This story is dedicated to one of my best friends, Jessica. She always encourages me to keep writing and faithfully reads anything I put out there. I love you, Jess!
Flashbacks in italics and first person point of view.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the stuff you recognize.
Moving On
It had been six months since the Battle of Hogwarts, and even though his physical wounds had healed, George Weasley's emotional and mental wounds had yet to close. It was almost Christmas and it would be the first without his twin brother, Fred. Every night as he tried to fall asleep, terrible memories of that June night plagued his every thought.
"Hey, just because I've lost an ear doesn't mean I can't hear every word you're saying, Mum. I'm going to fight. Fred is going to fight, so am I. We're in this together, all of us," I said to my mum, insistent on having a part in defeating Voldemort.
"Oh, George, I know you want to fight, but I just don't think it's a good idea… your ear isn't fully healed."
"Mum. My ear is healing perfectly. As if you all could do without Holey Old Me!" I joked, trying to make her laugh. It worked; a small smile broke out on her lips.
"Yeah, Mum, you think I could fight without my twin?" Fred interjected, throwing his long arm loosely around my shoulders.
"Oh, alright, I see there is no stopping you, dear," she said reluctantly, throwing her hands up in defeat.
"It's about time you saw reason, Mum," I said as I planted a noisy kiss on her cheek. Fred did the same on the other cheek. She laughed and wrapped us both in a hug,
"Just please… be careful. I don't know if I could bear to lose any of you," she said, tears springing to her eyes.
"Oh, Mum, don't go blubbering. We'll be fine! I promise!" Fred exclaimed, pulling me off toward the battle.
Neither Fred nor I noticed, but Mum wiped a tear from her eye as she watched our retreating backs.
"I hope so, Fred… I hope so."
But we weren't fine. Not in the least. I didn't think I would ever be fine again.
Seeing Fred's body lying among the dead was too much.
I yelled out, running over to where the rest of my family crowded around on the floor.
"Oh my God, what happened? Fred? No… Fred..." I cried, falling to my knees at his side. "No, this isn't happening." I looked down at his face, and of course, saw my own. I burst into tears, not caring who was watching. This was my twin I was looking at. Dead. The other half of me. We shared a womb, we've shared everything our whole lives, and now he's gone. How could this be happening? My body felt as if it were going to collapse. I put my head on his chest, clutching at his polo shirt. I shook my head involuntarily. Fred was a part of me, and he always had been. How on earth would I live without him?
I felt strong hands lifting me off the ground. I clung to Fred's shirt.
"No, no. I can't leave him here," I yelled angrily.
"George, please." The hands belonged to my father. I struggled for a moment before letting him lift me from Fred's body. He drew me into a tight hug, and I wrapped my arms around his neck like I was five years old again. I looked at him, tears streaming down both our faces.
"Why?" That was the only word I could say.
My father shook his head and continued to hold me. I sobbed into his robes, and felt my mother wrap her arms around both of us. I couldn't look at her. We had promised we would both be fine. And I didn't deliver on that promise. But she hugged me anyway. I knew deep down she wasn't angry with me. But I was angry with me.
As I stood there, wrapped in the comfort of my parents' arms, I felt the arms of Ron, Ginny, Bill, Charlie, and Percy wrap around us. My whole family. Except my twin. He'd never wrap his arms around anyone, ever again.
That was the memory George saw every time he tried to sleep. It haunted him, the face of his twin on the floor in the Great Hall that night. For six months he had played and replayed the events of that night in his mind. What if he had done something differently? What if he had been there when the explosion happened? Could he have changed something? Maybe Fred could have lived. He had expressed these thoughts to his parents, but every time he mentioned it, they told him not to be daft.
There really wasn't anything George could do about the pain except wait for it to go away. He kept telling himself that he had five other siblings whom he loved and respected for everything they had done. Percy had come back into their lives, Bill and Charlie visited much more often, and Ron and Ginny had become his best friends. But none of it was the same without Fred. Fred had been his soul mate. Not in the romantic sense, of course, but they were linked through and through. There wasn't anyone in the world who understood George like Fred did. Running the joke shop just wasn't the same without him, and none of the jokes were as funny without Fred to try them with (or on, depending on the situation).
Losing his ear was nothing compared to losing Fred. He'd give his other ear and both arms and legs to get him back. But he knew it would never happen.
Moving on proved to be more difficult than he ever imagined. He knew he'd never find another friend like Fred, and of course, he'd never have another twin.
But as George lay in bed on December first, looking at the ceiling, he realized something.
He may never completely move on. And that was okay. No one ever expected him to forget his brother. There was no way he ever could. The relationship he and Fred had shared would be a relationship he would never know again. But he would always have something to hold onto: the memories. George smiled the first real smile in six months as he remembered the day he and Fred first went through the barrier at King's Cross on Platform 9 and ¾.
"Fred, d'you reckon people will like us at Hogwarts?" I asked, looking at my twin brother.
"Blimey, George, of course they will! They've never seen anything to the likes of us before, you can count on that!" Fred exclaimed, clapping me on the shoulder. I smiled.
"Alright, Fred, George, let's get through the barrier," our mum's voice rang out over the crowd, "you first, Fred," she said to my twin.
"Mum, I'm George. Don't you even know your own children?" he said, with a swift wink in my direction. I stifled a snigger.
"Oh for heaven's sake, George, I'm sorry. You two become more and more alike every day," she said, exasperated.
"Just kidding, Mum, I am Fred!" he said, running through the barrier at top speed.
Mum shook her head and put her arm around me.
"There'll never be another like him, eh, George?" she asked.
"No, Mum, I don't reckon there will," I said, hugging her before I ran into the barrier.
Yes, moving on was going to be difficult. But he would do it. And he knew his brother would be watching out for him every step of the way.
fin
How'd you like it? Please review! I know it was short, but it was supposed to be. Love love!