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?"
"Soon, I promise. But you need to go back before your soul is lost from your body. You've been here too long."
"Alright." She hugged her once more. "I love you. And I will learn how to control the sight, I will see you again."
"I have full faith in you, dear." She kissed the top of her head. "Now, go." The last part was merely a whisper as she felt herself being pulled back, being pulled out of her Nan's house that was once again surrounded by darkness.
The Weasley family stepped out of the fireplace one by one, Hermione and Harry closing the pack. Minerva McGonagall was waiting for them at her desk as she watched them all trickle in. Harry had just stepped out of the fireplace when Molly pounded on Professor McGonagall.
"Where is George? He told us to meet him here. He said it was important."
"I'll take you to him in a moment." Minerva said as she conjured chairs for everyone. "Take a seat."
"No, where is my son?! And why is he here?" Molly demanded. Arthur rested his hand on her shoulder.
"Let's hear her out, okay?" He coaxed her to one of the chairs and she grudgingly sat down.
"First, this is going to be a lot to take in but please try not to interrupt. You'll have questions but wait until we see George." She looked around the room, all eyes were on her, all eyes full of worry.
"George told me you all met Leah. It all starts with her you see. Leah isn't who she says she is, she's not a muggleborn, not in a sense that you are Hermione. Leah grew up a muggle, never knew about magic up until a little over a month ago. She found out about her world because she has the sight, visus motuurs.
"The sight of the death." Hermione and Bill whispered in shock, making the others gasp.
"Yes, she hasn't learned to control it, but there was one ghost she, and only she could see."
"Fred." Bill said. Molly's hand flew to her mouth as her eyes started to fill with tears, looking between her and Bill.
She nodded her head, making the others gasp again. "Fred told her about this world, our world. They went to see George, of course he didn't believe her at first, but Fred told her things only the two of them would know about. The three of them searched for answers on why she was the only one that could see him. Molly." She turned her attention to the mother-witch. "Do you remember when the twins were eight-years old, they came back from the woods and Fred had a nasty cut?"
"Yes, the scar never faded." She said with a trembling voice.
"Leah has the exact same one, they literally bumped into each other at Ottery St. Catchpole that day and ever since, or even before, they were linked to each other. They never saw each other again until... So, that's why Leah can see him. The three of them came here to find out more about the scars, Leah's sight, Leah's magic."
"Magic? So, she is a muggleborn?" Harry asked frowning, completely lost at this point.
"Yes and no. See, there's been magic in her family line for hundreds of years but because of the sight, because of fear of the sight her ancestors started to supress their abilities, their magic, making it dormant for over a hundred years. Leah is a descendant from Godric Gryffindor himself." She reached for the piece of parchment on her desk and handed it to Harry. "Harry, Leah is your third cousin."
"What?" Harry cried out, grabbing the parchment and scanned it quickly. "She really is." He looked up and passed the parchment to Hermione. "I can't believe it."
"We did a test to find out her heritage and to see if there is really magic inside her, which there was. We went out to buy her first wand last week. We found out more about the scars, the link Leah and Fred shared and a way to bring him back."
Like she expected everyone jumped up from their seats.
"He's back?"
"Fred's here?"
"My boy!" Everyone's eyes started to water.
"I will take you to him. I know this is a lot to take in, but please remain calm. Fred is only back for half an hour or so, he might not be awake yet." She rounded her desk and walked to the door. "Follow me." The rest were quickly to follow her down the spiral staircase. The Weasleys practically ran through the hallway as Harry and Hermione walked next to Minerva.
"What about Leah? Is she okay?" Hermione asked.
"We don't know. She is unconscious at the moment... We don't know if she'll wake." Minerva said as she kept her gaze locked on the all the red hair in front of her. Hermione and Harry's eyes met for a moment before stopped in front of the locked hospital wing. "They are in the back on the wing." Minerva said as she unlocked the door and the whole Weasley clan burst in. Molly surprisingly was the fastest of the lot and when she pushed away the curtain, she burst into tears as she saw two identical redheads sitting on the bed of the strawberry blond-haired girl.
"Fred." She gasped through sobs as the others caught up, tears rolling down their cheeks.
