Title: Road to us pt. 1|7 - Realisation

Pairing: Post War!George Weasley x Female!Reader

Word count: 1.8k

Published: 26 October, 2020

Author: Heloise Daphne Brightmore

Notes: I started this for a tumblr challenge. It was supposed to be a one shot, but it turned into a series with prompt "I don't remember you." - Also in this series,George's ear is perfectly fine.

He was sitting beside your bed, his fingers interlocked with yours, his eyes filled with sadness as he watched you sleep deeply. Your head was covered in bandages, your lips split on the side, your cheeks covered in bruises. He heaved a sigh as he leaned forward, placing his forehead on your linked hands, his patience slowly disappearing.

He wanted to see your always cheerful eyes, your ever-growing smile, he wanted to hear your wholehearted laughter, but it all seemed like a dream, as if it has never happened. He lifted his head, as he felt your hand move, his eyes focused on your moving eyelids as you groaned in pain.

"Y/N." He whispered as he abruptly stood up from the chair he was previously seated on, his hands squeezing yours to reassure you that you weren't alone. "Y/N" He called out to you again, but you still couldn't open your eyes. You tried very hard, but the pounding headache stopped each and every attempt of yours. "I'm here." He spoke as he caressed your cheek with the back of his hand, barely touching your skin not to hurt your bruised face.

As your eyes finally opened and you started looking around, your gaze stopped on him. His expression full of worry, his warm brown eyes following every little movement of yours, his ginger hair a mess. You coughed to try to clear your throat, but it didn't work. He turned around, his hand not leaving yours even for a second as he grabbed a glass of water and helped you into a seated position, supporting your glass as you drank its content.

"Thank you." You murmured with a frown, your breathing speeding up as you looked around. The boy took the glass from you and placed it back on the nightstand beside your bed. "Where am I?" You asked, turning from left to right, studying all the metal beds and white sheets covering them, the beds separated with white curtains.

"You're in St. Mungo's Hospital." He replied with a small smile. "I'm so glad you are okay. I was so worried." He leaned closer, wanting to place a small kiss on your forehead, but he didn't expect you to flinch and pull away. "Is everything okay?" He frowned, his eyes searching for an explanation.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" You asked with an apologetic look. The boy's face fell, even forgetting to exhale the air he was harbouring in his chest. He was completely gobsmacked. He didn't understand what was happening, he felt like someone pulled the rug out of under him.

He exhaled sharply. "What do you mean, who I am?" He tried to clarify the situation, even if he already knew, but dared not to accept it.

"Do I know you?" You tried again, your head spinning from all the black holes in your memory.

"I'm George, love." He sighed deeply, your hand in his seemed to be the only thing he felt was keeping him from doing something stupid.

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember you." You let your head fall forward, not being able to look into his pain filled eyes any longer. He was deeply hurt, and you could feel all the pain he felt, as if it was all your fault. But it couldn't have been, you didn't even know him. Still the pain you saw in his eyes made your chest tighten, your throat barely letting any air into your lungs. You didn't mean to hurt the boy, he seemed warm, he seemed friendly, but you couldn't concentrate on him, you didn't even remember your own name.

"You... you don't... you don't remember me?" He whispered; his tone weaker than before as he fell back into the chair behind him. He looked anywhere but you, as if he was searching for an explanation from anywhere but you.

"I'm so sorry." You apologised once again as you nervously played with your hands. "Do you... do you know my name?" You asked finally, your voice breaking as you turned towards the ginger boy, his eyes stopped on you this time, growing wider as realisation hit him.

"You don't even remember your own name?" He asked in shock. You shook your head, your hands shaking as you held onto the blanket covering you with a firm grip, your fingers turning white. George realised what you were doing and placed a hand on yours, gently squeezing it. You immediately let go of the material, his sudden touch sending a tiny electrical shock through you, causing goosebumps to appear on your skin. He tried to ignore the way your reaction lit a tiny hope within him and instead tried to stay composed. "Your name is Y/N."

"Y/N." You repeated in a weak whisper, your own name sounding unfamiliar. "And how do I know you?" You asked the boy, feeling a bit braver. You couldn't pinpoint why you felt the way you did, but somehow you felt like you could trust the boy beside you.

