It was one of those rare days when the store was so busy that George almost forgot it was little more than five years since Fred's death. "Almost" being the operate word. George never really forgot, but over the last few years, he had stopped brooding as much. His shop occupied most of his time, so he was nearly always busy.
George rushed around the store, trying to restock the shelves faster than customers could buy the products. His magenta robes swished about his feet as he tried his best to find more Canary Creams.
'And Percy said that no one would enjoy the novelty of molting,'George thought to himself idly. He continued to rummage quickly through the back section of the shop where the non-stocked products were.
"Oi, George! Hurry it up, won't you?" came a harassed voice, Ron's, from the front of the store. George rolled his eyes at his brother's inability to handle the cash register for more than a few minutes.
"Accio Canary Creams," George hissed into the many shelves. Instantly, a large package of Canary Creams moved its way into his field of vision. Taking the large box, George ventured back to the main part of his and Fred's store.
He restocked the Canary Creams, and then he made his way back to his younger brother. Ron looked rather pale at the sight of so many people in the store, but George knew that he could handle it.
"One person at a time, little bro," George teased him lightly. Ron made a face and continued to check people out. George straightened out some tattered displays and started making mental notes about which products he would need to make more of.
While debating over whether or not the muggle joke supplies were good enough sellers that he should add more, George's thoughts were interrupted by Ron's deep voice.
"Why are there so many of them?" Ron whispered, not wanting to offend any of the customers.
George looked around. There did seem to be a slight bit more today then they had had recently. He noticed a few small boys, probably second years at Hogwarts, examining the Skiving Snackboxes, and several tittering teenage girls near the love potions.
"I suppose Hogwarts is done. So kids are here to come to the store now," George deduced. Ron made a slight nod of his head and continued to work.
George continued to make his rounds around the store, keeping himself busy. The past five years, he tried to occupy as much of his time as possible. He found that with more things on his mind, Fred didn't take over his thoughts as much.
While feeding the Pygmy Puffs, George noticed a new family enter. He had never seen them in the shop before; this was apparently their first time. Excitedly, the two small children set off into the store, giggling in wonder.
The parents were taken aback by the shock of color, but looked impressed all the same. The blonde mother kept a close eye on the children, never letting them out of her sight. The burly father seemed to be looking at various products.
Weaving his way expertly through the aisles, George came face to face with the couple. He grinned broadly as they both took notice of him.
"Oh, dear," the woman turned to her husband, "he must be one of the Weasley owners." She turned a polite smile to George, and her husband extended his hand to him.
"Been meaning to see the shop for ages, but the kids were never old enough, it seemed." The man had a cheerful voice, and George immediately liked him, shaking his hand.
"I have many nieces and nephews myself. It's hard to get them to calm down sometimes," George said knowingly. Of course, he failed to mention that he hadn't calmed down until he was twenty, but why scare this nice couple?
"Ah, family man! Now, which Weasley are you? Fred?" The man asked, not realizing the gravity of his question.
Behind him, George heard Ron make a wheezing sound between a gasp and yelp. The room seemed to spin slightly, and George felt an unpleasant cold chill settle in his stomach.
It wasn't the first time that George was mistakenly called Fred. No, the first time it happened, George had lost it right at the spot. But no, he couldn't do that again. He couldn't handle it if Ron told their mother that George was still hurting. His mother would try to comfort him, and George would feel guilty for making his mother cry.
No, he would just have to avoid that.
After a few moments of time suspended in the air and tension thickening, George waved an airy hand.
"I am whoever you want me to be. After all, the customer is always right!" George told the couple still looking at him happily.
George didn't need to turn around to know that Ron was boring a hole into his head.
'Like I really need another hole,'George thought. In his head, he knew that the tone was bitter. To make up for it, he tried twice as hard to stay cheerful. He hated being bitter.
Fred had never been bitter. Not really, at least.
After a few minutes of examining nearly everything in the store, the married couple left the store, with Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes products in their arms. George watched the excited children pull on their father's sleeves as they tried to peer into the bags to play with their new toys.
For minutes after the small family left the view from the windows of the shop, George continued to stare at the spot where he had last seen them. He found it hard to understand, sometimes, that other people didn't know Fred was gone. It was just difficult to know that some people were blessed with ignorance, to not know that someone as wonderful as Fred was dead.
It wasn't until he felt a tentative hand on his shoulder that George finally blinked. George trailed his eyes up his brother's arm and into Ron's face.
"Erm, are you alright, mate?" Ron asked, awkward as always. George took note of his grimaced face, his eyes full of concern.
Not wanting to worry his brother too much, George nodded. "Yeah, I'm…" His voice trailed off as he realized that Ron didn't believe him.
George sighed and cast his eyes downward. For a moment he needed to compose himself, needed to not scare Ron. After a moment, George arranged his facial features into what he hoped was a passive expression.
"Would'ya mind taking care of the shop for the rest of the day?" George asked Ron, care to keep his voice level. Ron, without even looking at the clock to see how long he would be there, nodded his head.
"Sure thing," he told George, not taking his eyes off of George's face. George wished he would, he felt slightly naked under Ron's gaze. He didn't know how much longer he would be able to stay stoic.
