A/N: Hey everyone! I've been sick all weekend with the flu – no wonder really, having stood for 13 hours last week waiting for you-know-which book lol, but now I'm feeling better again and am able to update the story! I'm so happy you all like it, it makes me happy to write too – it's sort of nice, because even though Fred died and all, I'll still always consider this at least a possibility. Haha Jo (who rocks and owns the world btw /disclaimer )! I think time really will make a difference, I feel like I'm coming to terms with the whole situation a little bit more now – I'm able to think about HP and read opinions on the last book now without feeling sick to the stomach. I'm not near the point where I can re-read book 7 yet, and I still get tears in my eyes reading the other books (and the 5th movie, has anyone tried to watch it after reading the book?? I did, and I dissolved into tears in the scene where Fred and George comfort the little boy… everyone were like wtf. Blissfully ignorant, they are)… but I'll get there. Eventually. I might write a one-shot, independent of this story, about George actually dealing well with the loss of Fred… but for now this is much more fun ;) Oh and also, I know Angelina is like Fred's canon girlfriend, but I never know for George – I never really cared much about George tbh… sigh. It was always Fred for me. But yeah so I don't want to make crazy fanon references (that can really ruin a fanfic), so it'll definitely be either Alicia or Katie. I'm leaning towards Katie, but if anyone feels really strongly about it I'm open for change. :)
Enjoy the chapter! The mystery of Fred's death is resolved... I really think I nailed it - I'm sure Jo's hands are feeling pretty sweaty right now because I've figured all out.. It's like, so obvious! XD
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Chapter 5: Florean's Secret
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Fred sized up the man before him – he was pretty tough looking, but he was old, walked with a cane, and seemed to suffer from various war injuries. What was so great about him? He glanced at Fortescue – the man was no warrior, but he was a healthy, reasonably aged man, and when he'd first been captured he'd been in decent physical shape… why hadn't he escaped?
Fred turned his full attention back to Scrimgeour. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he spat, his hands balling into fists at his side. Of course he didn't have his wand, he didn't expect to anyway, but if it came down to fisticuffs, Fred liked to think he stood a pretty good chance – all those years of wrestling with George had done him well. George – an inexplicable sadness once again tore through his gut, quite detached from his own emotions. He closed his eyes for a split second, willing it away. When he opened his eyes again he found Scrimgeour leering at him. "Well?" Fred said, annoyed at Scrimgeour's silence.
"I think I'm taking over the wizarding world," Scrimgeour sneered, "And you, Mr. Weasley, are going to help Mr. Fortescue here make that happen." Fred stared incredulously at Florean, who cowered in a corner.
"And what makes you think I'd-" Fred started, but Scrimgeour cut him off.
"It's quite simple really," said Scrimgeour. "If you don't collaborate – and I will know if you don't – I'll kill your family. I know," he continued, at Fred's look, "Nothing particularly innovative and probably quite a clichéd answer from an evil overlord such as myself (Fred rolled his eyes), but I have the power to do it, Mr. Weasley, and then those deaths will be on your conscience." He looked so smug at his seemingly foolproof plan that Fred wanted to slap him – he wished no danger to his family, but did this man have no idea who he was dealing with? Fred lived to rise to challenges such as these!
"And don't you think my family will come and find me?" Fred contested. To his surprise – though he didn't show it of course – Scrimgeour started to laugh.
"Your family?" he asked incredulously. "You mean those broken wrecks that just buried one of their own? Your brothers and sister, so heartbroken they can do nothing but go about their daily lives, willing themselves not to think, not to feel? Your parents, so laden with shock and anguish that they can do nothing but cry in each other's arms?"
Fred stood frozen in place. Buried one of their own… "Who did you-" he said hoarsely, but was once again cut off.
"You stupid boy! I thought you were smarter than this!" Scrimgeour snapped. "Who do you think they buried – or rather, who do they think?"
Fred's eyes widened – the body he'd seen fall to the ground, Percy's cries of anguish… "How…" he trailed off, completely lost for words.
"Ah," said Scrimgeour, "This is where your old friend comes in," he inclined his head towards Fortescue, who seemed to have shrunken to half his size, huddled in a corner. Fred turned to him, thunderous – it seemed the only emotion he could muster. "YOU did this?" he all but shouted, "How could you, Florean?"
"Oh don't be so harsh on him," Scrimgeour said silkily. "He was under the same ultimatum that you now are. He refused to cooperate, actually, at first. Why do you think it took me so long to go undercover? But you know Florean's brothers, Filius and Tim? Well, with all the murders the past months, I'm sure you didn't notice."
"You killed them," Fred breathed.
"Only one of them," Scrimgeour shrugged. "Tim Fortescue is safe and sound – for now. I wouldn't kill them both of course, what leverage would I have over Florean then? And I need him, almost as much as I need you. Florean makes up for what he lacks in courage and appearance (Florean flinched, but said nothing) with brains, as I'm sure you've noticed. He's quite the inventor himself actually – I don't think there's anything that man cannot do with ice cream."
Fred's eyes widened. "You mean to tell me," he said slowly, "That you've faked both our deaths… with ice cream sculptures??"
Scrimgeour laughed again – a horrible wheezing noise that Fred was quickly coming to detest. "Exactly! Melting free, hard and soft, raspberry flavour – my favourite – and all the colours of the rainbow! It's a foolproof plan! No one would ever expect it, therefore they will not know what to look for! Because who would ever think," Scrimgeour rasped, trying to catch his breath, "To taste the bodies of Rufus Scrimgeour and Fred Weasley?"
If George had been there, Fred thought distractedly, he would have laughed at the look of revulsion on Fred's face. Wait a second. George…
"George will know," Fred stated. He knew they had a connection this way – Fred had sensed George's death once, hadn't he? George would know…
"My dear boy," Scrimgeour sneered. "Why do you think we took you, and not George?"
And he turned on his heel and slammed the door, leaving Fred in confused silence.
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Bet you didn't see that coming! I hope this was a satisfying explanation of how Fred survived… lol if there ever was any, I think this would be it. And so many mysteries… I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far!