Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
A/N: Okay, so I have wanted to write something about George after Fred's death for a long time. And here it is.
Prompt: Thinking back, maybe it wasn't that important...
George's P.O.V:
Looking back, maybe it shouldn't have been that important, maybe I was just being selfish, thinking only of how much the pain effected myself. I never thought to stop and consider how the rest of my family were feeling, before I jumped head first in the first option that brought a little relief to my pain.
I ran away.
I didn't run away from everyone I loved because they were treating me wrong or because I had somewhere else to be and they wouldn't leave me go. I didn't even run away because I was a rebellious little git that had serious attitude problems. No I ran away because I couldn't bear to see everyone trying their hardest to carry on with their lives and fill the hold that Fred's death left. My excuse was that I needed some 'breathing space', pathetic, I know.
I didn't tell anyone that I was leaving either. Nobody knew that I was gone until they came home to a letter addressed to them on the kitchen table, behind the ceramic vase that miraculously hadn't been broken yet. Though I'm pretty sure Fred would have thrown it in anger... if he had been there. The letter said that I would be back very soon, but that obviously wouldn't comfort them in the least. But at least I put it down. And least I promised that I would be back. Fred wasn't going to come back.
I didn't actually realise though, how much I loved them and how much that I needed them, or how much they had been there for me until I was really gone. If it weren't for them, the pain would have been one thousand times worse, it would have killed me probably. They reminded me to eat, to drink, to shower, to not stay in my room the whole time, to get some fresh air. They did everything that they possibly could and more.
I had never contacted any of them in months. Not since I left. But the day before I planned to come back, I sent mom a letter.
I still remember that day like it was yesterday. I walked into the house, the house that I had grown up in. Weird and eccentric, but I wouldn't have changed it for the world. There was nobody there. The house was eerily silent. No hugs, no smiling faces, no tea or soup. Not that I deserved any of those things but...
There was, however, a simple, while envelope on the kitchen table with my name on it. I opened it and lifted out a single slip of parchment. You left us first.
I felt a few tears slipping down my cheeks, all the pain that I thought I got over come rearing back and showing its ugly head again. In those few moment I realised that 'no breathing space' had been a ridiculous excuse that only an arse would make. An arse like me. My family were supposed to be more important that that! Fred would be ashamed.
I put down the slip of paper and the envelope, and walked into the sitting room, wiping away my tears. I wanted to have one last look around the house before I left. I turned on the light and...
"Surprise!" Everyone, all the people that I loved and had left, shouted, jumping out of various hiding places - and Harry behind me from the invisibility cloak. What...?
"Welcome back sweetie," my mum said walking up to me, her face shining with tears, dad behind her. She gave me a big, tight hug until I couldn't breathe. "Don't you ever do that to me again," she scolded.
"I'm sorry," I sobbed. "I thought that it would help me forget..."
"Shh, it's okay, it's over now." She smiled, stroking my hair. "We're just happy that you are okay."
And in that moment I swore that I would never disappoint Fred again, and that I would stay with the people I loved more than anything, no matter what.
