Roselyn sat on the porch swing of her and Charlie's home, her son Freddie lying beside her; his head in her lap. His twin, Alyssa, was currently learning all about dragons from their father. The twins were only seven years old, but Freddie was a total Mama's Boy; quite like his namesake. She missed Fred every day and she was expected to make a trip to visit him that afternoon.
She ran her fingers through her son's chocolate locks, moving them from out of his beautiful blue eyes. "Mama," his young voice asked. She looked down at his freckled skin, smiling. "Yes, Baby? What's on your mind?" "Mama, why are you always quiet? Are you sad?"
She ran the backs of her fingers over his cheek and smiled at him. "How could I be sad, Love? I have Daddy. I have Alyssa. Most of all, I have you. What made you think I was sad?" She looked at him, confused. He sat up and gently pulled her necklace, the one she never took off, out from under her shirt to look at the rings. "Lyssa heard Aunt Belle and Uncle George talking about these and how you still missed Uncle Fred. We don't like to see you sad, Mama," he said, crawling into her lap and wrapping his arms around her neck.
She wrapped her arms around her son tightly and felt tears fall from her eyes. "Oh, my sweet boy. I do miss Uncle Fred, every day, but I'll always miss him. He was my best friend and I loved him deeply. We had so many good times together. He gave me things because he loved me too, but then he was taken away from all of us. So, I keep these on me at all times because of how much I miss him. We'll see him again, Baby. I promise you that," she said, kissing his forehead.
She kept her arms around Freddie as she stood up and carried him inside to see Charlie and Alyssa dressed and ready to go to the Burrow. Charlie had Rose's jacket in one hand and he held Lyssa's tiny hand in his other. After a few minutes of checking that they were ready to go, the family of four Floo'd to the Burrow. As soon as they stepped out of the fireplace, Molly and Arthur came and swept the kids away from their parents, Molly mentioning something about some cake she baked earlier that morning. Roselyn smiled at her in-laws in thanks by keeping the kids occupied while she visited Fred with Charlie, Belle and George.
Once the four of them met up in the kitchen, Belle and George getting their own kids (Christian and Mackenzie) settled with their cousins, the two couples made their way out back to their brother. As they stood side-by-side at Fred's grave, Rose leaned her head on Charlie's shoulder. "Hello Fred. It's been awhile since we've all been here. We wanted to let you know that your nephew, Freddie, is just as big a prankster as you were. From what I hear, little Mackenzie is just like her father as well. Heaven help Hogwarts when the two of them get there," Rose said, laughing slightly.
The four of them stood around Fred's grave, thinking about nothing and everything. To break up the awkward silence that was sure to ensue, Belle pulled out a photo album that she had been keeping since first year. "I have been keeping this put together since we first started Hogwarts. It's pretty much a detailed analysis of our adventures since day one. It actually starts with our first ever train ride; where we first met the twins. I- I'd really like for you to have it, Rose. I mean, it's pretty much every single picture we took at school, but you didn't know I kept them for this," Belle said, handing Rose the book and hugging George around his middle.
Rose smiled a little at the cover, the entire thing covered in a giant butterfly that Belle herself had drawn free-hand. She felt the raised edges of the letter "R" and the letter "I" with a small crest of Gryffindor at the bottom since they were both from Godric's Hollow. It was a small inside joke between the two of them that both Rose and Belle should have been in Gryffindor due to their hometown. "Thank you for this, Belle. I always wondered what you did with all those pictures. I can only imagine what these pages hold. We were some pretty adventurous kids at Hogwarts. Those were some of the best times of my life," she said, looking back over to Fred's grave.
After about an hour standing out there and talking about the good old days, the four of them walked back up to the house and began getting the kids ready for bed as the eight of them would be spending the next couple days there, all thanks to an Extension Charm for the Burrow courtesy of Molly and Arthur. After kissing the kids goodnight and getting in the bed, Charlie rolled over to look at Rose. "Freddie's not the only one who knows you get quiet, you know. If I was anybody else, I would probably get upset about it. But I know what you've been through, and I know how far you've come from your struggle. Rose, we were only married six months and you woke up screaming for Fred. I know you miss him, I miss him too, but it's not healthy to not talk about it. Bottling it up only makes the kids curious and you more depressed. Just remember, I'm here for you through it all. Just like I said eleven years ago under that willow tree out there," Charlie whispered to his wife, kissing her cheek before rolling over and immediately falling into a deep sleep.
Rose smiled at Charlie's sleeping form. She knew he was there for her. He was her closest friend after Belle and the Twins. After Fred died, he was there for her because in all honesty she was falling apart. He was there to pick up the pieces, and he did just that. For seven years, they'd been married. Seven years and he was still holding her together bit by bit. She knew one day he might get tired of her waking up and calling for Fred, but until that time she could only promise to work on it. Fred was the love of her life, and she knew Charlie knew that if things had been different, then she would be Charlie's sister instead of his wife. Deep down, she really loved Charlie, but she would always love Fred more.
After she made sure she wouldn't wake him up, she crawled out of bed and put on her bathrobe before grabbing the photo album and her wand. She crept through the house all the way to the back door and made her way out to Fred. "Lumos," she whispered, her wand tip glowing with the ever familiar light. She sat cross-legged beside his headstone, and began flipping through the pages of their history together. "You know, Fred, we were so alike. We had so much in common. My mom even said that we were made for each other. My dad said you were definitely considered my kind of crazy," she said, tears falling down her face as she looked through her memories of her best friend and the love of her life.