Prompt: Khaki
W.C. 414.
That Coat
George finally ran his hands at the lock on the room across from his. It had been twelve years to the battle, but his battle wounds had not healed yet. Today, he was determined to see through his—Fred's things and give them away to someone who needed them.
The twelve years of rust in the rock fell out with a click. He opened the bolts with a wave of his wand and pushed the door open.
He wanted to close his eyes and turn back, but he forced himself into the room.
As his right foot crossed the periphery, the old days flashed through his mind.
"Don't worry, Harry, you'll be fine," he said.
"Yes, we will try our best not to let any bulger come close to you," said Fred.
"Just keep looking out for the snitch—"
"—and we'll have this match in the bag!"
George remembered holding up the Gryffindor cup with Fred, and then offering everyone the butterbeers he and Fred had nicked from Hogsmeade. He hadn't touched his beater bat in last twelve years.
He raised his hand to his chest, to feel the hand that had dropped out of the Weasley clock when Fred-died.
He took another step into the room and looked around. Walking toward the wardrobe, he opened it, not flinching in the slightest as the years of accumulated dust fell on him.
Fumbling through the clothes, he found what he had been looking for—the bright orange coat he and Fred had bought after they had started the shop downstairs. It had turned khaki with dust. Funny how a paper-thin gap between the two doors of the wardrobe could let that much dust in! He would have laughed had the situation been something else.
He held the coat in his hands and pressed his lips to it. A stray tear ran down his cheek and landed on the now-coarse fabric, making the khaki colour turn brown—just like his eyes. Just like Fred's eyes.
He remembered the day he had returned to the burrow after the war. He had broken every single mirror, because all he could see in them was Fred, with a missing ear.
He wiped the tears off. No, he would not cry. He had to be strong for him, for Fred. He had to continue the dream they had seen together—to make this world happy. He had to achieve that alone now, and he would start from himself!