A George Weasely Romance

Authors note: i hope i haven't dragged this chapter out too much... i was trying to keep it realistic but i seem to take a long time to say nothing sometimes...

well i hope you enjoy!

Chapter 10

Christmas day dragged in. The doctor had seen to Katara and congratulated Molly on her initiative. Apparently, if she had not done what she did, Katara would no doubt be dead. Molly smiled at this, and proceeded to say she was just doing what she could. Katara had been carried up to George’s bed, and left to rest. The doctor had done what he could for her leg. When it was broken, the ligaments had been torn. Even with magic, they still take a long time to heal, so she was left a crutch to use for the next six weeks.

“She won’t be happy about that.” Fred had said to George as they sat beside Katara’s body. The only movement she made was the slow rhythm of her chest rising and falling as she breathed. George watched as a strand of hair fell into her face. He reached over and tucked it behind her ear, lingering for a moment as he touched her cheek, feeling her soft skin under his finger tips. He remembered Fred was in the room and pulled back quickly, hoping he hadn’t noticed. But being his twin, he saw it before it even happened. “I wonder what happened. Do you think it was that guy who, u know…” Fred trailed off realising this probably wasn’t the best subject for the moment.

“I don’t know. Whoever it was, they can’t get away with it!” George’s fist had balled up and he fought to keep back tears. Fred silently agreed with his brother.

The day crept by slowly as the twins sat next to their friend, again feeling helpless. This was the second time they had been in this position, watching their closest friend fight for her life, and there was nothing they could do. Molly had tried to keep the houses spirits up by having everyone come down to open presents, and to eat. But George refused to leave Katara by herself in case she woke up. So Fred opted to flit between the family and his twin, bringing food and drink. Molly then decided to go visit George and talk to him.

“George, dear? Are you alright? I know it has been quite a shock, but the doctor said she would be fine. You can’t stay here and torment yourself all day…” she tried to reason, but stopped when she saw George’s shoulder’s shaking. It had been years since she had seen her son cry, and here he was breaking down. “Oh honey!” she hurried over and threw her arms around him. He tried to pull away; embarrassed he had been caught crying. “She will be fine. Everything will be fine!” she started saying, trying to convince herself more than anything.

“I’ve just never seen that side of things before. I knew she had got hurt when she came to Hogwarts that time, but I never saw her before she was cleaned up.” He wiped his tears off with the sleeve of his jumper. “and I know she’s been in situations like that before with missions and such, but when she was bleeding…” he sniffed, trying to control himself “when she was thrashing about like that, she looked so scared. And I couldn’t stop her hurting. I couldn’t make it go away…” he trailed off as new tears streamed down his face. Molly too was now crying, crushing her son in her arms, trying to find the words.

“None of this was your fault. We did all we could, and the doctor even said if we hadn’t she would be dead. We all helped in saving her life… George?” she looked at her son who was staring at Katara’s body. He was holding her hand tightly, so tight that his knuckles had turned white. She sighed as she sat with George, trying to consol him.

Half an hour passed, and George still remained silent, and he hadn’t made any indication that he was going to in the near future either. Molly sighed, feeling quite defeated. So many things needed to be done, like dinner for example, and the rest of the family had to have their spirits brightened up to. She then decided that George would maybe be better with Fred.

“I really need to get dinner started, so if you would like to talk, I’m happy to listen, but you’ll need to let me know.” She didn’t want to leave George but he really hadn’t been talking for a while now. He just shook his head

“It’s okay mum. I’ll be fine.” Molly reluctantly left the room and went down stairs to cook dinner.

George continued to look at Katara through tear filled eyes. “Why won’t you wake up!?" he groaned. Katara still lay peacefully in his bad. “Katara, please wake up. I…” Fred placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder, and sat next to him. George looked over and then back at Katara. They sat for a while not saying anything when they heard Molly shout up about dinner.

