George pushed open the door to the Great Hall and slipped inside. It closed behind him and he stopped just before the end of the student tables. He hadn't been back to Hogwarts since the battle, but it was just like he'd remembered. They had taken great pains to rebuild Hogwarts to how it had been before, and it stung George. It almost felt like they were trying to forget what had happened. Of course there was the monument in the foyer, with every name inscribed upon it, but most everything else had been recreated and redone to match the old Hogwarts.
Even Dumbledore's chair was still in the middle of the Head Table. Headmaster Melbourne, an aged Muggle Studies teacher from a tiny school in England, had been more than willing to have George come in and look around. He said it was an honor to have one of Hogwarts' heroes return to her at long last.
But even as George took the first steps past the tables, his terror increased. What if Fred wasn't actually there? Would he even be able to handle the let-down?
He stopped and shook his head. He knew that coming back to Hogwarts had been a risk, but he decided to take that risk, he needed to take that risk. He took a deep breath and continued into the Great Hall. He smiled; even after twenty-three years and a war, the Great Hall looked the same as it had when he and Fred had flown out on their brooms. The thought of Fred brought him back to the present and he looked around the hall. Nearest him were the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables; one of them had been the location of many a prank's planning, and he ran his hand over the wood, smoothed by thousands of students' use.
After a few minutes and a huge amount of nothing happened, George sat down at the Gryffindor table, slightly exasperated. "What did I expect?"
"I don't know, what did you expect?" George scrambled to his feet and turned around. A young, ghostly copy of himself stood there, with his own characteristic cocky grin thrown right in George's face. "Wow, you got old! At least one of us retained our devilishly handsome looks."
George stared at Fred, disbelief and extreme happiness mingling in his expression. "Fred?"
"Nah, I'm George. You're Fred, remember?"
George stared, eyes huge, at his brother. Fred's smile deflated somewhat, and he took a step towards his twin. "You alright there?" he asked softly. "It really is me, mate. Fred."
Then, out of nowhere, George's eyes started to water. "Sweet Merlin, it really is you," he breathed. George reached his hand towards Fred's transparent face. He moved to stroke Fred's cheek but his hand predictably went right through Fred and George dropped it to his side. His legs gave out and he sank back down on the bench. Fred hovered next to him, although where Fred was thrilled to see his other half, George was more lost than he'd been before his return to Hogwarts. A few tears fell from his eyes, because all he wanted to do was throw his arms around his twin and cry his heart out. "It's been so long," he managed to say, after a few minutes and a few steadying breaths.
"How long?" Fred asked, tentatively.
George gave a choked laugh. "Twenty-one years, mate. It's been twenty-one years since- since Voldemort." He couldn't bring himself to say 'since your death', but Fred understood perfectly. He always had.
"Wow," Fred breathed. "Twenty one years. How's the business going?"
"Better than ever before. We've got stores up and down England, and before Dad died he was working on Muggle affiliates."
"Dad's…gone?" Fred looked lost and George felt that wound reopening all over again.
"Heart attack, they thought. Mum didn't want to press it."
Silence overtook them and George wallowed in his thoughts. Fred paced up and down Gryffindor table, feet a few inches above the wood.
"I have two kids," George offered, to break the silence. "My boy's named after you."
"Oh yeah? What's he like?" Fred asked, floating back down to sit next to George.
"He's just like we were. He's really close to James, Harry's oldest. He and Ginny married a few years after the war." George smiled; their announcement had been no surprise to anyone and Mum was ecstatic. She and Fleur had immediately started planning (though Ginny had predictably objected to everything they thought was 'just too cute').
"No surprise there, mate," Fred laughed. "What else have I missed?"
"Ron and Hermione got hitched, they've got two kids. Their younger kid, Hugo, is the same age as my daughter Roxanne." Hugo and Roxanne weren't the best of friends; Hugo tended to drive most of his cousins batty, but Roxanne tried to keep the peace between him and herself. Where Fred was loud and bombastic, Roxanne was calmer and much less inclined towards mischief and mayhem (although her moments, few and far between, were certainly worth remembering. A certain incident involving the garden gnomes and a color-changing potion came to mind.)
"Really? I wouldn't have pegged Hermione for a more-than-one kid type of woman."
"Hugo wasn't planned." Their conversation lulled for a few minutes. Fred looked down, thinking, and George gazed at him. He could scarcely believe that his twin was sitting next to him after so long without him.
"I can't believe I missed all of that," Fred mused, almost to himself. "How's Mum doing?"
George rolled his eyes. "Still going strong. She probably always will, up until the day she dies."
"That's Mum for you." They shared a laugh. Some things would never change, and Molly Weasley was one of them.
"Here's a bit of news that'll surprise you," George said slyly. "Want to wager a guess as to who Harry's other son's best mate is?"
Fred eyed his brother, mind spinning for possible connections that would give the elder Potter a heart attack. "Not the spawn of a Death Eater, is it?"
"One and the same. Draco Malfoy's got a son his age. Scorpius, I believe his name is. Al came home simply raging about how fantastic his new friend was. Ron nearly exploded." To be exact, when Al had come home and mentioned Scorpius, Ron turned red and Hermione had to excuse him after he stormed out of the Burrow. "Albus Severus, he's named. Mostly he goes by Al. James calls him Allie."
"I imagine he doesn't care too much for that," Fred's bark of laughter filled the Great Hall, and George laughed along with him, agreeing with his twin. He could barely contain his joy at how great it felt to hear his twin's laugh again.
"Do you remember a little girl who came and admonished you for being in Dumbledore's chair?" George chortled remembering how Lily had described it.
"Oh yeah, she looked like a first year."
"She's Harry and Ginny's youngest, Lily. She told us at dinner a few days before Christmas that she saw me 'but with an ear', and I've got to tell you mate, it came as quite the shock."
George stopped, and took a few deep breaths trying to fight off the emotion that was threatening to engulf him. "But, despite how long it's been, I'm really, really glad that you're here."