A half hour later found Hermione alone in Ginny’s room. She claimed a headache and excused herself to go to bed early. Seeing as no one argued with her, she had a feeling she was the main topic of conversation around the kitchen table.
***
Hermione was right about the conversation around the table. Molly waited until she heard the bedroom door close then said, “That poor girl. Can you imagine what she must be feeling? To be one person all your life, to have that suddenly taken away from you. She must be so confused. The person she thought she was she finds out in an instant, she isn’t. I’m sure she doesn’t know who she is anymore. My heart is breaking for her.” Molly shook her head. She looked directly at Ron as she continued, “Ron, I want to know the rest of it. I want to know why you have been here for the past month and not with Hermione.”
All heads turned to look at Ron and because of this, no one noticed the tall red-headed man walk quietly out of the kitchen.
***
George knocked softly on Ginny’s bedroom door. He hoped Hermione wasn’t sleeping. He really needed to talk to her.
“Hermione, it’s George, can I come in?”
“Yes.”
George opened the door and walked in closing the door behind him. He saw Hermione sitting at the top of the bed, her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. Approaching the bed, he sat down on the side.
“Can I talk to you about something?” he asked.
“Of course,” Hermione replied sounding confused.
George wasn’t sure how to say what he wanted to say without upsetting Hermione. He didn’t want to do that, but there was no one else who might understand.
“Mum was just talking downstairs and she said something that described me perfectly. She said, ‘To be one person all your life, to have that suddenly taken away from you. The person she thought she was she finds out in an instant, she isn’t.. I’m sure she doesn’t know who she is anymore.’” George looked at Hermione to gauge her reaction. He knew instantly his mum was right.
“Hermione, that’s how I’ve been feeling since... since…” George hesitated to say the words, “since that day. I have always been part of two. Fred and George, George and Fred, or just the Twins. I have never been just George. I don’t know who just George is.”
Hermione looked at George with tears in her eyes. She straightened out her legs and slid herself next to him. She reached out and pulled him into a hug. Within moments, George gave into the tears he had been holding in for so long.
As his tears slowed, George felt embarrassment. He couldn’t believe he had just cried his eyes out on his brother’s girlfriend’s shoulder. Drawing back, he said, “Hermione, I’m sorry. I just…” Hermione’s voice cut him off.
“George, don’t you dare apologize for being human. Do you know how much I have cried in the past month?” She looked questioningly at him.
“Yeah, well, you’re a girl. You are supposed to be emotional,” George said teasingly.
“George, do you realize that is the second time you made a joke tonight?”
George looked shocked. Then right before Hermione’s eyes, he smiled and transformed into the old George.
“Hermione, I’d have to say you must be good for me. So, since you have been dealing with this for a month, can you tell me how to do it?” At Hermione’s blank stare, George explained, “Can you tell me how to find out who George Weasley is? Because I just don’t know who I am anymore.”
Over the next half hour, Hermione and George sat and talked about finding themselves. George explained to Hermione how he was considering going away for a while. As George got up to leave, Hermione placed a hand on his arm to stop him. An idea had been forming in her mind while they talked.
“George, I have an idea,” she said to him.
“What? Want to elope?”
“That makes three. But seriously…I think I have an idea to solve both our problems. I need to go and bring my parents back from Australia, and you said you need to get away. Why don’t you go with me? Harry and Ron will never agree to let me go alone and honestly, I don’t really want either of them with me when I tell the Grangers the truth.”
“Go with you? To Australia?” George sounded confused but Hermione could see a small sparkle of life in his eyes.
“Yes, to Australia. We won’t be gone long. I know where my parents moved to. Well, sort of. I know the city they moved to, but they shouldn’t be too hard to find. So, what do you say, want to go on a trip with me?”
George sat for a moment before answering, “Sure do, but how in the name of Merlin are we going to tell Mum and Ron we are running away together?” At Hermione’s shocked and panicked look, George burst out laughing. “Hermione, I know it is just two friends who are going through the same thing, going on a trip to find the one friend’s parents.”
Hermione smiled and then began laughing along with George.
***
Outside the bedroom door, Ron stood frozen. He had come up to try to talk to Hermione before Ginny came to bed. He could hear her laughing. But it wasn’t her laughing that had him seeing red; it was the fact that he could hear George laughing too. On one hand, it was wonderful to hear George’s laugh again, but the fact he was in the bedroom alone with Hermione laughing, that was just too much.
Opening the door, he asked, “Isn’t this cosy?”
Hermione and George looked up at Ron. George smiled and threw his arm around Hermione. “Sure is, or it was until you came in, little brother.”
Ron was taken by surprise. First his brother makes a joke downstairs, then he slips out of the kitchen to presumably come up here and he is caught laughing, actually laughing with Hermione, now he is once again joking. Ron thought about the past month. George had been like a little lost puppy. He never stayed long in any one place in the house with the exception of his room. He barely spoke to any of them and not once since the day Fred died had he cracked even the tiniest of jokes.
And Hermione, he hadn’t seen nor heard from her in the month since they broke up. Tonight she barely acknowledged him. Granted, she did allow him to hold her hand when she was telling the family what was going on. Now, she was in here, alone with George, laughing and joking.
