Fred's pov
One moment Fred was laughing at something Percy had said in the midst of the battle, the next he was standing in a park wearing clean clothes. He looked around the park and saw muggles walking, some of them cycled through it. He approaches a man, sitting on a bench.
"Excuse me, sir?" He asked but didn't get a response. He laid his hand on his shoulder but fell through, tumbling down to the ground. "What-?"
He scrambled back up and tried to touch the bench, slowly this time. But again, his hand fell straight through. He walked away from the man and approach someone else but no such luck. Then he yelled at the top of his lungs but didn't get any response. He was just about to try something else when everything turned black.
He appeared again, now the sun was lower in the sky and dark clouds started to appear. The park was emptier this time, but again some cycled through it as others pulled out their umbrellas. He tried to approach someone again, but the darkness fell before he could.
This went on for what felt like years. He didn't know how much time had passed, he tried to keep up and spot a newspaper once in a while but sometimes he was only there for a couple of minutes before poof, gone again. Then there had been a gap for a couple of weeks in the winter, when he came back to the park, the snow was melting away. It was then that he spotted a girl with shoulder length strawberry blonde hair cycle through the park. I've seen her before. He thought to himself. And since then, he saw her, every time he was in the park, he saw her. Cycling through, on occasion walking. When the weather started to get warmer, he saw her writing continually in a notebook near the lake.
Then he was in the park again, the sun already shining brightly as the park started to get crowded. He heard a bell ring before.
"Oi! Watch it!"
Fred whirled around and saw the girl with strawberry blonde hair, now braided back, looking at him. Not through him, at him, with her deep blue eyes. Fred stumbled back to let her pass. He followed her as she cycled passed him and drove out the park. Then he was gone again.
He came back later that day or was it another day? He didn't know. But there she was again, on the other side of the lake, sitting on a bench, eyes closed. He saw her frown before she opened her eyes. Fred quickly ducked out of sight as she looked around. From behind a bush, he saw her get up on her bike and ride off.
He blinked and was standing on the pathway, seeing the girl with a fast speed peddle her way to him. When she saw him, she swirled and braked, crashing to the ground. He saw her wince as she tried to lean on her wrist, a bit of blood trickled down on her arm. His eyes were wide as she looked down at her in shock. She can see me, really see me. But how, why? All these thoughts popped in his head as he looked down at her.
"You could at least help me up, instead of just gawk! I crashed because of you." She said angerly at him. He shook away his thoughts and frowned as he stepped closer, not saying anything. "Never mind." The girl grumbled. "What a gentleman you are."
That girl had quite a mouth on her, not letting anyone walk over her. She reminded him of Ginny, a pang of guilt clutched his heart. Then she grabbed her bike and started to walk away. He couldn't just let her leave, he needed answers.
"Wait!" He called out. She stopped and looked over her shoulder to him. He stood there, hand stretched out, looking a bit panicked. "You can see me?" He blurted out.
The girl looked at him, like he had gone mental. "Of course, I can see you! You're standing right in front of me!" Then her expression changed and looked confused at him. "Do you need to see a doctor?
"No. Can you tell me where I am." He asked looking around, he tried to figure that out every time he'd been here but hasn't been successful.
"London, Regent's Park to be exact. Are you sure you didn't bump your head?" She asked, kicking her bike stand with her feet and walked closer. Fred quickly stepped back. "I'm just trying to see if you have any bruises. Did you fell? You have scars." She asked as she looked him in the eyes, then she started to reach over before he figured it out, she 'touched' him. He saw her eyes going wide as she stepped back, gasping.
"This isn't real." He heard her whisper, she whispered some more, but he couldn't hear what she was saying.
She bumped her bike with her sore hand when she was backing away from him. "Fuck!" She cursed as she held her hand back to her chest.
Fred took one step towards her, wanting to help even though he knew he couldn't do anything. but she held out her hand. "I'm sorry." He whispered.
"I finally lost it." She whispered again and drove off, Fred watched the girl disappear, watched the only person in the world that could see him, flee. Then it went dark yet again.
When he arrived back at the park, his eyes immediately started to look for the strawberry blonde-haired girl. Then he saw her, she was lying on her stomach, scribbling in that notebook once again. When she looked up, he quickly darted behind a tree before he heard.
"Carrot top! Come here!"
Fred bit his lip torn between staying hidden or going over. But he knew he needed answers, needed someone to see him, talk to him, so he stepped away from the tree and slowly walked to the girl.
"Sit down."
