⭑*•̩̩͙⊱••••✩••••̩̩͙⊰•*⭑

S E P T E M B E R 2005

30 days. 30 days of apparent freedom. Aurora didn't enjoy the single life when she was younger. Unfortunately she always felt like she needed someone to be with her to help her through the days, through her ups and her downs. She wasn't sure why it took her two separate failed relationships in the span of two, almost three, years to realize that she was far better off on her own than with someone who did not honor her beliefs, or respect her wishes.

She felt free, albeit still sad. She knew a part of her would always love George but then the memories of how he degraded her muggle way of life kept creeping back up in her mind and she instantly became enraged. How could she be so stupid? How could she waste two years of her young life to be with a man who belittled how she wanted to live her life? Furthermore, how could she miss him the way that she did?

Currently, she was nestled in a comfy armchair in a coffee shop in London, her hands wrapped tightly around the hot mug before she took a small sip. The scalding liquid burnt her tongue, and soon after, her throat. She took it as punishment for sitting here worrying about George and what he was doing. He was probably just waking up, opening up shop with Verity.

Or maybe he was waking up in someone else's bed. Another witch. One who wasn't afraid of magic, one who could warm his bed with not just her body but her mind. He deserved to be happy, she knew that, but she also wanted him to suffer just as much as she was.

She placed the coffee down and picked up the local newspaper to try and busy herself with the ongoing news of the world - or atleast London.

"Rory?"

Blinking herself out of the daze she was in, Aurora turned in her chair and looked up at the woman standing beside her.

"Hermione?"

Aurora stood up and greeted the girl with a hug, though she could barely get a good hug in as Hermione's swollen pregnant belly stood in the way.

"What are you doing here?" Aurora asked once they both sat down across from one another.

"I like the green tea smoothie from this place." Hermione laughed softly, her hands gently rubbing along her belly before she looked up at Aurora.

"And that's all?" Aurora teased, taking another sip of her coffee.

"Gin told me you like this place. And seeing as it was either me or Harry willing to travel here to check in on you, I figured you'd rather see me." Hermione shrugged, licking her lips before taking a long sip of the green tea smoothie in her hands. Atleast she wasn't lying about that.

"I wish you lot didn't worry about me. I'm okay. I'll be okay. Breakups happens, this is unfortunately nothing new for me." Aurora laughed.

She knew Hermione didn't want to pry, but she could sense the feeling of sadness and intrigue radiating from the pregnant woman across from her.

"But let's not talk about me. You have really popped since the last time I saw you! How are you feeling?" Aurora asked, a genuine smile forming on her lips as she gestured to Hermione's belly.

"I feel like a house." The curly haired brunette groaned playfully. "We have a few weeks left and I think Ron is starting to get scared. He cleaned the house, by hand , yesterday. By hand! Can you believe that? I think he has lost his mind."

Aurora laughed. "Unfortunately I have to agree with you. The day Ronald Weasley cleans by hand, you know real hard manual labor, you should probably be worried."

The two girls discussed all things baby and for Aurora's sake, Hermione did what she could to purposely leave out George. Although she was curious about him, she knew it would only cause her more pain, more heartache. That was something she just could not handle.

After spending an hour with one another, the two parted ways.

"You will have to keep me in the loop, you know. I would love to know when the baby is born." Aurora smiles genuinely, giving Hermione another hug as a farewell gesture.

"Oh, of course! I'm leaving it to Ginny to be our official announcer. She's got the big mouth like her Mum."

"Yes, she really does." Aurora laughed.

After spending an hour with one another, the two parted ways. Aurora took her time getting back home, stopping in a few shops along the way to occupy her mind. No matter what she did, everything led back to that one-eared bastard.

George Weasley was a very large staple in the past three years of her life and she simply could not just forget about him. As much as she wanted to, and as much as she needed to, it was not going to happen. At least not overnight, as they say.

⭑*•̩̩͙⊱••••✩••••̩̩͙⊰•*⭑

"Don't be such a stick in the mud, George. I think you should get out of bed and come work a few hours in the shop. You are the owner and all."

Verity stood at the foot of George's bed with her arms crossed taut over her chest. Her eyes narrowed on the lump burrowed beneath the comforter on George's bed, which was obviously none other than George himself.

"No thank you. Your soliciting is not welcome here." George's voice came out muffled as he was cocooned around his blanket, face smashed into the pillow.

It had only been one full month without Aurora and he fell right back into his old, wicked ways. He was drinking more, his aggression on full display whenever someone rubbed him the wrong way.

"Suit yourself. I'll just send Molly, or Ginny, up later." With that, Verity whipped around and left the room with a loud bang. She had slammed the door shut so hard that it bounced right back out of the frame, hanging open as sunlight from the hallway window created a bright ray landing on his bed.