“You’re gonna have to come down you know. You know how hard mum works on dinner, and all the family is here. Katara isn’t going anywhere, and she’s safe.” George looked pleadingly at Fred as he spoke. “Just for dinner. We can come straight back up?” George thought for a moment.

“Fine! But I’m straight back up when I finish, no buts!” Fred smiled triumphantly and dragged his brother down stairs.

“George! Oh I’m so glad you decided to join us!” Mrs Weasley exclaimed feeling her mood lighten a bit. “You look like you could do with a meal!” Molly added, busying her self with setting out the remainder of the food. The family talked about normal Christmas dinner subjects, and how everyone was getting on. George was quiet most of the time as he shovelled food into him, and Fred did all the talking for both of them.

“So how is she doing?” Bill whispered, who was sitting next to George. He looked up from his plate feeling tears prickle his eyes again.

“Won’t wake up…” he trailed off. Bill put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

“Don’t worry about it. If she can survive us lot, then she’s bound to make it through this! I mean the day we met her, we smashed her face with a bludger!” Bill laughed as he thought of the incident. George smiled slightly.

“Yeah, and remember when we were playing tag, her idea of course, and she ran into Ron, knocking herself down the stairs. She was a right mess then too.” Someone else had added, and Ron laughed this time remembering Katara’s face as she swerved to avoid pulling him down with her.

“And all those fights she got into, she is definitely no stranger to a good bashing!” Charlie added. The whole table was now speaking of all the crazy things that had happened to Katara, and how she never cried or complained. She kept smiling, trying to consol everyone else for her own pain. George began to laugh a bit on hearing some of the stories, some of which they still had no idea how she had managed it. The house was filled with laughter once again.

After dinner, George returned to his dutiful watch over Katara. As far as he could tell, she hadn’t moved at all, but that troublesome strand of hair that gave George the excuse to touch her face was sitting against her lip again. He tucked it behind her ear again, and on touching her face, he noticed her skin was wet. Then he noticed the tear tracks disappearing into her hair.

“Katara?” he whispered, voice full of hope. She didn’t respond. He cursed and sat back in his seat, wiping away her tears.

Night drew in, and Fred had joined his brother. They talked about what could possibly have happened when Katara returned to Kyoto.

“She never mentioned much about Kesuki. Do you think it could have been him? She did say her brother never liked him. Maybe he knew what he was really like.” Fred had speculated. George sat in thought.

“It must have been really bad for her to get this messed up, I mean, she is S-class. That’s like mega good.” George concluded and Fred sighed “Surely she would have seen it coming if it was just Kesuki.”

“Yeah. So you think there was more than one. Would make sense. She must have been really distracted too. I mean, its bloody murder to get her, even when we team up.” Fred looked to George, happy he was now talking.

“But like she said. It’s different over there. A whole different way of using magic. They don’t have wands and spells, they have jutsu’s and hand seals. Maybe the others that were there were just as well trained as she is. Maybe if she had taken her wand it would have been different.” George silently cursed her decision to leave it behind. The twins continued there conversation long into the night, until they had exhausted every idea that came to them.

“Do you think she might have… you know… got raped again?” Fred asked a little worried. George sat in silence for a while. Fred decided not to press the question, seeing the torment on his brother’s face. He yawned and folded his arms on the side of the bed, placing his head on them, and closing his eyes to sleep.

George however stayed awake, watching for any signs of Katara waking up. Tears had started leaking from her eyes again, and he wiped them away with the sleeve of his jumper, whispering soothing words into her ear. He sat up again when the tears had stopped, and saw her eyes shut tight. “Katara?” he asked, but she didn’t reply. Her face relaxed, and she was the same as before.

Frustration bubbled in George as disappointment set in. His eyes filled up as he suppressed the urge to scream profanities. He leant over Katara, wiping away new tears. A tear of his own escaped and ran down to his chin. It dangled precariously for a second or two before dropping onto Katara’s cheek. A second and a third tear dropped as he fought a losing battle against Katara’s.

