Learning & Understanding

Daisy laid in her bed with the balcony doors open, allowing the sea breeze to flow in while she poured over pages from Athanasia's journal. Nikos and Argus' wife Agalia had been working long hours every day to translate it so that Daisy could understand. Even with the two of them working, it had been taking some time with much of the beginning mostly being about the witch's life before her gifts appeared. When Daisy complained that they should just skip to the good part, Nikos only smiled and said that in order for Daisy to understand her gifts, she also needed to understand Athanasia.

So, there she was that night, lying in bed after dinner, reading about Athanasia's teen years on the island. And hoping that when she went in tomorrow, they would have something ready for her on Athanasia's magic.

Most of it had been a rundown of her daily activities. Helping her mother around the home - cooking, cleaning and the like. A bit of ranting about her older brother going off for training for his special gift while she had yet to show anything. Daisy could relate to that - she always complained as a child when her brothers got to do special training with Puddlemere for quidditch while she could only watch because her father thought she was too young. She would come to regret that as she got older and her father started pushing her harder.

But more than anything, Daisy was taken in by how incredibly ordinary Athanasia's life had been - well, ordinary for the times. Daisy couldn't imagine living in the 1300-1500s and all the extra work it took to do daily tasks. Having to go hunt for food or fish rather than just popping out to the shops. Cooking over an open fire instead of a stove or using an oven or microwave. While her Grans and Grandads lived a slower type of life, all still opting to lead a more traditional wizarding life while the rest of the family had all began incorporating more advance muggle technology, it still was nothing compared to the past.

What she enjoyed most was Athanasia's writing about the various people in the village. She wrote often of her neighbors and friends. At this point, she was about 16 and had already developed a crush on a local boy. Athanasia was smitten with some boy named Belen who was a few years older than her and a friend of her brother's. To the point where she would often go on for paragraphs wondering what it would be like to marry him when she was older.

"Any luck?" Jamie asked as he leaned against Daisy's doorframe. She looked up and sighed, putting the pages written in Agalia's beautiful handwriting down.

"Not unless reading about Athanasia's crush is supposed to help," she said. Jamie chuckled.

"He really thinks reading all this will help?" he asked, walking in and pulling out the desk chair before sitting in it.

"He seems to think knowing all about her will help me understand how to control my own magic," she said, looking down at the pages spread out on her bed.

"I suppose I can understand that a bit," he said, leaning back in the chair. Daisy looked up at him. Even though they saw each other every day, she felt like she barely got to spend time with Jamie since they got here this time around, thanks to the two being split up to work on their separate gifts.

"How's training going?" she asked.

"About the same. Just working on building up our strength. I've gotten the emotion control thing down, but it's a matter of holding it up for an extended period of time on varying amounts of people," he said. "Getting a bit longer every day, though."

"That's good," Daisy said, genuinely meaning it.

"If it might help… the next time you have a nightmare, I might be able to help keep you calm," he said. Daisy smiled.

"I appreciate it, Jamie, but I think I've got to work on that myself," she replied. "If I don't learn to calm myself then I'll never learn to get myself there when I mean to go. Besides, we both know it's not as simple as a nightmare."

"Right… you're actually going there in your sleep," he said, a worried looked coming across his face.

"Don't look at me like that, Jamie. It's not like before. And I can't get stuck there," she said with a sigh.

"I know," he said. She looked back down at the pages. "You talked to anyone back home?"

"Just Wills," she said, not looking up. "We talk most nights."

"So you haven't told the others what you found out," he said. She looked up at him.

"I just… it's hard. I don't want to disappoint them. I know Teddy was looking forward to me bringing his parents back. And I'm sure Uncle George was hoping to see Uncle Fred again," she replied.

"Have you spoken to Alan? Asked him if he's noticed anything?" Jamie asked. Daisy shook her head. "Don't you think it's important to speak to him? If there are any side effects, you might need to prepare him." Daisy started chewing on her bottom lip.

