Fred stared at the books in front of him, not really seeing the titles that seemed to blend togeather. His head cocked slightly to the side, he allowed his mind to wander, glancing over at the only other patron of the small bookstore.

Well, perhaps "let" wasn't exactly the right word to use, now, was it? Because there was no "letting" involved. He just couldn't seem to concentrate on much of anything anymore. Anything except for the sight of George's mangled body, his wide, sightless eyes ........

Fred glared at the book in front of him, turning and stalking to the other side of the bookstore and beginning to preuse through the books he found there with a renewed vengeance.

As soon as the first stranger had approached them to offer condolances, Charlie had steered them away from the more popular stores, instead focusing on ones such as these -- smaller, with not so large of a selection, but still able to service their needs. He had a while before Charlie was finished picking out his own books for the course he wsa taking on Dragon mating cycles -- there was actually quite a good selection on the topic. Which meant that he was left aimlessly wandering about the tiny little bookstore, waiting for his older brother to finish.

Sighing softly under his breath, Fred fought the urge to find Charlie and demand to know how much longer it would be before they could leave. He was not a child, godammit!

But it was just ........ strange. Strange to be the only one here, besides Charlie. Strange to have so much time to himself, even when out and about. Strange not to have George here, babbling aimlessly about silly little things, like the color of the bindings of the books, or even the names of the books. The silence was ........ almost deafening.

-------- --------

Charlie glanced at his brother out of the corner of his eye, smiling softly at the bored look on his face. He just didn't know what to do with himself, without somebody else there with him. Without GEORGE there with him.

And there was nothing he could do about it. He'd never really been all that close to any of the younger childeren -- only Bill, really. And he most certaintly didn't share anything in common with the younger red-head.

Sighing softly under his breath, Charlie slid a book from the shelf, adding it to the growing stack already in his arms.

Motioning for Fred to follow him, he quickly paid for the purchases, both Fred's schoolbooks and his own, before hurrying out of the stuffy bookstore and into the blessedly fresh air.

He hated bookstores, especially the smaller ones. He'd seem some muggle ones that weren't too bad -- large and roomy, with a little cafe -- but those here on Daigon Alley were simply too small and stuffy, overflowing with far too many books for his tastes. He was more in his element in the out-of-doors.

Maybe bookstores were detrimental to his health. That'd be nice. Then, at least, he'd have an excuse for avoiding them like the Black Plague.

-------- --------

Sometimes, things just didn't work out the way you had planned. A grave understatement, that was.

Their parents were supposed to be here, badgering him and George to return to Hogwarts. GEORGE was supposed to be here, opening up the jokeshop with him, helping to ignore the afore-mentioned parents.

But George wasn't here, and neither were their parents. Nothing had worked out the way it was supposed to.

Fred kicked aimlessly at the dirt beneath his feet, lagging slightly behind his older brother. Charlie would glance back at him every now and then, a worried look flashing across his eyes, but he never actually said anything, merely turning away as soon his eyes caught Fred's.

They didn't know what to say to each other, how to act. They'd never really interacted when he was younger, and by the time he'd gotten older, Charlie had already been off on his own, and they'd rarely seen each other. Hell, he was closer to HARRY than to his own brother!

So, they opted for silence, insead. Each wrapped up inside their own thoughts, but always aware of the other person.

Speaking not a word as they stepped into the Leaky Couldron, Fred's head snapped up as his name was suddenly yelled, blinking in surprise as a red-eyed Hermione Granger suddenly threw herself at him, his arms closing reflexively around her.

"Please tell me it's not true, please tell me it's not true ........"She was repeating this over and over again, her voice thick withunshed tears, and Fred had to close his eyes against the onslaught of tears, the deep wrenching pain, that threatened to overtake him.

Before he could say anything, however, a pair of hands were pulling her away from him, sending him an apologetic smile as the man -- her father -- led Hermione back to their table.

Fred hesitated a second, before turning to join Charlie. What could he say to her, really, to make things any easier? Any words of comfort he might give would be hollow, without meaning, for he wouldn't believe them himself.

---------

Fred fell into a ungraceful heap on top of is bed, letting all of his breath out in one large rush. Well, that was fun. NOT.

Pushing himself up onto his elbows, he glanced around the room, wondering what there was for him to do. Sitting at windows and thinking was all well and good, but it did get a tad bit boring after a while.

Most of his belongings were still packed up in the boxes that Professor Dumbledore had had shipped over from The Burrow, stacked on the sides of the room, pressed up against the wall. Clearly marked with little while tags, it was actually relatively easy for his eyes to land on the boxes containing all of his and George's joke shop equipment.

It just felt somehow ........ WRONG to touch that, to work on joke candies, and wands, and everything else they'd been working on, without George there. Wouldn't that be the same thing as admitting that George was gone, that he'd NEVER be coming back?

Maybe it was irrational, but he just DIDN'T want to admit that, or even entertaint he thought of it.

Because how could he survive an entire lifetime without his twin, without his second half?

-

a big thank-you to my beta reader, ravyn. and, as for the wonderful reviews ........

nidawi a cult thing? well, that's nice. i shall attempt to keep things up to par with what you've experienced so far :D

emikae thanks, and keep reviewing!

digidestined02 yes, it is sad, isn't it? alot of my stories eem to be depressing ........ oh well. hope you enjoy :D