Ethereal ✭Fred Weasley✭

107.

Progressively, Fred began to pull himself out of his silent depression. Whether it was from dyeing his hair and looking strikingly different from his twin or from finally accepting the situation, he seemed to be slowly becoming his old self again. Sophia was relieved from this and even found that she was becoming happier with herself and life in general. The nightmares had limited to at least one every month and weren't nearly as vicious as they used to be. Her father would only stare at her from down the hallway in the dream, but it was still chilling and unpleasant to wake up from.

The shop downstairs was due to reopen in a week and Sophia could see Fred was excited as well as nervous. Diagon Alley definitely needed its joke shop back and a grand reopening will surely ignite its magic again. He had developed lots of new products and buzzed at the thought of people clearing shelves in the first day of its opening. But there was still the worry and dread that he couldn't shake. He felt like he was somehow leaving George out. Was it betrayal to continue the shop without one of its owners? Surely George would have had an input on products and developments for the new store. He was always the mastermind behind how things came together and succeed in their purpose. Fred was the one to think of the idea and George would be one to make it come to life. He had to learn to do both now and wasn't sure if his customers would like his new take on items. He felt less confident without George.

"How do you think your mum's gonna react when she sees your hair?" Sophia questioned as she pulled on her jacket.

"She'll go mental," Fred answered, running a hand through his brown hair. "Is it that bad?"

"No, I love it actually," she reassured and moved to stand in front of him, cupping his jaw with her hands. "You look cute."

"Manly?" he asked hopefully and Sophia giggled.

"Very manly."

Standing on her toes, Sophia connected her lips with his and felt Fred's hands slide to rest on her hips. They kissed for a moment before pulling away slowly and staring at each other lovingly. The past year had been tough and they were glad that they were able to spend it together. They spent every waking moment in each other's company and they wouldn't have it any other way (besides the obvious person Fred longed to have by his side again). They still wore their promise/wedding rings every day and slept in the same bed every night. They cooked in the kitchen and cuddled on the sofa, going to and from The Burrow still with their hands entwined. Things in the Wizarding world still took time to rebuild, but their love hadn't faltered for even a moment during those dark times.

"Shall we then?" Sophia suggested still standing on her toes.

"We shall," Fred held up his wand and beamed down at her, whisking his wand and made them disappear with a soft 'pop!'.

Landing at the fence around The Burrow, Sophia stepped away from Fred and felt a strange sensation in her stomach. It made her look oddly down to her middle section and put her hands to her torso, feeling the skin underneath her shirt and searching for anything out of the ordinary. Fred noticed this immediately and switched his gaze from her face to her stomach where her hands rested.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know I just... it just felt odd for second..." she replied vaguely and looked worriedly up at Fred. "I've never felt something like that when apparating before."

"Maybe you're just tired. You did have a nightmare last night," Fred explained and Sophia hummed, unconvinced. She had gotten used to the uncomfortable stretching and nauseous feeling that comes with apparating, but never had she felt something like this. She could barely explain it.

None the less, the two went through the gate and walked along the path that split the field into two sections. The Burrow had been built again with its old attachments and looked just like how it used to. The loft still had its ghoul and the house still had its homemade and warm esque. And The Burrow wouldn't be complete without Molly Weasley standing in the doorway waiting for her son and daughter-in-law to arrive for their monthly visit. But her jaw dropped and her eyes widened once she caught sight of the brunette that stood next to the girl.