Staring At The Stars

Age five. April 1, 1983. "Happy birthday, Fred and George! Happy birthday to you!" Everyone began clapping as the ginger twins got ready to blow out their candles. As they huffed their breaths, their mother, Molly Weasley, pulled them back gently by their shirts. "Mum!" the twins yelled in unison. "Hold up guys," Molly said. "Tell us the rules one more time, twins." "Cake is for eating, not throwing," Fred said as George eyed the birthday cake with a hungry look. "And?" their father Arthur Weasley asked. "No more mini pinwheels." "That's right," Arthur said. "We don't want a recap of last year. Poor Ronnie's hair hasn't been the same since." As if on cue, the twins' younger brother Ron, who had just turned three the previous month, climbed on the bench, looking at the cake. "Ronnie want cake!" he said, reaching out for the chocolate icing. "Freddie and Georgie get cake first!" the twins said to them. Once Molly let go of them, they looked at one another, made a wish a piece, and blew out the candles in one blow. Fred, George, Ron, and their one year old sister Ginny stuffed their faces with cake as their parents and older siblings Percy, Bill, and Charlie laugh. The night started out fine. I rushed through the Hogwarts corridors with Fred by my side, firing spells at anything standing in our way. We ran out a door, surprised to see that the balcony was empty. I needed to catch my breath and I knew Fred was thinking the same thing. No way where we possibly safe, but we stood there on the balcony, looking over Hogwarts. I looked over to my twin, who had a worried look on his face. I'd seen worry on his face before, but never like this. He was truly scared. "You alright, Freddie?" He turned to me and smiled an unconvincing smile, but I didn't let him know that. "Yeah, I'm good. You?" I smiled back, letting him know it'd be okay. "Me too." We heard an explosion in the distance and knew it was time to go back inside. There was a quick glance between us, and then we were back inside fighting again, throwing spells at the Death Eaters. I tried staying by my twin's side every chance I got. I knew that together, we were indestructible. Nothing could bring us down. But it couldn't last. We became separated, and the moment I realized it, I began shouting his name, even with Death Eaters coming at me, trying to take me down. "Fred!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "Fred! Where are you?"

I saw one of Voldemort's spawn standing over my friend Lee Jordan. I ran towards him, attempting to knock him off his feet the old muggle way, but Angelina Johnson was there before me. She yelled "Stupefy!" as loud as she could, stunning the Death Eater and knocking him over. We helped Lee up and looked at each other. "Thanks, Angie," Lee said, dusting himself off and picking up his wand. "I thought I was a goner." "No problem," she said, huffing. Then she looked at me. "George, why aren't you with Fred?" "We became separated!" I said in a hurry. "Have you seen him? I can't find him." "I last saw him with Percy, fighting off a few death eaters," she said. She grabbed my hand. "But George, it might be safer if you stay with us. You could get killed if you go search for him!" "I know that!" I yelled, jerking my hand away from her. It wasn't in anger though, but more of fear, and I knew she could sense that. "But he would do the same for me. I have to find him. We have to fight together." All she could do was nod, Lee agreeing, and we set off looking for my brother and fighting along the way. What seemed like hours later, we came upon The Great Hall. It was the last place I wanted to be. Death of people I knew who fought on our side was in the air. It was horrible. Lee and Angelina ran to their families, and I went over to mine. It took me a moment to realize it, but they were crying. I stopped, trying to figure out what could have possibly happened. Surely no one could have died could they? Of course, it was a huge possibility, but it couldn't happen to my family. It just couldn't. I stood where I was, trying to figure out my missing family member. I didn't see Ron there. But there couldn't be anything wrong with Ron. He was with Harry and Hermione. Right? And that's when it hit me. I didn't see Fred. I don't remember breaking into a run, but the next thing I knew, I was getting closer and closer to my family. I saw a body on the floor. They were standing over it. It couldn't be him. It just couldn't be him I broke in between Ginny and Bill, Ginny crying onto Dad's shoulder and Bill comforting Fleur. He was crying himself. I looked down and saw him. Fred. My brother. My twin. I got on my knees next to him, tears forming in my eyes, blurring my vision so that I couldn't see. I quickly wiped them away so I could see my brother's face. I could sense the faintest smile was on his lips. He'd died laughing. I felt something inside me break, and it hurt. It hurt worse than when my ear was cut off by Sectumsempra. (And I don't know if any of you have had a limb cut off by Dark Magic, but it hurts. A lot.) I put one hand to my chest and kept another hand on Freddie, my heart desperately breaking. I'd lost my other half. I felt so broken. Age six. February 25, 1985. Molly grasped the twins' hands tightly so that they couldn't run away. It was the first funeral the two had ever been to and Molly knew that the two still couldn't wrap around their little minds that their great uncle was gone, even though they barely knew him.