Confused, he lowered himself next to her. It soon became clear she didn't know anything either, to why she was the only one that could see him. It shocked him when he found out she was a muggle. Why, from all the people in the world, could she, a muggle, see him.
His heart ached when he found out it had almost been a year since the battle, a year without his best friend.
In between. Fred honestly didn't know; it all became darkness the moment she left the park. He looked at her curiously when he asked why she wasn't that freaked out. What in the world is weed and a tumour? Suddenly the girl named Leah stood up and coax him to do the same. When they were at the edge of the park, his heart started beating fast against his chest. Weird. He thought since he was dead and didn't have a heartbeat. But that was when something occurred to him; he wasn't like a normal ghost, not like the ones at Hogwarts at least. He didn't float, he walked like he did when he was alive. He wasn't see-through either and he still had his bright ginger hair, nothing screamed I'M A GHOST. When he took a step alongside her, he let out an imaginative breath.
He liked her place, it reminded him of home. It was full, but not cluttered. Old furniture spread across the flat, like it did at the burrow. He was surprised she lived alone in London, not with a sibling, boyfriend, or even friends. Isn't muggle London like crazy expensive?
He felt his heart ache as she asked about his family but started listing off his siblings from oldest to youngest on his fingers. Of course, Leah had questions, who wouldn't. But it didn't make it easier on him as he told her about his family, his life, he had lived up until not even a year ago.
Then a memory flashed before his eyes as he thought about George as he rubbed the palm of his hand.
~ They were about 8 years old and were hiding in the orchard. Hidden from a furious Percy as they had stolen his history book. It was not like they were going to read it; it was just to get a rise of their studious brother. They snickered as they heard Percy shout in the house and tore the place apart looking for it. All the while the book laid in the cupboard next to the teacups.
"Why don't we go down to the village?" George asked standing up.
"Mum won't like it. Let's do it." He grinned and ran down the hill into the forest, George hot on his heels. The forest was quiet, only hearing the birds chirp, the water of the brook trickle or Fred and George large feet stomping on the branches as they laughed and ran through it. They skidded to a halt when they arrived at the little town of Ottery St. Catchpole.
The street was quiet as a lot of the people had gone to church, something Fred and George found hilarious. They walked through the street looking at the windows of the closed shops. Muggle clothes, telephones, electric toys. The boys watched everything with furrowed eyebrows. They turned away from the toy store when a girl bummed into him.
"Oi! Watch where you're going!" Fred called out as she just ran past him. The girl stopped and looked over her shoulder.
"Need glasses, carrot top?" She called back. Fred and George looked at her, mouth dropped open and she skipped away.
"Carrot top?" The twins asked each other.
"Oi, Fred you're bleeding." George pointed to his hand.
"Merlin!" He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wrapped it around his hand. "Let's get home before mum starts looking for us."
When they arrived back at the burrow their mum didn't even notice they were gone. She was busy making dinner in the kitchen as Percy was reading his lost book at the dining table.
"Reading anything... interesting?" Fred asked sitting in front of him.
"I know it was you two." Percy said without looking up.
"Don't know what you are talking about." George said innocently.
"Yeah." Percy started, looking up. His eyes went wide as he looked at his mother. "Mum, Fred is bleeding." He said pointing at his blood covered handkerchief. Fred quickly hid his hand under the table, but too late.
"Frederick Gideon Weasley! You show me your hand right now! No, your other hand!" She sighed as he held out his right hand. He took his left hand from under the table and placed it on top. Mum's face turned bleak as she saw the blood. She summoned her first aid kit and took out the necessary things. "What did you boys do?"
"We were just in the woods. I think I cut my hand while running."
"You two didn't go into town, did you?"
"No, mum." The twin said simultaneously. She looked between the two of them, suspicious before she vanished the blood stained piece of cloth. She took out a tube of her kit and smeared it across his hand, stopping the bleeding instantly. She grabbed her wand from her apron and swirled it above his hand. A white light appeared over the wound before it healed, leaving a faint scar. Molly frowned as she watched his hand. The twins and Percy looked at each other confused, this never happened before.
"The light." Fred's head snapped up at his mother as she muttered under her breath. "It never left a scar. Maybe we should stop by St. Mungo's."
"It's just a scar, mum." Fred said pulling his hand away. His mum came out of her daze and looked at him and George.
"What did you two do?!"
"Nothing mum!" They both cried out.
"Like Fred said, we were just running in the woods."
Their mum pursed her lips together as her eyes darted between the two. "Fine. Let me know if it starts to hurt. Now go clean-up for dinner." The twins jumped up from their seats and ran up the stairs.