-Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

A/N: JKR never said what Fred's full name was, nor the date of his death, so I am providing these with a touch of creative license. I will mention that Fred's middle name isn't completely out of thin air...it is one of the middle names of the Phelps brothers who play the Weasley twins in the movies. :) Also, the year of Fred's death is an educated guess based on the year they were born (birth date given by JKR) and how old Fred was when he died. The actual date of death is a random date based on the assumption that the battle took place in June as per JKR's usual dating of the climaxes in previous books.

Warning for some minor mature content...in other words, Sex is mentioned! LOL

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-As always, thanks to my most awesomeness Beta Crimsonangel23! If you're a Twilight fan you need to check out her story "Chains of Love" as it is being severely overlooked and shouldn't be! It is most awesome-ist and I am not even a huge Twilight fangirl!

-Ohhhh KarexdarkxKiss....where are you M'dear? I miss your reviews! Please review me...I am seriously getting a complex, only four for the last chapter? C'mon guys, you can do better than that! I'm a review whore...must have my reviews!

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Loony for Luna: Forever from the Ashes

Chapter Thirteen

Between Love and Responsibilities

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George walked quietly through the graveyard, his feet taking him in the proper direction without conscious thought. It was the first time he had visited the grave since the funeral the month before. Though it was really the last place he wanted to be, he had come because he knew that only one person could help him find a way to make sense of all he was feeling.

He stopped before a black and white marbled headstone. An angel was etched just above a magical picture set into the stone. Fred had been sixteen, laughing at some wonderful joke, likely of his own making. Below that was written:

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Frederick Andrew Weasley

April 1, 1978 - June 15th, 1998

Beloved son, brother, friend and Hero.

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George sat in front of the headstone and ran his hand over the picture.

"I miss you bro." he said softly. "I'd give anything if you were here right now, I know you could sort this all out, you'd know just what to do wouldn't you? You always did."

He sighed deeply and let his hand drop into his lap.

"Damn Fred, I've really gone and done it this time. I've never heard Mum so angry, not even when we left school. She didn't yell, she just used the 'scary' voice...you remember it right? The 'get out of my face now before I throttle you' voice."

-Flashback-

He hadn't wasted a minute after Ginny apparated out of the shop. He'd run upstairs to dress and grabbed his wand, following her by less than five minutes. He hadn't expected to find almost the whole family sitting in the waiting room, still he'd barely had a second to register that they were there before they started in on him.

"Well," Ginny said sarcastically. "Look who's finally decided to show up."

"About damn time," Ron growled from the end of the sofa where he sat with Harry, Hermione, and Ginny.

"Is...Is she okay?" George asked softly.

"As if you care!" Hermione spit venomously.

Harry got up from the sofa and got into George's face. "What the hell have you done to her this time?"

"That's enough." Molly said, apparently coming from the bathroom.

"But...mum..." Ron began, only to be cut across again.

"I'll handle this." She gave Harry a hard look until he turned and returned to his place next to Ginny. "Come with me, George." She motioned to the hallway.

"But...I want..."

"Who gives a shit what you want?" Ginny said angrily.

"Ginny." Molly softly admonished. "There's no need for that language."

Ginny look mutinous, but she settled back into her seat next to Harry.

"George, now." Molly motioned to the hallway again. He turned and followed her out, passing his father, Bill, and Percy on the way.

"What's he doing here?" Percy asked, his voice was angry even though he barely knew Luna.

"Shush Percy," Arthur said. He put a hand on Percy's shoulder and shoved him into the waiting room. Bill looked at George for a minute, and then shook his head sadly before following his father.

"Come." Molly headed down the hallway and to the elevator. She pushed the up button and when the doors opened she stepped inside, pressing the button for the top floor.

"Mum..." George began.

"Not here." she spoke softly, her voice a million times scarier than if she had been yelling. It was that fear that kept George silent. He had a feeling that this was exactly what it felt like just before being kissed by a dementor.

The doors opened into a small park , Molly stepped out of the elevator, nodding with her head for George to follow. It was full of lush green trees, purple violets, pink pansies, hoards of pink, purple and blue petunias, tulips and ever-blooming lilac bushes. Here and there were white painted benches and tables with small chairs. The perfection of the blue sky around it made it obvious that this area was actually just another floor of the hospital, made to look like an outdoor park. In the real outside, it was grey and dreary. A perfect match for George's mood.

Molly walked to a table and sat down. George followed, and sat across from her. He was afraid...he was very, very afraid.

"Mum..."He spoke haltingly. If the reactions of the others were any indication, he was in for the worst ass chewing of his life. "Before you let me have it, please tell me what's happening with Luna."