"But I just don't understand how he died, mum!" Fred said once the funeral was over and they headed to the gravesite. "Someone had to kill him!" "That's not it, sweetie," she said softly to him. "Great Uncle Jofidad died of old age." Molly had explained this to them numerous times since her uncle's death, but they still didn't get it. The only deaths they had ever heard of were from people being killed. "You mean, we're gonna die someday too?" George gasped, looking back and forth from his mother and twin. "One day, we just won't be here anymore? I don't wanna think about that, mum! That's a scary thought!" She hadn't expected to have this talk with them until they were much older. She pulled them both into a hug, which for once, both didn't try to squirm out of. "Yes, sweetheart, you'll die someday." She heard both of them gasp. "But it won't be until you're really old, like 89 or even 110." She looked her twins in the eyes. "You're only six right now, boys. You don't have to worry about it for a very long time." Fred and George nodded at this explanation and walked up with the rest of the crowd to join Bill and Charlie. Molly watched her children. They were so young, so curious, that in some ways were dangerous than others. She sighed and caught up with the rest of her family as they all went to the gravesite to officially say goodbye to her uncle. Everyone has lost a family member before. It hurts to know you'll never see them again, but it sucks twice as hard when it's your twin. You feel as though half of your soul, the core of your existence, is gone. Simple way to put it, it's like you can never be happy again. When I was six, I honestly believed that you had to be as old as my Great Uncle Jofidad to die. He was 97 years old. Even once I got older and heard tales of kids my age dying, I swore up and down they were just stories and didn't happen in real life. When I heard news of muggle kids dying, I convinced myself that didn't happen in the Wizarding world, or at least to my family. Once Fred died, I realized the truth. Su nunca demasiado joven a muerte. You're never too young to die. How I wish my mother had been right all those years ago. There we were, two days later, having my brother's funeral. I wasn't ready. I couldn't see them bury his body. It was like taking a large chunk of myself. "George, are you ready?" I heard Ginny say from the stairs. "The funeral is about to start." I didn't say a word. I continued to stare out the window looking into our backyard. It was filled with people coming to say goodbye to my twin. Angelina and Lee were sitting next to Percy, my brother crying uncontrollably. Harry told me he'd been that way since the exact moment Fred died. When he realized he was dead, Percy held on to his body and vowed not to let go. It seemed that everyone had had a good crying fest, or they were going through one. I, on the other, hadn't cried since that day. Stray tears came and went, but it was never as bad as anyone else's. I wanted to keep it that way. "George?" Ginny said, stepping into my room. I didn't turn around. "George, the funeral is beginning." "I can see that, Gin," I said, watching everyone sit down in the chairs all over the yard. I heard her footsteps and felt her stand closer to me. "George it's okay to cry, you know." "I know this, Gin," I stated in my best stoic voice. She wrapped her arm through mine, laying her head on my shoulder and looking out the window. I could practically hear her tears sliding down her face.

