They walked out of the twins' fireplace into an empty living room, a quiet ringing echoed through the room. Fred's head popped out of the kitchen when the ringing reached him. He looked surprised at the two witches in front of the fireplace before a huge grin plastered on his face.
"Love." He sighed happily as he nearly ran over. Leah unwrapped her arm from Hermione and walked into his already open arms. He kissed her until they were breathless. "What are you doing here? Not that I mind..."
She grinned up at him. "Is George here?"
"George?" He asked surprised. "Yeah, hold on." He let her go and walked to the front door. Leah walked back to Hermione and pulled her further into the room.
"Do you want another shot?" She asked as she took the bottle out of her pocket. Hermione's eyes went wide as she looked from her to the bottle.
"No, I'm good." She laughed. "When did you grab that?"
Leah winked at her when they heard footsteps coming back up the stairs. "Don't think too much, Hermione." She whispered as the door opened the twins walked in.
"I was summoned?" George asked dramatically.
Leah went over to stand next to Fred and wrapped her arm around his waist. "What's going on?" He whispered.
"Shh, just watch." She nudged her head to Hermione and George. He frowned at Leah before he looked at the pair in front of them.
"Hermione, are you okay?" George asked as Hermione fiddled with her sleeve. Hermione looked up and locked her eyes with George, who looked worried at her. Hermione's eyes found Leah's, who gave her an encouraging nod. She looked back to George, took in a deep breath and flew herself against him, putting her arms around his neck and pulled his lips to hers. George didn't expect that and nearly stumbled to the ground. But he found his footing and quickly wrapped his arms around her waist, picking her up as they kissed. Fred took his eyes from the kissing duo and looked down to Leah, with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm sensing you have something to do with this?"
"Maybe." She grinned up at him. "It didn't look like George was going to do anything, so I may have given Hermione a nudge... and a bit of whiskey."
Fred beamed at her before capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. "You're amazing."
"I'm guessing I have you to thank for this kodak moment?" George asked as he and Hermione had stopped kissing, both blushing fiercely. Hermione tucked under his arm, that held her close.
"I don't know what you are talking about." She feigned ignorance. "Let's go, Freddie."
"Go? Where?" He asked as she pulled him to the fireplace.
"I think those two need to talk and enjoy a quiet evening together." She said stepping in the fireplace. "Are you coming with me or are you flooing over to Lee."
Fred huffed. "What do you think." Making the others laugh as he is stepping in next to her. Fred threw in the floo powder and left the new couple to themselves.
Fred walked out of the fireplace, holding her hand and dragging her to couch with him. He laid down and pulled Leah with him, her head resting on his chest as their legs intertwined.
"What do you want to do tonight?"
Leah lifted her head up and rested her chin on his chest, looking up at him. "I'm going to try to contact my Nan, try to use my sight."
Fred stroked her hair. "Do you want me to go?"
She shook her head, smiling. "No, I want you here, if that's okay."
"Anything for you, love." Fred kissed the top of her head. "So, what did Minnie wanted to talk about?"
"Oh." She said excitingly, she had completely forgotten about it. "She offered me a job, at Hogwarts."
"Not that I don't think you'll be an amazing teacher one day, but your still learning..."
"Not as a teacher but as a counsellor, a mentor to the kids."
"Oh! Yeah, Hogwarts could certainly use one. And you're going to do great, if you mind your swearing." He laughed, making her head bounce on his chest. "What about your muggle job, the game thing."
"I'm planning on doing it as a freelancer. That way I can choose to accept or deny any projects and pick my own hours. What?" She asked as she saw Fred pouting.
"You're going to doing three jobs! Mentor, freelance-thingy and that real estate thing. I'm barely going to see you."
"I'm not going to live at Hogwarts." She shook her head. "I'll be home every night. It's not a full-time thing either. And my mum runs the day-to-day for the office. So, you'll see me." She caressed his cheek softly. "Besides you'll be busy at the shop."
"Yeah, I miss the shop and George."
"I know you do. You two are going to have fun together."
"But it's going to different with Hermione there." He whined a bit, making her laugh.
"Hermione got a job at Hogwarts too, defence against the dark arts. She'll start in September after she passes her NEWT's."
"Oh." Fred brightened up. "Brilliant! Hey, where are you going?" He asked as she climbed of him.
"Minerva said I should really start practicing, controlling my sight, so that's what I'm going to do." She chuckled as she closed the floo with a wave of her wand and dropped down in front of it, facing Fred.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Can you just sit next to me?"
Fred didn't answer, he just got up and leaped over the coffee table, planting himself securely next to her, their knees bumped slightly against each other. Leah frowned at her wand before she placed it down on the floor next to her. She didn't know what she was doing but she closed her eyes and took in deep breaths and she tried to focus on her Nan. Silence filled the air, only her breathing could be heard. It seemed like Fred was holding his in, trying not to make a sound. The only thing that made her aware he was still there, was his knee against hers.
