A/N: I know, I've posted the first four chapters in three days, but I had to get this idea out of my mind. I'm already working on chapter 5. Let's just say every time I finish a chapter I make a list of ideas for the next and sometimes it drives my imagination to write another chapter. So I'll update at random points during the week, even if it's daily. Don't hate me for it, please.
WARNING: This chapter does contain self-injury and blood, so if you can't handle that private message me and I'll tell you what happened so you can read the next chapter. Please don't hate me for this chapter. Although hate for it is expected.
"Fred... George... I need- I need to tell you something," said Mrs. Weasley. "I have- I have bad news."
Both twins were looking at each other, obviously worried that something bad had happened. When their mother next spoke, they held their breath.
"Lee's dead."
"I can't believe it," said Fred in the twins' room that night.
"Well... I suppose it could be worse...," said George.
"Hey, George, can I have some alone time?" asked Fred.
"Yeah." George left, and Fred walked over to the door and locked it. Their first real friend at Hogwarts, gone. He took out his wand, pointing at his left arm (as he was now a Death Eater, the Dark Mark was on his right arm). Tears stung his eyes. Pulling back his left sleeve he pointed his wand at his arm and used a nonverbal spell to cut it. Fred was now crying, and tears were splashing against the blood, causing it to move all over his arm. This scar joined about twenty others, all added in the previous days of the week.
'Why me?' he thought over and over again. He was now sobbing. Hermione knocked on the door to ask him if he was okay.
"I'm fine, 'Mione," said Fred. "Just... I just feel... Broken. I lost one of my best friends."
"Are you positive you're fine?" asked Hermione.
"Yes, Hermione!" replied Fred, a little too fast. She said "Alohomora!" and opened the door. When she saw Fred, she began crying.
"Fred, you've been hurting yourself?" she said.
"No, I've been going to the garden everyday and the bloody rosebush cut me," he told her sarcastically. "Of course I have!"
"Fred, I love you, please don't!" Hermione told him, sobbing almost as bad as Fred had been. "George wouldn't want you to do this!"
"You're just saying that," Fred mumbled, turning away from Hermione.
"Okay, I'll go get George, then, I guess," said Hermione. Fred was now holding his arm, desprate for George not to see the cuts. "Be right back. Hey, George, I found something you might want to see," she told the younger of the twins. Fred quickly made another cut in his arm. Hermione walked in with George behind her.
"Fred? What's wrong? Please tell me," George said to his brother. "Hermione told me you're doing something to yourself."
"Leave me alone, George." Quickly, he made another cut.
"Freddie, you hiding from me tells me you're doing something terrible to yourself," said George, tears sliding down his face. Fred tried to cover his arm, but before he could, George had walked over to him and grabbed him.
"Fred, you've been cutting?" asked George, crying at the knowledge that his twin had kept this dark a secret from him.
"Just leave me alone, before I adjust both your memories," Fred told them.
"No, do you have any clue how deep this is?" Hermione asked, pointing at the fresh cut.
"Yeah, now leave me alone," said Fred.
"You need to go to a hospital for this," said Hermione. "Come over here, we'll Apparate to a Muggle hospital if you really don't want your mum to know."
They Apparated to Muggle London, close to a hospital.
"Come on, Fred. I'm getting more and more worried by the second," said Hermione. At that moment, Fred fell over due to blood lost.
"Fred!" George and Hermione both shouted.
"Don't you dare save my life for the second time in three weeks," said Fred, smiling at Hermione.
"Well, too bad, I have to." She and George helped him stand up. His right arm was resting on Hermione's shirt, staining it red.
"Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are when your saving someone's life?" asked Fred. Hermione rolled her eyes. Almost immediately after they got inside, Fred fainted.
"Fred!" Hermione shouted; a doctor came over and put him on a stretcher, telling George and Hermione to follow her.
Fred was asleep, resting so he could recover. Because he'd lost so much blood, the doctor had to replace it, so she'd gone to grab a bag of his blood type. He was now hooked up to a device that would give him the blood. They'd decided it best not to tell Mrs. Weasley Fred's secret, because she'd fuss over him for weeks. He was now twenty and had another twenty-year-old and a nineteen-year-old to help him.
"I love you, Fred," Hermione said, grabbing his left hand.
"Why's there only scars on his left arm?" the doctor asked, looking at Hermione.
"If you look, he has a tattoo on his right arm," said George. "For whatever reason, it puts him in pain if someone touches it, so don't touch it," he added, smiling. "Biggest mistake of his life."
"Okay...?" said the doctor. "I don't think I introduced myself. I'm Dr. Penelope Phillips, but you can call me Penelope."
