Chapter 6 – A Not So Quite Doubleganger

FW

After finishing the tour, that took over forty minutes they still didn't catch a glimpse of one George Weasley. Leah went back up to the first floor and picked up a daydream charm before bounding down the stairs, to a confused Fred. She passed the red head and walked over to the register, Fred in tow. She heard him gasp as he looked at the witch behind the counter.

"Hermione?"

"The muggleborn?" Leah asked surprised.

"Yeah… Why would she be working here?"

"Good morning. Find everything?" Hermione smiled at her. The last time Fred saw her she had lost a lot of weight, from being on the run for a year. But now she looked healthier, happier.

"Yes, I just… I only have muggle money. I forgot -"

"Galleons." Fred whispered in her ear.

"I forgot my galleons at home."

"Oh, you're a muggleborn." Leah looked at Fred panicked. "It's okay. I'm one too. You can pay in ponds if you want, I can change it at the bank later."

"Thanks Hermione." She said, pretending to read her name card. "From the Greek mythology?"

"Yes, how do you know?"

"I studied it in college." She blurted out before she knew what she said. "I went to college after Hogwarts."

"You went to Hogwarts? I don't recognize you." Hermione said as she rang up her purchase. She stiffens a bit as she bit the inside of her cheek. Fred leaned in closer again.

"Class of 1991."

"I graduated in 1991."

"Really? You don't look 26."

"Thank you?" She grinned at the girl, who gave her the change back.

"91? You know Charlie then, Charlie Weasley."

"The dragon saviour? Who doesn't?" Leah laughed; Fred looked at her in awe as she turned the conversation around quickly.

"Don't want him to hear that, it will boost his ego even more." Hermione snickered, placing her daydream charm in a bright orange bag, with the letter W on it.

"It was very nice to meet you …"

"Leah. Uhm, I don't want to overstep. But –" She glanced at Fred for a minute in the corner of her eye. "Is George here by any chance?"

"George." Hermione repeated, glancing over her shoulder "He's in the back but I don't know if he wants to see anyone."

"Can you tell him Leah is here and-"

"That we need to talk about the summer of 1986, Ottery St. Catchpole, about the scar."

Leah frowned a bit before she repeated what Fred had whispered in her ear. Hermione looked sceptical for a moment, before she nodded and disappeared behind the curtain. Leah let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in and stepped away from the register, closer to the curtain as Verity took over and started to ring up the customers.

"Do you think it will work?" Leah said, wringing her hands, looking from the curtains to Fred.

"I think so. You and Hermione seemed to click. I think you'd be great friends if you got to know each other."

Before she had a chance to reply, the girl appeared back in the store. Hermione looked over her shoulder one last time, before looking at Leah. "You can go in."

"Thank you, Hermione."

Before she had a chance to step beside her, Hermione placed a hand on her shoulder. "You knew Fred?"

I do. "I did." She corrected herself before speaking up. "He was a friend."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"I'm sorry too." They gave each other a sad smile before Hermione took her place behind the register again. Leah turned to Fred as they reached the curtain. "Are you ready?"

"No… let's go in." He said nervously. Leah let her hand hover over his, getting a smile from him in return before they stepped behind the curtain.

FW

Whatever Leah had expected, I'm guessing she never expected this. George was standing there, pointing his wand at her, eyes full of anger. His hair reached over his shoulders, but it wasn't red, it was a mousy brown. His robes were rumpled and had several stains on it. When he tossed his brown, lifeless locks behind his shoulders, she saw the missing ear Fred warned her about. She glanced at Fred from the corner of her eye, as her hands went up in the air, on instinct. Fred looked at this twin, like he was someone he had never met before.

"Who. Are. You!?" He practically shouted. "I don't know any Leah and how do you know about what happened?!"

"George." Fred whispered, almost pleading.

"I'm Leah Derijker and you don't know me, but I know of you. I know Fred, he told me all about you." She said calmly, hands still in the air.

"Fred didn't know any Leah. I knew everything about him!"

"Please, George. Listen to me." She said lowering her hands. "Can you put that damn stick away!? It looks ridiculous!" She shouted back. George and Fred looked taken aback at her. At her boldness, at her use of words. I mean, stick?

"Stick?" The twins repeated, George lowered his wand by a centimetre.

"I'm not armed, I don't have a wand, on me. I just really need to talk to you."

"About what? I know you didn't know Fred."

"I didn't. But I know him, now."

"You're crazy!" He pointed his wand back at her.

She looked up at a stunned Fred. "Help me out here!" Fred teared his gaze away from his not-so-twin and looked at her, thinking. He told her a story from when they were younger that only they knew about.