"Why did Fred have to die, Gin?" I asked her. I knew I'd caught her off guard by the way she shifted on my arm. "It's not fair. Fred didn't do anything to deserve this fate." "I know George," she softly sobbed. "But he's gone. There's nothing we can do about it. We just we just have to accept it." "She's right, you know," we heard a voice say from behind us. We turned to see Ron standing in the door in his black suit, face red from crying. Ginny hurried over and cried on his shoulder. I slowly walked over to my siblings and pulled them into a hug, just to let them know I wasn't a heartless jerk, even though I knew I'd been acting like one in the last few days. We were so quiet for a moment, letting everything sink in. Then Ron said, "They say when it's silent like this, there's an angel passing through the room." Ginny smiled, a twinkle in her eye. "It's Fred. It has to be." I felt a small smile creep up on my lips, but it was a quick one. To know my brother was looking over our family made me think it would be just a little easier to get on with life. On that note, I lead them to the door. "Come on guys. Fred will kill us if we miss his funeral." We all laughed, the only real laugh we'd had in days that felt like weeks. "If I know Fred, he's laughing at the suits we all have to wear," Ron said. Ginny looked to the ceiling. "Fred, if you are in here, you better not be laughing at my black dress, got it? I'm wearing this for you, so you better say I look gorgeous!" Ron and I laughed at our sister's statement, knowing Fred probably was too. Dresses weren't really Ginny's thing, and when she did wear them, Fred always had something say. Ginny smiled and linked arms with us both. Neither of us said a word as we slowly descended down the stairs and into the backyard, bracing ourselves for what was ahead. Age seven. August 11, 1985. "MUMMY!" Ron ran to his mother, crying. He'd tripped a few times running from his room to his mother's lap. "Ronnie, what happened?" Molly asked. She got a wet rag and began wiping the tears from his face. "He did it again!" Ron screamed. "Who did what again?" "Fred!" "What did Fred do?" Ron sobbed some more, holding his mummy tightly, and stammered, "He t-t-turned T-Teddy into a sp-sp-sp-sp-" "A spider?"

Ron screamed louder than Molly had ever heard before. "Where? Is it in here?" He dug his face into his mother's shirt and cried even harder. We couldn't stop at Percy, Molly thought to herself. Nope, we had to go and have four more kids. "Fred! George! In here now!" The twins walked slowly into the room. "Yes, mother?" they asked in an oh-so-innocent voice. "Don't you act innocent, boys!" Molly threatened with Ron oh her lap, nodding his head in agreement. "But mother, we are innocent!" George said. "Yeah, neither of us turned Mummy's Baby's teddy into a huge, hairy, black spider," Fred commented with a bit too much enthusiasm. "I'm not a Mummy's Baby!" Ron yelled at them. Molly sighed. "I didn't mention anything about a spider. And I most definitely didn't ask for a description." The innocent looks on the twins' faces slowly went away. "Nice going, Freddie," George said, turning to his twin. Molly sighed. "How did you two do it anyway?" "With Daddy's wand!" Ron said. Molly stared at her twins, shock written across her face. "What? Fred, George, is this true?" "Well" the twins began, looking uneasy. "How the bloody hell did you get your father's wand?" Fred gasped and George covered his ears. "Mother! Language in front of the young ones!" "Answer me or there's more where that came from!" "They snuck it out of his coat pocket this morning before work!" Ron cried, sticking his tongue out at his brothers'. "You know what, just for that, we'll turn your other bear into a spider too," George threatened. "NO! MUMMY!" Ron began crying again. Molly sat him down on the couch and walked over to the twins, her face turning red. "You will do no such thing of the sort, got it?" she said quietly. "Give me the wand." "But mummy-" "NOW." They quickly handed her the wand. "Your father will hear of this when he gets home, and I'm going to let him decide on your punishment. Now, go to your rooms and do not come out until I bloody well say so."

