Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and Whatnot

Normal POV:

I was pacing in the kitchen, not knowing what to do with myself. Mrs. Weasley stood at the window, wringing her hands while Ginny sat quietly staring at the table.

The first portkey, meant for Ron and Tonks, had come back without them. None of us knew what could have happened and the anticipation that was building with each minute was unbearable. Fred and Mr. Weasley were due back next.

“Oh” Mrs. Weasley said, pointing.

We rushed to the door, but saw that the second portkey was empty as well. I made a small sound like a whimper or something and Mrs. Weasley went back to wringing her hands.

“What happened?” Ginny asked quietly to no one in particular.

I hated this. Not knowing. I hated the waiting and the fear.

Then, the third portkey came back. This time, with Hagrid and Harry attached to it. Mrs. Weasley screamed and we rushed out to them. They looked worn and banged up.

“Harry? You are the real Harry? What happened? Where are the others?” cried Mrs. Weasley.

“What do you mean? Isn’t anyone back?” Harry asked breathlessly.

I just looked at Ginny. Nobody said anything, but the answer was clear on our faces.

“The Death Eaters were waiting for us,” Harry told us and he continued his explanation.

I could tell that he felt bad about not knowing where the rest of the Weasley family was. When Mrs. Weasley hugged him, I saw a look cross his features like he wished she hadn’t. Maybe he felt like it was his fault and that she should be blaming him. Of course, we didn’t blame him. We were all trying to save him.

When Hagrid and Mrs. Weasley went into the house, Harry looked to Ginny for an explanation.

“Ron and Tonks should have been back first, but they missed their Portkey, it came back without them. And that one,” she pointed to an old sneaker, “should have been Dad and Fred’s; they were supposed to be second. You and Hagrid were third, and if they made it, George and Lupin ought to be back in about a minute.”

I felt both of them looking at me as I just stared at the empty spot where the next portkey would be.

“Mum!” Ginny shouted, pointing to the spot as a blue light appeared.

Mrs. Weasley and Hagrid ran back out. A war was going on in my mind during the few seconds it took for them to appear. One side was an insanely large hope that George could keep his promise and the other side was preparing itself for...what I didn’t want to happen.

When Lupin and George appeared, I noticed something completely off about them.

“George!” I gasped and my hand flew to my mouth when I saw Lupin supporting George who was unconscious and covered in blood.

Harry rushed forward to help him carry George inside. I followed closely, not quite grasping the reality around me. They laid him on the sofa in the sitting room and I kneeled beside it. Then, Mrs. Weasley turned on a light. I heard Ginny gasp and I winced when we saw that his ear was missing, the side of his head and neck drenched in blood.

Mrs. Weasley bent over her son and then hurried off muttering something about finding a clean cloth. I looked up at Ginny and only noticed then that my vision was blurred by tears. She was staring wide-eyed at George.

Mrs. Weasley came back almost as quickly as she left and I moved to give her room to tend to George. I stood by the doorway, next to Ginny, hugging my arms around myself and every so often, wiping away tears. I needed to know if he was okay, but I couldn’t make myself say the words. I was too afraid of the answer I didn’t want. Mrs. Weasley had cleaned all the blood and attempted to grow the ear back, but it was futile. Hagrid and Harry came back into the room.

“How is he?” asked Harry.

“I can’t make it grow back, not when it’s been removed by Dark Magic. But it could have been so much worse…He’s alive.” She answered.

I tuned out after that. He’s alive. That’s all that mattered. He’s alive. Now if everyone else would just come back alive, I could stop being so sick with worry.

Suddenly, there was a crash in the kitchen.

“I’ll prove who I am, Kingsley, after I’ve seen my son, now back off if you know what’s good for you!”

Mr. Weasley and Fred came in then, seemingly unharmed for the most part. Mr. Weasley dropped to his knees beside George and Fred stood behind the couch, gaping and lost for words, probably for the first time in his life.

George stirred and my hand clenched into a fist against my mouth.

“How do you feel, Georgie?” Mrs. Weasley asked.

His hand went to the side of his head and he murmured “Saintlike.”

I bit my knuckles trying to hold back tears.

Fred went pale and said “What’s wrong with him? Is his mind affected?”

“Saintlike” George repeated, looking up at Fred then “You see…I’m holy. Holey, Fred, get it?”

Relief washed over me and I put my face in my hands, Mrs. Weasley started sobbing, and color came back to Fred’s face.

“Pathetic” he told George. “Pathetic! With the whole wide world of ear-related humor before you, you go for holey?”

“Ah well” George grinned at their mother “You’ll be able to tell us apart now, anyway, Mum.”

Then, he looked around. His glance stopped at me.

“Were you worried about me?” he asked, still grinning slightly.

All my fear had been washed away, I felt only relief, so I wasn’t really angry with him when I said “Worried?! You come back here unconscious with a hole in your head and you ask if I was worried?!” I threw my hands up and then dropped them to my sides.

He held his hand out towards me, so I went over and kneeled next to him, taking his hand and pressing my lips against the back of it.

“I promised didn’t I?” he said “I promised you I would come back alive, and here I am.”

“I should have made you promise not to do anything stupid and dangerous.”

“Now that, my dear, is one promise that I could never keep.”

He grinned again and I couldn’t help but smile back. Everyone else had left the room to wait for more people to come back.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again George.”

“I’m sorry” he said, putting his hand against my cheek, and brushing away a tear with his thumb. “I’m just glad you weren’t out there today, if anything had happened to you…” he winced slightly.

“You’re one to talk! You make me stay here, completely in the dark about everything going on because you’re convinced that I would die out there. Then, you come back with your bloody ear cursed off!”

“I’m sorry” he said again, but I could tell he was trying not to laugh.

