Hey, it's been a while since my last story. Part of this chapter has been in my head for months, but I never had the time to write it down properly. This is actually planned as a multi-chapter story about George, Alicia, family; about how life goes on if you just have the courage to carry on, even if some part of your old life is missing.

I have a few ideas for future chapters, but I honestly can't promise if I'll find the time to write them anytime soon. Uni has started again and in December I'll start working on my Master for now, this is a one-shot, but I hope it will eventually become a longer story.

For those who haven't read my other stories, it's not necessary to know them, but some of the things I've written before are mentioned here, just don't be confused!

Reviews are very much appreciated!

I'm not a native speaker so forgive minor mistakes!

Make a Memory

1. A Wedding and a Wish

„Do you, Charles Weasley, take Britt Svensson as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in good times and in bad, till Death you do part?"

"I do." Charlie's voice was trembling slightly, and for a blink of an eye he glanced sideways at his best man. Bill smiled at him reassuringly.

"And do you, Britt Svensson, take Charles Weasley as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in good times and in bad, till Death you do part?"

"I do." Britt was beaming, her cheeks flushed. Her blonde hair, tied to an elegant knot, shimmered in the sunlight.

"I then declare you husband and wife", said the ceremonial wizard. "You may now kiss..."

His sentence was interrupted by Charlie, who pulled his wife into a deep, passionate kiss that lasted for an hour. At least it seemed like it to most of the guests, George thought with bemusement.

"Get a room, you two!", he yelled. He heard Alicia chuckle beside him, and he squeezed her hand.

Ron wholf-whistled, while Percy seemed to be contemplating to cover Penelope's eyes.

I wonder how she could ever get pregnant, George wondered with a grin. Percy's wife was due in three months, and the father-to-be was a bundle of nerves when it came to Penelope's well-being.

"What are you so smug about", asked Alicia.

Before the redhead could answer, though, Charlie and Britt parted and everyone rushed forward to congratulate them. George wanted to do the same, but Alicia held him back.

"Behave yourself, will you?!"

"Course I will, I always do. Don't I?" George's eyes sparkled mischievously, and Alicia nudged him playfully.

"Penelope still hasn't forgiven you. And Britt's dress is stunning, don't ruin it!"

"What will they do, jinx me? I've had worse." Almost absent-mindedly he touched the side of his where his ear used to be a lifetime ago. If Alicia had noticed the dark shadows in his eyes, she clearly decided to pretend she hadn't.

"It's not about what they will do to you. It's more about what I will not do to you for a month!"

It was Alicia's turn to grin broadly as she saw the shock written all over George's face.

"You... you are evil."

"That's why you love me", the brunette girl replied with a smile.

He kissed her gently, just when the newly wed husband made his way towards his younger brother. George turned around immediately and pulled Charlie into a close hug.

"Congratulations, Char. That was a great ceremony."

"I'm just glad mum finally agreed to have the reception here in Sweden. Midsummer with 15 hours of sunshine versus rainy England – no thanks. Percy's wedding was enough."

"It was a shame, really." Alicia actually sounded like she felt sorry.

"Oh, hey Alicia, sorry I didn't mean to -"

"Don't worry Charlie, I guess it's normal to be a bit confused at such a big day. Congratulations to you two!" She kissed Charlie on the cheek.

"Thanks. It's great you could make it over. Someone's gotta keep an eye on my dear brother, right? Wouldn't want to remember my wedding day as the day a stink bomb went off during the reception."

"Don't be ridiculous, Charlie." George even managed to keep a straight face, while Alicia stifled a giggle.

"Now", Charlie patted George on the shoulder, "go and help yourself to some food before Ron attacks the buffet. I know you're not so much into fish but I've done my best to smuggle some good English food into that pile of Swedish culinary delights."

"Sounds great", said George and took Alicia's hand. "Let's go."

As they made their way to the buffet – long tables almost bursting from the weight of piles of food – George spotted Ron, Harry, Ginny and Hermione and waved. They all smiled back but for Ron, who, just as Charlie had predicted, was already busy trying his way through the cuisine of his new sister-in-law. Hermione watched him with a rather disapproving expression on her face.

"Oi, Ron, go easy on that poor fish", shouted George as he approached his siblings and friends.

