They stayed in their little bubble for another few weeks, taking the couple to the middle of July, when they found themselves separated for the best part of a week - Nora was far too stressed by her OWL exams to spend any time relaxing, and George found himself overrun with shifts at the shop - "The owners released a new line of products and it's been a bit crazy," he'd explained.

And so, late one hot summer's evening and Nora found herself locked in her little studio flat, the windows open to try and get some fresh air in although it was still stiflingly hot in her room. Her papers and study materials were strewn over her bed and her tiny table, and her back and thighs ached from hours spent sitting on the small stool.

As such, she was in an annoyed mood by the time George arrived.

"I'm taking you out for dinner," he said with an easy smile, letting himself into her flat. "I feel like you need a good break and the shop was too busy to stop for lunch and I'm starving."

"No," Nora replied apologetically, walking back over to her station. "I'm sorry, I just can't. Not right now. I've got three exams left and I'm just so-"

"An hour off won't hurt. Two tops," he said, grinning at her and walking over to sit on her bed. She barely grumbled when he moved her papers to make space. "I miss you, and-"

"We spent half the weekend together," she replied absentmindedly, pouring over her notes again.

"Exactly," George replied, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "That was one day, and we were both distracted. Now it's been five whole days since I last saw you properly or spent time with you. I'm pretty sure that's the longest I haven't seen you since our first date. So let me treat you to dinner and help get your mind off all this. Otherwise I can't promise I won't ask you to just move in with me and put an end to all this to-ing and fro-ing."

"I can't, George, not tonight. I need to do well in these exams," she replied, groaning and rubbing her forehead. She dismissed his comment about moving in together - she knew he was joking, though part of her did want him to ask her seriously about it at some point. While she'd given him a key to her flat now, she still hadn't been to his place and was aching to see it. She had begun to wonder if he hadn't invited her over and preferred her studio because he was secretly a slob, or if it really was because he lived with friends and didn't want the hassle of introducing her.

There was a pause, and then George tried again. "It's okay you know. Exams aren't the be-all-end-all of your existence."

"Says you," Nora replied, staring down at what now looked like a pile of jumbled up letters that she couldn't decipher.

George scoffed. "What does that mean? Because I didn't get loads of OWLs and I work in a shop you think I don't-"

"What?" Nora asked, looking up with a deep frown on her face. "No! I didn't mean it like that!"

George shrugged dramatically and shoved his hands in his pockets, an angry look on his face. "Then why the you? I thought you didn't care about my grades or that I work in a shop, or-"

"Because, George," Nora replied, leaning her elbows on the table and tapping her pen against the table top. She could tell that his defensiveness was coming from somewhere close to home, and she needed to explain herself better. "The you was because you went through seven years of schooling. You got to pave your path in life. You decided what you wanted to do and you love it, and you're inventing things on the side and there's no way you're not going to be successful in everything you do. You don't have to prove anything to anyone. You're amazing and I'm so proud of you, but the reality of the situation is that I can't do that."

She dropped her quill and sat back in her chair, gesticulating as she spoke now. "I've got all of these grades which the Ministry won't recognise anymore because I can't remember school much, so I can't get a job apart from an admin role which I was handed. Didn't earn, I was given it as a pity prize because... well because I..." She paused and changed tracks and said, "It just means that unless I get good enough grades now, I'm kind of effed for the next few years because I won't be able to get money on my own merit, it's all based on nepotism, and that doesn't pay the bills. At least not for me..." She stopped and placed her hand on her forehead.

George, who was still glaring, looked around for a moment as the tension in his face eased. "Well, what do you want to do?" he asked, throwing a hand up in the air.

"What?" Nora asked, sitting forwards and leaning her elbows on the table top again.

"Nor, what do you want to do with your life? What's your goal? Because right now it feels like you're waiting for your exams to be over to actually live. It's all 'when I've finished my NEWTs in four years' time I'll do this', or 'I'll go here'. And that's just so silly! Of all people, you should be out there living it up!" He stopped when he saw the look on her face. "I just mean... because of your amnesia..."

Nora frowned and looked down at the jumbled words on the page in front of her.

George groaned. "Look, just say the first thing that pops into your head. It doesn't have to be major or your life's ambition, just... just what do you, Nora Islington, want to do in the next-"

"I want to go to Romania and see the dragons," she said loudly. She blushed slightly. She'd genuinely never said that want aloud.