Molly looked over, ready to 'let him have it', but the look on his face stopped her. She had only seen that look once...the night he'd come into the great hall and saw them all kneeling next to Fred's body.

"She's very sick." She said simply. "She has a bad infection in her kidneys."

"Her kidneys?"

Molly nodded "It started out as a bladder infection and went up into the kidneys. Her healer says that often one can have a bladder infection and not know it for days. It was left untreated, that is why she got so very sick so fast."

"Does it have anything to do with the procedure?"

She shook her head. "Not directly, no. Healer Kenning said it was likely because she wasn't drinking enough water and, since she had to have help to use the bathroom, she wasn't going as frequently as she should have been. Also, she was pushing herself pretty hard, so her being tired weakened her resistance."

"Is she going to be okay?"

Molly looked up at him and George looked down at his hands, sure he had just invited his mother to start giving him the chewing out he knew he deserved.

He had.

"Does that matter to you?"

George's head shot up. "Of course it matters!"

"You've a funny way of showing it."

George sighed and put his face in his hands. "Mum...it's complicated..."

"Complicated!" She huffed. "What's complicated? You make a promise, you keep that promise! End of story! No complications!"

"You don't understand..."

Molly reached out and pulled George's hands away from his face so he had to face her.

"Listen here young man! It was YOU who talked Luna into having that procedure! You dragged us all down here to convince her to have it! You took on a responsibility to that girl, and assured her that you would be there for her!"

"Mum..."

"Don't you 'mum' me, George Weasley!" Molly shook her finger in his face. "This is NOT how I raised you! I did not raise my children to run away from their problems, and I certainly did not raise them to treat people the way you have treated Luna!"

George crossed his arms over his chest and sat back. Molly had hit her stride now...he was a goner, the only thing to do now was to sit and endure it. Besides, he had it coming.

"Imagine..." She shook her head with disgust "Running out on her, dumping her off on someone else like she was a bag of dirty laundry, ignoring her, telling her you were only there because you were stuck with no way out! This is NOT the way I raised you to treat people! Wasn't it enough that you broke her heart?"

George looked up sharply. "She ditched ME mum, remember?"

"Oh yes, I remember!" Molly snorted. "What did you expect her to do? You went up there throwing ultimatums at her, expecting her to just do as you say..."

"With her father's consent!" George said. "He practically begged me to!"

"Then it should have been her father giving the ultimatums, not you!" Molly was beginning to yell now. "You tried to bully her into doing what you wanted! Something, I might add, that you yourself never would have done in a million years!"

George leaned forward and buried his face in his hands again. He brushed his hands through his hair irritably and then looked up at his mother again.

"Mum, what does any of that matter now? It's all in the past...why rehash it?"

Molly leaned forward until their eyes were just inches apart. "Do you really think it doesn't matter? Do you think that I can't see the truth? Why do you think I sent you over there in the first place when I knew it would be difficult for you both?"

George looked up again.

"You think it's not obvious to me and everybody else? You're still in love with her George, and judging by what Ginny told me about her reaction to your leaving yesterday, I think it is a pretty safe bet that she is still in love with you as well."

George sat back in his chair, thinking about everything Luna had said and done in the past month. Her smiles and touches, the way she hugged him, and took his hand sometimes. Somehow, she had always known when he was thinking about Fred, and she had tried to comfort him, even as she had needed comfort herself.

But allowing himself to love her again...to open himself up to that uncertainty, to the risk of losing her...it was unbearable. Still, he wanted to see her...he had to see her. It was like needing air to breathe.

"Is healer Kenning allowing visitors yet?" He asked nervously, afraid of what Molly would say.

He was right to be afraid, Molly became enraged again.

"You don't actually think that I would allow you to see her!" Her voice was that low, angry growl again.

"But...you said..."

"I know what I said! But what do you think is going to happen if you see her now? I'll tell you what...you'll do the same thing you've done twice already! You'll go in and see her, you'll try to patch things up with her, and Luna - being the kind of girl she is - will allow it. Then, in a few days, a week, you'll go and do it again! Well, I won't allow it! I will not allow you to hurt her like that again!"

"Merlin's arse mother!" George was getting angry himself. "Just what in the bloody hell do you want from me?! You say you want me to keep my promise, and then you go and say I have to stay away from her! Which one is it you want?!"

Molly looked slightly shocked, never had George called her mother, much less had the nerve to yell back at her! Unfortunately for George, his sudden boldness only served to enrage her more.

"What I want from you is for you to leave!"

"Wh...what?"

