That's almost the end of our story. I hope you still enjoy reading it! Will Fred finally come back to our friends?

Enjoy your reading! And don't forget to review =)

ElieNP

"Hermione!"

"Weren't you supposed to be asleep? You need to rest," Ginny lectured her friend.

Hermione slightly laughed, not moving away from Ginny's arms. "It's good to have you with us," she murmured. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me," she retorted. "I'm doing it for me, and for Fred, for all of us in fact."

George chuckled. "We're going to bring their favourite prankster back."

"I'm certain they all want him back, but for the prankster side, I have some doubts," Ginny giggled.

Hermione allowed the delicate sound to lull her to sleep. If her fear to make nightmares in Ginny's presence lessened then they might lessen too, mightn't they? Not that she feared she might have to talk about them with Ginny, she couldn't have done so because she never remembered anything but various sensations and pain. A black veil fell on her as soon as consciousness kicked back in the game. She just didn't want to worry the girl more than she already was. However if she thought less and less about them they would certainly lose in intensity. Wasn't it what it often happened? The less you cared about something the less it bothered you. She only needed to get over them, to go to bed with only rest in mind. No more nightmares, no more worries. She wouldn't be affected by the presence – the curse – any longer, or at least she hoped it'd become thus.

As days passed, their frustration only grew bigger and bigger. Most of the time, Fred remained insufferable, softening a bit in order to make his future attacks stronger. Ginny had almost lost control several times. Fortunately George or Hermione had always been close enough to prevent her from betraying her thoughts and slapping Fred mercilessly.

Albeit the rest of the family also seemed to have some problems with his new behaviour, they all had a great control over themselves, enough not to lecture him. Mrs Weasley had made it clear she didn't want anyone to be harsh with him as long as he hadn't fully recovered. When would it be? She had no idea and didn't care. Fred needed peaceful surroundings, that was all the Burrow's inhabitants had to bear in mind.

Mr Weasley was too often away at work to realize what was really happening at home. His disrespectful son was simply still exhausted, victim of the shock to have been hit by a life-threatening curse. His other brothers would unconsciously avoid him when their presence by his side – for the meals – wasn't expected, and so did Harry. Fred's friends were all too busy with the aftermath of the war to stop by often enough to become wary of his attitude.

That only left Ginny, George, Hermione, and Mrs Weasley to look after him during the day. In reality, Mrs Weasley was more often by his side than the other three, not that it bothered them.

They still didn't know how they could free Fred from the curse. Save for his unnatural behaviour and mean mood, no changes were to be seen. George had even studied, when he'd found the opportunity to do so, his brother's body, to no avail. The curse was attacking his mind and nothing else. Nothing which could serve them as an evidence of what they were certain.

"A good start would be to establish a contact with our Fred. I mean, some memories could trigger a reaction from him, wherever he is trapped right now."

Albeit the girls thought George was right, they weren't too fond of his idea. To trigger a reaction they'd have to speak with the cursed Fred. And to speak with him they had to be close to him. To be close meant he could attack them, tormenting their mind at leisure. Not a pleasant perspective at all.

"I'll try first."

Ginny wanted to try the little sister approach, but not the moving one. Though she adored Fred, and he adored her as much, she was certain tears wouldn't be the best way to rouse any spark in him. She'd rather go with the accomplice tactics, making him remember all the pranks he'd taught and helped her to do. She'd use funny memories to amuse him. The Fred they had in front of them right now was so moody there was no way he could hide it if the true one were to react.

So she gathered her courage and offered to spend the day with him. They played Quidditch, taking advantage of the fact Hermione had led Mrs Weasley out to do some shopping. They doubted she'd be very pleased to see her son on a broom so soon. Unfortunately, Fred's grumpy mood cut their game short.

Ginny then decided to take them to Hogsmead, all the while never stopping to speak – he could stay silent for all she cared she wasn't interested in the curse but in her brother. She talked about everything she could remember which involved the two of them, if her words didn't make him react she knew her incessant chatter would give some results, in a way or another.

"And the day we-"

"Can't you just stop talking?" he dryly cut her off.

"No," she retorted icily. "So I was saying-"

"What are you trying to do? To get on my nerves? Already done."

