Disclaimer: Any characters found in J.K Rowling's Harry Potter series belong to her. Any characters not found there, and the plot, are all my twisted property.
Author's Note: Can anyone tell that I'm really excited to reach the end? I hope I don't have some horrible writers block when it comes time because I'm really looking forward to it. Ah, life is brilliant. Wow, three chapters in like three days – I think I'm doing pretty well. Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers, you're awesome and you all deserve candy. Hope you enjoy the chapter! Curly29- the reason they don't check the clock is because in the book the clock didn't have their faces on it, just sayings and I like that idea better than the one in the movie. Thanks :)
When you're gone chapter 10
Fred returned to his room dejected. After informing his parents that George was indeed in the Muggle world, the house had become a flurry of activity. His parents and siblings had frantically rushed around, gathering various items before vanishing through the flames in the living room. Leaving Fred behind, alone and useless.
Sighing he flopped down on the bed, tightly clenching the letter from George in his fist. Fred leapt up from the bed as quickly as he had fallen to it, eyes searching for the delivery owl that had been on the bed when he left the room. Unable to find it anywhere, he cursed and slammed his fist into the wall at the head of the bed. 'I'll have to use Pig,' Fred thought with contempt. 'It would be difficult for any bloody owl to find George when he's magically altered his looks, but now I have to use that stupid owl – Fan-bloody-tastic.' Fred sat down with his parchment, quill, and ink, and began scribbling madly. For the next quarter of an hour, the only movements Fred made were to rip up ruined pieces of parchment. Finally, the harsh scratching of the quill fell silent and Fred stared triumphantly down at the message he had written.
Georgie,
You Git! I love you, you daft bugger. Stop this foolishness and come home right this instant so that I can apologize. I'm an idiot and didn't mean a word of those things you heard. Please come home so I can grovel. Don't talk like we'll never see each other again; you're not dying without me. Mum's worried sick and you're giving Ginny premature gray. You want her to be able to find a husband don't you? You've punished me enough, I'm sorry come home. Tell me where you are and I'll have dad come and get you straight away.
Fred
Fred frowned down at the piece of paper. 'I'm not as eloquent as George was – but I think I get my point across.' Groaning at an oncoming headache, Fred pressed his hand to his temple and headed to Ron's room to find Pig. After tying the letter to the owl's leg, Fred gave the bird his frightening pep talk. "If you don't find George Weasley and give this letter to him straight away, you'd better not come back." Pig looked at Fred blankly, causing Fred's already fragile control to snap. "You stupid bird, just do your job! Deliver the bloody letter to George – I want my brother back." Angry tears spilled from Fred's eyes, but he was too incensed to care. Pig hooted in alarm and flew from the room.
'Why is this happening? Why Merlin, I'm not strong enough to handle this alone.' Fred felt the emotional weight press down on his lungs as he staggered back to his room and curled up on his bed. Tucking himself into a ball, he stared straight ahead at the wall.
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"Fred love, I know you're feeling bad, and I hate that we haven't found him yet as much as you do. Nevertheless, you have to get up! Hogwarts is much healthier for you – you'll have all your friends to keep your mind off George; Madame Pomfrey will be able to give you something for the pain." Mrs. Weasley pleaded with Fred from the doorway of his room.
Fred raised his head slightly. It had been a week since he had received the letter from George. One week since he had sent Pig out with a reply; the owl had still not returned, and his parents had not had any luck locating George. Fred feared time would run out before they would find him.
Today was September 1: Start of term day. The first day of their final year started in three hours and George was late. Dragging himself from beneath his haven of covers, Fred noticed that his trunk had already been packed for him. Pulling on a clean pair of robes, he tumbled out of his room and down the stairs, not caring what he looked like.
Ron and Ginny were dressed, and groomed, merrily eating their breakfast at the table. Fred felt hate towards them, that they could feel any sort of joy these days. Six weeks was not a long time, his brother and sister should not be able to act as if the world was still meaningful, like half their soul hadn't been ripped away from them. 'They haven't had half their souls ripped away though,' Fred thought bitterly, 'They don't understand the horror I struggle through each day – not knowing if the missing part of you will live another day.' Fred grimaced against the pain in his chest as he staggered to the table.
