I don't own any of the characters in the story; just love 'em all.

Thanks to all of the new followers, it's awesome that people like this story. Makes me feel really good for my first Harry Potter story, 13 favorites and 41 followers!

.96780 – I know that last line was just such a George line. I thought about taking it out but when I re-read it, I couldn't it seemed just right.

Georges POV

"That's ok." She says leaning against the door. "Just a second that took the wind out of me and I am just a little lightheaded." I close the gap, to help steady her, when she smiles at me, "Ginny never wanted any dinner, so I think I am hungry, how about you?"

"Of course, you remember I am a Weasley, I can always eat. I am surprised she didn't want to eat. Did you want me to go get something?"

"I was thinking of making breakfast, eggs, maybe does that sound good?" As she is opening her flat, walking through the kitchen, turning on lights as she goes. "Make yourself comfortable, I want to change into something else." She walks back down her hallway to her bedroom.

Walking around looking at more of her pictures and decorations, I notice a note on her coffee table. As it is in what I think it French, it can only be from one person. "You have a note out here on your coffee table; I think it is from Fleur." Picking in up and carrying it back into the kitchen for her as she walks in.

"Much better, more comfortable," She has changed into a pair of black sleep shorts and what looks like one of my old Quidditch sweatshirts. If it hadn't hung up on one of her hips it would have covered her shorts completely. Her hair is in a messy ponytail that adds to her appeal.

"Hey, where did you get that?" I ask pulling at the arm of the sweatshirt and leaning against the counter when she bent over to get food out of the fridge.

"You let me borrow it once at the Burrow and I might not have ever given it back." She replies with her head now in a cabinet looking for a pan, "I liked how comfy it was to sleep in." She starts making food for us to eat, she looks comfortable cooking.

"Why are you doing it that way? Why not use magic?"

"Because, this makes me think of my mom and how she use to make me breakfast." She is stirring some milk into the eggs when she stops. "I miss her, so much." Before I can react, she slumps to the floor, sobbing, she is shaking so hard with each breath. All I can do is sit down with her and wrap my arms around her and pull her into my lap. I have seen her cry before but I have never seen her so broken looking. I just let her cry and I hold her. I didn't know how long she would cry but I knew that all I would do would hold her as long as she did. Soon she has stopped shaking but is still quietly crying; she has turned in my lap and now has her face in the crook of my neck.

"I don't know what to say, Meenie, I can't begin to know what to say or do for you. But I am here and will stay here until you tell me otherwise. You just let me know." Pulling her as close to me as I can. I want her to feel that I am here for her.

"I tried to go back and restore their memories, I did. I just couldn't do it."

"You don't have to do this now, it can wait."

"I need to tell you this, I need to tell someone." She has turned and is now playing with the hair on the back of my neck. She is thinking about something, I can tell, her brow is furrowed and she is chewing on the inside of her cheek. "I am going to tell you about it but I need to be doing something while I talk." She stands up and offers her hand to me and pulls me up. Then turns to the stove and continues to cook. I lean against the counter next to the stove while she continues to talk. "I can't imagine telling anyone but you. I knew that there would be no way I could protect them and no way to hide them. If the Death Eaters thought that they had any information on me or Harry, that they would be tortured." She is looking at the pan and scrambling the eggs and she puts some bread in a machine that I have seen in dad's shop. "I wanted to protect them, the best way I knew how. I researched the spell and read everything I could on it. I knew I could do it, I had to do it, I just didn't know when I would do it. Then when I went to see them and get a few things from my room; I decided I had to do it that day. So when I came back downstairs, we sat down to have tea." She placed the eggs and now toasted bread on a plate and hands it to me and then making herself a plate and takes it to the table. Getting a glass out of the cabinet and then pouring her a glass of milk. "You want some?" Nodding my head yes confused about her demeanor but not wanting to interrupt her to ask about it. "I am sorry, I am not being cold on purpose but I have to keep thinking about what I am doing here and now, otherwise I will be a complete and total mess. Again."

