keegan delaney has always been a part of george weasley's life. they were never close, though they both were always there for the important moments. it's only after hogwarts when keegan gets a job in a cafè right across from weasley's wizard wheezes...
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CHAPTER NINETEEN: DEAD WEIGHT
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THREE DAYS LATER, BILL and Fleur got married. Keegan was up with the sunrise, her neck aching as she eased her body from its uncomfortable position in the armchair closest to the couch. Molly hadn't wanted to move George, and for once in his life, George didn't seem to mind having his mother doting over him. It was a lot to get used to, only having one ear. Both physically and mentally. Keegan had a bed waiting upstairs for her if she wanted, but it didn't feel right leaving George to cope with it on his own. So she held his hand until he fell asleep, changed his bandages routinely under Molly's instruction, then curled up in the armchair and slept fleetingly. That morning, she rose with deep purple circles beneath her eyes, an exhausted yawn already slipping past her lips. It took her a second to realise where she was, and the sudden emptiness of the room wasn't lost on her.
"George?" The couch was vacant, the blankets pushed back carelessly. Panic, hot and acidic, coiled in Keegan's gut, spreading until her chest started to feel tight. "George! Where are you?"
He was supposed to rest as much as he could. As it was, the wedding and reception were going to take a lot out of him. The image of his body collapsed somewhere, his bandage soaked with blood, tore through Keegan's defences until bile threatened its way out of her throat. She had to find him, she was supposed to take care of him--
"George!"
"Keegan? What's wrong?"
She should've felt relieved. When she all-but-sprinted into the kitchen, she found George leaning against the sink with a coffee mug in hand, dressed in his suit, a toothbrush stuck between the bandages wrapped around his wounded ear. Harry and Ginny stood beside the dining table with flushed cheeks, though alarm distracted them from whatever George had walked in on. Keegan forced herself to pause then, to breathe.
George was okay. She just needed to breathe.
"Keegs?"
"I-it's nothing," she muttered, keenly aware of the way that Harry and Ginny were looking between them. George crossed the room then, concern etched across his face, and Keegan's heart instinctively seized until she was close enough to catch him if he fell. "I just woke up and you weren't there..."
Understanding replaced his concern then. In the abrupt silence, Harry and Ginny gave their thinly-veiled excuses and quickly vacated the kitchen. Keegan couldn't say she was sorry to see them go. She'd already shown far too much vulnerability around the entire Weasley family as it was. If she could pretend she was fine, she would.
"You're okay?" she asked once she was sure Harry and Ginny were far enough away. As she spoke, she pushed some of his hair out of his face, just to be sure he wasn't trying to hide anything from her.
