* A/N: Hi Everybody! Thank you for reading if you still are! I'm sorry that it took so long, but here is the next chapter! Only one left after this! The completed story is up on wattpad (same name) if you don't want to wait for me to update it here. I would love to hear your feedback, whether it is good or bad!*
The next day, the Weasley twins, their wives, and children, were all at George's house. Fred II and George II had hit it off quickly and were becoming fast friends. Roxie was trying to join them, but the boys were having none of it.
"Alright," Fred clapped his hands. "I've been thinking and I think I do want to go to the family dinner tonight."
"That's great!" George clapped his twin on the back. "Because I already told Mum to expect three extra people!"
"George Weasley!" Angelina shook her head.
"How'd you know?" Fred asked in mock seriousness. The two men looked at each other and burst out laughing.
"Hilarious," George pretended to wipe his eye. Their wives looked at each other with amused expressions. It seemed that Fred and George still had a bunch of inside jokes.
"But," Fred said, serious once more," I don't know how to reveal myself without Mum having a heart attack and at least one person murdering me."
Everyone was silent for awhile as they tried to come up with a solution.
"I got it!" George said. "Angelina will bring the kids and Sofia there first, and then you will go, Fred. Just pretend you are me. You can introduce Sofia and George Jr. as some friends that you just met." Fred caught the gust of it.
"I can pretend to be you for awhile. It will give me a chance to apologize to everyone, without them hugging me to death."
"You can drop some hints that you're not me-"
"And maybe some of the smart people will pick it up-"
"Fred Jr, George Jr, Roxie, Angelina, Sofia, you can't give anything away."
"Then you can come and walk around and we can see how long it takes for people to notice there are two of us!"
The two turned to look at their little audience. Fred II, George II, Roxie and Sofia were all staring open-mouthed. The twins had literally just completed each other's sentences. Angelina was watching with a tight-lipped smile. It was like when they were younger and Fred was never gone.
"That sounds good," Sofia said, "I think?"
"Great! Let's go," Fred said, but George put his hand out.
"You're wearing muggle clothing. I don't wear muggle clothes," George looked at his brother pointedly. He then went up to his room, grabbed a robe, and thrust it into Fred's arms. The latter quickly put it on and Angelina handed him a hat.
"Okay, I think we're ready now." George said.
"I'll take Sofia through the floo," Angelina said. "Fred Jr. can go by himself. Fred," Angie's voice cracked as she turned to the long-lost twin. "Do you think you can take George Jr and Roxie?"
"I think so, but when I flooed yesterday, it wasn't a soft landing."
George laughed, "You're just a little rusty."
Fred Jr. stepped into the fireplace. With a flash, he was gone. Next, Angelina took Sofia through, telling her about Percy's wife, Audrey, who was also a muggle. Fred stepped in next with his son and niece.
"Good luck," George said. "I'll be watching."
Fred nodded gravely. He was going to go back to his home and see his family. The family he abandoned. He just hoped that they would accept him back. He threw the powder and yelled, "THE BURROW." The next thing Fred knew, he was spilling out onto the living room floor.
"Gran!" Roxanne jumped up and ran to hug her grandmother.
Fred couldn't help but stare. His Mum looked the same, except for a few more grey hairs. He watched as she hugged her grandkids, and then turned to Angelina and Sofia.
"Hello," Molly said, shaking Sofia's hand. "I'm Molly. You must be the guests George said were coming. He said you were a muggle, and it's your son's first year at Hogwarts."
"Hello, it's nice to meet you," Sofia said. "My name is Sofia."
As his wife continued talking, Fred stood up, brushed himself off and looked around the Burrow. It looked the same as it had last time he had been there, there were just more people and different photos around. He turned and looked at the photos on the mantle. There were photos of a lot of children he assumed were his nieces and nephews. He saw the picture his family took in Egypt, the one that had appeared in the Daily Prophet all those years ago. With a pang, he noticed a photo taken at Christmas. Everyone looked really young, but the photo looked empty somehow. Everyone had tight smiles on their faces and George's hair was dyed a ridiculous green. But what Fred noticed most is that he wasn't there by his twin's side. He turned back to his wife and mother, blinking back tears.
"...This is my son, George," Sofia waved her son over from where he was standing shyly to the side.
"Hello," He said.
"Oh my," Molly said. "With your read hair you fit right in with the family! And you look so much like my George. It's so funny you share the same name."
"How did you say you know George? Are you sure that George is not this boy's father?" Fred turned to the voice and had to force his mouth shut. There stood Percy, standing upright and with the same, smug look on his face and glasses perched on his nose. "Well George?"
It took Fred a minute to regain his senses and figure out that Percy was talking to him. "I assure you that this boy's father is not named George." He suppressed a grin. He couldn't exactly say that he wasn't the father, but they didn't know that yet.
"No, George isn't his dad," Angelina and Sofia said at the same time, almost laughing.
"Hi George!" Molly said and hugged her son. Fred relished this hug, he hadn't realized how much he missed Molly Weasley's famous hugs.
"Hi Mum," his voice was think with emotion. "Um... do you think you could call everybody in here please, or at least the adults. I have something say." Angelina and Sofia gave him encouraging smiles.
"Georgie," Sofia said to her son. "Why don't you go play with Freddie?" She didn't really want her son to be here for this conversation.
Molly called everybody into the living room. As people filed in Arthur looked confused.
"I could have sworn I saw an extra child running around," he said. Fred laughed and greeted his dad, pulling him into a hug, probably for longer than he should have.
"That would be another George," he said. "One of the guests I told you about. And this is Sofia." She shook her father-in-law's hand.
"George?' Fred turned at the familiar voice. Ron was leaning against the doorframe holding Hermione's hand. The latter had managed to get her frizzy hair under control.
