[24]A is for Accident//George Weasley\\B is for Blind[24]

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The first unforeseen predicament was the stairs. I hadn’t re-mastered stairs yet. At least, not to a point where I could go up a flight without falling down. Stairs took more energy and concentration than walking.

“We can just apparate up.” George said.

“No, I want to do this.” I said, walking towards the stairs.

“Are you – “

“Yes, I’m sure.” I snapped, then recoiled at the sound of my own voice. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it.”

“It’s okay.” He soothed. “Let’s try the stairs, and if you get tired we can apparate the rest of the way.”

I slowly and carefully climbed the stairs. About halfway up, I had to stop. The spell tissue was constricting my lunch.

“Are you okay?” George asked.

“Are they sure this stuff won’t grow?” I wheezed. “It’s like every time I try to do something new it grows just to stop me.”

“It’s just because you aren’t used to it yet.” He reassured. “Like those muggle nutters who climb mountains for fun. They have to learn how to take in less oxygen.”

I managed a short laugh. George put an arm around me and we made our way up the rest of the stairs.

The next predicament (love that word) was where I was sleeping.

“You can stay in Fred’s old room.” George said, leading me to a door that I had never seen open. “It’s cleaned up and everything.”

He pushed the door open and we both looked inside, afraid to go in incase we scared a ghost from the past.

The walls were painted an eggshell blue. There was a bed, a desk and a closet. One of my overnight bags was sitting on the bed.

“Thanks.” I said quietly.

George looked around the room with a sad expression.

“I don’t need to stay in here.” I said gently. “I can sleep on the couch.”

He looked at me startled, like he had forgotten I was there. “No, no, sleep here.” He said. “It’s fine. I don’t want you sleeping on the couch. Besides, it’s not like anyone’s using it.”

He turned away to put his things in his room, and I slowly walked in and sat on the bed. On the nightstand was a picture of the twins, playful smirks on their faces. There was a picture of a fairly pretty witch sitting at a bar and laughing. I wondered where she was now, what she did with Fred gone.

I opened the bag that George had packed for me, and smiled at the photo lying on top. He had grabbed the picture he had given me for Christmas, with the key still attached, and put it on top of my clothes. I untapped the key and stuffed it in my pocket, then reached over and placed the picture on the nightstand with the others.

I turned back to dig through the bag, but George was standing in the doorway. “Hey, I’m going to go down to the shop.” he said. “I haven’t been there for a month and I’m almost afraid to go but I have to. So, will you be okay?”

“Yeah.” I smiled. “I’ll find something to do. A bath might be nice.”

“Okay. Help yourself to anything you want. Just give a shout if you need me.”

I nodded and he turned and left. I sat there until I heard the door click shut, before I got up and walked over to the closet. It was empty, and I was surprised. I didn’t think George would be able to clean it out. Maybe someone else had.

Even still, I didn’t hang my clothes up. I left them in neat piles on the shelves. When I was done, I went into the living room and stared at my surroundings.

The third predicament – what was I going to do all day?

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After a small dinner, well for me it was small, George and I sat on the couch. I showed him how he should organize the potions book I bought him.

“See, you want to start out with a description of what it does here, next to the name.” I said, showing him my own potions book. It was much thicker than his. “Like a dictionary definition. Then you write your ingredients.”

“What’s this?” he asked. “Why is the rest of the page split in two?”

“The left side is for the official way of making it. The right side is for little reminders to yourself.”

He grimaced. “It’s a lot of work. Only you would give me a Christmas present that requires work.”

I rolled my eyes.

An owl urgently tapped at the window. George sighed and stood up to let it in. he took the letter tied around its let from it, and closed the window behind it.

“Lee.” He muttered. “He’s back then.”

“Who’s Lee?” I asked.

“He was me and Fred’s best friend from school. He was in Scandinavia for the past few years, but I guess he’s back. He wants to meet you.”

