GEORGE:

The world was well and truly ending.

It had been hurtling toward destruction for years. Decades, even. In the taxi, when Lucy had introduced herself with a fictional name, Fred and I had introduced ourselves by our middle names, but they were more than that. We were named after our uncles who had died in the first war. We were Fred Gideon and George Fabian. I was George Fabian Weasley, always half and never whole. Always second and never first. Second twin, second war. Second, second. The brokenness of the world stretched far beyond me, stretched far beyond the moment the fear of losing Lucy was suddenly a tangible reality rather than just a shadow always lurking in the darkest corners of my imagination.

Maybe the world had been ending since the day it was created. After all, the basilisk had been living under the school since its inception. Maybe the whole wizarding world had always been doomed to fall.

I would let it fall if it meant I could keep the people I loved close and safe.

But that wasn't a choice I had. Ron and Lucy and Harry and Hermione were leaving Merlin-knew-when to go Merlin-knew-where and do Merlin-knew-what. I knew I'd do everything in my power to either stop them or join them, but, well, Lucy had always been one step of me. One step ahead of everyone. She saw possibilities where the rest of us didn't. She anticipated problems the rest of us never considered. Lucy had spent her entire life overcoming obstacles, and as much as I didn't want to become just another obstacle for her to clear out of her way, I couldn't just let her go either.

At the same time, if they really were going to leave, far be it from me to be a hindrance when I could be a helper.

"What do you need?" I asked Lucy during our lunch break that day.

She looked up from her salad, surprised. "What?"

"You've been looking contemplative all day," I continued, "and I'm guessing that's because you're thinking about your little... what should I call it? Journey? Quest? Race? Treasure hunt? Vacation?"

"Vacation?" she repeated with a snort.

"Well, yes, any time you're not at school is a vacation," Fred remarked. "I'm personally very pleased with the fact that I'm going to be on vacation for the rest of my life."

"You can call it a quest, if you're insisting on naming it," Lucy said, smiling a bit.

"Right, so what do you need for your quest?" I asked. "Anything you need from us is yours. If you need supplies from anywhere in Diagon Alley or Muggle London, just say the word and we can go on a little shopping trip. And your magical prowess far surpasses ours at this point, but if there are any spells that we happen to know that you don't, say the word and we can reinstate the little magical lessons we used to give you."

Lucy's smile widened even as her eyes got sadder. "I love you. You know, I never learned how to do an Undetectable Extension Charm. Reckon you could teach me?"

"It would be an honor, our brave questing Cub," Fred replied.

I nodded emphatically. "Good thinking. Comes in handy for a lot, not just bags. I'm surprised we never got around to teaching you that one. We can work on that tonight."

"What about the Mario Kart Daydream Charm?" Lucy asked.

"Wouldn't you rather prepare to save the world?" Fred replied.

Lucy looked disappointed as she fell silent.

"Tell you what," I said. "We keep working on the Daydream Charm every night before we fall asleep in the hopes that one of us has a usable dream. You've said before that Mario Kart has a way of helping you forget everything else in the world. You can prepare all you want during the day, you don't have to help us in the shop if you'd rather focus more on preparation now that you've told us, but every night until you... until you leave... we devote ourselves wholly to that damn Mario Kart Daydream Charm. Deal?"

A flicker of joy sparked to life in Lucy's eyes. "Deal."

And so, that night, once Lucy had mastered the Undetectable Extension Charm, we congregated on the sofa-turned-bed in our pajamas and locked our eyes onto the television. She suggested that we all play that night, so that the experience was as immersive as possible and therefore more likely to result in a vivid dream. She was, unsurprisingly, the first to fall asleep, giving Fred and I a chance to talk properly for the first time all day.

"I don't want to think about the fact that an unknown number of days from now, we won't know where they are," I whispered as I glanced down at Lucy's sleeping form, wedged in between us.

"Don't think about it, then," Fred whispered back. "Think about what we can do now, before they leave, to make sure they come back to us. No point missing her before she's gone."

I nodded, stretching out beside her and closing my eyes. "No point staying awake worrying about it when I could be dreaming about Mario Kart instead."

"Can't argue with that," Fred muttered, and I heard him settle down on Lucy's other side.

I wrapped a protective arm around Lucy's shoulders and fell asleep what felt like mere seconds later. It felt like I'd only been asleep for a couple of seconds when someone spoke.

I opened my eyes and looked around for a moment before I realized it was Lucy who was talking. Her eyes were closed, and her voice was so soft it was a surprise it had woken me up, deep sleeper that I usually was, but the words were clearly distinguishable anyway.

"I miss you."

I sucked in a sharp breath. I glanced over at Fred to see if he was awake and hearing this too, but he wasn't looking at me. His eyes were locked on Lucy.

"Who are you talking to?" he asked softly.

"They needed to know, even though they're far away," Lucy replied.

"Who?" Fred pressed, but a minute passed, and she didn't speak again.

"What was that about?" I whispered.

Fred shrugged. "How much did you hear?"

"The first words I heard were 'I miss you,' so I just assumed she was dreaming about Cedric."

"I'm not so sure." Fred stared at Lucy. "I was still awake when she started talking. The only thing she said before 'I miss you' was 'I'll find one of you, one way or another.' Any guesses what that's about?"

"I've never gotten the sense she misses her parents much, so not that. Tuck, maybe?"

"Maybe," Fred replied, resting his head back down on his arms and closing his eyes.

I followed suit as I wondered who exactly wanted to find. Maybe that was their quest, to go find a way to bring someone back from the dead.

I banished the idea as soon as it crossed my mind. Nobody could ever come back from the dead. It would be fool's errand to try to save what was already lost. No amount of hope could go against the will of nature or magic.

🩵💛❤️💜🩷

HENRY:

Early Friday morning, I bumbling about in the kitchen searching for the place Archie had left the oats when the fireplace started talking.

"Henry? Are you awake by any chance?"

I rushed over to the fireplace to see the likeness of Lucy's head dancing in green flame. "Lucy? Are you alright?"

She hesitated, but nodded.

"Need to talk?"

She didn't hesitate before she nodded that time.

"Do you want to come here, or do you want me to go over there?"

"Either way," she said.

"I'm on my way," I replied. "I was planning on heading over this morning anyway. Stand back, I'd hate to crush you when I arrive."

