Author's Note: You will notice that Alice will know practically nothing about the war and the people who fought it. This is due to her living in the United States all her life, and having very little contact with what was happening in the UK. She would hear her parents talking about a thing or another, but it was never a big concern of hers, as it happens with people growing out of war zones.
Chapter Two:
Life After War
'Wonderful. It works, then!
Even if I am half convinced I went mad, I'll admit that the thought of that place being torn down brings a smile to my face.
I thank you for that, whoever you are.'
Alice couldn't help but gasp as the words formed. She pulled the book closer to inspect it as more words seemed to write themselves right in front of her.
How was he even doing this?
She ran her fingers through the page, but it was as if the ink was writing itself dry.
'The thought of a mysterious woman going through my teenage belongings is disconcerting.
I have half the mind to inviting you over to see what my adult flat looks like to fix that, and half the mind to tell you to simply burn the bloody house down already, just so I know it is not standing twenty years from now...'
Alice scoffed at his childishness. She was trying to come up with a dignified retort when more words begun to appear.
'Do tell… What do I look like as a 42 year old?
Love,
Sirius'
'Bald…' She wrote back, 'And you kind of smell.
Love,
Alice'
'Old age took away my sense of smell and my hair?! I don't believe you…
Or this whole future thing. But good try!
- S'
She laughed out loud, nodding.
'Well played, you caught me...
Truth to be told, we've never met, you and I. I have no idea what you look like.
In fact, I am still convinced this is some prank that I don't quite understand.
Why my clients would do this is beyond me… But it's the only possible explanation.
- Alice'
'I assure you this is no prank,' Sirius wrote.
'Pranks are supposed to be funny.
This is not funny. Just strange! - S'
Alice thought to herself that maybe he had a point.
'Maybe this is a charmed diary for lonely teenage girls? They write and have the illusion of having a friend? - A'
Sirius seemed to waste no time in replying. Their back-and-forth started to resemble a conversation with every exchange.
'That... Is bizarre - if not extremely profitable! But I half expect this being a sham.
Oh and out of concern for your mental health, of course. - S'
'Of course. - A'
'And some curiosity, I'll admit as much. - S'
One glance at her muggle wristwatch was enough to make Alice bolt into action…
She had wasted over half an hour writing on the book, and there was still too much work to be done. When she finally reached the basement there was a new message on the page.
'Alice (if that even is your real name) I know how we can settle this!
Are you at Grimmauld Place right now?'
Alice frowned and wrote, 'Yes.'
'What time is it?' He asked.
She looked at her muggle wristwatch.
'10:08 a.m'
'Good. So if this whole thing is true, we're exactly twenty years apart.
At 10:10, future-Sirius will ring the doorbell and say hi.'
'You'll wait twenty years just to prove a point?'
'I'll outlive the earth itself to prove a point,'
'That's not unhealthy at all...'
'And you haven't even met me.
Yet.'
This was very weird, but still Alice waited, suddenly feeling very nervous. At 10:15 she wrote back:
'10:15. You didn't show.'
'Maybe I am running late?'
'It is twenty years in the future… I don't blame you for forgetting. Who would remember this sort of thing?'
She thought to herself that even if this was true, it's very unlikely that anyone would remember a specific date and time they are supposed to be twenty years in the future. Her train of thought was interrupted by the doorbell ringing, loud and clear.
"No way!" She exclaimed at the book, as if Sirius could hear her from the other side.
'Someone's at the door...' She scribbled in a hurry before running off.
Alice crossed the hallway nervously, unconsciously adjusting her t-shirt over the muggle jeans she wore. The portrait of the screaming woman started going at it. In quick strides, she silenced it and ran to open the front door, only to find two red haired men standing out front. One of them had long hair that ended just above his jaw, with a bored sort of look on his freckled face; his companion was taller and looked just like a rockstar - dragon hide boots, a chain earring with a fang, long hair above his shoulder blades and a leather cloak over a warm looking white shirt.
"Good morning," She said nervously. Could any of them be that Sirius person?
"See, I told you she was fine!" The shorter - but still very tall - ginger told his companion, gesturing in her direction.
"'Morning! I'm Bill, and this is George. We're Ginny Weasley's brothers," He greeted her, ignoring his brother, and shook her hand politely.
