A/N: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER :)

PLEASE BE KIND

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CHAPTER EIGHT - I Will Be Alright

Avery laid on the bed that once belonged to Fred, she was wide awake as the clock resounded softly to alert the residents that it was already way past midnight.

She carefully turned to her side, making her belly even more pronounced and began caressing it distractedly. She could hear the light sound of George's snore from the room next to hers and immediately found comfort knowing that she wasn't alone anymore.

Had someone told her a year ago that she'd end up living with George after being left pregnant by Fred, she would have laughed at their faces and perhaps she's even give them a slap. But here she was, spending yet another sleepless night thinking about a future she'd never have with Fred.

"Avi, you're awake again..." George's voice surprised her, successfully distracting her from her thoughts. He had used the nickname he remembered Fred used to call her with, as he knew well enough that it somehow calmed her.

"Did I wake you up?" she asked gently, to which he shook his head as a no. "Sorry, I can't sleep"

"Want me to bring you some tea? I could slip in a bit of sleeping potion"

Avery took a moment to consider before shaking her head and patting the small space beside her. "I don't want to sleepwalk again, George"

George nodded in acknowledgement, understanding what she meant. He sat down next to her laying figure and held her hand, like how he had been doing the past week since she had moved in with him. Something they had found to have successfully calmed both of them down. "What do you wanna talk about?" he asked like every other night.

"I was thinking about the Burrow, George" she bit her lip in hesitation, though he just sat there patiently waiting for her to continue. "Do you think they'll like me?"

"Why wouldn't they?"

"Because my father killed Fred" her voice broke as she spoke.

"You read the Daily Prophet...?" he asked and she nodded in response. "Avi, you had no control over what your father did. You made your choice like your grandparents so you should hold your head high and be proud"

"I should've binded Fred onto the fucking chair when he came last time" she mumbled sarcastically, making George chuckle.

"That might've been a good idea" he amused her while making circles on the hand he was holding. George watched as she put her hand underneath the pillow and took out the only picture she had with Fred. She stared at the repeating image for a while, a distant look was on her face.

"Do you think it would still be possible to fix this picture?" she suddenly asked.

He shrugged. "It should be"

Avery frowned in thought and sighed. "I must've been pretty out of it when I was holding it so tightly"

He smirked to her. "You were. You clutched it so tightly when you saw me, I almost thought you wanted to choke me"

"Fred was the one I wanted to choke" she grumbled.

"I'll join you on that" he whispered back.

Although already very late, George continued on talking with her. It had somehow become a routine for them. Every night they'd talk and enjoy each other's presence waiting for when she was distracted enough to finally fall asleep.

George looked at the clock beside the bed and sighed as he saw it was already way past 4 am. He slowly pry his hand from Avery's hold and got up to stretch. "I guess 2 hours sleep is better than nothing" he whispered to himself and, after glancing one last time towards the sleeping woman, he exited the room, leaving the door slightly ajar.

When Avery woke up, George had already gone to the shop downstairs and had left her a plate of breakfast, consisting of dry toast with honey. It wasn't much but it was pretty much one of the few foods she could only stomach.

As she went next to the kitchen window, she would occasionally glance at the clock but tried her hardest to distract herself by watering the flowers Fred had bought her. The distraction could only do so much, though, as she would unconsciously stare back at the clock. It showed 11 am and that day was the day she would officially meet the Weasley Family. She dreaded this day since the fiasco of her first meeting with Fred's parents. She had shown them a very pitiful side of herself, thus fearing they wouldn't like her at all.

"You know staring at it won't make it stop, right?" Avery turned towards the slightly unfamiliar voice and saw the boisterous announcer she often saw at Hogwarts, Lee Jordan.

She remembered how just a week prior, Lee had welcomed her like an old friend when George introduced her. Despite the short period of time he had known her, he had been very kind with her, always helping her out whenever George felt like it wasn't safe enough for her to go around the store.

"Good morning, princess. George told me to come and help you down the stairs. The car has arrived"

She stared at him in confusion. "What car?"