A smile flickered across her face right before she disappeared from view. I tossed my Floo powder into the fireplace and was soon standing in the kitchen of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Lucy was sitting at the kitchen table, wrapped in a blanket and nursing a mug of hot chocolate.

"Sorry for bothering you so early on a Friday morning," she said sheepishly.

"Nonsense, you're never a bother and I was awake anyway," I replied as I sat down too. "What's wrong?"

A silencing spell cracked into place with a wave of her hand.

"I had a dream about Cedric last night. And about Claire, my sister, she was there too. It wasn't a long dream, they were both just there... little Cedric and little Claire. I think maybe I was little too, in the dream. Anyway — there's no one who can really help with the part of me that misses Claire, but, well..." She dropped the silencing spell. "I was hoping maybe seeing you would make the part of me that misses Cedric feel a little less alone."

"You're not alone in that, I promise," I replied. I drummed my fingers against the table as I tried to think of a Cedric story to tell her.

"You said you were planning on coming over anyway?" Lucy asked before I could think of anything.

"Oh! Yes, I was. Well, I remember making you an offer over winter holiday concerning a certain Friday night activity — "

"Is it Friday already?" Lucy massaged her forehead. "Where has this week gone? Wait — " Her eyes snapped to mine. "I turned 17, I'm of age now."

I grinned. "I can pick you up after practice, if you'd like to go out for a drink with Alasdair and me tonight."

"Yes, absolutely, what time do I need to be ready?" she asked, sitting up straight in her chair and shedding the blanket around her shoulders.

"7:00. We won't be out too late, with the wedding tomorrow, but if you're in the mood for a drink — "

"I am. I will be. Trust me. Merlin, if only Cedric could come with us."

"If there was ever a time for an osprey to appear..."

Lucy laughed. "Imagine us, just enjoying our drinks, suddenly interrupted by an osprey flying through the bar and crashing directly into a shelf full of liquor bottles."

"That would be brilliant," I said, laughing too. I sobered up quickly, though. "Do you think it's really him?"

"Merlin, I hope not," she whispered.

I cocked my head. "You hope not?"

"I hope he's in a far happier place than this one. I hope he hasn't been watching all of the heartaches and failures of the past two years, helpless. You know how much he hated to be helpless."

"Yeah," I said after a moment. "At the same time, though, you know how much he always wanted to be there when people were hurting, even if he couldn't help. He hated not being able to help, but even more than that, he hated not getting the chance to even try."

Lucy nodded. "Yeah. You're right. Whether it's him or not, it's comforting in a sense. Thinking maybe it is."

"I would love to have an osprey fly directly into my glass tonight," I said. "You know what — " I tilted my face upwards. "Ced, if it's really you and you're hearing this, turn into an osprey and fly into the bar. Then we'd believe it's you beyond a shadow of a doubt."

Lucy laughed so loud it summoned Fred, who blinked in surprise.

"Good morning, Furls," he said. "If you'd like to see your boyfriend, he's snoring quite loudly in the den."

"The den?" I echoed, confused.

"Oh, right, you haven't properly visited since we started working on the Mario Kart Daydream Charm," Fred commented.

"The what? That's — a stroke of genius," I said. "Have you told Archie about it yet?"

"No, we haven't gotten the chance," Lucy replied, pouting.

"We were here on Wednesday! You could have mentioned it then!" I protested.

Lucy shook her head. "That damn wedding invitation distracted us from making the necessary important announcements."

"Speaking of, are you sure you don't want to go, Lucy?" I asked. "I reckon George would love to bring you along as a date again. Maybe the second time will get Harry's attention."

"Why would he bring me when he has a perfectly good boyfriend he can bring instead?" she replied incredulously.

"I'm not sure if he's — " I cleared my throat, reddening. "I don't know if he's ready to make it such public knowledge yet."

"Well, you won't know if you don't ask," Lucy said, poking my arm. "I trust you to ask him without making him feel pressured to agree to anything he's not actually ready for. Sometimes George needs a little push in order to realize the boundaries of his comfort zone have been expanded when he wasn't paying attention."

Fred pressed a hand to his chest in mock surprise. "George? Not paying attention? No, surely you jest. This is only the man who didn't realize he fancied blokes until he blurted it out while sitting next to the bloke he fancied, shocking himself in the process."

"So try asking him." Lucy poked my arm more insistently. "I'm going to the Burrow for the day tomorrow anyway, I need to talk to Ron and Hermione."

"Don't forget Ginny's going to be there too," Fred commented.

Lucy paled. "Oh shit. She doesn't know yet."

"Know what?" I asked.

Fred glanced at Lucy, who nodded.

"Ah, you mean you didn't hear that the famous Quintessential Quirky Quartet is running off to save the world?" Fred inquired. It sounded like a joke, but I knew better.

"Er, no, hadn't heard," I said.

"Oh, you make it sound so dramatic," Lucy huffed, with a joking grin on her face that I knew was far from actually joking. "We just decided to take a page out of your book and drop out of school to pursue other career options. It's really not that big of a deal. Anyway, we're trying not to advertise it, but we aren't heading back to school next year. Dumbledore left something for Harry to do and I'll be damned if I let him do it alone."

I nodded slowly, trying to process everything I'd just heard. "Well, good luck saving the world. You know where to find me if you need any help."

"Thanks, Henry." Lucy smiled, more sincerely. "Now go talk to your boyfriend about tomorrow, he needs to be awake anyway if he wants to be a functional human being by the time the shop opens."

"Alright, alright," I said with a half-smile as I got up to do exactly that.

🩵💛❤️💜🩷

GEORGE:

"Good mooooorning!" someone said rather loudly into my right ear.

I jerked awake and stared at Henry for a long moment while my eyes adjusted to the darkness. "Hi. Good morning. You're here. It's lovely that you're here. Where is here?"

"You fell asleep in the den," Henry replied with a smile. "Something about a Mario Kart Daydream Charm, which was news to me."

"Lucy's idea, Lucy's brilliant brilliant idea," I said. I stretched like a cat, ironically, then rolled onto my back to stare at Henry more easily. "Hi. Good morning. Did you come just to say good morning to me?"

Henry grinned. "It was part of my motivation for coming over at this hour of the day, yes. I invited Lucy to join Alasdair and me for drinks as well, then she sent me in here to ask you about tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow? It's been a rather unusual week," I explained as I interlocked my fingers with Henry's.

