Left Behind (A Fred & George fanfic)

23. Sweet Goodbyes

Apparently my new chapter mysteriously disappeared overnight... So here it is once again! I hope you enjoy it and I want to ask you to please comment and tell me what you think! :)

There are only like 2 more chapters left, just wanted to put that out there.

Thanks for reading and... 

ENJOY!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Fred was alone. Leaning against an old and dusty looking armchair, he watched the room he was in. A ray of sunshine beamed through the skylight, illuminating all the stuff in the room. The Potters' attic really was a mess. It looked as if they just threw every piece of nonsense they wouldn't be needing any time soon up the stairs and into the room, which probably also was the case.

Looking through the mess, Fred recognised an owl cage that – if he wasn't utterly mistaken – had belonged to Hedwig. He also saw some old broomsticks and cauldrons spread across the floor, a few chairs, a broken table (Yeah, sure, why repair it when you can buy 100 new tables with the same ease...) and even an old clock which Fred was quite sure had once stood in the Dursleys' house.

It was odd, though, Fred thought, how he hadn't been able to stay conscious – if that was the right word – when George'd let go of the stone, yet now nobody held the stone and still, he was right there. Before he'd always just disappear if the stone wasn't held by anyone thinking of him, why was it different this time?

But that wasn't the only thing that was different about him. Since they'd made these arrangements, since Fred knew he wasn't going to be trapped here forever, he felt happier. The depressing feeling he'd been coping with the last few weeks had almost disappeared completely, maybe due to the fact that he knew there was another way.

And now he just had to wait.

He watched the stone, which was placed on a little side table. It looked so harmless, so innocent, nothing compared to the things it could actually do. Fred hated the stone for making him feel this way, for forcing him and his family to say goodbye, but he loved it at the same time. After all, without the stone he wouldn't be here, he would've never gotten a second chance.

Now he just had to make sure he did this right.

The door of the attic creaked as it opened – how appropriate, Fred thought – and Harry Potter and Hermione Granger walked into the room. They held each others hand tightly, not in a romantic, but in a friendly way, as it had always been between the two. There had been times when even George had thought Hermione fancied Harry and the other way around, but Fred had always known that that wasn't true. No, Fred had soon noticed the side-way glances between his little brother and Hermione, never at the same time, so they didn't see one another looking. Fred had been astonished he was the only one who seemed to have noticed it, but now that the two were happily married, even 19 years later, he felt smug.

Hermione glanced through the room, not looking Fred in the eye as she obviously couldn't see him yet. She then threw an annoyed glance at Harry.

“Really Harry? Couldn't you at least try to clean up a bit?”

“It's an attic! It's supposed to be a bit messy.” Harry shrugged.

“A bit messy?” Hermione eyed him, Fred cracked a smile.

Harry, however, didn't respond and pulled Hermione over to the stone. They looked at one another.

“Ready?” Harry asked.