Alice smiled, trying not to let the disapointment show. 'Of course it wouldn't be him!.'
"Come on in…" She opened the door wider for them to come through, "You guys want to have a look around?"
"Ginny was concerned," Bill explained, "This place is filled with dark objects. When she didn't hear from you for a couple of days, she asked us to check up on you."
Alice felt herself blush. "Sorry, I meant to write. My letter couldn't reach her, for some reason…"
"It's fine," He smiled kindly, "She was going to come herself, but the team practice is happening in the craziest hours now, and Harry is busy with Auror training, so..."
"So you are here," She smiled and nodded politely, opening the door wider for them to come through.
"I'm sorry I made you guys come all this way," She apologized, "But, as you can see... Everything is alright. I'm just getting started on the basement."
"Don't mention it," George told her with a smile and nudged his brother, "Bill needed an excuse to leave the house anyway."
Bill glared at his brother, who grinned in return. Alice couldn't help but smile at this.
"You guys could stay if you'd like… I've got some butterbeer down in the kitchen."
"That's partially the reason why we're here, actually-" Bill said, but was cut off by George.
"Why he's here… I'm just tagging along."
"I'm a curse breaker," Bill said, "At Gringotts. I have a few days off, so I thought I'd offer some help. As I said, there are a lot of dark things in this house."
Alice nodded politely as they walked downstairs.
"I got it covered," she assured them, "But feel free to drop by when you want to."
"We both have today off-"
"What Bill means to say is please, pretty-please, let us hide out here while his wife's family is over."
Bill glared at George once again, and Alice laughed, this time openly.
George smiled at her, and he seemed to be years younger when he did that.
"If that's the case, we can always tell Ginny I'm crying for help over here!"
The three of them went inside the dark, cavernous kitchen.
"We'll tell Ginny we saved your life," George said with a smirk.
"Deal," She told him.
Alice instructed the men on her plans: first, clean up and eliminate pests; second, remove and vanish the carpet and wallpaper, and finally, to shrink and put every single piece of furniture, silverware or durable goods inside the appropriate boxes.
She taught them some useful cleaning spells as well as spider-killing charms, and they set to work. They didn't speak much at first, the trio focused on the work ahead. Then, the brothers started to make small-chat as they created an easier flow.
"Will you tell me what is the 'curse breaking' advice you wanted?" Bill asked George, as they held back about six giant spiders each, with the spell Alice showed them previously.
"Are you nervous about being a father?" George asked as Alice finished off that set of spiders. She opened the dish cabinet, to reveal more with a look of disgust.
"Not really… Fleur and I are very excited, actually," Bill smiled with affection, as he held the following wave of spiders back, "We are so ready."
Alice smiled as she finished off the spiders and said: "I bet you'll do wonderful."
"Thanks!" He smiled back.
"Why are you hiding here, then?" George asked dropping his spell, and causing his spiders to run wild, "You didn't show up at the shop today just to 'check on me', I know you. You're not the kind of person who just shows up, no owl, no note, nothing."
"When Ginny stopped by to ask me to check on Alice, you practically jumped at the idea… And now we're here, helping clean up Harry's house, even though he's hired some girl to do it - No offense, Alice!"
"None taken. Don't worry," She said, hounding the spiders magically and getting rid of them.
Bill looked at his brother, trying to assess if this was a serious question. George, in turn, faced his brother very seriously.
Meanwhile, Alice killed their spiders and vanished them. With a well-practiced wave of her wand, the countertops, table and cabinet were cleaned and polished.
"I'm not hiding," He confessed, "Fleur's parents and sister want to help her design the nursery. They're all picking patterns, colours, making lists of things..."
"You're giving her space," Alice noted, and he nodded after carefully assessing her, "to be around her family...".
"Don't get me wrong… They absolutely adore me," He explained, "It's just that my French needs work, and when I'm with them, Fleur has to translate things back and forth, which she doesn't mind, of course... But I know it's exhausting. So sometimes I give them these moments."
"Plus," Bill added, "She misses her sister a lot, and this gives them time to catch up, and go girly over baby things."
"That… is not what I expected," George confessed, "I honestly thought they drove you insane and you needed time off."
"Fleur needs this more than I do, I think."
