"You and your family are coming over for dinner tonight," George said to Fred as they walked through the store. Fred was back in his disguise and muggle clothes. George had put on the ugly hat.
"Is that the best idea Forge?" Fred asked as they came up to his family. "What will Angelina think?"
"She will be happy to see you, after she gets over her shock and maybe hits you a couple of times." George laughed.
"Dad!" George II ran up to them. "This place is awesome. I love being a wizard!"
"Of course you do!" Fred ruffled his son's hair. "What do you think, Sofia?"
"It certainly is different, but I think in a good way." She studied her husband. He had a grin on her face and a sparkle in his eye. "How are you, Fred? I know it's a lot."
"I can't believe I haven't come back. I've missed George so much. And I talked to Ron."
"And you don't know how much I've missed you. We all missed you." George gave his twin another hug. At one point in there lives, Fred and George would have laughed at this sentimental gesture, but now they had 17 years of missed hugs to make up for.
"Honey, how would you feel about going to George's house for dinner? We can meet his wife and kids and George II could meet some of his cousins."
Sofia took a minute to think it over. "I don't see why not."
"Great!" Fred gave his wife a kiss on the cheek. "Why don't we put all of George's school supplies in the hotel room. Then we can come back here."
Fred gathered his family and they started to head out of the store. The twins gave each other one last hug, for fear they won't see each other again.
"I'll be back soon Georgie." Fred promised, grinning.
"You better be Freddie."
"Wait!" Ron came running from across the store. "Are you leaving?"
"I'll be back, I promise." Fred embraced his little brother. "We're going to George's house for dinner."
"Tomorrow night is our weekly family dinner. Fred you should come. Mum misses you so much. And I know that everyone else does too," Ron begged.
"I don't know if I am ready for that. I would like to see everyone else, but I don't know if everyone will be as forgiving as you two."
"They will be. I may take awhile, but they will," George said as he and Ron said goodbye.
As Fred and his family headed back to their hotel, George walked back through his store. He still couldn't believe that Fred was alive. At this moment, he felt happy enough to make the world's largest patronus. He told Ron that he was going to floo-call Angelina and told his to watch the shop. George climbed up the stairs into the old flat that he and Fred had lived in. It wasn't in use now, just the fireplace for easy travel and the lab where he created new products.
George threw some floo powder into the fireplace and stuck his head in. He could see his sitting room. His daughter Roxanne and niece Lucy were sitting on the couch playing with some toys.
"Roxie!" George called, catching both girl's attention.
"Daddy!" "Uncle George!"
"Can one of you please go get your mum/Aunt Angie?"
They both ran to get her. Angelina came into the room and went over to the fireplace.
"What is it George? You're grinning like a maniac. That's never a good sign."
"Nice to see you too, Ange," George joked. "If you must know why I called you, I invited three people over for dinner tonight."
"George!" He gave her pleading eyes. "Fine, but you are going to be doing the cooking for the next week. Who did you invite?"
"Just this one person who we haven't seen in 17 years and his family. No biggie." George was lying. It was a really bug deal.
"17 years?" Angelina asked. "That was practically during the war."
"It was during the war. The last time we saw this person was during the battle of Hogwarts."
"Wow," Angelina was amazed. "This person was on our side, right? Who have we not seen since then? I thought we had seen everyone at least a couple of times. Like a a memorial service."
"We have seen everybody," George said, confusing Angelina even more. "Except for this person. We all thought he was dead." He couldn't help but lose his smile with all of the terrible memories that came up. The worst memory was seeing his twin's body, even though he knew now that it was fake.
Angelina's eyes widened. "Someone who was dead? Who? How?
George's smile sprung right back. "I couldn't believe it either." He paused for dramatic effect. "Fred." Her reaction was not what he expected.
His wife shook her head and sighed. "George, not this again. Fred's not coming back, no matter how much you want him to."
"I know what is sounds like. But today Fred and his wife and son came into the shop. They've been living in America, but his son is going to Hogwarts this year. It was an amazing reunion! Come on Angie, you have to believe me. Ron was there too! He can back me up!"
"George, I will make some extra food just in case your mystery guests do come, but it is not going to be Fred."
"Thanks for agreeing to let them come, George knew he wasn't going to get her to believe, and decided that she would be in for a shock when Fred did come.
George pulled his head out of the fireplace and continued to work, just waiting for the end of the day.
A few hours later, George was just closing shop when Fred came back. This time, he had no glamours and waws pretty much identical to George. Ron was just leaving to go to dinner at Harry's when he had to take a moment to just stare at the identical men standing in the middle of the shop. After saying goodbye, George led his family and son upstairs.
"Are you really Uncle Fred?" Fred II asked in wonder.
"That's me, squirt." Fred said and gave a bow. "Nice to meet you. I really like your name."
"Hey," George yelled. "That's what I said!" He brought them over to the fireplace. "Sofia, George, you are going to travel by floo. This is a wizard way of travel. I figured it is a little more comfortable than apparation. What you are going to do it stand in the fireplace with a fistful of the fireplace. Don't worry, the fire won't hurt you. You are going to say the name of the place you are going and throw the powder down. That's pretty much it. Just make sure you brace yourselves for landing!"
Freddie and his namesake started laughing at the appalled look on Sofia and George II's face.
"I promise it's not as bad as it sounds," Fred tried to reassure them. "I've been traveling by floo for as long as I can remember."
"Freddie," George said. "Why don't you demonstrate."
The young boy stood in the fire. "WEASLEY-JOHNSON PLACE" he disappeared in a flash of green.
"Okay," George rubbed his hands together. "I don't think that Sofia could travel alone, no offense, and I don't think I trust Georgie here. He looks like a prankster. Fred, why don't you take Sofia through and I'll take your son right after. No, I want to go first so I can see Angie's reaction."
Everybody agreed to that plan and George took his nephew and was gone.
"Are you ready?" Fred asked his wife.
"You promise I'm not going to burn up? Okay, then. Let's go."
Sofia and Fred climbed into the fire. Then they were gone. Next thing they knew, both were tumbling into George's living room. Sofia was coughing.
"Whoops," Fred said as he helped her up. "I forgot to warn you to close your mouth. Nice place George."
Fred and his family looked around. They were in a quaint living room that was obviously not decorated by George. It had an equal amount of magical and muggle decorations and a nice, homey feel to it.
Just then, there was a crashing of plates and the occupants of the room turned to look toward the sound. Angelina was standing in the doorway looking back and forth between here husband and brother-in-law.
"What... George?... Fred?" She whispered.
"I told you Angie," George said as he walked over to her. She took a step back.
Sofia decided to break the tension. "Hi, you must be Angelina. My name is Sofia. I know this is crazy. It's crazy for me too. I mean, I just learned by husband is a wizard about a week ago."
Angelina politely said hello and then continued staring at the men. Sofia understood how she was feeling. It was unnerving for her to see her husband and a one-eared mirror standing side by side.
"It is really you, Fred?" Angelina finally whispered.
"Yeah it is," He smiled. "Hey Angie. Long time no see." They hugged and see wiped her eyes.
"Wow. Okay," She turned to Sofia. "This is weird."
Dinner went well, reminiscing about old times and telling the kids and Sofia stories of pranks they had pulled before, while catching up on each other's lives.