Fred's Letter
He was gone. For the first time in his entire life, George felt completely and utterly alone. It was all over now. Fred was gone.
The moment George had seen Fred lying there, mid-laugh, his heart had sunk. No it had done something much worse than that. It had practically exploded. Half of it had burned away. It had taken his brain a while to process what he was seeing. He remembered walking over to Fred's mangled body.
"Fred? Freddie boy, come on wake up. Fred?" He looked up into his mothers eyes, and saw the hurt and loss clearly written there. And it finally clicked. "Mum?" he asked, his tone questioning. His mother merely nodded, and that was when he lost it. He began to cry and wail, screaming Fred's name, shaking him, trying to make him wake up. But he would never wake up again.
Eventually George could scream no more. He cried silently, shaking as tears fell everywhere. He had lost his other half.
George shuddered at the memory of Fred's body. A part of him was now broken beyond repair. Everybody else had felt terrible, his mother had screamed and cried as much as him, but George knew that nobody was taking the loss as bad as he was. Nobody was as close to Fred as he was. They hadn't felt as though half of them had vanished. They didn't feel so alone.
When they arrived at the Burrow, they were silent. George felt more tears building up. For the first time in his life, he would be walking home without Fred. He paused by the door, unable to continue. His father held his shoulder comfortingly. George stepped inside.
The Burrow looked exactly the same, but felt completely different without Fred. Everywhere George looked, he saw himself with Fred. Running, talking, plotting, and laughing, in every corner of the house.
Looking around, George realized his mother probably felt the same way. She must be seeing herself scolding Fred for this or that, or laughing along with him.
She turned to look at George, and gave him a hug, crying softly on his shoulder.
"Oh, George," she cried, tightening her grip. "I can't believe this happened to you."
Hermione and Harry had come with them, along with Lee, Alicia, Angelina and Katie. They all looked upset, but none as upset as George.
Hermione rubbed his arm soothingly. "It's okay George. Well, no it isn't. That's the worst possible thing I could have said." She paused, as if recollecting herself. "Fred is missing you as much as you're missing him," she stated quietly. "And, if I know anything about him," she said louder, speaking to everyone now. "Then he wouldn't like us to all sit here crying about him. If he had written a goodbye letter or something, I'm sure he would have said that."
George felt his head snap up at the last few words. He pulled away from his mother and ran up the creaky stairs to his bedroom. He closed the door behind him, and looked over the room. It felt so wrong to be here without Fred.
He walked to the third floorboard from the right wall, and easily pulled it up. Below it was another piece of wood, which he also pulled out. Beneath that were two dark brown boxes. One had a golden 'G' on it, and the other an 'F'. George carefully pulled out the one with the 'F'.
When he and Fred were young, they had both decided to write letters to each other in case one died before the other. The letters would include secrets, and last wishes. They had always figured they would die together, but had written the letters just in case. They had updated the letters constantly, as events came and went. The last time they had updated it was after Dumbledore's death and after George had lost his ear, when they were in the shop.
George braced himself as he lifted the lid. On the top was an old blue sweater from their mother, with a yellow 'F' on it. George placed it to the side, picking up a slightly yellowed envelope. He pulled out the parchment beneath, and sighed seeing Fred's familiar handwriting.
Hullo Georgie,
If you're reading this, I suppose I'm dead. This is going to be a strange letter to write. I always figured we'd pop of together, but I guess not. I have so much I want to say, but I don't know where to start.
I miss you George, and I know you miss me. Don't be too upset. I'm in that big joke shop up in the sky now. I know people say it's 'a better place' but I can't be too sure about that just yet.
Wow, I wonder how this works. You know the whole dying thing. I'll have to ask old Dumbledore for some pointers, eh?
It's alright to laugh, it was a joke.
Don't let me being dead keep you from cracking jokes and creating pranks, did you hear? Sorry, it might be a bit hard to hear with only one ear. How's that working out for you? I agree, that was rather cheesy.
I don't want you folks to cry over my death. If you cry then I've clearly done something wrong. When you remember me, you shouldn't start crying! You should bloody well start laughing! Don't cry because I died, laugh because of what I did before I died! You know that saying. "Don't cry because it's over, laugh because it happened"? Remember that.
And please, for the love of Dumbledore's unwashed beard, no depressing funeral where everybody comes to mourn dressed in black. I don't want that!
Don't mourn, celebrate! In a mournful way if you must. I don't want anybody wearing black clothing. I want them to come wearing bright, rainbow colors! Instead of crying and talking about my traits, laugh and talk about pranks I played and jokes I cracked. Please George. I want my funeral to be special, and different. Can you make that happen for me? I even included my own invitation cards! It was a bit strange writing invitations to my own funeral.
Alright, now on to what you need to tell other people for me.
