Title: Second Chances
Notes: Wow, it's been years since I've written fanfiction. I guess this started because of Starkiller, whose Post-DH fic caught my interest(Twin Vice Paranormal Detectives. Go read it!). But I can also blame a lot of it on the fact that I was geeking about Fred and George for five weeks straight.
Anyways, I've got to thank my wonderful beta-reader, who not only pointed out the mistakes, but she gave some awesome suggestions!
I also have to thank my mom, who is the biggest Pottergeek I know. We occasionally stay up late discussing and speculating upon various parts of the Harry Potter realm. She gave me a lot of awesome ideas, and helped me figure out a few things regarding several of the characters I'm using.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter universe, or any of the named characters in this chapter. I own the girl, her patronus, and this story.
Prologue: The Patronus Message
The thing about growing up with Fred and George is that you sort of start thinking anything's possible if you've got enough nerve.
-Ginny Weasley
"I'm tired of cleaning."
"Tired or not, you're helping, Fred. Now get moving."
"But that's no fun, Lily," the young man sighed.
"If you don't, I'll sic James on you." The tall redhead jumped up and began sweeping broken glass from the dining room floor. The woman named Lily smiled, emerald eyes bright, and carried a few fallen plants out into the garden. Another young man with long black hair and dark eyes grinned from his place by the fire, where he was replacing the fallen photos on the mantle.
"You still argue with her, even after helping to make the mess? Incredible."
"You must remember who you're talking to, Sirius," said a scruffy-looking blond man from the table, where he was cleaning up spilled water from a broken vase.
"Yeah," said Fred with a grin. "I'm difficult."
"We've noticed," said a man with messy dark hair and glasses as he stopped in the door of the dining room. "Is your brother this bad?"
"Almost," the redhead replied. The man with glasses laughed.
"I can't wait to meet him."
"Are you boys going to stand around all day yakking, or are we going to get this mess cleaned up?" The newcomer, a woman with bubblegum pink hair, slipped past the man with glasses, her arms full of dusty books, as all but the blond pretended to consider her question.
"Has anyone seen Gideon and Fabian?" Lily asked, leaning in the window.
"They went outside to fix up the shed," Sirius said.
"They're not there. I thought maybe they'd come in."
"Weren't they upstairs with you, 'Dora?" the scruffy-looking man asked.
"I haven't seen them since they came down twenty minutes ago, Remus," the pink-haired woman replied. Everyone turned to look at Fred.
"Hey, don't look at me. I haven't seen them since they knocked over that vase of daisies." A loud explosion and a yell caused them all to race in the direction of the White Room.
The White Room is just as its name suggests: white. At the center of the medium-sized circular room there is a large silvery design on the tiled floor. Sitting at the center of the pattern is a marble basin filled with clear water. There are countless White Rooms in Heaven, and all serve the same purpose—to bring good souls to the realm of peace they have earned.
Upon entering the White Room, the group of six stared at the two nearly-indistinguishable bodies beside the basin. They were male, tall and well-muscled with flaming red hair. Both were also covered with soot and shaking with laughter. Fred, Sirius and the man with the glasses, James, burst into laughter. Remus merely chuckled and shook his head. 'Dora scoffed.
"What did you two just do?" Lily asked warily, sure she didn't want to know.
"Just a little experiment, Lil," said one of the twins, who looked quite a lot like Fred.
"Oh, 'Dora," said the other, who was slightly larger, and looked as though he had once broken his nose. "You can stop giving us the evil eye now. Fab an' I didn't hurt anything."
"You could've waited for the rest of us," 'Dora said, her hair now the same shade as Fred's.
"She's got a point, Gid," said the first. "Only Lil dislikes explosions and experiments."
"True," said the second. "But they were all cleaning, still."
"I don't dislike experiments," Lily protested. "And you two really should have been helping us finish. You're the ones who caused most of the damage."
"We were chasing down a fox!" the first protested. "Right Fred?"
"Where did that thing go after Lily and James caught us?" Fred asked.
"We chased it in here. Gideon caught it." The larger twin held up a silvery fox by the scruff of its neck.
"That doesn't look like a regular fox," 'Dora noted.
"It's not," said Fabian.
"We're pretty sure it's a patronus," Gideon said. "It got lost up here, and ended up in our backyard."
"We thought it'd make a great pet," Fabian continued.
"It's someone's patronus," Remus protested. "You can't just make it a pet."
"Besides," Lily said, "It was probably sent here for a reason."
"It'd have to be a pretty powerful witch or wizard to send a patronus to Heaven," Sirius noted. "And he'd probably have a really good reason for sending it here."
"Maybe it's got a message," James suggested.
"Only members of the Order can send messages," 'Dora retorted. "And no one in the Order has a fox patronus."
"Why would someone send their patronus to Heaven?" Gideon and Fabian asked in unison.
"Maybe he's in desperate need of aid," Sirius supplied.
"I don't think a living person can send their patronus this far," Remus said. "It probably belongs to someone on this side."