"Good morning Fred." Ginny said pleasantly.
"There's nothing good about this mockery you're all living." Fred snapped peevishly. Ginny's smile became a frown and a tense silence fell over the table. No one spoke again until Percy fell into his chair.
"Well that's it then, everything is set for the trip to King's Cross."
"Good, good, very good. Well then we best be off – Molly dear would you please grab my coat?" Mr. Weasley tapped his hand nervously against the table as he spoke.
Mrs. Weasley nodded and collected the aforementioned hat. Before Fred had time to process what was taking place, an exuberant Mrs. Weasley was shoving him out the door. Trailing behind the others to the car, Fred felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. 'This is really happening, I'm going to Hogwarts – without George.' Fred bit back tears, promising himself he wouldn't cry. He was a man; he could endure the unspeakable pain with a blank mask.
Ron and Mr. Weasley had made a few, rather pathetic, attempts to draw Fred into the energetic conversation during the drive to the train station. They had eventually given up when they had realized Fred was more interested watching the smudge on his window, than conversing with them. The farewells at the station were as tense as breakfast had been. There was no friendly banter between the twins as they tried to confuse Mrs. Weasley, and Mrs. Weasley didn't have to tell anyone to behave. Instead, there were two teary eyed youths and one very depressed, withdrawn teenager. Ron and Ginny drew out their good-byes, trying to delay the inevitable pangs they would experience when it hit them that George really was not there and it was not a bad dream. Fred on the other hand was anxious to get on the train where he could sleep, and pretend this was all one very long nightmare. He hurried past his family, muttering a goodbye to those staying behind, and ignoring the rejected look that appeared in Mrs. Weasley's eyes.
Stumbling on to platform nine and three quarters, Fred rushed towards the train with only a brief nod to Harry and Hermione. Finding an empty compartment, Fred curled up on the seat and prayed for sleep. As he drifted into unconsciousness, he heard Ron speaking with Hermione and Harry.
"He's been doing loads worse this last week! Not even getting out of bed, just staring at the wall and sleeping. Mum hopes Hogwarts will help him."
"Oh Ron!" Hermione's voice was the last thing Fred heard.
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Waking up as the train shuttered to a stop, Fred was pleased to see the compartment was still empty. Fred didn't feel like speaking to anyone right now. Ignoring the dull ache in his bones, Fred slid open the door and peered out into the hallway. He could hear faint movements to his right, and the sound of Hagrid directing the first years to the boats. Deciding the coast was clear he bolted from the train and clambered into an empty carriage. Upon reaching the castle, Fred decided to skip the Welcoming feast and the Sorting ceremony; opting to head directly to his dormitory and go to sleep.
"Mr. Weasley, where do you think you are going?" Professor McGonagall's shrill voice interrupted Fred's flight.
"Um, I'm not very hungry so I thought I'd head up to bed." Fred shifted nervously, he didn't want to face the large crowd tonight; the festivities were a bit too much for him today.
"Certainly not," Professor McGonagall began, only to be interrupted by Professor Dumbledore.
"Ah Mr. Weasley, I expect you're tired after such an emotionally exhausting day. Minerva, send him off to bed – I'm sure he will be in the Great Hall promptly for breakfast." Professor Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at Fred.
"Yes, of course." Fred promised quickly. He glanced over to Professor McGonagall, who nodded curtly, said his goodnights and fled to Gryffindor Tower.
The dormitory looked as it always did. The same color, the same number of beds, and the same arrangement of furniture. Fred shuddered, hoping that they would not fill the final bed – George's bed – with another student. Fred wasn't ready for that sort of finality. Without even bothering to change out of his clothes, Fred pulled a picture of him and George out from his pocket, slipped it under the pillow and crawled in to bed to go to sleep.
