"That was exciting." Fred smiled broadly as they entered her flat. "The tube is..."
"Crowded?" She offered, closing the door behind her.
"That's one way to call it."
"Do you mind if I turn in? I'm absolutely knackered." She said kicking off her shoes.
"No, no of course not." Fred said and turned to face the TV when Leah pulled her shirt over her head, impudent. He waited until he heard her in the bathroom, brushing her teeth. He leaned against the doorframe as she rinsed her mouth. "What's Sonic?" He asked, pointing at her shirt.
"Oh, it's a game." She looked down her shirt.
"Like the games you program?"
"Yeah, like that." She smiled, passing by and crawled into bed. She took her notebook out of her nightstand and started to write everything down.
"What are you writing?" He asked from the chair. She looked up to him and cocked her head.
"You can sit next to me. I don't bite, most of the time." She grinned.
"Are you sure?" He said, slowly standing up.
"Yes, Fred." She padded the spot next to her. "I don't mind sharing my bed with a guy I can't even touch. But I do move a lot in my sleep, so I apologize in advance if my arm or something suddenly goes through you."
"Thanks for the warning." He grinned, flopping down next to her. "Care to share?" He asked, pointing at the notebook on her lap.
"If I had an eventful or stressful day, I write it all down in this notebook before I go to bed. Otherwise, I can't sleep soundly. And believe me, I need my damn sleep."
"And today was eventful or stressful?"
"Eventful, definitely." She started to write things down before glancing to her right. "I'm sorry we couldn't stay longer, but I need to process everything, it's been... a lot."
"You don't need to apologize. Not only are you seeing ghost, a very handsome I might add. But you just found out about a whole other world. Things you thought where fiction are real, hidden in plain sight."
She looked up at him, a small smile forming on her face. "Thanks for understanding." She placed her book back in her nightstand and made herself comfortable. Fred did the same, now they were laying down in bed facing each other. "I want to try something else."
Fred cocked his head to the side, asking her to continue. "I want to tell you about today. I know that you were there, but I just want to – never mind it's silly." She said, shaking her head, looking down.
"No, it's not. You can tell me anything. And I can even answer some questions that I know you have."
"Maybe one or two." She smiled looking back up at him.
So, they talked, they talked about that day; Diagon Alley, the shop, George, everything. She talked, Fred listened. If anyone from his past could see him right now, they would fall from their chair as they never seen him quiet for that long. Then her questions started, that Fred happily answered for her. After she was done talking, Fred took the steer and started telling her stories about his family. They talked until well in the night, Leah falling asleep, her face right next to him. Fred watched her sleep peacefully, knowing the talk helped her fall into a blissful sleep. He concentrated on her breathing and soon he was in a trance again, feeling like he was dreaming as his eyes fluttered shut.
It took two days before Stella, the tawny owl appeared at her window. Fred was just watching her play on the game-box-thingy when a tapping noise came from her kitchen window. Leah paused the game and looked up confused.
"It's Stella, tapping on your window." Fred said, pointing to her kitchen window.
"Oh!" She jumped up and hurried to the kitchen. When she opened the window, the owl flew in and landed on the bar, where Fred was already sitting on. "What do I do?" She asked Fred.
"Just untie the letter and the parcel. She won't bite."
"Alright." She stroked the owls headfirst. "Hi Stella." Before she went to her paw and untied it. "This is so weird." She whispered, getting a chuckle out of Fred. She opened the letter and read it out loud.
Leah and F
I'm sorry it took so long, but Minnie and I have been owling back and forth between in each other. She has allowed us to visit this Saturday, and yes, I mean us; you can come. A lot of students will have gone to Hogsmeade so it will be quiet. Can you meet me at the leaky, Saturday at 10? We'll floo over there together.
The parcel contains a book about Hogwarts. Muggles who don't know about it, only see ruins, so read up. There is also a bag of owl treats, you can give one to Stella, otherwise she gets a bit... nippy.
Send a reply with Stella, so I know it arrived well.
See you Saturday.
George
She quickly grabbed a pen and paper and wrote down her reply, rolling it up and placing it on Stella's leg. She opened the parcel and first gave the owl a treat before looking to Fred. But Fred was staring at the owl, he didn't even see her when she waved her hand.
"Fred?"
"Stella... She's –" He cocked his head to the side and the owl copied him. She ran past the bar and stood next to Fred, watching the owl mimic his movements. "- watching me."
"This is getting weirder by the day." Leah muttered under her breath, and Fred couldn't disagree. Leah took the note back from Stella's leg and wrote the new development on it before retying it. She took her notebook from the coffee table and filled in what had happened. Stella looked back to Leah and gave her a hoot. "Fred, try calling her."
"Stella." Fred called for the bird, and she turned her head again, watching a wide-eyed Fred. Leah looked between Fred and Stella before writing it down. Stella flew up and landed on Leah's shoulder, making her jump a little.
"What now?"
"Just tell her to bring it to George."