"I think I can understand that."

She takes a bite of her food, chewing and thinking. "I excused myself from tea and from the foyer I cast my spell. I had this weird wave wash over me, I felt like something left my body. I watched, as their faces changed, they looked like they were in a daze. Every picture I was in I slowly faded and if I was the only one there it disappeared completely." She stabbed a piece of egg with her fork and placing it in her mouth. "I ran from the house, I ran down the street, I knew there was an apparition point about a mile from the house. I ran and ran until I reached it. Once there I apparated to just outside for the Burrow, not sure why I went there but it was the first place I thought of. Your mum saw me land and she thought I had injured myself because I of how I landed, I was able to hide being upset about my parents because I said Ianded wrong on my leg. She sent me straight away to Ginny's room and I was able to be alone for a while. After that I tried to put it all at the back of my mind, most of the time I worked. I tried not to think of them. I had nightmares almost every night while we were gone. I wasn't able to go to try and reverse the charm for a couple of weeks after the war ended. I knew if I reverse the charm, I didn't want them to see me in the condition I was after the fighting. I also needed time to heal because I knew it would take a lot out of me to do it. So when I felt strong enough, I went home, I saw my mother from the window and attempted to cast the reversal. It didn't work, I saw no change in her, attempted and second and third time. I was getting nowhere. I saw my father coming home from work, so I thought I would try reversing him. Again, two, three, four, five and I don't know how many more times I tried. I was using Harry's Invisibility Cloak and I sat down right in the yard I had grown up in and cried." Dropping her hands to her lap, "Then I realized I needed help, I thought I knew who could help me. My next stop was Hogwarts. I apparated to Hogsmeade and owled Professor McGonagall to see if I could come in, the wards were still up around the school and you needed to have permission to enter the land. Once I received approval from the Headmistress, I went straight away to Professor Flitwick. I explained what happened and everything I did. He thought that he could help; he asked that I give him the address of my parent's house and to wait for him in his office. He left and I waited and waited. It seemed like he was gone for hours." Finishing up the food on her plate, she picked up her plate and took it to the sink. Placing her hands on the counter and leaning down, without turning around "He finally returned and his face spoke volumes. He asked me to sit, I did, and he said when he looked into their minds to find where my memories hid. He couldn't find anything, he then asked me again to describe how I felt when the spell was cast. I described the wave that washed over me and how it felt like it rose from my feet and all the way through my head and out of my fingertips. Like nothing I had ever felt before or since. The look on his face changed again that is when he told me what he is sure happened. He tried to reverse my charm but he was not able to. He thinks that I had completely wiped their memories of me, instead of burying those memories below layers and layers of forgetfulness as the spell is supposed to do. I had removed everything there ever was, without there being something to awaken within them he would not be able to reverse it, he apologized profusely. But it was my fault. All my fault, I had excelled at everything I have done in the Wizarding world except this one thing." Turing around and leaning against the counter she finishes her story "If he can't reverse the charm, no one can. They have a new baby; she was born last month a little girl. They are happy now, I am happy for them. I have to come to terms with that. I have to come to term with the fact that they will never know who I am." She crosses her arms and looks at me and shrugs. "I understand if you don't want to stay any longer or if this changes how you feel."

Standing up and walking to her, I put my arms around her "There is no other place I would rather be." Kissing her on the forehead. "Let's go to bed, I can do the dishes tomorrow." Starting down the hallway, "Wait your note from Fleur, do you want to read it?"

"That's right; go ahead, I will be there in a minute. It will give you a minute to get comfortable." She turns away, squeezing my hand in hers before letting go. I continue down the hall and into her room.

I walk around her room; it is as I would have expected. Full of books and a large chair in the corner for her to curl up in. Her bed is in the middle of the room, under a large fluffy purple duvet. I had already kicked my shoes off in the living room. I pull my button down shirt off and go to her wardrobe to hang it up, since I will have to put it back on tomorrow. Opening the door, I am looking for a hanger when I come across something unexpected. A jacket in a plastic bag it's tattered, torn and bloody, I recognize it from the Battle of Hogwarts. Why does she still have it? I would have figured she would have gotten rid of it and anything that would remind her of that day.