"The wedding," Henry said, looking a bit nervous. "I — er — I was wondering if you wanted to go together tomorrow. As in... together together. It's perfectly alright if you don't, it won't hurt my feelings, but, well, seeing as Lucy's not going to be there and she's historically been your date of choice, I thought maybe, well, maybe you'd still like to have a date."

"I would like that," I replied. I nodded, smiling. "Yeah. I think I'm ready. I mean, everyone will be so flummoxed by the fact that they're watching Remus and Tonks get married that they won't have time to think twice about the fact that we're, I don't know, wearing matching purple dress robes? How exactly does one go to a wedding together together?"

"Oh, Merlin, no, please, not matching purple dress robes," Henry said with a laugh.

"You're right, it would be unfair to only wear my color. I could wear yellow dress robes if you'd prefer," I offered quickly, chasing the sound of that laughter with everything I was worth. "You could have the purple ones all to yourself. You could wear my color and I could wear yours, so we're both represented! Ooh, or, better yet, we could wear matching purple and yellow striped dress robes! Then we can still match and have both of our colors proudly present!"

"If you try to charm my dress robes to be yellow and purple, I swear to Merlin I will take Fred as my date instead," Henry threatened even as he laughed.

I gasped. "You would dare be seen in public on the arm of the less handsome twin? I am offended, Henry Furls!"

Henry, however, merely smiled. "You'd want me on your arm?"

"Well, yeah." I pushed myself up so I could properly look at him. "You're my boyfriend. If we're going to go together together, we might as well do it properly. Even without yellow and purple striped dress robes."

"Might I convince you to compromise on yellow and purple striped ties?" Henry asked. "We could match."

I held out my hand for him to shake. "You've got yourself a deal, Mr. Furls. My offer to charm your dress robes is still very much on the table, though."

"Noted," he replied as he shook my hand heartily. "Pleasure doing business with you, but I do believe you have a shop to open. I'll be back tonight to steal your darling Lucy for a couple of hours, but I promise to return her in perfect condition."

"I expect you'll have to tie a string around her," I said.

Henry cocked his head. "What?"

"She's going to be so excited about meeting Alasdair Maddock she's just going to start floating off the ground and into outer space if she's not tethered somehow. You'll be dragging her back like a child with a balloon, except Lucy will be the balloon."

"Like Harry's Aunt Marge?" Lucy squawked indignantly from the other side of the door. "I'm offended, George Weasley!"

"Like what?" Henry squawked back.

There was the sound of a chair violently screeching across the floor, and Lucy appeared in the doorway seconds later, explaining with a great deal of fervor the Aunt Marge Incident of 1993. I slipped away to go get ready for the day, giddiness and anxiety alike tying a knot in my stomach at the thought of going together with Henry to the wedding the following day. Together together.

I was ready, I knew I was. I didn't expect it to go poorly, necessarily, but I wasn't sure what to expect either. Mum had never particularly minded Bill's long, excited stories about Myron Wagtail when he was in school. Looking back, it was quite obvious to me, if no one else, that Bill had fancied him, but, then again, who could blame him? Myron ended up becoming a rockstar, the lead singer of The Weird Sisters. If anything, Mum was more openly fond of Myron than of Fleur, and Fleur was the woman Bill would be marrying in a couple short weeks, so I was quite sure I didn't need to worry about anything. Mum and Dad loved Henry. Everyone loved Henry. For all I knew, they might have already known or at least suspected something was going on between us, the way they always insisted on including him in as many family events as he was able and willing to attend.

At the same time, the thought of being authentically myself in that sense for the first time was oddly terrifying. I was a Weasley twin, for Merlin's sake, I was no stranger to being at least one half of the center of attention. But maybe that was part of why I was so scared. I wouldn't have Fred by my side the following day. I wouldn't be half of Fred And George. I would be George, with Henry. Fred would be there, sure, and I knew he would be first to defend me if someone said or did something awful, but, well, for the first time in a long time, possibly ever, I would stand out as an individual.

I had gotten used to being an individual in small doses, with Lucy first and then with Henry. They were the only two people other than Fred, who had no choice, who really consistently treated me like George rather than And George, and it meant more to me than they could ever know that they did their best to make me feel like I was more than just the other half of Fred, but, well, I didn't mind being And George either. For all of my branding and bravado, I was never terribly confident in myself, individually, ever. Lucy and Henry made me want to be brave, which is why I had said yes to Henry's inquiry, but I was scared all the same. Being And George rather than George felt safer. Fred was braver than I'd ever been or ever would be.

Well... maybe not ever would be. I supposed I'd find out at the wedding just how bravely and authentically me I could be.

At least one of us would be brave and authentic. I, like the others, still was not entirely convinced Remus was truly in love with Tonks, at least not to the same extent she was in love with him.

I sighed once I got to my bedroom and started changing into my uniform. Purple, overwhelmingly purple, held together by a sky blue vest and completed with an orange tie. Held together by Lucy, completed by Fred. Rather symbolic, that.

🩵💛❤️💜🩷

HENRY:

After practice, in the locker room, I walked up behind Alasdair and clapped him on the shoulder.

"My little friend said she could come along tonight," I said.

Alasdair grinned. "The only Chaser the great Henry Furls truly fears?"

"That's the one," I confirmed with a nod. "Same time, same place?"

"See you then and there!" Alasdair said cheerfully, waving at me as I left.

To my surprise, Archie was waiting outside the stadium, staring down at the ground with a cigarette between his fingers and a bunnet pulled low over his face to hide the scar. I might not have recognized him at all if not for the telltale ponytail of curly hair cascading over the collar of his shirt.

"Er — hi," I said as I approached him. "Not that I'm complaining about seeing you, but is there a reason you've come to pick me up?"

Archie looked up at me and nodded. "Apparating and the Floo network have been compromised. I came to warn you before you went home."

"Compromised? How? Wait, I've got to go warn Alasdair — "

"No. It's recent Order information. You can tell him tonight if you must. Telling him now will only make him look more suspicious."

"How did we find out? Is everyone okay?"

