Seeing Fred

Bardo

Her head was spinning. One moment she was sitting on the couch with Fred and George, the next a white light separated them all and now... all she saw was darkness. To her left, to her right, everywhere she looked it was pitch-black.

"FRED?!" She called out in the darkness. She heard a rustle not far from her. "Fred?"

"No, sweetie." A soft voice came from the dark. "It's me."

"Nan?" She asked looking around her. Then her Nan stepped out of the dark, right in front of her, smiling. The darkness retreated itself like a cloud in the wind, when she looked around, she found herself at her Nan's house, in the library.

"Oh, LéLé." She opened her arms and Leah ran in them, wrapping her arms around her tightly.

"I'm missed you so much!"

"I missed you too." Her Nan whispered in her hair.

"Am- am I dead?" She asked as she pulled away, her arms still around Nan.

"No, sweetie." She stroked her hair softly. "You're in bardo."

"Bardo?" She whispered. "The place between life and death?"

"Yes, what you did for the Weasley boy, -" She pulled back, her kind eyes on her. "- it drained you. You're now lying unconscious in the hospital wing."

"Am I dying?"

"That's up to you, dear."

"What do you mean it's up to me?"

"It's your choice. It is your choice to give up the battle and move on; or you can choose fight, let yourself heal and stay with the people who are waiting for you."

"If I choose to go back, will I ever see you again?"

"Of course you will, you have the sight, LéLé." Her grandmother smiled softly.

"But I don't know how to use it."

"Not yet; you're still new to this, to magic. You got to give yourself time. It will come soon enough." She padded my cheek softly. "Tell me about Fred."

"What is there to tell?" Leah said as she avoided her gaze.

"You were always a good liar, but I could always see right through you. You were calling his name."

"Fred Weasley, the ghost I'm linked to. He was the last thing I saw before it all went dark."

"And you love him?"

"Nan, I know him for like a month." She huffed.

"Love comes in many forms. Some come fast, others slow. It doesn't matter how long you know him; it matters what you feel, here." She placed her hand over Leah's chest. "I knew I loved your grandfather on our second date." She smiled as she thought back to that moment. "Love comes at the right time; at the time you are ready."

Nan's words swirled in her head as she tried to sort them out. Did she love him? She didn't know. Fred's funny, smart, hot, confided but not too cocky and a great listener if you get him to shut up. She thought back at the moments he made her laugh about the tiniest thing, or even just made a face to let her fall into a fit of laughter. The way he didn't stop asking questions about the muggle world or her gaming skills and programming. The way he teased or compliment her. Even just thinking about Fred made her heart beat faster or feel like a hundred butterflies were fluttering around in her stomach. Oh, God! I'm in love with Fred Weasley!

"I need to go back."

"I know you do, sweetie." Her Nan smiled.

"Can I see Addie before I go?"