Bright sunlight was shining through the partially opened curtains of the room as Fred Weasley woke. He groaned and rolled away from the light. It took only moments for him to realise that something was wrong. The window was on the wrong side of the room.
Sitting up, Fred looked around. He didn’t recognise anything he saw. He had no idea where he was. He tried to remember what had happened last night. Did he have too much Firewhisky and fall asleep somewhere other than his apartment? he wondered.
He got out of bed, surprised to find himself fully dressed. He slowly approached the door and opened it. He was at the end of a short hall, so he turned and walked towards the room at the end.
He found himself in a small sitting room complete with a Christmas tree. Wait, he thought, a Christmas tree in May? Shaking his head at his brother’s newest joke, Fred looked around.
There was nothing in the room that was the least bit familiar to him. He wondered at how his brother had pulled such a great prank without him knowing. Fred had to hand it to George, he outdid himself this time.
Fred decided to go outside, he figured once he was out of this small house, he would know where he was and be able to go home. He was already planning a revenge prank on George even as he stepped out the door.
Looking around, Fred didn’t see a single thing he recognised. As he walked he found himself in a beautiful garden. Along the way, he saw no one, which he thought was very strange.
Fred started to worry. While he still thought this was a prank by George, he was beginning to have his doubts. This place seemed vaguely familiar as if he had visited it in a dream.
He tried to recall the dream but the more he thought about it, the stranger the memories became. He had a memory of sitting in the sunshine with Sirius and Remus which was one thing, but the fact he vividly remembered Harry’s parents and Dumbledore being there lead him to believe something else was going on.
As he continued to walk around, he tried to figure out what was going on. He searched his memory for the last memory he knew to be real. Percy… Percy making a joke, and then the wall crashing down.
Perhaps he has been unconscious and in some hospital since then. Yes, that had to be it. He had been injured and unaware for the past several months. He looked around for the Healers he knew must be somewhere.
Still not seeing anyone, Fred decided to find his way home on his own. But how did one get home, when one didn’t know where they were? That was a problem. He had no idea where he was or even when.
If the Christmas tree was not a joke, then it was close to Christmas. There was no snow around and he wasn’t even cold, so wherever he was it was someplace south. He turned and looked more closely at his surroundings.
There were areas filled with the most vibrantly coloured flowers he had ever seen placed all over the garden he was in. He could see small houses such as the one he awoke in, in the distance. And there… behind him was what he had been hoping for, a small wooded glen. He headed straight for it.
Under the cover of the trees, he tried to Apparate. He tried over and over again and failed each time. Perhaps this place had an anti-disapparation spell on it as Hogwarts did, he thought.
He decided to walk through the woods hoping he would eventually come to the end or at least a small village where he could Apparate home.
***
“James!” Lily yelled as she came in the door. “We have a problem.”
“What is wrong, Lily?” James asked as he came out of the kitchen followed closely by Sirius and Remus.
“Fred is gone,” she told him. “I went to check on him and his bed is empty, and I can’t find him anywhere.”
The three men looked at each other, worry etched on their faces. They knew Fred had been having a few problems lately adjusting to life after death. At first he accepted this new reality without qualm. But as time went on, he began feeling more and more depressed; if depressed was even the right word.
Though each of them had left loved ones behind, none of them had left a twin; a twin who for all intents and purposes carried half of your soul inside them. The separation from George had caused some unforeseen problems with Fred.
Lately he often woke confused as to where he was. Though these episodes passed quickly, they left him feeling more disgruntled with being dead. They had tried to explain to him that each of them went through a period of disenchantment with the whole life after death thing, but he would get through it and find acceptance.
Fred had insisted after these episodes that they were caused by half of him still being alive. He wasn’t truly and completely dead because George lived. Even Dumbledore tried to explain to him that wasn’t true, that he was really dead and only clinging to his former life, but Fred disagreed. Now, Fred was missing.
“It’s all my fault,” said Lily. “I knew he was upset last night because tomorrow is Christmas. I just never thought…” She looked at James. “I should have stayed with him. He must have woken up and had one of his memory losses.”
“We’ll find him,” said James, “don’t worry. Padfoot, Moony, gather up the troops. Lily and I will start searching.”
All four of them rushed from the house intent on finding the confused Fred.
***
As Fred continued to walk deeper into the woods, he noticed the area was different from any woods he had been in. Though there were trees everywhere, the feeling underneath them where he walked was one of light and openness.
As he walked, Fred thought about being home. What a surprise it would be for his family when he showed up for Christmas dinner. He paused momentarily wondering if perhaps his family would come here to visit him. But somehow he knew that was not possible, his family would not be able to come to this place.
Ahead of him, he saw a thinning of the trees, a shaft of sunlight surrounding an ornate gate made of what looked like gold. As he approached the gate, he marvelled over the way the sun shimmered and sparkled off the golden gates.
The gates were closed and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t open them. Fred stepped back and noticed there was nothing surrounding the gates, both sides were covered with grass. He decided to just walk around the gate instead of going through them.
He went around them and found himself back in front of the gate instead of behind it as he should have been. He tried going the other way and the same thing happened. Realising the only way out of here was to go through the gates; Fred wondered how to open them.
He searched his pockets for his wand and it wasn’t there. Shrugging, he tried every opening charm and spell he could think of. Nothing worked, and the gates remained firmly closed.
He racked is brain for any charm or spell he hadn’t tried. “The gates at Hogwarts,” he muttered trying to remember what spell opened them.
As he spoke the words, the gates opened. Fred wondered what he had done, but decided quickly not to worry about it and rushed through the open gates before they could close again.
He found himself standing before the closed gates of Hogwarts. Glancing back over his shoulder, he saw the scene he had just left faintly flickering from view to be replaced by the pathway that lead to Hogsmeade.
He looked at the gates. How was he supposed to get in? The answer came to him instantly, the secret tunnels. Turning, he began walking down the path to Hogsmeade.
Finding a Way to a Burrow Christmas by mudbloodproud
Chapter Notes: I wish to thank my wonderful beta for this story, Alyssa (Harry4lif). Thank you honey for doing this for me.
I do not own anything you recognize in this story. It all belongs to J. K. Rowlings. I am just thankful to get to play in her world for a bit.