"We didn't find out the hard way, if that's what you're asking," Archie replied, dropping his cigarette, grinding it under his heel, and vanishing it with a flick of his wand. "There was just a suspicious amount of shuffling going on in the Ministry. The Death Eaters planted a few choice people in the Department of Magical Transportation to keep an eye on everyone. We doubt that you've raised any suspicions directly, but you were with us in the Department of Mysteries so it can't hurt to be careful."

"How recently was this? I Flooed over to the joke shop this morning, and Lucy used the Floo network too — "

"She's okay. Mad-Eye paid the joke shop a visit to warn them. Anyway, we're supposed to keep apparating and using the Floo network, just so they don't know for a fact that we've caught on, but never for anything important and never to our actual destinations. Just apparate somewhere close and walk from there, until someone thinks of something better. Remus is working on making Portkeys for everyone for the wedding tomorrow, those aren't compromised... yet."

"Thanks for the warning," I said. I sighed. "I bloody hate apparating."

"I know. That's the other reason I came. Hold on."

Archie grabbed my arm, and, without warning, I was suddenly standing in an unfamiliar alleyway.

"We're three blocks away from your flat," Archie said in response to my unspoken question. "I'm going to go warn Cam's family. I'll be at the wedding tomorrow, don't be alarmed if you don't see me before then."

Before I could offer a single word of reply, Archie disapparated again, leaving me alone in the alleyway. I shook my head, grinning, before setting off on my suddenly-longer walk back home. A short while later, I summoned my courage and apparated to Diagon Alley, just outside the joke shop, managing only barely to land on my feet.

The shop was closed, but the door opened for me as I approached, and with the open door came the sound of Lucy's laughter.

"Nice landing," she called.

"Thanks, it was one of my better ones, believe it or not," I replied sheepishly as I walked inside. Lucy was sitting on the stairs, balancing a book on her knees and surrounded by floating scraps of parchment. "If you don't mind my asking, what on earth are you doing?"

"Trying to translate these runes that are apparently even more ancient than the ancient runes I've studied the past six years," she muttered. She jabbed the book with the tip of her wand, and a second later, one of the pieces of parchment began to glow. Lucy turned to stare at it for a long second before sighing. "That doesn't make any sense. They look nothing alike." She sighed and shoved the book into the backpack at her feet, snatching the scraps of parchment out of the air and shoving those in as well. She bounced to her feet, smiling. "Anyway, that can wait. Are we apparating or walking?"

"Walking," I replied immediately.

Lucy grinned. "Because it's close, or because you hate apparating?"

"Both. I really don't know how you apparate so effortlessly."

"I might have an unfair magical advantage, being a werewolf and all," she admitted with a shrug. She turned around and cupped her hands over her mouth. "I'M HEADING OUT WITH HENRY! BE BACK SOON!"

"BE SAFE, LOVE YOU BOTH!" Fred shouted from the back room.

"LOVE YOU TOO!" Lucy and I shouted back in unison.

"So how was practice?" Lucy asked as we stepped out into the London dusk.

"Strange, but there's nothing unusual about that," I replied. "McLeod hasn't been the same since the attack at the match. We only have two or three practices a week now, and they're all only a couple of hours. He's just as cruel as always when he's yelling at us, but he doesn't seem as obsessed with winning as he used to be. Someone showed up ten minutes late to practice the other day and he wasn't even mad. He just asked why, and when he said it was because his girlfriend held him up, McLeod just ridiculed him endlessly by asking him how he managed to convince a girl he was worthy of the air he breathes, rather than berating him for actually being late like he would have just a couple months ago."

"So he's just mean for the sake of being mean these days instead of trying to abuse you all into being successful Quidditch players?" Lucy asked.

I nodded. "Yes, I suppose."

"Merlin, it was bad enough when he had a somewhat-understandable motive. Our offer to commit arson or get his wife to commit adultery still stands."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," I said with a chuckle. I glanced at Lucy out of the corner of my eye, and, noticing she looked nervous, asked, "How's the Mario Kart Daydream Charm coming along?"

Lucy sighed. "It's not, yet. We still have no idea how to make it work, since we made our other Daydream Charms with memories but Mario Kart exists only in the TV..."

With that, Lucy was off and rambling just as I'd hoped, thinking out loud as she talked with her hands all the way to the place where we were meeting Alasdair. She seemed to forget her nervousness entirely, as she kept talking until she spotted Alasdair across the room. She froze, eyes going wide.

I grinned and nudged her shoulder. "Go on, he doesn't bite."

"Yeah, well, I do," she muttered.

I rolled my eyes. "Are you going to go over there, or am I going to have to push you?"

"You don't have to — "

"Ah, there he is!" I said loudly, steering Lucy by the shoulder as I strode over to Alasdair.

He turned to face us with a smile. "Aw, did you shower after practice just for little old me?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Maddock, I showered for Lucy's sake. She's delicate."

"I am not!" Lucy protested.

Alasdair extended a hand. "Alasdair Maddock. Nice to meet you."

Lucy returned the handshake, and I knew she must have been blushing violently under the makeup that hid her scars. "I very much know who you are, but it's nice of you to introduce yourself anyway. I'm Lucy Diggory."

"And I very much know who you are," he replied, grinning at Lucy as she sat in between us. "Delicate, my arse. You got in between a Bludger and a Chaser and stayed on your broom long enough to congratulate your team on winning. It was one of the most impressive moments in Quidditch I've ever seen."

"Seen?" Lucy squeaked.

Alasdair nodded. "I was there, up in the commentary box. I wanted to talk to you after the match, but, well, I heard you were busy possibly regrowing bones so I figured I'd take a rain check."

Lucy hid her face in her hands. "Bloody hell, of all the matches for you to see — "

"Hey, you won!" I reminded her. "And, really, I mean you won, the team wouldn't have done it without you."

"Yeah!" Alasdair agreed. "I don't know what you're on about, really, it was a rather entertaining match. The girl who did the commentary was hilarious, you stopped Harry Potter from becoming the Boy Who Died Plummeting to the Ground After Getting Bludger-ed in the Head by His Own Teammate instead of the Boy Who Lived, you nearly snapped a bloke's hand off, and you used yourself as a human shield and lived to tell the tale. And you won. I can't think of a more interesting match for me to have attended, as far as school matches go anyway. That would have been rather typical for a professional match, except for the part where the Keeper stole your bat. That was a new one."

