Fred sat on the railing and watched his sister playing in the Quidditch World Cup. On his left sat his entire family. He knew they had no idea he was here, that didn’t matter. All that mattered was everyone he loved was here.
“These are pretty decent seats,” came a voice from his right.
Fred looked over and saw sitting next to him, James Potter and next to him, Remus and Sirius. Standing just behind James was Lily, Tonks and Albus. Fred smiled. He should have known they would find a way to come with him.
“You know you can’t talk to him, right?” Fred asked them.
Each of them nodded. “Don’t worry, we got the same warning as you did,” James said. “No one living is to know we are here. If they do, we will be immediately yanked back.”
They all looked over at Harry who was sitting on the edge of his seat, biting his nails. They could see the longing to be out there warring with the love and pride he felt for Ginny clearly on his face.
Ron held firmly to Hermione’s hand as he, too, sat on the edge of his seat. Molly and Arthur watched the action holding their breath. Seated on Molly’s lap was a four year old boy with bright turquoise hair.
Bill and Fleur alternated between watching the game and staring into each other’s eyes. Percy sat next to a young woman who Fred knew was his wife. George and Charlie’s eyes were intent on the game oblivious to everyone around them.
Fred looked closer at the members of his family. He was surprised to see seated next to George, her face as intent as anyone’s, Angelina Johnson. As he watched, George reached out and unerringly took her hand in his. She smiled but didn’t take her eyes off the field.
He noticed Bill lean over next to him and pick up a young child of about two. Cradling the little girl in his arms, he smiled at Fleur and shook his head. As Fred watched, Bill began explaining the game to the child.
Fred saw all of them jump to their feet and looked back at the game. He saw Ginny diving towards the ground and knew she had seen the Snitch. The Seeker from the other team was right along side of her and he saw him aim a kick at her.
Before anyone could even make a sound, Ginny retaliated and her foot connected with his shin and she raced ahead. With barely a foot between her and the ground, she reached out and grabbed the Snitch in time to pull out of the dive.
The crowd went crazy, with his family shouting the loudest. Fred saw Harry slump into his chair and put his head into his hands. He heard Kingsley’s voice announcing the winners and tell the crowd they would be shortly joining him to receive the trophy.
He looked back at the field and saw Ginny flying towards where they were sitting. She hovered in front of the family and waited until they noticed her. Smiling, she held her hand out to Harry.
Harry stood and walked over to her. She leaned over and kissed him and then laughed. “I love you,” she said as she flew away.
She joined her team in the Minister’s box and he listened as Kingsley introduced each of them. When he got to Ginny’s name, Fred was surprised to hear her introduced as Ginny Potter. He knew she had gotten married, but this was the first time he realised she wasn’t a Weasley anymore.
When he heard her voice fill the stands, he was startled as it seemed was the rest of his family.
“I would like to make a couple of announcements,” she said. She waited for the stadium to grow quiet. “First, I would like to dedicate this win to my brother, Fred. Without him, I never would have signed the contract to play. Fred, this one is just for you for believing in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.
“Second, I am officially announcing my retirement, effective immediately.” She stopped again to wait for the groans to subside. “I am going to be quite busy for the next seventeen years raising a child, so I just won’t have the time to devote to Quidditch anymore.”
There was complete silence from his family. He watched as Harry sank to the floor in shock, not even noticing he had missed the chair by a foot. The rest of his family seemed to be as much shock as Harry.
“Oh, James,” said Lily, her voice thick with emotion, “we are going to be grandparents.”
Fred saw James turn and jump off the railing to embrace Lily. He watched as Sirius and Remus also climbed off the rail and congratulations rang from each of them.
“Grandpa James,” sniggered Sirius. “You’re getting old, mate.”
Fred turned to look back at his family just as Ginny was jumping off her broom and stooping down in front of Harry. He moved closer so he could hear her softly spoken words.
“Harry, are you okay? You’re not mad at me for telling everyone like that, are you?” her voice was laced with concern and uncertainty.
“You’re…you’re…retiring?” asked Harry, looking up at Ginny.
“Yes,” she said hesitantly. “Is that the only thing you heard?” she asked, a touch of anger in her voice.
Harry smiled. He shook his head as if to clear it and jumped to his feet. He grabbed Ginny in his arms and swung her around in circles. “We’re having a baby,” he said over and over again.
Fred noticed Ron looked a bit downcast and wondered why. He didn’t have long to wonder though as within a few minutes, Ron spoke up.
“Well, once again, Harry, you have trumped my news,” he said. His voice while sounding pleasant, had just a trace of the old bitterness Fred knew he still felt at times.