Instead of answering, Lee Jordan had a wicked smirk on his face, confusing her even more. Not that it mattered though, because as soon as she was down the stairs, she immediately caught the sight of an old-fashioned dark green car right outside the windows of the shop.

"What the fuck... Isn't that a ministry car!?" she looked at Lee, who just shrugged nonchalantly. "Where is that shit head? He's too much!"

Avery began walking around the shop hurriedly with a murderous look on her face while Lee followed her worriedly.

"You should walk slowly, Avery" he tentatively told her, only to end up being ignored as he would occasionally flinch whenever she'd stumble a little. "George, where are you!?" he'd shouted in distress.

Just as Lee was beginning to fear she was gonna fall and his head would follow behind, they finally found George not took far from the Wonder Witch section. He was talking to a tall, dark skinned beautiful woman. Both looked awfully awkward and hesitant as they bid their goodbyes.

"Who's that?" Avery asked curiously, her anger almost gone.

"Oh it's Angie, I wonder what she's here for" Lee answered with a sigh of relief when she finally stopped running around. "Do you not know her?"

"Fred has mentioned her..." she vaguely recalled how Fred had confronted her about her feelings just because of how heartbroken George was for Angelina. Just the memory of his pout while burnt was enough to bring a nostalgic smile on her face.

"What's with the face, Avi?" George asked as he approached them with a slight blush on his face.

Avery snapped out of it and glared back at him. "What's with the car, Georgie?" she asked back with as much attitude as she could.

"Courtesy of my brother Percy and my dad. They don't think it's really safe for you to go around apparating or using the floo network" he explained nonchalantly as though it was the most reasonable thing ever. But when he saw the outraged face she was making and Lee signing him not to continue, he immediately changed attitude. "Wh-which of course was an...exaggeration! Yeah, they are being too much"

"I'm not taking that car, Georgie"

He hesitantly looked back at his friend then at Avery. "Just humor them a little, please?"

Avery glared at him even more.

"Just this time and then I can always tell them to stop"

She rolled her eyes at him before nodding with irritation. "This is the last time"

"Good. Take care of the shop for me, Lee" George went to help Avery walk, only to be slapped away from her. "Jeez, what's with the attitude today?"

Instead of answering, she showed him her middle finger, making him snort in indignation.

"Well ain't that rude? Are you nervous of meeting the family perhaps?" he asked sarcastically, knowing fully well that it was indeed the case.

"Want my shoe in your mouth? Because bitch I'd be delighted to" she growled at him while getting on the car. On the driver's seat sat a strange looking man who initially didn't even acknowledge them, then went to do a double take when he glanced at the rear view mirror to look at them. He was now openly staring at her through the mirror, making her frown.

"This must be what my brother meant when he said you were pretty with a filthy mouth" he sighed and sat next to her, completely ignorant of the staring man.

Avery leaned towards him and nervously took his hand for comfort. "Do you know this man?" she whispered to George, who shook his head cluelessly before giving the driver directions.

"Come on Avi, don't be nervous. It'll be quick and painless" he said, now making circles on her hand and smiling with satisfaction.

Although hesitant, Avery decided to trust George and did all she could to ignore the rude driver. It didn't take them long before they were at the Burrow as the car had flew over London in no time.

George went to take a duffle bag from the trunk, making Avery confused. The driver still kept his eyes on her until he was long gone, which had definitely spooked her. "What's with the duffle bag?"

"Did I not tell you?" she slowly shook her head with a raised eyebrow. "We are spending the night here!"

"What!?"

"Oh George, you're here!" just then Mrs. Weasley appeared from the doorway, wearing one of her flowery aprons. She had a very welcoming smile and seemed to be over the moon. She went to hug her son before approaching Avery and putting her hands on both her cheeks. "Welcome to you as well, dear"

Avery felt very out of place and was very thankful when Mrs. Weasley didn't try to smother her like she did her son. "Hello Mrs. Weasley" she hesitantly greeted.

"Molly is fine, Avery. Why don't we get you settled then? Come inside, we were just about to have lunch. You're just in time" she enthusiastically said, leading the way to the Burrow.

