Friends, Family and a Conversation
“There is no point, Padfoot, it’s a lost cause!”
Sirius glared at his best friend. “Nonsense, James. Just because we’re dead, it should not mean that on a day like today - which is Christmas Eve, in case you forgot - I should be deprived of my favourite holiday snacks!”
The bowl of roasted chestnuts sat in front of them, almost mockingly. The rich aroma filled the room along with all the other wonderful treats put together by the inhabitants of the house.
James and Lily Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin sat in various spots in the living room of number twelve, Grimmauld Place. They watched as the Weasley family along with their friends Harry Potter and Hermione Granger decorated the massive Christmas tree that had been donated by Hagrid a few hours prior. Remus nudged Lily, laughing as he watched George place the traditional gnome on the top of the tree in Fred’s memory.
“Oh, quit struggling and just look pretty!” George muttered. The gnome’s face turned a deep scarlet, but it was unable to jump down or object in any way due to the spell placed on him.
The fireplace crackled with life as Arthur placed a few more logs on the flames, flinching at a stray spark. It was Hermione’s request that they start and maintain the fire the Muggle way. Eventually, they all agreed that venturing outside that day to collect the wood was quite enjoyable and the smell of wood burning warmed them nicely.
The cheerful atmosphere was quickly replaced by the sounds of Molly Weasley scrambling into the room. They all stopped what they were doing to watch her rummage through desktops and the papers on them, muttering to herself.
“Mum, what’s wrong?” asked Bill.
Molly spoke as she moved with lightening speed. “Has anyone seen the gift and Christmas card I had for Charlie? I forgot to send them to him and I want to make sure he has something to open tomorrow morning!”
Lily and Remus got up to see what the commotion was all about when a voice was heard from behind them.
“Professor Lupin? Is that you?”
Remus spun around in shock. Who had seen his ghostly form? He felt Lily gently turn him towards where the voice was and they both smiled broadly at the young man in front of them.
“Fred? Is that you?” The former professor approached the Weasley and engulfed him in a one-armed hug. “What are you doing here?”
Fred smiled at him and motioned in the direction of his family and friends. “I have wanted to see them for a long time, and I finally got up the nerve to come observe a holiday since the war ended. It only took me a few years, but it was well worth it.”
James and Sirius approached the three other spirits and extended their hands to greet them. Fred turned to face Harry’s father and godfather and his jaw seemed to drop on the floor. He apparently had not seen Lily until that point and realised who he was looking at.
“Merlin’s beard! Sirius, look at you.” Then pointing at James, he said slowly, “that means you two must be . . .” Words seemed to fail him, so James stepped forward and clapped him on the shoulder.
“James and Lily Potter. I must say it is a true honour to meet you, Fred. You have made the Marauders proud and you were a good friend to our son.” Fred simply gawked as Lily gave him a motherly hug.
Fred came back to his senses and stuttered, “B-b-but, YOU “ you are the real Marauders! You were our heroes once George and I discovered the map . . . Bloody hell, you were brilliant!” The other four laughed.
Once things had calmed down, Sirius pulled Fred to the side and spoke to him privately. “By any chance, have you ever been seen by the living? Have you ever made yourself known to family of friends?”
The boy looked at Sirius with an expression of confusion. “I wasn’t aware that was allowed. I wouldn’t even know where to start-- could you imagine the commotion if I were to just materialise right now? My mum would have kittens!”
They both looked over to poor Molly who was now running upstairs to search for Charlie’s gift, each shaking their head as she scampered up the steps.
“Hey Lil? Could you come here for a moment?” Lily approached Sirius and looked at the two of them expectantly.
“Yes my liege?”
Sirius pretended to ignore her sarcastic remark and began speaking. “I was just asking Fred here if he had ever materialised in front of someone he knew and he -- if you can believe it -- did not know that was even possible!” He threw his hands in the air in a dramatic fashion. “You are so much more eloquent in explaining cool things like that so could you . . . maybe . . . for the sake of this poor, lost Marauder?”
Sirius was giving Lily puppy dog eyes while Fred watched in disbelief.
To not only see but to be SEEN by a loved one again “ wow. And did he just call me a Marauder?
He knew who he would choose. There was no question.
He looked over to his family and watched as George sang holiday carols louder than anyone else in the room.