"What?" George asked, starting to laugh, all of his anger and tension leaving him instantly.

Nora's mouth dropped open as she watched him, and then she cried, "Don't laugh! When I found out dragons were real I... I don't know... I just... I wanted to go and see one and I've heard there's a sanctuary in Romania, and that's closer than the ones in China and America... George! Stop laughing!"

"I'm sorry!" George replied, shrugging, a giant smile plastered on his face. "I just wasn't expecting you to say that of all things!"

"Stop laughing!" she insisted, but that only made him laugh more.

"Romania? Baby, we can just go to Romania tomorrow!" he said, walking over to her. When he reached her he squatted down next to her and gently kissed her upper arm.

She took a moment, and then replied, "No I can't. It costs money. Money which I don't have."

"I do!" George said, letting out another small chuckle. "And I owe you the world for what you've done, Nor. So how about this. You calm down and stop worrying about these bloody exams, and we'll book a trip some time next month to 'go and see the dragons'. One of my brothers works there so we could even stay- uh..." He stopped, as if remembering something, and then shook his head quickly. She thought he looked worried, panicked for a moment, but then he rearranged his features. "I'll think of something. But we'll go, okay?"

Nora sighed and shook her head, looking down at him. She reached up a hand and gently pushed back his fringe, rubbing his forehead slightly. His words were so confusing to her, but she wasn't sure if she was hearing him right, since she was so mentally tired from studying. After a moment she sighed again and trailed her fingers down to his chin.

Looking into his eyes, she said, "I love you, and thank you for offering, but I want to earn my own ticket there and honestly, I think that's part of why this is all stressing me out. I worked out it'll take me about two years to save enough just for the portkey..."

She trailed off, looking at George who still looked wide-eyed and tense.

"What?" she asked, intrigue overpowering her thoughts.

"Nothing," he replied, shaking his head and looking down at his hands, which were wringing themselves together.

"You sure?" she asked, pulling her hand back from him. "You mentioned your brother... is he okay?"

"Yeah," he replied quietly. "I just realised that I can't keep... I have to tell you... and you won't... Sorry, I uh- okay... which exam do you have tomorrow again?"

"Defence Against the Dark Arts," she replied, biting her lip.

"Okay, I'll admit that's one you probably should take seriously," he said, a bit of colour and George-ness coming back into his face and demeanour. "How can I help?"

"What?" she asked, smiling. "You can't help. Unless... Is this the exam you did well on?"

"Shut it. I'm brilliant at defensive spells, I'll tell you that for free," he laughed. "Right. We'll get some food in and we'll study. I want to spend as much time with you as I can, and your exams are important. So we'll do both. And if I get in your way I'll go," he promised.

And help he did. They spent the rest of the evening studying, and in the morning she woke to the smell of bacon and eggs. She went off to her exams well rested and well fed.

After her exams she Apparated back to her building with a tired-but-giant smile on her face. Wanting a walk to get rid of the excess energy she felt, she headed down the road and ended up coming back to her building an hour after she'd first arrived. Walking up the stairs, she was surprised to find George sitting just outside her front door - he normally did the closing shift on Thursdays now.

"Oh god," she said. "Do we have a date?"

George chuckled and shook his head as he stood up and dusted off his trousers. "You're fine," he said, slipping his hands into his pockets. "I just..."

"Do you want to come in?" she asked, and smiled when he nodded. "Have you lost your key?" she asked.

"I can't stay, so I thought I'd knock."

When they were safely inside her studio and Nora was filling the kettle, he asked quietly, "How many exams do you have left?"

Nora frowned and moved the heavy kettle to the stovetop. "One tomorrow and that's it for this year."

"What is it?"

"Muggle Studies."

"Muggle Studies?" he asked with a small laugh.

Nora frowned and turned to look at him, but then the kettle began to whistle and she picked it up. She noticed that George wand in his hand and she smiled - while she liked to do things the Muggle way sometimes, George still liked to speed up the process. "Thanks. Well I thought I'd play to my strengths and I need to know how wizards think about Mug- are you okay?"

"Yeah, I- when is it?" he asked nervously.

