When dinner came again, Fred was beginning to grow used to all the stares. It was still uncomfortable, but every now and then, someone would chime in with something they all thought was funny and begin a conversation. That was when Fred felt more at home, more alive. He needed that feeling. After dinner everyone socialized for a while before going off to bed. When Fred and George made their way upstairs, George noticed the uneasiness in the air. Fred sat down at their window, looking like he had little to no intention in going to sleep.

"You want more sleeping potion?" George leaned on the wall next to the window.

Fred shook his head.

George sat down next to him. "You have to sleep Fred."

"I can't. Every time I shut my eyes, I am in nightmares. Feels so real."

"But, it's not. Whatever you went through is over now, okay? You're safe, and alive, but you have to take care of yourself. You're still really week."

"I know."

George thought for a moment before pulling out his wand. He made the table dividing their respective sides of the room slide to the other side of the wall. He then caused the beds to slide together.

Fred watched from the window. "What are you doing?"

"When we were little and one of us got scared we'd hop into one bed, but seeing how we are both grown adults now, I don't exactly fancy lying on top of you. So just like when we were kids, we'll keep each other safe, just like always."

Fred got up from the window and stared at the two beds. He looked at his brother and gave him a small smile. "Alright then, let's give it a shot."

Once they were ready for bed, George was surprised at how quickly his brother fell asleep. George was just drifting away when Fred began to twitch in his sleep. The nightmares were already digging their way into his mind. George put a hand on Fred's shoulder to attempt to comfort him.

"It's okay Freddie, you're okay. You're safe. You're at home still."

That seemed to help a little because Fred calmed down. That was how the rest of the night played out. Fred would get stuck in a nightmare, and George would wake up to comfort him. Fred did not wake up screaming or crying like he had been, and while neither brother got a full night of sleep, they both did better than the previous night.

The next morning the boys went downstairs for breakfast to see Arthur dressed and ready for work. He gave Fred a sympathetic smile.

"I'll have to talk to the Ministry today. If I know them like I believe, they won't take long sending for the pair of you. They'll want to understand everything."

Fred had terror in his eyes, but George nodded. "Okay, we'll be ready."

Fred looked at George. He could never be ready for the questions that would come.

All day the boys paced around the house in anticipation. At one point they ended up outside under the tree again. George could feel the nerves pulsing off of Fred, which in turn made his nerves higher. He pulled out Fred's wand.

"I think you should take this back."

Fred stared at it. "You think this isn't going to end well."

"I think that's a possibility. We may have to leave, depending on what they try to do. Fred you haven't used magic at all since you got back, I think it would be smart to try."

Fred looked away. "I'm a lot weaker now, George."

"You're scared you won't have the same power."

"I'm scared I may not have any, and if I do I might not have control of it anymore. I already feel helpless, I don't want know how helpless I really am."

"You aren't helpless Fred. I bet you still have your magic, and yeah maybe it isn't as strong as it was, but you aren't as strong as you were, but you will be. You're getting your strength back every day. Bit by bit. You aren't shaking as much, you can lift more, you aren't getting as exhausted just from walking around. You'll get back to normal." He put Fred's wand back into his pocket. "But I can still hold onto this until you're ready. Just give me the word."

Fred nodded. "Thanks."

By midday Percy came to the Burrow with a disgruntled look on his face. Fred and George were in the living room with Molly and Ginny.

"Percy, what's going on?" Molly jumped up at the sight of her son.

"It's the Ministry, like we thought they want to speak to Fred and George. I told them I would come and fetch them as to not make a scene."

George sighed. "Alright then, let's get this over with." He got up and Fred followed.

Ginny grabbed Fred's arm. "It'll be alright."

Fred nodded at his little sister and followed his brothers to the Ministry. Once they arrived, Fred was not surprised at the shocked looks he was receiving. He would have to get used to that for a long time to come. They made their way upstairs where they met Arthur, Kingsley, and some members of the council. Arthur went up to his boys.

"They want to speak with you two alone. I'm not allowed in either, I'm afraid."

Fred's eyes widened with panic and shot to George.

George realized Fred had not really been without him yet. He did not like the idea either, but he knew they had to get this done. He grabbed Fred's shoulders and met his scared eyes.

"It's all going to be fine. I'll be right in the other room. Just answer their questions and then we can go home, okay?"

His words did not do much to calm him as someone grabbed George's shoulder to pull him away. The panic was still apparent on Fred's face.

George looked at Kingsley. "Don't leave his side, please just stay with him."

Kingsley gave George an odd look before nodding. Once George was pulled out of Fred's sight, they took him to a room and sat him down. There were four other council members standing before him, all giving him the same curious look. A woman was first to speak.

"Please state your name."

"Uh...George Fabian Weasley, Ma'am."

"And Mr. Weasley do have any information as to how your recently deceased brother, Fred Weasley, was able to return after six months' time?"