“Are those for me?” a weak voice asked as a shaky hand touched George’s cheek, stopping another tear from falling. His eyes flew open as he grabbed Katara’s hand, and held it against his face.

“Thank Merlin!” He whispered more to himself than anything. Katara laughed quietly, and coughed. She winced in pain as her insides felt like they were ripping. “Shit! You okay?” George let go of Katara’s hand and wiped a lone tear that was currently running down Katara’s cheek. She smiled weakly and nodded, deciding against speaking for now.

“What the bloody hell happened?” George asked, a little louder so as to wake his brother. Fred snorted and mumbled something in his sleep. Katara looked at the worry on George’s face. She loved the way his hair hung around his face. She loved the colour of his eyes, and the way his lips… she laughed at herself.

“It’s a long story. And it hurts to talk. Do you mind if…” She was cut off by George.

“We can wait! Just get some rest.” He placed a hand on her cheek soothingly, and smiled sweetly. Her heart melted as she saw the raw emotion that was in his eyes, like she was all that mattered. She laughed at how cheesy that had sounded, and then nodded lightly as she softly drifted back to sleep


Katara woke the next morning to see George sleeping, with his head resting next to her arm. Fred was snoring loudly next to him, and he had his head resting in his folded arms. Katara deftly lifted her hand to George’s hair, and started to play with it.

What are you doing!? He’ll wake up and what are you going to tell him. ‘Oh! It just looked so shiny! I thought I’d twirl it?’

Katara stopped abruptly, and placed her hand back on the bed.

Baka!!

Katara sighed at the mess she had gotten herself into. Kesuki had never been her first choice. She had always had her heart set on George, but being the close friends they were she couldn’t ruin it. The distance was a problem as well. She sighed happily as she remembered the fuzzy feeling she would get when she read George’s letters. How he could still make her laugh out loud with a letter. Arashi had always said he liked George better than Kesuki, but never really seemed to fully understand why Katara couldn’t be with George. It was just far too dangerous. If people were out to kill her, surely they would target him. Kesuki had been S-class just like her, and he insisted that he protect her.

What a load of shit that was!

She thought back to what that guy had said.

“Not very loyal is he. You know he helped in capturing you and your brother. Told me where you lived, and how to get to the pair of you. He had never mentioned that you were brother and sister however. When you and your brother were brought back to my lair, he begged me to let you go, so he did. Told me you were everything to him, just to take Arashi”

Kesuki had always disliked Arashi, ever since he beat the utter crap out of him. Kesuki had gotten angry one night at Katara because she refused to have sex with him. He then let his temper get the better of him, and hit her. Arashi had found out and went round without any questions. Kesuki was in hospital for a month recuperating, even with the medic nins helping out.

Deserves him right! Can’t believe he was cheating on me… And after all that effort I made to stay loyal to that asshole…should have just kissed George stupid…

She thought back to the girl in the kitchen, how they had obviously had sex, and in her night gown! Something panged inside of her as she felt a tear streak her face again.

Arashi… Is this my fault? If I had just listened to you in the first place, maybe you would still be alive, and I wouldn’t be in this mess.

She placed a hand over her chest where the sward had penetrated. She felt so lost. She had ultimately caused the death of her brother. She didn’t even see it happening, her alleged boyfriend who ‘loved’ her had set her brother up, and she didn’t see it. How foolish she had been. But it was too late now. Another tear streaked her face.

Oh Merlin! How I miss you. What do I do? Should I stay with the Weasleys? Or should I go and find another place to hide? Surely that bastard will figure out what “The Burrow” means eventually. I’ve put them all in great danger! Would things be better off if I was dead? Obviously I’d have to make sure that prick new I was gone so as to make sure he didn’t come here and-

She was cut off by a hand on her cheek and the voice of George.

“Hey. What’s up?” Katara’s eyes flew open as she realised how close they were. She could feel his breath on her face as it tickled her skin, could smell his sweet scent, could- “Katara?” George looked worried.