"Suppose I just keep thinking if I ignore it, it won't happen," she finally said.

"You should talk to him," Jamie said. "If anything to check in with him and Remus. They both ask about you."

"So you've been talking to them?" she asked. He nodded.

"Most nights. Lila too. And Dad. They all keep asking about you. Dom, Luce, Molly and Victoire are all wondering why you haven't been writing. Toby is as well from what Dom and Molly say," he said. "Why haven't you been talking to them?"

"I just… I don't want everyone to know how much I'm struggling with it… again," she said as she sat back on her bed, crossing her arms in front of her. Jamie just shook his head and laughed softly.

"Seriously, Pix. You don't have to figure this out on your own or right away," he said. "You know you've got us to fall back on. And it's going to take some time."

"I know, but… all that talk I did about my gift… and now I can't even use it," she said with a huff. "Not unless I go back to the Death Chamber in the Ministry."

"What do we keep telling you? You'll get this. You always do," Jamie said, standing. He walked towards the door, but then stopped and turned to look at her. "Talk to Alan and Remus, at least." She nodded.

"I will," she said. Jamie nodded and smiled at her.

"Good luck with your homework," he said before stepping out. Daisy looked down at the pages surrounding her. She pushed them aside and stepped out onto the balcony, falling into the hammock. Jamie was right. She needed to get in touch with everyone. Even if they were going back soon, they were probably all worrying about her staying out of touch. She had even gotten a few owls from her coach asking about her progress.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and reached out.

"Alan? You there?" she asked. She could see him sitting on the sofa at the flat watching TV. He jumped slightly and looked around.

"Who is this?" he asked. Daisy frowned.

"Your only sister, you twit," she said. Alan's face relaxed as he smiled. He stood and walked out onto the balcony, probably getting away from the noise of whatever sports game was on. Remus was probably watching as well and wouldn't want it turned off.

"Good to hear from you finally. How's training going?" he asked.

"Why did you ask who I was? You know my voice," she said abruptly. Alan sighed.

"Well… truth be told you haven't been the only voice in my head of late, well, besides Mum and Jamie, of course," he replied. Daisy's thoughts when back to the elders and Athanasia. None of them were sure what sort of side effects he might have, but the phrase that death would linger with those who came back seemed to roll around in her head.

"Who are you hearing?" she asked, though she felt as though she already knew the answer.

"You're not going to believe it… but I've been hearing everyone I met when I died. Our family," he said. Daisy frowned.

"As in, they're talking to you?" she asked.

"Sort of… I think, at least at first, they didn't realize I could hear them. And it's not all the time, mind you. But here and there, I can hear them," he said. "Uncle Fred gave me advice with a prank the other day." Daisy couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"What did you do?" she asked. Alan chuckled.

"I'm sure you'll see the remnants of it when you get back," he replied. "But… what's this about hearing them? Is it because you brought me back?"

"I think so… the elders here, they mentioned there could be some lingering effects of it. And Athanasia mentioned it as well," she said.

"As in the last person with your gift? Did you find more information on her?" he asked.

"Well… I've been speaking to her," Daisy said. Alan's eyes widened.

"You've found a way back to the veil," he said. Daisy frowned.

"Not really. I can't get back there on my own, but I've been going there in my sleep," she admitted.

"So those nightmares we've heard about… it's not nightmares about what happened? You've been going back," he said. Daisy didn't respond at first. "Come on, Pix. Talk to me."

"Surprised Jamie didn't tell you all about it," she replied wryly. "But yea… I've been going there in my sleep. I've found Athanasia and she's been helping. We also found her journal and the professor and another Prostatis have been translating it for me. And… I've met with Aunt Lily and Uncle James once."

Alan went silent.

"You met them too?" he asked.

"Yea. They told me stories about Mum," she said, smiling slightly. Alan chuckled.

"Suppose I didn't get that far in meeting them," he said. "Have you met any of the others?"

"Not yet. I can't seem to stay for longer than a few minutes or so at a time. The longest was the time I met Aunt Lily and Uncle James," she replied. "Suppose when I figure it out, I'll be able to stay longer."

