Fred was watching as it happened. He saw Leah touch his mother's hand while saying those words, the words that let her conjure the spirits; he saw how his mother gasped at something behind him, but when he looked behind him, he didn't see anything. That's when he knew that they saw someone, someone's spirit. Then his mother uttered his uncles' names and his mouth fell slightly open.
His eyes were so fixed on his mum and Leah, he didn't see that his twin and his father had the same look on their faces as they watched the two women in shock and confusion.
Then all of the sudden Leah's eyes rolled back and she collapsed to the ground. Fred was up before she hit the stone floor, but he was too late to catch her as he sat on the other side of the island. When her head hit the ground, it made a sickening crack and within seconds everyone was kneeling around her. His mother came into hyper gear.
"George, make up the couch. Fred, you lift her, gently!" She instructed fiercely but calm.
Everyone was quiet as they did as they were told. Fred was shaking as he held her close to his chest, waiting for George to finish enlarging the couch. He put her down gently and sat on the edge of the couch, holding her hand still shaking. His mother worked quickly, casting spells on her head, different colours swirling above her head. George was pacing behind his mother, looking at Leah while their dad sat on the love seat nervously tapping his foot.
"Shouldn't we be taking her to St. Mungo's?" George asked as he ceased his pacing, looking at his mother. But she just shushed him as she focused on Leah, and he started pacing again. Arthur was watching his wife as he had his hand over his chin and mouth.
It felt like hours for Fred, but it had only been about five minutes before his mum stopped waving her wand over Leah and let out a breath of relief. "She's going to be fine. I healed her concussion and fracture, but you need to watch her tonight." She stroked her hair softly. "Do you have any ice?" She asked the twins. "Otherwise, she's going to have a large bump."
"Yeah, she has a sort of ice pack. I'll get it." And George disappeared out the room.
"Does this always happen?" His mum whispered as she sat down on the coffee table.
"She has only tried it once before, last week. It was her Nan then. She was out for about an hour then, but how further away the bond, how harder it is on her. She could be out for a few hours, since she has no close connection to Uncle Fabian and Gideon." Fred said as he traced circles on Leah's hand. "I should get her to bed."
"Do you want us to stay?" His father asked.
"No." Fred shook his head slightly. "I'll let you know when she wakes up." Fred looked up as he heard George coming back in the room, holding an icepack in his hand. "I'm going to put her in our room." He said to his twin as he rose from his seat.
"Keep the icepack on her head for a while." Their mother said as they both stood up. "Let us know the moment she wakes." She gave his shoulder a squeeze before hugging him tight and moved on to his twin to do the same, their father did the same before they walked out of the house, leaving the three of them alone.
Fred carefully picked her up and let her head rest on his chest. He looked at her for a moment, taking in a trembling breath before he started walking to the stairs. George followed them up the stairs as they walked in silence to the room. With a wave of his wand, George opened the door before Fred would reach it. Fred placed her in the middle of the bed, and slowly retracted his arms from under her, before tucking her in. George came up to the other side and placed the icepack on the back of her head. George and Fred sat on the bed, looking at her in complete silence, just listening to her breathing. Fred was leaning against the headboard as he stroked her hair while George rested against the wooden poster of the bed, facing them.
"How long do you think she'll be out?" George's voice echoed through the room, even though he said it in a whisper.
"At least a few hours." Fred answered, not taking his eyes of her. "You should go home, George."
"No, I'm fine here. But I will go clean up the kitchen. Do you want me to bring you something to eat?"
"No. Don't think I'll be able to keep anything down."
George nodded his head before he stood up and walked out of the room. Fred didn't know how long his twin was gone; it was he like was in a trace again, just like he was when he was ghost. But he was pulled from it when he felt the bed dip. He looked up and saw George sitting on the other side of Leah, holding her hand.
"George-" Fred whispered, but George just shook his head and he let the rest of his sentence drop and the silence fell again.
Leah's head was pounding when she started to wake. She squinted her eyes from the pain as the memories came flooding back. The moment she touched Molly's hand, the identical twins appeared behind Fred and Arthur. She remembered, she felt her weaken with the second as Molly talked to the two men, the last thing she remember was that one of them told her to take care of Fred. When her thoughts went to Fred, her eyes popped open. She couldn't see much, the room she was in was pitch-black, only one stream of light, illuminated the room. Although she couldn't see much, she knew Fred was next to her. His breath a comforting feeling against her neck as his head laid right next to her, while his arm was securely wrapped around her waist. But there was something else, someone else on the other side of her. That someone was giving her hand a squeeze before he whispered to her.
