|
Priceless | ||||
|
Category: Gred & Forge Challenge (2007-6) Characters:All Genres: General Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: PG Reviews: 8 Summary: Ginny has a plan to bring George back to life and help him deal with the loss of his twin. She enlists the help of the Golden Trio, because they just plain know how to get the job done. Hitcount: Story Total: 3661 Disclaimer: Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions in this story are my own and in no way represent the owners of this site. This story subject to copyright law under transformative use. No compensation is made for this work. |
|
|||
|
Several painful weeks after the Battle for Hogwarts, this had settled into somewhat of a routine for the Weasleys and their friends. Harry and Hermoine remained at the Burrow; Harry did so because he was not quite ready to face the public eye again. Hermione was determined to find a way back to Australia to recover her parents and their memories. She spent quite a bit of time at the Ministry, attempting to arrange Portkeys and permissions for long distance Apparitions, but as the red tape was quite thick, she was at the Burrow more often than not. Once everyone had learned that Hogwarts was not going to be ready to open on the first of September, Ginny had gone into what she termed ‘relaxed vacation mode’. She was, in a nutshell, being lazy, and waiting for Harry to resume what he had left off at Dumbledore’s funeral over a year previously. George spent most of his time in silence. Occasionally he would nod if engaged in conversation or shake his head negatively. Nearly the only time he would speak would be to ask where something was that he may have misplaced. Thus, it was on a warm July evening that Ginny once again found George in the sitting room, staring blankly at a moving photograph of himself and his lost brother Fred. Ginny ached to see George in such pain. She had been in pain herself the last few weeks, she had lost a brother as well, but she had not lost a twin. She couldn’t imagine what George must be going through and her brain suddenly started to whirl. Ginny had to get George out of this depression. It simply had to be done. He was her brother, after all. Ginny stood quietly for a moment, wondering how she could pull off such a plan, if she could even refer to it as a plan. Suddenly, she grinned. Three people happened to live in the house with her that could pull off anything. The next day, she had wrangled the golden trio together in Ron’s room. They looked at Ginny expectantly; she was rarely this secretive about anything. Ron looked a bit worried, Hermione seemed to be thoughtful, and Harry wore his usual stoic mask. He was quite relived that no one could see past the mask, as his insides where churning about what Ginny may be after…it couldn’t be that, could it? Not with Ron and Hermione present. “Alright you lot,” Ginny said quietly. “We need to do something about George.” Harry nearly sighed with relief. Ron nodded slowly and Hermione simply said nothing. “But what, sis?” Ron leaned forward. “There’s no way we can understand what he must be feeling. It isn’t going to be as easy as a thump on the head and a witty phrase.” Harry grinned at Ron. Ginny just sighed. “Yes, I know, but I was thinking.” She twirled a strand of hair with her finger and looked a bit dismayed. Harry stared, but she was oblivious. “I think he needs to be funny again. I think we need him to be funny again.” She shrugged. “I haven’t come up with a plan; I was hoping you three would help me.” Harry looked thoughtful. “He needs closure,” he said abruptly. Hermione blinked. “How would we be able to do that?” she asked quietly. Ginny nodded slowly. “If only he could talk to Fred.” Harry thought briefly of the Resurrection Stone, but pushed it firmly from his mind. Ron shook his head firmly. “Even if we could think of a way to fake something like that, it would hurt him too much. It’s not right.” Harry leaned forward suddenly. “Oh I don’t know, that might be about our only option. And if we do it right, who’s to say he won’t thank us? Who’s to say he’ll know anything at all about it?” Ginny cocked her head. “What are you on about, then?” Harry grinned a little. “Not that long ago I got through something terrible with the help of ghosts…who’s to say that’s not what George needs too?” Hermione cleared her