A/N: I'm so sorry, but this story is going to get deep - much deeper than I first expected when I started it!

xXx

George

December 1994, Charms

"Er... George?"

George, who was laughing at a crude drawing that his best friend Lee had passed to Fred, turned around and frowned at the girl sat behind him. He knew her from his classes, but not well. Their circles didn't really overlap and they rarely spoke. He didn't think they'd really get along in any case - her curly hair was hiked up into a tight bun which reminded him of McGonagall, she had weird metal things on her teeth, and her Ravenclaw robes were far too neat for his liking.

She looked nervously at him, wringing her hands.

"Uh, yeah?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders at Lee, who was sat behind her.

She took a deep breath. "Well, I was actually wondering if you'd like to-"

But George wasn't really listening to what she was saying, as Lee had begun to dance crazily in his chair. George laughed and turned to Fred, who had his wand out.

"No better use for a tickling charm is there?" Fred asked.

There was a loud scrape of wood against the floor, and George looked back at the girl, who was standing and hastily packing up her things.

"Sorry, what was that?" he asked her, frowning.

"Nothing," she whispered, moving to sit at the back of the classroom.

"Bbbbbbrrrrruuuuuuttttttaaaaalllllll," Lee said, no longer dancing. He quickly moved into the now vacant seat.

"George, that was mean," his Gryffindor Quidditch teammate Alicia Spinnet said, shaking her head at him.

George threw his hands in the air. "I didn't do anything!"

"You laughed when she asked you to the ball, and then asked her to repeat herself!" Alicia hissed.

"What? No I didn't! I didn't even- oh. I see what happened..." he said, grimacing. He looked to the back of the class and tried to wave at the girl who was scribbling down notes now, but she didn't look up from her work. "It's not just her," he said, sighing. "I don't think I'll be taking a date to the ball."

"Wait, who else asked you?" Lee asked, leaning forwards in his chair.

"Well, no one," George replied, shrugging. "But-"

"I repeat. Brutal."

George tried to catch up with the girl after class to apologise - something completely out of character for him - but she had disappeared by the time he turned around after loitering outside class with his friends, and then he was too distracted with product development and Ludo Bagman to remember to talk to her.

He couldn't have known that the most mortifying moment of her life so far would become common knowledge in their year group. And neither of them could have guessed that a simple, "Would you go to the ball with me," would snowball into 'Did you hear? Eleanor Warton has a massive crush on George Weasley and he decided to go to the ball alone instead of taking her.'

He was just glad that the gossip was contained to their year group and only lasted a few weeks before the news of Hagrid's Giant heritage came to light in the New Year edition of The Daily Prophet.

xXx

September 1995 Charms

"Hey, can I borrow a quill?" George asked the girl who he'd been sat next to.

The year had already started badly with a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher who seemed to think that theory was the best way to teach, and now he'd woken up late and turned up to Charms without any quills or ink, just to find that he'd been sat across the room from Fred and Lee to try and keep the Seventh Year class peaceful.

The girl looked up from her notes and he recognised her finally as Eleanor. Her hair was down now, her curls flowing down to her shoulders, and she didn't have those odd things on her teeth anymore.

She glared at him, but handed him a quill and some parchment, and moved her ink pot to the middle of their bench.

"Thanks," he muttered, dipping the quill in the ink as he began to work.

"That's not- Sorry, but you're not writing down anything Flitwick's saying, and I gave you that stuff so you could learn," Eleanor whispered.

George shot her a half smile and shook his head. "I never said what it was for, you just assumed."

Eleanor pursed her lips, but got back to work taking her notes, and George went back to his plans for getting revenge on Flitwick for his new seat. He knew that Flitwick, of all their teachers, would find his response funny.

He wasn't sure what compelled him to, but when the bell rang, he handed her back her quill and said, "Listen, about what happened last year..."

Eleanor scoffed and shook her head. "Don't mention it. I mean it."

"But I need to apologise. I never said sorry and I feel bad for what happened. It was a massive misunderstanding. How about I give you a box of our Skiving Snackboxes as a an apology?"

