Disclaimer: I don't own it.
A/N: Some constructive criticism would be nice for this one-shot. I just got a plot bunny while rereading OOTP and felt it needed to be written. Thanks go to Cal and Alicia for their editing! I owe both of you a LOT!!! Anyhoo, hope you enjoy!
"We don't care about the dumb Order! Easy for you to say, stuck here! I don't see you risking your neck!" – Fred Weasley, OoTP
Even if it might not have been the reason he had gone, and even if what he said hadn't influenced the man's decision at all, he still felt terrible for saying it. Those words were said in a burst of anger, and he hadn't meant them at the time. He just hoped that the man knew that. But it didn't really matter now, did it? He was dead, and while it wasn't his fault (hell, he hadn't even been there to see him die!), those words still haunted him.
Fred Weasley usually wasn't one to brood, but here he was, sitting on his bed at the Burrow, thinking about a dead man. A dead man who he hadn't even known very well. He was just, well, background. He knew that the man had meant a lot to Harry, but he hadn't taken notice. Ginny had talked to him quite a few times, and he'd never really understood why, nor had he really cared to. Lupin had a very close relationship with him, as they were good friends in Hogwarts; Fred respected Lupin but had never understood his relationship with the man. All in all, Fred had underestimated him by a long shot. And now he was dead. And Fred's last words to him might have been the ones that persuaded him to take on his last mission.
Sirius Black was dead, and Fred knew it wasn't his fault. Rationally, he knew he could not have caused Sirius' death. He hadn't been there, hadn't talked to him since Christmas. But what he had said to Sirius at Christmas was what Fred was mulling over now. He had accused Sirius of not risking his own neck, letting others do the work while he stayed safe in his house at Grimmauld Place. Fred knew why Sirius had to stay hidden, but the words had still escaped his mouth. And then Sirius had risked his life to save Harry's, and died.
Fred wished he could take those words back. He hadn't meant them; he had believed he had the right to see his father after what had happened, and had lashed out at the first person to tell him otherwise. He had wanted to ask Sirius about some of the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products, wanted to see what the legendary prankster had to say about them. Now he'd never get the chance. And all because of three small, irrevocable sentences. No matter how much he wanted to, he'd never be able to take them back.