The Haunting of Judith Wagner{George Weasley}

Chapter Fifty

Judith sat quietly by herself in the kitchen of the Burrow, watching as Eleanor sat with the Weasley family. George walked into the kitchen and sat beside her.

Judith twiddled her thumbs. "They love her already." she smiled before looking at George. "That's what Fred wanted. For all of you to meet her and love her."

"I didn't know Fred's feelings towards her were that extensive back when we were school. I used to catch him staring at her, or they would exchange a smile here and there but never..."

He heard her sniff and then watched her as she wiped at her eyes. "This is all so horrible." Judith said.

"What do you mean?" George asked.

"Look at them...Fred wanted her to meet your family, but not like this...not with him dead. This whole situation is horrible."

"You're looking at all the negatives right now, Judith, you should be focusing on the positives right now."

"There isn't many George, so please forgive me."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is! All this...all this doesn't matter right now! My grandmother is gone wherever my brother is...both of them possessed by the darkest of magic. And even if we get rid of their spirits from my family...it won't bring Fred back. That's what you're all counting on..I can see it written on your faces, but there is nothing I can do about that. I can only communicate with the dead, I can't bring them back!"

George remained quiet as Judith left the table abruptly and left outside.

"You didn't have to say that." Fred told Judith as he ventured outside after her. "They all heard you...you could have just let them have a few moments of happiness and hold onto it for a bit."

Judith turned to him. "You mean let them hold onto the false hope that you're going to be around them forever, Fred? You remember when you came to me, that your intentions were that you were going to make sure that your family was okay and then you would leave. You being here isn't going to help them Fred, it's going to make it so much worse when you finally go to crossover. You brought Eleanor here...how do you think that's going to make her feel?"

"At least she won't be alone anymore! She has the support of my family, and so do you! But you're just so set on focusing on all the bad things right now that you're too blind to see it."

"I'm being the realistic one here, Fred. I'm sorry, I know you all don't want to hear this, but it has to be said. You're dead, Fred..and while you can move things and I can be your voice when you need it...it can't go beyond that."

Fred walked over to her.

"I'm not dead." he told her.

"What are you talking about?! Of course you are-"

"No, I'm not!" he said. "I'm not dead because I live in the hearts and memories of my family. If you would stop being so negative you would see that."

Fred left back inside while Judith was left outside. Judith shook her head and sat down on the last step.

A few minutes later, someone else walked out. She expected to see George or one of the Weasleys but instead, it was Eleanor who walked out and sat on the steps beside her.

Judith glanced over at her.

"I'm sorry you were brought into this." Judith apologized.

"I'm not." Eleanor responded.

"What?"

"It must be something to communicate with those who have crossed over. I would give anything for something like that-"

"No you wouldn't."

"I would." Eleanor said. "To see those that were taken from you so suddenly...to know that they are okay."

"It's a curse." Judith said.

"No, a curse is not knowing if there was a life afterwards for the ones we loved and lost. To be left in silence, wondering if they found peace. To only be left with the image of the dead body and never hearing from them again. That is a curse."

Judith bit the inside of her cheek.

"You lost a lot of people in the war..."

"Before the war too." Eleanor nodded.

Judith remembered Cedric Diggory.

"Funny how things played out ... I lost my best friends before and during the war...then I lost my mother shortly after the war. You know...I grew up my whole life not knowing my father...it was only after his death did my mother admit to me who he was...on her own death bed. To find out who he was..and to learn I had known him at some point of my life."

"Who was it? If you don't mind me asking." Judith inquired.

"You remember the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor...Remus Lupin?"

Nathaniel struggled for control over his body, clutching onto the nearest doorknob to keep himself from moving any further than he wanted to. He had control of his mind, but the Dark Lord was fighting for control, still able to move his limbs against his will.

Closing his eyes, he remembered what his grandmother had told him about maintaining positive thoughts.

He tried to think back to a positive memory , for so long he had found himself in a cloud of darkness that a happy memory was hard to come by.

"Come on...think!"

His mind thought back to the time when he, his father and grandfather had gone fishing one afternoon. They hadn't caught a single thing, but his grandfather had fallen into the water causing him and his father to laugh heartily.

Suddenly, as the memory filled his thoughts, he found the forceful hold on his limbs suddenly loosen.

"My lord..." his grandmother's voice called out but he knew it wasn't his grandmother at the moment.

Slowly, he reached for his wand.