The Other Potter (George Weasley)

Twenty-Five.

It’s Mid-June now, Draco has been out of the hospital wing for about two weeks now when Harry went on his last private lesson and I was awake in the Common Room with Ginny waiting to hear all about it when Hermione came bursting into the common room shouting, “Harry was right about Draco! He’s working for Voldemort!”
   
“He let in Death Eaters!” adds Ron and we are now running out of Gryffindor tower.
   
We got outside to see the battle going on outside. Death Eaters V.S. the Order with help from the D.A. And when I say the D.A. I mean Ron, Neville, Ginny, Hermione, Luna, and myself. The Dark Mark is over the school’s Astronomy tower, which is the highest tower of the school. I’ve only ever seen it one other time in person, that was at the Quidditch World Cup the summer before fourth year started. I knew what it meant; someone had been killed.
   
“Impedimenta!” I shout at a large, yellow haired Death Eater woman who was going after Lupin. She falls to her knees and then lands on her face in front of him. He looks at me stunned.
   
“What are you doing out of bed?” He asks, sounding slightly angry.
   
“I just saved your skin!” I remind him.
   
“Stupefy!” He shouts and a red jet of light streams out of his wand. I turn, standing next to him now, and see the stunned Death Eater on the ground that was just behind me. “You shouldn’t be out here,” he says, quietly. I nonverbally use a spell on another Death Eater, making them blast against the castle wall and pass out on the ground. Lupin looks at me, nods his head, and then says, “Very well then, you can stay. But stay here on the grounds. Don’t go up to the tower, no matter what you see or hear, okay?”
   
“Okay?” I say and then he takes off, running to go duel with more Death Eaters. So, there I was, using Stupefy, Impedimenta, Expelliarmus, and Petrificus Totalus on all of the Death Eaters that I could get to. I stand back to back with Hermione, and we take them on together.
   
Ron is holding his own very well. Neville and Luna are even doing great. The perks of having drank some of Harry’s Liquid Luck potion I guess. We know exactly where to strike and what spell to strike with. It was pretty amazing, being on this potion. Tonks and Lupin are fighting side by side, they look like they’re arguing. I hear him yell, “This is not the time for this, Nymphadora!” and he takes off in a different direction. She doesn’t follow him.
   
I saw Draco exit the tower being pulled by Professor Snape. My instincts told me that I shouldn’t go after him, so I didn’t. They haven’t been wrong yet. Then I see Harry, he’s running after him. Draco was able to get away, but he got Snape right before Draco vanished. I couldn’t watch the rest, because I needed to focus on the fight going on in front of me.
   
The Death Eaters started to run inside, but Professor McGonagall was guarding the door and doing it fiercely. “Take that!” Shouted Professor McGonagall at a female Death Eater, stunning her, leaving her on the ground. After Draco and Snape were gone, the rest of the Death Eaters started to flee the scene. I guess whatever they had been here to do was done, which was a terrible feeling to have in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t like it at all. Once they were all gone, I could finally catch my breath.
   
“Savannah,” says Ron, who was also trying to catch his breath as he was walking over to me, “You were on fire out there!”
   
“Yeah, you got more Death Eaters than any of us did,” adds Neville. with an impressed tone and a proud looking smile on his face.
   
I tried to talk, I really did. But I suddenly felt very weak. Like I couldn't stand anymore. The next thing I knew I felt dizzy and my vision was getting blurry. Everything went black when I hit the ground.

   
I wake up in a hospital bed, with a light in my eyes, and I’m pretty sure that it’s morning time. I open my eyes to see Tonks, Fred and George, and Madam Pomfrey looking down at me. “Oh, look," says Tonks, “She’s waking up.”
   
“Hello dear,” Says Madam Pomfrey, she was the one shining a light into my eyes with her wand. She elevates my bed, so I am now sitting up.
   
“What happened?” I ask, weakly. My voice was very hoarse.
   
“You were dehydrated and you passed out from the fight,” explains Madam Pomfrey. “You need to drink something.” She hands me a glass, places her wand to the rim, and says, “Aguamenti,” and the cup fills with water. George is now sitting next to me on the bed, forcing me to drink the water.
   
I look to my left, and I see Mr. and Mr. Weasley, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Fleur all standing around a bed as well. Professor McGonagall was sitting in a chair that she made appear on her own. I am then filled in on everything.
   