George shook his head. "No, idea."

"Nonsense!" One of the men in the room came closer. "He has something to do with this, don't you?"

George leaned back in his chair. "No, I didn't. I swear!"

He grabbed George's shoulders. "You're lying! You've done something, a spell, a time turner. If you've messed with the time line that could mean terrible things! Do you realize what you've done? The Dark Lord could have control of everything because of your little stunt! We all lost someone, you had no right!"

George shook his head violently. "I haven't done anything! I swear it! He just came back. He won't talk about it. I think he had to go through something terrible to come back here, it wasn't easy for him. All he's said is that it was a rare type of magic that is hard to accomplish. It was dependent upon me, but I had no way of knowing that."

"What did you do?" The man glared at him.

"I-I spilt my blood on his grave, he said that was a key to getting back. I don't know why I did it, I just felt like I had to."

The man still had a hold of George.

George was growing angry. He pushed the man's hands off of him. "Look if I would have known I could have gotten my brother back, I would have slit my hand open the minute he died. He's back and there is no changing it. We didn't do anything against the law, there were no spells, no meddling with time, nothing so you can just get over it because it's done. And if you think for a second you are going to consider taking him away from me again, it will be the last thing you do."

"Mr. Weasley!" The woman stared shocked.

The man backed off, but still looked angry. "Are you willing to be questioned under truth serum?"

"I don't care what you have to do to make you believe me; I just want this over with so I can get back to him. He's weak after coming back, and hasn't been on his own yet."

"Go and get it." The woman motioned to another man in the room.

While George was being interrogated, Fred too was being questioned in the other room. Kingsley was leading the questions as gently as he could. The fear in the boy before him was apparent. He smiled at Fred and spoke soft.

"Just ignore them and focus on me, alright?"

Fred looked at the other members of the council, but turned his attention back to Kingsley and nodded.

"Good, now for the record can you please state your full name?"

Fred took a deep breath. "Yeah, Frederick Gideon Weasley."

"Good, now onto the tougher things. Can you tell me what happened on May 2nd of this year?"

"I…died." He knew that was all they wanted to know.

"And can you tell me, how is it you found your way back to the land of the living?"

"Really I just refused to stay dead. Wasn't easy coming back, it's not common…obviously."

Kingsley could tell the other council members in the room were getting irritated, but he put his hand up to calm him.

"Could you go into more detail than that?"

Fred shook his head. "No, I can't. Bad things happened, I'll say that, but don't make me talk about them. I came back, that's all there really is to know."

One of the men in the room could not contain his irritation any longer. "And your brother, what was his role in this?"

"He didn't know, couldn't have known this would happen. It did depend on him, but he had nothing to do with this."

"What do you mean it depended on him?" Kingsley tried getting the conversation on track.

"This magic is rare, like I said, but it depends on someone living, like a link I guess."

"So you were able to come back because of George?" Kingsley was trying to understand.

Fred nodded. "I guess a sort of portal opened up one day, I was able to get through it."

"Just like that?" The other man wanted details.

"No, I said before it wasn't easy."

"And the repercussions that will come of this?"

"None." Fred was quick to answer. "I was never told about any, so none."

"You were told how to get back?"

Fred was getting more uneasy, but nodded.

A woman who had been only listening finally spoke. "How can you prove that you are who you say? What makes us know you aren't just someone whose taken polyjuice potion and posing as Fred Weasley?"

Fred looked at her confused. "Because I haven't taken any potion, I'm me. Why would anyone pose as me?"

"To hurt your family." Kingsley spoke now.

Fred shook his head again. "I'm Fred. I'm back, and I'm Fred."

"I think there is only one way to find out exactly what happened."

The men all looked at the woman speaking.

"We need an Occlumencer."

Fred's eyes got wider and turned to Kingsley. "No, please. I would have to relive everything. I don't want to do that. There must be some other way, please!"

"Okay, okay calm down." Kingsley gave him a small smile. "We don't have to do it today, but they will want the proof soon." He leaned in closer to Fred. "There are some other things that will need checked out. I suggest you and George do not leave home until this gets sorted."

Fred calmed a little bit, but he still seemed uneasy at the thought of what lay ahead. He nodded to Kingsley. "Can we please be done?"

Kingsley looked at the others in the room, who seemed unamused towards Fred, but said nothing else.

"Okay then, let's get you back to your family."

Fred stood up very fast and followed Kingsley back out of the room. He saw his father and almost ran up to him, he did not want to be around strangers anymore. They had to wait a few more minutes before George came out, immediately noticing the distress in his brother.

"Are you alright? What'd they do?"

Fred shook his head, signaling that they would discuss it later. George did not like that, but moved on anyway. He stayed quiet, happy that Fred did not ask him anything, because he would have had no choice but tell the truth because of the serum they gave him. Everyone was happy to leave the Ministry, but worried about what was in their futures.

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AN: Thanks for reading!