Later, recounting the story to Fred, George's heart leapt into his throat.

"Well, are you going to find her and tell her then?" Fred asked, eyeing him up.

"No. I uh... I think I'm going to leave it. Dad was right. She's not the same Eleanor. She deserves to live her own life now," George replied, adding a smidge too much Alihotsy into the potion he was brewing. A cloud of purple smoke burst into the air above the cauldron, leaving Fred and George coughing.

"Merlin," Fred said, writing something down in his notebook. "How much?"

"Three drops," George replied, laughing. "Oh bloody hell, here we go."

Fred began to laugh as well, and the two brothers had to crawl on their bellies to escape the room. By the time they reached the door to the shop floor (and fresh air) they were in physical pain from the uncontrollable laughter.

"Merlin... Mr Weasley? Mr Weasley? What happened?" Verity asked, standing in the doorway to the back of the shop, her eyes wide.

"Too much... ali... hotsy in the... instant happiness... potion," George wheezed out, his face twisted into a grimace-smile.

Fred threw his head back and held his stomach, roaring with laughter, his face screwed up just the same.

"I'll get the antidote," Verity said quickly, dashing over to a glass cabinet filled with various coloured potions.

True to his word, George didn't go looking for Eleanor, even though he wanted to desperately.

Instead, he simply decided that the best lunch around was in the Ministry café. With Percy. Every single day. For an entire week.

And when Fred pointed out that this wasn't exactly not looking for her, George accepted it and tried to finally forget about Eleanor. Only... he couldn't quite get those eyes out of his head.

xXx

Three weeks later, Ministry of Magic, Level One, outside the Minister for Magic's office

"Yeah, you're screwed," Fred said, walking up to George and Ron, who were waiting for Fred and Harry to arrive.

"What?" George asked, frowning. He closed the logbook he had been reading and slipped it into his pocket. "We've sold plenty of stuff to the Ministry before and this time Harry and Ron are backing us up. It's a shoe-in, right?" he asked Harry and Ron, who both nodded.

"We tested them, they work, and they could save lives," Ron replied. "Isn't Kingsley on board anyway?"

"Minister Shacklebolt has expressed an interest, yes, but that's not what I'm talking about," Fred replied with a wry smile.

"Is this about Eleanor?" Harry asked, frowning. "Because I thought we weren't meant to-"

George gulped and began to feel a little hot under Fred's constant smiling gaze.

"Not meant to interact with her?" Fred finished for him. "We all agreed to leave her alone and not freak her out? Yeah, but..."

"You didn't," Harry gasped, looking at George now. "Ginny said you'd given up trying to tell her stuff?"

"First," George said, pulling himself up to his full height. "I have given up. Second, is nothing sacred between siblings anymore?"

Harry grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "Not much to talk about other than that and training or NEWTs."

George raised an eyebrow at Fred, who was still grinning oddly. "Spit it out."

"Just bumped into her in the lift."

"She pushed past him," Harry translated.

"She basically propositioned me," Fred said, nodding.

"She blinked at him," Harry said, rolling his eyes to Ron, who laughed.

"She winked at me," Fred said.

"No," Harry said, shaking his head. "She blinked weirdly, but it was still a blink."

"Probably all the brain damage," Ron replied off-hand, looking over his shoulder at the Minister of Magic's office door, which was opening. "Reckon it's us next. D'you think Kingsley's got any snacks? I'm starving."

George put Eleanor out of his mind and walked shoulder to shoulder with his brother into the Minister for Magic's office.

xXx

Two days later he was walking back to the shop from the apothecary, when he happened to glance into the window of Flourish and Blotts. There, in one of the back rows, was Eleanor. Or, who he thought was Eleanor. Before he could think properly or formulate a plan, he had walked into the bookshop and he was walking down the aisle towards her.

He couldn't help but think how cute she looked, standing there with a stack of multicoloured novels on the table next to her. She was staring intently down at the cover of the book in her hands which amused George greatly, as it had a topless Wizard on the front.

"I reckon you owe me dinner for winking at my brother..." he said, grinning.

