The Haunting of Judith Wagner{George Weasley}

Chapter Twenty Seven

"I didn't see her anywhere upstairs.." George said returning to the room where his mother was.

"Perhaps you scared her stomping up the stairs like that." Molly countered.

"She shouldn't be here, Mum. She's...making things up-"

"Sweetheart, I know it's hard to believe something like this. But I believe her."

"Why? Because she can tell us about a few memories?"

"Memories that we haven't shared with anyone."

"Like what? Everyone knows about half the stuff Fred and I did as kids."

"Yes, but there were things that I never told anyone except Fred. These were things that I said to him after he passed away." Molly told him.

"But...how is any of this at all possible?"

"The world works in mysterious ways, my dear. But Fred sought her out and here she is. She just wants to help, I think you should be nicer to her. She's been through quite a lot these last couple of weeks and her life isn't getting much easier with the recent events that took place with her brother and her grandparents."

"What do you mean?"

"George, Judith is in a lot of trouble right now."

"What kind of trouble? Is that why Harry came after her? He was talking about you-know-who..."

Molly walked over to her son and placed her hand on his shoulder as she began to explain to him what she had been informed.

"Go out there!" Fred said pointing to the door.

"No!" Judith shook her head and facing away from him.

"Woman, stop being complicated and get your arse out there. If you talk to him you can at least try to work things out, but hiding in here isn't going to do you any good."

"Fred, he doesn't want anything to do with me."

"That's not true and you would know this if you went and spoke with him."

"He already called me a liar, I think I'm good."

"He was upset at the time-"

"And by the way he just slammed the door, I think it's safe to say he still isn't in the best of moods."

"You're being silly."

"Not really!"

The two heard the footsteps coming up the stairs again, but this time they weren't stomping. However, Judith immediately panicked and went to duck under the bed again.

"Judith, you come out from there, right now!"

"No!"

The door opened and she fell silent watching as the familiar shoes entered the room again.

"Judith?" George's voice called out but she didn't answer. Instead, she remained quiet closing her eyes and praying that George would just go back downstairs so they could avoid conflict.

"Uh..Judith?" his voice was closer suddenly, causing her to open her eyes and find George looking directly at her, as he was lying flat on the floor. "Why are you hiding under my bed?"

"Oh this is your bed?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"Oh." she had no answer for him as she dropped her forehead to the floor.

Fred watched the scene of Judith hiding underneath the bed while George laid on his stomach before her, trying to coax her out from beneath it.

"I didn't mean to yell at you back in the cemetery." George told her in a low voice. "I um...I was out of line."

"No, you weren't. To be honest, I probably would have done the same thing, if someone had come up to me with that scenario."

"Well...I believe you now." he admitted.

"You do?" She lifted her head up abruptly only to smash it against the bed. "Ow..."

"Why don't you come out from there." he said offering his hand.

Judith didn't need further convincing besides the dull ache that throbbed from the top of her head.

She rolled out from under the bed and took George's hand to pull herself up. Once she was back on her own two feet, she dusted the front of her clothing off.

"What made you change your mind?" she asked him, avoiding making any eye contact.

"I spoke with my mother and she's always been rather good at judging character, so if she believes you, so do I. She told me about your situation with your brother and your grandparents. I'm sorry to hear about them getting hurt, but they'll be okay right?"

"I hope so. The healers at St. Mungo's think they'll be just fine. But I don't know about Nathaniel. I just hope it isn't too late for him."

"Is it really...Voldemort?" George whispered the last part.

"I.." she nodded.

"Back in the tea shop that one time, when you screamed in the backroom...you saw him there?"

"Yes. He tried to get me and when he couldn't..."

"He went for your brother."

Judith swallowed. "Look George, I didn't want to drag anybody into anything. This wasn't supposed to happen. One night I was coming home and the next thing you know, Fred is in my kitchen."

"Wh-"

"He's in my kitchen, telling me that I need to help him talk to you and your family so that you all will find closure. At first, I don't agree to it, because...I was still in denial that I had developed the gift. I had gone almost twenty years without experiencing any spirit trying to communicate with me. It just so happens that your brother had to be the first."

"Do I get some sort of medal for that or something?" Fred asked. "I feel like it's a pretty good accomplishment. "

"Then when I refused, he sang show tunes throughout the night, until I agreed to at least consider it." Judith told George.

"Show tunes?" George said, a smile reaching across his face.

"Yes and Fred is horrible at singing."

"Hey!"

"I know." George agreed, "he was never good at it, even though he thought he was."

"Hey! I'm right here! What happened to having respect for the dead?" Fred asked hotly.

Judith smiled. "Um..George..he can hear you right now."

George's eyes widened. "What?"

"He's in the room...sitting on the other bed."

George whipped his head over to look but saw no one there.

"H-h-he's in here?" George asked her as Fred mumbled to himself still clearly insulted.

"Yes," Judith told him. "He's sitting there claiming that he was the songbird of our generation."