"You heard me! I want you to leave this hospital and I want to you to go off somewhere and do some thinking. I want you to look inside yourself and decide what kind of person you want to be. Do you want to be a little boy who runs away from his problems, or are you going to be a strong, dependable man who faces life head on? Only one of those two is welcome to come back. I imagine you can figure out on your own which is welcome and which is not."

She stood from the table.

"If you do return George, I expect you to stand by Luna's side, and not go running off the next time things get difficult. If you hurt that girl again, 'mother' will not be responsible for her actions."

George looked up, Molly was smiling a little now, yet he wasn't quite naive enough to think she was kidding.

"During the war I learned certain unforgivable curses you know." She said as George stood.

"That's illegal mum." George said as they stepped back onto the elevator.

She gave him a small grin. "Kingsley Shacklebolt has eaten at my table. Do you really not think I could get out of it?"

She gave him a small nod as the elevator doors slid open on Luna's floor.

"You go now George. You look inside your heart and see what's there. I think you'll find a lot more than you are expecting to." She patted his arm and stepped off the elevator.

"I hope I'll see you soon, but I expect to see a son I can be proud of, or none at all." she said softly, just before the doors slid closed between them.

-End Flashback-

"What do I do Fred?" George said softly. "What's in my heart?"

He closed his eyes and thought about Luna. Scene's from their time together ran like a slide show in his head. He saw her again the day she walked into the Hogshead, the day she became their friend. He didn't know exactly when it was that he fell in love with her, only that when he realized it, it hit him hard, rocking him to the depth of his soul.

He reflected on all the uncertainty, the sadness that had consumed him while thinking that she was in love with someone else. First Ron, then Fred, and then Harry. He could still feel the ache that had filled his heart when he'd seen her in Harry's arms on Valentine's Day. Even though he knew now that the embrace had been platonic, it still had the power to make him hurt.

He thought about the feelings that had coursed through him as he wrote the poems. He'd felt so silly, pouring his feelings out in rhyme. He just knew, that had it been Fred, he would have just walked up to Luna and blurted out his feelings. But he had never quite had the courage Fred had. Set off a fireworks show in the hallways...no problem. Conjure a swamp in the fifth floor corridor...piece of cake. Talk about his feelings...hell no.

Then, he remembered that night in the stone circle, when he and Luna had confessed their feelings to each other. It had taken her almost being killed during the ministry raid to give him the courage to tell her that he loved her. During their time together Luna had always worn her heart on her sleeve, feelings right on the surface, while George had always been a little bit afraid of saying the words out loud. Luna was never afraid...even when he himself was scared silly.

Like the night almost a year before...the night Luna had saved him from himself.

He'd felt like a freak, something to be pointed to and laughed at. He thought he was ugly, deformed...damaged beyond repair. He couldn't stomach the pitying looks of his family another minute, so he had ran to hide, gone back to the flat above the shop. Even though the family came, he refused to speak to them until finally they'd given up, even Fred. Molly had convinced them to give him a little space, that he would be okay once he got use to it.

But he hadn't gotten use it. He looked into the mirror at the place where his ear had once been, the ugly curse scars still violently red on the side of his face, the hole hidden by a bandage. He would never be the same again...he would never be whole. There wasn't any reason to ever show his face in public again...

Then she came.

Luna had been gone when they went to bring Harry out of his aunt and uncle's, away visiting her mother's sister. She had no idea of the freak she would be returning to.

He should have known, had the faith to believe that Luna would never see him that way. Though he'd tried, trying to push her away had been pointless...

-Flashback-

Luna stood outside his bedroom door and banged for a solid hour, until the noise was under his skin and he had no choice but to open the door.

"George!" She exclaimed as he opened the door. Her arms wrapped around him, squeezing him tightly while he didn't move, didn't return the embrace. He just stood...passive, hating the coming moment when she would look at him and see the freak that he was now.

"Why are you here?" He said softly. "A person would gather you would have gotten the point to stay away from my note."

She let him go and stepped away. "You didn't actually think I would listen, did you?"

He turned away from her. "I don't want you here. Please, just go."

"Ah, I see." Smiling, Luna stepped in front of him again so that he had to face her. "You're still thinking I'm going to listen. Silly George, I thought you knew me by now."

He stepped away from her again, putting some distance between them.

"So, you've come to have a look at the freak then have you?"

"No." Luna said simply. "You're being rather more of an arse than a freak at the moment."

George had very nearly smiled at that. She always had been cheeky as hell.

"Guess you get two for the price of admission then," he sighed as he sank down onto the sofa. "Lucky you."

Luna knelt down on the floor in front of him, his legs on either side of her, essentially trapping him so he couldn't move away again. "Who are you?" She whispered. "What have you done with the man I love?"

"He's died I think."