"Yep," Fred winked. Ron got the message and gave his brother a hug.
"I'm glad you're back. Nice hat." Ron pointed to his own ear.
"George!" Hermione cut in, layering the name with meaning. She gave him a hug. "It's so good to see you. Ron told me about your eventful day yesterday."
Fred laughed. "Good to see you too, Mrs. Weasley." He wiggled his eyebrows. He was so happy the two finally managed to stop being stupid and get together.
"It's Granger-Weasley, thank you very much."
"My bad, but you get the picture."
By now, everyone had assembled and was sitting around the room. There was Bill, looking older and even more mature now, next to Fleur, who looked as though she hadn't aged. Charlie had even more scars than before, but a sparkle in his eye and a playful smile on his face. Percy was sitting next to a brown-haired woman Fred didn't recognize, but assumed was Audrey. Ron and Hermione were sitting on a couch with Angelina and Sofia, all sharing knowing looks. Then there was Ginny. His baby sister was all grown up and sitting on Harry Potter's lap. His parents were also there, sitting together on a couch.
Fred clapped his hands. "Okay, this isn't going to make sense at first, but just hear me out." He looked around to make sure everyone agreed. He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."
"What for?" Bill asked.
"I'm getting there. Look, during the was, it was me who told the Death Eaters and Voldemort that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had come back to Hogwarts. It wasn't my choice, they forced me into an Unbreakable Vow, but I still betrayed you. And I'm sorry for that."
"We forgive you George," Harry spoke up. "If Voldemort hadn't some to Hogwarts that day, who knows how long the was would have gone on."
"Honey," Molly said. "It wasn't your fault. Nothing was your fault."
Fred shook his head. "This is the part that is not going to make sense. At the time, and still a little bit now, I've felt guilty about that. And during the Battle, I made a really stupid decision that's plagued me since then. It made everything my fault, even if you don't know it. I mean, if I hadn't done that, I wouldn't have met my wife and son, but it was still a horrible thing for me to do." Everyone was confused now. George knew Angelina years before the war. And what about Roxie? "I abandoned my family. I left you and caused you so much pain. I was a fool! I was a prat, a guilt-plagued, family-disowning moron." Tears came into Fred's eyes.
"What on Earth are you talking about?" Ginny demanded.
"I'm sorry for leaving you and abandoning you. I'm sorry for bringing you so much pain. I already explained this to Ron and he forgives me. And George does as well. I-"
"What was that you said?" Percy asked, with barely more than a whisper. Fred looked at him to see Percy's eyes staring at his face, or more importantly the little scar about Fred's right eyebrow. He had gotten that scar when he was five and it was always how Percy could tell the twin's apart. Fred knew he was catching on.
"I said that George forgives me." Fred looked right into Percy's eyes and saw something click in his older brother's expression.
"If George does, so do I," tears were pouring down Percy's face now. Fred game a sad smile. "I don't know how you're hear, but I do know what it's like to feel guilty about leaving. You forgave me first, so I will forgive you." Percy jumped up and engulfed Fred in a hug, sobbing on his little brother's shoulders. "Oh, F-fred," he whispered, so only the two-of them could hear.
"Thanks Perce," Fred said softly.
"Ron told me the entire story," Hermione said. "You know I forgive you." Fred nodded his thanks as Hermione joined the hug.
"What the heck is going on?" Fred turned to Charlie as much as Percy would allow.
"Charlie, Charlie, Charlie," Fred smiled. "Always a little bit behind, eh? I haven't seen you in a long time. What was it? Bill and Fleur's wedding?"
"What do you mean?" Charlie was even more confused. "I just saw you last week."
"Do you remember when you taught me how to de-gnome the garden?" Fred chose this because Charlie only taught him how, not George.
"But that was..." Charlie was slowly putting the pieces together.
"Or remember when I turned Ron's teddy bear into a spider?" Fred smiled at the memory. Ron grumbled.
"Take of your hat." It was Ginny who said this.
"What was that you said?" Fred asked, even though he heard her clearly. He cupped his ear, covered by the hat, the same ear that George was missing.
Ginny stared at Fred a moment more before she gave a shout and jumped from Harry's lap. She practically pushed Percy away and launched herself into Fred's arms. This only lasted a second before she pulled back and started repeatedly hitting him on the arm.
"How *smack* the hell *smack are you here?" *smack.* She was almost yelling. "Where *smack* have you been?" She collapsed into his arms again and tears ran down her face.
"I was in muggle America," Fred said. "I came back because my son got his Hogwarts letter."
By now Charlie was joining the group hug. "Merlin, I missed you. Ginny does too, hitting you is just her way of saying it." Fred laughed.
Fleur let out a string of French. She had been quiet and watching this while time and now it seems that she figured it out.
"English Fleur," Fred said.
"I don't know what she said, but I caught the words how, dead, and alive." Bill provided a rough translation. Fleur got up and hugged Fred too.
"We missed you," she said.
Fred could see that everyone else was still clueless. He decided it was time to tell them. 'Come over now, George,' He thought. "If you haven't already figured it out yet, I'm not George."
Everyone gasped. George picked that moment to apparate into the room. There was a pop that made everyone jump.
"George!" Fred said, "You nearly gave me a heart attack."
George just laughed. "Are you going to take off that stupid hat?"
"Oi!" Fred yelled as he took the hat off. "This is your hat to begin with!"
"F-fred?" Molly whispered as she stood up, looking between the twins. "Is it really you?"
"Yeah Mum, Fred said. "It's really me."
After that, it was just a tangle of arms. Almost everybody was sobbing, but it was a good cry.
The Weasleys were a complete family again.
Thanks for reading!
Love ya