I know mum must be beating herself up. Remember that time she thought we were dead? She'll be ten times worse now, when she knows I'm dead! Tell her that she was the best mother I could have ever asked for. I really wasn't worthy of a mum as nice as her. Tell her I love her, and I think about her everyday. Boy did we give her trouble. Tell her I'm sorry for leaving her. I really am sorry for leaving you guys. I know she was unsupportive at times, but it was only because she was worried about our futures. If she ever starts getting mad at herself, remind her that she was always doing it for our good. Tell her I said that. Tell her everything.
Dear me, I'm tearing up.
We always made fun of dad, didn't we? But he was a right good father, he was. What didn't he do for us kids? It's hard to live off of such little money and support such a huge family. All we ever did was complain about hand-me downs. Tell him I love and miss him a lot. When mum would get mad at us, he was always there to defend us. He would say he would tell her about something bad we did, but he never actually meant to. He was always there to care about us. Tell him I said that. Tell him I said thank you.
I didn't know I had this many tears in me. But it's probably nothing compared to how you felt when you found out I was dead.
Bill was a good oldest brother. You and I both respected him so much. Remember Georgie? But, boy did he set the standards high. After him, we were kind of disappointments. At least that's what mother always screamed at us. But I know she never meant it. Hope he and Fleur are doing alright. I wonder if Fleur even cares that I'm dead. We didn't know each other too well. She's probably comforting Bill. How is Bill dealing with my death? We always got along well. His hair and piercing were downright brilliant. Tell him I said that. Tell him that I miss him. Tell him that I love him. Tell him that he was always a role-model of mine.
And how about our dragon-taming brother? Good ole Charlie. Is he doing alright? I respected him a lot too. He was a true Gryffindor. Dealing with dragons. Remember when we used to pretend we were dragon tamers like him? Tell him about that. We even used to blast each other with fire. Remember when mum saw us doing that? She nearly had a heart attack! She chased us around the house with the fire poker for nearly an hour! Tell Charlie that I love him, and I miss him. A lot.
Onto our prat of a brother, Percy. Our Humongous Bighead! Ha, did we have some good times with him. Well, it was a good time for us anyways. If he ever realizes what a git he's being and comes back to apologize, forgive him on my behalf. I really hope he comes back. It's just not the same without him. Tell him I forgive him. Tell him that immediately. I want to be the first to forgive him. Please. And after that tell him that I love him. It'll shock him, I'm sure, but you and I both know that it's true. I really miss him, and now I'll never be able to see him. Tell him that I'm sorry for all the painful taunting, teasing, and pranking. I suppose I was a bit jealous of how perfect he was. Mum and dad were so proud of him, it made me feel lousy. Tell him I said that.
George looked up, his eyes red. At least one of Fred's wishes had come true. Percy had come back, he had apologized, and Fred was the first one to forgive him. In fact, Fred had even fought along side him before…
George turned back to the letter.
Boy, this is hard. I'm crying so much just writing this, I wonder how you feel reading it.
George, stop crying. You better not smudge my letter.
George allowed himself to smile, and wiped his eyes.
I'm really, really proud of Ron. I really, really want you to tell him that. While others earned pride by going into amazing careers (including you and me) Ron showed his worth from his first year. He is one of the bravest people I know, and I am proud that he is a Weasley. It gives me pride to tell people that he's my brother. But I don't have to tell people that much, anyone with half a brain could tell we're siblings. Tell him that. Also, tell Ron that I am, from the very bottom of my heart, sorry. He'll ask why, like the half brain he is, and then you say these exact words. "For giving you fear of something important in your future". Ron will look at you blankly and you say "For turning your teddy bear into a spider". I didn't realize it would scar him so badly. I didn't realize that he would end up having to go into the Forbidden Forest, following a trail of spiders, only to encounter his worst nightmare, magnified ten bloody times. He actually followed the spiders. I think that was very, very brave of him. It wasn't my brightest idea ever. Tell him that, sincerely. Also, I'm not really sure how I died, but if it has to do with someone killing me, please make sure Ron doesn't hunt them down and try and kill them. He's a bit rash with these decisions, and can be really stupid when he's mad. Just calm him down. I don't want him to die for me. I don't want anyone to die for me.
Why won't this bloody letter finish! I'm nearly drowning in tears!
George could relate.
Let's move onto our lovable, adorable, innocent, Ginny. We've always been a bit overprotective of her, eh? Well she's the first Weasley girl for a long time, what do you expect? Tell her that I love her very very much! Tell her that she's my favorite sister. It's true. Watch out for her. Look out for her, doubled, to cover for me too. Never let any harm come her way, or anything hurt her. Tell her that I'm still looking out for her, up here. Tell her not to snog Harry too much, as I don't want to check up on her and see that. I just shuddered by the way. I'll find one way or another to look after her. I'll have to check with Dumbledore about that.
Boy, am I going to wreak havoc up here? Oh the ideas! Maybe you'll receive a heavenly toilet seat one day!
Well, that wraps up family, on to friends.