Ron was not happy.
“Ron! What are you doing up here?” Hermione spoke quickly. She pulled away from George who gave her a knowing look, and then walked over to Ron.
“I think I will just take myself off to my room. Hermione, thanks for the talk. If I come up with any ideas for that problem, I’ll let you know.” George gave Hermione a wide smile and nodding to Ron, walked out the door.
“What was that all about? What problem? And what were you two laughing about?” Ron walked further into the room and turned to look back at Hermione. “Oh, and one more thing, what did you do to George to bring my brother back?”
“George came up here to talk to me because of something your mother said. Something about me not knowing who I am anymore. He realized that was exactly how he felt and knew I would understand what he couldn’t explain to any of you. As far as what we were laughing about, it was just a dumb joke George made.” Hermione looked at Ron to see if he would pick up on the questions she would rather not answer right now.
“Okay, but what is this problem George spoke about?” Ron was not going to let her get away with avoiding any of his questions.
“Ron, it’s not important. Just an idea I had. Now, why did you come up here?” Hermione asked in an effort to change the subject.
“It does matter, but I’ll drop it… for now. I came up hoping we could talk about us. I’ve missed you.” Ron walked over to where Hermione was standing and reached out to take her hand.
“I’ve missed you too, Ron. But, there isn’t an ‘us’, is there? Not right now anyway.”
Ron expected that response from her. He had prepared himself for it, but right now, in light of finding George laughing with her, he was worried. What if Hermione never realized she still loved him? Did she know how much he loved her and what staying away from her had been pure hell?
Ron was saved from answering her by Ginny’s arrival. He let go of Hermione’s hand and without a word or backward glance, walked out the door.
“Did I interrupt something?” Ginny asked.
“Nothing that isn’t better off for having been interrupted. Ginny, can we talk?” Hermione asked her friend.
The sun was just starting to lighten the horizon when Ginny and Hermione finally fell asleep. Hermione had a plan for her and George’s trip. Ginny had found the perfect solution for dealing with Mrs Weasley. It would be up to George to do his part in convincing Ron. As far as Harry, Ginny would be perfect to convince him this was the best plan. Divide and conquer, it always works.
***
Though both Hermione and Ginny were tired the next morning, they helped Mrs Weasley without complaint. It did both of their hearts good to see her step out of her grief long enough to have a birthday party for Fleur.
Hermione noticed George was very quiet and kept to himself. About mid-afternoon, Percy arrived. George took one look at him and walked outside. Hurt was clearly written on Percy’s face. Giving him a small smile, Hermione followed George outside.
The tension Hermione had felt all day coming from Ron had taken its toll on her. Though she understood what George was going through, she had enough of his moping and being distant from his family.
“George, GEORGE! Wait up,” Hermione yelled to him.
Stopping, George stood with his shoulders slumped as he waited for Hermione to catch up with him.
“Just what was that all about? Why did you treat Percy that way?” Hermione asked. She knew she was taking her frustration at Ron out on him, but she had to vent it somewhere and he was handy.
“It was nothing,” George replied as he started to walk away.
“Nothing? Yes, it was something. You didn’t even speak to Percy. You took one look at him and walked out the door.” Hermione grabbed one of George’s arms and pulled him around to face her. She was shocked to see tears in his eyes.
“George, do you blame Percy for Fred dying?” Hermione thought this may be the reason for his attitude.
“Blame Percy? Nope, I blame myself. I know Percy blames himself and that is why I can’t face him. Not because it’s his fault, but because it’s… mine.” George tried to shake Hermione’s hand off his arm.
“George, it wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t Percy’s, or Ron’s or Harry’s or mine. It was Voldemort’s fault. Don’t you think we have all struggled with feeling guilty? What if I had cast a cushioning charm around us? Or I should have cast a ‘Protego Charm’ on all of us. Why didn’t I? It could have saved his life.
“George, we can’t live blaming ourselves or each other. It happened and we have to accept it. We have to place the blame where it belongs. Fred died joking with Percy. He died laughing, with a smile on his face. We couldn’t ask for a more appropriate way for him to die. You need to accept this.” Hermione hoped she wasn’t going too far. But there was one more thing she had to say. If George never spoke to her again, then so be it, but it needed to be said.
“George, if you died, would you want Fred acting the way you are now? Or would you want him honouring your memory by keeping the jokes alive?”
George didn’t answer. He looked down at Hermione. She could see he was thinking about what she said.
“Hermione, there is something I need to do. Will you tell Mum, I will be back in a little while? I promise, I’m okay and about what you said, you are right.” With that, George gently removed Hermione’s hand and without another word Apparated from the Burrow.
Well, now I have gone and done it. I pushed too hard and George ran away. she thought to herself as she walked back to the house. She hoped no one would ask where George was because she wasn’t sure he was coming back.
Who Am I? by mudbloodproud
Chapter Notes: I want to thank my beta, Lexi (Harry_Rulz). Thank you for everything you have done with this story and for sticking by me through months of no new chapters. There will be new chapters coming your way soon.
I do not own, nor claim to own anything you recognise in this story. It all belongs to J. K. Rowling and I am thankful to get to play in her world, even if for a little while.