throat. “This is all very introspective,” Ron looked baffled at the word, but she did not seem to notice. “But how and what are we planning here exactly?” Ron said quietly, “You want George to talk to Fred’s ghost, Ginny?” He looked skeptical. Ginny was quiet but started to smile. “That’s it! If we do it right, it could work wonders!” The trio looked concerned but Ginny shook her head furiously. “I think that’s exactly what he needs.” Harry sat up. “I say we do what Ginny thinks is best.” He ignored the frantic eye rolling from Ron and the smile from Hermione. “What exactly do you think we should do?” Ginny was thoughtful. She put a hand on her chin. She closed her eyes. “First, we need to recreate the ghost of Fred.” A stab of pain went through her. Harry was the only one to notice the tear at the corner of her eye. “And it needs to be funny. Fred would approve us doing this then, I think.” Ron finally sat up. “Alright, what do we need to do?” Ginny ticked off a few things on her fingers. “First we’re going to need a way to make one of us look like a ghost.” Nods from all three of the trio followed. “Then, we’re going to have to make sure that George is surrounded by people that love him. Not just his family but his friends too. Maybe his old Quidditch team or something.” No one else spoke. “And, well, we’re going to need a way to actually look like Fred, and figure out how to be funny.” Harry looked offended. “What, Harry?” Harry smiled a little. “As the sole remaining heir of the Marauders, I’ll come up with something.” Ginny smiled back. Hermione sat up. “So that’s the list?” She had been writing it all down. Ron rolled his eyes behind her back. “Do you know how difficult it’ll be to put that all together?” Harry asked. Ginny nodded furiously. “Yeah, I do. And Gred and Forge are worth it. They’re still my brothers.” - Months later, after much planning, scheming and general dismay at getting anything to come together correctly, Ginny threw down her quill in disgust. Looking at the parchment she was writing on, she could still see some amusing ideas, but none of them were good enough. She was too disgruntled to notice Harry’s approach. To her surprise, she felt his arms come around her. “Hey Ginny, how’s it coming along?” Ginny leaned back into him. Recent months had seen Harry finally warm up and he was getting closer to being back with her again. “Badly,” she muttered. “The best idea is by far the hardest one to do.” Harry chuckled. “Story of my life,” he said, perusing her list. “Selling fireworks? I like that one. Ghostly Galleons? The only person that would have one of those is George himself.” Ginny sighed. “Yes and there’s no way I can ask him for it.” Harry grinned. “I have an idea.” A short while later, Harry and Ginny had Ron cornered outside in the garden. They explained the Ghostly Galleon and Ron mentioned that the only place he’d ever seen one was in the back room of the twins’ shop. “Perfect then,” Harry said casually, and whacked Ron on the back. “Break in and get it will you?” Ron spluttered. “What? Are you mental? I gotta break into their shop?” “I don’t see any other way of doing this,” Ginny said seriously. Ron huffed and puffed for a time, but finally gave in and Disapparated. Ginny led Harry by the hand to the kitchen window. Through it, they could see George forlornly staring again at the photo. Ginny sighed quietly. “Harry…” she said, her voice rising with sudden excitement. “What?” “That’s it!” Ginny hissed. “Polyjuice and the Ghostly Galleon. A perfect Fred ghost.” Harry let go of her hand. Ginny, surprised, turned to look at him. He looked horrified. Ginny raised an eyebrow. Harry put his hands out in front of him. “There’s no way I’m digging up…” he started to say. Ginny reached out and slapped his arm. “No, stupid, we just need a bit of George’s hair, they are twins, idiot.” She snorted and Harry had the good grace to look relived. They stood at the window a bit longer. “Okay Harry, if you can distract him, I’ll get one of his hairs.” Harry sighed. “Never mind that, where are we going to get Polyjuice? You wanted this done by Christmas and it’s way too late to brew that kind of potion.” Ginny already had her hand on the door handle. She turned and gave him a playful smile. “You’ll think of a way, you’re Harry Potter after all.” She went in then, and Harry sighed and followed. - Ron sat