"Hello, Penelope," said George, before Hermione could say anything. "I'm George Weasley, and this is Fred. If you can't tell already, we're identical twins."
"I'm Hermione Granger," said Hermione. "I'm close to these two, we were trying to get Fred here concious, but as you saw, he fainted as we got inside, so..."
"Why'd he start doing that to himself, anyway?" asked Penelope, pointing to the sleeping redhead.
"He's coping with a friend's death," said George.
"Hang on, I've heard gingers have really soft hair, can I feel yours?" she asked George. He looked almost as pleased as when he found out Fred was alive after the war.
"I don't see why not," said George, grinning from ear to ear. Penelope reached up and touched his hair, and George tilted his head slightly so she could reach it. He had his hand on the wall, because his missing ear caused him to almost fall over.
"What happened to your ear?" asked Penelope, rubbing her finger on the outside of the hole on George's head.
"I got it cut off for torture reasons during a battle," he told her. Hermione was surprised he was making up a Muggle backstory so fast. When their new friend heard about George's ear, she gasped.
"That's- that's terrible!" said Penelope, covering her mouth with her hands.
"Well, he almost died from an exploding wall, so it's not too bad compared to good ol' Freddie, here," said George. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Hey, George? Can I talk to you real quick?" she asked.
"Sure, be right back, Penelope," said George, winking as he left.
"Do you like her?"
"What makes you say that?" asked George, although there was a reddish tint in his cheeks.
"Oh, just behavior," said Hermione. "I know what Weasleys are like when they like someone, George."
"Yeah, well, come on," said George. "I want to check on my dear twin, and see if Penelope'll go out with me."
Hermione rolled her eyes and they walked back into Fred's hospital room. Almost immediately after they walked in, George walked over to Penelope. She started rubbing around where his ear had been. There was noise coming from the Fred's bed.
"Thanks for saving my life again, 'Mione," he said. Penelope looked at him, then at Hermione.
"You've saved him before?" she asked.
"Yeah, we went swimming and he slipped and fell," said Hermione. "George helped me."
"Just a little," said George. He was going redder and redder. Fred moved his left arm.
"Ouch, what's on my arm?" he asked.
"Stitches," said Penelope. "We didn't have a choice, your cut was too deep."
Fred laughed a little at his younger brother. Hermione walked over to Fred. She kissed him, and he turned red. He bent his elbow, accidentally breaking the contact. Hermione whimpered a little.
"What's in my elbow?" he asked.
"It's an IV, it gets medicine to your blood," said Penelope. Fred brought the contact back together. George got caught up in the moment and kissed Penelope. Although she was surprised, she kissed him back. George tried not to fall over, but failed. When George did break the contact, he said, "Penelope, will you go out with me?"
"Sure," she told him, smiling.
"Oh, I forgot to say, Fred and I joke around a lot,"said George, sitting up and leaning back on his hands. Fred was sitting up, too. He'd changed into a hospital gown after getting his stitches.
"Because I'm so nice," said Penelope, "I'll let you and Hermione stay the night, George. I see how much you care about Fred, so why not?"
"Thanks, girl," said George, smiling. Hermione and Fred started laughing.
"For a guy just woke up from an hour long nap, Fred, you're full of energy," said Penelope.
"If you knew how much energy I had, you'd die, especially if you were mine George's babysitter when we were litttle," said Fred, laughing. "Granger, Granger, Granger, Granger, Gr-"
"Yes, Fred the Weasel?" asked Hermione.
"Hey!" said Fred with a lopsided smile.
"I'm kidding," said Hermione, laughing.
"I know," said Fred. "I just felt like saying that."
"Hey, Penelope, how about a movie on Friday?" said George. Fred and Hermione looked at each other, surprised George knew about movies.
"Sure, is nine o'clock a good time?" Penelope replied.
"Yep," said George.
"Georgie's all grown up!" said Fred, faking tears of happiness. George buried his head in his hand.
"You need serious help, bro," said George. He was the classic Weasley red.
"Okay, considering I had to ask a girl for you when we were the grand age of fifteen-" started Fred.
"Fred, shut up!" said George, turning a brighter red everytime Fred spoke.
"Well, it's true!"
"That doesn't mean you can go around everywhere and tell everybody!"
"It's what older brothers do, haven't you learned that?"
"You're only older by twelve minutes." By now George was almost as red as the Gryffindor red. Penelope and Hermione were looking at each other, trying as hard as they could not to laugh.
"What movie do you want to see?" asked Penelope, which was lucky because George didn't know of any movies. "Hercules looks good."
"Whatever you want to see," replied George, smiling.
"Well, I'll talk to you three in the morning," Penelope told them, leaving so she could go home. "Bye."
"Bye," they said in unison.