"Can you bring this to George?" She asked the owl on her shoulder; she hooted softly and stretched her wings before flying out the window. "We'll research this when we're at Hogwarts."
"Yeah, another thing to add to our list." Fred sighed.
"The more we find out about how you are different from other ghosts, the easier it will be to find out what's going on."
"I know. So, we have five days. What are we going to do?"
"I need to work on my game. You don't mind, do you?" She asked sitting at her computer.
"Are you mad!? I want to see how it works!" He said already standing behind her. But that didn't last long, he was confused when he didn't see a fully formed game, like the one she played earlier. So, he retired to the bedroom where she could hear him sing along to some of the more popular songs on the radio.
Leah was running after her sister Addie, on the cobbled streets of Otters River, the town her grandmother lived in. They had been trying to catch fish in the river below with their bare hands, but the two 9-year-olds, had no such luck. When Addie threw some mud at Leah, she ran away laughing as Leah followed her out of the woods, mud dripping down her back.
"You will rue the day you threw mud at me, sister!" She called after her, turning left at the bakery for a short cut. She knew Addie was running home, so she chose the right shortcuts and resumed her chase. She still heard Addie laugh from behind one of the lower buildings as she turned to her right. Then she saw her, she was running at the end of the street, almost at their grandmother's house, that oversaw the village. She took in a deep breath and started to sprint when two boys walked away from a window they were looking through. She bumped into the one on the right. Then the memory, the dream became hazy and the next thing she knew she was sitting in the bathroom of her grandmother's house. Her Nan was cleaning blood off her hand.
"Leah, still with me?" Nan asked. Leah came out of her daze and looked up at the concerned face of her nan.
"Yes, nan."
"What happened?" She asked spraying a disinfect on her hand. Leah winced as it stung on her palm.
"I – I don't know. Addie and I were trying to catch fish down the river, and she threw mud on my back. So, I go after her, trying to get my sweet, sweet revenge. I didn't have the cut in the woods, I don't know when I got it."
"Hm." Her Nan hummed as she put a band aid on her palm. "There, all done."
"Thanks, nan." She wrapped her small arms around her grandmother and held her tight. Neither of them seeing the bright white light coming from under her band aid.
She bolted up, clutching her hand, her room was dark, she looked at her window and only saw the light of the moon shining in. She looked down and traced the crescent on her palm, before looking next to her. Her heart sunk as the familiar red head wasn't there anymore. She looked around the room but couldn't find him. She threw her blankets aside and hopped out of bed.
"Fred!" She called out, slightly panicked. Fred appeared within seconds, looking alarmed.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" He asked, his hands hovering over her shoulders.
"I am now. I woke up and you were gone. I thought-"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I got a bit restless and I –" He stopped talking and looked over his shoulder, before turning back to her. "Come here, I need to show you something. I wanted to wait until morning but since you're up." He sat down on the couch and gestured her over. She was still rubbing her scar as she sat down, confused. "You left your book open." He said looking at Hogwarts: A History.
"Okay." She said slowly, still looking confused at Fred.
"Look." Fred let his hand hover over the book. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he reached the page. Leah's eyes went wide as he didn't go through, but he flipped the page over.
"Oh my god!" She whispered, looking from the book to Fred.
"I was reading the pages you left open, and I got frustrated when I couldn't read more. Bored out of my mind I was, me wanting to read a history book!" He laughed; Leah just rolled her eyes at his smirk. "So, I tried. I tried to turn the page. I tried for hours and then I suddenly held it in my hand, it was light but solid. I almost screamed from surprise but didn't want to wake you up."
"Next time you wake me up, no matter what time, you got that." She pointed her index finger at him.
"Sir, yes, sir." He saluted. "I tried to pick up something else but nothing, only these pages."
"The other things are probably too heavy." She said looking around. "You'll need to practice touching something heavier." She took To Kill a Mockingbird from the TV cabinet and laid it open. "Try this one."
Fred focused on his breathing before he reached over and flipped the page. Her heart started to stammer in her chest from excitement. She looked over to a disbelieved Fred and without thinking, she threw herself at him. Falling through him, lying face down on the couch.
"Didn't think that through, did you?" Fred teased, looking down at her. She turned and stuck out her tongue.
"I got excited, sue me." She clambered back up, through Fred and took her previous seat. Fred's teasing smirk turned to something else as he looked at her. His hand coming up and hovered over her cheek. "I know." She whispered before casting her eyes down. She cleared her throat and turned away from him, fixing her eyes on the book. "Maybe you can try to flip the cover. It's heavier than the pages." She closed the book and pushed it to him.
Fred looked at her for a moment, his heart aching again as he couldn't touch her. Before looking at the book she placed in front of him. He concentrated on the book and closed his eyes. Leah's face appeared in his mind as he reached over for the book and flipped it open.
They tried all sorts of objects that night, to see what he could pick up or push away. Fred didn't say was that it was her face he saw as he concentrated on the task at hand. When morning fell, he could open most books, flip pages, push an empty carton box, ruffle the curtains and even could carry a few pages in his hands.