Muggle (Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

Chapter 16

I took Aunt Molly's hand as Charlie took my other one. He held my duffel as both my hands were occupied. "Are you ready?" Aunt Molly asked. The question seemed to be directed towards me as she looked at me. I nodded and Charlie squeezed my hand. 

     "You have the dragon handler as your personal bodyguard, Cate. Don't worry about what George will think," Aunt Molly spoke. I laughed and then she Apparated. 

     We appeared in the field outside of the Burrow. Lights were on inside the large home that I love so much. "Arthur?!" Aunt Molly called as we entered the Burrow. Footsteps pounded on the stairs but three wands appeared at our throats. 

     Light encircled Aunt Molly, Charlie, and I. "Wands away," I hissed through my teeth. 

     "Cate!" George's voice rang out through the house. My mind went blank as I stared at the redhead. He looked sick, as if he never slept or ate. "You aren't real, this is just a dream," he muttered to himself. George went back up the large set of stairs as I jerked forward. 

     Dad stepped in front of me and I stared at him, as if I was in a dream. "What is my name?" Dad asked me.

     "Arthur Weasley," he looked saddened, "but I call you Dad."

     He pulled me into a tight hug and I wrapped my arms around him. "One of my girls is home," he sniffled. I held onto him tightly and muffled my sobs in his jacket. 

     "My turn!" Fred yelled. Dad let go of me and I was tugged into Fred's arms. "She's real, George! I promise she's real!" 

     But George didn't come down. Fred held me for a few more minutes till he released me. "Go find him," he told me. 

     "Still the old room?" I questioned, my voice wavering. He nodded and hugged me quickly before pushing me towards the stairs. 

     "If he's an idiot, yell for me," he insisted. I meekly laughed and ascended the stairs. 

     Too soon, it seemed, I came to the room where Fred and George's room. I didn't bother to knock because he wouldn't respond. The door was ajar as I pushed it to where I could slip in. 

     George sat on his bed, looking at the only photo that we took with each other. I was looking at something in the distance as George stared at me then suddenly kissed my cheek. The moving picture ended with me looking at him with surprise. 

     I let loose a large sob which caught his attention. "You're not real," he mumbled. "You're not real!" 

     "George, please, I am real!" I insisted. He jumped up and backed into the corner of the room.

     "NO! My Cate left me because she thought she could protect me! She was wrong and now my Cate will never come back she thinks I'm safer without her! MY CATE WOULDN'T HAVE LEFT ME!" George was screaming. I cried and tried to go near him. He pulled him wand out but I took it with a flash of white light. 

     "Would I be able to take your wand like that if I wasn't your Cate?" I cried. He looked at me, as if I was a frog and he was a puppy, trying to figure out what I was. "I am your Cate. I was born to a family of I think Muggles. My blood is classified as a Muggle but I was adopted by a wizarding family that raised me since I was a baby. I have these powers that I've had barely any control over since I left you which has torn me apart EVERYDAY SINCE!

     "I fell in love with George Weasley who vowed to protect me after Nymphadora Tonks and Mad-Eyed Moody saved me from Bellatrix Lestrange. My memory was lost after Bellatrix tortured me for months and what brought me back to reality was when you and your family that took me in. George, it is me, it is your Cate," I kept speaking even when he went silent. George just stared at me and didn't make a sound.

     I looked at my hands and my voice shook. "Please, George, you have to know that's it's me-" large hands covered mine as a tear fell on them. 

     "You are my Cate," George whispered as I looked up at him. He pulled me into him and I rested my head on his chest and we held each other. "I've been waiting for this since you left three years ago." 

     A tear landed on my forehead and slid down to the tip of my nose. More followed it as George cried. Sobs racked our bodies as we finally came undone from the pain. "I should have never left! I thought it would be the best," I cried. George's grip tightened on me and I held onto his jumper till my knuckles were white. 

      "This time I'm not letting you go again. You're never go to leave just because you think it'll protect me. Look at me, I've lost an ear and there's no way that you could have stopped it," George continued to speak. I looked up and placed a finger on his lips, silencing him.

     "I stopped you from dying when you lost your ear. You had Dark Magic in you after you were hit with the curse and Molly couldn't help or go to St. Mungo's so she contacted me. I rushed her and was able to get the Dark Magic out of your system in time. What you think you saw that day was wrong, I wasn't a dream like you convinced yourself I was. I wanted to stay but I ran again," I tried to explain but it all came out in a jumble. 

     "Looks like Fred owes me five galleons . . ." George trailed off. I looked at him in confusion. "He tried to cheer me up once and made a bet that you would come back if I got seriously hurt AND that you would stay." 

     I laughed and George's eyes glowed with happiness. They were different then the pictures Molly sent me and something that I have yearned to see for so long. "So, I heard you have a joke shop now? Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, wow, I never knew that you wanted to run and joke shop with Fred. I know that you're probably excellent at it as is Fred," I spoke with a raised eyebrow. 

     "I never wanted you to worry about what would happen after Hogwarts. But then you disappeared and I dedicated my life to the joke shop," George rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortable with talking about my leaving. 

     "Wanna tell me about how you started the shop and then just go from there?" I asked. He grinned and led me to his bed where we sat against the headboard together.

     "It started after Harry won the Triwizard Tournament . . ."