He was just continuing their harmless flirting from three weeks ago, he told himself, but there was something about the way she looked up at him, her golden-brown skin tinged with pink when she realised it was him, that made him skip a breath.

"You're a twin," she said, and George couldn't help his grin.

Before he knew it, they were flirting again and he was having a verbal back and forth that he'd never had with a girl like her before - he only really talked to friends like this. And for a moment, staring into her eyes which were so different to the eyes of Eleanor, he got lost in the moment, lost in the fun of her company.

"Fine, dinner's on me if you can really tell the difference," he said, still grinning at her.

"And if I can't?" she asked. She looked down and then up at him, and her tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip before she bit down on it.

He lost his train of thought for a moment as tingles flooded down his body. He really hoped that she hadn't noticed, but he could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks. "You can buy me a drink?" he said cheekily, trying to cover his tracks.

Nora grinned and he knew he was lost - if he tried to spend any time with her he'd find himself falling down this rabbit hole with no way of getting himself out.

Stop, you idiot, he told himself. You'll have to tell her first and see if she still likes you afterwards. You can't just-

"I accept your terms," she said, nodding. "He has a freckle on the tip of his nose. You don't."

Holy Merlin's Balls.

His jaw slackened and he stared at her for a moment as his mind went completely blank. No one outside of Fred, George, Ginny, and maybe Charlie had ever noticed that miniscule difference before.

"Oh god, I was wrong, wasn't I?" she asked, making the cutest face.

Bloody hell.

He shook his head but didn't reply.

"Then you're creeped out that I noticed that?" she asked, and he wanted to move forwards and use his thumb to gently ease her bottom lip out from between her teeth.

He shook his head again.

"You're not?" she asked, frowning.

Say something, you idiot.

He'd never found himself this speechless before, and it was extremely unsettling.

Finally, he said, "No... I uh- not even our mum knows that. It's how I tell us apart in pictures from before my ear..." He cleared his throat and turned his head, hoping to hide the fact that he didn't have one of his ears - he knew his hair hid it well, but he didn't want her to be freaked out. He frowned to himself - he hadn't cared before... "Anyway, uh... I'm impressed," he admitted.

She grinned again and George groaned inwardly. Why did she have to keep smiling? He really did need to leave - he needed to leave her alone, he needed to get away otherwise he'd have to tell her everything and he didn't want to do that anymore - she didn't need that emotional trauma.

"Then how about we upgrade my reward to breakfast?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

George's mind whirred to a stop.

And then it started up again, ideas rushing through his mind uncontrollably. He could go out with her now, he could... and then he could explain to her how he knew her... or the old her, and it would all be fine. It would, wouldn't it? Because he really, really did want to have breakfast with her...

He coughed, choking on his own spit. "Dinner first?" he asked, trying to cover his tracks.

She nodded and said, "I'm Nora, by the way."

"Nora?" he asked, frowning at the change. She'd always been Eleanor at school, and at home (from what she'd told him). But Nora? This fit the new her to a 't'.

You have to tell her.

"I'm George. Well, George W-"

"Wait!" she cried, and George turned to look over his shoulder. If there was anyone in the shop there to harm her he'd protect her. He would.

"Oh, no, sorry," came her kind voice. He turned back to her, his heart still racing. Was she having a flashback then? He didn't know if he could handle that right now.

"I just meant..." She ducked her head and all he wanted to do was pull her chin up so he could see her eyes again. "Well... This is weird, but... Look, I don't want to lie to you, but I also don't want you to know who I am... It's... complicated, and I'd rather you just know me for me rather than for my surname..."

You have to tell her.

He paled. He was going to have to tell her, he knew that... but... but dinner first... was that acceptable? He'd done worse, right? It wasn't like it would hurt anyone? Yes. Dinner and then he'd tell her after a good long conversation. Or he'd just not see her again. Yeah. Talk to her and than decide what to do.

"What did you have in mind?" he asked.

"Well, I have a... an incognito surname I've been using. But I don't want to lie to you and pretend that's my real name. I don't know why, I just.. I just want you to know it's fake, but I can't tell you my real surname. Not yet... Would you be okay with us using fake surnames? I promise I'll be one hundred percent honest with you about everything else in my life to the point where you'll probably run for the hills..." she said.

