A.N. My first angst fanfic. A new take on Feorgelina. Takes place after Fred's death, the two find a sort of solace in each other. Hope you like it. Leave a review! Love, girlwithangelwings
The Ritual
George always knew exactly when Angelina started missing Fred.
It started with the pained and longing looks whenever she was around him, and he just knew it wasn't him she was thinking about. Then out came the giant teddy bear Fred once won for her at a muggle carnival. The teddy bear was held overnight, sniffed as if she could still smell Fred on it, hugged tightly to her chest while she cried in silence. He only later on figured out she was crying, when on one brave night he wanted to kiss it all better and found her wet face in the dark. The bear hugging and silent crying were always accompanied the staring into blank space and her deep conversation moods. He never wanted to talk, talking about feelings was not his thing, especially not after - after the second of May. Her attempts to conversation led to fucking; hard, desperate fucking that tried to make up for the emptiness they shared. After it, she'd curl up with her bear cuddled to her naked body.
He always knew it, exactly knew it. And it happened more often than he cared to admit. It lead to a realisation: he was a back-up Fred. At the times the pained, longing looks came around, she was slowly comprehending he wasn't Fred and could never replace him. No one ever could. No one ever could give her back the boyfriend she had wanted to grow old with and no one could give him back his soulmate.
Yes. They did love each other in their own messed up way – Lee's muggle girlfriend once hinted to fifty shades of fucked up and got weird looks all around – and that was enough. They were capable of dealing with each other's emptiness.
Time went by in their stupid ritual of missing, emptiness, settling and fucked up loving, and they managed to put on a show for the outside world. A show in which they seemed happy and perfect.
They got married because everyone expected it and it seemed natural. They were each other's replacement of Fred, the closest they ever got to having him back.
He saw her first genuine smile the day Fred II was born and knew his own matched hers. Fred I brought them together and Fred II kept them together. Roxanne was the happy result of that.
But even as the years went by – when the show became less of a show and more of a reality – the ritual remained. It became less and less frequent and after years they only crashed into it around the second of May. Then out came her bear, his fire whiskey and their mindless fucking. But he managed to love her for it and she him.
Yes. They were fucked up and didn't have the relationship that people thought was normal. But it worked for them.
Their ritual was stupid, but it was theirs.
Missing. Cuddling. Fucking.
Sometimes, Fred wasn't even the thing on their minds.