"Morning luckily. That means I'll have the afternoon off to have a good long nap in celebration of finishing everything. I'm ready to never see a quill again... Why?" she asked. When she saw his face she repeated, "Really, George, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said, obviously lying. "Do you need any help?"

"What?"

"Do you need a study partner or anything?"

"Oh, no, I think I should be okay," she said slowly, taking in George's stance again. He was still hovering by the door. "Are you sure everything's alright?"

"Yes, really, Nor. I'll uh- I'll give you some space now then and come back tomorrow?" he asked, but Nora wasn't sure if he was asking her, or confirming it with himself. "What time do you finish?"

"About eleven I think."

"Okay... I'm working until four. I could come over after that... no, I've got a family thing in the evening. Then I've got the morning shift at the shop on Saturday morning..." he said to himself, running a hand through his hair. "Right. I'll be free from two on Saturday. I'll take you out for a late lunch? There's something we need to talk about. It's important. Really important. And you need to find it out from me."

"I think I know what it is," she said quietly, moving away from the stovetop.

She'd been thinking that this would come up for a while - they'd made it over two months without either of them talking about the fact that Nora was actually Eleanor Warton, even though she was sure that he'd worked it out by now - Nora... Eleanor... Fake surname... Amnesia... it didn't take a rocket scientist to work it out, hell, he even called her Nor, not Nora now. She knew that they were both just avoiding the big reveal for now because Nora just needed a little more time to figure out how to approach the subject - she needed to mentally prepare to explain the whole story. It would take a lot for her to open up so intimately to him about her experiences.

She wrung her hands together. "And I just... I didn't tell you because I didn't want to relive the trauma of it all, and I know it's important and you need-"

"Nora, baby, no. This isn't something you've done. Okay?" He waited until she nodded and then he moved forwards and kissed her, she was grateful for the distraction and the silence.

But the kiss was different to usual. It was as if he was wrestling with pulling back or staying with her. And then his lips left hers and he rested his forehead against hers.

"Trust me. This isn't your fault. There's just something I need to tell you."

"Okay... but that means that you know what I was talking about? You know who I really am?" she asked, trying to confirm everything. She buried her face in his neck so that she wouldn't have to see his face.

He paused for a beat and then whispered, "Yeah. Yeah I do. I'll see you on Saturday okay?"

"Okay," she whispered, and he turned and left her studio, closing the door behind him.

She wanted to pull him back, make him tell her everything now, and make him sit with her while she studied, but she didn't. She let him leave.

xXx

The next morning passed in a haze of words, and finally she was finished with her OWLs for the year and her panicked brain began to rest.

As usual, she'd left her bag with her spare quills and jacket at her desk in the office, so she headed straight there to get her things. She'd just decided that a hot chocolate and a large sandwich from the shop in Diagon Alley sounded like the best treat meal, when she walked into the office and found it in chaos.

"Another bleeding chicken got loose," one of her colleagues, Daniel, shouted, and Nora jumped into action, helping to protect the numerous documents on the desktops while more colleagues dealt with the fire-breathing chicken issue.

Within minutes calm had been restored and Nora was laughing along with her colleagues, helping to pick up the various personal belongings which had been shoved off the desks.

"Grab that would you?" Tarquin, a kind-faced thirty-something wizard who was Arthur's second-in-command asked, pointing to a large frame which was lying upside down by Arthur's desk.

Nora grabbed it and turned it around without thinking.

She felt her heart stop for a moment, before it began to beat erratically. But it wasn't the fact that the family who smiled up at her were the Weasley family, whose sons and daughter she would have gone to school with that made her heart beat uncomfortably. It was the fact that, third in from the left, George King smiled up at her, waving with the rest of his family.

Oh god, she thought, watching the family. George's secret - it was that he'd found out who she was and he was going to admit that Arthur was his dad... she bit her lip and smiled - this wasn't bad at all. George was panicking because he needed to tell her that his dad was her boss?

But she found it funny now - she could imagine his face when he'd first heard his dad explain about his new recruit, Eleanor Islington who was really Eleanor Warton. She wondered how long it had taken him to connect the dots and realise that it was her - Nora.

She let out a little laugh when she remembered that Arthur's son had been admitted to hospital because he hadn't heard a load of fireworks going off in the shop and walked straight into the chaos- it all made sense why he'd stood her up now! If George hadn't had his ear in, then he wouldn't have heard it!