George nodded impatiently. He wanted to know her new name desperately. Maybe if he knew her new name it wouldn't even be like he was having dinner with Eleanor. It would be having dinner with someone completely new. Someone called-

"Okay, then hi George, I'm Nora Islington."

Nora Islington. He couldn't think of a better name for her. Cool, calm, beautiful...

He blinked. "Hi Nora Islington, I'm George-"

"Fake surname."

"What?" he asked, trying not to laugh at the way she crinkled her nose.

"I get a fake surname so it's only fair you do too," she declared. "Then we can't have any presumptions about each other, we'll both be on the same page. You don't know anything about me, I don't know anything about you."

You have to tell her you know her.

I know! Shut up!

"Okay... I'm George..." he looked around for a moment, until he saw a heavy looking book sitting on the shelf next to his head - The King's Lover. "King," he said.

Nora chuckled. "I like it."

"George King?" he asked, frowning. How could she like something he'd just made up? "It's kind of ordinary don't you think?"

"No, it's cool. Not only is it funny because we've had so many Georges as kings, but it also shows that you've got a good sense of humour... because you're saying you're George King,... Geor-King? You're joking?"

George grinned. Without knowing him at all she'd hit the nail on the head. And she thought he was funny... Again, he couldn't stop himself from being optimistic about the whole situation. He'd be going to dinner with Nora Islington. And if Eleanor came up, he'd tell her at some point and she'd be fine with it. He was sure she would be... He ignored the fact that he really wasn't sure that she would be.

"Are you free tonight?" he asked, trying not to laugh at the two massive piles of books next to her.

"It's my day off," she said, shuffling in front of the table to hide the titles from view.

"Mine too," he replied, smiling. Well, it wasn't a lie... he had to give Fred some herbs he'd picked up and then he really was done for the day. He checked his watch and tried to think how long it would take to get everything to Fred and then run upstairs to change into some more Muggle friendly clothes - a walk in London might be nice. "Give me fifteen minutes and I'll meet you back here? I just need to get changed."

"Sure," she said slowly. At her answer, he began to walk away from her, each step feeling heavy, his head telling him he needed to go, but his heart trying to hold him back. "You know it's only about three, right?" she called after him.

He turned to look over his shoulder and winked at her. "It's dinnertime somewhere in the world..."

He ran down the road to the shop and rushed inside, dodging around a couple of little kids. He practically jumped over a display, hearing a loud bang, and jumped when he felt something hit his arm. He tripped over a toy on the floor and smashed straight into a barrel filled with the WWW's own version of Exploding Snap. Another firework slammed into the side of the barrel and George felt himself flying upwards into the sky.

xXx

He woke up later that evening with a splitting headache, lying on his front. He groaned and tried to move, but found that he was quite firmly stuck to the bed.

He kicked his legs to try and get some momentum but it didn't work - he couldn't get the magical weight holding him down, off. His eyes widened in panic and he tried harder and harder to move, letting out a deep groan of panic.

"Don't move!" his mum, Molly, said urgently, and he calmed, seeing her face pop into sight next to him. "You're in St. Mungo's. There was an accident but you're healing nice... nicely. You just have to stay still, alright?"

He tried to say something but it came out like a garbled whine. Then he noticed that her eyes looked red, and she was paler than when he'd seen her last, and he knew immediately that the explosion had been quite bad and that she was lying to him - he wasn't healing nicely at all. Not yet at least.

It took another forty minutes before he could speak, and then he asked, "What... 'app-"

"What happened?" she asked. "Well there was an explosion at the shop," she said loudly. Too loudly in fact, as she was shouting into the side of his head without the ear.

He groaned and screwed his eyes shut. "No ear... Not deaf..."

"Of course, I'm so sorry," she replied, quieting. "Well... You've got quite severe burns. The Healers have done what they can at the moment, but your brother's on his way with a stronger burn paste."

"'itch on?"

"What?"

"'itch brodder?"

