A/N: Sorry, this is going to be another large time jump here. Nothing really happens for a month. The train and all that great crap but that's about it. Not much else. So this chapter picks up a month after the last one. The first part is going to be from an outsider's P.O.V. because it is easier to explain what happens at the beginning of the chapter that way. I hope you enjoy.
OUTSIDER
Everyone was nervous.
It had been a month since the rescue and Voldemort had yet to make a move. The Order assumed it was because he had no idea where they were hiding. Dumbledore had been Secret Keeper for them for nearly two years. However, he decided it might be a bit safer to rotate every once in awhile. Just in case, Voldemort figured out who it was.
He had chosen Snape to take up the responsibility. He figured Snape was already in hiding and Dumbledore knew Voldemort would think his was the least likely to be chosen. Surprisingly, everyone, including Harry, agreed with Dumbledore. Harry had began to trust Snape after everything he'd done for Annika. The others felt pretty much the same.
Dumbledore didn't think it would too easy for Voldemort to find him. After all, he stayed in his cabin in the woods unless, of course, he was working with Annika, Angel, Harry, Ron, George, Hermione, and Ginny ay Grimmauld Place.
Everything was going great until one morning about a month after the rescue. Snape didn't show up for his sessions nor did he contact Dumbledore with an explanation. Dumbledore, of course, was worried and went to the cabin in the woods. What he found messed up everything.
The door had been kicked in and it looked like there had been a struggle. Furniture was overturned, dishes were smashed, and there was remnants of magic everyone. From the look of things, Snape put up a very good fight but he lost and was taken away.
Everyone was nervous and afraid. No one knew what had happened to Snape. All anyone knew was that the Death Eater's had taken him. They didn't know if he was alive or dead. They didn't know if Voldemort had tortured the truth out of him or not. They didn't know if they should stay or go. All they knew was there was a major possibility that Voldemort knew where they were hiding.
Dumbledore called a meeting for the next day so they could discuss the situation.
ANNIKA
The next morning Annika sat at the table clinging to George's hand while picking at her breakfast. She was so worried about what woould happen next. Not only was she worried about her family and friends but for Snape as well. The man who had been esstential in both rescues. The man who risked everything to help her the first time. He was now in the hands of the enemy and god only knew what they were doing to him. She took comfort in the fact that Snape wasn't female. She shuddered to think of how much worse it could've been.
Harry, who was on her otherside, was moving his food around on his plate. He had his arm around Ginny. She was simply staring at her plate of food as if she were unsure of what to do with it. Ron, who would continue eating through a natural disaster, was shoving forkful after forkful in his mouth. The only indication that anything was wrong was the hand he had around Hermione's waist. Annika could see he was trying to pull her as close as possible. Hermione, who had much the same idea in her head, had cuddled as close to him as possible and was laying her head on his shoulder. She, like Ginny, had not touch her found. Angel and Charlie were on the otherside of George.
Angel had her arms wrapped around his middle. She hadn't even bothered to put anything on her plate. Charlie had his arm around her shoulder and was sneaking kisses every now and then. Somewhere over the last month, the two had become a thing. Annika wasn't even sure they knew how or when. It was just something that happened.
Every other couple at the table were in similiar poses. They wanted to make the most of what time they had left. None of them knew how long or short that time would be. Everyone had varying degrees of worry on there faces and most had barely touched their breakfast.
Once everyone finished pretending to eat, Dumbledore rose to address everyone.
"As all of you know, Severus had been taken by Voldemort. This creates a small problem for us because he's our Secret Keeper. I don't believe that Voldemort knows this but I can't be sure. I also can't be sure what he'll do to get as much information from Severus as possible. So the question is what do we do? Should we stay? Or should we leave? And if we leave, where do we go?"
Remus was the first to speak,
"I think I should point out that if we leave, there aren't many places we can go. Voldemort has taken over just about everything. It's going to be difficult to find a place that isn't crawling with Death Eaters."
"Professor, if we leave, we'd be more than happy to acommadate everyone at our home." Mrs. Weasley offered.