"You... waited months to apologise for laughing at me? And now you're trying to give me something weird to eat? I feel like you're just trying to make me react, and I'm not going to," she replied angrily.

"I'm not. I just think we should get along since we're sat next to each other. Don't you?"

Eleanor blinked but then sighed and nodded. "Fine, yeah, whatever. Just... please don't bring it all up again? I still get the odd joke and it really sucks. Cat had to practically drag me back to the station this year."

"Cat?"

"Oh, sorry. My little sister. Though if you ask her, she'd say she's older than me. She's a real force."

"Huh."

"What?"

"Dunno," George said, shrugging. "I feel like you just described my little sister down to a 't' too."

"Ginny, right?" she asked, packing up her things.

George nodded. "Yeah."

"Fine," she said finally.

"Fine?"

Eleanor sighed and pulled her bag over her shoulder. "I'm taking five NEWTs this year, so I really can't be doing with the drama. Ground rules. Don't hex me, don't get me into trouble, let me study, don't sabotage my notes."

"Ground rules for...?"

"Acquaintanceship."

George grinned. "Sounds good to me."

For the rest of the year, whether George needed a quill or not, he always found one sitting on his side of their desk when he walked into Charms.

They didn't really speak again, but he knew that Eleanor Warton had forgiven him for his mishap, and he had more important things to tackle. By the time he left Hogwarts, he counted her as a little more than a base-level acquaintance, but they didn't meet or speak again until the Battle of Hogwarts.

xXx

Battle of Hogwarts, May 1998

George laughed and let out a yell of triumph when he saw Harry's spell crash into Voldemort's. He couldn't explain it, but it was years of tension, of unspoken fear and rage and pain and defiance, all rolled into a single moment of absolute ecstasy.

He joined the crowd pushing forwards to get to Harry, unaware of what was about to happen.

After shaking Harry, he hugged his brothers and his little sister in turn and then turned to his parents. His mum was sobbing, her tears soaking Fred's t-shirt.

"I'm fine," Fred said with a heavy sigh. "Really mum, this is ridiculous."

George laughed and Fred glared at him.

"Hey!" George said. "It's not my fault you needed saving."

"Yeah, well, you can say thanks to your girlfriend for me," Fred replied, smiling evilly.

"G- Girlfriend?" George's mum, Molly, asked, her head snapping up. "You have a girlfriend?"

George rolled his eyes. "No," he insisted. "And please don't bring that up again. I don't want it to be awkward."

"Awkward?" Fred asked. "Why would it be awkward?"

"Because she just saved your life. Do you really think Mum's not going to have her round for tea within the week?" George asked, sighing. He looked around, his eyes moving from person to person. "Do you know where she is though? I really need to thank her."

"Reckon she thought she was saving you," Fred said, winking.

George rolled his eyes but couldn't help the smile on his face - he was just to relieved and gobsmacked that they'd come out of the war with all of their family members alive and well. He felt incredibly lucky. Especially since he'd spent the best part of an hour moving bodies in the early hours of the morning. He didn't know what he would have done if one of those had been Fred, whether Fred insisted that the rubble wouldn't have really hurt him, or not.

He checked on Fred again, and then walked around, trying to find people he knew. Finally, after about ten minutes, he heard a faint whisper in his extendable ear.

"Would you go to the ball with me?"

George frowned and turned around, following the continued whispers. He pulled out his wand and made his way to the back of the hall. There, crouched down between two large blocks of destroyed wall, her arms wrapped around her knees which were up against her chest, was Eleanor.

"Eleanor?" he asked in a whisper, approaching her carefully.

Eleanor looked up and frowned at him. "George?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, yeah... you okay?"

"That aging potion you took seems to have done the job," she whispered.

"Ageing potion?" he asked, moving slowly towards her, his hand still clutching his wand. "What ageing potion?"

"Didn't you and Fred just take-"

She stopped mid-sentence and her eyes went blank as she stared at his legs. "Ele-" he whispered. He cleared his throat. "Eleanor?" he asked.

