Depression. It was a funny word, but it meant one of the most horrific feelings a human being could ever feel. It was also a new feeling to George Weasley. George pondered the thought of being depressed and officially decided that he was. He sighed at the thought. He had never been depressed before in his life. He was always so cheerful, even about the loss of his ear. George was one of those few individuals that looked at the brighter things in life, never the darkness. But there was nothing bright about this week. Sure, they had won the war against Voldemort, but the loss that came with this victory was just too strong. He had lost his best mate, his partner in crime, his other half, his twin brother, Fred Weasley.
George was distraught over the loss of Fred. Seeing his brothers mangled body on the ground and his lifeless eyes staring up at the ceiling made him want to off himself, too. He just wanted to be with Fred, no matter what the cost. He craved the sound of his brother's voice, his laugh that usually joined in with George's. Whenever he left his bedroom, which was now one bed empty, he always hoped that Fred would be just downstairs in the kitchen with mum and dad. But he wasn't. He had even begged (which was rare for George) for the resurrection stone from Harry. Although Harry hated seeing George lost like this, Harry had to deny him his request. Remembering the Tale of the Three Brothers his mum has read him so many times when he was a boy; he had no choice but to let it go.
You have to get up, Georgie;George thought to himself, you have to get out of bed today.Today was Fred's burial. And although Arthur, George's dad, wasn't allowing George to attend the funeral, he was still determined to try and convince mum to let him go. He had to say goodbye, but his parents thought that it would be too painful for George. And they were probably right.
George finally removed the covers from his body and stood up. He looked around at the room. It was so empty. Fred's things had been moved into storage to be sorted through another day. His bed was removed from the room, but you could still see the slight shadow in the floor from where the bed once was, from where Fred had once slept…
George slowly got dressed all in black. He hated the colour black, so he added a bright red bowtie, the one Fred had once owned. When he was finished getting ready, he walked downstairs to find the Burrow empty. He searched the house to see if anyone was there, which there weren't. He settled in the kitchen with a piece of toast and realized there was a sealed envelope lying across from him.
He looked around already knowing no one was there to watch him. He reached across the table and pulled the envelope towards him only to find that was addressed to him. Georgie, it read. It was written in Fred's handwriting. George's heart nearly stopped and he dropped the envelope on his plate. The envelope opened on its own and floated in front of George's face. The envelope was now, in the only way to describe it, in the shape of a human's mouth. It paused for a moment and began to narrate in Fred's voice.
'Heya, Georgie, It's me, Fred. If I know you as well as I think I do, then you're probably on the verge of a heart attack right now, and I just want you to calm down before I continue… Are you calm?'
George followed the instructions Fred gave him and breathed slowly through his nose, calming down gradually before Fred's voice continued.
'Good. Now, if you're listening to this, it probably means some death eater offed me during the battle. Which is not a nice fate to come to, but it happened. This isn't just one of those nightmares you used to get when you were a kid. It's real. But I'm alright, at least, I hope I'm alright… How's the family? Are they good? Are you taking care of them for me?'
George nodded in response to Fred's question.
'You're not just moping around in our room being the lazy arse I know you are, right?'
George shook his head. Fred always knew him so well.
'Well, what are you doing that for? Should I awaken from the dead and kick your arse? I hope I don't have to.'
George laughed slightly at Fred's morbid humor.
'Well, I can't do that, but I hope I put a smile on that pretty little face of ours… Anyway, I'll miss you, as much as I hate to admit it. That's why I'm making this. I'll be lost without you. And I love you, Georgie, so much. I really want you to know that. And sure, we've fought, but that doesn't mean we're not brothers, right? You were my best friend. You will always be my best friend. And I better be yours or when you get here, I'll kick your bloody arse. And hey, look at the bright side. At least mum can tell us apart now, right? No, not funny right? I thought so.
'I'm going to miss all of the jokes we had. Putting spiders in Ronnie's hair, putting fake bugs in Ginny's food… Those were good times… But, we'll have more of them. When you get here, I mean. It won't be that long 'til we see each other again, Georgie, don't worry. It'll go by faster than you can say 'bambling bumbling band of baboons!' And I'm not really gone, George. I'll always be there for you when you need to talk to me. All you have to do is look deep inside yourself, and I'll be there. All you have to do is look up. Or you can always look in the mirror and talk to yourself and pretend it's me. You might look completely mental, but hey, aren't you already?
'I'll never leave you, Georgie. I'll always be your twin. I'll always be your other half. Your partner in crime, your best mate. And you'll always be mine. And, look, I'm getting all choked up right now. Do you see what you've done to me? Anyway, I should probably go now before I really start bawling my eyes and start looking for you. I love you, Georgie. Always, I promise. And remember, it's not forever.