She nodded. "Good to know, but no, that wasn't my goal. I have no goal by the way other than to spend some time with you."

"Why?" he snorted.

"Because you're my big brother?" She exaggeratedly fluttered her eyelashes.

He rolled his eyes. "And so what? Because I'm your big brother you have to take me all over the world telling me all we have ever done together? Gosh how much I wish we weren't related!" The smirk he flashed her was full of cruelty. Would he have been her brother, tears would have certainly started to flow on her cheeks. But he wasn't, so the tears obediently stayed away from her eyes.

"That's the idea," she acquiesced with a wink.

She thought he was about to slap her, with his hand roused midway to her face and his jaw firmly clenched, he was determined, or seemed at least for she suddenly noticed something strange in his eyes. It wasn't much - a glint at most - yet it was truly there, waiting in a mist of false emotions.

The raised hand fell back along his body as confusion blurred his sight. Ginny moved right under his nose. "I'll be getting on your nerves until I get my brother back," she hissed. The spark became more vivid. She was taking the right way. Now she only had to... The sudden pain in her cheek took her aback.

She frowned. He was smirking now. Ginny shook her head, then desperately searched for the spark. It couldn't have disappeared so quickly, could it? No, no, no! She clenched her fists.

The curse had taken over again.

"Still want to spend time with your big brother?" the cursed Fred sniggered.

Her eyes bored into his. Wild as she felt she'd have slapped him back if she... if she what? Hadn't she just betrayed herself? She didn't believe in him being his old true-self, there was no reason to hold back any more. Ever so slowly she moved her arm backwards, when had she raised it? He was making her crazy! He was still smirking at her, certainly thinking she wouldn't dare. In a swift move she had the mark of her hand printed in bright red on his cheek.

"You!" he snarled.

"Payback time," she declared, never turning away from his intense glare.

Back home, Ginny told George and Hermione about the spark. Hope was within reach, they only had to find something to make it powerful enough to win against the curse. George was proud of his little sister. She had done very well, and shouldn't have hesitated to slap Fred more.

"Well, I'll go then. Hermione you seem to be the most affected by the curse, we keep you for our last try."

The witch half-heartedly agreed. She'd rather not have participated at all. Facing this Fred wasn't very appealing, nor reassuring.

George brought his brother to their shop, to the workshop to be exact. They crossed the threshold in silence. Would Fred recognize anything? Of course! Even if, at that very moment, he didn't seem thrilled to be there.

"I want to go home."

George rolled his eyes. He was definitely not their Fred. His brother would have been whining not to go.

"We need to work you know, at least on some projects which are almost finished," he explained.

"You can do it alone," Fred retorted.

George raised a sceptical eyebrow at him. "Alone? You want me to do it alone? Fred, the last I've tried to make a potion without you you've stopped talking to me for a whole week!"

Focused on his brother's eyes as much as it was possible without rousing any questions, George didn't miss the change in the blue orbs. He held something there.

"Don't you remember? Your big speech about always working together, save for Hermione who has the right to know what we're doing, and to help us. Our business is only ours. Ours, Fred, neither yours nor mine, but our business. We've started it together, we'll resume it together and improve it so as nobody will ever be able to match it." Once his long tirade over, George carefully studied his twin's face. Something surely had been ignited inside him, there was no way the curse could keep the true Fred away when their business was at stake.

The shop was their dream. In spite of everything, they had built it and made it work. They were famous, rich – you couldn't deny it – and, above all, they were happy. Happier than they'd ever have been with another job.

The spark was there. He could see it dancing among a mist of irritation. It was only a matter of time before they succeeded in igniting it enough to defeat the curse.

"You can't seriously tell me to finish the potions alone Fred, come on! If you're afraid you may not remember the formulas I'll help you, it's dead easy!"

George smirked. The spark was becoming more vivid, unfortunately the irritation was also getting bigger. He'd have to carefully tread if he wanted the former to gain the upper hand.

"Besides, Hermione's said she could make good use of some reminders. She's been away for a long time after all. She's become rusty," he added in a conspiratorial tone.

There it was! The spark was growing, the irritation slowly disappearing behind it.

Their shop and Hermione.

His twin, their shop and Hermione, plus his family, important things to Fred, so important that the curse couldn't be powerful enough to keep him under its control.