"I appreciate the offer Molly." Dumbledore stated. "However, I don't think the Burrow is properly equiped to defend us. The magic and muggle booby traps that Arthur has created would only hold them off for so long. Besides, if a battle were to break out, I would feel terrible for having to destroy your home."
Mrs. Weasley nodded.
"Well, what about Hogwarts?" Angel suggested.
Harry was the first to shoot down that idea.
"No." he said. "There are still students there. I won't put their lives in danger. It is one of the few safe places left out there. I won't comprimise that."
"So what?" Annika questioned. "We just sit here and pray they don't come?"
"No." Dumbledore answered. "We stay but you will continue with your training. The times that you should be spending with Severus will be spent working on whatever you feel needs the extra effort. And Hermione, Ginny, and Annika will continue with their counseling sessions. I believe they are just as important as your training sessions. You're going to have to fight the men that did these things to you at some point. The only way you will successfully do that is if you face what they did first. Now, I must check on things at Hogwarts but I'll be back later. Please go about your training as usual."
With that he stepped out of the kitchen. Annika trained harder than ever. She did her best to get her powers back up to where they were before they were taken. She felt she owed this to Snape. He risked his life to help her the first time then risked even more to save them the second time. Now, he was most likely being tortured for information in the worst ways possible. She knew they would eventually kill him. She wouldn't allow everything he sacrificed for her to be in vain. She'd become powerful enough to destroy the men he saved her from.
On the third day, after Snape's disappearance, Annika, Hermione, and Ginny were sitting in the drawing room with Dumbledore for their daily counseling session. It was simply a couple hours a day where Dumbldore gave them a chance to talk about what happened away from prying ears. He knew they weren't comfortable telling the others about some of the things that happened. And Dumbledore made them promise to keep everything that was said in the room.
Annika had told Dumbledore and the two girls that the baby she was pregnant with might not have been George. She spent an entire session talking about the night Malfoy raped her in the classroom. She didn't know why but that one always felt so much worse than he others. Ginny had told them about somethings Fred had done to her. She said she couldn't tell the others about any of it because it would break the hearts of her family. Annika could understand her feelings. Fred turned out to be one sadistic bastard. She didn't want Mrs. Weasley to find out about any of it either.
Today felt different though. Dumbledore looked a little more strained than usual. Annika caught a hint of sadness in the normal twinkle of his eyes. He sat down at the desk and stared at them. It looked as though he couldn't figure out what to say.
"I need to tell you three something." he stated. "It's something that should've been said three weeks ago. It's just that you guys were so happy to be reunited with your family and friends that I didn't want to put a damper on things. I suppose it's time to tell you know though. The night you three were brought back, Madam Pomphrey ran some test, just to see how bad the internal damage was." He took a deep breath. "Everything came back fine, expect, and I'm really sorry to tell you this, but it is highly unlikely to nearly impossible for any of you three to have children."
"What?" Ginny asked. "No. No." She shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Ginny. I wish it weren't true." Dumbledore said sadly.
"But....I...Harry's going to be so heartbroken." Ginny broke down.
Hermione wrapped her arms around the red head and the two girls cried together. Annika stared at them in utter shock. Grief, anger, and sadness were fighting for control. She wasn't sure which she wanted to feel. She thought about that horrible night when Voldemort forced her to drink the potion that detroyed her only chance at having a family. She thought about all the times Malfoy raped her, not just in the past two months but from the time she was fourteen. Suddenly, the anger bacame the dominate emotion.
She stood up and began flicking her wrist at random. Tables ended up over turned. Lamps smashed into walls. Nic nacs ended up in pieces on the floor. With one swipe of her hand everything on Dumbledore's desk was on the floor. She made the couch cushions fly across the room. She even, made a tapestry with a permenant sticking charm on it fly into a mirror and shattered it. When there was no more anger, she looked around at the mess she'd made and sadness took over.
She dropped to her knees sobbing. How could George possibly love her anymore? She let those men take away his only chance at having a family. The she let them take away her ability to even try again. Who would want to be with someone as damged as she was?