"Bitch." George groaned, flipping over and shoved the blanket off his body before he stood up and stumbled from the bed to close the door to his room. His head was pounding, and in typical George fashion he refused to take any kind of hangover potion. He wanted to feel the pain. He wanted to suffer every single day. He deserved to suffer - that much he knew atleast.

He found his way into the bathroom and grimaced at what was looking back at him in the mirror. His reflection was rough. And that was putting it lightly. A sigh left his lips as he played with the facial hair that was growing longer by the day. He turned the water on, ensuring that it was scalding hot before stepping in.

He couldn't remember the last time he showered, which was bad. So he took his time and actually cleaned himself up. Once he was done, the towel lazily wrapped around his waist, he took a brush through his hair before getting dressed.

He still refused to work today - and he knew Verity would continue to give him shit but he would say "atleast I got showered and dressed!" And to him that was a good enough comeback.

He was in the middle of making himself something to eat when the floo roared to life. Silently, praying on every single shooting star he had ever seen in his life that it was not his Mum, George tossed his cookware into the sink once he played his meal.

"Anything for me?"

Looking over his shoulder, George shook his head. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

The blonde woman sighed softly with a hand placed gently on her swollen belly. She scrunched her nose at the rude response but knew she shouldn't push her luck. After all, she grew up with George and knew he always projected his feelings harshly - it only got worse with the loss of his twin brother.

"George. You're my brother. I love you. Can't I come see you? It's been a while since we've heard from you." Adelaide stepped closer to her brother-in-law, moving her hand to his arm. She seemed grateful that he didn't pull away and gave him a tight squeeze before enveloping him in a hug. As best as she could, anyway, her pregnant belly in the way.

"Charlie know you're here?" George lingered in the hug for a moment before he pulled away and looked down at her.

"Yes. Anyway, he's working. It's September now, George." Adelaide smiled softly, now taking a seat at the kitchen table. She graciously thanked him for the cup of tea and stirred some honey into her mug before speaking again, "When is the last time you've gone out?"

"I don't know and frankly, I don't really care either. I mean... No offense." George shook his head, ruffling up his hair a bit as he looked down at his sister-in-law. He felt guilty about not spending as much time with her and his brother, Charlie. He was always close with Adelaide growing up, and he wasn't sure what happened along the way.

People grow up. People change. Family is forever, he knew that much ... atleast until you die, that is.

"Look, I love you too, Addy, but I'm not in the mood to be a host of any sorts today."

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "It's not healthy to wallow in pity, George. Break ups are tough... Trust me, I know." She laughed softly, thinking back on her last year in Hogwarts all those years ago.

George sighed, looking over at his sister-in-law and knowing what she meant. She had gone through far more loss than he had - although there is something different about losing a twin brother - he knew she understood his pain.

Before she had gotten together with Charlie she had been with Sirius Black. George could remember it clearly, pranking his brother and Adelaide to kiss under the mistletoe. They were just kids and didn't know any better, of course. After Sirius' death, Adelaide lost her parents and her best friend by the time the war was over.

"I know. I'm sorry." He sighed, looking down at his hands as he idly picked at his fingernails. The two always had a soft spot for one another. He had a feeling she was sent here on a mission from the rest of the family and he knew why.

"Where are my niece and nephew at today?" He finally spoke up again, finally meeting Adelaide's gaze.

"They're with your Mum. With it being the start of the school year Charlie doesn't come home as much so she's helping out so I can get some errands done before this one," she paused to rest her hand on her stomach, "makes his or her arrival."

George forced a smile. Everyone around him was happy. Married with children already, or atleast on the way. He couldn't wrap his brain around why he was destined to be alone. Maybe it was because there really was no George without Fred. Atleast that's what he believed, anyway.

"I think it's another boy." He announced, taking the seat next to her and silently asked, with his hand in the air hovering over her belly, if he could touch. When she smiled and nodded, he let his hand rest over the bump, immediately feeling the baby moving within her, a swift kick to the palm of his hand caused him to jump back.

"Bloody hell! Do they do that all the time?" He asked with a genuine laugh.

"The baby literally never moves for anyone except me. And now, their Uncle George. Your brother is going to be livid. I'll have to write to him as soon as I get home to rub it in his face." Adelaide giggled softly, watching George as he touched his hand still recovering from the shock of what he felt.

"I've always been your favorite anyway. You're just too old for me."

"George!" She laughed again, swatting his chest with her hand before she whipped out her wand to summon some more tea. She usually got up to do it herself but now at the end of this pregnancy she didn't want to do much without her wand.

"Have you seen Aurora? Or heard from her, maybe?" Adelaide tread lightly, spinning her spoon of honey into the newly poured tea before taking a sip.