"Well, that's good that you'll be able to talk to them. Sure Mum and Dad'll like to hear from them," Alan said. Daisy took a deep breath.

"There's more… I can't bring them back," she said. Alan was silent a few moments, his brow furrowed.

"How did Mum take that?" he asked. Daisy could tell he was thinking about Teddy and how devastated he'd be.

"She took it well, but she was sad, as expected. I can't bring anyone back that doesn't have a body to return. However, I can bring their spirits back for a bit. Athanasia wasn't too specific on the time limit, but suppose it's about as long as I can hold them here," Daisy said.

"Well look at that… that's something, Pix," Alan said, smiling. "I'm sure the family will be happy enough with that."

"I hope so," she replied, furrowing her brow.

"So at the moment, you're trying to figure out how to get back on your own?" he asked. Before Daisy could respond, she sensed Alan getting distracted. "Sorry… Remus walked out." Daisy took another deep breath, wondering if it was possible for her to connect and communicate with both of them at the same time. She had heard from Harry how Voldemort had been able to do it - surely she could as well. She stretched her mind out a bit.

"Remus, Alan… can you both hear me?" she asked.

"Blimey, Pix. Yea, I hear you," she heard Remus.

"Still here as well," Alan replied. Daisy smiled to herself. She had only tried this once before in the heat of battle and was happy she could do it outside.

"Well, yes. Right now we're just going through her journal and I'm talking to Athanasia as much as I can while I'm in the veil during my sleep. But the elders and everyone think a lot of it is just me getting in my own way again," she said.

"Well that's not a surprise," Alan replied. Daisy frowned.

"At least you can't blame it on me this time," Remus said.

"REMUS!" Daisy yelled. Remus winced.

"Don't yell in my head, Pix. It hurts," he said. Alan chuckled at his brother.

"Look, our best advice is to just relax and stopped stressing yourself out about it. You're at your best when you're not stuck in your head over-analyzing everything, Pix. Take your time. You don't have to get it all down right now. I'm sure it took Athanasia time before she figured it all out," Alan said.

"But I may not have a lot of time," Daisy replied.

"Stop worrying about Magnus. The ministry has that under control. Especially now that they've sent some Prostatis in to help," Remus said. "Chances are they'll track the Network down and take it out before we'll ever need your abilities."

"I wish everyone would stop saying that. We don't know that for sure, but we do know that Jamie and I became marked for a reason," Daisy insisted. Both of her brothers were silent a few moments. Daisy could start to feel a bit of a headache coming on, wondering if she was starting to strain herself too much by speaking to them both at the same time.

"Look, Pix. Just stop worrying about what's going on here. Stop worrying about getting all your gifts under control right away. Stop thinking about it too hard and just… do what you do," Alan said. "I know you're tired of hearing that, but honestly Pix, it's always the same… you stress, over analyze and then when you stop thinking so much, it just comes. Trust yourself more."

Daisy nodded to herself, even though she knew her brothers couldn't see it. They had a point. It was always like this. You'd think at some point she'd figure that out and stop worrying so much. She supposed it would always be the thing to trip her up.

"Talk to us, Pix. We can't read your thoughts," Remus said, a hint of smile in his voice. Daisy sighed and smiled.

"I suppose you're right," she conceded.

"We usually are," Remus said. Daisy snorted.

"Well… part of the time," Alan said.

"Thanks," Daisy replied. "If you'll excuse me, this is giving me a headache."

"No worries, Pix. We're always here to talk," Alan said. Daisy opened her eyes, closing the connection and laid her head back, rubbing her temples. She supposed she should get in touch with the others, but for now, she just wanted to let the headache go away. She'd write them in a bit.


A bit later, Daisy opened her eyes, no longer surprised to find herself beyond the veil. She found that her heart finally seemed to stop racing as soon as she arrived there. Looking around, she called out for Athanasia a few times, frowning when the woman didn't appear. Well, that was lovely.