"Hi, mum." Fred reluctantly let go of Leah's hand and wrapped his mother in a hug. The rest all followed suit and George, Harry, Hermione and Fleur looked at the hugging family, they stood there for over five minutes, just holding on to each other, to Fred. Fred had a witty response ready but swallowed it and hugged them even tighter. Everyone was now publicly crying as they hugged Fred.
"Is it really you?" Molly asked as she cupped his face, inspecting him.
"It's really me, I'm really back." He gave her a small smile.
"Tell us everything!" She said through her tears. Fred let out a chuckle as Minerva conjured everyone a chair. Everyone was drying their tears as they sat down around Leah and the twins. Fred sat down on Leah's bed again, with his back to the headboard, grabbing her hand instantly.
"I'm guessing Minnie told you a few things already?" He asked looking at the headmistress, who nodded with a smile. "Alright, when the wall fell..."
It took an hour to fill them in, as they kept interrupting him with questions. George and Minerva jumped in at the right moments to fill in the gaps, in the mean while Leah was starting to wake, hearing the voices around her but still stuck in bardo, in the dark.
"Why did she lie about who she was, she told us she went to Hogwarts?" Molly asked a little accusingly.
"Mum, it was our idea. How was I supposed to introduce her to you? Oh, I just brought this muggle girl I picked up on the street?" George said sarcastically. The twins saw their mum mull his words over.
"Maybe so, but she could've told us about you, Fred. You were there, right next to us."
"Would you have believed her?" Bill asked their mum.
"George believed her." Molly huffed. "And I would have believed George."
"You would think that it was George's way to grieve." Bill said shaking his head. "And George believed Leah because she told him things only the two of them knew about."
"Yeah, we didn't want to say anything until we knew more, or how to get him back." George continued.
"What did Leah say to make you believe her?" Ginny asked, she's been unusual quiet the last hour.
"Ah, that is for us to know and you not to find out." The twins grinned at their little sister, who huffed in response, but a smile was plastered on her face.
"Bill?" Their father spoke up. "Have you ever heard about blood scars?"
"It's vaguely familiar but I don't remember when I read something about it."
"There are only four – now five." Minerva corrected. "Cases known about them; they are exceptional rare." She picked up the book on blood scars and handed it over to Bill. When Bill was flipping through the pages Charlie spoke up. He never met her but seeing Fred practically glued to her he had to ask.
"What about you two? You seem rather... attached."
"What do you expect, the poor girl has been stuck with Fred 24/7." Ron chuckled.
"No, it's more than that." Charlie said and looked to Fred. "Isn't it?"
Every head turned to him except from Minerva and George, who had the decency to look down as they grinned, even Bill looked up in interest from the book. Fred looked from the dragon tamer to the witch on his right. He tucked a strawberry blond lock behind her ear, smiling before he looked back to Charlie.
"Yeah, it's more than that."
"Blimey!" Ron gasped.
"So, everything she told us about you two being together..." Harry asked confused.
"Like I said, I first saw her after I turned into a ghost."
"So, you were never together?" Molly jumped up. "She lied about everything! When she gets better, I don't want you to see her again. I know she brought you back, but I can never trust her again, I can't believe you can! She lies even better than you two, how can you believe a word she says?!"
"MUM!" Fred and George shouted back.
"Alright... calm down everyone." Bill said calmly, closing his book. "A lot has happened, let's let it all sink in."
"Yeah, I think I'm going to lie down for a moment." Fred said avoiding his mother's eyes.
"Let's go to the great hall, the students will be gone by now. I'll let the house elves prepare us something to eat." Minerva stood. The rest looked at the trio on the bed for a moment before they followed her out the hospital wing, George the only one that stayed behind.
Fred sat down on his own bed as he looked at Leah. "Fred, hold on." George said as he pushed his bed right next to hers. "Come on, you actually need your rest."
Fred grabbed her hand as he laid down and George crawled in bed next to him. It's been years since they had slept in the same bed but after everything... George needed to be close to his twin, just like Fred needs to be close to him, and to Leah. George just shut his eyes as he made himself comfortable when Fred whispered.
"Come back to me."