"Harry I'm home!" Evan called out to his brother, walking in the front door of their small cottage.
Concerned, when he didn't receive a response Evan began searching the house for his twin. He found Harry, lying on his bed, head resting on his arms, which were crossed on the pillow in front of him, his shoulders shaking.
"Harry? Are you alright?" Evan asked his twin softly, resting a hand on his shoulder.
Harry lifted his head and looked at his brother, tears streaming down his face and said two very important words, "I remember".
"You remember, from before the accident?" Evan asked, hope and happiness for his brother welling up inside of him.
Harry sat up, and whispered, "yeah, everything," before beginning to sob again.
Evan wrapped his arms around his twin and held him tightly for a long while until he calmed down enough that Evan felt he could leave him alone to go and cancel his plans with Charlie, so he could be there to help his brother.
"Guys can you please try to act semi normal tonight? Evan knows that we're magical, but it's his first experience in the magical world," Charlie said, spotting his twin brothers grinning in the corner, "Fred, George, no pranks!"
"What us big brother?" Fred said
"Never!" George added.
Charlie glared at both of them. Then the cell phone that Hermione had given him, which she had adapted to run in magical areas, when she found out he was dating a muggle, rang.
Charlie glared at his brothers one more time and then went outside to answer the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey Charlie" Evan's voice sounded through the phone.
"Hey Evan what's up?" Charlie asked.
"I'm really, really sorry, I can't come tonight" Evan said, "My brother got home from work and something must have happened on the way home, he got his memories back, and I haven't got the whole story yet, but I need to be here for him".
"It's alright Evan, I totally understand, is he alright?" Charlie asked.
"I'm not really sure to be honest," Evan sighed, "I got home from the clinic and found him in his room in tears. I don't think I've ever really seen my brother cry before and now I can't get him to calm down enough to stop".
"Do you want me to come over there?" Charlie asked, wanting to help his boyfriend.
"No," Evan said, "thanks anyway, but the doctors told us when we initially met and realised that Harry had no memories that when he got them back it was likely going to be a very traumatic experience, because of the state he was found in and the fact that he lost his memories in the first place. They guessed that he went through a very traumatic experience. Since he just got those memories back it's all very fresh and he just needs someone to be there to help him get through it now"
"Alright," Charlie said, "if you need anything just call me ok?"
Once they said their goodbyes and hung up Charlie went back inside.
"Mum, that was Evan, his brother isn't feeling very well right now and Evan wants to stay home to take care of him, says he's never been this sick before and he's a bit worried. He's says to tell you he's sorry for cancelling on you at the last minute and he promises to reschedule as soon as his brother is feeling better.'
"Oh the poor dear!" Molly exclaimed, "I do hope he feels better soon. Honestly is might just be better that he didn't come tonight anyways, Ginny just came storming in and locked herself in her room, I don't think we would make a great impression tonight."
"Any idea what her problem is?" Charlie asked, glancing towards the staircase.
"No idea," Molly said, "it's probably best just to let her get it out of her system."
Meanwhile, Evan had gone back to find his brother slightly calmer. He was no longer crying, and was sitting cross legged on the bed.
"Want to talk about it?" Evan asked quietly.
"I… we're from here, from Britain," Harry said quietly.
"Really?" Evan asked, excited to know even the littlest detail about his heritage.
"Yeah, I grew up here, in Surrey, and went to school in Scotland. Also, don't freak out, but I'm not a normal person… I'm a wizard".
It was just before noon the next day that Charlie heard from Evan again.
"Hey Ev, is Harry feeling better?" Charlie asked.
"A little bit," Evan answered, "I was able to get a few things out of him last night, and get him calmed down enough to get a shower and go to work, he's leaving for work in twenty minutes, can you come over after that?"
"Sure, I'll see you then" Charlie said.
Forty five minutes later Charlie showed up on Evan's doorstep, along with a whole pot of soup that could feed the entire Weasley family, including the wives and children and a treacle tart that Molly had baked. He'd tried to tell his mother it was too much, but she had insisted that the boys needed some good home cooking to make them feel better.
"Hey Charlie, thanks for coming over," Evan said, opening the door.
"It's my pleasure," Charlie said, "my mother sent enough food to feed an army for you two".
"Tell her thanks," Evan said, helping Charlie bring in the food and put it away in the fridge.
"So," Evan said once the pair had settled onto the couch, "I actually wanted to ask you something, eight years ago was there anything big going on in the Wizarding World?"
"Eight years ago, we were in the biggest war the British Wizarding World had ever seen. Eight years ago in May was the final battle, why?" Charlie said quietly
"Well," Evan said, "as it turns out, my brother is a wizard, and he used to live here in Britain".
"You're kidding!" Charlie said, "really? I thought you guys were identical twins?"
"We are…" Evan said.
"Ev, if you guys are identical twins then that means you're a wizard too," Charlie said.
"Really, wow. Ok. That's crazy, but let's come back to that, I really need to make sure my brother is going to be ok," Evan said sounding a little freaked out.
It was then that Charlie realized how close Evan and his brother were. Even though they had only known each other for 8 years, and not their whole lives, they were just as close as Fred and George were.
"Alright," Charlie said, "I can't remember anyone who looks exactly like you so did you get any other details from him last night?"
"Well we don't look exactly alike. My brother keeps his natural hair colour and when he's not at work he wears his glasses and just lets his hair stick up in every direction, it's like a jet black mop" Evan said.
Suddenly all that came to mind was another boy, only 17 years old, standing in the yard at the Burrow with a broom in one hand and a smile on his face, his messy black hair blowing into his eyes. The brother that Charlie had lost to the war, Harry Potter.
"Alright, maybe if you had a picture?" Charlie said.
"Sure I do, they're downstairs, oh and also he has this really weird scar, no one has any idea where he got it, it's on his forehead," Evan called on the way out the door to the stairs, "looks like a lightning bolt".
Charlie's breath caught in his throat. It couldn't be, Harry was gone. Eight years they'd been missing him for, he wouldn't have stayed away for that long.
'He would if he didn't have any memories' Charlie's reminded himself, trying and failing to keep a lid on the hope welling up inside him.
"Found one!" Evan announced walking back into the room with a photo frame, he set it down on the table and there, staring back at Charlie from the unmoving photo with a smile on his face was Harry Potter.
"Do you know him?" Evan asked hopefully.
"Oh yes" Charlie said, feeling his throat close up a little from the emotions building inside him, "I know him better than you would think".
"Really how?"
"Remember how I told you about Ron, and his best friend?"
"Sure you said Ron met a boy on the train in first year that became his best friend and a surrogate brother and son to your family. You also said you lost him at the end of the war".
"We did, he vanished the night the battle ended, we looked for him for ages, and never found him. Evan that's him, your brother".
"Seriously?"
"Yep seriously" Charlie said.
"I guess you knew him pretty well then, can you tell me what happened?" Evan asked.
"It's a long story, and I'm not privy to all of it, but I can tell you some…"