"No." Luna shook her head and put her hand on his bare chest, over his heart. "I think he's still here, where you've locked him away for safe keeping."

She looked up at him in the darkness.

"Do you really think that I'm so shallow?" She asked as a storm of tears ran down her cheeks. "Do you really think I would stop loving you just because you were hurt?"

George looked at her for a moment, wondering how she could say such things.

"I'm a freak...a deformed freak." He whispered and sat forward, tearing the bandage from the side of his face. "Look at me...I'm ugly!"

Luna shook her head, cupping his head in her hands. "No...you're brave," she kissed the scars on the side of his face. "You're a hero George. A true," she kissed the scars again, "brave," she kissed them again, "Gryffindor hero," and again.

"I'm proud of you, George." She whispered. "And it scares me...when I think that if the spell had hit you only a few inches more to the side...it scares me. Don't you see how fragile it all is? Don't you realize, compared to what could have happened...an ear means so very little?"

George felt his own tears pouring down his cheeks. He leaned forward and rested his forehead on hers. "How can you say that? I look so...so..."

"I love YOU George! Not what you look like! And definitely not your ears!" Luna wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer. "I never thought your ears were that particularly handsome anyway."

He pulled back, a small smile on his face now. "You don't like my ears?"

"They stuck out a bit you know? A little like Dumbo."

He laughed a little.

"I love you George. No matter what...you'll always be perfect to me."

A surge of pain shot through him. What if she was just saying it to make him feel better? What if, in the end, she couldn't stand to look at him? It was awfully dark with just the moonlight streaming in through the windows, and they hadn't bothered with the lights. He pushed away from her, stood, and stalked away to stare out the window.

"Luna, I know you're trying to make me feel better...but you don't have to lie. I know what I look like now...and it isn't all that wonderful."

He turned to find Luna standing right behind him. She put her arms around him and lay her head on his chest.

"Don't be a fool George. I suppose I understand why you'd want to, you're afraid, afraid that I'll reject you now...but I won't, and I won't let you push me away either."

She lifted her head and looked up at him. "I won't leave you, not ever. I love you and that's that."

Luna reached for his face, and pulling it down to hers, kissed him. His arms went around her, acting against his will to push her away. He pulled her tight against him, deepening her kiss. He only released her long enough to pull the combs from her hair, letting it fall out of the messy bun she wore, and fisting his hands in the moonlit length.

After a long time she pulled away to look up into his eyes.

"Do you think I could fake this George?" She whispered. "Do you think I would want you so badly if I thought you were a freak?"

She pushed against him gently, stepping back. Slowly she undid the buttons on her light summer dress, letting it fall silently to the floor.

"I love you George..."She whispered softly. "I want you...please..."

She stood before him now, dressed only in her panties and the moonlight that came through the window. George shuddered as the last of his desire to push her away was replaced by the familiar desire to love her.

"Luna..." he whispered as he pulled her to him. His lips were drawn to the crook of her neck, and her skin tasted sweeter than anything he had ever encountered at Honeydukes sweet shop. "I want you...I need you..."

His voice was soft against her neck as he lowered her to the floor.

She whispered into the hole where his ear had once been as she lay back, pulling him with her. "...make love to me."

-End Flashback-

They'd made love all night, finally falling asleep as the first light of dawn broke through the window. When he woke, he'd been sure it had just been a dream. Another beautiful dream of making love to her that would fade in the first light of day. Then, he felt the soft skin of her cheek move against his bare chest, and he realized it hadn't been a dream at all.

She had given herself to him completely, and it hadn't been because she pitied him, or because she was trying to prove he wasn't a freak...she'd done it because she loved him. She honestly and truly loved him.

He'd decided then and there... he was going to marry her. Once the war was over and she was finished with school...he was going to marry Luna Lovegood, and they were going to live happily ever after. Even if that meant following her to where ever she went to Wizarding College.

Luna was his future.

But now, all that hope was gone, buried with Fred in the cold, hard ground. But did it have to be that way? Did it really have to be that way?

His mother had told him to go in search of what remained in his heart, and he realized now, accepted now, that what remained was love.

He didn't know what the future held, he didn't know if he could find it in him to offer Luna more than his friendship. But he did know that he had made a promise to her, and between them there already lay too many broken promises. He would go to her, he would beg her to forgive him, and then he would keep his promise to help her through this. He wouldn't leave her again until she was ready to stand on her own.

After that...well, he couldn't think about that now. For now, what mattered was that as long as she needed him, he would stand with her...just as when he had needed her, she had stood with him.

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Chapter 14 Preview

George returns to the

hospital, his resolve to stand

by her firm...

Coming up...

an emotional reunion.

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