Trust Me // George Weasley

Chapter 22: The Golden Opportunity

"Why is it always that the second September hits it rains every day?" Anna sighed and let herself fall back on her bed. The sound of the rain on her window was nice, but she had rather have sunny weather.
"Not every day. Yesterday it didn't rain," George said with a chuckle and hung his jacket on the hook. "That's what you get for living in England, love."
"Well, it wasn't my choice where I was born, was it?" she teased and pulled him down on the bed with her. He kicked off his shoes and pulled her closer to his chest.
"But you chose to stay," he reminded her.
"Would you have rather have me leave the country?" she teased. He held her a little tighter in response. "But rainy weather does give us a great excuse to stay in and cuddle all day."
"Mhm," he hummed and stroked her hair gently. She closed her eyes for a moment, focussing on the sound of his heartbeat mixed with the tapping of the rain on the window. He had just picked her up from another therapy session. It tired her, but the fact that George had taken the entire afternoon off just so he could stay with her made it okay.
It was going pretty well. She was working through her anxiety and the trauma at a steady pace, though she knew that recovery wasn't a gradual process. Some days were easy, some days were hard. But that was okay.
"Do you," George started but stopped talking again. She looked up at him, a confused frown on her face. "I just wanted to ask if you ever talk about me, like - no of course you aren't," he sighed and rubbed his eyes.
"I do talk about you but only in a sense that I talk about how incredibly supportive you are and how you truly care about me," she said and ran her hand through his hair. "I would never tell her about magic, and I don't feel the need to."
"Yes but magic is the whole reason it happened. That it's still happening," he said and looked at her. He seemed to be in conflict with his own thoughts as if he was blaming himself for the attacks. There had been several attacks, all by wizards, but so far the Aurors had no luck finding them yet.
"George, it could have happened with or without magic. Just because I know that it was wizards who did it, doesn't mean that it makes it worse," she told him and gently stroked her thumb on his cheek. "I'm not worried about magic. Humans, I mean the ones who can't do magic, create situations like these too. I work at a museum, a crowded place in the centre of the capital city of the country. We hope it never happens but it's not unlikely that things like these happen."
"But-"
"But I'm fine. I have a badass scar on my cheek now, I'm working through my anxiety, I'm working two and a half days again, the Sainsbury Wing is being rebuilt and we're all okay," she said before he could object. "Just because wizards did it doesn't mean I'm afraid of magic. It doesn't mean that my trauma is any more intense, trust me."
"Are you sure? If you do want to talk about it, you can talk to me. Or mum, or-"
"I am. I'm talking to you now. But it honestly does not bother me one bit, George. Can you just trust me on that? If it does I will talk to you or your mum or Fred or Hermione or any other witch or wizard, yeah?"
"Yeah, okay," he said and pressed a kiss on her forehead. "I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong. If this bothers you then you can talk to me about it just as I can talk to you about it." He nodded and rubbed her back gently. "I cherish you a lot. I care so much about you."
"I care a lot about you too." They shared a gentle kiss and she smiled at him.
"You know, I have another Hugh Grant film we haven't watched yet," she grinned and bit on her bottom lip. He rolled his eyes a little and groaned.
"Another one?" he questioned.
"Please," she whined and stood up from the bed. He looked at her as she walked over to the cupboard.
"Fine," he said and shook his head lightly as she put on the film before crawling back into his arms.

An hour into the film her phone rang. George quickly paused the film as Anna walked over to grab it from the dinner table.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Hello, Anna? Anna, it's me, Milo," a cheery voice said through the phone. She knew who Milo was, she had gone to university with him. He was a loud, cheery, artistic man who always wore brightly coloured socks - it was his trademark.
"Hi Milo, how are you doing?" she asked and sat down on the edge of the bed. George had a puzzled look on her face and she shrugged her shoulders. She didn't know what it could be about either.
"I'm doing fantastic. How are you, love? I heard from Polly that you were at the museum during the explosion! I meant to shoot you a message but I completely forgot," he explained. They had never been close so she hadn't expected him to text her anyway.
"I was but I'm doing okay, thank you."
"Great, fantastic. I'm calling you because I recently got a job at LittleGallery in Shoreditch, have you heard of it?" he asked her. She sat up a little straighter.
"Yes, I know LittleGallery," she said and started to play with the hem of her shirt.
"Great. So, we were exhibiting the work of an artist, however, he has just let us know that he decided to take away his art three weeks before it was supposed to be taken away. This means we have a spot free for three weeks," he continued. Her lips parted slightly and her eyes widened. No way.
"I saw that you have sent in a file with pictures of your work before. I told my boss that I know you and that I think that you are a wonderful artist with many great ideas and works. She agreed to check out your work again." No way, no way, no way. There was no way that this happening.
"So, she looked at your file again and I told her about some more research you did in university. She loves your ideas. I know three weeks doesn't seem like much but for a first exhibition it's really good, right?" She looked at George, slapping her hand in front of her mouth.
"So what I'm saying is, would you be able to deliver some of your artwork four weeks from now? The exhibition will open on the second of October. It would be great if you could come by this weekend so we can go over the details," he finished his story. Her heart was beating so fast and there was a massive smile on her lips.
"Yes. Yes, of course, I could come by tomorrow," she said, trying to maintain her excitement.
"Fantastic. Shall we say nine o'clock?" he questioned.
"Nine is great," she replied, still in shock.
"Incredible. I will see you tomorrow, Anna," he said. She said goodbye before she tossed her phone on the bed. She jumped up and let out an excited scream before spinning around. George jumped up from the bed, still confused about what was happening while his girlfriend was dancing and screaming happily.
She flew around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist tightly, letting out a chuckle. He spun her around, her feet lifting off the floor. The smile on her lips was so wide that her cheeks were starting to hurt but still, she could not stop grinning.
"Anna, what's going on? What was that all about?" he asked her and put her back on her feet again. She folded her hands together and put them in front of her mouth as she let out another excited squeal.
"You're not going to believe this," she blurted out. "AH! I can't even believe this." She spun around once more, making George laugh once again. He grabbed her by her hips to stop her from spinning and jumping.
"I can't if you don't tell me what happened," he said and raised one eyebrow. "Who wants to talk to you tomorrow?"
"Milo. Well, Milo and his boss I assume," she said and jumped up and down again. "It's finally happening, George." She could not contain her excitement, but she also could not get the proper words out. Her art was going to be exhibited in an art gallery. Her art was going to be exhibited in an art gallery. Her dream was becoming reality.
"What is happening, love?" he asked again, still unsure about what had gotten her so excited. She took a deep breath, let out one more squeal before finally telling him.
"I just got the opportunity to exhibit my art at LittleGallery in Shoreditch," she said, followed by another fit of excited giggles. George's eyes widened and his jaw dropped a little.
"You're serious?" he asked.
 "Yes, I'm serious!" He picked her up again and spun her around once more, joining in on her excited cheers. He put her back down on her feet and cupped her face in his hands, pressing his lips onto hers for a moment.
"I am already so proud of you," he said and cheered once more, hugging her tightly. She laughed and hugged him back even tighter.
"I can't believe it. I can't believe it, George! This is a golden opportunity! I have to start working now. I'm going to be an artist!!" She was buzzing. Her heart was beating so fast and her entire face was lit up from joy.
"You already are!" he laughed and pressed a kiss on her forehead. "This is fantastic," he cheered, shaking her shoulders. Neither of them could stop cheering, laughing and smiling now. Anna's art was going to be exhibited. Her dreams were at the tips of her fingers.