Dead to Me
Chapter Eighteen: Epilogue
It was Fred's first birthday. They were passing around carrot cakes in the shop, which just prompted a slew of terrible ginger jokes. As George slowly ate icing off the cake, he stared outside to take it all in.
Merlin, why was it so hot?
Honestly, it was so humid outside that George had to sleep with an oxygen monitor just to make sure he didn't die in his sleep! Not that death was funny, you know. It was a very serious topic indeed. His twin and brother died; you know.
On the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes shop window, George had pasting the following: a bogus ad for a dating line that redirected them to Lee Jordan's wireless, one of his very own limited-edition chocolate frog cards, and a well-kept two-year-old clipping from The Daily Prophet. It, very proudly, read: ROGER DAVIES CONFESSES TO PART PLAYED IN MURDER OF PERCIVAL IGNATIUS WEASLEY, TRUE AUTHOR OF EVEN MORE FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM. Last year on Percy's birthday, George visited Audrey Claire Brown for the first time. It was so strange meeting someone that he knew purely from a story. She was beautiful and smart, and maybe in another time, she and Percy could've been something special together. It was a real shame. She sounded like she still thought about him a lot. George could understand because he thought about him a lot too. At his second visit with her, George gave her the original copies of the books. You know, after all five books had become so famous that Molly could probably buy the Malfoy's out of their manor if she chose to (when she becomes of age, George's inner Percy reminded him). Percy would be shocked to see how important he was now. And George wouldn't stop smiling for days when they became required reading for Care of Magical Creatures.
He wished he could've met the side of Percy that dreamed of small, beautiful things glowing in the dark.
Last time George visited; Audrey told him that Molly had read them so much that the pages were falling off. George laughed up until he cried. He cried because he hadn't heard anything from Percy since he'd disappeared after the house fire. He cried because he wished that things had gone differently. He cried because there was nothing else that could fill this hole in his chest after all that he'd lost. With Fred. With Percy. The last thing that Fred had told him before he'd left was that he was going to be okay. The last thing that Percy had told him when he'd disappeared was thank you. Whenever George felt horribly about himself, he remembered that and his chest was filled with the warmth that reminded him a lot of the glowing, unforgiving sun.
As George turned around to see one-year-old Fred walking towards the WonderWitch section, he smiled. Things could be worse, he supposed. He could lose another ear. He could choke on a carrot cake and never hear the end of it from their mum. Angelina could be pregnant again… yes, George decided. Things could be a lot worse. As he turned to cut himself another slice, a cold breeze made him shudder. He turned around to see, there taped on his shop window, was a copy of Challenges in Charming. A boring old disgusting journal that George would never buy on his own accord.
Fervently, George tore the issue off the window and started flipping through it with haste. His heart stopped when he noticed one lone article, circled in old black ink.
Anonymous Ministry owl bears new spell that may be the cure obsessive-compulsive disorder, hoarding, agoraphobia and all other obsessive related conditions…