Her head tipped forwards and then up again and she looked around, gasping at the damage around them. "Oh my god, what happened?" she whispered urgently.

"What? The battle... you remember the battle, don't you?"

"Battle?" she asked, frowning at him. "Oh. You mean the quidditch match? I mean... it's quidditch, I wouldn't call it a battle... Sorry, who are you?"

George blinked. "Eleanor. Do you know who I am?" he asked, sitting down across from her.

Eleanor shook her head. "I mean... you kind of look like Charlie... Weasley? But you left school ages ago... Sorry, being weird. I'm Eleanor. Fifth Year Ravenclaw. I'm in the same year as your brothers, but yeah, it's-"

She was suddenly expressionless. Her head tilted forwards, and then back up again.

"Where... what's going on?" she asked, frowning. "What's happening?"

George gulped. "We were in a battle. It's all okay now though."

"Is Dumbledore coming?" she asked, looking around. "This is really bad."

"Yeah," he said slowly. "Help is coming."

He waved his wand and produced a Patronus which soared across the Great Hall, calling Madam Pomfrey to their location.

"Can you tell me the date?" he asked, trying to keep his voice calm still.

"What?"

"When do you think it is?"

"Oh... Uh... I don't know... February Ninety-Four?"

"Great," he said, his voice shaking slightly. "Can you tell me what you were just doing," he said, smiling kindly.

"Why?"

"Because," he said, shrugging, trying to control his expression. "We all live in moments, and sometimes we forget what's happening. But I can remember for you."

Eleanor nodded and finally George understood what was happening. Slowly, torturously slowly, Eleanor was losing her memories, forced to live through each major event before it was stripped back from her mind. And all he could do was listen to them.

At one point towards the end she regained her mind and he explained what was happening while Madam Pomfrey and two Healers tried unsuccessfully to help her.

"Tell my family I love them?" she asked with tears streaming down her face. "I thought I could help so I came here..."

"I know. And you did. You did help," he said, smiling and nodding.

"I heard it on the radio and just chucked on a jumper and some shoes and ran... I didn't even say bye..."

"It's okay, I'll tell them," he promised.

"I don't even have socks on!" she cried, staring down at her sockless feet.

"Do you know when this started?" A Healer asked, staring at Eleanor. "Before you forget. I'm sorry, but I need to know."

Eleanor looked around and said, "I don't- I don't know. I uh... I think... There was a tall wizard... Uh..."

"Describe him?" the Healer asked.

Eleanor frowned. "I don't... He's the one who told us all where to go and what to do in the battle."

"Kingsley," George supplied.

"Uh, he was fighting Vol- uh, sorry-" she said, looking at the people around her nervously.

"You can say it," George encouraged. "Might as well."

Eleanor nodded. "He was fighting Voldemort and this wizard shot a spell at his back. I didn't even think, I just jumped in front of it. I don't even know why... I..."

"Eleanor, stay with us okay?" George asked, holding her shoulder tightly. He was petrified she'd go again and he'd have to watch her recount her first memories.

"This isn't fair," she whispered.

"I know."

"Will you stay with me?" she pleaded.

"Of course."

"And when... if I don't get better... will you do something for me?"

"Anything."

"Come and find me? Tell me one of my nice memories? Tell... Tell me that-"

Her eyes turned blank, and her face expressionless.

"Of course. I promise. I'll remember for you," he whispered.

xXx

October 1998 The Burrow Living Room

"Promise or not, you are not to go anywhere near that girl," Arthur, George's dad said, wiping his glasses on his shirt. "If Tonks hadn't told me that you were at the hospital then-"

"Then I would have done something kind!" George replied exasperatedly. "You don't understand."

"I do."

"No. You don't," George replied angrily. He sighed and sank into an armchair, placing his head in his hands.

"I can't imagine what it was like for you to stay with her through all of that, but they've been making good progress with stripping back the false memories and-"

George slid his hands down his face and looked up. "But she won't remember anything from her actual life! Tonks told me last week. But I know so much! If I could just talk to her I could help her remember! Like..." he muttered, thinking hard of the right memories to choose. "Right, okay. Tonks said she didn't recognise her parents or her sister but Eleanor told me that her dad used to bring them snacks when they used to hide under Eleanor's bed! And... and her mum used to bake cupcakes on weekends and once Eleanor wanted the kettle to boil quicker so she just made the water boil and it freaked her mum out! You really think she doesn't deserve to know any of this?"

