Of course she knew she didn't have much of a choice. Now that Ginny had caught her standing in the rain in front of their house – which, she admitted, sounded either really creepy or terribly desperate – she would never let Angelina go without getting a proper explanation. Ginny was a nice person who knew just exactly when someone needed to be left alone with their thoughts, but she was extremely determinate as well, meaning that when she wanted to know or have something, she wouldn't rest – literally – until she knew or had it.
Harry was the living proof of that determination. For years Ginny had loved that boy without getting anything in return, and look where that'd brought her.
Angelina was seated in the kitchen while Ginny prepared her a cup of tea.
“Nuts, I tell you.” Ginny said as she put the cup down in front of Angelina. “Must be my brother's influences. Why else would you stand outside in the rain without any reason?”
She reminded Angelina a bit of Molly, again, though the glance in Ginny's eyes betrayed her, she definitely knew all this wasn't 'without any reason'.
Angelina took a sip from the steaming cup and shivered as she felt the mint-tasting tea down her throat. Maybe she had caught a cold after all. She watched as Ginny sighed deeply and got down to get something black off the floor.
“Harry really needs to clean up his bloody dirty socks.” Ginny said, throwing the socks in the direction of the bathroom. “Cookie?” she added.
Angelina nodded and smiled slightly as she took a biscuit from the colourful jar that stood in the middle of the table. The jar was the kind of orange that hurt your eyes and two shiny “C”'s were pictured on it.
“Chudley Cannons,” Ginny said, “present from Ron, naturally.”
Angelina still hadn't said a word yet, dilemmas really are a pain in the ass. Ginny seemed to have noticed this and sat down opposite Angelina.
“So tell me,” she said. “What is going on?”
Angelina opened and closed her mouth a few times, having no words to begin with.
“Don't tell me it's nothing, 'cause it's as obvious as when Percy tried to keep his relationship with Penelope Clearwater a secret. And, damn, was that obvious back then.”
“George has a secret.” Angelina stated suddenly.
This sudden sort of confession seemed to surprise Ginny and, to be honest, it kind of surprised Angelina as well.
“Secret, as in, secret from you? As his wife?”
Angelina shook her head quickly. The last thing she wanted Ginny to think was that her husband had some secret love affair. “No no! A secret I'm aware of, but...”
“But?” Ginny urged.
“But I'm not supposed to tell anyone.”
“But?”
“But I have to tell someone.” Angelina managed to keep her calm, if only just. She reached for her teacup again, but she accidentally pushed it over, causing the cup to fall to the ground in a million tiny pieces. The tea dripped slowly from the table and made a nasty spot on the floor. It seemed as if not a single thing could go right for Angelina. She began to cry out of pure desperation, all the thoughts and issues troubling her mind.
“Easy, easy!” Ginny soothed her quickly. “Look!” She pointed her wand at the broken cup and mumbled 'Reparo' under her breath. The pieces lifted from the ground and fitted together again like a puzzle. The fixed cup landed on the table again with a light 'thump'.
“See?” Ginny said. “It can be fixed, everything can be fixed. If only you give it some time.”
Angelina's cheeks were now wet with tears. She hated how much she had been crying lately. She hated how she was crying over a damn teacup at that very moment. She hated the current situation. She hated herself for thinking and over-thinking the way she had been doing lately. But she loved George, and she loved Fred, and she wanted the best for both of them. And in her heart she knew that the way things were right now wasn't 'the best'. Far from it. How she knew this? No idea; maybe that motherly instinct she'd been waiting for all those years since little Fred was born had finally decided to show up. Would be about time.
Realising she had been lost in thought for some time once again, she searched Ginny's face. Nothing but confusion and wonder was to be read from it.
“It's... dangerous.” Angelina started off. “Or potentially dangerous.” She shook her head. “I don't really know. Either way, it might have something to do with magic. Not the good kind of magic.”
Ginny still looked confused. “What? What kind of horror has George gotten himself into?”
“Horror? No!” Angelina nearly exclaimed, taking a hold of the empty cold cup. “ He hasn't been happier! That's the tricky thing.”