"I'll be upstairs then, shall I?" George walked towards to door to his apartment upstairs. Before he opened the door, he heard Ron behind him.
"Should I get Alicia?" Ron muttered, his ears turning bright pink. George just shrugged half heartedly. He loved his fiancée, he really did. But he didn't want to worry her in the same way that he didn't want to worry Ron.
"How about Angelina?" Ron continued, his ears getting redder with each second. George pondered this option and then nodded his head. He continued his way upstairs, glad to shut the door behind him.
Angelina would know what to do. She always knew. George would tell her what happened that day, what made him so upset and she would just hold him in her arms. With little soothing noises, she would calm him down enough to be able to carry on again. Then, of course, there were days when he would have to comfort her. George would rub her back, whisper her name in her ears until her crying ceased. Sometimes this process took fifteen minutes, sometimes it took two hours. Some days were just harder than others.
It was their tragic tradition.
Nearly twice a week, without fail, the two friends relied on each other. They sought out comfort and found it within one another. The two of them could understand the pangs of losing Fred with each other in a way that Alicia couldn't with George and in a way that Oliver Wood couldn't with Angelina.
George strode over to the couch, where he slumped onto, his hand over his eyes. It was now all he could do until Angelina got there. Under his freckled hand, George could feel the first few tears leaking out of his eyes.
He just missed his twin so much. So very much.
Six-year old twins sat forlornly in the garden in the back of their house. Their solemn attitudes were alarming to all that knew them. Indeed, if the two hadn't been so wrapped up in their musings, they would have noticed their mummy watching them from a window worryingly. Why weren't her twins laughing?
"Freddie?" Georgie started out slowly, looking at his double. "Do you think Bill was right?"
Freddie twisted his little face up, obviously in intense concentration. He rubbed his hands together roughly, still thinking.
"I dunno," he finally answered. "Does it matter?"
Just moments ago, the twins had been happily drinking apple juice in the kitchen. They watched merrily as their mummy tried to keep their baby sister from crying because little brother Ronnie had taken her cookie. Giggling at Ginny's tomato face, the twins sipped from their cups.
Their eldest brother Bill had then entered the room and made the mistake of calling the twins by their wrong names, mixing them up like everyone else did. When the twins quickly corrected him, he just shrugged it off. He made an offhand comment about how the twins' names might have been switched when they were born. The twins hadn't always been able to correct people.
It was with fear in their eyes that the young twins put down their apple juice and wandered off outside to think about their identities.
Georgie wondered if it did matter if he was really Freddie. Fat tears started to well in his eyes and splash his front. Freddie's eyes widened as he saw his twin upset.
"Georgie, don't cry!" he said, wrapping his arms around Georgie, holding him tight. Georgie gave a great sniff and leaned his head against his brother's.
"Freddie, if you were really Georgie, I didn't mean to steal your name," Georgie exclaimed, obviously feeling guilty. He pulled away from his brother's hold, looking very downtrodden.
Freddie shook his head so hard, his hair swished around. Georgie would have laughed if he wasn't so sad.
"It's awright. Tell ya what, we'll share our names," Freddie said, smiling. Georgie blinked a couple times.
"Really? You'd share with me?" he said, his tone incredulous. Freddie grinned broadly, and nodded.
The twins shared a tight hug and they missed their mummy smiling lovingly at her two sweet sons.
"From now on, we'll be Gred and Forge," Freddie yelped.
"It don't matter which one we are," Georgie added, getting caught up in the excitement. The twins giggled and laughed, rolling around on the grass, holding their toes. They took turns pulling each other's ginger hair and tickling their sides. Under the bright sunlight of a summer day, it didn't matter which twin was Freddie and which twin was Georgie.
With their identical laughs, Freddie was Georgie and Georgie was Freddie. They shared freckles, giggles, and faces, and now they shared names, too. They caught their breath after laughing so hard and finally extended their hands out.
They pulled each other up at the same time, bright blue eyes looking into bright blue eyes. They didn't let go of each other's hands, just grinned their little-boy grins. Freddie tugged onto Georgie's hand still clasped in his own, and pulled him deeper into the overgrown garden.
"Let's start with the gnomies. We'll tell e'eryone we're Gred and Forge."
"Always?" Georgie asked, running hand in hand with his twin. Freddie smiled largely, gripping Georgie's hand even tighter.
"Yep."
Thanks again, those of you who have read and reviewed. :)
dilaimar: I aim to make people cry. lol
Chemisa Potter: You think this seems real? That's such a great compliment. Thank you.
Poetrymaiden: I cried while writing this, too. Fred and George were my favorite Weasleys and I liked Angelina a lot as well.
KrystalB2003: The memories were my favorite parts to write. :) And I'm glad you picked up on the name thing. "Angie" and "Lina" do sound like they are finishing each other's sentences. That's what I was thinking when I wrote it.
Well, that's all folks. This was one of the best things I have ever written, if I do say so myself. I wrote this for over a week, and had been planning it out for even longer. I won't be continuing this particular fan fic, but there is plenty more coming. Including an Angelina and Lee Jordan fic, and also a sequel of sorts to this one.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please review, for the love of Fred. :)