He looked around, searching for the thoughts in his head. He heaved a deep sigh, trying to compose himself once again, tiptoeing around each word he wanted to say to you. "I'm your friend." He stated.

"Are we close?" You asked and the boy nodded. "And what happened to me?" You felt braver after each question, but you could sense that the boy was holding back.

"Look, I have to talk to your healer. We didn't expect you not to remember anything and I wouldn't want you to be overwhelmed by all the information." He squeezed your hand reassuring you that it was all going to be okay, but you didn't need words, for some reason you understood him. You nodded at the boy as he stood up.

"Will you come back after?" You asked as he let go of your hands.

"Of course, let me just talk to the healer and I will be back in no time." He smiled sweetly, but you weren't daft, you could see how phoney his smile was, the way it barely curled up, the lack of crinkles beside his eyes. You might not have had your memories, but you understood the boy even if it seemed somewhat weird to you, since you didn't know him, or at least couldn't remember him.

"Okay." You replied as the boy flashed you the same fake smile and left the side of your bed, leaving you gazing at his back, before it disappeared.

As George turned the corner, he took a deep breath and let his body fall against the white wall of the hospital corridor. Tears slowly started staining his usually happy face, his eyes fixed on the ceiling, trying to stop his tear ducts. His head fell forward, before he harshly headbutted the wall behind him.

"Georgie, what are you doing?" A voice called out to him, but he didn't stop, he repeated the same movement, causing a headache to surface in his skull, before the person grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away from the wall. "George, what is going on?" He asked again, but George fought against the hold, shaking the hands off him as he fell back against the wall, sliding down to the floor, heart-wrenching sobs erupting from his lungs. "Talk to me." The identical boy begged George, but he couldn't speak, his loud cries breaking his brother's heart.

"She... she can't remember anything, Fred." He sobbed, losing himself in his brother's tight embrace. Fred wanted to comfort his brother, but he wasn't sure what to do. He felt responsible, he didn't have the right to comfort him. It should have been him lying on that bed after all.

"I'm so sorry." He breathed out as he tried to calm his brother down. "If I-" he wanted to continue, but George pushed him away with a stern look on his tear soaked face.

"Don't say it." He cut him off, before he could have even started. "It is not your fault. Please, just not now." He begged his brother and Fred understood. It wasn't the right time to talk about what happened, even though it was eating him up from the inside.

"Okay, let's get up now." He helped his brother up, even though he tried to resist. "Look at me." He searched for his brother's eyes, but he kept his gaze on the floor. "I said look at me." He repeated firmly. This time George lifted his head and looked at his twin. "We need to be strong for her, we need to be there for her. You can't give up now. She needs you more than ever. Get yourself together and go back to her, okay?" Fred waited for an answer from his brother, but instead he shook his head.

"I can't, Fred." He heaved a shaky sigh, which earned a gentle shake from his brother.

"George, get your shit together." He groaned, trying to give some tough love to his twin. "She needs you to be composed now, to support her. If you need me, you can talk to me anytime, you can come to me, shout at me, scream with me, cry to me, but she needs you to be strong, do you get it?" He scolded his brother, receiving a weak nod, but it was still better than no answer. "Good, now go, I will talk to the healer." He said as he pushed George back towards your section, before he left to talk to someone with more understanding of your condition.

George stood on the same corridor, his feet as if glued to the ground. What was he supposed to say, how was he supposed to react, how was he to stay strong for you? He shook his head, remembering his brother's words. He need to be your ground and your sky, he was to protect you when you fell and when you reached higher, he needed to be your crutch, to support you physically and mentally. You needed him more than ever and he finally realised that it was time for him to get it together. He had his support in his family and you had him, he was to do anything you asked of him if it meant you would feel better.

George walked back to you with a warm smile across his face and you couldn't stop yourself from returning it. This time he was genuine, and you felt grateful for him. He took his seat beside you and held onto your hand, making you want to pull back, but he didn't let you go. He caressed the back of your hand with his slightly calloused thumb, soothing your worry. You looked into his warm brown eyes, searching for answers and whilst you couldn't find what you were looking for, you found something better. Without words the boy was telling you that you could trust him, rely on him, that he would be beside you no matter what and whilst you didn't know who you were or who he was, you decided to trust him blindly, because it felt just right.

Notes: If you enjoyed it, don't forget to like and/or comment. Thank you :)