“You really aren't making things any clearer.” Ginny simply stated.
Angelina let out a thoughtful sigh. No way of returning now, mrs. Weasley-Johnson, she thought.
“It's Fred.” she said.
“Little Fred?” Ginny answered with a tiny bit of false hope in her voice, as if she knew what Angelina was about to say already.
“Old Fred. Your brother. The one who should be dead.” Angelina's voice broke.
Ginny's eyes grew wide, like she was caught up in both happiness and terrified shock. “Wh-what do you mean?”
Angelina buried her face in her hands, the way George always did when he was upset. “George found some rock in the Forest at Hogwarts and since then he's been able to see Fred whenever he wants.”
“See Fred?”
“Whenever he holds the stone. He appears to be some kind of ghost, but not quite.” Angelina sniffed, trying to retain her tears. “You can only see him by keeping a hold of that rock and thinking hard about him.” she explained.
“Have you – ” Ginny started, but Angelina nodded immediately.
“I saw him. Only once.”
“Woah.” Ginny put her index fingers to her temples. “Are you both delusional?” She shook her head, as if realising that was a bit of an insult. “I'm sorry. I mean, F-Fred! My brother! I need to see him! It can't be true, I have to talk to him! Tell him I love him! I... I – ”
Ginny trailed off, obviously confounded about this brand new information.
“Shhh...” Angelina tried to calm her down by rubbing her back. “Just... Let it sink in. It's quite a lot to take. I shouldn't have told you in the first place, should've known it'd only confuse you. This shouldn't even be happening right now. I should just – ”
“A rock, you said?” A low voice sounded from the hallway. The two women heard steps and soon Harry Potter stood in the kitchen, his eyes peering suspiciously through his all-too-familiar round glasses. “What did it look like?”
Both Angelina and Ginny looked at him in shock. How long had he been standing there? He wasn't supposed to hear any of this!
“What did it look like?” He asked once again, though now his voice sounded more urgent.
“Uhm... I-I don't know.” Angelina mumbled, trying to recall the appearance of the tiny stone. “It was small, about this big,” she kept her fingers about an inch apart, “and it was black, with sharp edges. It was shaped a bit like a diamant, I think.”
“Clearly handmade? And he found that in the Forest? Isn't that... Odd?” Ginny reasoned.
Angelina nodded, quietly cursing herself for not noticing that earlier, since it was quite evident.
Harry bit his lip, thinking hard. “Did it have some kind of symbol on it?”
“I think so, yes.”
He quickly got some paper and a quill and drew a triangle with a circle and a vertical line in it. Then he shoved the paper towards Angelina and looked at her expectantly.
“Yes, I think that's the one!” she said, slightly recognizing the symbol. “What does it mean?”
Harry just shook his head in frustration. “This isn't good. This isn't good at all.”
“Wait,” Ginny said suddenly, she probably hadn't been paying attention to the conversation at all, lost in her own thoughts. “Harry, have you been listening to our conversation all that time?”
Harry shrugged. “What? Me? No!”
Ginny didn't look convinced and raised an eyebrow.
“After all those years since I met you, you haven't changed a thing, y'know. Still as nosy as back at Hogwarts.” Angelina smiled.
“I know, I know. I was rude eavesdropping on you.” Harry admitted. Then he added, “Those socks weren't dirty by the way, and they weren't mine either. But that's not the point.” Harry threw his hands up in the air. He was somehow slightly frustrated that the other two didn't seem to understand what he had been talking about.
“Harry?” Angelina asked. “What is the point of this all?”
Harry shook his head once more. “This is really bad.”
“Harry, what is it? Is it real? Is Fred back?” Ginny pulled Harry's sleeve, desperate for a reply, a proper explanation. She didn't dare to hope. Just the idea of her brother being back again, after everything that had happened... It was driving her crazy.
Harry, however, walked out of the room. Angelina and Ginny quickly followed him, demanding him to tell what he meant. Walking to the bookshelf, he shushed them. He got out one of the books and showed it to them.
“'The Tales of Beedle the Bard'? Seriously?” Angelina began.
