Another Part of Me...

"Georgie," Fred called as he placed a hand on his brother's shoulder and shook him. George stirred before rolling over and pulling his covers over his head. Fred continued to shake George as he groaned in protest. "Georgie, wake up all ready."

"What is it, Fred?" George asked sleepily as he sat up and looked at his twin from half-lidded eyes.

"Wow," Fred said as he backed away and waved his hand in front of his face. "I knew Mum's cooking was hard to handle sometimes but your breath reeks."

"If that's all you wanted to say..." George's voice trailed off before he flopped back down onto his bed and buried his face into his pillow.

"What's wrong, George?" Fred asked as he sat on the end of George's bed. He stared at the lump that was his brother, waiting for a response with a concerned look on his face. Usually he had a good feeling about what was going on in George's head, like he could read his mind, but now it was like George was a different person to him. He didn't want to do anything that he enjoyed before and it was really starting to worry him.

"Nothing," George's muffled voice finally replied.

"Something is wrong, you can't lie to me," Fred said as he moved forward and leaned over where he thought George's head was. "George, come on, tell me what's bothering you. I know something is bothering you, I can feel it." He balanced himself on one hand and pulled the covers down with the other. Light brown eyes locked as they stared at each other in a silent game to see who would back down first.

George was the one to lose because he tore his gaze away from his brother's to hit him with a pillow, knocking his arm from underneath him, causing him to fall onto George. He grunted in pain and tried to get Fred off of him but he didn't budge. "Get offa me," he snapped.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong," Fred responded as he flicked George on the nose. He knew George wouldn't be able to do anything because his arms were pinned by Fred's weight. George struggled to get out from underneath him but let out a breath of frustration.

"I hate not knowing," George told him as he tilted his head so he wouldn't have to deal with Fred's intense gaze. "About why we're here and why Lupin is here and what they're doing. Every time they get ready to say something we're kicked out of the room. I mean, we're of age right? We should be able to hear what they have to say."

"I've been feeling the same way, buddy," Fred said with a nod when George looked at him. "Which is why I knew bringing the Extendable Ears would be a good idea. I used it while you were sleeping to try and hear something but Mum closed the door when she heard me coming down the stairs. I tried to get the ear closer but Crookshanks started to attack it." He pulled the mangled ear out of his pocket and held it in front of George's face. "That bloody cat."

George couldn't help but laugh as he covered his mouth with his hands. Fred wasn't a big cat fan and he never liked Crookshanks in the first place. While they were at Hogwarts he even got into a competition of sorts with Crookshanks. He claimed that the cat was out to get him. Whenever Hermione was out of the common room he tried to get rid of him but somehow the cat seemed to be able to outsmart him, which made Fred hate it even more.

"You brought more, right?" Fred continued as he rolled onto his side so he was looking at George as he propped his head up on his palm. "I have to find out what's going on."

"Good luck with that," George muttered as he got ready to go back to sleep. His eyes shot open when he felt Fred prodding him in the stomach. "What are you doing?" George demanded as he squirmed away from Fred.

"I've noticed that you're beginning to get soft around the middle. You really need more Quidditch practices," he responded. George let the words sink in before he pressed his foot against Fred's stomach and kicked him off of the bed. He fell to the floor with a loud thump as George pulled his covers over his head once more.

"Have you gone mental?" Fred demanded as he got to his knees as he rubbed his side. "That hurt, if you care."

"I don't!" George's muffled voice responded. "Good night."

"Sheesh, someone has mood swings," Fred muttered under his breath as George heard him moving over to his own bed.

George covered his head with his pillow and bit his lip as he used his free hand to poke himself in the stomach. 'How could Fred tell that easily? He's made jokes about it before but he's never actually said anything about it. Why would he say something like that? Ever since we left home all he's done is make fun of me. Why?'

"Are you crying?" Fred's voice suddenly asked, next to his ear. George jumped and, in the process, accidentally smacked Fred in the face.

"Sorry," George apologized as Fred grabbed his nose.

"Don't apologize, I'm the one who upset you," Fred said as he lowered his hands. "I was just kidding around. I'm just really bored here, there's nothing to do, especially since Mum watches us like hawk. You're not fat, really you're not. I just had to poke fun at something or else I would've gone insane from not being able to have any fun. And you are right here..."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" George asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it makes me feel better," Fred admitted. "You've been off lately and I know it has nothing to do with our new living arrangements."

"I keep having these dreams," George admitted after a few minutes of silence.

"About what?" Fred asked, suddenly full of curiosity.

"About us," George responded. "At school. The only thing that's different ism in my dream, it's like I don't exist. No one talks to me; no one spends time with me, nothing. It's like...you're the only Weasley around. Even Ron gave you the time of day. The only time someone talked to me was if they ran into me and they blamed me, or they were saying something along the lines of me being a waste of space and that they wish it was only you around."

He hadn't realized that he started crying until Fred wiped the tears off of George's face. "George, they're just dreams. And you know I wouldn't let anyone treat you like that, we're a team and we always will be. You're not just my brother, you're my twin, and you're another part of me. Wherever I go I always want you to be there right by my side. And they're just dreams, unless you have the power to have premonitions or something it won't come true." George sighed with relief at his words. "But that would be really cool. You could go into a fortune telling business or something."

"Nah, that's too girly for me," George responded. "Besides, we have to focus on our Joke Shop."

"Exactly!" Fred said as he snapped his fingers.

"How're the Skiving Snack Boxes coming along by the way? I assume that you've been working on them today," George commented, suddenly wide awake and ignoring the sudden lurch in his stomach at the memory of eating one. He couldn't stop the smile that graced his lips as Fred enthusiastically started thinking about what they could put in it to get some of the snacks to work. George suddenly noticed the way Fred's eyes lit up whenever they talked about running a joke shop, which was their dream that they were steadily fulfilling. George couldn't see himself running it without Fred by his side and, at that moment, he was glad that he was a twin because he could trust Fred with anything.

'Well...maybe not anything,' George thought solemnly.