"I don't know about more interesting," Lucy said slowly, "but I've had more than my fair share of unconventional Quidditch matches. Has Henry ever told you about the time dementors swarmed the Quidditch Pitch?"

"I swear to Merlin, that school gets crazier every year," Alasdair commented.

Lucy snorted. "Tell me about it."

"No, actually, I'd prefer it if you told me about it," Alasdair said.

"If you insist," Lucy said with a shy smile. "Well, truthfully, the first crazy match in my school career happened my second year, when a professor removed all of the bones from Harry's arm then blinded me for a month in an attempt to fix my broken nose — "

"WHAT?"

Little by little, Lucy started to emerge from her shell and come to life, emboldened by Alasdair's enthusiastic support of her Quidditch stories and his willingness to share stories from his own most notable matches. Once Lucy was properly comfortable, they began talking in a way only Chasers truly can, about this maneuver and that play and this famous Chaser and that infamous Keeper. Then Alasdair wanted to know about what it was like to switch from Chaser to Beater, and he listened with genuinely rapt attention as Lucy did her best to explain how exactly the roles and responsibilities were different and which of her Chaser skills she could carry with her and which she had to modify to better suit her new position. I remembered all too well that he'd listened to me with similar intensity when he'd found out that I favored Chaser as a child before switching to Keeper as a student, thanks to Cedric's encouragement. It had been a relatively short conversation, though, since I'd been playing Keeper for the entirety of my proper Quidditch career, from second year on. Lucy, on the other hand, had several years of Chaser experience and could have talked for hours if she hadn't started looking sleepier and sleepier as the night progressed.

When the time came to go our separate ways before Lucy fell asleep at the bar, Alasdair said in no uncertain terms that he wanted to spend time with us, both of us, again as soon as possible and that if I had any pictures from any of the wild Hogwarts Quidditch matches we'd described, he would love to see every last one. He told Lucy that he thought she was one of the coolest people he'd ever met, to which Lucy replied that it was a high compliment coming from her brother's favorite Quidditch player. Despite George's warning, Lucy did not start levitating off of the ground when we started our walk back to the joke shop, but she might as well have been physically glowing with how much she was smiling.

"He was really cool," she said, beaming.

"He thinks you're really cool," I replied. "And for the record, so do I. Lots of people do, in fact."

Lucy giggled. "Well, I suppose, but there are an awful lot of people who think I shouldn't exist."

"They're wrong," I said simply.

"This is why everyone thinks you're really cool," Lucy said, still giggling.

I snorted. "You're tipsy, Lu."

"No. No no no." Lucy shook her head, froze, blinked, then shook her head again. "Maybe a little, but you're going to listen to me anyway because I am being sincere. Everyone thinks you're really cool because you are kind. Kind people do not get enough credit in this world." Lucy stopped and turned to me, appearing to sober up in an instant as her gaze intensified. "I need you to promise me something."

"Anything," I replied.

"Please promise me that no matter what happens, you'll keep trying to be kind. I've always wanted to be kind, but I've never succeeded quite as much as you. I need — I need to know that there is someone left in this world who is unfailingly kind even when everyone else fails."

"Lucy," I said, "you're one of the kindest people I've ever — "

Lucy shook her head. "Don't. Just — please. I don't... I don't want the world to turn you into something that you're not. You are kind. You are not unkind. You never have been. Not when Cedric died, not when your mum died, not when you had every reason to be unkind to the world because it had been unkind to you. Please just... just promise me that you'll keep trying to be kind, no matter what happens. And I don't mean that you have to be soft, I — obviously I want you to keep fighting for what's right and there's nothing wrong with holding people accountable for the wrongs they've done to you, but I just — I know that people can get caught up in the idea of doing something 'right' and forget about the importance of doing good. You are good, and you are kind, and I know you're one of the few people in this world who wants to do what is right and what is good. Please, promise me that you'll keep doing that."

"Okay." I nodded. "I promise. But you have to understand that you do both right and good, too. You're a lot like Cedric in that way."

Lucy stared at me for a long moment, unidentifiable emotions flickering in her eyes. "Maybe. But you're better at it." With that, she turned and kept walking. After a second, she giggled. "So do you think the osprey isn't really Cedric, or do you think he was just too shy to go smashing into the bar?"

"Well, you know Cedric, never wanting to inconvenience anyone," I replied, doing my very best to keep up with her, both because she was walking quickly and because she was switching topics and moods at quite an unpredictable pace. "Maybe he just didn't want to make a mess. Next time I'll ask him to just come sit on my shoulder or something."

"Good idea, good idea," Lucy said. "Let me know how it goes."

I smiled. "I will."

🩵💛❤️💜🩷

GEORGE:

When I saw Lucy and Henry making their way up the street, I cast a few spells to light up the shop and open the door. Lucy was giggling as she walked through, and Henry was grinning fondly. I recognized the Older Brother Expression instantly, as I was quite sure a matching one was on my face.

"I take it you had fun, then?" I called.

Lucy looked up at me, beaming. "Yes, it was such fun! Alasdair Maddock thinks I'm cool, and so does Henry! And I think they are both cool, so we all had a wonderful time!"

"Happy to hear it," I said, glancing at Henry, who nodded. "Well, I will see you tomorrow, Mr. Furls, wearing my finest dress robes and a tie with yellow and purple stripes."

Henry smiled sweetly. "Can't wait."

"Do you want me to apparate you home?" I offered. "I know you're not the biggest fan of it."

"It's alright, I reckon I ought to get used to it now, but thank you," he said. He squeezed Lucy's shoulder. "Good night, you two, and good night to Fred too, wherever he is."

"Upstairs, eyes glued to the television, trying to memorize every detail of Mario Raceway," I replied.

Lucy gasped. "I always get such strangely vivid dreams after I've been drinking! Tonight's the night, I just know it!" With that, she sprinted past me in the direction of the flat. "FREDDIE, I'M COMING, HAND ME THE CONTROLLER!"

Henry and I chuckled identically.

"She needed that," I said in a low voice. "Thank you."

"Is she really going off to save the world?" he asked.

"Or die trying," I whispered.

Henry looked at me with wide eyes. "She said that?"

I shook my head. "She didn't have to."

"Right."

His hand reached for mine, but instead of taking it, I turned to him and pulled him tight. His arms wrapped around me too, and we remained that way for quite a long time.