"That's thoughtful," Alice complimented, "Very mature of you, Bill!"
"Very grown up, this being married business..." George muttered, his eyes far away.
With a few elaborate twists of her wand, Alice opened the remaining drawers and doors of the china cabinets. While they were clean and to their collective relief there were no spiders left, there was still things inside that needed cleaning. For that, they decided to make it a production line: Alice would magically clean the china and silverware, George would levitate them into the boxes, and before they could be placed inside, Bill would run spells to check them for curses or magic.
"Well, I don't suppose you have a few growing up tips to pass along before next month, do you?" George asked, as if making a big announcement to the room without so many words.
Three things happened simultaneously: Bill lost his focus on the china and snapped his head up to stare at his brother with his mouth hanging open; his abruptness startled Alice, who caused the plates and cups she was spelling clean to crash hard into each other, breaking most of them. George stopped concentrating and everything that was floating crashed down and broke on floor.
"You're getting married?" Bill asked in shock, "Is that what you're saying?"
"Shit!" Alice cursed as she assessed all of the broken plates on the floor.
"In a month?!" Bill continued and George nodded, "Does mum know? Or dad?"
George glanced thoughtfully at Alice (who was still running around, freaking out about the broken china), before deciding she either was trustworthy, or too busy to care about whatever it was that he had to say.
"I only just asked her last night," he finally said, sounding somewhat amused.
"I didn't know you were seeing someone!"
"I didn't know how to tell... well, anyone about her..." George confessed, his face very red in embarrassment.
"Who are you marrying?" Bill sounded concerned.
"Angie…" He almost whispered, then raised his voice a little, "Angelina Johnson."
"Georgie, that's great news!" His brother smiled, but one look at his brother's frown gave him pause, "What's the big deal?"
"For one, she's Fred's ex girlfriend," Bill opened his mouth to say somehting, but George cut him off before he could say anything, "Also, we're living together… We've been living together for about four months now."
Bill didn't seem to find his voice, and Alice realized she had been staring... So she busied herself with silently repairing the broken things.
"So this isn't out of the blue?"
"I don't know… We didn't plan any of this, really. After the final battle, things were rough for me." George explained nervously, "I didn't feel like opening the store anymore; the apartment was a mess. Some days I wouldn't even shower! I just… existed, I guess."
"But Angie was great. She would stop by sometimes, in between Ginny, mum and everyone else. She wouldn't make me talk... You know Mum, she would insist on having these one-sided conversations about Fred, about the shop, about what Freddie would have wanted."
He took a deep breath, and he looked like he was trying to swallow something unpleasant. Alice stole some furtive glances, wondering if she should do something to make them more comfortable. Bill just stood stared, seemingly lost for words. She guessed this kind of outburst wasn't common, and that the younger Weasley really needed time to vent.
"What nobody gets is that I was never alone before, Bill. Freddie was born with me, and we did everything together. And then... he was not there anymore. All I could think about then was that I was supposed to have gone with him!"
"Then Angie would come over, help me clean up the place, bring butterbeer, some food and sometimes she'd just stay quiet with me. Then last year I finally was able to talk, about the war, about Fred, and about the shop… And she just listened, she shared, she cried, and then we weren't friends anymore."
George swallowed, eyes distant and the shadow of a smile on his face.
"Suddenly we weren't just friends anymore, and she kept on coming back. Then one day she just didn't leave, and it did not feel wrong.~
There were tears in his eyes, but he didn't seem to be able to stop. Bill now had a small smile on his lips too.
"I wanted to tell everyone, but the timing was never right. So I just sort of faded into the background - as usual..." George rolled his eyes, "Ron and Hermione got engaged, and then of course Harry and Ginny did. Then I would gather the courage to tell, floo over and guess what? 'Oh Georgie, Teddy and Andromeda are over, come say hiii'. Or Rita Skeeter would publish some crap about all of us..."
George was now pacing as he ranted.
"Things just got more serious between us, and the time was never right. Angie thought I was ashamed of her - can you believe that? - when I was in fact ashamed of myself! For being with Freddie's girl! For not being brave enough to tell everyone right from the start! And Merlin, you know mum! You know what she would say about all of this. And now with the baby-"
He cut himself off abruptly, shocked with himself. And time seem to freeze.
