Chapter 7
George Weasley had only just sent his son and daughter back to Hogwarts after the previous day's interrupted bash at the Burrow. Roxanne was in her Roxanne was in her fifth year, now, meaning he hadn't received any correspondence from the head of Gryffindor in relation to her usual antics all year. But Freddie on the other hand was still a fourth year with absolutely no intention of slowing down his mischief-making for the remainder of his Hogwarts career and George massively respected him for it. You couldn't be the owner of the wizarding world's most successful joke shop and be an uptight bastard about your children causing mayhem.
Yet, he still didn't expect a patronus from Neville at half past ten at night, while George and Angelina were halfway through a rewatch of Notting Hill, asking if he could come into their home to discuss something that happened at Hogwarts. Confused and wondering what Freddie had done this time and why George couldn't just meet with Neville in his office, he sent an acceptance back to the school and waited.
Neville hopped out of the living room fireplace soon enough, wearing what looked to be turquoise dragons all over his pyjama set. George was about to say something about them when he noticed the professor's expression.
'What's wrong, Nev?'
'Are the kids okay?' asked Angelina simultaneously.
'They're absolutely fine. This doesn't have anything to do with them, actually. Uh..' George's face turned quizzical. What could this possibly be about? 'Around fifteen minutes ago, I received a knock at my office from Victoire. She was doing her curfew rounds of the halls and found, well…'
Neville had started pacing back and forth in his slippers. 'Harry told me about Sirius Black coming back after the party yesterday. I know it's supposed to stay quiet until they sort things out with the ministry and everything, but he told me because of a theory Hermione had regarding the photograph Teddy had received…'
He was rambling now, but George didn't want to interrupt. 'And I knew I had to come to you straight away because he's there! In my office!'
'Who is, Nev?'
'Fred. Your brother, Fred.'
That wasn't possible. Sirius, maybe, but Fred? 'No he's not.'
'I promise you, George, I asked him all the questions. He remembered the nicknames from Potterwatch, and the DA meetings, and he just kept asking about you.'
'But, I- he- he's at Hogwarts?' George felt his voice cracking, and his wife's hand slip into his. She always knew how to ground him when he got emotional about his twin.
'Neville,' said Angelina. 'Are you sure?'
'Positive.' Neville's voice was a whisper. 'He looks exactly as he was. But you don't have to see him now if you don't want to. It's late, I'm sure you-'
'Neville. Do you think my brother coming back from the dead would make me want to fall asleep? I'm coming to Hogwarts. Angie?' He looked at her for the first time since Neville started talking. She had silent tears dripping down her face but was smiling.
'I'll be here for when you get back.'
George nodded and rubbed the spot where his ear used to be. He hadn't been this nervous since Freddie's birth, and didn't know what to do with himself. He half didn't believe it. He'd have to see Fred in the flesh, touch him to make sure he's not a ghost. But something inside clicked, and deep below the nerves was a part of him he hadn't seen in twenty years. Giving his wife a kiss, he followed Neville into the fireplace.
Fred and George. He had spent half of his life as the latter half of a whole, and then he was just George. And it felt like everything had collapsed around him. There was something missing since 1998. But not in that moment. The twins stared at each other for a moment, absorbing everything they could before simultaneously running towards each other. The brothers became a bundle of red hair and George couldn't hold back a sob as he knew it was really his twin he was embracing.
'Georgie, you're suffocating me.' The muffled cry for help came out of where Fred was buried in his chest, and both brothers straightened. Though George was an inch taller, he hadn't changed all that much from the last time he saw his brother. A few wrinkles here and there, especially around the eyes, but he still had most of his hair. But seeing his brother in front of him made him realise how much time had really passed. After getting used to himself in the mirror, Fred looked like a baby to him. Teddy's age, only a bit older than his eldest niece.
'You got old, Gred.'
'And you're a child, Forge.'
The twins chortled identically, a sound that hadn't been heard in forever, and everyone knew it. The atmosphere in the room was electric. George looked over at Victoire for the first time since entering Neville's office. 'I see you've met your second-best Uncle?'
Victoire sent George a faux-innocent frown and looked around the room. 'I don't see Uncle Ron anywhere.'
'Oh, I like her,' said Fred.
'Me too,' said George, 'She's sneakier than she looks.'
It felt so natural standing in their old formation, George on the left, Fred on the right – a system that Harry had caught onto very early on but nobody else seemed to have. It felt correct, whole.
'Everyone's going to go mental when they find out you're back,' Victoire said.
'Are you thinking what I'm thinking, my geriatric brother?' grinned Fred.
'I think I am, my prepubescent twin. Nev, Vic, not a word of this to anyone else, okay? Tomorrow, the Weasley twins return.' He turned to Fred, wearing a smile that matched his own perfectly.
After getting over the initial disbelief of his twin brother being married to his ex-girlfriend with two teenagers and a family home, Fred felt fantastic falling back into the swing of planning a scheme. Even in 1998, it had been a while since the two of them had really had fun. The twins stayed up for another three hours post-reunification, plotting and laughing. George had tried to catch Fred up on the family happenings of the last twenty years but he had already had an information overload that night and could not keep track.
As George the old man settled into sleep with Angelina (still weird), Fred was given his nephew's bedroom to sleep in for the night. He had a blast combing the room, learning about his brother's son. He seemed almost as cool as his namesake. Fred II was a Gryffindor keeper, a Weasley' Wizarding Wheezes connoisseur, and perhaps most importantly, a pro mischief maker. Fred slept well knowing that tomorrow was going to be brilliant. Fred couldn't wait to give Mum and Dad the shock of their lives, to perhaps give Percy a heart condition, and to meet Roxanne and Fred the second – the most important people in George's life.