“Me?” I asked. “Why? How does he know about me?”

“I told him about you.” he said, putting the letter down on the table.

I laughed. “I’m flattered. But I won’t really be able to go anywhere for a while.”

“He can come here.”

I smiled. George yawned and I said, “I think I’m going to go to bed. Thank you, for everything.”

He smiled at me. “No problem, Evie.”

I got up and walked to the room I was staying in. I changed into pajamas, turned out the lights, and got into bed.

For the first time in a week, the images didn’t come as soon as I shut my eyes. they did come though.

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I woke up screaming.

I didn’t know where I was, I was terrified of what I had seen in my mind, and the only way to express it was to scream. I couldn’t handle what my own brain was showing me.

“Evie! Evie! Evie!”

I tried to fight off the person trying to get a hold of me. But I was too weak.

“Evie! It’s me!” they shouted.

I looked up and realized I was trying to fight George off. We stared at each other for a moment, his hands were on my shoulders. Then I broke down into sobs. He sighed and sat on the bed next to me, pulling me into a tight embrace. “It’s all right.” He soothed. “Come on now. Shhhhh.”

I felt like a little kid.

Once I had calmed down a little bit, he asked, “Why didn’t you tell me you were still having nightmares?”

“I didn’t want to worry you.” I said. “It’s enough for you to watch over me constantly like a in-home healer.”

He sighed. “Evie, I’m taking care of you because I care about you. But in order for you to get better, you have to tell me everything.”

I nodded.

“Maybe tomorrow when I’m at work you can make yourself some of that dreamless sleep potion.” He suggested.

“I can’t hide behind a potion forever. I’d rather just deal with it.”

He got up and slid an arm under my knees and the other behind my back. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

He picked me up. “You’re sleeping with me tonight. That way I can give you subconscious moral support as you fight your mind.”

I smiled lightly. He carried me into his bedroom and put me in bed, climbing in next to me and pulling the blankets up. I huddled next to him and he put an arm around me.

I wish all of this meant something.

“Evie, what did you see?”

I buried my head in my pillow. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“It might be better if you can tell someone.”

“Not this.”

The truth was I didn’t know how to describe it. It reminded me of this Torchwood episode, where a boy who disappears because of the Cardiff Rift looks into the heart of a dying star, and goes insane. It tortured him so much that he screamed for 22 hours every day. And everyday he screamed a little more.

I hadn’t looked into the heart of a dying star, but screaming all day might be the closest I’d get to explaining it.

George sighed and pulled me closer to him.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered.

“What for?”

“I called your name. I made you look at me, before the spell hit you. Maybe if you didn’t, you’d be okay.”

He looked so sad. I smiled and cupped his cheek with my hand. “I’m okay.”

“But you’re hurt.”

“I will always be okay with you.”

God that’s so cheesy. I wish I could take that back.

But he smiled. I still felt the need to cover myself.

“Besides, even if I were looking it would have hit me. No matter how powerful the shield charm, I wouldn’t have been able to stop it.”

“I’m sorry anyway.”

“Don’t be.”

I turned over and looked across the foreign landscape of his dark room. George sighed and moved into a comfortable sleeping position. Just as I was about to close my eyes, I saw a mask on the nightstand. Even in the darkness of the room, I could tell that it was a blue demi-mask covered in black gauze.

My mask from the party.

It was stupid of me to leave it on the banister. But I didn’t know what else to do. I had to change as fast as I could into my other dress, remove the charm on my hair, and run downstairs to appear as Evie in enough time that everyone would just assume I had been there all night. I had to get rid of the mask somehow, and it was a miracle I managed to find that bag for the dress.

I’m no Cinderella. I thought miserably. I’d never have that kind of good luck.

Why was he keeping it?

I closed my eyes and tried not to think. Next to me George sighed and pulled me closer to him. I grimaced. Yeah, that’ll help with not thinking.
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rate. please. ill love you forever and ever.