"THERE'S A BABY?" Bill yelled. Alice cringed, unable to play busy.
George seemed to lose the ability to speak.
Alice took that moment to finish up the broken china and have them fly into the box. As she spelled some chairs to clean themselves, she stated out loud:
"I think we need a break!"
The brothers nodded awkwardly, so she excused herself and apparated away to her parents' house. Once there, she summoned the good firewhiskey from her dad's cupboard. As an afterthought she checked the kitchen to see if her brother had drunk the cocoa she had made that morning, grinning when she saw that he hadn't - the spell to keep it fresh was still going, so she packed that away, as well as some pumpkin pastries and apparated back.
She found the brothers right as she had left them, and once she arrived Bill and George sat down on the freshly cleaned chairs around the table. Bill had his face on his hands, and George's face was the colour of his hair.
"Here we go…. Irish cocoa," She told them with a wink, pouring the beverage in three flying mugs, along with a healthy dose of the liquor. With a sharp wave, the pastries were placed over the table.
They each grabbed one and thanked her, and she turned around to give them some privacy.
"Wait, Alice?" George asked tentatively, "You don't have to go."
"I don't want to intrude," She said apologetically.
"Please, intrude!" He smiled, "It's better not to talk about this one-on-one. Makes sense?"
Alice nodded and sat down. The brothers both sipped on their drinks, and a comfortable silence settled in. She took that time to check on the journal again, and found a new message there.
'On a scale from 9 to 10, am I an 11? - S'
'It's not you. You didn't show. - A'.
She put the book away as the men finished their drinks.
"So now it's out," George said, "I'm marrying my twin's girlfriend and we're having a baby. Just wait until mum and dad knows!"
Bill smiled and clapped his hand on George's back.
"I wish you told me sooner. But I'm glad you opened up, man," He looked intently at his brother, "George, seriously, you can tell me whatever you need to. Mum will fuss… She always fusses about everything! But it will be alright."
George nodded.
"I feel like I'm betraying Fred," he half whispered, " Like this should be him, and not me... Like it's his life... Running the business, marrying Angie, having a baby with her…"
"You're not, though," Alice surprised herself when she spoke, "I might not have known him, but you shouldn't torture yourself with what could have been. Do you think he would want you to be having these thoughts?"
"Knowing Fred, he would be mad at you for a second, but then he'd joke about your child looking just like him and things would go right back to normal," Bill added with a smirk, and explained it to her, "They were twins, Alice."
George laughed, "I hope the kid looks like him. He was the good looking one!"
He finished his drink and sighed.
"I'm terrified I'm going to mess everything up."
"Oh, you will! Ten million times…" Alice laughed, "But then you'll pick yourself up, learn your lessons and become a better husband. You'll learn to be a good father, even."
"The first few months of marriage were chaos for me. Eventually, Fleur and I found balance with the war and everything." Bill nodded, agreeing.
"My dad married his brother's ex-girlfriend, you know," Alice told them, "Uncle Benjy was weirded out at first, but it turned out just fine… Mom says they worked better as friends anyway."
"You do look like a well adjusted person," George smirked, nodding at the firewhiskey bottle in appreciation, "No scars from it, huh?"
They all smiled.
"When is Angie due?" Bill asked.
"End of June or early July, we think," George said, trying to count the months on his fingers, "She's about two to three months along…"
"Good. That means I'll have a couple of months worth of experience to pass along to you!" Bill smiled proudly.
George didn't say anything, and refilled his cocoa. His ears were still red, but he seemed relieved.
"How come you have so much to say about marriage, Al?" He asked, suddenly.
"I was married for about two years." She smiled sadly, "Then I decided to move here and he decided to stay there. The end."
An hour later, the basement was bare. The furniture was packed away, the stone walls and floors felt very clean - no wallpaper or carpet remained. That bare room felt a lot more like being inside of a cave than before.
Alice thanked them for their help, and put everything away.
"Here's what we're going to do," George said, rubbing his hands together, "We'll have dinner at the Burrow tonight. I'll walk in, hand in hand with Angie and announce that we're getting married. Out of the blue. Then, when the night is done, I'll say 'hey mum and dad, you'll be grandparents too!'."
