In a single house on the outskirts of Godric's Hollow, a woman stands looking out into her unfenced backyard where she watches her family playing outside. The window is open in front of her so she can hear the shrieks and shouts of laughter while the glare off the window means they haven't noticed her standing there yet.
Despite moving out there almost sixteen years ago from the flat in Diagon Alley for less noise, ever since they decided to have a family there hasn't been much quiet to find.
xx
"Daddy, who's Cedric?" Josslin Penn Weasley asked her father quite abruptly while he played with her in their yard.
Her sister, who hardly ever left Josslin's side, paused from trimming her broomstick at her twin's bold question. Whereas Josslin was usually the inquisitive one, Lena Posy Weasley was more likely the one to take action. But that didn't mean they didn't discuss most things between each other.
Fred was taken aback by the name said so easily by his daughter. A name he hadn't heard his wife mention in years.
Fred looked down thoughtfully at his daughter who was regarding him almost reverently. He didn't know where she would have heard it, but also knew that his response, however unexpected, had to be mindful of his wife and their past.
Marnie had told him years ago of her meeting with Cedric and her family in the meadow. He had listened with rapt attention and of course had believed her, every word, but had found it almost as painful to hear since he watched how divided his girlfriend at the time felt about it.
But since then there had been years of healing and loving each other and starting a family that had dampened the pain that didn't feel quite so raw anymore. Regardless, Fred was happy he was the one fielding this question instead of Marnie on her own. He wasn't worried anymore about his wife falling into the recesses of her mind, but along with everyone else who had been around during the war, they still had all of their old scars.
"That is the name of someone very special to your mother," Fred explained gently, tempering his smile into one of quiet regard for his children rather than his one of previous amusement.
Fred had also begrudgingly learned how to not always provoke amusement, even if he refused to completely 'grow up' as his mother had always put it so plainly. He did co-own a joke shop after all.
Right now though, he felt a pang in his chest for probably a lot of reasons he wasn't entirely clear on. Fred knew that Marnie had been in love with Cedric once upon a time and how he himself had treated the boy admittedly horribly.
"Where did you hear that name, Joss?" he asked curiously, knowing from several late night discussions with Marnie that she wasn't ready to talk about that part of her life just yet with their daughters when they were arguably still so young. But of course, they couldn't curb the sources of information they gathered themselves; largely their ridiculously growing family.
"Uncle Harry when he was telling us a story about the Triwizard Tournament," the little girl replied easily with Lena lighting up beside her at the mention of her uncle's name and one of his adventures.
Fred shook his head maddeningly, silently chastising Harry, even though Fred had known this conversation was coming.
"Where is he?" Josslin asked, studying her father while he became lost in thought.
It was a lot of information to delicately unpack for his eight-year-old daughters.
"He died when your mum and I were still at school. He was murdered by Voldemort," Fred replied candidly.
He and Marnie had agreed long ago to always be honest with their children; Merlin knew they themselves had all needed to grow up way too soon when they were young. As best as he and Marnie tried to make sure their children got a proper childhood, they also wanted them to be prepared for anything unexpected that could come their way; like a war perhaps.
"Were him and mum in love?" Lena finally asked her follow-up question. Both were always way too perceptive about things Fred never expected them to even know about.
"Yes," Fred replied evenly.
It didn't bother him to admit it like it had years ago, but he liked to think he wasn't nearly as selfish or self-centred as he had been back then. He could never quite understand in hindsight how Marnie had always put up with him and George to boot, but he never questioned it now how lucky he was to have ended up with Marnie; getting to be the husband to the love of his life and the father of their children together.
xx
Marnie kept vigil in front of the open window staring at her husband and children. She felt a lump in her throat listening to her husband telling their daughters about the boy she had once loved and lost.
Fred kept his gaze away from the house and watched as Josslin and Lena puzzled over this new information. He didn't know of his wife's presence or how she looked on with both pain and relief in her chest.
xx
"If Cedric was alive, would that mean Mummy would be married to him instead?" Josslin asked with a brave face.
Fred always admired how much Josslin was like Marnie; always putting on a front despite any of her own fear. And even though Josslin had bright red hair and hundreds of freckles, Josslin held Marnie's spirit inside of her. As could be expected, Lena looked very similar to Josslin since they were identical like Fred was to George, but Fred found more of himself in Lena who had a more blatant personality. However, despite all of that it was of course the girls' copper eyes that sparkled with curiosity that reminded Fred most of their mother. Marnie had told him a few times over the last eight years that both girls reminded her of Lily Potter, Harry's mother, and how that made her feel both joyful and sad.
Fred smiled and finally bent down to look his one daughter in the eyes, her beautiful orange eyes.
"No," he answered simply.
Josslin looked at him with both a smile and puzzled expression.
xx
Marnie felt the tears silently falling down her cheeks, but she too donned a smile on her face. It was the same answer she would have given if she had been asked.
xx
"I was in love with your mother long before Cedric ever met her, and I never would have stopped loving her. And as much as your mother truly loved Cedric, I know she loves me in the forever kind of way," Fred explained with his cocky self-assuredness returning to him.
xx
Marnie grinned and even laughed quietly to herself. She knew her husband was picturing the same moment in his mind as she was now.
It was shortly after the war when she had confided in Fred about her meeting in the meadow. He had listened almost reverently, one of the few times he had gone without talking for so long. But when it was finally all out in the open, Fred only had one thing to ask.