It was Draco who let in the Death Eaters using the Room of Requirement and a vanishing cabinet that was connected to one at a store in Knockturn Alley. They reeked their havoc on the school so Draco could kill Dumbledore, but in the end it was Professor Snape that killed the Headmaster. Bill Weasley got attacked by the savage werewolf Greyback, the same one who bit Lupin. Bill wouldn’t become a werewolf though, but he would have some nasty scars on his face for the rest of his life.
   
Mrs. Weasley made a comment about Bill not getting married anymore, to which Fleur was very offended. She said Bill would still love her no matter what, and she would love Bill if he did turn into a werewolf or not. They both started crying and they hugged each other. That made Tonks get emotional.
   
“You see!” she cried, looking right at Lupin, “She doesn’t care!”
   
“It’s different,” he replies, hardly moving his lips and looking suddenly tense. “Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely different.”
   
“But I don’t care, either!” said Tonks, seizing the front of my Lupin’s robes and shaking them, “I’ve told you a million times I don’t care!”
   
“And I’ve told you a million times,” said Lupin, refusing to meet her eyes, staring at the floor, “That I am too old for you, too poor, and too dangerous.”
   
“You’re being ridiculous, Remus,” mutters Mrs. Weasley now.
   
“I am not!” counters Lupin, “Tonks deserves somebody young and whole.”
   
“People don’t stay young and whole forever,” says Mr. Weasley.
   
“This isn’t the time for this,” he says, avoiding all of our eyes. “Dumbledore is dead.”
   
“Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world,” McGonagall tells him, and before he can speak again, Hagrid enters the room, telling Professor McGonagall that he moved Dumbledore’s body like she requested. She stood up, made her chair vanish, told Hagrid to get Professor Sprout, Flitwick, and Slughorn and meet her in the Headmaster’s office, then she asked Harry to follow her and they left the hospital wing together.
   
All of the Weasley’s started to pull out, they had rooms at the Three Broomsticks waiting for them and it was very late now. Before they left, George looked down at me, placed his hand onto my right shoulder and said, “You need to take better care of yourself, kid. You gave me the biggest fright back there."
   
“Sorry,” I say, giving him a meek smile.
    
“Just drink your water and get some rest, okay, darling?” He instructs like the caring boyfriend he is. It was very sweet to me.
   
“I will,” I assure him and then he kisses my forehead and leaves with the rest of his family and Hermione. Tonks says goodbye and get well soon to me before leaving as well. “You really should give her a chance,” I say, looking at Lupin. “She is obviously so in love with you already. Why don’t you think that you deserve to be happy, Lupin?”
   
“Everyone has always told me how I’m not good enough. You get enough people doing that to you at once, you start to believe it.”
   
“You are the best man I have ever known,” I tell him, and I truly mean it. “You made some mistakes, yes, but who hasn't. I just want you to be happy, and if Tonks will make you happy then you should go for it. At least promise me that you’ll consider it.”
   
He’s quiet for a moment before he speaks again. “Okay,” he says, eventually nodding, “If it makes you happy, Savannah, I promise you that I will think about it.”
   
He give me a hug and a kiss goodbye on my forehead before leaving. It takes me a good minute to fall asleep, but once I do I don’t wake up again until almost mid-day, when everyone comes back to visit Bill and I. Bill is now awake, and happy to see everyone. Of course, we had to endure telling the story of last night to him, to fill him in on everything he missed, and we are all upset again by the end of it.
   
Dumbledore’s funeral was held on the school grounds after Bill and I were both released from the Hospital wing. The morning beforehand we all sat in the Common Room together.
   
"Savannah," says Harry, getting my attention, "I need to tell you something."
   
"Okay," I say, standing up. He leads us over to the fireplace where he won't look me in the eyes as he speaks.
   
"I'm breaking up with Ginny after the funeral," he says, keeping his voice as quiet as he can without whispering.
   
"What?" I ask, "Harry, you just got her. You can't."
   
Now he looks at me. His tone is hard. "If the Death Eaters find out they'll target her. They'll kidnap and torture her for information about me. It's not safe for her to be with me. I was stupid to even get with her in the first place."
   
"Harry," I say and I hug him. I knew he was right.
   
