"George?"

"Yes, Fred?"

"Have you ever thought about what protects our hearts?" George chuckled, shaking his head, "I'm serious, Georgie,"

"Well... I guess really not, I mean... our ribs...,"

"Yes, our ribs. Just that, nothing else... I mean, well there's the other various parts, but... we're so breakable. We're so scared of all these damn curses and hexes, when such a simple thing just like a heavy object could just crack us right open,"

"Freddie, don't think like that. I hate when you think like that," George kicked Fred's leg with his foot as they sat across from each other on a couch in the Gryffindor common room.

"I know, I know," he went back to scribbling on his parchment. Both boys stole quick, furtive glances at each other as the other boys and girls passed around them, going around their nightly activities in the common room, they're noises almost muffled as they tried to their hardest to figure out what the other was thinking.

Fred had to remember to keep breathing as he ruined the perfect silence between them by putting his quill and finished Potions paper back into his bag. He took a deep breath, and stole another glance at his brother who was looking back at him under his ginger bangs that hung around his face. Fred attempted to smile as he put his bag back onto the ground and resituated himself on the couch, waiting for his brother to finish.

It was quiet once again, with the impatient sighs of George every once and a while. Fred tapped this thighs, watching his brother deep in concentration. He loved the way his brow furrowed and he made his lips move. He knew the way his brother reacted to everything, and he knew when he was mad and upset and happy and frustrated. Right now, he was frustrated. Fred sighed quietly and sat up, leaning over to peer at his brother's paper, "What do you need help with?"

"I didn't say I needed help with anything,"

"George, I know you do. Plus you were sighing,"

"I wasn't sighing," Fred laughed

"Oh yes you were," George smiled and shook his head

"Fine, I do need help. What was the next step after you added the Lavender leaves?"

"Well, first off, you've got these two mixed up," Fred pointed to the first two directions, "switch them around,"

"But I thought it didn't matter what order those two go in, he said they'll both make the same solution,"

"Well, they will, but you get a 98 better outcome if you switch the two rules around," George sighed, shaking his head and switched the two around. Fred watched him, almost in a trance as he watched his hands move on the paper and his mouth curl at the corners into his clumsly little smile and his brow unwrinkle. He was almost so distracted that he didn't notice at first that George was now glancing back up at him, waiting for the next step.

"Right, now, after you add the lavender leaves, and that's four not three lavender leaves, you have to stir the mixtures clockwise ten times and after every two turns you add a pinch of ground up dragonberry bush roots," George nodded and wrote the next step down on the paper. Fred kept his eyes on the words that appeared on the paper this time so that he wouldn't get caught staring again.

Fred helped George finish the rest of his paper and then when both their stuff was finally packed up, they left the common room in an awkward silence as they walked up to their empty common room. Fred sat on his bed, glancing around the room and at George who was on his own bed and flicking his wand around, making his socks change from red to purple and back again. Fred hated the awkwardness around the two of them lately, he had no clue what had happened, but he didn't like it.

"Hey Fred?" Fred looked over at his brother

"Yes, George?" he smiled as best as he could, ready to hear anything George had to say.

"How come you started that whole heart thing while in the common room earlier?"

"I don't know really, just popped into my mind. It was too quiet, I just thought I needed some way of starting a conversation,"

"Well, you shouldn't talk like that, really, because we're stronger than you think, okay?" Fred nodded, looking down at his hands, his bony fingers spread out and his nails dirty. He plucked at them, cleaning them, "Come here," Fred looked up, excited, he loved when they were able to sit down and talk in the same bed, it was like they were young again, when they were able to sleep in the same bed with each other. Before it was deemed weird or wrong for them to do it.

"What if someone sees?" he got up and made his way over, George making room for his brother.

"We're only talking aren't we? Nothing wrong with that," Fred nodded happily, and laid on his back, George on his side propped up on one elbow facing his brother. The light from the moon tracing his body in a contrast of shadows and light. He was almost tempted to reach a hand out and touch him, his smooth milky pale skin just seemed so fragile, the thing he was afraid of. The way he, everyone, is so fragile. His heart seemed so sad when he thought of it.

"So what do you suppose we're going to wanna do when we grow up? I mean... it's OWLs year and I haven't the slightest clue of what I want to be," Fred looked up at the ceiling with a bored look his face.

"I don't know really. It would be pretty interesting to be an auror or something like that,"

"Yeah. It really would... better than some chummy ministry job," George nodded in agreement. They both agreed that neither of them would end up working in some boring job in the ministry, not after witnessing what happened to Percy.

"But I really don't know. I guess we better start thinking though. Any day now McGonagall is going to ask us what we want to be tested on," George saw Fred nod his head in the darkness. He decided that was the end of their discussion on the future, there was too much to worry about in the present. He knew his brother was upset about something, he could see it on his face, but he could also see that his brother didn't even know what he was upset about and it was confusing him, "Let's play a game,"

"What kind of game?" George shrugged and sat up.

"I don't know. Just a game. Sit up," Fred sat up too, sighing and smirking, "Kay, now close your eyes," Fred closed his eyes, his grin growing wider. He sat in anticipation almost bouncing on his knees. George moved slowly and patiently, trying his hardest not to change the depression of the bed. He moved closed to Fred, he sucked in his breath, making sure Fred couldn't hear or feel it. He felt the way Fred's breaths were shaky and slow and uneven.

He then placed his cold chapped lips against Fred's and he felt Fred's breath shake and his lips open. He felt Fred's heart swell up and watched as his eyes fluttered open, his long eyelashes casting shadows on his moonlit face. George just couldn't help himself but smile as he kept his lips pressed up against his twins, he was even happier that Fred didn't reject him.

Fred grabbed his brother, snaking his arms under his brother's and holding him close. His heart was beating and blood was pulsing quickly through his body and he felt that he could burst at any moment. But he wouldn't mind, because he figured out why he was feeling so strange and why there had been such awkward tension between the two of them and he let go of his brother's lips and he rubbed his cheek against his brother's own. He then felt the drops of moisture and he knew he was was crying, and George was too.

"Oh George, you should have told me,"

"I felt like a blubbering idiot. I didn't know what it was,"

"Me either," he rubbed his nose against George's. He just wanted to get up and dance until his bones ached and he couldn't feel his feet anymore. He wanted to run into the rain and yell and stay wrapped up in this moment and in his brother's arms for forever. But they couldn't, because they heard footsteps coming up the stairs and Fred quickly darted out of George's arms and onto his own bed, both boys pretended to have been doing something. Now they could finally be happy, and Fred wasn't afraid of breaking anymore, because he knew he'd have George to protect his heart. Because now they could protect eachother.

----

Alright, so I didn't intend for it to be sad, and it really wasn't. But did anyone catch the whole "we're so fragile" thing? Because I kind of used that as a tiny little homage to how... well... Fred left us. -sobs-.