“Oh, you think this is funny huh? You think my caring about whether you live or die is funny?”

“No, you’re just really cute when you’re yelling at me”

I groaned, exasperated and dropped my head into my hands on the edge of the sofa.

“Kiss me” I heard him say.

I looked up at him, then I leaned over and gently kissed his forehead.

“They cursed my ear off, not my lips” he said, smirking slightly.

I hesitated, but kissed him gently on the lips. Before I could pull away, he put his hand on the back of my neck and pressed his lips firmly against mine. It felt like forever since I’d properly kissed him, and despite my fear of harming him in his current state, I didn’t want to stop.

What did cause us to stop, though, was someone outside screaming “It’s them!”

Then, we heard feet pounding into the kitchen where I’m guessing Mrs. Weasley was.

I heard Ginny say breathlessly, “Ron and Tonks are back.”

Then, it sounded as if Mrs. Weasley was sobbing again and Mr. Weasley said “Thank God.”

Fred came back in the room and I jumped up to hug him since I hadn’t yet.

“Don’t you ever scare me like that again either Fred Weasley. Come back when you’re supposed to.”

He laughed slightly as he hugged me back and said “Sorry love, but when you’re being chased by Death Eaters, it’s a little harder to keep to the schedule.”

I sat back down on the floor by George, as close as I could get to him and Fred took a chair nearby. They kept joking around about George’s missing ear, trying to lighten the mood. Although in the back of my mind, there was an ominous feeling of what was to come, I laughed along with them because it’s easier to hide your sorrows behind a smile than it is to face them head on.

When the others came back in, their faces told us something was off.

“What’s wrong?” Fred asked. “What’s happened? Who’s-?”

“Mad-Eye” said Mr. Weasley “Dead.”

Our expressions turned to shock. How could Mad-Eye be dead? He was invincible. Or, at least, that’s how I’d come to think of him. Nobody knew what to do. Bill went to the cupboard and pulled out a bottle of firewhisky, sending thirteen glasses out to us. We toasted Mad-Eye, but I just stared at my glass. I didn’t think I would be able to swallow anything. George reached his hand down to me and I just held onto it with both of mine, kissing his knuckles every now and then.

“So Mundungus disappeared?” Lupin said.

Everybody seemed to tense up. Nobody wanted to voice their opinions of whether or not he betrayed us. I half-listened as people tried to make sense of what happened. I noticed Fleur looking very upset, but didn’t register what she was saying.

I practically jumped when Harry said “No!” Then he continued with “I mean…if somebody made a mistake, and let something slip, I know they didn’t mean to do it. It’s not their fault. We’ve got to trust each other. I trust all of you; I don’t think anyone in this room would ever sell me to Voldemort.”

Everyone watched him in silence.

Then Fred said “Well said, Harry”

“Yeah, ‘ear, ‘ear” said George.

I pressed George’s hand against my mouth again to hide the half smile and I noticed the corner of Fred’s mouth twitch.

Then they began talking of retrieving Mad-Eye’s body. Tears stung my eyes again as I thought of the heroic man limp and lifeless. Harry said he wanted to leave. At first, I thought he just wanted to help find Mad-Eye, but the expression on his face said so much more. He looked torn and hurt, like having all these people helping him was too much for him. Eventually he went outside and we sat there still silent because nobody knew what to say.

“George, dear, you should probably get some rest.” Mrs. Weasley said eventually.

“I’ll take him up” I offered.

“Think you can handle it? He’s mighty heavy” Fred said.

George stuck his tongue out at him as I helped him off the couch. He seemed okay to walk on his own, but I pulled his arm around my shoulders just in case.

When we got inside his room, he suddenly pulled me against him and kissed me.

I pushed him back gently “George, you need to rest. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“I won’t” he said, kissing me again.

“But you need-“ I said against his lips.

“Stop telling me what I need!” I looked up at him, shocked, and his expression softened.

“I only need you. When I was hit by that curse, I didn’t know whether I would live or not to be honest. So I thought about Fred, my family, my friends …you. And my last thought was how my only regret would be that I didn’t get to tell you one last time that I love you.”

I could feel tears stinging my eyes again and I didn’t know how a person could cry this much in a day.

“I love you” he said, kissing my forehead.

“I love you” he said again before kissing the tip of my nose.

“I love you” he whispered before reattaching his lips to mine.

I didn’t object this time. Instead I kissed back and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer.

“I love you too” I said when we broke apart.

He just smiled at me and continued to stand there not letting go of me.

“Now can you please lie down and get some rest? I don’t need your mother after me for causing you to pass out again.”

“Only if you stay here”

“I don’t know if she’d-“

“Only if you stay here” he cut me off.

“Okay, okay I’ll stay here.” I smiled.

“Good”

“Now sit, please” I pushed him down onto his bed and pulled his blood-stained shirt off.

“Take off your pants” I instructed.

“Well, okay, but you do know my whole family is downstairs right?” he asked smirking.

I rolled my eyes “George”

“Alright, alright.” He began pulling off his pants “Blimey, Harry is a short kid. I mean, this is just ridiculous.”

I shook my head at him and said “I’m gonna go change, but I’ll be right back okay?”

He nodded and I left. When I got back, George was lying in his bed and Fred was sitting on his.

“You staying here tonight?” Fred asked, lying back on his pillow.

“Yeah, he won’t let me leave.” I smiled.

“Near death experiences make you realize what’s important in life.” George said as I climbed under the covers next to him.

He pulled me close to him and I snuggled in against his chest.

“Just don’t get any ear blood on me.”

I heard Fred laugh softly and George said “I’ll do my best.”

I listened to his breathing until I fell asleep with him stroking my hair.