DISCLAIMER: I obviously do not own Harry Potter
I had a friend many years ago
One tragic night he died
The saddest time of my life
For weeks and weeks I cried
George Weasley couldn't believe that song played through his head on this, his wedding day. Or maybe it was appropriate. He remembered the first time his Muggle-born employee, Adrian, played that song for him. George didn't know a thing about Muggle music, but had to admit there was something rather "in your face" about this Iced Earth group. Their guitars, their drums, their vocals. Raw, primal emotions poured from them. It made the lyrics of this particular song even more meaningful for him.
His eyes stung. Had it really been five years since . . . that night? The night Fred left him. To this day it seemed hard to grasp. One second his twin was commenting on Percy making a joke, the next . . . bang! An explosion, and Fred's dead.
George bit his lower lip and shook his head. It wasn't fair. Fred should be here with him on this day.
Through the anger and through the tears
I've felt his spirit through the years
I'd swear, he's watching me
Getting me through hard times
He turned to the full-length mirror mounted to the door of his . . . their old bedroom. He barely registered his lanky frame, red hair and dark formal dress robes reflecting back at him, instead looking at the small moving photo stuck in the corner of the mirror. It showed Fred and him, arms around each other's shoulders and smiling brightly in front of their shop the day it opened. George had put it there, hoping it would give him a sense that his twin was here in spirit, offering him useless advice on how to dance with Katie at the reception or reminding him to put a double-Muffling Charm on their room later that night or telling him to have loads of children so Weasleys Wizard Wheezes could have a group of product testers they could pay in candy instead of galleons.
But the photo only reminded him of Fred's absence. The void in his soul grew, swallowing his insides. He turned away from the mirror, pressing his hands against the sides of his head as the memories overwhelmed him.
We shared dreams like all best friends
Blood brothers at the age of ten
We lived reckless, he paid the price
But why? Why did he have to die?
They'd talked about their wedding day a few times. Not the way girls do, of course. Their plans ranged from having the most incredible, mind-blowing, call out the Auror's Office bachelor party in the history of the world to making sure they invited enough pretty girls so the twin who didn't get married that day could find a prospective wife.
None of that happened. His bachelor party had been a rather subdued affair, at least subdued compared to the grandiose plans he and Fred had concocted. And no female guest in attendance would have the chance to become Mrs. Fred Weasley.
Now he started to wonder about his own marriage to Katie Bell. Yes, he loved her. He'd been attracted to her since Hogwarts, not that he'd done anything about it then because he'd been a bloody idiot, like Fred had been for not pursuing Angelina harder. That had been one of the reasons George plucked up his Gryffindor courage and courted Katie. The future was so uncertain. One minute you're here, the next you're not. He couldn't bottle up his feelings for fear of being hurt like Fred had with Angelina.
It worked out for him and Katie. Still George couldn't help but wonder, if Fred hadn't died, would he be with Katie now? Would he be marrying her? Had that been his whole reason for wanting to marry Katie? So he had someone else to share his life with? That had always been his greatest fear. Being alone. Sure he had a large family whom he loved deeply. But with Fred there had been a bond few could understand. A deep, near spiritual connection that could only be found in twins. Could he have something along those lines with Katie? Someone who knew him like no one else did? Someone he knew with all his heart he could count on?
"Dammit, Fred. Where are you when I need you?"
George paced toward the window, his feet stomping hard on the wooden floor. When he reached the window, he spun around and stalked back to the other side of the room. He roughly ran his fingers through his hair. Was he marrying Katie for the right reasons? Did he love her more than he feared being alone, or vice versa?
He smacked his hip into the nightstand.
"Ow!" George reached for his stinging hip, then jumped back as a photo album tumbled off the nightstand and bounced along the floor. He watched as it came to a rest, splayed open.
Rubbing his hip with one hand, George reached down to pick up the album with the other. He froze when he noticed the moving photo on the right page.
The images of him and Katie in bathing suits smiled and waved. He knew right away where the photo had been taken. Corsica. They had gone there on holiday just a few months after becoming a couple. That had been a great time.
Except for "that night." The night he had yet another nightmare about Fred's death. He'd woken up screaming and covered with sweat. Katie had turned on the lights and held him until his settled down. Then, then he looked at her, and everything started to come out. His fears about going on without Fred, the blame he put on himself for not being there to save his twin, how much he depended on Fred for everything, how he didn't possess the sort of confidence Fred had, how sometimes, he just felt inadequate as a person.
He expected Katie to hug him and whisper how everything will be all right. Instead, she said something he never expected.
"Can you imagine what Fred would think if he heard you talk like this? He'd kick your bloody arse for wallowing in such a cauldron of misery. In all the years I've known you, I can say that you are extremely confident, and you are most certainly not inadequate, and it's high time you start believing that yourself, George Weasley."
They talked for the rest of the night, one of those talks that draw two people closer than they could ever imagine. They both opened up to one another, confessing things they'd never told their closest friends or their family. He'd discovered a whole new Katie Bell that night, one he could share anything with and not be embarrassed. One he knew he could turn to those times when Fred's death became too much to bear.
She is the one.
The hairs on the back of his neck tingled. His chest tightened as he continued to stare at the opened photo album.
I feel him once again
It's overwhelming me
His spirit's like the wind
The angel guarding me
Oh, I know, oh, I know
He's watching over me
Oh I know, oh I know
He's watching over me
Tears in his eyes, George Weasley looked up at the ceiling and smiled.
"Thank you, Fred."
- THE END –
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The song "Watching Over Me" can be found on Iced Earth's CD "Something Wicked This Way Comes." Band founder Jon Schaffer wrote the song as a tribute to a close friend who died in a motorcycle accident.