“Oh come ye merry Hippogriffs . . .” George belted the lyrics loudly and off-key as others in the room were focused on different things. Hermione and Ginny were huddled over something apparently secretive in one corner. Ron was helping Molly while Harry was admiring some old Christmas stockings he had found and hung on the mantle with everyone else’s. They belonged to three of the four Marauders; Peter’s stocking having disappeared years ago.
Harry was brought out of his reverie by the sound of Ginny’s voice.
“Hey Harry? Are you all right?”
He turned to see her smiling in a manner that told him she was hiding something and he quickly noticed that she seemed to be shielding something behind her back. Ginny giggled when she saw her boyfriend try to steal a peek of whatever she was concealing and then nodded her head.
“It’s quite all right, Harry. I was about to give this to you anyhow.”
Harry took a step back and waved his hands in front of him, motioning her away. “No Ginny, I want something to open tomorrow from you . . .” he stuttered.
Ginny cocked her eyebrow and sighed. “Oh, for goodness sakes, Harry Potter; I have more for you to open in the morning. I think this one,” she stated, bringing something red from behind her back, “needs to be seen now.”
Harry took a step towards her and reached out for the item in Ginny’s hand. It was a beautiful red stocking and along the top, written magically in green was the name, “Lily.”
“I know you found those holiday stockings for your dad and his friends but I got a sense that you thought something was missing so I made you this.”
Ginny barely got the last words out before being engulfed in a tight hug. “It’s perfect, Ginny. Thank you so much.”
Lily watched the exchange with tears in her eyes and looked over to James who was smiling. “I always did like her,” he stated with a smirk. He walked to his wife and kissed her nose. “Are you finished with Fred or do you need more time for your chat?”
Sirius watched as Remus stood by the Weasley twin. Without even looking, Fred asked, “What is it like? What did you do when Harry saw you?”
Remus cleared his throat and spoke softly. “You know, actually, it wasn’t Harry that I revealed myself to...”
Fred gave a knowing nod. “Teddy.”
“It was an easy decision for me to make. He was three years old and so impressionable. I needed him to see me and he was young enough not to fear me but old enough to wave and say the two words that I held with me from that day forward.”
Fred heard Lupin’s voice crack. “He said, ‘Hi Daddy,’ as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Of course, Andromeda just laughed as I was not visible to her but when she saw him waving at what seemed to be nothing, she looked around. A tear fell from her eyes as if she knew I was there and she muttered that my son missed me. I kissed Teddy’s forehead and as I faded away he said, ‘bye bye’ with a peaceful smile.”
Not knowing about the conversation occurring near him between Fred and Remus, George walked towards the staircase and, with a quick glance towards the merriment, ascended the stairs towards the next level. Fred watched his brother leave the room and took a deep breath.
Once in the bedroom formerly shared by him and his brother, George sat on the edge of the bed and simply sighed.
“I hope you are celebrating Christmas wherever you are, Fred. I try to every year but I still miss you, all the same.”
He rummaged through old photos ranging from when they began at Hogwarts through the days after their joke shop opened. “Will I ever be able to move on or am I doomed to wallow in my grief for all eternity?”
George stood to walk towards the window when he heard a voice.
“What, I’m not worth wallowing over?”
George dropped the photographs in his hand and unconsciously held his breath. He closed his eyes and shivered.
’No way. There is no bloody way. I am simply imagining things. I must have had too much of that Muggle eggnog drink. Merlin, what did Hermione put in that stuff?’
George tried desperately to reason with himself and tried just as hard not to turn around and give in to his curiosity.
“C’mon, George. I don’t know how long I can talk. At least turn around. There’s no blood, I promise.”
George blinked hard a few times and, taking a deep breath, he did as the voice said and turned around. He found himself facing his brother who had been dead for the past four years looking better than he had remembered seeing him look when he was alive.
"F-F-Fred? Am I imagining this because if someone is messing with my head, I will be highly upset." George felt his way to the bed and allowed himself to sit down, not breaking eye contact with his twin.
Fred smiled. Keep him calm. Don't give him cause to panic. Remember what Harry's mum said and this could be a positive conversation.
"You'll be upset? Hell, I only have one chance to get this right! If anyone would be upset, I think I win in that scenario, George."
Fred crossed his arms in front of his chest. He was not fully transparent but he could not physically touch objects either so he decided to play with his brother to make him smile. Leaning towards the nearest wall, he pretended to fall through. Before losing sight of George, he popped back into the room and winked. "It sure as heck beats Disapparating, that's for sure."