"And it's time we open again. Customers are waiting for us you know. Tones and tones of orders have to be taken care of!"

The spark suddenly faltered before completely fading away. George blinked several times. No way! It'd been right there! Right within his reach! Why so suddenly? What could he have said to change a soon-to-be success in failure?

"Money," Fred grunted.

"Sorry?" George gasped.

"You're just after money. You fear we may lose too much if we don't resume work soon enough."

George frowned. Wrong, totally out-of-the-bull's eye. He shook his head. "What are you talking about? I mean our customers are expecting us to go back on scene. With the aftermath of all that has happened don't you think they deserve to laugh a little? We're not only selling them pranks or futilities, we're offering them fun. That's what matters to me."

Despite his obvious sincerity, the spark didn't come back. Fred merely shrugged before finally going back on his own.

"I don't understand it was there and the second after it-" George raised his hands in the air, too upset to finish his sentence.

He'd spent two hours alone at the shop before answering Hermione's worried calls. When Fred had come back alone, and in spite of how ridiculous it was, she'd feared the worst might have happened.

"We're so close! For Merlin's sake what does this heck of a curse want?" Ginny slapped her thighs.

She'd cornered Fred before he could reach his room, asking him to go for a walk with her, in vain. Her cursed brother had scornfully turned down her offer. She'd punched him in the chest, calling him a jerk, but it'd had no other effect than to stretch his lips into a smirk.

"I really don't understand. What is the curse after? What's its goal?" She turned her red head to her friend. "What do you think?"

Hermione stopped playing with her wand some seconds before making it turn between her fingers again. "Well, it depends." She raised from her seat. "I mean, can a curse think? Can a curse be smart and have its own goal? Can it evolve depending on the events? Is the one who cast it still controlling it? Is this person still alive?"

"No," George answered with confidence.

"So the curse is strong enough to go on without a wizard," Hermione continued, not disturbed in the least by her friend's assurance. It didn't matter that he might be the one who took the man's life. "It means we're fighting magic itself and not a human being."

"I'm not certain it's really reassuring," Ginny commented.

Hermione gave her a small smile. "It's not reassuring at all. When magic is on its own, who knows what can happen."

"Don't we know anybody who's already faced such a situation?" George hopefully asked.

"I don't know, I've never heard anybody speaking about such a thing," Hermione sat back on the floor. "I remember having read some archives about similar situations, nothing of a big help though."

"Can't we let Harry know?" Ginny tentatively murmured. "He may know something. And... and I'm not really at-ease with lying to him about Fred. He loves Fred as much as us after all."

"The more we will be the better it will be," Hermione agreed.

Would it have been about Percy, Charlie or Bill she might have expressed some doubts, but Harry was her best friend. She knew he wouldn't tell them to get lost, not immediately at least, that would give them some time to convince him.

"What about Ron?" she proposed. "We've been through so many things together with Harry. I don't think he'll turn his back on us if we ask him to help."

"Will he understand? I adore Ron but he can be a little..." Ginny trailed off.

"Stubborn?" Hermione offered.

They all laughed.

"That's the right word indeed," George acquiesced. "A pure Weasley."

"He has the right to know," Hermione became serious again. "I'm certain we'll be more efficient with them by our side."

"Harry, Ron and you are another inseparable trio," he softly stated.

She acquiesced.

Harry, Ron and her, they owned a unique bond, one without which she doubted she'd have gone successfully through all the hardships which had crossed her path. Fred, George and she had formed another bond, a different one, like Harry had formed one with Ginny. They were all different and yet perfectly co-existed. Hermione without Harry and Ron wouldn't be the same, she might not have come to know Fred and George. Without Ron, the twins might never have spoken to Hermione. And Ginny might not have taken any interest in Harry. To exist all their bonds needed the others.

Now was the right time to prove how well they worked together, how much they needed each other.

Ginny looked at the clock. "When are they coming home?"

"I think Mum said about six."

"In half an hour then," Hermione said. "I propose we do nothing until then."

"To take a nap would be a great idea."

George's eyes shined at Ginny's proposition.

They were silently staring at each other. Ginny, George and Hermione were standing in front of a gaping Harry and a frozen Ron. They'd cornered them after dinner, dragging them to Ginny's bedroom with claims of having something of a dead importance to tell them. And of a dead importance it was really, to such an extent that both wizards had been left completely speechless.