'Your partner in crime, Fred.'
The envelope closed itself. George placed his head on the table and began to sob. He sobbed for about an hour straight. That was the last time he would ever hear Fred's voice again. The last time he would hear his laugh. The last time he would hear Fred say 'I love you.' The last time he would have any contact with his brother at all. And it killed him. It almost killed him
Six months later…
Ron saw the last few costumers out the door, before turning the 'open' side to the 'closed' side of the sign. "You can leave, Ron. I'll close up," George stated. Ron grabbed his things, said his goodbyes and exited the shop.
George was alone. It was quiet. The whirring and the popping noises of the shop's toys had died down by now. The loud shouting of kids and teenagers had finally stopped. And George was alone, except for the painting of Fred hanging in his office. Fred had just stepped into the painting with a giant smirk on his face as George walked into his office. Completely wiped out from his day, he collapsed in his chair and looked up at Fred. "I could really use a hand here,' he complained to his brother, "I'm a wreck and all you have to do is sit there all day and make up lame ideas for new toys."
"I'm dead, you git. Or did you forget?
"I didn't. Trust me, I didn't." Just then, the sound of the bells from the entrance door rang. Someone had just entered the shop, despite the 'closed' sign on the door. "We're closed!' Fred shouted, hoping they'd leave, but they didn't. George sighed and stood up. "Oi, are you deaf or just stupid?" he asked nastily as he walked out to the main floor of the shop "I said we-." He stopped his sentence upon seeing himself in a mirror… Only… He wasn't missing his ear… And this person was wearing different clothing. George's heart skipped a few beats upon seeing this person.
"I'm not deaf, you git. You're the one missing the ear," this person exclaimed.
"Fred…" George mumbled, "Is that… really you?"
"Well, who else could I be? Severus Snape? Sorry, mate but he's dead," Fred smiled, but George only looked confused. "How- you're dead, too."
"Well, obviously I'm not dead. If I was dead, could I do this?" Just then, Fred picked up one of the super bouncy balls from one of the shelves and threw it rather hard at George's head. But, Fred missed and George caught it. He looked down at the ball in his hand, stunned at what was happening.
George dropped the ball and stormed over to Fred and pushed him, "How dare you! How dare you pull something like this, Fred? I was devastated! For months I didn't leave the house. For months I cried nonstop because I thought… I thought you were dead! And you think you can just show up here after all that and… and throw things at me? Are you mental?" George screamed. Fred only stood there looking devastatingly guilty as George yelled. "I had no choice, Georgie," Fred stated quietly, "I thought I was going to die for real."
George backed off of his brother. He looked stunned at the pain and guilt in Fred's eyes. "What d'you mean, Freddie?" Fred gestured that they go sit in George's office, where they could talk.
As soon as the two brothers sat down, Fred began explaining at once, "The Carrows- they were after me. They were… frightened about something. I dunno what exactly, but they wanted me as bait. I only know this because Percy overheard them talking about me. They were going to use me to get to Harry. They were going to kill me, Georgie. I didn't have a choice but to fake my death."
George only looked more hurt. "And you couldn't tell me? You couldn't tell your own brother what you were planning?" George asked and Fred only shook his head. "I had to make it believable. If the death eaters had noticed you didn't look hurt over my death, they would have known I wasn't actually dead," Fred explained. George nodded, finally understanding. "And you're safe now? They're not after you anymore?" George asked "I'm safe. I can come home now," Fred answered with a smile on his face.
"A-And that letter? That was all part of the plan, too?" George asked shakily. His dream had come true, but not in the way that he wanted. "No. I really made that in case I was really to die," Fred answered honestly. George only nodded, not knowing what else to say.
It was quiet for a few moments before Fred and George dove into a hug with each other. Both in tears, they didn't let go of each other for a good while. Fred only mumbling, "I'm sorry, Georgie. I'm so sorry." And George only muttering his forgiveness back
They finally released each other from their grips. George started laughing, thinking about how ridiculous he acted just minutes before their official reunion. Fred laughed, too, and for the first time, in months, both brothers were truly happy again.
"I reckon I'm still the better looking brother, even after all this time," George laughed. "Not even if I really died, brother," Fred laughed back.
They both returned to the Burrow where there was a small dinner celebration. The Weasley's were reunited with the missing brother. Fred's belongings were brought back into the room he had once shared with his brother, George. The twins did well in business and eventually both got married. All was well once again.