Arthur let out a frustrated noise. "It's not about if she deserves to know, it's whether she wants to know. Now, I'm sorry, George, but until she's able to decide if she wants you to tell her all of these things, you have to stay away. And I will be having words with Kingsley about Tonks as well. She shouldn't be hassling her either."

"She's not hassling her..." George said dejectedly.

"Pretending to be a Healer to check on her chart? Listening in to conversations? I'd say that's hassling."

"Dad..." George said quietly. "She just needs to make sure she's alright. It's not a bad thing, she's just... After Remus..."

"Remus is fine," Arthur cried, slapping the back of his hand against his other palm.

"Arthur?" Molly called through the door. "Is everything alright?"

George shook his head at his dad, silently pleading with him not to tell his mum about all of this. Arthur pursed his lips and glared, and then called out, "Absolutely fine, Molly."

"Well... dinner's almost ready. Is George staying?"

"Yes," Arthur called at the same time as George said, "No."

"Yes he is," Arthur called through the door. "He'll be staying overnight as well."

"Wonderful! I'll get your bedroom ready, George, and I'll Floo Fred to let him know," Molly replied, her voice moving away from the door as she walked back into the kitchen.

"Remus is fine," Arthur repeated, quieter now.

George looked to the door and pulled his detachable ear out of his pocket, popping it into his ear hole. He heard his mum throw some Floo powder into the fireplace and relaxed slightly, knowing that their conversation wouldn't be overheard anymore. He knew his mum would just worry more than she had been, and he couldn't be dealing with that at the moment.

"He is, yes, but only because of Eleanor," he finally replied. "You've heard him. If Eleanor hadn't bumped into Dolohov when she did and distracted him for a second, Remus wouldn't have had a chance to stop him. And then he wouldn't have helped Tonks, and both of them would have died, leaving Teddy an orphan. Tonks just feels like she's got a life debt to her. She just wants to make sure she's okay..."

"Yes, well, she should be putting her efforts into recovering from her injuries and being a mother, not following injured twenty-year-olds around."

"Twenty-one."

"What?"

"Eleanor's twenty-one today."

Arthur took in a deep breath and stared at his son for a long moment. "That's why you chose today to go to the hospital?"

"Everyone should remember their birthday," George said, burying his head in his hands again. "And her some of her best memories were with her family..."

xXx

December 1998, Flat Above Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

"Another one?" Fred asked, peering over George's shoulder.

George was sat at the tiny kitchen table writing a letter. He sighed and continued to write.

Fred pursed his lips at George's silence, and then began to twirl his wand, looking out of the window. "She's not going to read it. And if she does, she won't remember it."

George groaned and wiped his hands down his face. "Tonks said she's much better now. She said they managed to get rid of all those fake memories and the Healers said it's like when you have a traumatic childhood or something and just wake up one morning and you can't quite remember what happened, you just see flashes... But she's not a child or anything, she's still definitely an adult. It's good. First step to getting her life back."

"But Tonks also said she's not reading any letters, so this won't get through to her, will it?"

George glared into space. "Look. If she reads this one then she'll know that when she was five she broke her leg falling out of a tree and I'll feel a lot better about all of this. I promised her I'd find her and tell her one of her nice memories. I promised."

Fred groaned and threw his head back. "For Merlin's- right. I'll cancel my date."

"What? Why?"

"Because, Gred and Forge don't let each other write sad letters to random mindless women without each other."

George laughed and shook his head. "You don't need to do this."

"I do. And you need a distraction. How about this... I was thinking earlier we need to do some new marketing of the puffs. What d'you think'll work?"

George sat back in his chair and frowned. "How about supply and demand? Pretend we're sold out, hit them with a new range with..."

"Coats."

