Written for a few competitions!

Summary: George is thrown after misremembering something about Fred; this spirals.

IWSC - Summer Camp, Week 2 - Ravenclaw - Colour War - Write about showing your true colours

THC - Monthly Challenges - July - He never thought he'd find himself in this situation.

Hogwarts - Hufflepuff - Criminology and Forensics - Task 1 - Write about someone struggling to remember another person

Amazing Beta: Butterflies765, Viola

Word Count: 1270

He never thought he'd find himself in this situation. George knew that he didn't act like he used to, that he had changed compared to who he was in school, who he was with his brother. He was more closed off, that he knew, but to others, he seemed open for some reason. However, he never expected anybody to notice, nor did he expect to hesitate when somebody asked him about Fred. He never thought that he'd misremember.

Yet, here he was. Staring wide-eyed at Lee Jordan, his mouth going dry at the correction Lee had just made. Had George met Lee first? He was sure it had been Fred.

"I—" he started but couldn't find the words to say. Thankfully, his daughter ran up to him.

"Dad?" she started, thrusting a bag in his direction before pushing her hair out of her face. "Can I buy more quills?"

George had almost forgotten he wasn't just meeting up with Lee for a catch up. He was actually here shopping with the family and had happened to bump into his best friend. He looked between Lee and Roxanne for a few seconds as he held onto the bag. He needed to continue this conversation with Lee; he couldn't let his friend know that he hadn't thought about Fred in a little while.

"Quills? Sure, go for it," he replied to the eight-year-old and handed her a few knuts. Instantly, she ran back into the stationery store they were standing outside of.

"Sorry, I—uhm..." he stuttered out, trying to continue the conversation. "We were talking about how we met… and…"

Lee quickly let out a laugh. "It was Fred I met first, I'm sure. You're right!" He laughed again, but it didn't seem genuine. "Still getting you two mixed up."

George tried to smile or even laugh, but he didn't succeed. Lee had really made him think about his current life when they had started talking about how they had met. It had been unscheduled and completely random; it wasn't like the two hadn't just seen each other the week prior for Angelina's birthday.

Part of George wanted to laugh along and agree with Lee; he had done that multiple times. Laugh like he used to and pretended that he knew what they were talking about. But as he began to think about it, Lee might have been right to begin with, maybe he hadn't met Fred first, maybe it really was the two of them.

When they had started Hogwarts together, the twins had sat with Charlie on the train and only interacted with his friends. Then, they stayed side by side all that evening without even attempting to remember the names of those in their dorm; it had always been the two in the same room and they'd never needed anyone else. However, the next day, they decided that they didn't want to stay isolated with just each other's company and separated during their first lesson; Charms.

George had sat next to Lee Jordan and they had connected instantly. Fred had sat next to Angelina and didn't quite hit it off. It seems that Fred's jokes hadn't quite sat well with the other eleven-year-old.

It was during the following lesson, flying, when Fred had actually spoken to Lee after George had introduced them, and not the opposite way around, as he had accidentally said just now. Perhaps George had misremembered due to how many times they had lied about who they were; was he still playing a long game? Still trying to act as though he was part of a whole piece?

"To be honest, mate," he began, stepping to the side and off the main cobblestoned path. "I haven't thought about Fred in a while. We don't talk about him much and…" He paused and looked up at Lee. "I'm not sure half the things people think he did was actually him."

Lee had moved off the path too and stepped closer than he had been. "Why?"

George shrugged. "What's the point in telling them they are wrong?"

"Because then at least they'd know the real you and the real Fred! Don't you want his memory preserved correctly? For people to remember him for who he was?" Lee asked, a mixture of confusion and disbelief in his expression.

George looked around, noticing the thick plaits of his daughter's black hair bobbing up and down in the store next to him, and his wife holding little Freddie's hand. "What if I get it wrong though? Like I just did? What if I tell them something untrue about Fred?"

"When have you been afraid to speak about him? You're always chatting about him…"

"No, I'm not!" George blurted. He sighed deeply, now his best friend would see who he really was. He'd see that he was a wimp and coward. "I only really talk about him with you, Lee. You knew us both, actually knew us."

Lee moved his arm forward and tugged George out of the way, having a glance around. "What do you mean?"

George shook his head initially, it would all sound like an excuse anyway, he knew that. How would he fully explain why he didn't talk about Fred with the majority of the people he saw, why hadn't he really spoken to his two children about their uncle? Why he actively avoided the majority of conversations where his twin might be mentioned? Well, it was easy… because he just couldn't handle knowing that they got the facts wrong!

George hadn't spoken about him, or corrected others, or even brought him up in conversations because he didn't want to ruin the image of how others remembered him.

Lee, on-the-other-hand, was different.

"Because you actually knew us both. Not just as the Weasley twins but as individuals. And even though you didn't always get us the right way around, you never stopped trying! You would search my neck for that one single freckle that Fred didn't have during a conversation even when we were in sixth year! You knew us, you knew him! And so when I talk to you I don't have to censor my thoughts but… maybe that means that I don't actually think about him much anymore. I…"

Lee pulled him into a hug. "It's okay, mate."

George sniffed and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. When had he started crying? The tears slipped down his cheeks silently and he took a few seconds to calm himself down. He stepped out of the hug and looked at Lee. "It's been thirteen years," he stated, shaking his head. "I've heard so much about what Fred had done that I'm not sure if I can even remember it correctly. I… I've given up."

"Well, we both know that that's not really you," Lee said confidently, a surprising spring to his voice. "Let's show everybody the real you! Your true colours!"

"What?"

Lee grinned. "Between us, we could name every freckle on Fred's body! And between us, we can tell everybody exactly what Fred did and did not do!"

George smiled, his eyes still watery but thankfully the tears no longer fell down his cheeks. He knew he could have relied on Lee to make this big mental issue into a cakewalk. He was now glad for being stuck in his situation because it came with a brilliant solution. "I don't care about everybody," he started, letting the ideas flow through his mind. "However, how do you feel about coming to dinner tonight to talk to the kids about him?"

"I'd love to!"