She didn't know where it came from, but she suddenly spoke. "Veni ad me." Her eyes opened and her grandmother was sitting across from her, sitting on her couch wearing her favourite deep green dress. "Nan." She gasped.
"LéLe." She smiled. "I missed you."
"I missed you too, Nan." Her eyes filled with tears.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, dear. After Addie..."
"I know, I get it. I'm not mad at you."
Her grandmother smiled at her, before her eyes wavered to Fred. "You love him." She said, not as question but as a statement.
Leah took a chance to tear her gaze away from her Nan and looked to Fred with a smile. "I do."
"I'm happy you found him. And his mother is already coming around, just talk to her."
She fiddled with her sleeves nervously. "Alright." She looked back up. "I trust you."
"Now I want to talk to you about your sight, the possibilities."
"Possibilities?"
"Hm, yes. See you conjured me, and it went pretty easy. The further your bond is with a deceased person the more it will take from you. You'll always be able to, but the connection will we shorter and you'll need to recover longer."
"Recover? What will this do to me?"
"It will just exhaust you, your magic. You will need to rest after this. If it's someone you have no connection to, you might need to sleep for a few hours. But since you're the most powerful witch in the family line for years, it might make it easier for you. It's a wait-and-see kind of thing."
"Can I see Addie?"
"Not tonight, not with your first time. It would take too much of you. But there is something else we can try..." She looked between her and Fred, whose eyes were locked on Leah. "Grab Fred's hand."
"Fred- what?" She asked confused.
"It would allow him to see me, hear me."
She looked over to Fred and hesitantly took his hand in hers. He looked surprised at the action but intertwined their fingers and squeezed her hand. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. Uhm, Fred... Can you see her?" She asked looking at her grandmother. Fred tore his gaze away from her with great difficulty. The little gasp he made confirmed that he could indeed see her.
"Mrs. Derijker."
"Call me Adaline."
"Nan, I want you to officially meet Fred Weasley."
"The boyfriend." He grinned, recovering quickly. "The love of her life. Well, at least she's the love of my life."
She knew Fred loved her, but to actually tell her she's the love of his life, kind of send her head spinning. But her grandmother didn't look surprised at all and only beamed at the red head.
"Nice to meet you, Fred."
"Nan." Leah started, starting to feel woozy.
"I know, dear." She gave her a soft smile before turning to Fred. "Fred, take care of her."
"I will, always." He promised.
"I love you, Leah." The voice of her Nan whispered before she completely disappeared. She started to tremble, and her sight got clouded from the tears that had gathered. Fred pulled her into his lap and held her close. Murmuring soft words to her as he stroked her hair. Her eyes started to fall shut, feeling exhausted. And before she knew it, she had falling asleep, cradled in Fred's arms.
She woke up on something soft. Her eyes flittered open, and she noticed she was lying in her bed upstairs. OH God! Fred must've carried her all the way up the stairs. She groaned and rubbed her hand over her face.
"I know what you're thinking, I didn't mind carrying you up here." Fred's voice came from next to her. She turned in her bed and saw Fred sitting up against the headboard, placing his book on the nightstand. She flushed at bit as he knew exactly what she was thinking about. "How are you feeling?" He asked and he shuffled down and pulled her flush against him.
"Better. How long have I been out?"
Fred checked his watch. "For about an hour. Are you sure, you are okay?"
"Yes, it was just a lot and really exhausting. I need to get used to it."
"Hm, here." He reached for something behind him and handed over a chocolate bar.
"Why are you giving me chocolate?"
"It helps, it always helps." He smiled and kissed the tip of her nose. She smiled against his chest as she unwrapped the chocolate bar.
"Did you hear everything?"
Fred looked at her for a moment. "I heard everything you said but nothing from your grandmother. Not until you took my hand. I didn't know that was even possible."
"I didn't know either but think of the possibilities. Harry could see and talk to his parents."
"Just, be careful alright? I don't want anything to happen to you."
"I promise, I'll be careful. I won't go conjuring every deceased person."
He hugged her closer. He needed to feel her, needed to know she was really alright. He let out a breath when she hugged him back. "Oh, Georgie send an owl."
"I thought they were too busy making out."
Fred chuckled as he twirled with a strand of her hair. "Probably needed a breather or something. They were asking if we could have dinner together, tomorrow."
"Oh, yeah. That sounds great. Invite them here, I'll cook."
"I'll help."
"As long as you don't burn anything." She pointed out as he climbed out of bed, to write a reply. He wrote down a quick note before he tied it to the owl; that was waiting on the windowsill. He tossed Stella a treat and she flew out of the window. He turned back to her with a grin.
"I'll try, no promises though." He said as he climbed back into bed and pulled her close to him.