AN: I keep forgetting to mention this, but Jayce (aka Cupcakesofawesomeness) was nice enough to make fan art for this story. If you want to see it, the link is on my profile page :)
Chapter 53 – The New Home
Two days passed since the Fred's memories had returned, and the wrong ones had lost their punch. However, neither he nor Hermione could shake the memories of what had happened upstairs, and they both still avoided going upstairs.
Fred wasn't sure if he could ever let the triplets sleeps upstairs again. He knew he was being irrational, the danger had passed, but he still couldn't escape the feeling of dread that the upstairs caused him.
It was Hermione, however, that brought it up first.
"I want to move." She said, while they were in the middle of taking the kids on a walk. It was looking like one of the last warm days of the year, and they wanted to take advantage of it. They had also taken to doing whatever it took to not be in the house.
"Me too." Fred replied.
"There's a couple houses for sale down that street." She said, pointing a few blocks ahead.
"We should go look at them then." He replied, thankful that she had already started the search. The sooner they had a new place, the better.
"I like this one." Hermione said, standing on front of a sprawling one story home. "Four bedrooms, and two and a half bathrooms." She said, reading the information on the for sale sign. "That's bigger than the one we have."
"Do we need a bigger house?"
"It wouldn't hurt."
Thalia tugged on Fred's sleeve, eager to continue the walk, but Hermione jotted down the address of the realtor, in order to send an owl to them, before they continued.
They stopped at The Three Broomsticks before heading home, getting the kids small bowls of ice cream as a treat. "Do you really think that moving is a good idea? Hermione asked. Her uncertainty surprised him.
"Do you think we'll ever feel safe in the old house again?"
She sighed. "Maybe, but I don't want to wait that long."
"So we move. I think it'll help us both."
Hermione helped Sophie with her ice cream before she made a mess of herself. "What do you guys think of getting a new house?"
Hawthorne gave her a quizzical look, but the girls were too immersed in their treat to pay attention.
"I don't think they understand, dear." Fred said gently.
"I do really want to move."
"Then what's holding you back?"
"I don't know. I just feel like I'm running from the problem."
"I know. But I don't think that all problems are made to be faced head on. Actually, I think that leaving the place with the bad memories is a way of helping the problem."
"I hadn't thought about it that way. I'll send an owl to the realtor for that townhouse we liked." She said, then turned to their son. "Hawthorne, it's made to be eaten, not painted with." She cleaned his hands and the table up and handed him back his spoon, but he shook his head. "Are you all done?"
He nodded.
"All done!" The girls chorused, their faces smeared with ice cream.
Fred chuckled, looking at his messy kids. He was just so happy that they were all okay, and would forever be in awe of his wife for the way she had made sure of it.
"Are you moving?" Ron asked, looked at all the boxes that had accumulated in the living room.
"We are." Hermione replied. "We bought a house on Third Street, it's the yellow one story." It wasn't the house they had looked at the day they took their walk, but this one had a nicer kitchen. It was only three bedrooms, but Hermione was sure that they could deal, or add another later.
"I've seen that one, it is rather nice." Ron said. It was nice having him over to visit. He had freaked out the kids at first, but once they got over the fact that he was see-through, they loved Uncle Ron.
"How is teaching with Harry going?" Hermione asked. She had about offered him a glass of tea, but remembered just in time.
"It's going pretty well." He replied. "The kids tend to listen to Harry better than they do to me though. Except for the first years. They're still a little scared of me." He was floating barely above a chair, giving the impression of sitting in it. "There's this one kid that kept making snide remarks, so I spooked him in the middle of the night."
"Ron! That's terrible."
"He never did it again." He chuckled. "McGonagall gave me a talking to, but what is she going to do, fire me?"
Hermione chuckled. "Alright, but try not to haunt your students too much."
"The Ravenclaws love it. Whenever I'm in their common room they're always asking me for homework help."
"I'm glad you're enjoying teaching." Hermione smiled. It seemed to be just what Ron needed to get him out of his rut.
"I didn't even tell you the best news." Ron said, a bright smile on his pale face.
"What's that?"
"Sir Nicholas has decided to leave Hogwarts, and McGonagall has asked me to take his place as ghost of Gryffindor house."
"That's fantastic. Congratulations." She wasn't sure if congratulations were in order but it couldn't hurt. "Why is Nick leaving though?"
