A/N: Massive thanks as always to my lovely reviewers; Dimcairien, runeaglerun, MaddyGervais, chocolateMnMs, midnightstar19 and Carkey. I'm really glad you guys seem to be enjoying this, and thanks so much for all the feedback. Well, I don't really have anything about this chapter except that it took several tries to get out before I ended up with this. And then it ended up being longer than all the other chapters. Which I find weird. So I hope it seems, to quote James Phelps, "borderline believable if you use your imagination."

Chapter 5

For the next few days, Fred and George remained at the Burrow, as a sort of apology to Molly and Ginny. Both were extremely pleased; Molly because she could keep an eye on them and reassure herself that they were safe, and Ginny because she finally had company at home. They would often pass the day playing games of exploding snap, testing out inventions, and hiding from Molly when she was in a cleaning mood.

Even once they had returned to their flat, the twins would often spend their days at the Burrow, leaving Verity to mind the shop. In the process, George tried travelling by Floo powder for the first time since he had lost his ear. The experience hadn't gone well; George had felt sick half way through and ended up accidentally falling onto the Lovegood's living room floor, feeling woozy and nauseous. Without Fred there, it took him longer to recover, and Luna's attempt to wrap a wreath around his head "to fight off the wrackspurts" didn't help. It was with a great deal of trepidation that George walked back to the Burrow. For a good reason too; as soon as he saw George approaching, Fred flew out the door and pounced on George, alternating between berating himself, scolding George, and checking him over for injuries.

"Do you know how worried I was you stupid git?"

"Fred, I'm fine."

"I can't believe I was so stupid to let you go on your own-"

"Fred, it's okay!"

"Are you alright? Do you feel sick? Do you need to lie down? I knew we should have apparated…"

Needless to say, George didn't try using Floo powder again.

Ginny's birthday came and passed, and although it was only a small gathering, the love shared by the occupants in the room was enough to make it a memorable day. Fred and George made sure of this, setting off a dozen fireworks into the night sky which formed the words 'Happy Birthday Ginny'. The exuberant hugs they had received made the pounding in George's head worth it.

A few days after Ginny's birthday however, they finally received a visit from the Ministry Officials.

Representatives of the new ministry, that was. The ministry which had apparently adopted something similar to Voldemort's ideology. Fred, who had never had much respect for authority to begin with, felt quite proud of himself that he hadn't immediately slammed the door in their faces.

"How can we help you?" He asked, faking a smile. The first man, evidently the leader, stared him up and down, lip curled. He opened his mouth to answer just as George came to the door. All three men's eyes widened as they took in the twins, who to the untrained eye were completely identical.

"We're looking for the Weasley family," one of them- the one with a moustache- eventually replied.

"Mum!" George shouted, not taking his eyes off the men. "We've got visitors!"

Molly came bustling to the door. "Who are they- oh!" Her own eyes widened for a moment before she put on her friendly persona.

"Please, come in," she said kindly. Fred and George reluctantly stepped away from the door, allowing the three men into the Burrow. She ushered them to the living room, where the couches were. As the men sat down, Ginny joined the twins.

"Who are they?" She whispered.

"Remember how Dad said the ministry would come check up on us?" Fred whispered back. Ginny nodded in understanding. The three of them sat down opposite the Ministry officials, leaving space for their mother, who came in moments later with a tray of tea.

"What can we do for you?" She asked as she served them and sat down.

The second man, who was still wearing a bowler hat, looked at the others before clearing his throat.

"We're just here to check on a few… details," he said in a whiny voice. Fred and George both cringed.

"Firstly, would you please state your names for the record?"

"Well, I'm Molly. Molly Weasley, and these are my children George, Fred and Ginny." Molly said as she pointed to each Weasley respectively.

"I believe you have several other children?" Mr Moustache (as Fred mentally named him) asked while Bowler Hat Man (that was George's mental labelling) scribbled wildly on a scroll of parchment.

"Yes, my eldest, Bill, just got married. My second eldest, Charlie, is in Romania. My third, Percy…" If the three men noticed the sudden tension in the room, they didn't mention it. "…he's working at the ministry. And my second youngest, Ron, is upstairs with spattergroit." She finished.

"Spattergroit you say? Mister Ronald Weasley?" The third man had finally spoken, head raised in interest. Ginny dubbed him Cruel Eyes as his gaze lingered over her and her brothers.