Fred was jolted from slumber early by a sick churning in his abdomen. Stifling a groan, he pulled himself from beneath the covers and hurried to the bathroom. After dry heaving for a few minutes, Fred hauled himself off the floor beside the toilet and sagged against the mirror.
"Oh dear me, you're not looking well at all! Where's that brother of yours?" The mirror clucked worriedly.
Fred ignored the mirror and staggered out of the bathroom and back to the common room. Lowering himself down into a chair, Fred settled for staring into the flames. Sometime later, the sounds of his housemates rattling awake pulled him from his thoughtless stupor. Fred didn't know how long he had been blankly staring at the flames, but the pain in his stomach had lessened to an almost nonexistent twinge. Looking down at his rumpled robes, Fred muttered a quick tidying spell as Ron, Hermione and Harry enter the common room.
"Whoa Fred, up and dressed before anyone else? You must be feeling a sick!" Ron exaggerated his surprise.
"Good morning to you too Ronald," Fred spat moodily. Harry and Hermione wisely chose not to speak, fearing provoking Fred further. Before Ron could retort, Lee Jordan and Angelina Johnson appeared at the base of the staircase with Alicia Spinnet. Lee and Angelina breezed over, while Alicia leveled Fred with a cold glare before walking over to Katie Bell and a few other Gryffindor girls.
"Ready for breakfast Fred?" Lee asked brightly.
"You must be starving! Missing dinner – honestly," Angelina shot Fred a disapproving look before gathering up his arm and dragging him to the portrait hole.
Sitting at the Gryffindor table at breakfast, Fred looked at all the faces of his fellow Gryffindors, smiling and chatting happily. Fred wasn't sure that he could handle this; all these people acting as though George had never touched their lives. Fred's eyes flickered rapidly between the Staff table and the Slytherin table, he saw various victims of his and George's pranks. His breathing started becoming shallow; Fred was starting to think this had been a mistake. Hogwarts held so many memories; he and his brother had spent the greater part of the last six years in these walls. To have George just wiped out of the walls hurt; and the only person who wasn't acting as though George didn't exist was Alicia. Fred doubted she would ever speak to him again
Fred's heart rate quickened and he felt himself becoming dizzy from lack of oxygen. Searching around frantically for escape, Fred struggled to his feet and away from the table. He got about three feet from his seat when stomach pains sent him to his knees. Thoughts and memories of George swirled through his addled brain. 'Georgie…' Fred thought as his vision swam with black and he lurched forward to the ground.
The Great Hall became fell into a frenzy as the staff members leapt up from their seats and raced towards Fred's prone form. Harry and Hermione struggled to keep Ron from flinging himself on top of his brother; Colin Creevey comforted Ginny as she wept silently on his shoulder. The entire student body was shocked into silence as McGonagall conjured a stretcher to carry Fred to the hospital wing.
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Fred came awake with the distinct feeling that this was happening to him far too often. Scanning the room from beneath have closed eyelids, Fred took stock of his surroundings. He was definitely in the hospital wing; Ginny was in a chair to his left; Ron, Hermione and Harry were sitting on his right. Next Fred noticed two things. One: he couldn't feel any pain; two: he felt as though he couldn't access part of his mind. Ron must have noticed his efforts because he answered Fred's unspoken questions.
"Madame Pomfrey gave you a numbing potion for the pain, and a potion that prevents you from accessing memories of George."
"He can't go through this alone. I don't deserve not to hurt. Take the potion off." Fred croaked.
"Fred I know how you feel, but making yourself sick won't help George!" Ron sighed wearily.
Fred grew angry, "You don't know how I feel. You can still smile! You can still live! You haven't ever felt as though you've been ripped in half."
Ron looked at his brother in a mixture of shock and sadness; Ginny grabbed his hand. Fred flopped back, defeated, "I'm sorry Ron. I miss him."
"We'll find him Fred; we'll think of something!" Hermione swore. Fred smiled faintly at her and fell back asleep.
TBC
