AN: Thank you for taking the time to read. I have been writing for years but have never really had the nerve to share what I have written. I would love all criticism, the good, the bad, and the ugly, as I am trying to get better. Thank you!

George could hardly believe what was happening right now. His mother was running around like a crazy banshee, barking orders at anyone who stood still for a second too long. Yet, here he was, lying in bed in his old bedroom, barred from getting up simply because a hole was now in the spot where his ear once occupied.

To be fair, he wasn't of much use to anyone in the house. The injury still had not stopped bleeding, so every time he got up to accomplish even the smallest things, he got very dizzy due to blood loss. Harry had thankfully been coming down the stairs on George's last trip to the loo and was able to catch him before he toppled down three stories.

George could tell his mother was getting increasingly worried every time she came in to check on him. It made George feel horrible to have her worrying about him when there was so much going on in preparation for the wedding. She had mumbled something about George needing a blood replenishing potion when she had brought up his lunch but he knew that they didn't have the ingredients to brew one and St Mungo's was simply not an option as too many questions would be asked. So his only real option was to rest until the bleeding stopped. At least, that was what he kept telling his brother Fred any time he brought up writing to George's best friend Sadie.

"What do you mean she doesn't know what happened?" Fred asked incredulously over a quick game of exploding snaps a few days earlier.

"Of course, I haven't been able to give her full details, what if the letter got intercepted? Might as well tell the whole world that I got my ear blown off while moving Harry Potter with the Order of the Pheonix right here to the Burrow. I just told her there were a few hiccups and not to worry and that we will see her when she is done getting her parents settled" George said as he discarded a smoking card. Fred shook his head at his brother.

"She is going to skin you alive, mate, you watch. I'm just going to sit back and tell you I told you so."

It wasn't a bad thing that Sadie was not yet aware of all the details. He knew Fred was right and she would be very upset. She was inducted into the Order for outstanding potion-making skills, not her ability to control her emotions. George recalled a particular time when Umbridge had banned him, Fred, and Harry from the Quidditch team and it took both him and Fred holding her back from storming out the portrait hole down to Umbridge's office and giving her a piece of her mind.

George smiled at the thought and attempted to roll over and go to sleep. Sleep had not been the easiest thing to achieve in his current predicament. He could not lay on the side where his ear had been cursed off, as the bandages were too bulky and he would get sharp bouts of pain that would shoot straight through his head. He was pretty sure he hadn't gotten more than three hours of solid sleep since it happened. Just as he got semi-comfortable and closed his eyes, he heard his bedroom door open and shut softly. He rolled back over to see the very person whom the thought of was making him smile.

"Seriously, this is what you mean by a few hiccups?" Sadie said softly, a look of worry on her face. George smiled at his best friend and pushed himself off his bed and towards the witch standing in front of him.

"I mean, what's a missing ear? I will all always have a talking point at afternoon tea right?" Unfortunately, his smile didn't last as he was overcome with dizziness. George began to sway on the spot and Sadie quickly moved forward. She caught him as he began to fall towards her and she was able to guide him back to his bed.

"This is not just a hiccup you, Twat. Stay in bed I have something for you," she groaned. Once he was back under the covers, Sadie turned towards the bag she had placed by the door on her way in. From it, she pulled a bottle full of a deep red potion and came back over to the bed. She conjured a goblet with her wand and filled it with the potion.

"Drink this. All of it. It tastes like copper but it's going to help with the dizziness," she shoved the goblet in his hand and pushed it up to his lips.

"Where'd you get this?" He asked her eyeing the red liquid. It smelt faintly of blood that had spilled a while ago.

"I've been stockpiling for the past six months, anything we might need. Obviously, I was not wrong about this particular brew. Now drink it," she told him.

George drank the potion. She was right, the potion tasted awful but he was feeling almost immediate relief, a warm feeling spread over his entire body.

