Chapter One
The last thing Fred remembered was laughing with Percy, that and a brief pain that had gone almost as soon as it had come. He awoke in a field of grass, it was blowing gently over head and he felt so dam tired that he just watched it for a few moments, before a voice or rather two voices stopped his musing. "Oi Fred." They said together and he shot up in the grass staring around, before he saw two figures standing by the burrow, but getting closer.
"Hello little twinling." One said and once he came up to Fred, he ruffled his hair.
"Fabian?" Fred demanded and they both grinned.
"Who else would it be nephew, I see you've inherited my manly figure." He said and Fred laughed. He knew that as he was talking to his deceased Uncles, things couldn't be exactly looking up for him. In fact, everything was pointing to the fact, that he was currently pushing up daisys. Fred thought of George, poor George, without him, he really hoped George wouldn't off himself to be with him. Fred had made a journal, alright it was dark arts but he didn't care. He knew there was a chance that he might not survive and as much as he joked about it, he really didn't want his twin to die with him. In fact Fred wanted George to live to be a old man with a flabby arse.
"Yeah, how's George holding up."
"Not well I'm afraid, but that's not what we're here for, we're here to tell you that you have a choice to make." He said and sighed, sitting down in the grass next to Fred. "You died, that much is obvious, but what you did with the dark magic still ties you to life."
"Bloody hell I made a horcrux?" I demanded, I suppose that's what you get for reading a book of death, but everyone knew that you had to sacrifice someone to make a horcrux.
"Not quite, there are horcruxi and there is what you did, which has no name. Basically, you created a way back for yourself, made not out of dark but of light. For when one does something for love, it transcends everything else. You clearly made that book out of love, not caring what would happen, or how your magic would be stained."
"My magic?" Fred asked and they sighed.
"About that, if you go back, what you most fear happening to you, will in fact happen. Other then death of course and it has to be you it happens to." He added and Fred sighed in relief, that wasn't to big a price, if he could see George again, he would do without just about anything to be with his twin. "In your case, you would no longer be able to cast spells." He added and Fred nodded, he'd had magic in his life forever and not having it would make him dependent upon his twin,in case anyone ever attacked them.
"I'll go." He said flatly and the brothers smiled.
"You have the blood of our family and your father's running in your veins." Gideon stated and smiled at Fred. "Very well and tell our sister we said hello."
"Will do uncles." Fred said and the two smiled.
"Just walk away from the house Fred and everything will be fine." Fabian stated and he nodded, walking one foot in front of the other, in the field of grass, until he came to a point where there was only darkness. He took a deep breath and jumped.
Pain was everywhere, ripping him apart as he fell from the darkness into a familiar room gasping at the agony that lasted a few more moments before fading away. He smiled at his old room in the burrow, grinning widely when he heard the loud snores coming from somewhere in the room. He looked around, until he spotted his twin, curled up, hugging himself, an empty bottle of firewhiskey in his hand as it hung off the bed.
"Oh George." Fred breathed, his twin had drunk enough to knock out something much larger then himself. He stepped forward, more empty bottles littering the room and walked up to his twin. George was moaning and muttering in his sleep, so Fred did what he'd always done, when he or George had a nightmare. He wrapped his arms around his twin, bringing them close together, before gently stroking George's hair.
"Fred, no, don't leave me!" His brother said and Fred hated to think of the torture his twin must be enduring.
"Its alright George, I'm here and I'll not be leaving again if I have anything to say about it." He added fiercely loosing his magic had been worth it, if he could spend this time with George. He snuggled against his twin, feeling worn out from his ordeal and promptly fell asleep.
It was banging at the door that woke him, George still in a stupor. "Come on George, you have to attend the funeral, Fred would want you there." Charlie said, a hitch coming to his voice when he spoke Fred's name, Fred groaned and rolled off the bed and underneath it. He decided the best way to announce his return to the living was to do so at his own funeral. Hey, if you had to tell the world you were alive, why not do it in style?
Charlie burst through the door, his eyes red rimmed, as though he'd had a long cry. Fred stared at his older brother, who'd always seemed so strong and was now clearly desolate over Fred's apparent passing, he wanted to get out from under the bed and wrap his arms around his brother, but he didn't because he knew that Charlie would believe himself to have gone round the bend. Charlie stared at George for a moment before bursting into tears. "Why couldn't it have been me?" He demanded. "Why Fred, you wanted to torture us plainly." He said to the air, Fred realized that his brother was demanding things of the fates, a risky thing entirely.
Charlie stared at George, taking the bottle from his hand and a sobering potion from his pocket. He sighed looking at George. "I'm sorry but you would want to be there Georgie." He stated. "Enervate." He pronounced and George awoke, swinging out at Charlie, who dodged the punch like he was used to it. Fred didn't want to think what that meant.
"Leave me alone!" George cried.