"If any distractions show up, I'll make sure you have the floor!" Bill promised, "I'll tell Fleur and the in-laws to come about two hours later. We'll make a celebration of it!"
"This is great news, George! It will be okay," Alice assured him, throwing her backpack over her shoulder.
They walked out together, and Alice said goodbye.
"Oh... By the way... You're invited to dinner," Bill said in amusement at her eagerness to leave.
"No, I couldn't… I feel like I've already intruded too much," Alice replied, feeling her face warming up.
"It's not just from me. Ginny told me to invite you," Bill explained, "You're not intruding. And I think you could use new friends."
"Are you sure? What about George?"
"After this little collective mental breakdown, you're practically family!" He smiled, his face still a bit red.
"Ok then… Are your parents set up for floo?"
She said she'd go home to get ready, and would meet them in a few hours.
Upon aparating home, she noted that the house was empty. Her brother was probably at work, and their parents wouldn't be back for another two months. The couple was working on a particularly tricky house in Ireland.
Alice showered, got dressed and opened the journal to find a few extra lines written,.
'I guess setting a date twenty years in the future wasn't a smart move.
What I can't get over is that time travel is complicated and difficult to achieve.
There are too many rules and guidelines that can make life very difficult very fast.
It's hard to even get a person back with precision, even with a time turner.
To send a journal in the post like this? It shouldn't be possible!'
Alice agreed, but before she could respond, more words begun writing themselves.
'Ah, he's writing now!' She thought.
'Just the possibility of me holding a book that doesn't belong in this timeline can alter reality in unimaginable ways. There are paradoxes, and events that would cease to exist, or happen differently…
Now, for instance: instead of taking the hot blonde from across the hall out for dinner, I am still in my underwear bickering with a book!
I sound like my best mate's wife!'
'By all means, pick the blond! Ditch the book!' She wrote, amused, 'This whole thing is confusing the fuck out of me as well.'
'After all I wrote, all you care about is the blonde?'
'I'd ditch this book over a hot blonde any second now!' She grinned, teasing him.
'Ah, a girl after my own heart, I see...'
Alice decided to go straight to the point.
'Let's assume this is real, ok? Ignore the impossibilities of this whole thing...
What did you do to this journal so I'd be able to read what you're writing?
Or is this just a simple predictable-writing spell?'
'I charmed it like a two-way mirror. We are, in fact, communicating.'
'But that is not possible!'
'It's simple magic, really. If you apply a few Hogwarts-level charms, you can make it work,' His writing sounded very smug and she didn't know quite what to say back, 'What? Hogwarts doesn't exist anymore in your decade?'
'It does,' She finally wrote, 'I've never been there. I grew up in America. Went to Ilvermorny'
'I don't think I've ever talked to an American. At least not long enough to know where she went to school…'
'That's cute… And for the record: Not American. I just grew up there.'
'How was it there?'
'It was home, for a long time.'
'It's not anymore?'
'I'm not sure. Maybe, in a way... I left a few friends back there, my ex-husband too.'
'Ex-husband? Why, how old are you, Ms. Alice?' He wrote.
'25. Got married way too young.'
'I'm twenty-one. Can't imagine myself settling down any time soon, though.'
Alice felt strange and silly to be writing to someone she had never seen, and who might not even be real.
She thought to herself that maybe Bill was right… It was time she went out and made some friends, or just met new people in general.
'Alright, Ms. Fenwick… I have an idea!' Sirius wrote.
'That must be a first for you!' She teased him.
'Very funny.
Here's how we'll settle this: I propose a fair exchange. You'll tell me something trivial that will happen soon in 1980. Something meaningless, that can't be altered by me knowing it. In return, some time in the future I will hide something in the house, and only you will know where to find it.'
'Again, we are talking about something hidden for twenty years.' Alice reasoned, 'What if someone else finds it? Plus... Can we really mess with time like that?'
'I will hide it very well,' He promised. She bit her tongue anxiously, then threw caution to the wind.
'Mr. Black, you have yourself a deal! Let me know where to look, and I will research some information to give you.'
'When I think of a hiding spot, I'll let you know.'
Alice closed the book softly and finished getting ready. She stopped by a magical beverage shop and bought two bottles of a fancy elf-made wine to take to the Weasley's. With a deep breath to settle her nerves, she flooed to The Burrow.