"Is that you, Pix?" a voice said. Daisy looked around, surprised to hear someone up there using her nickname. Though with all of them watching, she was sure they all knew about it. A tall, ginger man appeared and walked towards her, grinning. Daisy laughed as she immediately recognized Fred. While she hadn't seen her Uncle George in his younger years, she had seen enough photos. "Come on then, give your Uncle Fred a hug." Daisy bounded over and hugged him before stepping back to look at him.

"Blimey, you look so much like him. Granted, younger," she said. Fred chuckled.

"I am the more handsome one - suppose now I can say I've won that argument forever," he said. "What brings you here? Looking for Athanasia?"

"Yea, actually. Though… I still can't get here on my own. I must have fallen asleep waiting for my headache to go away," she said.

"Which one gave it to you this time? One of the triplets or that ruddy boyfriend of yours?" Fred asked, still smiling.

"I talked to Remus and Alan at the same time and after awhile it started to hurt," she said. Fred nodded slowly.

"I admit, I've got no clue as to how that all works," he said. "Maybe you should try talking to Harry about it? Or your mum?"

"Why Harry?" Daisy asked.

"He's got plenty of experience being connected mentally with someone enough that it gives you headache," Fred said. Daisy stopped and thought about it. She had forgotten about Harry being connected to Voldemort.

"Suppose it couldn't hurt," she said finally.

"So, now that you're here, suppose we've got some catching up to do," Fred said, smiling. Daisy looked at him and narrowed her eyes slightly.

"What did you tell Alan to do?" she asked, immediately remembering him mentioning a prank. Fred chuckled.

"Ah… nothing they wouldn't have figured out themselves eventually," he said, running his hand through his hair. "Brilliant pranksters, those two." Daisy rolled her eyes.

"All thanks to Uncle George and I suppose you. He passed on all his knowledge from the two of you at Hogwarts," she said, crossing her arms.

"I'm fairly sure your mother was just as devious," Fred replied. "She could get scary at times. And I'm not talking about when she lost control of herself. She had a downright terrifying smile once at Christmas when she vowed to get back at George and I for teasing her and Woodsie."

"I keep hearing this and yet have seen no proof whatsoever. Well… outside some of the stuff she comes up with for the shop," Daisy said.

"She gave Harry all sorts of prank potions at Headquarters while she was staying there," Fred said. "Turned Hermione's hair colors. Then one of them had Ron floating around the kitchen for an hour." Daisy chuckled.

"Really?" she asked. "I wonder what happened to that potion. As far as I know, it never made its way to the shelves at the shop."

"Oh, we wanted it to, but then Iris reminded us that it could be liability since it was a bit unstable and we couldn't figure out how to put a time limit on it. Didn't want folks impaling themselves when they finally fell down," Fred replied.

"Makes sense," Daisy conceded.

"So, when are you and Wills getting hitched?" Fred asked, grinning. Daisy rolled her eyes.

"Not anytime soon," she said.

"Just make it before 25. George has a lot of money on it," he said.

"As does most of the family," Daisy said with a huff. "But I'm fairly sure Wills is trying not to evoke the wrath of my father. He got into a right good state once just because I was wearing one of his Slytherin hoodies from school."

"He's turned into a right good spoilsport," Fred replied. "I mean, he was always kind of one - especially where quidditch was involved. But he was a bit more fun in school and just after."

"What was Dad like in school?" Daisy asked. Fred chuckled.

"Well, I'm sure you know how he is about quidditch. That hasn't changed much. And he wasn't so great at schoolwork. Likely would have failed transfiguration without me and George helping him. But we had a fair amount of good times at parties."

"Dad partied?" Daisy asked, not quite believing it.

"Of course he did. He always snuck in the best whisky," Fred replied. Daisy chuckled.