"No." He answered firmly, not wanting to talk about it. To be honest, he thought about her constantly. The left side of his bed was always cold now and he despised that empty feeling in sheets beneath his hand in the morning.

He missed staying with her at her flat in London, too. But that was something he would never openly admit. Adelaide might be able to get it out of him, though, he knew she would try.

"I'm sorry. Let's not talk about her. How about you accompany me to Diagon Alley? There's a few things I want to grab before heading home. I think it would be nice to get out of the house for a little bit. Adora and Faustus would love to see Uncle Georgie, too. Adora has inherited your mischief and it's getting worse with each new day."

George smiled fondly at the mention of his niece becoming mischievous. Though soon the thought of Fred, if he were here, encouraging the behavior made the gears start to turn, another dark cloud lingering over his head before Adelaide's voice broke him out of his daze.

"Just a few errands. And then I'll go to the burrow to pick the kids up to head home. You'd be an awfully big help, you know..."

"Alright alright alright. You don't have to guilt me into it. Let me get ready." George agreed, albeit a bit reluctantly. He got up, cleaned the dishes off the table and went in the back to his room to change his shirt and put on a pair of trainers.

⭑*•̩̩͙⊱••••✩••••̩̩͙⊰•*⭑

The trip to Diagon Alley was nice, George would admit that much if asked. He felt wanted, which was a nice feeling after all of the darkness he had been in. He helped Adelaide do her shopping, well - he held her bags and took her to a late lunch. Nothing fancy, but he said he could sense his niece or nephew was hungry so he had to make sure they were fed.

He was slightly dreading seeing his Mum, knowing she'd make a fuss. Adelaide promised she would distract her as much as she could. But once they stepped foot in the living room, George could already tell this had been a mistake.

Hermione was in the kitchen, pregnant as all hell just like Adelaide, gossiping with Ginny and their Mum about Aurora.

"It's alright. It's just talk. She's not here." Adelaide whispered up to him, smiling softly before she was slightly pushed out of the way by her six year old daughter, Adora Weasley. Her hair was a soft red, lighter than Charlie's, which Adelaide assumed was because she was a blonde. She was just four months shy of turning seven years old.

"Uncle Georgie!" Adora screamed at the top of her lungs as she barreled through the room, jumping over furniture to get to him.

Adelaide smiled as she watched her daughter embrace George before she made her way into the kitchen.

"You got him out of the shop?" Molly looked up from helping Faustus feed himself a slice of banana. Adelaide's two year old son, who somehow inherited her blonde hair, was still a spitting image of his father. Though, if you asked Charlie, you could see some red if you looked close enough.

Adelaide smiled, "Mum, you should know I can be quite persuasive if I need to be. He helped me with my errands today." She glanced over her shoulder and sighed softly. George now had Adora over his shoulder, dangling against his back with her ankles securely locked in his hands.

"George Weasley! Please be careful!" Molly cried out to him.

He looked up and grinned which sent a happy sigh of relief out of Molly as she watched her son and granddaughter.

"The start of the school year is always the hardest with Charlie being gone." Adelaide sat down, joining Hermione at the table. "Let him do whatever he wants with her. At this point he'll only be tiring her out which is a help for me." She laughed softly before looking back at Ginny and Hermione.

"Hermione saw Rory today. Says she looks good." Ginny sighed. Unfortunately her friendship had taken a bit of a tumble when they broke up, and everyone could see it was eating Ginny alive inside.

"Well, that's good." Adelaide chose her words carefully. "I think it's best if we don't try to force him to speak of her and what happened between them."

"Addy, it's been a month." Ginny spoke up, a look of determination on her face.

"Gin, I know you miss your best friend. So maybe, without him knowing, you can reach out. Go to her. Work on your friendship. Just because George is your brother doesn't mean you can't be friends with her. After all," Adelaide made a grimace with a sharp kick from the baby to her ribs, "she was your friend first."

The kitchen became silent when George walked through. He wasn't stupid, and he knew what they were discussing, but chose to ignore it.

"Adora is already saying she wants a nap." George told Adelaide with a nod in the direction of the living room. "I'll come home with you and help get them settled."

"Thank you, Georgie." Adelaide beamed, standing up to kiss her brothers cheek.

The nickname was a painful reminder of what he lost - well really, what he gave up. But as he said his goodbyes, the look of sadness in the eyes of all of his loved ones hurt him just a little bit more. It was happening all over again. Sadness and pain built up in those around him - for him. He hated the pity.

But more importantly, he hated that he missed Aurora. He missed her with ever fiber of his being. Her laugh, the little snort she made when he tickled her sides longer than necessary. The way her blue eyes lit up whenever he cooked her favorite food, or the way her head fell back in pleasure as he swam through the ocean between her legs.

Fuck. He missed her.