Oh George, she thought, chuckling to herself. She'd thought his secret was going to be horrendous or something. In fact, she was relieved - at least now she knew that Arthur had told George exactly who she was, and she knew it was all coming from a reliable and trusted source, not The Daily Prophet.

"Are you alright?" Tarquin asked, frowning up at her from where he was squatting down to try and assess the damaged carpet.

"Me? Oh. Yes..." she said, smiling. "Just a lot of kids... It's nice to see."

"Ah yeah," he said, laughing when he stood up and saw the photo. "I can't get over the fact that he's got so many... I've only got one and that's enough!"

She smiled down at the photo again.

"He almost only had six though," Tarquin added, looking at the photo as well now.

"What?" she asked, looking at him. "They almost lost someone?"

"Yeah, in the war."

Nora whined and looked down at George, wondering if that was how he lost his ear. "What happened?"

"That Eleanor Warton- same first name as you, funny right?" Tarquin asked flippantly, not noticing how Nora stilled, and her breathing became erratic when he mentioned the name. "She saved one of his son's lives."

"Eleanor Warton?" she whispered.

"Yeah! The office talked about her all the time before you got here, but then we hired you and Arthur said it would get confusing if we talked about her so we had to stop... Anyway, she saved uh..." He moved his finger over the frame and Nora felt her heart jump into her throat when he pointed to George. "That son. Yeah... yeah that one. Fred."

Tears sprang to her eyes, her chest tightened, her legs turned weak, her head became a hazy mess, and her mouth dried. "That's Fred," she whispered, pointing to George's identical twin, who stood next to him in the frame.

"Oh. Didn't realise you knew them?"

"We were in the same school year," she said quietly, placing the photo back onto Mr Weasley's desk. "But I don't know him at all. Do you know what happened?"

"Merlin. Yeah," he said, rubbing his chin. "Natasha knows more though. Tash?" he asked, and a witch walked over to them. "Remember Arthur's kid? The one who got injured. Do you remember what happened?"

"Oh, yes, Arthur told us," Natasha replied.

"Well?" Tarquin asked, nodding a head towards Nora.

Natasha dashed over, looked around for a moment and then leant in and whispered. "Arthur doesn't like us talking about it but... A wall almost collapsed on Fred at the Battle of Hogwarts, but a well timed arresto momentum from Eleanor Warton and a bit of emergency healing and he was right as rain. It's such a shame though what happened with his brother afterwards though..."

"What? Which brother?" Nora asked, though she knew instantly what she should have remained ignorant.

Natasha jumped on the chance to continue. "George, the other twin? Apparently he was with Eleanor- not you, the other Eleanor- when her memories got wiped."

"What? He- he was there?"

"Yes. Arthur said he held her while it happened. Took minutes apparently. Genuinely made me tear up when I first heard it."

"But that's why she's a hero, isn't it?" Tarquin added. "Tragic tale and all that?"

Eleanor nodded along with Natasha to cover her reaction, and took short, sharp breaths in. "So George was there when it happened..." she repeated to herself.

"Yeah," Tarquin answered. "Poor kid just wanted to say thank you to her for saving his twin's life and saw her get hit. Found her mumbling or something once the war was won. I think he was a bit sad after that... But he's a lot happier these days."

"A bit sad?" Natasha said, looking around again. "It really affected him. He kept writing to her apparently, but she never responded."

"She never replies to anyone though, does she? Saved my friend Bright's life but won't return his owl," Tarquin mumbled.

Nora blanched. During the months that she'd been in St. Mungo's, the Aurors had told her that there were various people who wanted to meet her and thank her for saving their loved ones, or for saving them. She'd never asked for a list, and had always said no. No to correspondence, no to meeting anyone, no to even having a message passed along by the Aurors. She'd just been too overwhelmed by it all.

"She went through a traumatic experience," Natasha scolded, but she didn't seem too bothered, she seemed to be enjoying the fact that Nora was a completely new person to tell the story to. "Anyway..." She looked around again. "Once, George almost broke into St. Mungo's to talk to her but Arthur stopped him at the last minute, even though George said he should be able to thank a friend for saving his brother's life."