"But what if it doesn't?" Fred asked. "For all we know, it could be some new super powerful wizard we don't know about." He rubbed the fox behind the ears.
"If it does have a message," Lily said, "I think we should hear what it has to say." The fox yipped, causing 'Dora and the men to laugh. The little silvery fox growled, though the action was less threatening than it was adorable. The three redheads laughed harder.
"I believe she's trying to get our attention," Sirius said as the laughter faded. James and Remus nodded. The little fox seemed to smile as it sat up straight.
The voice that came from the fox was feeble, and paused often. It was the tired voice of an older girl from the UK, possibly Wales or Ireland.
"I don't know where this patronus will end up," she said. "But she'll talk to someone she can trust with this. Things are changing, but you probably already know that. Our world and the Muggle world are slowly getting closer. Soon, the Statute of Secrecy will be broken, and they'll know all about us. But a discovery has been made. One that will change the world, for better or for worse. I've been experimenting with different herbs, potions, charms—anything I can use, really. It's important, this artifact I found in the Forbidden Forest last year, when Professor Longbottom gave me detention for that incident with the fireweed." She laughed weakly, then coughed. When she continued, her voice seemed more brittle. "I can feel myself getting closer to unlocking the artifact's secrets with every day that passes. There's an electricity in the air, like something big is about to happen. I think—no. I know that this has something to do with the artifact."
"She doesn't exactly sound desperate for aid," Fred whispered, causing Gideon and Fabian to snicker.
"Shh!" 'Dora hissed.
"I admit," the voice continued, still weak. "I'm a little scared. That's the real reason I sent my patronus out without specific direction. It's sort of like a message in a bottle, really. There's no one I can really confide in about these things, given my situation. It's summer now, but I haven't gone home. But Mum and Dad won't notice that I never came back. I've taken up residence in a little room above George's shop on Diagon Alley, where I am free to experiment without question, as long as I work to earn my keep." At the name, Fred's eyes widened slightly. "After seeing the memorial in the Great Hall my first year, I became increasingly curious about the names. Several of them stood out right away. I've always been interested in the 1990's, and the names were begging to be remembered. I asked George about some of the names, and the look on his face… I could see how much he was hurting inside. He knew these people. But he told me anyways. Every detail of the battle, as far as he remembers it. He told me about the people he knew, too. Those who were lost in that battle…" She coughed again. Every eye was trained on the little patronus. No one blinked. No one breathed. "I've found through my experiments that the ring is tied to life itself. I know what will happen if I make a mistake. I know all of the ways this can go wrong. I know the consequences, even if I succeed. But… I want to see that smile that was lost so many years ago. Roxie told me that George lost a part of himself when he lost his brother. I want to bring that missing piece back. To whoever receives my message, I only pray that you are never taken in like I was. May you never fall for a mischievous smile, and follow your own foolish curiosity."
The fox patronus sat silent. Those gathered did not move as they let the message settle. It was a bit unclear in places, as though the speaker were very nervous. Her voice had been shaky towards the end, as though it would break, but the message was strong. It was Fred who finally broke the silence.
"What do we do?"
"There's nothing we can do," Remus said, shaking his head. "Only pray that she comes to her senses before she does something she'll regret."
"She sounds ill," James said. "The girl needs to rest."
"She needs help," Lily said. "Everyone knows how dangerous it is to play with life and death."
"We're dead, Lily," Sirius said. "There is absolutely nothing we can do to help her. Not unless we were able to cross back into the land of the living. And we know that that's impossible."
"Oh, it's very much possible," Gideon said with a grin.
"What did you think that explosion was for?" Fabian asked.
"Fun as it is to blow things up," Fred said, "I don't think it'll do the girl any good."
"It wasn't supposed to explode, actually," Gideon explained.
"I think we used a little too much fireweed," Fabian added. The two discussed ways to make their ideas work as 'Dora and the others offered suggestions. Lily put a hand on Fred's shoulder.
"Are you alright?" she asked quietly. "You look a little pale." Fred turned his brown eyes to Lily's kind green ones. "You don't really think she was talking about your brother, do you?"
"How many George's can there possibly be who own a shop on Diagon Alley and lost a brother to the War?" Lily didn't respond. "I'm worried about him, Lily. It's been half a century since the War, and he still hasn't gotten over it."
"When you lose someone precious, you don't just 'get over it', Fred. And you know that it tortures us to see those we left behind suffer. But they can't see us, and we can't tell them that we're okay. All we can do is wait for them to join us."
Fred sighed, defeated. "I wish there were more options."
"Of course!" James exclaimed. "May 2nd!"
"What does our deathday have to do with the solution?" 'Dora asked.
"That's the only day she can succeed," Remus explained. "The girl wants to bring him back, but she has yet to succeed. She can only bring him back on the day he died."
"What are you all talking about?" Lily asked.
"Fred," Gideon and Fabian chorused.
"What about me?" the redhead asked.
"That girl is trying to bring you back," Sirius explained. "When she said she wanted to bring back the missing piece, she meant you." Fred blinked.
"You're joking, right?" The dark-haired man shook his head.