"Yes, that's right," Molly said uncertainly.

"I don't suppose my colleagues could see him?" He asked, his tone more of a demand than a request. Molly hesitated for a moment before plastering a smile on her face.

"Of course, right this way," she said as she stood up, leading Mr Moustache and Bowler Hat Man with her upstairs. Fred, George and Ginny remained seated, staring at Cruel Eyes who was still sitting across from them. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, still scribbling on his parchment.

"Have you recently been in contact with anyone outside of your family?" He suddenly asked. George looked at him wearily.

"Umm, I suppose close friends," he said hesitantly.

"How about persons such as… Remus Lupin?" Cruel Eyes asked smoothly, eyeing them carefully for a reaction. Fred, George and Ginny's faces remained passive, although Ginny's leg twitched slightly in surprise.

"Lupin?" Fred mused, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Lupin… I recognise that name somewhere…"

"Oh, he was our defence against the darks arts teacher at Hogwarts in our fifth year," George reminded him.

"Oh, that's right. He was a good teacher," Fred said reminiscently.

"Mr Lupin is a werewolf," Cruel Eyes said, his tone one of disgust. "Werewolves are enemies of the state."

"Oh, is that right?" George asked. "Never knew about that."

Cruel Eyes looked rather frustrated at George's lack of concern.

"So you do know him?" He asked, quill poised.

"Well, we haven't seen him since our fifth year. Does that classify as knowing?" George asked innocently. Cruel Eyes paused for second, eyes scanning his parchment.

"What about Kingsley Shacklebolt?" He asked. This time it was Fred's foot that twitched.

"Who?" He asked, leaning forward.

"Kingsley Shacklebolt," Cruel Eyes repeated slowly. Fred considered this for a second.

"Never heard of him," he said, leaning back. "Have you, George?"

George shook his head. "No clue who he is. Should we know him?"

Cruel Eyes' jaw twitched slightly, but he remained calm, eyes scanning the list before him.

"Right. What about… Alastor Moody?" He asked carefully. Fred's hand curled into a fist by his side; next to him, Ginny was struggling to remain calm. George shifted his leg slightly so it rested against Fred's as both a source of comfort and a sign of warning, trying to calm his brother down. Fred took a deep breath as George spoke.

"He was our teacher in sixth grade. Or at least I think it was him, there were some rumours going around later that it wasn't actually him. Other than that, we've only seen him around at random places. Don't really know him though," George said, shrugging, careful not to refer to Mad Eye in past tense. Cruel Eyes wrote this down with a scowl, evidently annoyed that they had not given anything away.

"I understand that your family is quite close to a certain Mr Harry Potter. Have you seen him recently?" Cruel Eyes asked.

"No, haven't seen him since… Dumbledore's funeral I think it was," Fred said vaguely as he gripped Ginny's hand; she looked as though she would very much like to curse the man.

"As you know, he's a wanted fugitive. If you were to see him, you would be required to alert the ministry immediately or else face imprisonment." Cruel eyes said, eyes flickering between the three siblings.

"Of course," George replied, eyes hardened.

At that moment, Molly came downstairs followed by the two men, both who looked rather disgusted.

"He's definitely got spattergroit," Mr Moustache mumbled, scrunching his nose up. Bowler Hat Man nodded in assent.

"Yes well, dear Ron has always been prone to getting sick," Fred said sadly. Ginny disguised her giggle as a cough; out of everyone in the room, Ron was the least likely to catch a bacterial infection. Their mother always claimed he had a strong immune system. George said it was because Ron was a germ. He'd gotten a good wallop for that.

"Well, is there anything else you'd like to know?" Molly asked. Evidently she too had been interrogated upstairs. The men exchanged a glance before turning to George.

"Just one," Mr Moustache said. "How did you come to lose your ear?"

A silence fell over the room, so quiet that they could hear the birds chirping outside. George swallowed, his eyes sliding over to look at Fred, who was glaring murderously at Mr Moustache.

"It was an accident," George said. "My brother and I work at a joke shop you see, and one of our inventions went a bit wrong."

"And it sliced your ear off?" Cruel Eyes asked, his eyebrows raised disbelievingly.

"Oh yes. One of our duelling wands. Very dangerous things if not handled carefully, as we found out," Fred said. George breathed a sigh of relief that Fred was playing along rather than causing the men serious damage, as he seemed to want to do.