on his bed, quietly contemplating the fake Galleon in his hand, when Hermione suddenly appeared in the middle of the room with a soft ‘pop’. “You got it then,” she said quietly. Before Ron could ask her how she knew about the coin, Hermione dropped a roll of parchment into his lap. “I did what I could.” Ron looked at the list and grinned. “This might turn out to be a Happy Christmas after all,” he said softly. “How do you manage these things?” Hermione didn’t blush or stammer. She smiled. “I have ways, Mister Weasley.” “I know you do.” No one spoke in the room for a good while after that. - “George?” Ginny said softly, kneeling in front of him and putting her hands on his. George looked up at her, eyes full of tears, as was the norm for him now. “George, I want to ask you if you’ll do something with me.” He looked at her quizzically. “Come have a Quidditch match with us?” Ginny said softly. George snorted. “Why?” Ginny could barely hear him. “It’s Christmas, George, and we miss…” she was cut off by George’s yelp of pain. George felt around the back of his head while turning around. “What the-“ Nothing and no one was there. He turned back around slowly. It took quite some sweet talking by Ginny, but George eventually agreed to play a nice quiet game of Quidditch the next Saturday. - Harry sighed. “Look Ginny, he isn’t going to believe it if I’m not there playing Seeker, or Ron playing Keeper.” Ginny grinned at him. “What?” “You’ll see.” Ginny said confidently. “You ready? I still can’t believe Professor Slughorn gave you that Polyjuice.” Harry smiled at that. “I’ve talked him out of much worse, believe me.” He opened the bottle and dropped in the single red hair, the potion swirled red and green. “Where are Ron and Hermione?” Ginny straightened the special robes Harry had on. “Ron is out on the pitch and Hermione is finishing up the charms I think.” Harry nodded. “I can’t believe everyone came.” She smiled. “If you mess this up, Potter, you’re a dead man.” Harry grimaced, and it wasn’t just because of the potion he’d just swallowed. “I know,” he said in a Weasley twin voice. “Where’s the coin?” Ginny handed it to him without a word. “Well, there’s no backing out now, is there?” She shook her head at him. Harry smiled. “Get out there and get him ready, then.” - George stood sullenly in the ready room of the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch. “This is stupid,” he said to no one in particular, as no one in particular was in the room with him. He wore his old Gryffindor Quidditch uniform at Ginny’s request. He just wanted to go home and be alone again. But the look in Ginny’s eyes, he couldn’t refuse that. “This is stupid,” he said aloud again. “No it isn’t!” Ginny appeared from around the corner. George looked up at her. She was wearing a uniform as well. “You manage to talk Slytherin into playing too?” Ginny smiled, it was probably the most amusing thing she’d heard him say in nearly a year. “No, but I got us a real match.” “Yeah, I wondered about that, sounds like a lot of people out there.” “And in here, too, Weasley.” Oliver Wood stepped into the room, scarlet robes on and broom in hand. George barely had time to register surprise when his eyes lit on Angelina, Katie, and Alicia. He hid his grin, but not quickly enough. “I saw that,” Ginny muttered. George gave her a playful look. Ginny’s spirits were already soaring. “We’re short a Beater,” George pointed out. “And a Seeker. Where’s your boyfriend, Gin?” Ginny shrugged, and George raised an eyebrow, but behind his old teammates appeared Charlie. He had on the scarlet Gryffindor robes as well and beamed at George when he came in. “Alright there, George?” George opened his mouth to point out Merlin knows what, but Ginny cut him off. “It’s not a serious game really, we only need one Beater.” George shrugged but had a half smile on as his teammates hugged him one by one. Soon, Wood got the old glazed look in his eye and it was all George could do not to laugh. Ginny put an arm around his waist. “I’m the Seeker today, silly.” He looked down at her and nodded. “Happy Christmas, George.” Leaving a confused brother to fumble with his broom, Ginny led the newly reformed Gryffindor Quidditch team out onto the pitch. Lee Jordan’s voice boomed through the stadium, and Ginny didn’t have to turn around to see George’s grin. - It turned out to be a tight