"We're quite sure about this," Remus said.
"She's close to getting it by now," 'Dora said. "She's been at it for months."
"But the spell has to be done correctly on the day you died," James added. "Otherwise, there's no chance it'll work."
"There's no way it can work anyways," Sirius said. "Even the Resurrection Stone can't bring someone back to life. James, Sirius, Remus, you know that. If a Hallow can't do it, then there's no way!"
"But what if her artifact is the Hallow?" Lily asked. "She said it was a ring, and that she found it in the Forbidden Forest. If you remember, that's where Harry dropped the Resurrection Stone fifty years ago."
"But if she has found it, she can only bring his soul back," Gideon noted.
"Unless," Fabian continued, "she's found a spell or potion that adds to the power of the Stone, thus giving the resurrected a body."
"Even if she's found all that," Remus said, "She's in school now."
"She could've dropped out," Fred supplied. "George and I did."
"Maybe she was expelled," Gideon said with a grin.
"For using Dark magic," Fabian added solemnly, before both burst out laughing.
"I wonder why George has taken her in," James mused.
"He's got a big heart," Fred said. "Even if he won't always admit it."
"I bet she's paying rent for that room of hers," Sirius said with a smirk. "George is a businessman after all."
"Oh, I wouldn't doubt—" The world lurched suddenly beneath the gathered souls and an all too familiar white light filled the room. A shout was heard, accompanied by a loud crack. Fred felt his stomach twist, as it had when he'd first learned to apparate, and something yanked painfully at his heart. He screamed as the pain intensified.
"Fred!" Lily's voice rang out. "Where's Fred?"
"He's gone!" Gideon or Fabian—he couldn't tell which—exclaimed.
"Unbelievable!" cried the other, as Lily, James, and 'Dora called the redhead's name.
"But where could he have gone?" Remus asked.
"No!" yelled a voice Fred could not place. "No no no no no! It can't go wrong now! I'm so close!"
Fred felt himself falling. A sharp pain in his rear told him that he had landed on something solid. Every inch of his skin tingled painfully, like the pins and needles feeling you get when your leg has been asleep. Every muscle in his body ached, and the buzzing in his ears was deafening. His eyes burned in the blinding white light that had enveloped him. As the light faded from his eyes, Fred realized that he was sitting on the wooden floor of a small bedroom. Boxes were stacked everywhere in the little room and strange bottles covered half of the writing desk by the window. The other half was covered with bits of parchment. The bed beside him was left unmade. Clothes were tangled in the sheets and strewn haphazardly about the room. Several shirts were scorched. Stacks of books lined the walls, with several loose volumes piled open in the middle of the room, among various odds and ends. A large magenta poster hung on one wall with fireworks exploding around three large W's, and a Skiving Snackbox lay open in the middle of the room beside a small cauldron and the open books. A pale girl with unkempt blond hair knelt beside the cauldron, swearing.
"Every time I get close, it goes all to shards! I really thought I had it this time, too!" Fred blinked at the girl, who was too thin and covered in soot. Something green was smeared across one cheek. She sounded dreadfully familiar.
"What went wrong?" he asked, curious. The girl nearly fell over as she spun about to face him. Her eyes widened momentarily, and then she let out a breath, clearly relieved.
"George," she said her voice weak. "You startled me. You should warn me if you're going to show up out of nowhere like that." Fred frowned.
"Blimey," he said. "Dead for half a century and still mistaken for my brother! How many de-aging potions would he have to drink to look like this again, anyways?" The girl squinted at him, then her eyes widened.
"Dumbledore's specs," she squeaked. "I just summoned a ghost." Fred looked at his hands. They were solid.
"If I were a ghost," he said quietly, "you would be able to see right through me."
"Oh, that's right." The girl laughed feebly. Fred recognized the laugh. He had heard it, and the girl's voice, not ten minutes before in the White Room, coming from the mouth of a small silver fox.
"You!" he exclaimed. "You're the girl who sent the patronus! The little fox!"
"You know about my patronus?" the girl asked, surprised. "But you're… you were dead! How could you possibly—?"
"It found us. In the place where good souls enter into the afterlife. You're barmy for thinking you can bring back the dead, you know. If you're brilliant enough to send a message through your patronus, you should know that it's impossible." The girl crawled forward and sat herself across from Fred.
"Impossible?" Something barely contained shivered in her voice. "Are you…? Are you really Fred Weasley, George's brother?"
"'Course," Fred replied. "Who else would I be? I may be dead, but that doesn't change who I am." The girl reached out a trembling hand and touched his cheek. Her fingers were cold.
"No," she said, gazing at him with eyes that were nearly empty, as though there were no one behind them. Fred felt realization shoot through him and feared what he knew she was about to say.
"You're alive."
A/N: Yes, 'Dora is Tonks. She will be referred to as Tonks in following chapters.
So, what do you think so far? Please let me know! Constructive criticism is welcome, but no flames, because those are annoying and really don't do any good. If you want to vent your annoyance, do it in your livejournal or something.