"But what if we have to pee?" the twins asked in unison. Molly gave them her most threatening look yet and the twins hurried up the stairs. "And do not bother Percy! He has a headache!" And now, so do I. "Did I hear her correctly, Freddie?" George asked his brother on the way upstairs. "Did she say, 'Stop by Percy's room and make his headache go away.'?" "I believe she did, Georgie." Five minutes later, Molly sighed and closed the door to her bedroom as she heard Percy scream her name. She needed a nap. After services were over, we all hurried inside the Burrow, laughing to ourselves as though we'd just come from a comedy act. "Well, Fred's funeral was just the way he would want it," Dad said. "Funny and full of the family and friends who love him." "I agree," Hermione said, arm linked through Ron's. "I enjoyed the memories you shared, George." "Why did you have to tell the one about the spider?" Ron asked. "I try not to remember those horrible childhood moments." "Oh come, Ronnie," Harry mocked, pinching Ron's cheek and causing Ron to swat his hand. "That was the best one! I can see you at five years old crying for your mummy." Everyone in the room began laughing, even Ron, who'd never been able to take a joke. At the site of my family, a smile I wasn't completely in control over appeared on my face. I remembered that once upon a time, we'd always been that happy and cheerful. When Fred was alive. And then, as if everyone was suddenly a mind-reader, the room was quiet. There was a strange silence that filled the air, but I wouldn't say it was awkward. It was more peaceful. "There goes Fred again, flying above us," Ginny said, tears crawling from her eyes. Harry sat next to her and hugged her. Ginny rested her head on his shoulder. It was quiet again, then Mum said, "I think it's time for bed." She turned to me with concern in her eyes. "George, sweetie, will you be able to sleep in your old bed room?" No. No way. I just couldn't do it, never again. Fred and I had way too many memories in there. I knew they would all come rushing at me the moment I stepped foot in there. But I couldn't let my family know that, even though I assumed they could tell. "I can't Mum. I I don't think I can alone." "I can sleep in there with you," Ron offered. "But you and Harry usually share your room," I argued. "If it's ok with Harry, he and I can share Ron's room," Percy said, looking at Harry. "Yeah, that's fine with me," Harry said.

"So it's settled," Mum said. "Hermione and Ginny are in Ginny's room. Charlie, you're taking Percy's room. And Bill and Fleur, you will be sleeping in mine and Arthur's room." "Whoa, Mum, wait a second," Bill said. "We can't take your room." "'Es, eet jus' wooldn't feel right," Fleur said. "It's perfectly fine," Dad said, looking at them both. "Molly and I are fine in the guest room." "Are you sure?" Bill asked. "Yes, son," Mum said, giving him and Fleur a reassuring smile before turning back to us all. "Goodnight everyone. I wish you all the best of dreams." As everyone headed upstairs to their assigned rooms, I felt a hand softly land on my shoulder. I turned to see it was Dad's hand, he and Mum giving me a reassuring smile. I didn't know just how legit that smile was. They had to be torn inside just like I was. "We know you're taking it the hardest, sweetie," Mum said, kissing me on the forehead. I saw a few tears slide down her cheek. "I'm fine," I said, feeling the biggest lie I'd ever told slide off my tongue. "I just need to rest. That's all." They both took a turn hugging me, then Dad said, "Ok, son. Goodnight George. We love you so very much." Mum had begun crying again. Dad put his arm around her shoulder and they both ascended upstairs. "Sleep tight," I quietly said, but I knew they heard me before the door to the guest room soundlessly shut. I sighed and headed into Fred's and mine old bedroom. Ron was already asleep in Fred's bed. I climbed in my bed, not bothering to change my clothes. I wasn't tired or anything. I really don't know what I was feeling at that moment as I stared at the ceiling, mind aimlessly wondering. I don't even remember falling asleep. Age eleven. September 1, 1989. "And the crowd goes wild as Fred Weasley scores 50 points to Gryffindor!" Fred yelled from his broomstick, mimicking sounds from an audience. "Aaaaahhhhh! Aaaaaahhhhh! Oh yeah, Fred Weasley is the man with the plan!" "Oh what, you're just gonna leave your twin hanging?" George said, flying to his brother's height. "No, course not! While the crowd is screaming my name, you can hear a few of the Hufflepuff girls in the back yelling, 'Oh George! Oh, he so sexy! Oh my, my, my!'" Fred said in a falsetto voice, pretending to fan himself. George began laughing and tried knocking his brother off his broom. "Hey, what about me?" they heard Ron say. They looked down to see he was struggling to stay on a broom as he tried to fly up to their height. "Sorry little brother," George said, "but there's no way you'll be able to master Quidditch like us!" Fred high-fived him in agreement. "What? You guys are supposed to be encouraging me and giving me advice on how to get better!" Ron yelled at them.

