Disclaimer: Harry Potter and associated plots and characters and things do not belong to me, but to the wonderful J.K. Rowling. I'm not making money from this.
Note: Spoilers for Deathly Hallows. It's very short, but it just would not leave me alone. Hope you like it.
Lopsided
Everything is lopsided. Sideways. Sliding on a slanted, slippery slope, and there's nothing for me to grab onto.
My face is lopsided. I can grow my hair, of course, but I still know what's not underneath. What's not there. Even if I can't see it, I can still feel it.
My smile is lopsided, at best. The way my wound healed made the skin on that side of my face tight, taut. There was some nerve damage, they said. All that means I can only smile properly with the other side of my face. Shame there isn't much to smile about, anymore.
My whole damn reflection is lopsided. Hair tugged halfway over my face to hide what's not there. Lips that only half work. The one visible eye is constantly red-raw and bloodshot. Sometimes it leaks at the corners. (I can only tell lopsided jokes, now.) I used to look in the mirror and see more than just my own reflection. When I needed to, I saw him. But I didn't need to kid myself that much, because he was always right behind me, anyway. He's not anymore, right when I need him. I can't even see him in the mirror. Fredhad two ears.
My name is lopsided, too. My identity. It always used to be Fred-and-George. I didn't mind being second. That was just how it was. Fred and George. It's just George, now. George, with a funny, strained pause somewhere about the name. That's because it doesn't sound right, and everyone knows it. It's not balanced, floating, all alone. There's nothing for it to hold onto. It's lost.
My life is lopsided. I'm not a twin, anymore. I've never known how to be anything but a twin. I came into this world as one of a pair, and I thought it was supposed to stay that way. Two for the price of one. Double or nothing. Me and him, we came as a set, and that was just how it was. We were partners-in-crime. I know, I have the rest of my family, my friends, and I know they've lost someone too, but this is... it's... I grew up my entire life with him. We did everything together, in tandem. We faced everything together – detentions, running our own business, and the war, and now the hardest thing in my life that I've ever had to face and he's not there, right beside me, where he should be. Where he promised he'd always be.
I am lopsided, but it can't last forever. Sooner or later, I'm going to fall.