By the time Henry left for his flat and I made my way upstairs to the den, Lucy was sound asleep, controller still in hand.

"Here's to hoping she has a wonderful dream about Mario Kart," I said as I reached to try to remove the controller from her hand.

Even in sleep, though, she clutched it tightly, pulling it to her chest.

"I tried that already," Fred commented. "She refuses to give it up. I've beaten her in several races now, seeing as Toad just sits at the starting line the whole race."

"Oh, great, now you can finally tally a couple wins on the Wall," I joked.

Fred rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah yeah, I'm still a better racer than you. It sounded like she had a good time with Henry and Alasdair."

"I reckon it would be hard to have a bad time," I replied, remembering very fondly how the four of us had gotten absolutely sloshed together a couple months prior. "I'm glad Lucy wasn't too nervous to have a good time, though."

"Merlin knows we all need as many of those as we can get these days." Fred sighed. "I'm just hoping tomorrow is one of those good times. If anyone dares to be a prick to you and Henry, just let me know. I'll sort them out."

I nodded. "Thanks. Well — " I gently lowered myself on the bed next to Lucy. "I'm calling it a night. I want to be wide awake to witness every detail of tomorrow."

"I'll be awake playing Mario Kart for the foreseeable future if you decide to join me," Fred replied.

I closed my eyes and hoped sleep would find me shortly, but it didn't. After about five minutes, I caved and reached for a controller.

"I can't turn my brain off either," Fred commented. "No matter how tired I am, I can't just... stop."

"Because they're leaving?" I asked.

Fred's gaze drifted from the TV screen to the floor. "Yes and no. Yes, I think about it and worry about it quite a bit, but even before then, there's just been this... anxiety I can't shake."

"The world is at war," I said, "but something tells me there's more to it than that."

"Yeah. A great deal more to it than that."

"Well, I'm all ears, if you'd like to elaborate."

"I'd like to, but I just... can't." Fred dropped his controller with a sigh and looked up at the ceiling. "Being still feels like wasted time. I've always felt that way, you know me. I go and go and go and go until I can't, then I sleep for a bit and then get up and revert right back to going and going and going and going and going. I can't remember the last time I slept through the night, I've had this restlessness as long as I can remember. There's always more to do. I'm just running a race that always gets longer, always chasing something several steps ahead of me no matter how fast I run. And I never minded that before, it never made me anxious before. It made me ambitious, it made me driven, it made me blind to everything else in the world from time to time, but it never made me anxious. Now it makes me anxious, like I'm somehow running out of time. The fact that Ron and Lucy and Harry and Hermione are leaving has added a tangible deadline of sorts, but even before I knew they were leaving... I've been on edge for weeks, and maybe it's the war, but the war's been going on for quite a while and I've never felt like this before. I always thought I was running fast enough to catch whatever it is I've spent my life chasing, but now it feels like I'm about to run out of time somehow and it'll slip away forever."

"Freddie — " I searched his face. "What do you think you're chasing?"

"I don't know. It used to be exciting, thinking that I wouldn't know what I was chasing until I finally had it. For a long time, I thought it was the joke shop, being here satiated me at first, but lately there's been something else, something I don't..." He sighed. "I don't know."

"Well, that would explain the feverish attempts to make this Daydream Charm happen," I said softly.

Fred nodded, looking at me for the first time. "Yeah. Exactly. I think somehow, this is it, which sounds silly, but, well, it was something concrete I could chase. Something that seems impossible until it's done."

"Yes, well, Henry once said he only believes in the impossible when the three of us are the ones challenging the notion of impossibility."

"Maybe figuring out this Mario Kart Daydream Charm will make me feel better. Maybe it won't. I won't know until it's done, though, hence, well, all of this."

I nodded. "Yeah, I've been wondering why you were staying up so late and getting up so early, but I chalked it up to you being excited about this new product idea, since it's been a while since we had one of those."

"You were correct, but there's... more to it."

"Clearly," I said with a half-teasing smile. "Well, I'm glad I know. I'll happily chase the impossible with you, Freddie."

"You always have," he replied, sending a small smile back at me.

Before I could say anything else, Lucy twitched, and we both stopped abruptly to look at her.

"Don't you dare, Harry James," she mumbled, her brows knitting together in apparent distress.

She twitched again, face contorting further as she began to writhe around.

"Should we — "

"Wake her, yeah," I said, taking Lucy by the shoulder. "Wake up, Cub, just a nightmare."

"No, no, stay away," Lucy protested.

I pulled away for a second before I realized her eyes were still closed and she was talking to someone in her dream.

Lucy's face flushed angrily. "Don't you dare, Tom. We're — we — I — "

Fred tugged the controller out of her hands and lightly tapped her cheek. "Come on, Cub."

"Lucy, wake up," I said.

"Hurt her and I'll kill you," Lucy grit out. Her hands now free, she squeezed her temples. "NO!"

I started shaking her as violently as I dared. "Cub! Wake up! You're safe, I promise — "

Lucy's eyes finally opened, and she drew a deep shuddering breath before relaxing down onto the bed.

Fred patted her shoulder. "You alright?"

"Bloody hell," she panted. She scrambled to a sitting position, pale and shaking. "Well, I got the vivid dreams I expected, but bloody hell, I wasn't expecting — that."

"Care to elaborate?" I asked as I rubbed her back reassuringly.

"I haven't had a nightmare about being possessed by Voldemort in a while," she muttered.

"Hey, at least you didn't chunder this time!" Fred replied.

Lucy snorted. "Give it a minute." She inhaled shakily. "Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you."

"We were awake," I said. "Don't worry about it."

Lucy got paler in the light of the TV screen, eyes widening. "I will be right back."

She jumped off the bed and sprinted off, hand pressed over her mouth. I winced sympathetically when I heard her sprinting footsteps head toward the loo.

I swatted Fred with a pillow. "You put the idea of chundering in her head."

"Hey, better out than in," he said, laughing. "We'll check on her if she's not back in a couple minutes."

A strange thought occurred to me in that moment, and I was too slow to stop myself from making a face.

"What is it?" Fred asked.

"If something like this happens when she's off saving the world, she's going to have to go to Harry for comfort," I said. "Or Ron or Hermione, I suppose, but something tells me Harry's going to be the one she seeks out."

