George thought he knew what he was doing in traveling to the past; it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see his other half, his twin brother but it was one thing traveling to the past and another actually taking in his brother alive and whole; undamaged by war, alive and innocent, no blemishes on his soul. He and Fred had taken lives in the war, they all had but to see him standing in the living room an impish grin on his far too young face was too much; he froze at the entrance to the doorway, Hermione at his side.
He could register Ron, freezing too, them both looking at their long dead brother but for George it was worse, it was a physical reaction, he felt his body breaking as he stumbled against his will, his legs like jelly, grabbing onto the doorframe to prevent himself from falling to his knees.
"Alright Georgie," Freddie called to him, he was aware of the younger version of himself, watching him in horror, his eyes fixed on the gaping hole where his ear used to be; nobody escaped the war unarmed some had physical wounds like his ear, Hermione's Mudblood scar, Draco's Dark Mark but others they lost their lives, leaving a void in the lives of those that had loved them.
George's eyes watered at the utterance of the sentence, Fred had asked him many times, he'd asked the same question the night he had died. George choaked unable to form a sentence, unable to even create one measly syllable.
"Fred," Ron spoke, finding his voice before George could.
"You got old brother," Fred joked, staring at Ron for a moment before turning his eyes back to him, the older version of his twin.
"Freddie," he whispered sadly, reverently. Here was his brother, how was he meant to return to the future, to a time where Fred didn't exist anymore, to a time where his twin, the other half of his soul was six feet under.
"Georgie," Fred replied, holding his arms wide in a welcoming embrace, George stumbled towards him crying, crashing into his twin with a sob, he held onto him tight.
"You die, you died Freddie," he cried into his twin's neck, Fred smelt as he always had smelled; like sandalwood and fireworks, with a hint of vanilla from the cupcakes his brother always snuck when he'd been alive.
"I know, the kids told us," Fred replied, his voice choked.
"We can save you, change the past, don't fight in the battle at Hogwarts, don't go to the school on May the second nineteen-ninety-eight, stay home Freddie, stay alive," he begged.
"George, we can't change the past," Hermione spoke, she was crying, her sad eyes fixed on them.
"Why can't we, we could save them all, Fred, Tonks, Remus, all of them," he argued.
"No George we can't, before we leave, we have to wipe everyone's memories of us and go back to our time, what has happened needs to still happen. Times a circle, for us to come back here we've already been, we might not remember it, but our older selves came back and as such now we are older we've come back and fulfilled the loop," she explained quietly.
"That's stupid," he said.
"To try and change what has already happened could cause so much damage, we could return to a world where Voldemort won, or where our children haven't been born, return to a world where someone else died under the wall instead of Fred. We can't risk it, I'm so sorry but we can't," Hermione cried.
"Listen to her Georgie, she's the smartest person we know," Fred whispered.
"Daddy why are you crying," a gentle voice asked, he pulled away from Fred, turning to the doorway where Roxanne peered into the room, her eyes wide and worried.
"We can't change anything," he agreed sadly, falling onto his knees, arms open to his daughter, he wouldn't risk his children not been born even if it meant his twin remaining dead.
"Daddy was just happy to see Fred," he said as she ran into his arms.
"So they were happy tears," she asked, reaching up to wipe them away from his face, George nodded, he was happy in a way he had been given the opportunity to see Fred again, but he was heartbroken too because nothing he did could save his brother and he knew the grief would hit him once more when he returned to his own time because he'd be losing Fred all over again.