"I'm starving", replied Ron. "Anyway, I had to sit beside Aunt Muriel for the whole ceremony, I deserve a treat. Or an award. For putting myself in the line of fire in protection of my comrades, or something like that."

"Ronald! She isn't so bad!"

"Didn't you hear her, Hermione? Couldn't keep her gob shut for a second about how Charlie could marry a girl from Sweden when there's fine lasses in Britain as well, and how he should have covered his tattoo, and how weird Britt's accent sounds, and..."

"How did the two meet, anyway?", asked Alicia. Grateful for the interruption of Ron's rambling, Ginny turned towards her.

"Didn't my brother fill you in on the details?"

"I'm a man, Ginny, I avoid gossip of all sorts. Especially if it's about my brother's love life."

Ginny snorted.

"Whatever. It's pretty simple, actually. Charlie did this study on Swedish Shortsnouts and he worked with a couple of Swedish lads. One of them made the mistake to bring his sister to one of their pub nights. They hit it off right there and then." She smirked. "International magical co-operation, right? Guess us Weasleys are giving a great example, aren't we?"

She pointed to the right, where Bill and Fleur were standing with Charlie and Britt, Fleur holding little Victoire in her arms.

"Let's get something to eat, now, love", said George and squeezed Alicia's hand. He loved the way she would smile at him when he did that.

Later that night, when lots of the guest had already left the party, children had been brought to bed and the music had stopped, there were only a few people left sitting on the cosy sofas underneath the canopy. Britt's younger brother was telling stories about Draghjerte, a wizarding school just like Hogwarts, designed for witches and wizards from Northern Europe.

"Of course we play Quidditch, it's just not so easy in winter, you know? We get lots of snow and temperature's below minus 20 degrees, it's no fun at all playing under these conditions."

"There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing", said Ron in a perfect imitation of Harry. "No reason to skip a training lesson, right?"

"Yeah, I remember that one match... thunderstorm, hail, everything. Oliver Wood didn't even flinch when he saw that. Remember, George?"

George smiled.

"I remember that all too well. Never been so soaked-through in my life."

Only Alicia noticed that the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. She laid her arm around his waist and he leaned into her as they all listened to Einar's stories. Britt's sister Anna yawned. Hermione seemed to have dozed off in Ron's arms as well. Charlie and Britt had long gone (not without some remarks that fortunately went unnoticed by Molly Weasley, who wouldn't have approved of them at all).

"What do you think", whispered Alicia into George's ear. "Should we call it a night?"

George nodded. He stood up and pulled Alicia to her feet.

"Goodnight, guys", he said. "See you in the morning!"

There was still a bit of light when George and Alicia stepped outside. With midsummer (or midsommar, as Britt used to call it) just two weeks ahead, the days here up North seemed to be never-ending to George. The light was just enough to illuminate the grass and the sea in the distance. It was hard to imagine that in some parts of this world, the sun would never set in summer and never rise in winter. To George, the thought was both fascinating and depressing. He wondered how people – muggles, especially - used to live during those long winters, back in a time without electricity.

Lost in his thoughts, he only noticed that they weren't heading for Britt's parents' house when he smelled the salt in the air. In front of him laid the sea, calm in this warm summer night. The waves were rolling slowly up the shore, filling the air with a soft noise almost like the breath of Nature itself.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?", said Alicia quietly.

George took a deep breath.

"Yes it is." He inhaled deeply. He could taste the salt on his tongue, and he turned his face to Alicia. "Shall we sit down for a minute?"

Instead of answering, his girlfriend walked to the beach and, with his hand still entangled with hers, he followed.

They sat down in the sand, and George laid his arm around Alicia's waist and pulled her close. She rested her head on his shoulder like she often did when she was tired, and he smiled to himself as he kissed her head. Her brown curls tickled his nose and he could smell the faint trace of her shampoo.

"That was a wonderful wedding", said Alicia. "I really like Britt. She and Charlie are a perfect match."

"They are indeed. He's lucky to have her. Well, I guess he wasn't the happiest person at the party, though."

"Who was?"

"Mum."

Alicia laughed out loud, the movement of her head as she did giving George a blow to the chin.