End of POV

"She wants me to come to the house tomorrow before dinner at the Burrow. She says she misses me." Entering her room she sees him looking at the jean jacket from so long ago. "Looking for something?"

"A hanger for my shirt. I will need to wear it tomorrow and don't want it to look like you ripped it off me." Winking at her and giving her a large smile. Showing that nothing has changed between them. "How did Fleur get in your house without you here?" Knowing Hermione, she had to have wards up on her house and people being able to use the Floo without you being in your house is not normal.

"I have my Floo set up so that certain people can have access to my house when I am not here. Ginny, Harry, Bill, Fleur, Charlie and well today I added you." She finds an empty hanger and hands it to him. "You probably want to know, why I still have this. Don't you?"

"Well, that and why Bill, Fleur and Charlie have access to your house. I mean, you haven't been close to them like Ginny and Harry and then were on the list to have more or less complete access to your flat?" hanging the shirt up. He turns and she is already under the blankets, leaning against the headboard.

"I kept the jacket, so that I can remind myself that I am strong and that I can conquer anything, even when it seems like all is lost." Patting the spot next to her in bed, "Come on and get in bed and I will tell you about Bill, Fleur and Charlie." Walking around the end of the bed, he starts to get in with his jeans on. "If you want to, you can take those off, it won't bother me." Unbuttoning his pants, he slides them off and lays them across the end of the bed.

Hermione POV

"You can take those off, it won't bother me." Where in the hell, did that come from? Why did I say that? Trying not to blush as I watch George unbutton his pants and slide them down and lay them across the end of the bed. Green boxer shorts and a white t-shirt, that is all that he has one as he slides under the covers and leans against the headboard like I am.

"No taking advantage of me in the night, I can't be held accountable for what I do when I am asleep." I smack him in the stomach making him groan a little. "Fine, you can take advantage of me all you want. No need to get violent."

"George, trust me, I won't be taking advantage of you. At least not tonight." I laugh, trying to lighten the mood a little. He has never been in my bed, I have been in his bed many times, at school and at the Burrow but he has never come to mine. "They have access to my house because after the war they would check on me if they hadn't heard from me in a day or two. They worried about me. How much do you know about what happened while we were on the run?" I asked, I had made Ron and Harry swear to me that they would leave me out of any stories they told about while we were gone. I didn't know if they kept their promise or not.

"Not much, I know that you were camping for a long time while researching the Horcruxes. That you were captured at one time and taken to the Malfoy manor. That is about it. I figured you would talk to me if you needed to."

"Well, that is the very nice version of the events. The story of what happened in the Malfoy Manor is part of the reason your brothers and Fleur mean so much to me. After we had been captured by the Snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor, Bellatrix had decided I would be the one to try and get information from. While the others were locked in the basement, as I was later told, with Luna, Ollivander and Griphook. She tried to force information out of me, first by letting Scabior, get very physical with me. When I wouldn't submit to him sexually," Shuddering at the memory of the man being on top of me. "His hands were all over me. He was trying to get my pants off of me." George's hands are clenched in tight fists, I taken one in my and stroke his palm while I continue to speak "As hard as this is to say, I owe something to Lucius Malfoy, he told Scabior to stop. He said regardless of whom it was, he would not allow something like that to go on in his house. After some argument, he relented, since he would not be able to have his way with me, he took his frustration out by smacking me around, while Bellatrix would ask questions, if I didn't answer or answer fast enough, he would hit me, when that didn't work, he started kicking me. She kept asking me questions about the Sword of Gryffindor and Harry and the Order; I didn't have any answers for her. Of course we knew about it, we had it but I wasn't going to let her know that. She tired of my lack of answers and she wasn't having any fun, she said. So she had Scabior back off and she started using the Cruciatus Curse on me." Squeezing his hand mine as he gasped a little. "It hurt; I have never hurt like that before. She kept hitting me with it, again and again. I lost count after the tenth time. I had actually started to wish I would die."