"Oh yeah? Well here's something, little brother. You better hope Ginny doesn't grow up to be a better Quidditch player than you," Fred said, pointing to their sister below them. She was riding a toy broom five feet off the ground. "Oh the embarrassment that will be." The twins laughed even harder, Ron turning a bright shade of red. He then flew back to the ground and disappeared. "Wonder where he's run off to," George said as they flew a little lower. "Probably gone to tell on us or some bloody thing like that," Fred said. "Thank God we're leaving for Hogwarts soon." Next thing they knew, rocks of all sizes were being pelted at them. They yelped in pain and yelled "Stop!" over and over again. Through their yelling they heard a small angry voice, grunting with each throw. "You're not even on the Quidditch team! *grunt, throw* You don't even know if you're good or not, dirtbags! *grunt, throw* Jerks!" "Twins, Mother and Father said to come get your bags so we can lea-," Percy began as he came out the back door so he could get his siblings. He was surprised by the view. "Percy!" George yelled down to his brother. "Never have I been this happy to see you!" "Make him stop! He's hurting us!" Fred yelled. "Ron, why are you throwing rocks at them?" Percy asked his youngest brother. "Because they are bad people and I wanna knock them off their stupid brooms!" Ron yelled, still grunting and still throwing. "Now, now Ronald, that's not the right way to approach this situation," Percy said, taking the rocks away from Ron. The twins let their arms down from their heads and smiled. "Thanks, Percy!" they said in unison. "Wait, I'm not finished." He turned back to his little brother. "Your aim is all wrong. It's like this." Without warning, Percy threw his arm back and aimed the biggest rock straight at George, knocking him clean off his broom. "Georgie!" Fred yelled at his twin, flying down to the ground and running over to his brother. "Wow," Ron said in amazement. "I've always wanted to do that," Percy said proudly. "If Mother and Father ask though, I'm sorry, but the blame goes to you." "I'll gladly take that blame!" Ron beamed at his older brother. "Why don't you play Quidditch, Percy?" "Eh, not really for me." "Georgie!" Fred yelled again, leaning over his brother. "Georgie! Are you ok?" George finally opened his eyes, then slowly turned to his brother. "We are so getting them back ten times worse!"