"So how did you know I needed this stuff?" George asked, making a face as he finished off the goblet. He could feel his strength quickly coming back.

"Fred snuck away from wedding prep and came and found me. Said he didn't wanna risk writing but that you were in desperate need according to your mum," she said as she rifled through her bag looking for something else.

"I told him not to bother you, that you needed to spend the time with your family," George said as he shook his head very annoyed.

"To be fair, he was hoping I would stay put and just give him the supplies," she said matter-of-factly, pulling out a thick paste and some clean bandages, "I didn't give him a choice. Mum and Dad understood."

She quickly got to work removing the old bandages from his head. She unstoppered the tub with the thick paste and began applying it liberally to the spot where his ear had once been. George stared at her face, a look of concerned concentration plastered on it. Though he was upset that her time with her family was cut short, he was very happy to see her. She had only been gone about two weeks and he had very much missed her.

The side of George's head began to sting a bit, almost like a pin and needles feeling. He had reached up to feel it and she smacked his hand out of the way.

"Leave it alone, will you. I need to make sure it works," she said, putting the stopper back on the tub.

"What do you mean you need to make sure it works? What is it?" George asked her a little worried. She smirked at him. This particular smirk was one he had seen many times over the years as she assisted him and George with perfecting all of their inventions that now filled the joke shop.

"A little something of my own I have been working on. Lupin's mentioned the order may need to stock up on healing potions since we may be dealing with some nasty curses and such. So I wanted to come up with a healing paste meant for dark injuries. It won't grow your ear back but it should," she grabbed his face and twisted his head towards the side a bit, "Yes! It works! The bleeding stopped!"

The look of concern on her face was completely gone as a wide smile took over. She still had her hands on his face. George reached up and took her small hand in his and smiled back at her. This was the way he liked her most. Though she did not have the particular knack to prank others like he and his brother, inventing and perfecting something new also brought her the greatest joy in life. Getting to see her see her creation help someone was just the icing on the cake.

"So you are saying I am nothing more than a guinea pig for you. What if it had gone bad and instead made me bleed out. We would be having a funeral with the wedding," he joked.

"His sacrifice to the order was a great one. If he was only around a little longer to lend us an ear, he would hear us sing his praises" she mocked in a fake eulogy. They both laughed and George attempted to get up but she pushed him back down.

"You need to stay in bed a while longer," she told him, hands splayed out on his chest. He looked up from where her hands were back to her face and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh do I?" He said slyly, giving her a wink. She blushed and shook her head taking her hands off his chest.

"Not like that, you Twat, I'm going to give you a sleeping draught and you will have to take another dose of blood replenishing potion but I think you should be back to business by dinner," she said going back to her bag and pulling yet another vial out. She pop the top off of it and handed it to him.

"Thanks for coming, Sades," George said softly reaching for the vial. His hand grabbed hers once more and he let it linger. They stared at each other in comfortable silence. Neither of them had ever spoken about the shift in their relationship. George wasn't even sure when it had happened. One moment, they were best mates, laughing at some first year trying a puking pastille for the first time while he would try to cheat off her potions homework, and the next, he was irritated that Sadie had a date with some dumb bloke from Ravenclaw. Sadie gave him a small smile.

"It wasn't so long ago that you rushed to my bedside. I will always be here. Don't ever make me think everything is ok again or I will come here and poison you myself so you won't be able to get back out of bed." She got up from the bed, but not before leaning over and giving him a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Drink that up, it's just one dose. Get some rest and I will see you when you wake up," she said matter-of-factly as she stood up straight.

"Bottoms up," George said and tipped the vial back into his mouth. She laughed and shook her head. The sleeping draught almost immediately made his eyes very heavy. Man, this stuff she brews works fast George thought to himself.

"I will see you in a little while," she waved and let herself out the door. George settled down into his pillows and let the warmth of the potion and the thought that his favorite person would still be here when he woke up carry him to sleep.