"Hare?" he asked it like a question to get her attention.
When she looked over at him, she could see the anxiety running off him in waves. She knew it had been a lot to take in and that Fred might be too overwhelmed to accept her story as truth.
"What is it Fred?" she responded with an outstretched arm over the table where they were sitting and folded her hand over his.
He sighed before speaking and sagged his shoulders inwards.
"If you could…" he started, obviously fighting an internal battle to get the question out. "Would you choose to be sitting across from Cedric rather than me?"
He finished with an uneasy shift of his body. For one of the few times she had known him, he looked uncomfortable in his own skin. It was an unsettling look in Fred to say the least, the boy who had been her crusader ever since the first time they met. Fred was an unbending source of strength and Marnie couldn't bear thinking that this was what took that all away.
But even with all that anxiety she thought about his question and took in his sincerity. She knew he hadn't asked to be cruel, only the opposite. He had wanted to respect her and give her everything life had to offer. But in return, he needed to know the depth of her love and where her heart truly lied.
"No, I wouldn't," she answered sadly but honestly.
xx
"Marnie, it's arrived!" Teddy Lupin exclaimed suddenly from the staircase as he made his way down two steps at a time, successfully bringing her attention back to the present.
"And— how many did you get?" Marnie asked excitedly, turning a beaming smile towards her godson.
When her and Fred had got married, that was also when they received full custody of Teddy as decided in Remus's will. She and Harry were both listed as being godparents but it was stipulated that they had to be married before they were granted custody, something that prevented Teddy from being a burden since she and Harry had been so young when Remus died. Before then Teddy had been supportively raised by his grandmother, Andromeda, until Teddy was four years old. In the interim Teddy had still spent a lot of his time between his godparents since they always wanted to be a part of his life. Even now, Teddy spent equal amounts of time between Harry and Andromeda's houses whenever he wasn't there. He was undeniably loved by many people who had all raised him like their own.
"Seven," he replied with a grin that reminded Marnie so much of his father; her uncle who had gotten to raise her instead of his own son.
"That's wonderful, Teddy! Have you written to Harry? We should all go out to celebrate, I'm sure they'll all be so happy for you," she replied before walking over towards him to look at the letter in his hand. "Seven NEWTs, that is impressive considering the role models you've had." The smirk came easily to her face at the comment.
"Hey, even though Harry, Fred, George and Ron didn't finish their last year, they're all still really successful!" Teddy defended his godfather and stand-in uncles.
"Well, I am very proud of you Teddy," she replied with a kinder smile this time.
"Thanks, Marnie," he responded thoughtfully, his cheeks pinking slightly under the loose strands of his matching pink hair today.
"And what has Teddy done to earn our praises?" Fred asked coming in through the back door, carrying Josslin in his arms with Lena holding onto his other arm haphazardly.
Fred glanced down and recognised the letter in his wife's hands as Hogwarts correspondence.
"You didn't get any T's, did you?" Fred asked jokingly, inciting a good-natured eye roll from Marnie.
"What does a T stand for, Daddy?" Lena asked while already running towards Teddy in excitement, Josslin at her heels.
"A troll!" Teddy shouted provokingly, raising his hands up over his head to mimic the foul creature before he immediately started chasing after the girls who were more his siblings than anything else.
Teddy had spent their entire life with the twins, having adjoining rooms upstairs and caring for them in a way Marnie and Fred had both never expected. They had admittedly been weary when Marnie got pregnant for how nine-year-old Teddy would react to the babies. But ever since their introduction in the hospital when Harry brought Teddy to visit, the three of them had always been close.
"How many OWLs did our boy get?" Fred came over, looking over Marnie's shoulder to watch Teddy tickle and chase the twins around.
He read over the report before Marnie could answer.
"Seven. That is impressive. Seven more than I ever got," Fred remarked quietly, watching his wife smirk up at him before he bent over to kiss her.
Fred could feel his past and future holding his wife like this. Marnie was as much of a constant as George had been during their childhood and now they were raising three kids together, one a recent Hogwarts graduate. He was also proud of Teddy for his accomplishment that he himself had never achieved. Fred was excited to see his girls go off to school in a couple years but also didn't want to rush things. So much time had already passed and their lives had changed so much.
He was no longer Marnie's protector, he was her husband. He was an inventor, a shopkeeper, and a father. He was an adult. And somehow, that was the best thing he could have ever asked for.
"I love you, Hare," Fred murmured when he lifted his head back up and watched the familiar glint in Marnie's eyes whenever he still used her nickname, despite the fact that she had been Marnie Weasley for years instead of Marnie O'Hara.
"I love you, too, Freddie," Marnie smiled back before they earned a chorus of disgusted shouts from the three children.
Yes, Fred's life was truly a gift from Marnie and he would treasure that fact for all the days he was given.
So, I cannot believe this story has come to a finish. This is a really bittersweet moment and I have to say how grateful I am to anyone who has chosen to read my story. This was the first story I have ever written and it has taken two years to the month to complete. I have fallen in love with writing because of Marnie and I am glad to have given her such a life. Marnie as a character has existed in my mind for years, an idea that finally got put to 'paper' and I am glad that she ended up getting to go Hogwarts and fall in love and find relative peace after all of her hardships.
Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you for reading, seriously! I have truly enjoyed this experience!