Magique l'Element

PROLOGUE

That day was still very clear in his mind.

Even though fifteen years had passed since, he could recall every excruciating detail with vivid clarity. He thought it would hurt less over the years, but it didn't. He could still feel it-the loss which nothing and no one could ever replace.

"Would you like me to hold her for you?" Ginny asked.

He looked at her, his only sister, clad in her black robes. Everyone was mourning, for the loss was not his alone. Yet, they could not feel it as he did. The never would.

"I'm alright, thanks, Gin."

A soft coo from the blankets in his arms made him look down. His daughter was still very much asleep, unaware of what was happening around her. Yet, he knew that she had felt the loss as well. Perhaps not as strongly as he felt it, but he somehow knew that she would miss her mother, even though she might have no recollection of the woman.

"Are you sure? You need to rest, you know. Everyone's gone home."

"You're shooing me away, are you?" he said, a hint of his old humor coming back. After all, he didn't wish his baby sister to shed even more tears than she already had that day.

"Of course not, you prat. But everything's done already, and Rain's asleep. You should get some rest too. Go home."

"I don't know where home is anymore, Gin."

"What d'you mean?"

"They say home is where the heart is. My heart was with her-still is with her. And now that she's gone..." he cut his own statement off. He couldn't go any further.

Tears would not come any more. He had cried himself out already. He didn't care that his brothers had worried about the lack of expression on his face, but he knew that they understood. His grief was beyond words-beyond the expression of all emotion.

"She's not wholly gone," came a voice that made him look up.

Calla Marvick-Weasley, Fred's wife, was standing in the doorway. She entered the livng room ad knelt before him, grey eyes filled to the brim with sympathy and grief.

"She's not wholly gone," she repeated, "She left you something to remember her by, don't you see?"

"What are you talking about, Calla?"he asked.

But she didn't appear to hear him. Instead, she took his daughter from his arms and rocked her gently.

"She looks like her mother, doesn't she? A sign beyond all else that she loved you-and still continues to love you through your daughter. Don't you see Alex in her, George? The way she laughs, and smiles, and even cries-it's all Alex."

George Weasley looked at his sister-in-law. Calla had been exceptionally close to Alex, as far as their Hogwarts days. He felt the corners of his lips turn upward in a tired sort of smile.

Alex. Alexandra Astorga had married him and given him a daughter-the daughter which he had showered with all his attention and love. The daughter which he lived for. The daughter who reminded him more and more of his departed wife with each day that passed.

"Dad?" a voice jolted him out of his reverie, "Dad, are you alright? It's time to go. You promised you'd bring me to Diagon Alley today."

George looked up. Rain was perched on the arm of his chair, dark red tresses gleaming in the sunlight.

"That I did, didn't I? Well, if you're ready, let's go."

"I've been waiting for you to say that all morning."

His daughter got off the chair and turned to the fireplace. She grabbed a jar of Floo Powder off the mantlepiece. She was turning sixteen in September, going on her Sixth Year in Hogwarts, and so like her mother in very respect.

"Dad, stop the daydreaming a bit, okay? Else you'll end up in Knockturn Alley."

~*~

Diagon Alley was, as usual, alive with activity.

"Hello, stranger."

George turned.

"Hi, Cal. No practice today?"

"Nope. I took the day off deliberately, seeing as how my son's protective feelings towards his cousin increased ever since the last term ended."

George grinned wackily. Skye, Calla and Fred's son, was a year older than Rain. The two looked close enough in appearance to pass for brother and sister-the same shade of dark red hair, the same shape of the eyes...it was all in all rather uncanny that even the bond they shared was beyond the normal bond two cousins would have.

"Well, Rain isn't too happy, because she says Skye is being paranoid now, but I know she appreciates him. She virtually dragged me here so they could both see the new broomstick at Quality Quidditch Supplies."

Calla Weasley smiled. She was a Chaser for the Irish National Team, as her husband and his twin were Beaters for hte English National team. It made dinners at the Burrow rather interesting, having three professional Quidditch players in the family.

"Thsoe two won't ever change, will they? They're still as close to one another as best friends, not that they'll ever volunatarily admit that out loud."

Suddenly, manic laughter ran out from the corner of the shop. Gred and Forge's, the wizarding jokeshop that surpassed even Zonko's, was filled with customers, making it hard to see where the laughter came from.

"That was Skye," Calla said thoughtfuly, "I'm betting he turned her into a parakeet again."

"No chance," said George, "Rain swore she'd get even for his turning her hair green last week. I'm betting she's force-feeding him something a little bit more dangerous than those Parakeet Poppers."

A soft popping sound from behind the two announced the arrival of Fred Weasley, co-owner of Gred and Forge's, and the other half of the Weasley twins.

"There you are, Cal. Oh, hi George. Another busy day, eh? Haven't we just opened half an hour ago?" Fred spoke, kissing his wife on the cheek by way of greeting.

"Yeah, and we're already filled with customers. Who are we to complain, though? At least the world is safe from boredom yet again."

The twins looked at each other and grinned mischievously.

~*~