"Hermione, don't…." I cut George off when I realized his eyes were tearing up.

"I didn't know how much more I could take. I would never tell any of our secrets but I didn't know if my body would be able to stand any more Curses. Then she said well if that won't work, we will try something else. She cast a spell over me to pin me to the ground. She took out a knife and started to lightly draw it over my body. Not cutting me, at least not yet. She had decided that if she couldn't get me to say what she wanted, she would cut it out of me. She started to ask questions again and each time I wouldn't or couldn't answer, she would cut me. This carried on for some a while, I knew that I was bad off. Then after some time I heard a small tussle from the other end of the room. The others had escaped and the commotion had distracted Bellatrix enough that I was able to get up and make it to Ron and Harry. I was quite out of it; I basically crawled to them, according to Harry. Before I knew what was going on, we had been transported to Shell Cottage."

"To Bill and Fleur's? Who decided that would be a good place?"

"Dobby, he was trying to help. I don't remember making it there; all I remember is feeling like I was floating. I felt someone picking me up and carrying me into the house. I could make out the red hair but I didn't really recognize the voice, it kept telling me "Breathe, Breathe sweetheart, we will help you." Later on I found out I was being carried into the house by Charlie, he and Bill had seen Ollivander, Luna and Griphook arrive by Dobby appariting them and came out as he arrived with me, Harry and Ron. I guess I was a mess. Charlie realized that Fleur needed to see me as soon as possible as she had been trained as a healer. After Charlie had laid me on the extra bed, while Fleur started taking care of me, Charlie went to tell Bill that the others needed to be kept away from me and Fleur while I was being healed."

"Who told you about all of this?" he asks while holding my hands in between his then putting his arm around and pulling me close to him.

"Charlie filled me on everything, he didn't want to but I made him. I guess I am quite convincing when I want to be. Bill and Charlie worked together to keep the others away while Fleur started with the cuts on my face, they were mostly from Scabior. She was able to close all of the cuts and decided to look me over before she dealt with the bruising. She had given me a potion to help take off the edge of the pain plus one to help me wake up a little so that I could talk with her, tell her what hurt and what happened. She asked me to sit up so she could take my coat off and then my shirt. She tried to work on me; I guess I was bleeding badly from a cut. I remember her voice, thinking about how sweet she sounded, she told me she needed Bill or Charlie to come in and help her. She asked me to just say where I was and to leave my shirt off. They would need to be able to see me, to heal me." Sighing and rubbing my face against his neck and wrapping my arms around him. "Had I been more awake, I probably would have protested the idea of anyone else seeing me in that state but I just wanted to feel better, the pain medicine she gave me wasn't helping and she said she couldn't give me anything else until I was healed. I guess both Bill and Charlie came back with her, later on, Charlie told me, and that Fleur's face when she came out of the room scared them both. She was paler and she couldn't talk, she just cried. The others had been settled in a room and Bill had given them all a potion to make them sleep for a little while. Between them all, they were able to heal the broken ribs and cuts from Scabior beating me but the knife that Bellatrix used, Bill thinks was a goblin knife with a cursed blade, they had to keep applying pressure to the wounds. Luckily Bill knew a potion hat he could mix to smear on the cuts to at least stop the bleeding. At this point in stage, I had fully woken up and was well aware of the pain. So while Bill was getting the potion completed Fleur and Charlie talked to me, asked me questions about my family, school, Muggle things, anything to keep my mind off of it. Coming back in Bill had completed the potion and he told me that it would burn when they put it on because the potion cauterizes the wound. Fleur and Charlie held me down while he smeared it on the wounds, he was right, it hurt. It hurt so much that I jerk my arm free from Fleur and punched Charlie, breaking his nose. I felt bad later on about that but in my defense I felt like they were killing me. After the bleeding stopped and Bill healed Charlie's nose, he left the room to check on the others. Fleur asked me if I anything else happened. I shook my head and she told me she would let me rest, gave me some clothes to change into and would be back in with food shortly. Charlie stayed with me, he helped me change, and he was so sweet. Like I imagine a big brother would be. After I changed and got settled back in bed, I couldn't help it but I started to cry. Charlie held me while I cried and just kept telling me over and over it would be ok. I was strong and he would help me through it. That they would help me through it. I was so exhausted and fell asleep shortly after that and didn't hear Fleur bring in food for me. Charlie stayed there the whole night with me. So if it wasn't for them, I don't know if I would be here. It could have been very bad and they are the only ones who know. Ron and Harry know that I was beaten and tortured to a point but they don't know everything. I asked them to not say anything to Ron or Harry, I didn't want them to think of me as damaged, and I was still as able as I was before. The three of them gave me their word that they wouldn't mention it to anyone as long as I checked in with them from time to time with them. I hated feeling like they thought I was weak but looking back on it, I needed the support."