"Which brother?" she asked.

George shifted his head in what he hoped was a nod.

"Charlie. Charlie's on his way, and Fred's currently brewing up some more of your burn paste just in case. He said he doesn't trust the strength of the one they've got on at the moment."

George nodded, and then closed his eyes, falling unconscious.

xXx

Incredibly, thanks to Fred and Charlie, George was half-healed by the next afternoon, and fully healed by Friday morning. He had minor scarring, but nothing too bad at all - it just looked as though the top layer of his skin was missing from his back, and the back of his arms and legs. And he had a cream that could help with that.

He spent Friday afternoon at The Burrow, being waited on by his mum, and by Saturday morning he was completely 'over' being a patient, so he popped to the shop in Diagon Alley. But Fred made him sit on a 'throne of shame' to show the customers that he was absolutely fine and that WWW products were still safe to use.

"Also brilliant advertising for the burn cream," Fred said grinning. "Made too much so it's either that or you've gotta go-" He held his finger in the air and whistled.

George escaped by mid-morning and decided to head to Hogsmeade - he felt like a change of scenery and he needed to go for a long uninterrupted walk to figure out how he was going to explain any of this to Nora, who he'd stood up rather spectacularly.

But on the other hand, he wasn't sure if he should say anything to her...

So he just walked aimlessly for half an hour until he came back to the main road. He stopped in the middle of the street when he saw the now familiar mass of Nora's curly brown hair in front of him. He couldn't help it, he just felt so happy to see her that when she ducked into Honeydukes', he practically ran to the entrance to see her, pausing to catch his breath before he walked in.

"Hey," he said, walking up to her.

Flowers. Flowers always woo'd ladies, didn't they? He thought, pulling a fake wand from his back pocket.

Her answer of, "I have hayfever," genuinely shocked him, and he laughed as she walked away.

Right. Fudge. Fudge woo's the ladies then.

Five minutes later he was crouched over her bag, trying to find a tiny effing bottle of antidote. How she had never once, through all of those memories, told him that she was allergic to peanuts, he would never understand. He finally found the bottle and tipped the contents into her open mouth. He held the back of her neck to steady her, and when he dropped the bottle, he stared at her while she recovered.

He decided to give himself a clock - he'd stay with her until four, and then he'd leave. He wouldn't get too close, he'd just... he'd just be George King. On a date with a beautiful girl he liked, who he had no history with.

Only, so many things reminded him of what he knew. And how he was deceiving her. But, he wrestled with himself. Was it deception if she didn't want to know? Was it deception if he would tell her eventually? Yes. He knew it was, but he just wanted a day. Half a day.

But then he decided to ask her about her dreams.

"What would your big dream be? If you could have one?" he asked, frowning at the ground as they walked.

"I'd probably find a way to get my memories back," she said, and George's heart stopped for a moment. He opened his mouth, but she continued, "But that would come with a load of bad side effects, so probably not."

"Like what?" he asked, frowning at her.

She fell silent for a little while and George watched the afternoon sun shine through the curls which framed the left side of her face. She'd tucked the curls on the right behind her ear again. A nervous habit, he'd discovered.

Finally, she said quietly, "Well, what if I changed completely? What if I'm not the same person I was? And what if I remember things I don't want to remember?"

"What don't you want to remember?" he asked. If she really did want to remember, he would have to tell her. He'd misread her from the start. She wasn't confident in herself, she was terrified of being Eleanor... of people thinking they were the same person but she wasn't. She was Nora.

She shrugged. "I guess the night that I lost my memories. I can remember a little bit from the start, but otherwise nothing of the accident. I guess it just feels like a scary mystery I don't want to unravel."

"That's very honest," he said quietly. And again, within a second she'd flipped him around again. He had no idea if she did want to know or not. Still had no idea if he wanted her to know or not.

She left, and George went back to his flat above the shop. He'd told her he had a shift at four, but he didn't have to work if he didn't feel up to it - and he didn't.

That evening he came out of his room to find Angelina and Fred cuddled up on the sofa, Fred half asleep, and Angelina reading a magazine.