"I see," Bowler Hat Man said, looking worried but not too suspicious.

"The reason we ask is that we received rumours that an enemy of the Ministry recently received a physical head injury from a curse," Cruel Eyes stated, eyeing them distrustfully.

"Hey George, that means you might not the only one out there with only one ear!" Fred said, faking joviality as he nudged George.

"So you're sure it wasn't you?" Mr Moustache asked.

"Oh no. Duelling wand, remember?" George asked as he pointed to his ear- or rather, missing ear.

"We can show you if you want," Fred said, grinning somewhat evilly.

"Err… no, no, that won't be necessary," Mr Moustache said hastily as he got to his feet. The other two followed suit.

"Well, thank you for your hospitality," Bowler Hat Man said as they left through the door. Molly closed the door, turning back to her three children who were all standing with their arms crossed.

Unsurprisingly, Fred was the first to speak.

"Those gits!" He exploded. "How dare they come into our house and interrogate us like that!"

"They know about Mad Eye," Ginny said worriedly as she moved to stand beside Molly. "They must have found his body."

"And questioning George about his ear like that! An 'enemy of the ministry'? I'll show them who's an enemy of the ministry." Fred all but growled as he paced the room.

"And Remus" Ginny burst out, apparently deciding to join Fred in his rant. "Just because he's a werewolf he becomes an enemy of the state?"

"Not to mention Harry. He's already got enough with You Know Who on his back and now this!" Fred snarled, clenching his fists tightly. It was at this point that George decided to intervene.

"Fred," he said quietly, approaching his pacing twin. "Calm down."

Fred's eyes flashed as he turned to George. "Calm down? Did you not hear what they were saying George?"

"I heard them. They wanted us to hear them, they were trying to get a rise out of us, trying to provoke us," George reminded him.

"Yeah, well, it's working." Fred snapped, turning around and beginning his pacing again.

"Fred." George stepped closer to Fred until he was standing just in front of him. "They want you to do something stupid. Don't let them win."

"How do you know I'm planning on doing something stupid?" Fred asked angrily. George raised an eyebrow at him, and a few seconds later Fred's face broke into a reluctant smile. His anger abated at quickly as it had appeared, as was Fred's way.

"Well, at least it's over," he said with a sigh.

"Mum, any chance we can get lunch?" George asked. Molly, slightly startled, nodded.

"Of course dear, I'll start it right now," she said as she bustled into the kitchen. Fred slumped back onto the now vacated couch, George dropping next to him. They both turned to look at Ginny, who was still standing across the room.

"I hate this stupid war," she said quietly as she came and sat next to George. Fred hummed in agreement, and the three were lost in their thoughts until Molly called them for lunch.

Later that night, as both twins lay in bed listening to the quiet street outside, George could feel a flicker of doubt beginning to rise in his chest. Frowning slightly, he tossed to his other side, trying to force the doubt out of his mind.

"George?" He heard Fred mutter tiredly. "You awake?"

"Yeah," George replied a few moments later.

"What's wrong?" Fred asked.

"Nothing."

"I know something's wrong, George. You've been tossing for the past ten minutes. Is it your ear?" George sighed, wondering why he even bothered trying to lie to Fred.

"No, my ear's fine. It's just… what you said before, about how everyone's against us. We've got Death Eaters and You Know Who on one side, and then we've got the Ministry on the other side. It's like we're trapped between these two evil forces with no way out. How can we possibly win this war?" He asked, cursing at the feebleness of his question. He heard Fred breathing softly across the room.

"I know what you mean," Fred finally said, and George was somewhat pleased that Fred's voice was vulnerable, that he wasn't the only one with fears and doubts. "Sometimes I wonder if we ever had a chance."

George's breath caught in his throat, the feeling of doubt almost overwhelming.

"But do you remember what Dumbledore once told us? He said that we would have to make a choice between doing what is easy and what is right. And in the end, what we're fighting for… it's right. It may not be easy. But it's right."

George was silent for a moment, taking in this surprising piece of wisdom.

"I never knew you listened to Dumbledore's speeches," he said finally.

"Yeah well… sometimes I do things that surprise myself," Fred said, and although George couldn't see his face, he could hear that Fred was smiling.

"Fighting for what's right," George murmured as he closed his eyes.

Next chapter: Fred's having trouble dealing with George's condition.

Thanks for reading, and please review! :)