"That is a lot to take in, that you could survive all of that and still be the person, you are. You are still a wonderful, sweet, thoughtful and caring person." George says kisses me on the side of the head. "Thank you for telling me that. You didn't have to but I am glad you trust me with it."

Pulling away from him and kneeling facing George, "There is one last thing, I have something I want to show you." Quietly to myself "detege furta" pulling off the sweatshirt I have on, revealing my undershirt and scars. "As you can see, the cuts have healed but I am scarred for life because of the knife she used." I don't want to look at George, I look at my arm where Mudblood had been carved into it there are a few small ones that are not as noticeable on my neck and chest but you can't help be drawn to the word on my arm. As I watch him take in the word that I know the Weasley family despises I slowly pull the front of my shirt up to expose my belly, criss crossed with scars showing more scars that have no meaning to anyone other than to the crazy woman that put them there. "I keep them glamoured to avoid questions." Pulling my shirt back down and reaching for the sweatshirt to pull back on. George stops me, slides me down under the covers and casts a spell to turn off the lights. I have never told anyone both of the stories that I have told George tonight, I knew that I had to tell him. I still have nightmares on a regular basis and if he is going to be with me, he needs to know what he is getting into.

End of POV

"Now I want to say this, I am glad you have told me this. I wish you would have come to me sooner. I would have helped you through it but I can also understand why you didn't. You never have to hide anything about yourself in front of me." George closes his eyes, opening his mouth and closing it several times, like he is unsure what to say. "I think you are beautiful, inside and out. Do you trust me? I mean do you trust me enough to close your eyes for a minute?" George sits up and asks her.

"Yes, I do. I think I do." Unsure of what he could mean that. She anxiously shifts in bed.

"Ok then close your eyes and relax. I promise you are safe with me." Reluctantly she closes her eyes and can feel him moving around. He extends the arm with the scar out so that it is flat on the bed. He traces a line over the scar, lightly with his fingertips. Tracing a line up her arm and holding her face in his hands. Kissing her cheeks and then bracing him by placing his hands on either side of her. She gasps feeling the bed dip due to his weight. Leaning over her arm, starting at her elbow he kisses each and every letter. "I" kiss "still" kiss "think" kiss "you" kiss "are" kiss "beautiful" kiss "and" kiss "always" kiss "will" kiss. She shivers as he kisses all the way to her palm, placing a kiss in her hand. "Don't forget that." Lying back down, she snuggles as close to him as she possibly can. There is not an inch between them; she has her arm around his waist grabbing some of his shirt in her fist.

"Now that I have bared my soul to you, can you answer one question for me?" her question muffled as she is speaking into his chest.

"Anything."

"What happened to you tonight, why did you leave the club?"

His posture tenses and his breathing quickens, "Well, I have always just thought of you as a friend, a very close friend. We have shared a lot over the years." She feels his heart beating quickly against her cheek that is resting on his chest. "I never thought that I would have so many emotions and thoughts running through my head and heart."