"If that boy doesn't clean his glasses by the time they come back, so help me Merlin I will clean those bloody lenses for him," Fred commented, chuckling in spite of himself.

Lucy returned then, looking exhausted and a little sick but more annoyed than anything.

"On second thought, I don't feel much like sleeping tonight," she said, flopping down dramatically on the bed in between us. "Accio controller."

While I wasn't exactly planning on pulling an all-nighter before the wedding, I wasn't terribly upset when I noticed it was light outside.

"I'll get started on coffee," I said. "We're all going to need it today."

"At least they're getting married in the morning, so realistically we can all just come back and sleep this afternoon," Lucy replied.

"After we tell you every last detail about the wedding," Fred piped up.

"Right." Lucy got to her feet and stretched. "Well, tell them I said congratulations. I'm going to change, then apparate to Ottery St. Catchpole and walk to the Burrow from there."

"By yourself?" I asked before I could stop myself.

Lucy smiled sadly. "I reckon I have to get used to it at some point, yeah?"

"Right," I whispered.

"For our own peace of mind, since you're not off saving the world yet, send us a patronus message that you got there safely, yeah?"

"I can't — " Lucy bit her lips together. "I haven't managed a patronus since Cedric died. I could get Ron to send you one, though, since he knows how. I reckon it would be a good idea to get him to teach Hermione, if he hasn't taught her already."

"When was the last time you tried?" Fred asked.

"Er — I don't know."

Fred crossed his arms over his chest. "Try."

"I can't — " Lucy tried to protest, but I cut her off.

"Not for our sake, but for yours," I said, crossing my arms as well. "Have Ron send the patronus, if you must, but promise us you'll at least try."

"No, try, right now," Fred insisted. "Please, Cub. I don't know how long it's been since you've tried, but don't you think happiness always deserves a second chance to prevail?"

"Well, yes, but — " Lucy groaned. "It's just that — I'd rather never try and never know than try and fail. Failure is demoralizing after a while, especially with something like this that might not be possible anyway."

"Oi, what's this about? Lucy Everlin Diggory, beacon of hope for everyone else, keeping none for herself?" I asked.

Fred narrowed his eyes. "I thought we'd trained you better than this. Nothing's impossible. Now, go on, try it. The man who taught you that spell is getting married today. What better way to celebrate the occasion?"

"Alright, alright," Lucy said, drawing her wand and pacing back and forth. She stopped and closed her eyes, holding her wand out in front of her. "Expecto patronum."

Nothing happened.

"Might want to try something a little stronger than that," I replied.

"It was the match where we won the Quidditch Cup. We won, I flipped Snape off, Remus was there, it should have worked," Lucy said with a sigh, not opening her eyes. After a couple of seconds, she twisted her wand again. "Expecto patronum."

Again, nothing happened.

Fred stared at Lucy in disbelief. "What was that one?"

"It was several," Lucy said, opening her eyes. "A proper little montage of all of the good times here, with you two."

"Well, damn, I thought we made you happier than that," Fred replied.

Lucy shook her head. "Stop, that's not it. It's not anything you're doing wrong or not doing right, it's just... even in my happiest moments, I'm haunted by the fact that Cedric should have had the chance to be there too. And — over time, it's not even just Cedric who should get to be there. It's Cedric, and it's Sirius, and it's Tuck, and it's even Archie who can't go back to school and it's Remus who should still be free to teach DADA and it's everyone who had to go home last year because their loved ones were dying and it's... it's just everything."

"So don't think about everything." Fred shrugged. "Merlin knows I don't think much at all." He cracked a smile that I knew was more brave than he sincerely felt. Our conversation while Lucy was sleeping was proof of the fact that he did think about more than he let on, not that Lucy would have reason to suspect that. "Try another one. Think about just that one moment. Nothing else matters. Just that moment."

"Fine. One more."

Lucy closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. A little smile — somehow pleased and mischievous all in one — quirked up the corners of her mouth, and both halves of the mood ring around her finger glowed a radiant shade of red.

"Expecto patronum."

But for a third time, nothing happened.

She cracked her eyes open and sighed. "Well, worth a shot."

"What does red mean?" I asked, nodding at the ring.

"That's for me to know and you to wonder," she replied.

"What on earth was that memory you just conjured up?" Fred asked.

Lucy smiled. "That's for me to know and you to wonder."

"Did Harry clean his glasses?" I wondered aloud.

"Oh please," Lucy scoffed. "Not every sweet thing Harry does has to be romantic. If you must know, that was just a memory of the two of us setting up one of the pranks for your birthday. He was complimenting me on my pranking genius. Anyway, I'll see you boys this afternoon. Have fun!"

As soon as she left, Fred and I exchanged a confused look before sighing and rising to our feet to get ready ourselves. We didn't want to take our Portkey until we knew Lucy was at the Burrow safely, so we waited in the kitchen, chugging enough coffee to make wideye potion quake in its boots.

Suddenly, a shimmering otter appeared in the kitchen, and it was Hermione's voice that said, "Lucy's here!"

"Well, off we go, then," Fred remarked, reaching for the mug on the table.

I reached for it too, and the kitchen around us disappeared in a swirl of color. When the world materialized again, I realized we were in someone's backyard. It was beautifully decorated, though, with shimmering pink bubbles floating in the air and assorted flowers decorating an archway in front of the couple dozen chairs that were arranged into rows.

I glanced around, looking for Henry. I was only distantly aware of how many people had already arrived. Henry and I were going to be there, together together. Everyone else could wait.

🩵💛❤️💜🩷

HENRY:

I had only just caught my balance after the Portkey when I spotted George, and I nearly lost my balance again at the sight of him. The July sunlight made it look like fire was dancing on his head, and I would have happily let myself burn if it meant that I'd get to be near him.

Then his gaze locked on me, and he smiled, and he started rushing over to steady me, and I realized all at once that ah yes, I could be near him, I would be near him.

"Easy there, Furls," George said, lightly teasing as he offered me his arm. "Allow me to give you a hand, or perhaps an elbow."

"Smooth as always, Weasley," I teased back even as I accepted.

He smiled at me, and I didn't miss the sleepiness or the nervousness in his warm brown eyes.

I smiled back. "You're alright? You're sure about this?"

George nodded. "Yeah."