"He's decided to go on a mission to see if there's a way for him to reach the other side."
"Do you think he'll find a way?"
"I don't know." Ron suddenly looked very pensive. "But he's heard rumors that there's a witch in Russia who has figured out how."
Hermione was silent for a moment. "Would you ever want to cross over, Ron?"
"I don't know." He said softly. "I want to stick around for you all, at least, and your kids, but beyond that, I don't know. I'm still new to this whole being a ghost thing."
Hermione wanted to ask why he decided to stay, but decided it was really none of her business. All reasons aside, Hermione was just happy to have her friend back, whether he was a ghost or not
.
Moving day came soon enough, and Molly, Arthur, and Seamus babysat the triplets, the twins, and Serendipity, while George, Fred, Harry and Hermione worked on moving into the new house.
There were a lot of days that made Hermione happy that she had magic, and moving was one of them. Those boxes were heavy.
Of course, Fred and George were showing off by carrying the boxes without magic.
"Don't overexert yourself, Fred." She warned.
"I won't." He tapped his knuckles against his chest softly. "I'm made of steel."
"Of course you are." She laughed, letting him have his fun. She was pretty sure he was carrying light boxes anyway.
There was a loud crash outside, and Hermione rushed to the scene. Fred had dropped a box full of teacups – a very light box, due to all the padding keeping the teacups safe. "Sorry honey…" He said sheepishly.
"Nothing I can't fix." She replied. "Reparo." Everything flew back to rights.
After that, the twins took to moving boxes by magic, which made things go a lot faster.
"So the ministry tried to pair me back up." Harry mentioned while they were working together to maneuver the bedframe out of house without having to take it apart.
Hermione wasn't sure how to reply to that. "Who is she?"
"A seventh year, barely old enough to be put in the rotation. I'm not marrying her."
"I'm assuming it would be weird to marry one of your students."
"You have no idea." He replied.
"So what are you going to do about it?"
"I wrote the ministry a letter daring them to take my wand."
"How did they reply to that?" They had the bed out of the bedroom. Now just to get it to through the front door.
"They sent me back an official apology, of course. I am Harry Potter." It was nice to see that he had some of his old confidence back.
Successful, they took a break outside, letting the twins move the bed into the truck.
"Have you heard anything from the girl they tried to pair you up with?" She asked, her breath visible in the frosty air.
"She sent me a Howler. It woke Serendipity up from a nap. So I sent her a letter back."
"Not a Howler?"
"It would have gone off during breakfast. I didn't want to embarrass the girl."
"Who were you trying not to embarrass?" Fred asked, setting a box down.
"The new girl the ministry tried to pair me up with." Harry replied.
"Leave it to Harry to pass up an opportunity to cause a spectacle." George teased.
"She's one of my students."
"OOOhhhhh, inappropriate student-teacher relationship going on here." Fred winked. Hermione would have told the boys off, but Harry was laughing, so she left it be.
"Of course, Harry is used to breaking the rules."
"Come on guys." Harry said. "I'm not going to marry one of my students."
"That would be pretty weird." Fred admitted.
"It wouldn't work out anyway." George said. "The only girl Harry needs is Miss Lucky."
Harry chuckled. "She is the most important girl in my life."
"What are you going to do when she starts dating?" Hermione asked.
"Well, who is really going to have the nerve to ask her out?"
The triplets, of course, were completely enthralled with the new house, and it was nearly ten before they calmed down enough to sleep. Their new bedroom was just down the hall from Fred and Hermione's, which made them feel a lot better.
It had been a long day, but nearly everything was unpacked, and while the new place felt strange to be in, Fred was certain that it would only be a matter of time before it felt like home.
"What do you think?" He asked.
She flopped down on their bed. "I like it."
"Do you feel safer?"
She nodded. "Do you?"
"I do." He smiled, sitting down beside her.
Hermione nuzzled her head against his shoulder, and he put his arms around her.
"Welcome home honey." He said softly.
She looked up at him, a beautiful smile on her face. "Can we call it home already?"
"Well, home is where the heart is, isn't it?"
"That's what they say." She grinned.
"Then this is home to me." He said, leaning over to kiss her.
"Welcome home then." She grinned, pulling him in for another kiss.
The new place wasn't perfect, but Fred had his family, and that was all he really needed.
I hope you enjoyed! Please be sure to review and tell me what you think :)
- Zen and Sirius