"Everything alright?" Angelina asked him quietly so as not to wake Fred, whose head was tipping back now.

George shrugged. "Nothing important."

"Your back?" she whispered. The air filled with Fred's snores.

"No... worse. Girl troubles."

Angelina gasped and moved as far forwards as she could in Fred's sleepy embrace. "Tell me everything."

"I can't."

"Name?"

"Nora."

"Where did you meet?"

George bit his lip. "Sandwich shop. But she told me her name in Flourish and Blotts a few days ago. I actually got injured because of her. Bit too hasty to drop stuff off at the shop so I could take her out."

Angelina punched the air and grinned, and George couldn't help his smile. "It's complicated though," he said.

"No. George, you're happy again. I can see it in your eyes. You haven't been like this since the battle... So if this girl makes you happy, go for it."

xXx

George's nerves hit him full force when Nora didn't answer any of his letters, and he knew he should have left it, but it really bugged him that she wasn't answering his messages. He kept wondering what he'd done wrong.

So after a couple of beers, he decided to write her a silly poem to see if that would do the trick to get her to talk to him. But by the morning he'd decided not to post it - it was stupid, and if she didn't want to talk to him again, it was doing him a favour, wasn't it?

Only... there was a slight snag in that plan. Well, two snags.

One, his heart hurt. It ached. It felt tight, and it raced when he thought of Nora. Of her hand in his. Of her eyes. Her lips. Her smile. Her hair. Her body (though he didn't want to admit that one too much...)

Two, when he woke up the next morning he found that Fred had posted the letter.

He immediately sent another letter to apologise, but then she replied with a hilarious poem and he punched the air in triumph. And then he swore, changed quickly, and ran downstairs to try and get cover for the shop - when he hadn't heard from her he'd agreed to cover the store for the afternoon shift.

"This Nora girl said yes then?" Fred asked, grinning. "Angie told me about her. I knew that letter would work. Right, take over for me and I'll do the late one. But you owe me."

"We're twins."

"You owe me."

"We're twins."

"You owe me."

"We're-"

"Mr Weasley? Mr Weasley? Please stop," Verity said, turning away from the till to stare at them pointedly.

"Right you are, Verity," Fred replied, walking off.

By the time George finished for the day it was already one. He ran to change into a Muggle outfit and then Apparated to Leicester Square.

When he saw her standing there, well, when she announced herself, he couldn't take his eyes off her, his heartbeat sped up, and the ache in his chest eased. He quickly convinced himself that one more date wouldn't hurt.

But then she did the unthinkable. She kissed him.

And George kissed her back readily.

It wasn't like any other kiss he'd had before. It was slow and sensual and comforting and exciting, and he felt an overwhelming sense of rightness that he'd never felt with a girlfriend before. She speared her hands through his hair and deepened the kiss, and George almost melted.

And in that moment, he knew that he would eventually have to tell her everything. Because she was the one person he wanted to introduce to his parents, his sister, his brother, and he wanted her for as long as she'd have him.

But he knew that he needed time. Time to figure out how to explain it all to her without her leaving. He decided to warn her. "There's something I need to tell you," he said. "And I'm worried that you won't take it well."

After that night he spent two and a half months living a double life, constantly flittering between blissfully happy when he was with her, noticeably happier when he was with his friends and family, and filled with dread when he was on his own. He kept trying to tell her, but then they were together and he couldn't find it in his heart - he knew he'd lose her now. He'd lose her when she found out. So instead of telling her, he just made sure he wasn't on his own. He either worked, or he was with his family, or he was with Nora.

But one night, two and a half months in, he mentioned Charlie, and dragons, and Romania, and he realised that it was now or never. By then he was head over heels in love with Nora Islington.

And he'd finally decided that it was time to explain to her how he knew her old self, Eleanor Warton. Because he couldn't introduce her to his family without them knowing, and their life together couldn't properly start until he did. If she took it well. But he knew in his heart. He knew the truth. He knew that the moment he told her, he'd lose her. But he finally decided to stop being selfish.

xXx

Back to Nora next chapter! Thank you so much for the review, CharlotteGryffindor!