I've had this story in my head for a while and have just now decided to put it down. The main characters featured will be Percy, George and Fred, while Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny will have supporting roles.
It is set right after the events of Deathly Hallows and I have tried to stay true to the characters.
This first chapter is not very cheery, but please stick with me, the whole story will not be full of good ole fashioned emoing, I solemnly swear there will also be light heartedness and comedy.
Please feel free to leave me reviews on my writing style, plot and characterizations, whether you love it, hate it, or are merely indifferent to it.
Everything in the {} is pulled straight from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I only used a quote or two to set the scene at the beginning.
{The air exploded. They had been grouped together, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and Percy, the two Death Eaters at their feet, one Stunned, the other Transfigured; and in that fragment of a moment, when danger seemed temporarily at bay, the world was rent apart…}
Percy blinked and searched for his glasses that had been knocked askew by the blast. As he reached out for them, he saw a shapeless form slide out of the great hole recently hewed out of the castle wall. He quickly stumbled forward while shoving his glasses back into place. It was too late though, the shape had vanished and he hadn't been able to tell what it was. Then he stumbled over something solid and unmoving. All thought of that unidentifiable shape vanished as he glanced down.
He lost all control and collapsed to his knees. His whole body shaking, he barely noticed Ron kneeling on the other side of their dead brother, Fred.
"No---no----no! No! Fred! No!" Percy frantically shook Fred. He didn't even realize that he was calling out. His head was filled with a loud buzzing and he couldn't think straight. This couldn't be happening…it couldn't be.
The tears ran fast and thick down his face. He vaguely heard people shouting at him to move but he ignored them. It could have been years, or it could have been five minutes, but Percy finally realized that Harry Potter was trying to move Fred away from any further harm.
Numbly, he rose to his feet and helped to carry the body of his dead brother to an alcove. Once he let go of Fred, his mind cleared in a sudden rush of fury, and he charged the first Death Eater he saw. They would pay…they would all pay.
--
George made his way to the Great Hall slowly, supporting an injured Angelina Johnson as he went. Abruptly Angelina came to a dead stop and stared ahead, a look of apprehension and fear stealing over her face.
He almost didn't want to follow her gaze, even though he knew that there had to be many casualties, and he wasn't sure if he was ready to find out just who had lost their lives. He swallowed hard, shut his eyes, counted to five and looked.
And then all the light in his world was snuffed out.
He slid away from Angelina who was standing, frozen on the spot. George's eyes had a glassed over, unseeing stare as he stumbled forward, one foot after the other. It simply could not be true. That wasn't his twin lying on the ground. Fred hadn't died. Surely he would have felt the better part of him die if it had truly happened, wouldn't he?
His family did not notice him approach; they were all gathered around Fred.
He shook his head and dug his knuckles roughly into his eyes. He would open his eyes again, and that would not be Fred on the ground. His whole family would be in front of him, unharmed, waiting anxiously to see him.
George slowly opened his eyes. The scene had not changed. His father had finally noticed him. Mr. Weasley's face was wet with tears as he stroked his mother's hair. He reached out a hand toward George who ignored him.
George did not even notice the tears streaming down his face as he took the last few trembling steps toward his twin. Nothing could ever be right again, nothing could ever fix this.
The whole Weasley family had now noticed his presence. Percy stumbled toward him, his whole body shaking.
'The…the wall collapsed…he was trapped under it…'
Sudden fury clouded George's head.
'You were there?!' He spit out, his voice furious. George covered the rest of the distance to Percy in a second, his eyes flashing. When he spoke next, his voice was barely discernible, only a ragged whisper of its former self. 'You were there, and you let it happen? You just stood there and let my brother die? You really are a coward.' George's eyes locked with Percy's, who was so shaken that he did not make a sound.
'I wish it had been you.' George slammed his fist into the side of Percy's face.
'George!' Mr. Weasley pulled Percy back and positioned himself between his two sons.
Mrs. Weasley only sobbed harder in the background.
'We are all shocked and upset, and I know it is ten times worse for you, but please, get a hold of yourself.'
George refused to meet his father's gaze. He stepped around Mr. Weasley then threw himself at his brother's body and hid his face in Fred's shoulder.
Percy stood, alone, his head lowered as blood trickled down his cheek from a fresh cut under his eye made from his glasses when George punched him. His hands were curled into trembling fists at his side. Deep down, he too wished it had been him.
--
The rest of the battle, including Voldemort's defeat, was lost on George. He suffered through all of it in some kind of dense fog. As soon as all the post battle celebrations began, he slipped away from everyone and made his way out of the Great Hall.
George just let his feet lead them where they may and he ended up in one of the castle's many hidden passageways. He slumped against the cold stone wall, no longer able to support his own weight, and slowly slid down to the floor.
For the longest time, he saw nothing and he thought nothing. But after a while, disconcerted threads of thought began to run through his mind. Fred was dead…Fred was dead. But no, he would come bursting into the hidden passage any second now and they would both laugh about what an excellent joke it had all been.
There…he could even hear him now. He jumped to his feet and pulled away the hanging that covered the doorway, a grin coming to his lips.
'Fred! I knew you weren't…'
The grin instantly vanished as his words trailed off. There was no one there.
He gasped as the full realization hit him. He would never see his twin again. Never pull another prank, never crack another joke, his mother would never again confuse the two.
Suddenly he couldn't breathe. He stumbled and grabbed ahold of the tapestry to regain his balance. In the next second he ripped it from its hangings and blasted it to shreds with his wand.
He started blasting bricks from the castle walls but it did no good. He threw his wand to the ground and punched the stone over and over until his knuckles were raw and bloody. George didn't notice the pain as he clawed uselessly at the stones, moaning, 'No Fred, no. It isn't fair. Why did you have to go where I can't follow? Come back, please come back.'
Gut wrenching sobs wracked his body as he covered his face in his bloody hands.
--
Celebrations and memorials were happening all throughout Hogwarts in the time following Voldemort's death. Peeves cackled gleefully as he zoomed through the castle. His last song about the Malfoys had been an especially good one, if he did say so himself.
Inspiration suddenly struck and he was about to charge back into the Great Hall with another Malfoy gem when something caught the corner of his eye.
He slowly floated to a halt, his eyes drawn to a small section of the corridor where a most peculiar piece of scenery was roped off from the regular stone floors. It was a small stretch of swamp, completely out of place in the castle.
Peeves lowered his ghostly head and recited softly,
'An ode to Fred,
Who is now dead,
Someone said,
They brought a wall down on his head,
But I won't leave it unsaid,
…He was one of the greats.
Peeves hovered for another silent second in front of the swamp, and then he moved off swiftly down the hall, giggling to himself as recited his new Malfoy song.