Harry looked at Ron curiously as did the rest of the assembled group. “Hermione and I were going to announce our engagement tonight,” he said in a rush.
Silence fell for a few seconds as everyone took in what Ron said. Then Molly passed Teddy to Arthur and hugged her youngest son. Fred could see the tears running down her cheeks.
“Oh, Ron, this is wonderful news,” she sobbed, hugging him tighter.
“Like we didn’t see that coming a mile away,” said George loudly. Fred saw Angelina smack him on the shoulder and George laughed and pulled her into an embrace.
He heard George whisper to her, “Want to shock them and tell them we are getting married, too?”
Fred saw Angelina shake her head as she smiled at George. “No, not yet. But I think Bill is going to announce something, too,” she whispered back, nodding her head towards Bill.
“As long as we are celebrating,” Bill said. “Fleur told me last night, we are having another baby, too.”
Fred should have known this news would be also met with cheers and happiness. After about five minutes, he saw his mum sink into a chair.
“Is there anyone else who wants to say anything?” she asked cautiously.
When everyone shook their head no, she smiled. “Well then, I guess we have some celebrating to do. I think it is time to go home.” She stood and held out her arms to take Teddy back and with a CRACK disappeared. The rest of the family followed suit.
Fred turned to look at the friends who were standing behind him. He tuned into the conversations buzzing between them.
“Teddy is just like you, Nymphadora,” Remus said.
Tonks was in awe of her beautiful son so she could do no more than smack Remus and say, "Will you ever stop calling me that?"
Remus responded by shaking his head and smiling as he drew her closer to him.
“Thank Godric for that,” Sirius said. “Would have been a damn shame if he looked like his father.”
“I’m going to be a grandfather,” James said to Lily, who nodded.
Fred watched as the two couples faded from view still talking quietly to each other. Sirius nodded to him before he, too, faded from sight. Fred looked at the man who still remained.
“It seems your family has benefited by all of your visits. It’s hard for you to see them happy without you,” said Albus Dumbledore knowingly. “But, without you and your visits, they would not be happy right now. And everything you saw today…wouldn’t have happened.”
“I know, but I can’t help but to feel…”
“Left out?” At Fred’s nod, he continued, “It is very natural to feel that way. But, you are never far from their minds or hearts. In fact, right now, they are toasting you and everything you gave to this family.”
“But, I am missing so much…” said Fred sadly.
“Yes, you are. I won’t deny that. However, life does go on, and isn’t it better to see them like this, happy and content, than the way you saw them just three short years ago?” Albus asked.
“Yes,” answered Fred. “Can I go to the house? Can I see them celebrating?”
Albus shook his head. “No, you must come back now and celebrate with us. You will still be able to peek in on occasion as you have done these past three years, but you won’t be able to return again. This is their time.”
Fred looked back to where his family had been just a few short minutes ago. He always knew there would come a time when he had to stay away from them. He had hoped, though, he would have more visits with them before that happened.
Sighing, he looked back at Albus Dumbledore. The man had been his mentor, his teacher, and was now a friend. Strange, he thought, if things hadn’t worked out the way they did, I would have missed out on this wonderful friendship.
“I guess life does go on, not only for them, but for me, too,” he said. “Let’s go home and join in the party. I’m sure by now, Sirius needs some new jokes to tease James with.” Fred shook his head. “I just don’t know what the Marauders did without my brains and input.”
“Oh, I can tell you they managed just fine,” said Albus. “I shudder to think the trouble there would have been if the Weasley twins had been in school at the same time as the Marauders.”
Fred smiled and then began laughing. “Let’s go find out,” he said as he faded away.
Albus Dumbledore stood looking at the spot Fred had been standing. Shaking his head, he said, “Life is about to get even more interesting.” Chuckling to himself, he faded from sight.
Visits From Fred by mudbloodproud
Chapter Notes: Chapter Summary:
Four years ago, Fred had begun visiting his family. He hoped to be able to continue visiting them for years to come, but knew it had to end.
Could a mentor from life help him understand he couldn’t? He needed to move on with his new life and leave his family to theirs.
I am again going to thank my friend and beta, Alyssa (harry4lif). Thank you for your work thoughout this entire series of one-shots.
Everything you recognise belongs as always to J.K. Rowling. I am just thankful to be able to play in her world for a while.
Chapter Endnotes: I hope everyone who tried to guess whose visit was next is not too disappointed with this chapter. I want to thank all my lovely reviewers for their continuous support through this story.
I also hope I helped at least one person to accept Fred's death. This was my way of dealing with it.
Thank you for reading.