"You are having trouble thinking of me like that, now you don't know if you will be able to love me or want me." She starts to withdraw from his grasp.

"You are getting ahead of me; I almost would say the opposite. Just let me explain, since you left with Ron and Harry, you were in my thoughts, always. While you were gone, you entered my thoughts and dreams almost daily. I worried constantly about you. Afraid that your name was going to be one of those names on the lists we would receive. Fred woke me up because I was screaming from a nightmare that you were being chased through a forest. I couldn't sleep for a week after that, the look on your face, the fear in your eyes; it was like I was there with you. Then I saw you dueling at Hogwarts during the battle. You were so strong looking, so determined, I saw you rescue a group of first years. You also helped protect Fred and me, don't think I didn't see you cast that spell over us to stop part of that wall collapse. You saved me from injury and Fred from death. I have never forgotten that." He has to stop, to compose himself; he hadn't spoken of that with anyone. He never even told Fred. "I knew there was no way I could ever express what I wanted to you about that day. You saved my twin, my best friend, my other half. How could I not thank you but everything that I thought of, was too little. I hoped I would finally figure out something to tell you. Now all I can tell you is, I have started falling in love with you." He is quiet, letting what he has said sink in.

"What did you say?"

"I have started to fall in love with you, tonight I realized that over the last year, my feelings have been changing. Tonight, the difficult part of it was, well, I mean, I don't nessaccarily know how to say it." It is a good thing the room was dark, his face has flushed.

"Just say it, we have to be honest with each other. We are together now, don't need to start our relationship hiding from each other." She says matter of fact.

"I was attracted to you, very turned on actually." Almost in a whisper he admits. "I had never had feelings like that about you before and wasn't sure how to react."

"Oh." she is smiling and holding him closer. "But if we are going to need to marry, isn't that a good thing?"

"Yes, but it was also unexpected. I didn't think it would smack me upside the head, I saw a different side of you tonight. You were sexy and confident. We all saw it, Fred and Lee even said something to me about me being very lucky to have you. All I could think about I was dancing with you, was how much I wanted to kiss you, hold you and feel your body next to mine. I just didn't know if I should or you would want me to."

Pushing herself up, so she can look in his eyes. She leans down and places a kiss on his lips, opening her mouth just enough to trace his bottom lip with her tongue. He opens his mouth to great her kiss with his tongue. Deepening the kiss she places a hand at his neck, cradling the back of his head. She nibbles on his bottom lip, breaking the kiss, "You mean like that?"

"Yes, like that." Rolling her over so she is on her back. Leaning in to kiss her again, he kisses her softly first and then as she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him in close, he deepens the kiss, taking her breath away. He guides her mouth open again, this time, they are both kissing to other with more fervor than any of the previous kisses. He traces his fingers down her neck, drifting down her back pulling her in close. "My god, I never knew I could feel this many things all at the same time." Leaning his head against hers. "You are so beautiful and you do so many things to my head. I can't think straight."

"We should get some sleep, I need to see Fleur before dinner at the Burrow. Would you want to come with me?"

"That's sounds good, just one thing, don't glamour yourself tomorrow, you don't need to cover yourself up. I want you to feel comfortable around me and you should feel comfortable around the family too." Pulling the covers up around them. "Just think about it."

"I will, you are the first person I have shown." She settles back in, wrapping one arm around his middle. "Do you feel better now that you have kissed me?" Poking him in the side and laughing.

"Yes, I do. I never want to spend another night apart." He kisses her hair, breathing in her scent. "We can talk about it tomorrow." He can tell she is already drifting off, her arm is around him and she had thrown a leg over his. She is practically laying on him but he isn't going to complain. Closing his eyes and relaxing, he is also asleep shortly.

This ended up being longer than I expected. I love the fact that they are discovering their feelings for each other. As always, review and let me know how you feel.

Detege furta – reveal your secrets.