"You didn't lose any sleep over it?" I pressed.

"Oh, no." George shook his head. "No. We got rather carried away with Mario Kart. Is it really that obvious? I thought I'd had enough coffee — "

"Hold out your hand for me?" I interrupted. George lifted his hand, and I snorted as I watched it tremble. "Yeah, I think you had enough." I lowered my voice. "I'll follow your lead, okay? You do whatever's most comfortable for you. I don't want to get carried away in my excitement and push you too much."

"You're not nervous?" George asked.

I shook my head. "Not at all."

And it was the truth. Whenever George wasn't around, there was this nagging discomfort under my skin, this fear that something awful was happening to George. I'd lost Cedric and I'd lost Mum when I was too far away to stop them from being taken away from me. The thought of losing George in the same way was unspeakable. There, with George not only nearby but at my side, I was the opposite of nervous. I doubted I'd ever felt so safe and secure in my life.

"In that case..." George freed his arm and slipped his shaking hand into my steady one. "This alright?"

"It's alright," I assured him.

George glanced around, catching Fred's eye. Fred nodded at him encouragingly and offered me a thumbs-up. I nodded back, and he grinned before turning to greet Archie, who had just arrived, looking even more tired than George.

"Did he stay up all night playing Mario Kart too or something?" George wondered aloud.

I snorted. "Or something. Oh, I see your parents. Your mum hasn't spotted us yet, but your dad has. He's smiling at us."

George's head whipped in the direction I was looking, his hand tightening around mine. He relaxed, though, as soon as he realized that his dad was, in fact, smiling. George started walking over there, so I let him lead me. Behind us, I heard Fred and Archie tag along too.

Fred and George may have been twins, but Fred still very much looked out for his technically-younger brother.

"Hi," George said, somewhat shyly, as we approached.

Mrs. Weasley turned to face her son with a bright smile. Her smile only widened when she glanced down and saw that our hands were intertwined. "Oh, hello!"

"Hello there, boys!" Mr. Weasley said with an equally-bright smile as he slipped his hand into his wife's. "Lovely day to be in love, isn't it?"

"Yeah," George replied breathlessly, his relief apparent. "It is."

I nodded, relieved as well. "It certainly is."

The ceremony itself was a rather quick affair. Unlike other weddings I had attended, there was no "bride's side" or "groom's side," no bridesmaids or groomsmen, and I realized it was likely because so many of the people Remus had loved were no longer around to see his wedding day. There were a couple of people in attendance, though, who I knew weren't Order members, and I hoped at least a couple of those people were there for him.

The reception was far more exuberant than the ceremony, if only because we all felt safe enough with each other to let loose and have a little fun. The firewhisky was flowing, and so were everyone's moves on the dance floor. I was dancing with George to an upbeat Weird Sisters song when the man of the hour himself appeared, a firewhisky bottle in his hand and a smile on his face.

"I don't mean to pry, but I'm afraid I can't resist prying. How long has this been going on?" he asked.

"Since March," George replied. "I needed a little time to figure myself out, seeing as fancying both laddies and lassies, as Henry says, gets a bit complicated, but I happen to fancy Henry most of all so here we are."

"I try to keep the Scottish slang to a minimum in the presence of you English folk," I protested, "but yes, George is correct. We've been together together since March. It happened rather by accident, but, well, what a happy one it turned out to be."

"That something you can relate to, Remus?" George asked.

Remus laughed. "Something like that. Anyway, I'm happy for you both."

"And we're both happy for you," I said.

"Lucy too," George piped up. "She told us to congratulate you both."

"I half-expected she would show up anyway," Remus replied, "but I'm selfishly glad she's somewhere safe instead of here. Not that we were expecting any trouble, but — "

"The Burrow's safer," George finished for him with a nod.

"Well, don't let us keep you from your wife," I said, looking around. "Where is she, anyway?"

"Catching up with her school friends, from the looks of it," Remus replied. "Needless to say, my school friends couldn't make it." He smiled a bit. "It's okay, you can laugh. I meant it to be funny, albeit a bit dark."

George snorted. "Did the invitations get lost in the mail?"

"Must have," Remus said, smiling wider. "Though, to be frank, their presence would have been alarming. Something tells me they've aged differently than I have."

I snorted too. "If Cedric decides to make an appearance at my wedding, I fear I'd have to kick him out."

"Sounds like you should bring a shovel with you, just in case," Remus joked dryly. "To put him back, if need be."

"To put him back?" George repeated, eyes wide.

"Yes, yes, I'd have to put him back, keep up," I said. "Merlin, Weasley, it's not often that you can't keep up with a joke."

"You two have wandered into territory so dark I couldn't see where it was headed," George replied as he shook his head. "Good for you, though, I do appreciate that you managed to turn tragedy into a laughing matter."

Remus grinned. "Yes, well, if we don't, who will?"

"Not Cedric," I said, shrugging. "He hasn't cracked a joke in over two years. It truly is up to us. I'm sure your friends wouldn't mind."

"I know for a fact Sirius would be offended if we didn't crack jokes about the fact that he was bested by a curtain," Remus replied with a laugh.

The music shifted into a slow song then, and Remus sighed, looking remarkably sad for a moment before he shook his head and chased the sorrow away.

"Well, I'll let you two get back to what you were doing, and I'm sure I'll see you at the Burrow for dinner tomorrow," he said, clapping us on the shoulders. "Thanks for coming, boys!"

George and I exchanged a long look as soon as his back was turned. We knew we couldn't talk freely without being overheard, with his werewolf hearing, but Merlin, we knew we'd have quite a lengthy debrief once we got back to the twins' flat for the evening.

"How am I doing?" George asked once we started swaying back and forth in time with the music. "In terms of the whole together together thing?"

"I've rather enjoyed it," I replied, smiling. "Have you?"

George nodded. "I've spent a lot of my life being half of Fred and George, but I'm growing increasingly fond of being half of Henry and George too. Thanks for being patient with me while I tried to get... well, here, with you."

"You were worth the wait." I cleared my throat, my eyes wandering to his lips. "Look, I know I said I'd follow your lead, but you look so dashing, I must ask — "

"You don't have to ask," George said as he kissed me.

It was short. It was sweet. It was ours.

Henry and George. Matching yellow and purple ties.

What a happy accident indeed.