"Come on Georgie, Fred would want you to be at his funeral." Charlie said and George burst into tears. Charlie took one look at his sobbing brother and started to cry as well. Fred stared at his brothers, as they wept and knew that he'd never regret his choice. "Come on Georgie, I won't give you the potion, but be there at least, drunk or not." Charlie said and George nodded, Charlie wrapped an arm around his little brother and they both left the room.
Fred moved out from underneath the bed and watched at the window as everyone went down to the garden, where a casket stood. It was tradition for pure bloods to have their funerals at the family home and often to be buried on the land they had once lived on. The Weasleys had lost their family home generations ago, but still kept up the old tradition in their way. He'd be the first to be buried behind the field and Fred wondered suddenly just what they'd be burying.
He saw that everyone was walking down to the garden and he quickly stole into Ron's room. Lifting up Harry's trunk, he got out the cloak and put it on, before running downstairs and out the door. He stared at the amount of people gathered, he didn't even know about half of them. He walked up to the casket and sighed he'd never be the same, but at least he was alive.
He saw his mother standing to his right and felt tears come to his eyes, as she stood strong and proud. She was also clearly bereft, his father had an arm around her. "I'm not going to cry today." She stated firmly. "Fred wouldn't want that." Too right, his family was breaking his heart. "Instead we're going to remember him as he would have wanted. Fred was born on April first, he was always my little fool. Constantly driving me to wits end with his twin George." She stated and Fred decided that he couldn't take it anymore, he tried to get off the cloak, but somehow it was stuck. "I loved him, like I love all my children, he was constantly causing mischief, always into something or other as soon as my back was turned." She said, Fred couldn't stand this, he attempted to rip off the blasted cloak but it still wouldn't come. It was somehow stuck to him and he suddenly started to fear that he'd always be unseen by those around him, it was one of his fears, but not the strongest.
"But Fred had a heart of gold, everyone that knew him knew that and he'd never really hurt anyone if he could help it. Drive them batty yes, but hurt them no." She added as Fred finally managed to free himself from the blasted cloak, apparently the fates wanted to mess with him a bit more. Everyone stared at him and he grinned.
"Hello, lovely turn out." He said. "Well as you can see, I'm not quite as moldy as you all would have thought." He said and grinned. "I am of course as handsome as ever." He added as he was knocked off his feet by his mother, who took him into a hug that nearly broke his ribs. "Mum, I'm not dead and I'd like to stay that way." he said and she kissed him, a moment later his brothers all appeared and hugged him as well, it was nice but he couldn't breathe, he stared at all of them and smiled gripping Fred's arm tightly, before his grip loosened and he passed out do to lack of air.
"What happened?" Ginny demanded.
"I have no idea." Arthur said. "But its a miracle."
Fred felt like he'd had the life squeezed out of him and he lay there a moment. "We should have realized that he couldn't breathe." His mother stated and Fred realized that he was on something soft.
"Well we don't do things by halves." Fred stated.
"Fred!" Everyone cried.
"No, not again, I'll not have you lot knocking me out." Fred added and he heard his family crying, he opened his eyes. They were all there and he smiled. "Now I didn't go back just to die all over again." He said flatly.
"How did you come back to us son?" His father asked and he sighed.
"Apparently I made something like a horcrux." They all stared at him and he sighed. "Teach me to meddle in magic I can't understand, but I did it for Fred. It was a book like the diary, so he could communicate with me, or some of my memories or whatever. Didn't work out the way I planned, turns out my love for you lot transcended death and my book brought me back, as a sort of Fred 2.0, magic not included."
"What?" They all demanded.
"That's what I feared happening to me most, loosing my magic." He stated. "But its worth it." He grinned at George.
"You lost your magic, for me?"
"Course, as your all alive and well, I imagine that noseless got what was coming to him."
"Yeah." George agreed and started crying.
"None of that now George." Fred said said a lump building in his throat, he'd never been able to stand it when George cried. "Then you'll get me started." He added, before it all overwhelmed him and he sobbed, holding his brother, his family were all safe and somehow they had all survived the war.
"My boys." His Mum said and hugged them tightly against her. Fred clung to his twin continuing to cry, he was home, but he didn't know what his life would be like. He hadn't tried doing a spell yet, but he just knew somehow that his magic was gone.
He realized that everyone else was crying as well and he wiped at his eyes. "None of that now, its my funeral after all, I want it happy!" He said and everyone laughed. He smiled at them, before taking out his twin's wands, their wands were identical and they could use each others. They had belonged to their uncles before them and he smiled at George. "Might as well make sure." He said. "Um wingardium leviosa." He pointed the wand at Ginny and felt a sudden tearing pain. He gasped doubling over as his sister levitated for a moment, before she dropped five feet and was caught by Harry.
"Fred, what's wrong, Fred speak to me." His mother demanded.
"Pain." He managed. "Hurts all over." He added. "Cruciatus like." He finished, the pain not going away as he tried not to cry out for his brother's sake.
"Stupify." Someone said and he was thrown into blissful darkness.