"That's not all," he says as I step back from him, "the same thing will happen to George."
   
My heart drops to my stomach.
   
I stare at him, "You're saying I should break up with George?"
   
He gives a meere shrug, "I know you love him, so you can do whatever you want, but it's the best way to keep him safe." He was right. If I wanted to keep George safe, which I do, I had to break up with him.
   
I let out a sigh of defeat. "You're right. It's the only way to keep them safe."
   
He gives me a genuine look,"I'm sorry, Savannah. I know how much you love him."
   
"I do love him, that's why I want to keep him safe. It's what I have to do."
   
"Thank you for understanding," he says, nodding.
   
"Of course," I say and I give him another quick hug.
   
It was a beautiful ceremony, and he was buried on the grounds, like he had wished. He’s certainly going to be missed. Everyone did except for the Ministry people that were here. They all thought Dumbledore was an idiot, and if you ask me they shouldn’t have been permitted access to this ceremony, but I didn’t have a say on that matter.
   
When the ceremony was over, we all went up to the casket row by row and said goodbye to our headmaster. The Weasley’s were one row ahead of mine, so George stayed back a bit and said goodbye with me. He really didn’t need to do that, but it was still very nice of him to.
   
When Harry took Ginny aside after the funeral, I knew why. I had to do the same thing with George now. I take his hand in mine, looking at him, and I say, "I need to talk to you alone too, darling."
   
"Sure," says George and we walk away from everyone. We head in the opposite direction of Ginny and Harry.
   
"Now before I tell you what I have to say, I just want you to know that this was a very hard decision and this is the hardest thing I have ever done."
   
"I don't like the sound of that," he admits, his face suddenly full of worry.
   
"So, Harry and I have been doing some thinking, and we have decided that we need to keep you and Ginny safe, and the best way we can do that is to break up."
   
"No," he says, quickly, "you can't be serious."
   
"I'm sorry," I say, my voice cracking. I am on the verge of tears, "Death Eaters could for me to get to Harry, and they could use you to get to me. I don't want you in that kind of danger. It's the only way I can keep you safe."
   
"There has to be another way," he says, his eyes begin to fill with tears, but they don't fall down his face.
   
I shake my head, "This is the best way. It absolutely sucks but it's for the best."
   
The tears are falling down his face now. It pains me to see. I start crying as well.
   
"So what happens? Do you want me to wait for you until Harry defeats You-Know-Who and then we get back together or something?"
   
"As nice as that sounds, I don't want you to wait for me. That would be completely selfish of me to ask you to do that. We don't know how long it's going to take. It could be years. If by some chance you meet some girl and you really like her you should go for it. Don't let me stand in your way of being happy with someone who is actually safe for you to be with."
   
I could tell that wasn't the answer that he was wanting to here. He stares at me, lovingly, and he places a hand onto the back of neck. "I love you."
   
That was the last thing I wanted to hear him say right now.
   
"I love you, too, that's why I'm doing this," I tell him. The tears are falling freely now. He grabs me into a hug.
   
"Don't cry, Savannah," he says holding me against his chest, "You're just looking out for me."
   
I just hold onto him as long as I can, he pats my head stroking my hair. I can hear his light sobs too. He's crying but he didn't want me to see him cry.

When I step back from him I start to take my promise ring off, "I suppose you want this back"
   
"No," he says, quickly. "You keep it. I don't want it back. Any of it. I got it for you. You should keep it to remember me by."
   
"Like I'd ever forget you," I say, wiping more tears from my eyes.
   
Ron was not happy about the news of these break ups. Neither was Fred. That’s when Harry took Ron, Hermione, and I aside and he told us that he wasn’t coming back to Hogwarts next year, that he was going to finish what Dumbledore had started. He was going to find the Horcruxes and destroy them all, thus getting rid of Voldemort. Ron, Hermione, and I assured him that we would be with him through it all, but he said we didn’t have to.
   
“You gave us an out years ago and we didn’t take it,” reminds Hermione.
   
“We’re not letting you do this alone,” I say, sternly.
   
Harry knew he wasn’t getting out of this, and we could tell he was proud of having friends like the three of us.

_______________
Well. Here's 25.

Not gonna lie, it hurt to write this one.

Not a fun time.

-Emily Winchester.