Pieces of Them

Chapter 5

She looked down at the picture in her hands.

"Carter? As in the pureblooded family, Carter?"

He nodded his head.

"Yep. You've heard of them?"

She nodded he head as she examined the picture further.

"We learned about them in History of Magic. They were said to have produced many powerful witches and wizards and that according to other purebloods, they had been considered blood traitors for supporting muggles during both wizarding wars. Didn't the family die out though? I was told that the last remaining member died in the Battle of Hogwarts. Was that her?"

George sighed as he prepared himself.

"Well... the name did die out, yes, but she wasn't the last one...... That title would belong to you."

Her eyes went wide as she suddenly looked up at him.

"T-That would mean that she-"

"Is your mother, yes."

She stared back down at the photo in her hands. George's hands were shaky as he pointed to his brother.

"And he's your real father, not me."

She continued to stare at the picture this time. George's mind was racing. While he did feel like a tremendous burden had been lifted from his shoulders, he couldn't help but wonder what she was feeling right now. Was she hurt that he had kept it a secret for so long? Did she hate him for it? She stared at that little moving photo for what felt like forever, completely unreadable.

"I look like her."

"Yeah, but you act like him."

He had said it without thinking. The words just flew from his mouth before he had time to catch it. George regretted it instantly, wishing he had a little bit more tact in him. She didn't seem to care, or if she did, she was hiding it well. When she looked up at him, she appeared to be completely unbothered, almost normal even and that threw him off even further.

"Do you have any more?"

George looked down in the box, entirely dumbstruck.

"Uh, y-yeah. H-Here you go."

He handed her the first picture he'd seen. It ended up being a picture of the Yule Ball. Fred had been with Angelina at the time and he had taken Marcella. He was pretty sure that the picture had been taken by Lee. Same as the previous one. George remembered how breathtaking she had looked that night and how he was unable to take his eyes off her, only to later find out that Fred was thinking the same thing as he was.

"Is that Mum?"

She pointed to Angelina. George forgot that she too had been absolutely stunning that night as well and the slight pang of guilt shot through him.

"Yes. Beautiful, isn't she?"

"Yeah, but why was she with Uncle Fre- I mean, my father?"