"Ouch!" George rubbed his chin and nudged Alicia playfully at the side. "I'm serious. She was always worried that Charlie might end up a lonesome cowboy with only his buddies and his dragons. It didn't get better once he passed the magic three-oh."

"Your mum seemed very happy today, that's right. Everyone was, right?"

There was a careful undertone in her voice. George sensed that although it was a general statement, it was actually about him. He thought that she had probably noticed that short moment earlier. He'd never been too good at hiding his emotions from her.

"Yes, I think so", he answered slowly. "I definitely was."

Alicia turned to look at him. As always, he found it impossible to look away from her brown eyes. It sometimes felt as if she could see straight into his heart, and there had been a time when that had scared him. It had taken a while for him to realize that she needed to read him like that in order to understand him. Luckily for him, she'd accepted the challenge. He knew that he would have been lost without her.

"You seemed to be sad when you talked about Quidditch. I was just wondering if you were okay", said Alicia tentatively.

"I am... okay. I was more than okay today, I enjoyed myself. I had such a great time today that all of a sudden, it made me sad, if that makes sense." George paused for a moment, reminiscing the situation. "We were all standing there, all the people with their partners, with kids, everyone making plans for the future, Charlie and Britt want to buy a house, Percy's gonna be a dad, little Ron just got a promotion – and all of a sudden it hit me again that Fred will never see any of this. He'll never have any of this. And that's not fair." He could feel the lump form in his throat, and he hated that too familiar feeling. Five years later, and he still couldn't speak more than two sentences about Fred without suffocating on the inside.

"I know, love. Don't you think they all feel like that from time to time? Because I'm sure they do."

"I know." He sighed. "It's just that in moments like these it seems so... surreal that he'll never be there. Never again. I mean, I know it's real, because I realize it again every day, but on days like these – I don't know. It's different. He was..."

He mumbled something under his breath which Alicia couldn't understand. She laid her hand onto his shoulder and drew him close.

"What did you say?"

She could feel George tense up underneath her hand. He looked at her and she could see his eyes shine in the dim light.

"I said he was gonna be my best man at our wedding."

"Oh, George..." Alicia sighed and at the same moment fought back tears. She had to pull it together, she told herself.

"It's stupid, I know, because I really want to marry you." He gave her a lopsided smile. "Given the chance that you want to marry a weirdo like me, anyway."

"Uh, I don't know. I'd like my children brunette, not ginger, and I've heard this weirdo has very dominating genes."

For a second, George laughed. Real laughter, which was rare to hear even for her. Alicia sometimes thought that Fred had taken his part of the laughter with him, leaving George with only half a laughter to go along with his cut-in-two soul. She'd never told George about this, but instead cherished those moments and reminded herself of them in bad times.

The laughter faded quickly.

"I'm serious, you know. I want to marry you, have a nice house and two kids and all. It's just that Fred and I had it all worked out so well, us being neighbours, working the shop, our children playing together, stupid dreams... And now with Fred gone I think that's all it's ever going to be – a dream. I'm scared of making plans for the future, because there's this voice in my head that says what's the point." He exhaled deeply, having held his breath through the entire speech.

"George..."

"Don't say it's okay. It's not. It's not fair on you and I know it. I want to make new memories, happy memories, for Godric's sake the last time I wished so hard to be able to make a Patronus was in second year." He sighed. "It's crazy, I know, but I just can't seem to find one memory that erases the pain completely. No matter what I think of, there's always a tiny shadow to it, and I don't know if that will ever change. But I need to make those good memories, and I wish to make them with you. I only wish that someday I'll be brave, for both of us."

"I know you will. I trust you, George, and I'm in no hurry to get a ring on my finger. As long as we're together, it's good the way it is."

George took her hand into his and kissed her softly on the cheek.

"You're amazing, you know that?"

"I've been told." As much as Alicia tried to stay serious, she couldn't help her lips twitching as she fought back the grin.

"I love you." And someday, he added in his mind, I will ask you to be my wife. I promise.

A/N: Charlie's wife and her family are completely made up by me. I don't like the idea of Charlie staying single forever! I chose the name "Britt" because it's similar to my middle name, hehe. The school "Draghjerte" doesn't exist in the canon world, but I thought that there had to be a school for wizards and witches from Scandinavia. The name is a combination of the Norwegian words "drage" (dragon) and "hjerte" (heart).