At first Ron'd pushed the idea away, saying it was ridiculous, and that they were the ones who should go to St-Mungo. He'd nevertheless accepted to listen to their explanations and didn't look quite as keen on sending them to the medics than he'd initially been.

"So our daily life is spent next to a living curse," the red-head boy finally sighed after several minutes, ruffling his hair in passing. "Which is acting on its own strength to make Fred insufferable, more than usual I mean," he added because of Ginny's narrowed eyes.

Harry merely kept staring at them, he felt the truth in their words but couldn't bring himself to accept them. They'd won the war for Merlin's sake! Why had they done to face another trial so soon? Didn't they deserve some peaceful time too?

He growled, hiding his face in his hands while laying back on Ginny's bed. "Not again."

Ron shook his head. "Holidays, does someone remember what are they?" he whined.

Three pairs of shoulders instantaneously relaxed. They'd been right, both wizards hadn't turned their back on them though they'd told them an unbelievable story.

"So, what's the plan?"

Hermione sheepishly looked at Ron.

"Don't tell me you have none!"

She raised a thumb at him, then turned it half way so as it was parallel to the floor.

"In fact we've the beginning of one," she started. "We're trying to wake up the true Fred."

"He's certainly sleeping somewhere in the back of his own mind."

"What a lazy ass," Ron chuckled half-joking, half-frowning. "If he is in his own mind, if he is prisoner of it, and if the curse shares his mind then how can you tell when it's our Fred and when it's not?"

Ginny whistled. George winked at her. "You impress me little bro, I sometimes forget there is a brain under this thick mane."

Ron growled. He was about to retort when Harry decided they had lost enough time.

"He's right. How do we do that?"

Hermione moved to sit beside him. "Ginny and George have already made some progress. They've ignited something in him, it's visible through his eyes. But each time they've been about to make that spark grow bigger, the curse has taken over again," she resumed.

"It's Hermione's turn to try to make him remember," George announced.

"But," Harry pinched his nose, "if the curse shares his mind, then Fred, no I mean the curse remembers, it has Fred's memories after all."

"Sure," Ginny acquiesced, "but it doesn't react the same way to them. Fred would be delighted to remember all the pranks he's taught me, we often speak about them and each time it makes him laugh to tears. That it upsets him isn't normal."

"Same for the shop. It is our shop, our dream, well one of our biggest dreams. And he does as if he didn't care," George completed.

They all turned to Hermione. Her head instinctively lowered in her shoulders.

"What is your plan to make him remember?" Harry asked.

"To talk about the good old days?"

"How?" he pressed her.

"I could start with..." she closed her eyes.

She had no idea. They'd spent so much time together over the past few years. Every moment with him had been special, to her at least. She had no way to know what his thoughts were about them.

"Perhaps you could just spend some time with him," Ron suggested. "If this Fred doesn't react like our Fred, then our Fred should react to your presence whereas the other should merely be annoyed. Ginny and George are related with him, so the curse may consider it normal to have them stuck to his heels. Because you're not related you're not forcefully obliged to stick with him. Our Fred will be pleased, the other, well I've already said it, he'll be annoyed as it has perfectly been since its awakening."

They blankly stared at him. For someone who had just learnt what was happening he surprisingly understood the situation very well.

"I have a brain you know, and I do use it," he snorted, only for the form though – in reality he was far from being vexed.

He knew they didn't really think he was stupid, far from it, and because he almost never clearly explain his thoughts, the surprise on their faces was normal.

"You should go for a walk around the Burrow," Harry proposed.

"Why not."

"Go for it!" George decided. "On tomorrow morning you take him out. Harry and Ron you'll stay here in case anything happens." They nodded. "Ginny too. It'd be good if you could keep Mum busy." She acquiesced. "Very well then. We've our day planned. And..." his voice died in his throat.

Ginny immediately moved to engulf him in a fierce hug. As strong as her brother was looking, the whole situation was making him suffer much more than anybody else. Hermione also took them in her arms, Harry and Ron behind her, clumsily putting their arms around the group.

"Thank you," he softly murmured. "Thank you very much."

To Be Continued