“This is no time for fairy tales, Harry!” Ginny said, starting to get angry.
Harry grinned. “Yeah, that's what I thought at first as well. But didn't you ever... wonder? The muggles know lots and lots of tales and stories about wizards as well, believing them to be just that, fictional tales, but they don't have a clue how wrong they are. What if our fairy tales are just like that?”
Ginny just stared at him, her mouth hanging slightly open.
“Are you trying to say those fairy tales are real?” Angelina suggested.
“Not all of them, not as far as I know, anyway.” Harry explained. “But I know one which is definitely true. Which we all played a major part in, I must add.”
“What?” Angelina and Ginny said in unison.
“The Tale of the Three Brothers!” Harry exclaimed, as if it were obvious. He opened the book and began to turn over the pages.
Angelina threw a look at Ginny, who was eyeing her with confusion. “I still don't get it.” Angelina said. “What do we have to do with the Three Brothers? That is supposed to have taken place ages ago! All three of the brothers died a long time ago.”
“Exactly. But the Deathly Hallows remained.” Harry pointed out. “Do you remember? I told you I defeated Voldemort with a wand, more powerful than any other. Doesn't that ring a bell?”
Angelina's mouth fell open. She knew the tale by heart, her mum had read it to her so often when she was little. “You don't mean to say that that wand – ”
“The Elder Wand, that's right.” Harry interrupted her. “And my invisibility cloak, that's the one of the third brother.”
“You have got to be joking.” Ginny said, her expression blank.
“I'm sorry for not telling you earlier. I thought it would be for the better. If everyone knew about it, people would start searching for the Hallows.”
It made Angelina think. “What does this all have to do with Fred? Supposing what you say is true, I mean.”
Harry showed her the book, which was opened at the Tale of the Three Brothers. He pointed at a tiny picture on the bottom of the page.
“But – But that's the symbol, on the stone!” Angelina yelled as she recognised the triangle.
Harry nodded. “The Resurrection Stone. I reckon you know what it does?”
Ginny shook her head, this was way too much to take for her, and Angelina could sense it. “It brings back the ones who d – ” Her voice trembled so badly she had to break off her sentence halfway. “the ones who died.”
“Exactly.” Harry let out a growl of frustration. “I thought nobody would find it! I just dropped it in the Forest. I just dropped it... I should've hidden it better.”
“You had the stone?” Angelina asked. “And now...” Slowly the pieces were fitting together. George had found the stone. That was why Fred was back. George had the Resurrection Stone.
“So it's true?” Ginny asked. “Is my brother really back?”
Harry shook his head violently. “No! No! It's not him. Well, it is, but it's just his... Ghost. Or something like that.”
Angelina nodded in agreement.
Ginny's eyes grew huge. “But, I have to see him!” She looked around quickly before hurrying to the hallway to grab her coat.
“Oh no!” Harry stopped her by going to stand in front of her, blocking her way. “You aren't going anywhere.” He then saw the desperate expression of his wife. “I'm sorry, Gin, but do you remember what happened to the second brother?”
Ginny nodded lightly, a tear streaming down her face.
“In that case you know it would be the best for you not to get involved in this. I don't want you to get hurt.” Harry planted a kiss on Ginny's forehead. “Please, stay? For me?”
Ginny looked troubled. “He's my brother!”
Angelina, for once, wasn't really paying attention to the conversation. Do you remember what happened to the second brother? Suddenly she understood Harry's urgency.
“Harry? We have to go. Now.” she managed to get out.
Harry nodded and ran outside, grabbing his coat and putting it on. Angelina followed him, knowing they were only able to apparate once they were off the Potters' terrain. She was fighting the sting in her stomach and tried to keep up with Harry, leaving Ginny behind, confused and close to tears.
There was one sentence from the fairy tale that made Angelina hurry even more. One sentence that scared her even back when she was a little kid. She had always felt sorry for the second brother, who had died just because he missed someone so badly, who had killed himself out of grief.
The sentence just kept haunting her mind, but she couldn't think of what it might mean for George, she couldn't manage to think of it that way.
And so Death took the second brother for his own.