Harry Potter. The boy who lived. He better take good care of Ginny, or I am going to come down there and kick his sorry…oops, language. We gave him some tough times didn't we Georgie? He better take good care of that Marauders Map, or I swear he's going to wish he was dead. And when he does die, I'll be up here waiting. Something to look forward to I suppose. Anyways, tell him I'm proud he's a Gryffindor. And make sure he doesn't blame himself for my dying; he can be pretty hard on himself. Hey, maybe I'll even meet his parents! Do you think they'll like me? I hope so. Hope they accept me. Hope his mother can cook well…
Oi! Can dead people eat? Oh no, what if we can't! George, I'll die! Oh, wait…
George, are you still there? Are you still reading? Please carry on with life. 'Keep Calm Even Though Fred is Gone'. I came up with that, rather clever wouldn't you say?
Tell Hermione to loosen up. We gave her some hard times. She was a firm believer in rules, and we were firm believers in rule-breaking. After all, rules are made to be broken, right? Hey, Georgie, I think I have a few good jokes left in me even though I'm gone. Would you mind telling her that I always knew she loved me? Ha, I wish I could see the look on her face. Oh, and Ron's face must be priceless! Nah, I was just joking. Tell her that. She obviously likes Ron, and Ronnie loves her right back. Have they gotten together yet? If they have, tell them I said 'finally'. If they haven't tell them I say 'what are you waiting for, another Weasley to die'. Tell her I miss her, and I love her. And tell her not to take that last part too seriously.
And good ole Lee was always there for us wasn't he? He stuck by us no matter how stupid our pranks were. Tell him that I am grateful for his loyalty. Tell him that I'll miss laughing with him. Now that I'm gone, you're going to need Lee more than ever. Tell Lee that I'm sorry. I never hooked him up with Alicia the way he asked. What a rotten friend.
Tell Alicia that Lee likes her. I may be dead, but I might still be able to hook the pair of them up! I'd like that. Please do that for me George? Tell Alicia that playing Quidditch with her was an honor. She was the fiercest chaser, I've ever met.
I miss Quidditch. Maybe they have some kind of heavenly Quidditch up here? I hope so. But being a beater won't be the same without you. I know you feel the same way. I'm sorry George.
Tell Angelina that you love her. I know you do, you can't hide anything from me. I swear there was never anything between me and her. Believe me; dead people don't lie about these things. The Yule Ball was nothing. Just a bit of fun, that's all, nothing deep. George tell her you love her. Begin a new life with her. Angie is an amazing person. She'll help you through these hard times. She'll always be there for you. I'm pretty darn sure she loves you too. Tell her George, please. For me? Tell her that I miss her something awful. Tell her that she was one of the strongest, bravest girls I've ever known.
George put down the letter and cried, for a long, long time. Fred was still there for him, even when he was dead. Fred knew about him having a crush on Angelina. What else did Fred know? Wiping away the tears, George looked back at the letter.
I can't believe I'm dead. Fred is dead. Hey Georgie! That rhymes! Too soon? Sorry. I'm not the most sensitive person. But hopefully this next part will be sensitive enough.
George? Will you tell Katie that…that I love her?
George froze. What? He reread the line, again and again, until he had memorized every curve and ink blot. Fred had liked Katie! And now, Katie would never get the chance to love him back.
Yes I know, very shocking. Fred's gone soft, I suppose. Tell her George, please tell her. I know she'll get mad at me; she'll call me many names, and insult me. Call me a coward for sure.
"That stupid git! He couldn't have told me when he was alive? The coward!"
Tell her I said I'm sorry, so very sorry. Comfort her when she starts crying. Tell her that she was the most beautiful, graceful, witty, funny girl I've ever known. Tell her that she managed to make Fred go loopy. Tell her that she brought the great prankster to his knees. Tell her I love her. Tell her I love her.
I'm crying for real know. I can't take it. That's what Katie Bell does to me.
Oh, George! I'm so sorry. I miss you. Remember my funeral wishes. Remember, George. Read this until you've memorized it.
If you ever miss me, put on the sweater I gave you, and wave into a mirror. I'll be right there, waving back at you. Right there, George. I will always be right there for you. Right in your heart…and your mirror. Never forget me George. I know you won't. Don't cry about me, laugh. Laugh George, laugh! Prank, joke, and laugh!
Everyone is worried about you, I know. They're wondering how you'll get on. Be strong, for them. For me.
George, you are the strongest, bravest twin brother I could have ever asked for. You were always there to rein me in, when I went a bit wild. You're the most fun loving person I know. I know I don't say it as much as I ought to, but I love you George. I am so sorry for leaving.
Take care of the shop, take care of our family, and take care of Katie. Remember my wishes.
I hope I die laughing, or at least smiling.
Remember George, remember.
Your lovable, funny, twin brother, who is now dead,
Fred.
George looked up dully. At least Fred had died laughing. He curled up on the floor and allowed silent tears to streak down his face. The face so similar to Fred's…
There was pounding at the door and George looked up.