The Weasley family was infamous for being very large and just the idea of sitting and being with people she didn't knew was nerve wrecking. George, on the contrary, seemed to be very excited and was almost skipping on the way inside.

"You told me it was gonna be quick!" she tugged at his hand in anger but all he did was shrugged, completely ignoring her. "Georgie!"

As soon as they entered the house, Avery noticed how the room had been enchanted to fit exactly eleven people, including both of them, plus a baby with turquoise hair. Each of them seemed to be busy with their own conversations: Ginny with Hermione, Harry and the baby with Bill and Fleur, Percy with his father and Ron simply listening in and eating.

"Sorry we're late. Kind of got side tracked" George said as he headed towards the stairs with the bag still in his hand. "Avi, come here" he gestured for her to follow him upstairs.

Everyone's attention immediately turned towards her, making her self conscious and stutter. "H-Hi..." she managed to say before finally hurrying upstairs right behind George. "Where are we going?" she asked after they had went pass the first floor and up to the second floor.

George patted the door of the second floor and smiled at her. "We'll be staying here for tonight. Can you guess whose room was this?"

Avery shook her head, then slowly made her way into the room. It was big enough to fit two single beds, one had burgundy colored covers while the other had mustard colored ones, and a huge wardrobe. She noticed several markings on the walls and ceiling like something had burnt or exploded inside. There was a picture of the twins next to their beds, it showed them during a summer spent at the Burrow, both smiling and ignorant of their future.

"This was Fred's room?" she wondered as she sat on the burgundy bed, her hand trailing along the etched big F on the covers.

"And mine, of course" George opened his arms and gestured around the small and simple room. "This is where the magic began"

"I can see that with all the burnt marks. No wonder Fred once came to me completely burnt"

"What can I say, we were never angels" he shrugged with a smile before extending a hand towards her and nodding. "Come on, let's go down and have lunch"

"I'm nervous, Georgie..." she confessed. She hesitantly took his hand and let him lead the way back downstairs, where everyone was waiting.

"I'll be here, don't worry" he reassured.

They carefully made their way down the stairs, where George immediately walked up to the only free seats next to Percy. He pulled one of the chairs and gestured for her to sit down.

"Avi, this is my brother Percy, next to him is our dad and mom as you've already known. Then there's Bill with his wife Fleur, along with Harry and his godson Teddy, he is Remus and Tonks' son. We kind of just borrowed him for the day from his grandmother so the poor lady could finally rest" George explained while pointing at each of them. "Here next to me is Ginny and Hermione, then you have the youngest son busy stuffing his face, Ronald Weasley"

"Why am I the only one with the full name?" Ron asked with his mouth full, earning himself a light slap on the arm from his mother.

"Just because" George grinned at his brother, then proceeded to turn towards Avery. "Anyways, this is Avery, Fred's secret lover"

Upon hearing her introduction, she angrily slapped his arm with a glare on her face. "Secret lover my ass" she grumbled.

"Excuse her, mom. She kind of have a filthy mouth" George chuckled when Avery tried to slap him again.

"It's okay, dear. I know George can be a bit too much sometimes" Mrs. Weasley reassured her. "Well let's start lunch, then?"

The lunch was the most awkward one Avery had ever had as everyone would mumble some things from time to time but overall nobody conversed. Everyone would often glance at her, seemingly ready to speak but would chicken out and look away. It continued on until the very end of lunch, when they finally got up from the table and went to their respective spots in small groups.

She didn't understand why everyone looked at her and pretended not to whenever she'd catch them. It made her feel unwelcome and it wasn't exactly how she imagined a Weasley Family reunion. It was much more different and fun from how Fred had described it.

Just as she sat on the couch with George, who had his eyes closed while leaning backwards next to her, Percy went to approach her. Avery looked at him confused as she was aware of how many time he had opened his mouth during lunch, but never actually saying anything. She watched as he slowly bowed his head towards her and brokenly said sorry.

His voice held so much emotion, making everyone look at him with interest.

"Percy, wh-what are you doing?" she asked in embarrassment. George had now opened his eyes and was looking at his brother with the same confusion as her.