"Ah mate," George said, laughing. "Can you imagine those little critters in little coats?"

"Special collab with Madam Malkins?"

"Oh, I mean," George said, throwing his arms out. "We have to do a range with Hogwarts robes don't we?"

xXx

May 1999, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

George walked slowly up the stairs, levitating a heavy box up behind him, being careful not to jolt it. He reached the door and had opened it an inch when he heard his dad's voice.

"Just don't let him go out," he said.

"Come on, Dad. Really? Can't he just-"

"No. She asked for anonymity and I told Kingsley I could stop George. She needs this job and we need to make sure she's well looked after."

"But he'll find out sometime. What're you going to say? 'Sorry I didn't tell you about Eleanor, George, but she's been working for me for nine years'?"

Arthur scoffed. "She's just here for a year or two while she completes some of her exams again and then she'll be gone."

"Where is she now?" Fred asked, his voice moving farther into the shop.

"Luggett's," Arthur replied, "she's..." his voice trailed away after Fred.

George blinked and took deep breaths to try and calm himself. He suddenly felt hot and he could feel the adrenaline surging through him. He needed to get to Luggett's before his dad did. He needed to see Eleanor. Needed to tell her that her favourite flavour was raspberry.

He ducked behind display after display, using his extendable ear attachment to listen out for his dad, but he could hear that he was on the upper level of the shop now, marvelling at WWW's newest Muggle joke cards. So George ran out of the shop, sprinting down the road towards the sandwich shop.

It was raining, but he didn't care. He just needed to get to her as quickly as he could.

He pushed the door to the sandwich shop open hastily, looking around for Eleanor, bumping into someone in the process. He grabbed the woman by her arms to stop her from falling over and the door swung shut behind him. "Sorry," he said, stepping around her now, still looking around the shop.

He inwardly groaned when he didn't see the familiar mass of curly black hair, and turned to walk back out of the shop. He stopped and stared though, taking in the woman who he'd bumped into.

Eleanor.

But she looked different now. Her hair was down, but it was lighter now - brown rather than black. Her hair was tucked behind one ear and George raised an eyebrow at the multitude of piercings on that ear, and the little silver dot poking out of one side of her nose.

Her eyes widened slightly and for the first time, George noticed little specs of gold in her brown eyes. Her cheeks darkened and he realised that he'd never seen her blush before. Or he'd never noticed. He gulped when she smiled kindly at him. He couldn't quite believe that this was the same woman he'd held while she'd lost her mind.

"That's alright," she said, her voice slightly deeper than it had been before. "no harm, no foul. But you know there are spells to make sure you don't get wet in the rain, don't you?" she asked, and George laughed.

Funny. She was funny now. He pulled out his wand and waved it, drying himself from head to toe in an instant.

"Well there's nothing like a walk or a fly in the rain to help you think," he said, scolding himself internally for saying something so cliché. "Look, I just wanted to say..." But in that moment he knew he couldn't even say hi - she had no idea who he was. If he was going to break her life apart, he needed to at least ease her into it. So he said the first thing that popped into his head - the thing he'd been looking for her to tell her just a year before. "Thank you."

"For being okay with you bumping into me? It's really not a problem," she said, warily.

The next moments of conversation put it all into perspective for him. Everything that his dad had been trying to say - that she needed to be able to live her own life. To put the past which she didn't know behind her... If he was going to tell her everything he might as well buy her a sandwich. Or take her to a nearby park to sit on a bench and explain? But soon enough he'd lost himself in the conversation and he suddenly found himself flirting with Eleanor.

And when she looked out the window behind him and waved, he couldn't help the next word that came out of his suddenly jealous mind. "Boyfriend?"

Her smile broadened and George stared. How hadn't he noticed her properly before? How had he been so stupid?

And then she issued the most attractive challenge of George's life. When he asked where he could find her, she said, "Use your imagination."

xXx

Next chapter will also be from George's POV, taking us to the night before Nora found out that he knew the whole time. Then we'll go back to Nora.

Thank you so much for reading, and thank you to James Birdsong and ASimpleTeenager for your reviews!