Prompt: Fred Weasley hides a box in the Room of Requirement. George finds it in 2004.
To one of my very best friends in the entire world: I love you and hope you have a fantastic birthday. I hope you enjoy your fanfic gift! 3
Fred's Last Gift
X.x.X
It was May 2nd, 2004, the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. George Weasley appeared outside the gates of the ancient school, Apparating to the closest place he could to the Hogwarts front gates. The tall redhead looked up at the familiar gates and smiled sadly before walking the rest of the way to the gates. They were open, as they always were on this day since the war. Many family members showed up to remember those they lost in the war; but no one ever came to visit as early as George Weasley.
The wizard walked slowly and steadily up the familiar path that the thestrals normally travelled, carrying the young witches and wizards up the path to the castle. His mind flashed back to his second year when he was able to ride up this path for the first time. He and Fred nearly had thrown a Hufflepuff off the front of the carriage as a joke, saying that he would just fall under the carriage and not be trampled. Of course, that was when they had thought the carriages pulled themselves and the Hufflepuff boy was saying there were strange winged horses pulling the carriages. Now George knew what that meant.
It wasn't long before the wizard made it to the doors of the castle. The doors opened one their own as per usual and there stood Argus Filch and Mrs. Norris. The squib nodded to George and the redhead nodded back. Since the war and George's yearly trip to the castle, Filch and he had come to a truce. Even Mrs. Norris, the cranky old cat, had given her blessing, in her own way.
George Weasley, C.E.O. of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, walked into the halls where he had once had so much fun with his twin and his heart wrenched in his chest, again. It never got easier for the former twin to see his and Fred's old haunts. Memories rushed, bringing a faint smile to George's face even as his eyes filled with unshed tears.
This had become a ritual for George and some of the students recognized the redhead, greeting him in the hallway between their classes as he wandered. He eventually came to the Transfiguration room and stared into it. He remembered when he and Fred had spoken with McGonagall about becoming the Gryffindor Beaters for the Quidditch team. They had used the Marauder's Map to sneak out to the Quidditch Pitch to practice before tryouts and were being punished, but they still made the team.
The wizard turned around and nearly ran into Professor McGonagall herself. The Headmistress remained unchanged in the year since he had last seen her and though she seemed to have a few more wrinkles and more gray hair, she was remarkably unchanged since the war.
"Hello, Mr. Weasley."
"Hello, Professor. How has the year gone this year?"
"There are many promising students. Gryffindor seems to be close to winning the House Cup this year, although Slytherin House has many bright youngsters." McGonagall said, a note of pride coloring her voice at the last bit, despite the mention of Slytherin. George had seen a change in the House relations since the war. Slytherin was no longer terribly discriminated against, which was good he supposed.
"Any trouble makers?" George asked with a grin, the first real one since entering the castle. McGonagall looked at the young wizard with a curt smile, her usual form of showing happiness.
"There is one or two first years that seem determined to make trouble; as usual they are from Gryffindor and Slytherin. I honestly don't know why those two houses breed pranksters. Of course, none of the new students even come close to matching the antics that Faye Keaton, you and your brother got in to." Professor McGonagall said, sadness and sympathy in her eyes at the mention of Fred. George smiled at her.
"No one could match Faye, Fred and me. Faye was crazy and Fred and I…well, we had some fun ideas." George said, forcing the smile to be devoid of sadness. McGonagall smiled and nodded her goodbye. As George turned to watch her go he spotted a Slytherin and Gryffindor planting several dungbombs under a suit of armor. McGonagall towered over the two students, making George guess they were probably first years, especially with the way they shrunk back from her in fear. He faintly heard the word 'detention' and he smiled before continuing on his way throughout the castle.
X.x.X
A few hours later and it was lunch time. The students of Hogwarts were happily making their way to the Great Hall to eat whatever magical feast the House Elves had managed to surprise everyone with. George had already been down to the kitchens to visit the elves and whatever they were making it had smelled delicious and George had even walked away with random morsels as gifts.
George had visited Hogsmeade through the one-eyed witch passage in the castle and bought his and Fred's favorite treats. On returning to the castle, he had popped down to visit Hagrid and slip into the Forbidden Forest. The Centaurs had run by, one or two waving in greeting but otherwise ignoring him. Then there was a trip to the Black Lake to feed the Giant Squid that very few people knew liked pineapple. There was a visit with the Fat Lady who guarded the Gryffindor Common Room and the dorms. She hadn't changed at all in the years George had been gone and he was glad for it. The Fat Lady was, however, still wary of George after his and Fred's prank that ended with the Fat Lady's portrait drizzled in different colored ink.
It was during the following wander through the castle that something completely unexpected happened. Other friends and loved ones of those who had died in the Battle of Hogwarts had started showing up sometime after lunch. George said 'hello' to many of them and saw some of his other family. Harry showed up with a very pregnant Ginny. Ron and Hermione showed up not long after that. George forced himself to spend some time with his family, but it was hard sometimes, especially here at Hogwarts. George's parents showed up. Molly Weasley was hair was starting to gray slightly as was Arthur's, but they remained mostly cheery. Molly gave her son a tight squeeze on seeing him but they didn't linger long.