"Remember when you two cut Bill's hair in Egypt? You cut off his entire ponytail. Bill thought it was your mothers doing, he was so mad at her for the rest of the trip. Did you really do that?" She asked the last part to Fred, who grinned.

"How?" George started, lowering his wand.

"Is there somewhere more private we can talk?"

"Yeah, up in the flat. Follow me." George said, pocketing his wand away. Leah and Fred looked at each other and let out a breath of relief before they followed him up the stairs. The flat was dark, curtains closed, making it eerie in the flat. He gestured her to sit on the couch and waved his wand in the air.

"He's silencing the room." Fred whispered as he sat down next to her.

"Oh." She breathed back as George flopped down in front of her and grabbed a bottle of some kind of whiskey from under the coffee table. "George, I'm sorry but I really need you sober for this."

"Fine." He grumbled and put the bottle back on the ground. "So…"

"So… how to start." She glanced over at Fred. "I see Fred."

"You see Fred?" He repeated.

"Yes, I know it sounds crazy, even though you guys have ghosts floating around in a school." She huffed, as Fred smirked at her.

"You didn't go to Hogwarts?"

"No, I'm-" Fred nodded her head to continue. "I'm a muggle."

"A muggle? You – huh – How did you get here?"

"I'll explain later. The thing is I see Fred, as a ghost, sort of."

"Prove it." He said, looking sceptical.

"Alright ask me something only he would know."

"Wait! He's here, now?" George's breath got stuck in his throat as he glanced around the room.

"Yes, he's sitting next to me." She let her hand hover over his shoulder.

"Fred." George whispered; tears started to cloud his sight. "I - What did we steal from Filch's office beside the map?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Leah looked at Fred when he told her what did stole, laughing. "A whip? How old were you?"

"12." The twins said in unison.

Leah looked between the two, eyes wide. "Fred, you said you two talked a lot in unison but doing it now..."

"We did?" George asked, surprised, the tears rolling down his cheek. "He's really here."

"Yeah." She gave him a sad smile.

"Freddie. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I couldn't save you. I tried; I really did. I tried for months."

"Georgie, it isn't your fault, none of it is." Leah said narrating for him.

"It was my idea to separate!"

"And you saved Lee and Alicia that night." Fred stood up and walked closer, sitting down on the armrest of George's seat. "He's sitting next to you." She pointed to the place he was seated. "He has his hand on your shoulder."

George shivered and looked at his shoulder, placing his own hand on it. "Fred." He looked back to her. "How? How is it you can see him?"

"I don't know. I just met him… five days ago."

"Five days ago?"

"Yeah. It's quite a story to tell. Do you have something to drink?"

"I'll make us some tea and you can tell me everything." He squeezed Fred's hand, his shoulder before standing up and walked to the kitchen. She leaned over the back of the couch and opened the curtains, letting in more light. Fred sighed as his brother passed him, he looked back before he made his way back to the seat next to her. Leah shifted so she could look at him, leaning her arm on the back of the couch, her head in her hand.

"This went better than I thought."

"Yeah, except the stick pointing at you. Seriously Leah, a stick?" Fred laughed.

"What?!" She laughed with him. "It is a stick, it looked ridiculous, I can't believe you can produce magic with it."

From the kitchen, George was watching Leah interact with his twin, or in his eyes with the air. As she laughed and talked away. George saw a twinkle in her eyes as she looked up at him, at Fred. The weight on his chest lightened a bit with the thought that Fred was still here somehow, even though he couldn't see him.

Leah felt being watched again by a Weasley. She turned her head away from the red head to the now brunette. She chuckled at something Fred said. "George!" George came out of his daze and walked over with a pot of tea and two cups. "Fred says you need a shower, a haircut and turn your hair back. He says it looks ridiculous."

"I couldn't look in the mirror without seeing him, seeing you." He looked at the empty space next to Leah. Fred's heart broke at his words, knowing he would do the same if it was reversed.

"I'm sorry, George. I didn't-" Leah stammered.

"No, it's okay. It's been hard."

"I know how you feel. I-I lost my twin sister when I was 12 years old."

"I'm sorry. What happened?"

"I'm not ready to talk about it yet. I haven't told Fred either."

"Yeah... I have been shutting everyone out too. It took me almost 8 months before I could open the shop again. I haven't been in front, always in the back working. Verity, Lee and Hermione manage the shop and they take shifts helping me restock."

"Fred is asking, how in Merlin's name Hermione has started working here. It just sounds silly hearing me say Merlin." She said glancing at Fred. George laughed as she turned to Fred. It was a full-blown laugh, a bit hoarse, like he hasn't laughed like that in months.

"Godric, it's been long since I've laughed like that."

