This is another Christmas story for chocolatecheesecakes! It's like the sequel/ending to Red and Green, but you don't have to read that for this to make sense.
Ellie, this is a lot sadder, but enjoy!
xXx
It had been four years to the day.
That was the first thing that Fred thought of when he woke up on the twenty fifth of December 1997. It had been four years to the day when he officially asked Ellie out. Four years and two days since they kissed. The thought that this was Christmas day didn't cross his mind, nor did the fact that it was the day he was going to get married.
But when the fact that he was going to get married crossed his mind, a smile unfurled on his face. He, Frederick Gideon Weasley, was going to marry the woman of his dreams.
A lot had happened since the Gryffindor prankster and the studious Slytherin girl kissed underneath the mistletoe. For one thing, when they kissed, there was no war. Now, however, it was all that Fred could think about. Every morning, when he woke up next to Ellie, he thanked his lucky stars that her warm body was against his.
He proposed to her on a whim. A reckless whim, mind you. He just didn't want to lose her. Fred never believed in love until that fateful day under the mistletoe. That was his Christmas present that year: the girl who he had secretly been in love with since first year. Now, this year, that Christmas present would be topped.
xXx
Fred Weasley was a lucky man.
That was what he thought as she walked down the aisle. In fact, everyone was thinking it. She just looked so... beautiful. Her dress was a sea-green colour, which made her already green eyes look just like the ocean. Her brown hair was falling down her back in tight curls, and the smile on her face... it was serene, it was happy, it was free. She was a Slytherin pureblood, betrothed to Blaise Zabini, so of course she would look free on the day she officially broke away from all of that. Fred knew that she thought it was worth it. Her entire family was abandoned... for him. The thought made his heart leap.
xXx
"This is the best night of my life," she whispered, hands snaked around his neck.
"I agree," he murmured back. Seeing everyone so happy amidst the war, seeing her so happy... Fred hated being soppy and romantic, even in his own thoughts, but she was simply the most stunning girl he had ever seen. Four years of ups and downs seemed to all be leading up to this night.
Fred watched Ellie's eyes flicker over to her friend Annie, who was dancing with George. She smiled sadly.
"She's missing Draco," she said, eyes sad. "Since he..."
"Yeah," Fred said, watching Ellie's friend, who had a smile on her face but eyes that were like deep blue pools of sadness. Annie was technically the reason they got together in the first place; she forced Ellie to talk to him. For a girl who had made two others so happy, it wasn't fair that she wasn't so lucky. People like Voldemort were the ones who deserved unhappiness.
Ellie's compassion and empathy was unknown for Slytherins. Fred was certain that his wife – he felt a thrill at the word – was placed in the wrong house.
"This is the beginning of the rest of our lives," he said, smiling at her. She returned the smile.
"Yes," she replied, giving him a kiss.
xXx
Her eyes were like the ocean they swam in, at three in the morning.
It was the middle of winter, but Fred cast heat preservation spells on both of them. Christmas was over, but now they had new days to look forward to. Every day that they had with each other.
The stars were shining in the sky, glittering down as though especially at them. Ellie's smile was wider than Fred had ever seen it. Here she was, soaked to the bone, still in her wedding dress, at a beach in Scotland. Not too far from Hogwarts, where it had all began.
"Care to dance, malady?" Fred asked pompously, holding his hand out for her. Giggling, Ellie took it, slowly waltzing with her husband, in the ocean. It was all so surreal... they were married and dancing in the ocean, the stars shining down at them. Despite the war and all its casualties, life had never seemed better for both of them.
"I want to sing you a song," Fred declared, grinning down at her. "But I have a horrible voice. So, I've performed a voice augmenting charm."
"What song?" she asked, grinning. "Is it some romantic one?"
"You'll have to see."
He placed his head close to her ear, arms wrapped around her waist. "I'll be there till the stars don't shine, till the heavens burst and the words don't rhyme, and when I die, you'll be on my mind. And I'll love you, always."
Ellie didn't even pretend to hide her tears.
xXx
And on his mind she was, when that day came.
Spells of every kind were flying left, right and centre. None of these spells hit Fred. He was laughing, because he, the brilliant Fred Weasley, would never be hit by these spells. He was too good of a wizard for that.
But even the most inflated egos have to deflate. Even the greatest had to fall.
But when he did, he was laughing, much like a Hogwarts prankster from another generation, another fallen soul in the battle of good and evil.
Every memory of Ellie crossed his mind in the split second before he fell. Their first kiss, their first date, the playful banter, their first time, when they broke up, when they got back together, leaving Hogwarts together, the engagement, their marriage...
He regretted being so cocky. He regretted being so arrogant.
He saw her, green eyes widened, the same shade of the ocean they swam in after their marriage. He fell to the floor. Ellie screamed.
As she crouched next to him, tears streaming down her face, he used his last remaining iota of strength to grab her hand. With a light squeeze, he was gone. Just another lost soul. Another loved one deceased. Just another pawn in the chess game of life.
Red and green weren't supposed to mix. But they did. And when Red told Green that he would always love her, he wasn't wrong.
What hurt for Red the most was seeing Green raise their daughter, who at the time of his death, was unborn.
So many regrets. But not loving her.
Always.
xXx
... Didya like it, Ellie? A lot sadder than Red and Green, but I was listening to Always by Bon Jovi, and I'm feeling depressed... so there it was. Merry merry Christmas! xxxx