The Other Granger (George Weasley x Reader)

Tom Riddle's Return (Year 4)

Paradoxical was the only word that could be used to describe the following months.

Days were torturously slow without Y/n. They dragged by at a snail's pace and all felt horribly repetitive. Every day was the same routine: wake up, go to classes, and check on Y/n. George, Lucy, and Hermione were her most frequent visitors. They came once a day, sometimes multiple times a day, just to check on her. Despite this, she stood in the same position every time. Nothing changed when they left, she stayed frozen... stuck in time. Harry, Cedric, and Dina visited often too. They were there a couple times a week just to ask Madam Pomfrey how she was doing and sit by her bedside. Lucy had helped George charm all the flowers so they wouldn't wilt. The vase of daffodils on her bedside never grew or died. They were like Y/n: paralyzed.

At the same time, three months had passed in the blink of an eye and suddenly it was the end of May.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had spent most of their time trying to balance checking in on Y/n, keeping up with their classes, and figuring out what was going on at Hogwarts.

Hagrid was in the process of being removed from Hogwarts to be questioned as he was suspected in the initial murder back 50 years ago. The Golden Trio knew, of course, that Hagrid wouldn't hurt a fly. He was a gentle giant in every sense of the word. For that reason, they set off to prove that he was innocent.

"Spiders... why did it have to be bloody spiders? Why couldn't it have been butterflies." Ron groaned with a terrified look on his face as they entered the dark cave with spiders crawling everywhere.

Hermione shushed him and Harry just didn't pay any notice as they creeped further into the cave. When they made it further into a cave, a giant spider dropped down from the ceiling of it. They learn from Aragog the Acromantula, who much to Ron's chagrin has a taste for human flesh, that Hagrid is innocent and Aragog vouches for Hagrid. This testament just confirms what the three already know.

It suddenly hits them that the girl murdered fifty years ago lines up perfectly with the familiar and frankly a little weird ghost, Moaning Myrtle. Suddenly a pang of guilt and despair hits the three. They can't imagine what it would be like to be murdered at your own school and the killer not be caught for 50 years.

Hermione was starting to think Y/n was right and that Hogwarts wasn't as safe as they were always told. She was too scared to say anything to Harry though because he practically worhshipped their head master.

Hermione made a point to tell every muggleborn and halfblood student to walk with a reflective surface handy and to look around corners through the reflection first. She also urged people to travel in pairs.

Her advice seemingly had worked because by the end of May, almost a full month after they had gone in the cave, no one else had been petrified. However, things had never been more grim.

Y/n was still petrified and Hagrid was in Azkaban being questioned when the professors announced that Ginny Weasley had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets.

George's heart dropped and the words Y/n had said to him months ago now echoed in his head, "Keep an eye on Ginny, okay? I think she's having a hard time..." His stomach churned with an overwhelming feeling of guilt. He hadn't listened to her words. He hadn't even noticed anything was wrong with Ginny, and now she might never-

He didn't even want to think about that.

Ron went pale and nearly fainted when he heard the teachers announce where Ginny was. He, Harry, and Hermione exchanged a knowing look and nodded determinately. They had to save her.

The Golden Trio used the chaos that had erupted as a distraction so they could quietly sneak off. Once outside the great hall, all three second years ran as fast as they could to the second floor girl's bathroom.