George seemed to catch himself in the midst of the laughter and stopped as suddenly as he had began. With a look of awe, he said, “It’s really you, isn’t it?”
Fred nodded, and it was at that moment that George unleashed the questions that he had been harbouring since his brother’s death.
"Where have you been? Why is this the first time I am seeing you? Do you know how hard it's been for me on some days with your reflection constantly reminding me that you're gone?"
George fired off one question after another and Fred just let him unload the obvious pent-up emotion until he was finished.
"Feel better?" Fred raised an eyebrow at his mirror image who nodded. "Good. My turn. You'd better find a comfy spot because I've waited just as long as you." Approaching his twin, Fred began speaking.
"I have wanted to visit, for lack of better words, for a long time. Every time I came close to where you guys were, I would get nervous and leave. I was afraid that I wasn't ready to see everyone moving on with their lives when I was . . . gone." He looked over and saw that he had his brother's attention.
"I had no idea until this evening that I could even do something like this." Laughing, Fred added, "You'll never believe me when I tell you who else is downstairs . . ."
Fred smirked to himself as he saw the reaction from telling George about James, Lily, Sirius and Remus.
"Why aren't they talking to Harry like you are to me?"
George had become quite comfortable in his conversation with Fred by this point. He was sure that stranger things had happened to others he had known, he just didn’t have any examples to pull from at the moment.
Fred explained to him that each of them had been given one chance after passing over to reveal themselves to a loved one and proceeded to give Lupin's experience as an example.
George nodded. "Ginny and I were babysitting Teddy a while back and showed him a picture of Lupin. You should have seen him get excited! That explains a lot. He just kept repeating, 'Hi, Daddy! Hi Daddy!' pointing towards a chair in the corner. When we asked Andromeda about it, she said she had a feeling Remus had been by to see them and Teddy was just more sensitive to the fact."
Fred smiled, knowing how glad Remus would be to hear that story when he felt a tingling sensation. He looked down and saw that he was starting to fade. George's face fell.
"Wait, Fred. I'm not ready to let go. Please, just a few more minutes?"
His brother shrugged. "I wish I had a choice, mate." He gave one last fleeting look at his twin and added, "Take care of the family and tell Charlie hi from me. I'm always around, even though you can't see me."
Fred and George both felt the familiar constriction in their throats as the last words faded into the air. George allowed a few tears to fall but wiped them away saying, "Shut up, Fred. I refuse to allow a sod like you to make me cry."
He looked around the room one more time before taking a shaky breath and walking back down to where everyone sat around the fire. He walked slowly, taking in the conversation with Fred and as he descended the steps, the church bells were ringing outside.
Nine . . . ten . . . eleven . . . twelve . . . thirteen . . . fourteen rings? That was impossible! A clock chiming fourteen times? He peered around the corner of the living room in time to hear his mother scream.
"That's not a good sign. She's already stressed about Charlie's card and gift," he thought to himself.
Sighing, he looked over to where everyone had been sitting moments prior only to see them gathered around someone with red hair.
"Charlie?" he gasped.
Take care of the family and tell Charlie hi from me.
Fred knew he was coming, the sneaky little twit.
Shrugging, George walked towards his brother and clapped him on the back. How was he supposed to pass on the message without sounding nutters?
Lily stood behind Fred and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Things went well with your brother?"
Sirius smirked and added, "I was glad that he didn't come running down the stairs screaming. That is always a good sign." Remus hit his sarcastic friend on his arm.
"Nice one, Padfoot. Real sensitive," added James.
Trying to change the subject, Sirius piped up, "Hey, let's go to the Hog's Head and see who we can find! I think this party is about to wind down, anyways."
The others shrugged and they looked over to Fred who looked up at them. "Would it be okay if I joined you guys? I swear you'll never know I'm there."
James walked over and with a straight face he stated, "Nonsense. If you come with us I insist you instigate at least one prank while we're there."
Lily gasped. "James, you are not being a good influence on that boy!"
Harry's father cringed upon hearing his wife but laughed at the same time. "You get used to it after a while."
The four of them gave one last look towards the party and walked through the walls towards the streets outside, disappearing into the falling snow.
Friends, Family and a Conversation by NikkiSue
Chapter Notes: I want to extend some major kudos and tiramisu to CM Winters for volunteering to beta this monster for me. I will never look at ellipses the same way . . . Thank you for everything.