match. George had initially been surprised to see the opposing team, also all Gryffindors, but wearing black. “Turns out old Neville is a fair chaser,” he said to himself with amusement. Ron was Keeping for the other team, and little Dennis Creevey was happily exchanging Bludger blows with George. He was so enthusiastic that George suddenly had to pay attention; all the other players were playing quite seriously. Some time into the game, Ginny swooped by George and asked if he was alright. George was so preoccupied with keeping little Dennis busy that he only had time to blurt out something about being able to use some help. “Dear brother, you had only to ask!” A white, semi-transparent Fred Weasley took a swipe at the Bludger heading toward George and sent it careening toward Neville Longbottom, who nearly didn’t move fast enough. George was stopped still on his broom, gaping at the ghost of his twin. He noticed that the rest of the players on the pitch didn’t seem to react at all to Fred. “What the bloody-“ Fred waved his Beater’s bat. “Tsk, tsk, brother mine, such language on the Quidditch pitch.” He smiled and winked. George could only stare. “You aren’t….you can’t…it’s not…” George saw a glint of gold in the ghost’s hand. With a sudden smile he pulled his broom over to the ghostly figure. “We best finish this match off then. All I want to do is curse.” With a laugh he dove back into the fray. Harry hung back, a bit puzzled, but not about to question George’s spirits. Soon enough the match was over, and no one remembered the score, no one cared really. “Fred’s Ghost” had set up a small stand in the middle of the pitch while George and all his old school friends wandered and chatted aimlessly. Eventually, Harry was selling the younger kids some Weasley products from some boxes Ron had recovered from the shop. George slid silently into place beside him and Harry didn’t notice. Two young friends of Dennis Creevey stood bickering about who would buy which sweet and were holding up the small line. George couldn’t help himself. “Look little midgets. Our time is Galleons. Either buy something or get out.” Harry stood up straight and turned slightly to face George. “A bit harsh brother of mine-“ “But it has to be done-“ “Or else-“ “Not all of the-“ “Children will have-“ “Their fun.” Ginny, standing a short ways distant, wanted to stand and applaud Harry loudly, but refrained. Instead, she burst into tears. George only grinned and pointed his wand at Harry, who flinched instinctively. “Accio Ghostly Galleon,” George said quietly, and the fake coin flew from Harry’s hand. He stood quietly, smiling at Harry. “How long until it wears off?” “A few seconds,” Harry said softly. After Harry had turned back into himself, George turned to his sister. “I have just one question.” Ginny nodded. “What was the look on my face when I stopped my broom to stare at this little impersonating git?” “Priceless!” screamed the crowd of friends and family around George. Harry chuckled. Ginny smiled, and George laughed loudly. - A few days later, at the Burrow, George held the photo in his hands again. He smiled at the likeness of Fred. “They put a lot of effort into that, Fred. Getting the warming charms on the pitch, finding all of our friends…getting me out there.” He chuckled softly. “It’s good we never let Harry work at the shop, he let’s people haggle him down way too easy.” George was quiet for a minute. “I’m proud of Ginny. I’ll do my best to be a good brother for her like we used to, Fred. I know you would have wanted to be here to see when she finally claimed young Harry as her own. The day is surely coming.” He grinned. “You probably have a better vantage point than I do anyway.” Tears started to flow down George’s cheeks. “I miss you Fred. It hurts a lot. I’ll do what I can to move on with my life. Those youngsters came close, but they didn’t quite pull off…well, the ultimate prank.” He put the photo back on the mantle. “But I’ll make sure that soon, they see just what that means.” He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. Making his way up the stairs, George made sure to apply some Wild Hair Powder to Ginny’s door knob, some Everlasting Glue to the floor outside Ron’s room, and a Dungbomb Cluster to the top of the door to Percy’s room, where he knew Harry was staying. Satisfied, he made his way to bed. |
| Reviews 8 |
|