Annika heard the girls saying comforting things and felt them touching her. She pulled away. She didn't deserve their comfort. She felt Dumbledore's presence in front of her
and felt his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him.
"Why don't you guys take the rest of the day off?" he suggested. "Get some rest."
The girls nodded in agreement.
"I'm sorry about the mess." Annika whispered as she got up.
"No big deal." Dumbledore replied. "I'm sure Nymphadora and Molly won't have a problem cleaning it up."
She nodded as she walked out the door. She still had tears streaming down her face. She could sense Hermione and Ginny behind her but she didn't stop or speak to them. She walked by the room where she knew George was training. She was glad that the door was closed because she didn't want him to see her like this. She walked right by the door to her room. SHe knew Ginny and Hermione would want to talk about it but she just wanted to be alone at the moment. She went to George's room instead. Once she closed the door, she collapsed on the bed and sobbed into the pillow.
She wasn't sure how long she cried before she had no tears left. She flipped herself over to stare at the ceiling. After awhile there was a knock at the door.
"Annika, it's George. Can I come in?"
"It's your room." she stated.
She didn't even look at him when he entered. She just continued to stare at the ceiling. She felt him sit down on the bed and place his hand on her stomach.
"Hermione and Ginny told us what Dumbledore told you this afternoon." he stated. Annika could hear the sadness in his voice. "They also told us how you reacted."
She knew what he was thinking and feeling. She had a feeling he just didn't know how to say it. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Then she set her chin on her knees.
"If you don't wanna love me anymore, I'll understand." she stated trying to make it easier for him.
His eyes widened as if in shock.
"Me not wanting to love you anymore." he repeated. "Why would you even think that?"
"Because I let those men destroy your child." she answered. "And then I let them destroy your chances at having a family with me."
"Anni, listen to me." he stated. "It isn't your fault what those sick bastards did to you. You couldn't have stopped them. If you didn't drink that potion, Voldemort would've shoved it down your throat or tortured you until you did it. And as for the others, you struggled and fought against them. They were just stronger than you. You couldn't have stopped it no mater how hard you tried. I don't blame you for any of it so stop blaming yourself. And as far as me not loving you goes. That's never gonna happen. I love you and always will."
He pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her.
"But don't you want a family?" she asked.
"Of course, I do." He replied. "But there are other options. We could adopt. There are plenty of children, magical and muggle, out there who need homes."
"But don't you want a biological child."
"I'm not going to lie. I do want a child of my own but not as much as I want you." he answered. "You are my life and I can't survive without you. And, frankly, I wouldn't want you. I love you with every fiber of my being. Now and forever. And nothing will ever change that." His voice cracked as if he were about to cry. "Do you understand?"
Annika nodded and buried her face in his neck.
"I love you too." she said into his neck.
They sat there for a few minites. George rocked Annika and storked her hair as she cried. Once she calmed down, George pulled her back.
"Harry and the others were worried about you. Why don't we go down to dinner and let them know that you;re okay?" he suggested.
"Okay." she stated.
They both stood and headed for the door. Before the reached it, a huge blast that shook the whole house, sounded from below. It was followed by screams. Annika fell to the floor during the aftershock. George pulled her up by the wrist and they dashed downstairs to see what had happened. When they reached the kitchen door, they noticed the wall dividing the kitchen and the hall had been blown off. Upon further inspection of the kitchen, Annika noticed a third of it had been blown apart. Heads were popping out of the rubble and voices were calling to make sure the others were alright. As the smole settled, Annika looked around for what caused the explosion. Standing were the walls to the kitchen used to be, were about forty Death Eaters, all of which had their wands raised prepared to attack.
A/N: I hope this one makes up for the shortness of my last update. Yes, I know tis whole part is out of character for George. Bear in mind that the war and his brother's betrayal has changed him. He's not as free spirited as he used to be. And he knows what's important to him. Also, he got over the Voldemort thing after he "died." Please review if you have the time.