"Fred finally fell asleep."
Leah looked away from Fred and turned her head towards George, who had the same the same position as Fred, as he laid down next to her, his face already directed in her direction.
"We were really worried about you."
"How long was I out?"
George looked at his watch as he gathered his brows. "About seven hours." He looked back up at her. She shifted a bit to face him better, but the movement hurt her head, made her hiss. "Are you okay?" He asked worried, looking her up and down, looking for any sign of injury.
"Hm." She squinted her eyes shut. "Just my head. That didn't happen last time."
"Come here." He gently lifted her up, so they both rested against the headboard. Fred's grip on her waist tightened but he didn't wake up. He took the icepack from her pillow and put a new cooling charm on it before placing it back. "When you fainted, you fell to the floor... head first." He grabbed his wand from behind him and put it on her head. "May I?"
"Hm." When she hummed, George whispered an incantation to lift some of the pain. "Thank you." She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Anytime."
"You should go to bed, George."
"You sound just like Fred." He chuckled softly. "I'm good here. Actually, there is something I wanted to talk to you about."
"Oh?" She picked up her head again to look at him, happy it didn't hurt anymore.
"I - uhm." George looked down at his lap. "Does it bother you that I'm here that often? I mean I've been staying here for over a week now."
"No, of course not. I love you being here, and I don't want to separate you from Fred. Not after everything..." She grabbed his hand and wrapped both of hers around it. "I wanted to talk to Fred about it first, but since we're on the topic." She smiled as she saw George's confused look. "I wanted to ask if you wanted to move in."
"Move in? Here?"
"Yeah, if you don't want to, I don't mind. But I know you two still have a hard time being apart and this house is certainly big enough. And when I start at Hogwarts, Fred could use the company on his free days. And I wouldn't mind being around the famous Weasley twins after work." She grinned up at him.
"The flat is pretty lonely without Freddie..." He said slowly, still unsure if this was really happening or was imagination due to his lack of sleep.
"That's settled then, tomorrow you can go pack up your stuff and bring it here."
"Since you insist." George said with a grin, wrapping his arm around her and she snuggled on his chest. Fred still tucked neatly against her. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I feel better. Did you stay awake the whole time?"
"Yeah, I was worried. Fred said you just needed to sleep. But I knew he was worried; it took him hours to fall asleep. And I needed to keep your icepack cool."
"Hermione is one lucky woman."
"So, are you. You don't only have Fred, but I'll always be on your side."
"Oh, I know. Waking up between you two." Leah laughed, making Fred stir.
"Hitting on my own twin while I'm asleep, are you?" Fred mumbled in her back, his grip tight around waist. He shifted in the bed to come up higher so he could look at the two, a small smile on his lips. "You had us worried."
"I know. I'm sorry." Leah turned and cupped his cheek. "I'll be more careful next time."
"Good." He leaned forward and planted a kiss on her lips.
"Oi, brother." George interrupted; and you just knew he was grinning behind her. "We're roommates again."
"What?" Fred asked confused.
"I asked George to move in. I wanted to talk to you about it first, but it just came up, so I asked him." She bit her lip nervously. "I hope you don't mind."
"Are you kidding?! This is amazing!" Fred grinned like a kid who woke up on Christmas morning. "Besides this is your house, you can choose who moves in or out."
"Well, I like to think this your house too, your home."
"I already feel like home here." George said with a grin, folding his arms behind his head. At that moment both the twins stomach started rumbling.
"Didn't you eat?" Leah asked sitting up, looking between them. They smiled sheepishly at her, she rolled her eyes and climbed over George out of the bed. "Come on, we're going to eat something."
"It's two in the morning." They said in unison, bolting up right in the bed.
"So?" She cocked an eyebrow before turning and disappeared out of the dark room. The twins looked flustered at her before they clumsily scrambled out of bed and followed her out the room, the growling stomachs filling the house with noise. "Besides." She called back over her shoulder as she descended the stairs. "I'm guessing you need to let your parents know, I'm okay."
"Wait!" Fred called after her as they bounded the stairs.
"How do you know that?" George asked right next to his twin.
"It's you mother." Leah stated simply, not needing further explanation. The twins chuckled as they followed her into the clean kitchen. George ran past Leah and started to finish the dinner she and his mother were making earlier and shooed her away when she tried to help. Leah sighed with a smile before she sat down next to Fred on one of the barstools. Fred wrapped his arm around her waist, and she let her head drop to his chest a happy smile resting on her lips.