"Like father, like sons. The triplets were always the suppliers at school," Daisy said. "Remus would smuggle me some through owl after they graduated. Before I learned to bring it in myself." Fred chuckled and then looked at Daisy, a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"I wish I could have been there. It's not the same being here and watching from beyond. You've all turned out alright - you and your cousins. But I wish I could have been there," he said, turning slightly serious.

"What would you have done if you hadn't…" Daisy stopped herself before she said the word.

"Died?" Fred asked, chuckling. "Well, for starters I probably would have set up Angelina and George much sooner. I know she's my ex and all, but they were always more suited for each other." Daisy's eyebrows rose. She hadn't known that bit. "Then, I'd of probably asked out Katie Bell. She always had a bit of a crush on your dad, though, but I'm sure I could have wooed her. Especially since it was so obvious that your mum and dad were meant for each other." He plopped down on the ground, his long legs splayed out in front of him. Daisy followed suit, leaning towards him.

"And then I would have had a strong hand in the proper prank education of every one of you," he said, smiling. "And talked Charlie into marrying Scarlet about 8 years earlier than he did. And your mum and dad into tying the knot right after the battle."

"So basically playing matchmaker for everyone in the family," Daisy said, smiling. Fred nodded as he laughed.

"And I would have travelled more. That's one thing I do regret. George and I were so focused on the shop and such. I never got to travel as much as I would have liked," he said thoughtfully. Daisy frowned slightly. "Don't look so sad, Pixie. It's alright if I call you that, right? Everyone else does."

"Of course," Daisy replied immediately.

"As I was saying, don't feel bad for me. It may have been short, but I had good life. A happy one," he said, smiling at her. "And it's not so bad over here. We get to watch you lot. And I'm in good company. And now that Alan can hear us and you can pop over… it's almost like we've got a telephone to you all."

"That's why I want to learn how to control my magic so badly," Daisy said. "I want to be able to bring you lot over for visits. Everyone misses you." Fred smiled.

"That would be nice," he said.

"I just wish I could bring you back for good," Daisy said with a sigh.

"Don't go thinking that's any fault of your own, Pix," Fred said, frowning slightly.

"I know it's not, but doesn't stop me from wishing I could," Daisy replied.

"Really, Pixie. You've got to stop carrying all the world on your shoulders. Sucks all the fun out of life," Fred said reasonably. "And what good is life without fun?" Daisy smiled slightly.

"Suppose you're right," she said.

"I know I'm right. Just ask George. Or your brothers," he said. "That beau of yours seems to understand that as well."

"Pix! Pix? Did you fall asleep again?"

Daisy looked around, recognizing Jamie's voice. She then looked over at Fred.

"Suppose it's time for you to go," he said.

"Yea… but I'll try to come more often and for longer once I figure this out," she said.

"No don't," he said immediately. Daisy stared at him in surprise. "I mean, it's nice to talk to you and all, but none of us want you over here too much. We want you out there… living." Daisy nodded and smiled as they stood.

"I understand," she said as she hugged Fred good-bye.

"See you next time, Pix. I'll try to get the others to come around as well," he said.

"I look forward to it," she said.

Then suddenly… she was gone.


Posting this mostly because I wanted to share the moment with Daisy and Fred. But also because I think I've finally broken my writer's block. I did A TON of planning on the book today and even started on a few of the later chapters. The next one isn't completely finished and I need to do some rewriting, but once I'm passed that, I believe that everything is finally falling into place.

And, come on, I couldn't have Daisy going through the veil and not have a Fred moment.

In other news, I finally finished my novel - the first in a trilogy. I'm now starting the fun process of self-editing and rewrites. Then comes having others edit and possibly more re-writing. And got someone working on the cover art. Hoping to self-publish by the end of summer. So excited to start on this next chapter of life and get one step closer to fulfilling my dream of being a published author.

AleenaBean - Honestly, the twins were my faves as well. So it's fun to bring them in when I can. Hoping you've enjoyed this one. ^_^ I actually might have a oneshot with Christos and Roxanne in the works. Started on one about their first date. And as for Keenan... we shall see...

As always, thanks for reading, following and reviewing!