“I’m fine, really. Just thinking that’s all.” He visibly relaxed as she spoke. “Sleep well?” she laughed slightly looking at the right side of his head where the hair was sticking out in all directions. George patted the hair down while laughing.

“Katara? I was wondering, do you think you could tell us what happened?” George looked a bit sheepish, obviously uncomfortable for pushing her. She smiled and nodded towards Fred.

“Better wake him up. I want to tell it a minimum amount of times as possible.” George shoved Fred awake.

“Hey! Ger’off!” he looked to see Katara laughing. “Hey! She’s awake George look!” George laughed at his brother’s slowness, and turned to Katara. “So what happened then?” Katara smiled and told them what happened, down to the very last detail.

“That son of a bitch!” Fred exclaimed looking outraged. Katara smiled at the twins concern.

“I’m so sorry I ruined everything.” Katara looked at her fingernails, they seemed to become suddenly so interesting.

“Are you mad! We don’t care about that! We’re just glad your okay!” Fred seemed to be doing all the talking. George just watched Katara, trying to think of what to say. He wanted to beat the utter shit out of Kesuki, not just for cheating on her, but ruining her life! He also wanted to hold Katara close to him, to tell her everything would be ok, to make her laugh, and to tell her he loved her. George backtracked a bit… love? He knew he felt strongly for her, but had it gone so far as love?

His thoughts were interrupted by Molly’s screech as she ran over to gently hug Katara!

“Oh thank goodness! Thank goodness thank goodness!” she busied herself with checking bandages, and bombarding Katara with questions.

The rest of the morning consisted of Katara giving a much deserved explanation to the Weasley family, obviously omitting any bits that would give away the fact she had been raped. Only the twins knew about it, and it would probably stay that way.

After much laughter and fun, Katara disappeared, crutch in hand, back up to the twins’ bedroom. She had smiled and laughed along with everyone else. Joked and opened presents. Ate and had another check over from Molly. She was thoroughly exhausted from pretending everything was okay.

She sat on the bed staring out into the night sky. Images of Arashi and the time they had together were flying through her mind, some happy, but most sad. She thought she had been coping well with the situation, but when the prick had told her about Kesuki’s betrayal, she couldn’t get rid of the guilt that sat heavily to her gut. Had Arashi known all along, but hadn’t forced Katara to split up with Kesuki in case he hurt her feelings? Or had he been fooled as well? She cursed her stupidity and blindness. Tears welled up in her eyes and she found it increasingly hard to push them down. She was far too emotional, and her parents had warned her things like this would happen. Emotions only got in the way. She gulped back with great effort, making a whimpering noise as she did so.

George had been watching from the doorway, trying to find the words to say to make her smile again. He had had a funny feeling she wasn’t letting on to how she was truly feeling, and hoped she would maybe confide in him. But he had no idea where to start, or what to say. Then he heard her whimper, and on instinct, approached her swiftly, pulling her into a tight hug.

Katara’s body went stiff as she felt strong arms rap around her shaking frame.

George…

He didn’t say anything as he felt her body relax, and waited for her to speak. But she remained silent.

I can’t do this. I’ve put him in enough danger as it is. I’m just causing more pain.

Katara’s heart felt heavy as she still fought back tears. It had been a while since she had considered suicide.

It would be better for everyone… right? Sure, George might be a bit annoyed, but in the long run, it would be best…

George pulled lightly on Katara as he lay back on the bed, cuddling into her when she landed beside him. He brushed his nose against her cheek as he nuzzled her neck. He wasn’t really sure what he was doing, but it felt right.

I’ll have to do it soon, before I get pulled in to far…

“I’m so glad you made it through. I don’t know what I would do without you…” he mumbled as he snuggled closer, pulling Katara round so she was no facing him.

Katara blushed as she felt his breath gliding across her neck. He had a small smile on his face as he drifted off.

What was I thinking… I’m already too far in…I guess I’ll just have to protect everyone a different way… maybe Dumbledore will know what to do…

And with that, she too drifted off into a deep sleep.