Whispers

Forty-Two

Fred's eyes snapped open and he took a sudden breath causing someone near him to scream. He sat up abruptly and looked around, quickly realising that he was lying on his own bed back at the Burrow.

The person who had screamed was George, who had been sat with his head in his hands on the other bed in the room. The door banged open and Molly barged in with her wand drawn. The wand clattered to the floor as she saw that Fred was alive.

"Freddie?" George's voice shook as he spoke.

"Hi, Georgie." Fred's mind was foggy, but slowly the events that had preceded him waking up in his bed came into focus. "I died didn't I?"

Before George could answer Molly was hugging her son.

"Fred oh Fred, you're okay!" She sobbed. The noise she made drew the rest of the family into the room, and soon Fred was in the middle of a huddle-like hug with all of the members of his family. As this hug lasted a long time, it gave Fred time to construct an idea of how he had come back to life. The memory of his last conversation with Calliope hit him like he had been stabbed in the heart as he realised what she had done.

Slowly he was released by his family, all of whom were clamouring with questions. His mother was the last to release him, allowing him to see again. Immediately he spotted Calliope's opaque figure across the room, smiling at him.

"Can I have a minute?" Was all that Fred was able to choke out before he left the room, hurrying down the stairs and outside into the sunny afternoon. Knowing that Calliope would have followed him, he turned to speak to her.

"What-" he started, but Calliope cut him off.

"This is the last time you're going to see me for a while," she said.

"What did you do?" Fred demanded.

"I did what's right," said Calliope, "I bought you back."

"No wizard can bring back the dead," said Fred.

"I'm not a wizard, I'm a banshee."

"Callie I don't want to live without you." Fred reached for her, forgetting that his hands would pass right through her.

"Don't live without me. Live for me."

"I don't want to-"

"I know. But you will. And one day after you've lived a full life, you'll see me again. I'll be waiting for you. I'm where I should be now. I've always understood death far too much to be alive."

"Please-"

"I love you so much Fred," Calliope told him, putting her hand up in an attempt to cup his face.

"Don't say it like you're saying goodbye!" Fred choked back tears as he spoke.

"I'm not saying goodbye," she assured him, "just see you later."

Fred stared at her, looking for any hint that she was about to tell him that this was all a joke and disappear, emerging laughing across the hall in her real body. It would be a cruel joke, but it would be better than the reality that he was facing. Living without her was unimaginable. Fred's hands clutched her's tightly in his and his mouth said the words before he knew what was happening, "see you later."

And she was gone. Fred continued to stare at the space where she had been as the world came back into focus. The pull of the bond was gone and he was utterly numb to everything around him. He did not notice as he was lead back into the house, a blanket was placed over his shoulders and a cup of warm liquid placed in his hands. He did not notice when he was taken back to the Burrow. He didn't notice his mother coaxing food into his mouth like he was a baby. He didn't notice anything for a long time. But when he did notice the world again he decided to live. He decided to live for Calliope because it would be an insult to her memory if he didn't live. And because she had wanted him to.

The light came back into Fred's life in the form of his nieces and nephews who filled the world with laughter and fun again. They did not treat him like he was about to shatter into pieces as his mother and siblings did, but they treated him like their fun Uncle Fred. So that was who he became.

Calliope was always in the back of his mind and when he adopted a young girl, who had lost her parents in one of the few Death Eater attacks that followed in the years after the Battle of Hogwarts, it felt only right for him to tell his daughter stories of Calliope Weasley and how she saved his life.

When Fred did die he was ready for it. He was ready to see her again.

Calliope welcomed him into her arms and into death with a smile. Death was what she understood and all of those who passed on were welcomed by her with a smile. All of her friends, family and even strangers were welcomed by Calliope. Welcomed home.

Just the epilogue to go now!