It was Percy who saved George's life. Over and over again he saved his brother from his own misery. After the War, George took up drinking. It soon became his favorite hobby and he proved himself very skilled. He was, you see, a natural. He finished a bottle of firewhisky by himself his first time. But he knew that to be great took practice and George Weasley was determined to be great. Soon he could empty multiple bottles, often taking time off of work to better hone his craft.
His family didn't realize. They saw George struggled after his twin's death, but they didn't know it was worse than just his quiet moods and missing jokes. Everyone missed Fred. Everyone had healing to do when peace came. And George always said he was doing all right when anyone asked. Don't worry, I'm getting better. Each day's easier than the one before. I know he'd want me to keep going.
It was Percy who found out first. He saw through the delicate lies no one else wanted to test. Because what would the find if they did? Who could comfort George but Fred? Who could replace a twin? Percy didn't try to talk much. He just poured the whiskey down the drain and signed his brother up for a program. Percy knew he was not, could never be, Fred.
It was Percy who chose Angelina for a sponsor. She was only three years sober and the healers told them she really shouldn't have the position. But she had made George laugh. It was only briefly, but it was a real laugh. His first real laugh in four years. So Percy told them she was the one because maybe the others could keep him for alcohol but Angelina had a shot at healing him.
It was Angelina who yelled at him. And got him to yell back, got him to argue, to shout, to speak, to care. Then she got him to laugh and then to smile and no one could figure out how but she was family from that point on, even before she married in.
It was Angelina who argued they shouldn't get married after less than a year of dating. But George convinced her easily. No one realized she still needed healing, too. And that George was her sponsor as much as she was his.
It was Angelina who let him name their son after his lost brother, as long as they named the girl after her lost cousin. Somewhere in her gut she knew they shouldn't let the pain come back. Neither of them wanted to admit their mistake, even after they broke their sobriety within a week of their children's birth.
It was Percy who watched the infants for a few days until their parents pulled themselves together. He never told anyone, but he thought he would just adopt the twins to save both babies and parents. Only his wife saw the papers he brought home from work and stuffed into a desk drawer. She put them in a box of pictures from the twins' birth, hidden safely away. Just in case.
It was Angelina who suggested they call the twins Ed and Anne, two names that didn't hold as much pain. George was grateful his family accepted the change, although they quickly changed Ed to Red, for his stubbornly Weasley red hair.
It was Freddy, then Red, who made him laugh everyday. His little son, always tumbling into trouble and worming his way out, reminded him of an old habit, a habit older than drinking. He started having new ideas for his store again. Business, while never suffering, picked up again. People started telling stories of the Weasley twins. Gryffindor beaters, said to be like bludgers themselves. Original DA members, two of the only people who believed Harry Potter the whole time. Led the revolt against that toad Umbridge, even Peeves listened to them. Fought in the Battle of Hogwarts, one of them went down but he took loads of Death Eaters with him. George heard the stories. They hurt. But they tricked him into smiling. Fred always could make him laugh.
It was Roxy, then Anne for only a little while longer, who told him and Angelina they'd use their children's real names, or proper nicknames. They had ignored the past for long enough. She didn't yell, like her mother. She didn't use jokes, like her father. She spoke firmly and confidently, like her beloved Uncle Percy. Her parents couldn't argue, not when they knew she was right, not when the roles seemed reversed. Not when their daughter gently made the two Gryffindors feel like cowards.
It was Percy who saved him, Angelina who fixed him, Freddy who made him laugh, Roxy who told the truth.
But it was Fred who made him try, his memory enough of a reason to look for the pieces and glue them back together. Perhaps dead, but never gone. Still enough to give his brother courage.
And it was George who learned to live again.