I looked nervously at the house standing before me. The last time I had been to the Burrow it had been as Ginny's friend coming to stay for a week or two in the summer. George held my hand as we walked from the garden up to the house. There were still a number of wards in place from the war. Bill and Mr. Weasley had never gotten around to taking down the Anti-Apparition wards around the house, and as a result we had to apparate into the gardens.
"What's wrong, love?" George asked, stopping suddenly and looking down at me.
My eyes snapped up to meet his. I couldn't very well tell him what was wrong now. We were about to go into his parents house to spend the next few days.
"What makes you think something's wrong?" I snapped in a peevish tone, setting my hands on my hips.
"Anna," he said quietly, searching my face as his arms slipped around my slim waist. "Talk to me," he murmured.
"I can't," I whispered, feeling tears at the back of my throat.
It was killing me, keeping this secret. It wasn't right not to tell him, I knew that of course, but I couldn't bring myself to say the words. Something inside was too frightened that he would hate me forever if I told him the truth. If I told him that I was pregnant.
"Fine," he said, dropping his arms and heading up toward the house without me.
My jaw dropped and I watched him walk a few steps.
"Don't you dare walk away from me, George Weasley," I said in a positively frigid tone. "Don't you dare leave me standing out here like a fool."
He stopped and turned to look at me with eyebrows raised. I knew that he was reaching the end of his rope. Over the last month and a half I had been experiencing extreme mood swings, and had been throwing random tantrums. George typically just sat and waited for me to finish, but recently I had begun to lose my temper with him as well as everyone else.
George stalked dangerously back over to me, and I stared at him defiantly. My head was held high, and my hair was whipping around in the wind.
"Annabelle Callahan, I don't think you realize just how much you've been trying my patience the last two weeks. I'm willing to wait for you to tell me what's bothering you, but I'm not going to wait forever," he told me quietly. I stared at him. My lower lip began to tremble, and tears filled my eyes.
"But you'll just be upset!" I cried, as tears began to gather in my eyes.
His eyes widened, and George gathered me in his arms making soothing sounds and rubbing my back. I gradually calmed down, and by the time that I was calm enough to walk into the house with him, Ginny and Harry had already realized we were there and came racing out of the house.
"Annabelle!" Ginny shrieked, launching herself at me. I allowed her to pull me into a tight embrace and smiled brightly. Harry clapped George hard on the back, asking about the shop in Hogsmeade.
"Oy! If it isn't my better half!" Fred shouted from the kitchen doorway. George smirked and Fred grinned malevolently. "Annabelle!" he added, throwing a teasing glance at George, who lifted a brow. As Fred rushed toward me, George casually dropped something on the ground in front of him, and as Fred stepped on it, he immediately was standing in the midst of a personal rainstorm.
As Fred and George were walking back toward the house speaking quietly with Harry, I looked over at Ginny. She looked me in the eye.
"You're leaving him," she said quietly, immense sorrow pooling in her features.
My eyes once again filled with tears. "I have to, Ginny," I whispered.
"He loves you so," Ginny said frantically, clutching at my hand. "You can't leave him. He's not nearly as strong as he looks."
"Ginny," I said, tears falling down my cheeks; "I can't stay."
She nodded, wrapping her arms around me.
"What did you do?" George shouted with rage evident in his tone. He rushed down from the kitchen doorway to where Ginny and I stood.
I was now in full-out sobs, tears running down my face, and my breath catching. He pulled me into his arms, and rocked me gently, dropping kisses on my forehead and stroking my hair.
"Ginny," he said warningly, one of his hands reaching for his wand.
"She didn't do anything," I said quickly, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand. He looked down at me skeptically. "Really," I added.
George nodded slowly and lifted me easily into his arms. Ginny trailed behind us slowly, and I watched as Harry walked out to meet her. They had a hushed conversation, stopping a few feet away from the kitchen door. George ignored everyone in the house, and walked over to an empty chair in the living room, and sat, cradling me in his strong arms. My sniffles subsided until I simply sat in his lap, trying to memorize exactly how this felt and trying not to think about the fact that tomorrow I was going to be leaving him forever.
"So, Annabelle, have you decided on a career yet? I have some very nice positions open at the Ministry," Mr. Weasley inquired. I smiled wanly.
"I haven't really decided," I replied, and swatted at George's hands so that I could stand up. "I appreciate your offer, though," I added.
Hermione looked at me as if I was crazy. She had jumped at a chance to work in the Ministry when she was my age, and I had the same kind of grades that she had. There were many similarities between the two of us, but unlike Hermione, I also had an offer to play professional Quidditch for Texas.
"Annabelle, you should really think about it," Hermione told me firmly.
"Oh, and I will, Hermione," I replied a little more harshly than I had intended before I swept out of the living room and down to the kitchen.
I rolled over in the bed, sliding easily out of George's arms, and he made no protest, he simply rolled over in his sleep. I looked at the clock. 3 a.m. As quietly as possible, I gathered my scattered clothing, and dressed as quickly as I could. George was a very deep sleeper, but Ginny on the other hand was one of the lightest sleepers I had ever met. I shrunk my travel bags down so that they fit in the pocket of my tight flared jeans and pulled on a light jacket, before looking down at George. I had already written a note explaining as best I could, without mentioning the baby of course. I set the note on my pillow and took a slow, deep breath. George was still deeply asleep. I leaned down to kiss his forehead gently, and he stirred slightly.
"Anna," he murmured, not really waking up at all.
"It's ok love," I murmured, and kissed his lips gently before sneaking out of the room. Ginny was sitting just outside her room and walked with me down to the garden.
"So I guess this means you won't be coming to my wedding?" she asked quietly, looking at me sadly.
"When is it?" I asked, looking up at her.
"February Twentieth," she said quietly.
"Oh Ginny, of course I'll come. Just send me an invitation," I whispered, pulling her into a tight hug.
"You should tell him," Ginny said suddenly.
"What?" I asked, staring at her blankly.
"You should tell George about the baby," Ginny told me quietly.
"George isn't the marrying kind. George doesn't want children," I whispered brokenly. "He told me that when we first started dating." I angrily wiped away the tears that managed to escape my eyes.
"Things might have changed since then," she said fiercely.
"Make sure he knows that I love him," I whispered and apparated away before she could respond.
I squinted in the bright sun and pulled off my jacket in the oppressive heat. I walked briskly into the offices across the street.
"I want to speak to Mr. Harroway about his offer," I told the receptionist.