When I began writing Sequentia I had killed off Fred, not realizing that he was still alive until I reread Deseo to prepare for the rewrite. When I spoke to Aimless Wonder about it he went over the chapters again, bringing Fred back to life in the sequel. This is the one-shot I wrote timed between the last chapter of Deseo del Corazon and the beginning of Sequentia Cor Meum, to explain why Fred was dead, that thankfully I didn't need. I don't own Harry Potter... blah blah blah.
Ode to Fred
Fred was more excited than he had been when they had all gone out for Severus's bachelor party. Of course, they hadn't told him it was happening, which was probably the only reason that he had gone, stunned into silence. George was out visiting their mum at the Burrow. The twins had been working on something that they were hoping would be their next big joke, and Fred was using George being gone as the perfect opportunity to tweak the formula a little bit. George thought that using only a little bit of the exploding ingredient was better, just to be on the safe side. But Fred himself, was wanting to make the final show look a lot more extravagant.
He had told George that he would stop by later, but that he wanted to straighten up his room before he came over. He picked up the jar of fire-lizard tails, and held it over the bubbling cauldron. This… this would be awesome.. he thought, as he tipped the jar to the side.
George whistled as he walked up the staircase to his and Fred's flat above their shop. As he approached the door at the top of the staircase, he saw a sliver of smoke coming out from beneath the door, and he chuckled. Cleaning, what a lie. He sniffed, and assumed that the scent of burning fireworks was from their last experiment that had involved some minor explosives. He opened the door and smoke billowed out. "Fred, where are you?" When he got no reply, he dropped the packages that held the food that Molly had sent with him. He waved his wand and murmured an enchantment to get the smoke to dissipate.
He looked around at the apartment, and saw that some of the walls had burn marks on them. "Fred, quit playing around, where are you?" He asked, trying to keep the building concern out of his voice. He moved towards the room that they did their experiments in, and pushed the door open, more smoke billowing out, which he quickly vanished.
"Fred, why are you lying on the floor?" He asked, entering the room, and walking towards his twin. He bent over and rolled him, concern building when he felt the stiffness of the body. Holding an arm under Freds neck, George pulled out his wand and shakily pointed it at his brother. "Rennervate."
When nothing happened, he felt the first tear slide out, and he yelled, "rennervate." He hazily remembered sending out a patronus to Harry, who was closer than the Burrow, before he pulled Fred up against his chest, and sobbed as he rocked back and forth.
There wasn't a dry eye in the large crowd that showed up for Fred's funeral. George was standing up at the pulpit, shaking with sobs that he was trying to hold back. "Fred would hate this. He'd hate that we're all so sad. That's why we worked so hard, we both think.." he paused, "we both thought that there needs to be more laughter in the world."
People in the crowd started crying. "Our last experiment we were working on was a fireworks display that told people that they looked amazing, or to have a wonderful day. Something that should have brought a smile to everybody's face. We had a disagreement about how big the blast should be. I wanted to be careful not to put too much of the exploding ingredient, but he wanted it to be enormous. He told me he wanted to clean the apartment because his girlfriend was coming over after dinner at mum's."
George couldn't hold back the sobs any longer. "Fred was the best friend that I've ever had, and the fact that he was my brother never stopped that." He looked up at his mom. "We'll never be able to pretend to be each other to confuse people, mostly our mother." Molly was inconsolable, Arthur wrapping his arms tightly around her. Angelina stood up from her chair in the audience, and moved to wrap her arms around her boyfriend, and unable to control himself any more, George let all of his emotions out.
In Memoriam
Fred Weasley, fourth child of Arthur and Molly Weasley, and twin to George Weasley perished in a potions accident. He was co-founder and subsequently co-owner of the popular wizarding joke shop Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Was a beater for the Gryffindor Quidditch team at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Joined Dumbledore's Army in his last year at Hogwarts, which he and his twin didn't complete. Joined the Order of the Phoenix when he exited school.
He leaves behind mother and father Molly and Arthur Weasley; older brothers William, Charles, Percy, George, and younger brother Ronald; sister Ginevra Weasley; and a Great Aunt Muriel.