"Godric? That's a thing too?" She asked looking between the grinning twins.

"Hermione started helping me clean up the shop a few months after... Almost everyone started going to work. Ron started his Auror training, Hermione stayed. After we fixed it up, I offered her a job." George pointed his wand to himself, his clothes cleaned up; the spots disappeared, and the creases vanished. Then he pointed it as his head and his her shot back in his head, turning from brown to ginger. Leah looked at him, mouth dropped open as she saw the boy turn into the ghost next to her, minus one ear.

"Oh my god!" She stood up and walked over to George. "Now I see the resemblances." She grinned.

"I'm sorry didn't mean to freak you out."

"I don't freak out easily." She winked at Fred who stepped next to George. "Wow... Can I try something?"

"Sure." They said again, together. Fred grinned at his brother. Leah took out a camera and took a picture of the two. "Why?"

"I work in programming, computers. I want to see if I can find any presence of Fred on there." She stepped back closer to the two red heads. "Let's sit down, so I can tell you everything."

FW

"So, when Fred isn't with you, he's gone." George asked as Leah told him what happened the last days, showing him the notebook.

"It seems so. We haven't tested it fully yet. I'm afraid if we get separated, if we get closed off from each other, he'll disappear."

"So, he's living with you?"

"Sort of. I live alone, so that comes in handy, nobody will think I've lost my mind. We hoped you could help us, help us find out why I can see him, of all people. And why he doesn't look like other ghosts."

"How does he look like then?" George asked curiously, looking between her and the 'empty' space.

"Like you. I mean he's not transparent, he doesn't float, he walks like you and me and – and he even blushes." Leah grinned.

"Blushes? Fred blushes?" Georg laughed loudly again. "What happened that made him blush?"

"He blushed when I stepped out of bed, wearing shorts and a tank top." Fred glared at her, ears turning red again. She stuck out his tongue at him before turning to a still laughing George. "He's blushing again."

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are."

George watched the one-sided bicker going on. And if he closed his eyes, he could see him sitting there, knowing exactly what he said to her, even in what tone. "Alright you two, stop bickering. So, not like other ghosts then. How do you want to start?"

"Well, -" She started turning away from Fred. "I thought we could start with research. Carrot top here, informed me you two weren't that big on reading. But if you found books about ghosts, the afterlife, whatever, I'll go through them."

"No, I'll help. It goes a lot faster when it's the two of us."

"Three." Fred interjected.

"Three." Leah sighed, pointing his thumb to Fred. "Now hush you." She turned back to George. "We have books about ghosts, but I think I won't find any answers in them."

"I hate to say this, but I'll go to the library. Professor McGonagall should let me in, right?" He asked to the space next to her.

"He says good luck with that." She grinned at the newly cleaned up twin. "So, you will gather the books, what should I do until then?"

"Maybe try to explore what Fred can do. Maybe you can do more than make him blush." George teased.

"Now I know you're twins." She snickered. "How will we contact each other; you don't have a phone."

"Sending an owl into the city maybe weird."

"An owl?"

"We use them to send post."

"What's wrong with a mailman?"

"A what man?" The twins asked.

"Never mind. I don't live far from Regent's Park, so it's not uncommon to see an owl occasionally. Just send it at night. Do you have something to write? I'll give you my address."

"Yeah, hold up." He jumped up from his seat and grabbed a quill and parchment. She frowned at him as he handed it over.

"Why are you giving me a feather?"

"It's a quill, it refills itself. Try it."

She bit her lip as she held the quill in front of her, the two boys looking at her with interest. Then she shrugged and scribbled it down on the paper. "Do you know where that is?"

"No, but I'll find it. I'll owl Minnie right away." He took the quill back and wrote a hasty note on a piece of parchment and whistled. A tawny owl came flying from the hallway and landed it George's shoulder. Leah stood up and walked over.

"Can I?" She asked, looking at the owl. George looked up from his note and nodded. She slowly reached out and stroked the owl on the head. "She's beautiful."

"Fred picked her out. Her name is Stella."

"Like the beer?" She chuckled. "Hi Stella."

"You have beer named Stella?" George asked surprised tying the note to Stella's leg.

"Yeah, you don't?"

"Nope." He placed the owl on his hand and walked to the window. "Hey Stel, can you deliver this as fast as you can to Professor McGonagall?" The owl nibbled on his fingers before she flew out the window. "Want to stay for dinner?"

"Uhm..." She didn't expect him to ask her, she looked over to Fred, who had made himself comfortable on the couch, eyes closed. She felt it, she felt how this made him happy. To be in his home, to be near his twin. She couldn't just tear them away from each other, she looked back to George, smiling. "Why not."