George continued wandering. Eventually he found himself on the seventh floor across from the tapestry with Barnabas the Barmy training Trolls. It was then he thought of the Room of Requirement. It had been several years since he had been in the room, forgetting that it was there sometimes. The wizard walked three times by it, thinking that he needed to find a place to just think of Fred.
The door appeared silently, as it had in the past, and George entered it quickly. Harry and Ginny just had time to see the door disappear into the wall and they shared a knowing look. George wanted time alone and the Room of Requirement was a good place to find that.
Once inside, George looked around. This room was larger than a broom closet but smaller than a living room. It had various Zonko products lying about, signifying that this was a place to hide pranks and such from the Professors. George vaguely remembered using this once in his first year, hiding from a very agitated Head Boy from Hufflepuff. It had been a memorable day because Fred and George had been told it was hard to agitate a Hufflepuff, let alone their Head Boy. Fred and George had accepted that challenge immediately and, after careful planning, had succeeded. They hadn't been found out that day though they had to leave their prank in the room. George began looking for it. After ten minutes of looking he hadn't found it and was about to leave but then something caught his eye: a shoebox-sized cardboard box with his and Fred's name on it.
Curiosity took over and George reached for it. As his hand touched the box, the label shifted. There was some Saunder's Invisible Silk on the box with a paper label on it. Underneath the trick silk was something George had not expected; a Weasley Joke Box; but not just any Weasley Joke Box, it was a prototype the Fred said he would take care of since it hadn't been working properly. Apparently Fred had done something to it since it didn't punch him in the gut. Since Weasley Joke Boxes were meant to punch everyone but Weasley's, this one had been deemed a malfunction since it only punched Weasley's. But, George opened the box and what was inside nearly stopped his heart.
There were small gifts and memorabilia left over from when Fred had still been alive. There were a few failed attempts at Extendable Ears and Skiving Snack Boxes. A Fanged Frisbee lay quivering with its teeth out. There was even a very chipped Nose Biting Teacup that had been presumably, previously sitting next to the Fanged Frisbee.
As George continued rummaging through the box he found some things from the Quidditch World Cup and various prototypes that hadn't yet made it into the joke shop because George had thought they had been destroyed in the war. Maybe he would try to develop these products for the shop. His eyes filled with unshed tears as he found an old photo of both himself and his dead twin. It looked like they were in their fifth year, happy-go-lucky and not worried about anything. The picture, as most in the wizarding world, was moving and George held the photo to his heart and the tears began to fall. George sat for several minutes, alternating between looking at the photo and holding it close to him. Finally, he set it beside him and kept looking through the box.
He found other broken items from their childhood, various childhood toys. There were some potion ingredients stolen from Professor Snape in their fourth year still sitting in the box. There were some items left from Dumbledore's Army and the fight against Dolores Umbridge. There was a broken kitten plate from Umbridge's office.
George sat in that room for longer than he could keep track of, sorting through the different things that Fred had left in that little box. Finally, as he was about to put everything back in, George found a letter:
George,
If you're reading this, you're probably not with me, and if you're not with me, I'm probably dead. I realized something recently: we never know where life is going to take us. This whole thing with Lord Voldemort has taught us that. We've lost many people. Sirius and Dumbledore were powerful but still fell. We almost lost Dad. Anything can happen. That's why I'm writing this letter.
Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. I've been collecting these little odds and ends for years, storing them away just because I'm a pack rat, but that, as it turns out, is a good thing. These are some of our greatest treasures from over the years. They represent our friendship, our triumphs, our jokes, our life. I hope that we all survive this war, but if I don't, I hope you find this. I want you to remember the good times we had; the fun times. Don't look back on our time together in sadness because we showed everyone that you can have a good time even in darkness.
Our accomplishments will ring throughout history. We made a business in the scariest times; we made people laugh when there was nothing to laugh at. Keep that up. It's up to you (and maybe Ron if he is done being a little git) to keep our legacy of laughter going. Do it for fun, for me, for you, for whoever you end up with. Keep Mom and Dad laughing and guessing; don't let Ginny get whatever she wants and never let Percy forget me or I'll come back and haunt him. Make sure Ron and Hermione get together; Ron can be so thick. I love you, Brother. Always.
Your Loving Twin,
Fred
P.S. You always were the better looking one.
George put the letter down as tears and a smile graced his face. This was so like Fred. George sat for another moment before packing up the box and slipping the letter into his robes. With his hand on the doorknob George looked back on the room and said:
"I named him after you, Fred. I named my son after you. I'll never forget you."
George left the room feeling lighter for the first time since Fred had died. People had cleared out of Hogwarts while he had been in the Room of Requirement but his family waited for him like they did every year: Molly and Arthur, Bill and Fleur, Charlie, Percy and his wife, Ron and Hermione, and Harry and Ginny. Then he saw his own wife, Angeline, with his son Fred in her arms. He reached his family and they exited the castle together with smiles and greetings, ready for the meal that Molly had prepared for them every year.
George smiled and chatted with everyone with Fred's last gift under his arm as everyone Disapparated to the Burrow. It had been six years since Fred had died, but he was still with them, in their hearts.
X.x.X
All right, that was an emotional fic to write; I cried from starting the letter to the end. I hope everyone liked it because I'm very proud of this.
Happy Birthday, Cheyla! Remember, this is supposed to be a happy ending, though it is sad. I love you!