxious look and George too her hand in his. "I remember. I remember everything. She took our baby to Hogwarts."
"She? She who?" Fred groaned in exasperation.
Before George could answer Hermione whispered, "Rachel," more to herself if anything.
"Rachel?" Fred mulled the name around in his head. His eyes grew wide all of a sudden. "The Rachel you dated back in the day? The Slytherin Rachel?"
George ignored his brother and looked down at his wife. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Her cheeks were tear stained and her nose red. Her hair was one gigantic mess. He brought her palm to his lips and placed a gently kiss there. He was going to bring back her smile. Hermione's eyes welled up again. She moved her palm to cover his cheek. "What did you remember?"
George took a deep breath and started his story. When he got to the part of Rachel opening the door Fred's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head and Hermione's breathing quickened.
"She told me that I had made a mistake all those years back. That I was the best thing that had happened to her and that we were meant to be. It was as if a light had been turned on and I realized that I was in some dungeon. She came in and shut the door. She sat beside me on the floor and just talked to me. Told me how much she loved me and how we were going to be together. This was finally our time. She told me she knew I had married someone. She told me she knew that I was going to be a father soon. I told her that this was a mistake. That we could work it out if she let me go. I told her that I loved Hermione and that I wasn't the right person for her. You can imagine that didn't go well," George gripped Hermione's hand harder.
"She attacked me. I was weak and without magic so she had the advantage. I tried fighting back but I couldn't. Finally as I lay on the ground she pointed her wand at me and told me that we'd be together. We'd have the family we'd always dreamed of. All I could think about was Hermione, about getting back home to her. I don't know how but somewhere inside me I found some kind of strength and I managed to grab her wand. I stunned her, I got out and I ran. I didn't know where I was or where I was going. I just ran. Finally I decided it was safe to apparate. I just closed my eyes and focused on the Burrow and the next time I opened them I was in the hospital."
"Shit," Fred muttered. "Shit shit shit."
"What?" George could sense the pain and sorry in his twins words.
"It's all my fault. Oh geez," Fred banged his head on the wall.
George tried to get up but Hermione stopped him. She walked over to Fred and grabbed his shoulders roughly. "What's your fault?" she demanded.
Fred seemed to let go and collapsed, pushing all his weight onto Hermione but she stayed strong and held him up. Intensity flared in her eyes. Intensity George had only seen the rare time when she needed to know the truth but wasn't being told. "I told her," Fred managed to say as he tried to find his strength again.
"What?" George was the confused one now.
"Rachel. I told her about you and Hermione and the baby," Fred spoke as Hermione ripped her hands away from him as if one of the only things she had ever trusted turned out to be a lie.
"What do you mean?" Hermione backed away from Fred until she was next to George again.
Fred slumped his shoulders and spoke. "When I was working with the peace group I was supposed to find people who weren't death eaters but not on the good side you know. I was supposed to find them and try and convince them to be neutral and work for peace. Rachel was one of the people I was supposed to talk to. I didn't remember her at first but than she started talking about George and stuff and I realized who she was. She asked me how you had been doing and I told her all about Hermione and the baby. I didn't think anything of it," Fred looked up at his twin, a truth in his eyes. "I swear to you I would never have said anything if I have known."
Hermione's face lightened. "I'm sorry Fred," she said giving him a hug. "I believe you."
"I know you would never do that," George replied from his seat.
"Bloody witch already had you imprisoned when I talked to her. I didn't even…" Fred's voice trailed off.
"Fred, you're going to need to pull yourself together," George suddenly became serious. "We don't have much time. We can't dwell on the past. I'm going to need your help."
Hermione turned to George. "What are you planning?"
"We're going to get our baby back," George forced himself to stand, a bit wobbly. "We're going to get Arianna back tonight."