"So he knew her before the battle?" Nora breathed. "He knew Eleanor Warton?"

"Well that's the thing... I heard that they were in a few classes together at school and she had a bit of a crush on George at one point but..." She paused for dramatic effect, "he wasn't interested. Bet he feels sorry for turning her down now."

"Who did you hear that from?" Tarquin laughed again.

"Demelza. She works in Percy Weasley's office," she said, waving her hand around. Nora felt the bile rise to her throat, but Natasha continued obliviously. "Personally, I think that's why he held her while she... you know... think maybe he felt bad for rejecting her."

"You're ridiculous," Tarquin said, laughing, but he followed Natasha over to her desk when she retreated nonetheless, asking, "Actually, come to think of it, do you think you could get some insider information on when they'll be releasing their Pygmy Puffs again? My daughter wants one but they've been sold out for a week and her birthday's on Friday..."

Nora stared down at the photo for a moment and then walked calmly to her desk, removing her things out of her drawer.

When she arrived home her head felt so hot and full that she felt nauseous. She unlocked the door with shaking hands and almost threw up when she saw a large arrangement of balloons waiting for her, spelling out, Well Done Nor!

She stood in the doorway for a moment, and then she let out a loud sob and dodged around the balloons. She packed an overnight bag and left most of her things where they were, taking only the essentials even though she knew that there was a strong chance she wouldn't be coming back for a while - George still had his key and she didn't want to see him. Not now.

Without thinking, she went to her parents' house. But she didn't trust herself to Apparate so she hailed the Knight Bus and paid eleven sickles to the conductor. She spent the journey in silence, trying to form a coherent thought.

By the time she hopped off the bus and began the short walk down the road to her parents' house, she still wasn't sure she had the words to explain what had happened or why she felt betrayed, heartbroken and just overwhelmed by George's deception. And she was sure that no one would understand why she felt the way she did either - it had been her idea to use fake surnames... Her idea to not talk about the war in too much detail... Her fault that she refused to read the papers and didn't have the emotional or mental capacity to meet all of the people she'd saved before her memory had been wiped...

But she couldn't help but feel distraught by the idea that he knew that she'd saved his brother's life. He knew that she couldn't remember that, or him, and he still pursued her. He'd let her fall in love with him. And it wasn't even like it was an accident. He knew the entire time. He hadn't worked it out. He'd known.

She stopped in the middle of the street, thinking.

Arthur, she could forgive for not saying anything about her saving Fred's life. She knew that he knew who she was. He'd respected her enough to simply acknowledge her request for anonymity and grant it with a smile.

But George? When they'd first met in the sandwich shop, George had bumped into her and said, "Thank you."

She'd thought it was odd at the time and told him that he should have said, "Sorry," for bumping into her. But now she realised that he'd been trying to thank her for Fred.

He'd not been a stranger at all - he'd gone to the sandwich shop because his dad had told him that she was there and he had taken the chance to go against her wishes and thank her for something she didn't want praise for.

She began to walk again. Faster now, half-running to her parents' front door.

Half-formed thoughts swirled until she began to realise that it had all been an elaborate lie... that he'd only gone on a date with her as a means to make himself feel better about her saving Fred - because he knew she'd had a crush on him at school.

She let out a loud frustrated noise and a cat which had been sat on a garden wall hissed, running away from her.

Was that what this had all been? A twisted and warped way of him saying thanks? Hadn't he said, just two days ago, "I owe you the world for what you've done"?

Was she a pity date which had spiralled until he didn't know how to get out of it all? Was that why he was so tense when he mentioned her meeting her brother in Romania? Because it would mean his deception would come to light?

Was that why he wanted to talk? To tell her that he'd made a mistake? That he'd deceived her, pretended to not know her apart from in passing at school, all to make her feel better?

She banged on the front door.

It took a minute for Cat to answer the door but when she did, Nora was in tears again. She looked up at her sister and said, "He knew. The entire time. He didn't just guess who I was, he knew from the beg- beg- beginning. And we didn't just go to school together... I... I save- I saved his brother's... I..."

Cat moved forwards and wrapped her arms around Nora, holding her as she sobbed.

xXx

Next chapter will be up soon! Thank you for reading, and thanks to CharlotteGryffindor for the review on the last chapter!