Fred laughed and helped his brother off the ground. Then they both charged for Percy and Ron and tackled them to the ground. Ginny stayed on her toy broomstick, pretending as though she didn't notice anything. I stood to the side of our yard, watching the eleven-year-old Fred and me roll around on the ground with Percy and Ron. I knew I'd been extremely mad at the time, but looking back, I was impressed Percy could knock me off my broom. I didn't think he had it in him. I chuckled as I watched him jump on Fred. "I remember this," I heard a voice say behind me. I wasn't scared because I knew the voice. Somehow, a part of me knew he would be here. Fred stood by my side and watched the same view as I did. "I think it was just about now when Mum and Dad came outside and found us fighting." Sure enough, we saw our parents rush outside and break apart our fight, Mum yelling at us for getting dirty. "And on your first day of Hogwarts?" "We almost missed the train that day for goofing off," Fred laughed. "Good memory for a dead guy," I said, watching our parents dust us off. "Why are you here?" "Wow, that's the response every person wants to hear from their brother," he said. We were quiet, if only for a moment, when he said, "You're mad at me, aren't you?" I hadn't expected such a question. I finally turned to him, giving him an incredulous look. "Fred, why would I be mad at you?" "Because I'm dead," he said, watching our younger selves go in the house and change clothes. "Fred, you know I can't be mad at you for that!" I exclaimed. "It's not like you knew the explosion would happen!" "Not because of the explosion, George," he said, turning to me. "Because we got separated." I couldn't say anything. Of course I was mad we became separated. I honestly believed he'd still be alive if we'd stuck the war out together. But I wasn't mad at him. It wasn't his fault. "I don't know what happened that day," he said to me. "I just know I turned around and you weren't there. I looked for you, but then I began helping Percy fight. He made a joke to the minister about resigning. Can you believe it? Our brother, Percy Weasley, joking! Never thought the day would come! I was commenting on this when" He didn't continue, but I knew what he meant. The explosion. "I know none of it is my fault," he said after a moment. "But when I look down at you all, our family and our friends, and I see you crying for me I don't know" Fred was about to cry. Of our twenty years of living, I couldn't remember the last time I'd ever seen him cry. He wasn't afraid of many things, and he always laughed off his fears. Here stood the guy I looked up to for all those years, crying. Another stray tear slid down my face, but I wiped it away before my brother could see. Fred looked to me and smiled. "Every time things were quiet, I was there watching the funeral. I've never seen that much laughing at a funeral before. Some of the friends I made up in heaven were super jealous, saying they wish they could have had a quote 'happy funeral' like mine."

I smiled back. "Yeah, we made it just the way you would want it." "When you wake up, tell Mum and Dad I loved it. And you can tell Ginny I thought she looked beautiful in her dress. All jokes aside." I nodded. "You laughed at the rest of us for the suits we had to wear, didn't you?" "Now George, do you honestly think I would laugh at my brothers for being forced to dress like that?" Fred asked innocently. Without missing a beat, I replied, "Yes, Fred, I really do." That earned a pat on the back. "Ah, brother, you know me so well." "If I didn't, I'd be worried." Things were quiet yet peaceful as we watched the rest of the memory. Our parents told us we could play a bit longer if we promised not to fight anymore or insult Ron. We nodded and watched as they walked in the house, Percy tailing them. We began our imaginary game of Quidditch again, pretending we were the hottest players Hogwarts had ever seen and the girls were going absolutely nuts over us. So many memories "We really miss you back on Earth, Fred," I said quietly, not taking my eyes off the scene playing from my childhood. I don't know what forced me to say it, but it just felt right. "Ron is going to help me run the business, but it won't be the same without you." "Wait, Ron's gonna help you with the business?" Fred asked me. "I find that just a bit hard to believe." "Why? He's related to us so he has to have a bit of a sense of humor in him." "True, but I don't know, I guess I never thought he really liked the joke shop. Plus, all those times we gave family discounts but made him pay full price" "Sometimes double the price." "I just assumed he might have hated us and our business." "I don't think he ever hated us or the business. In fact, I think sometimes he might have" "looked up to us? Hmmm, it's a possibility." We both chuckled. It felt just like old times, when we would laugh and make jokes and and finish each other sentence. It was one of my favorite things about being a twin, because we always finished them perfectly. It wasn't the same now. I'd yelled at Ron the other day because he tried to finish my sentence and just couldn't get the damn thing right. I knew he was just trying to help, but I didn't see it that way. At the time, it felt like he just wanted to replace Fred. It was a silly thought, but still. I looked back at my memory and everything fell into place again. This wasn't real life. Fred wasn't really standing next to me and helping me to feel better than I had in the days since his death. It was all just a dream. "I wouldn't say that this is just a dream," I heard my twin say.

I turned to him, my eyes becoming bigger with shock. "What, you can read my mind now?" "I guess you can say that, but I've always been able to, you know," he said, smiling at me. "We've had the whole twin telepathy thing going on since we were born." He pulled me into a hug. "I miss you all, too. I hate that I'm dead, I hate that I can't see you all when I want to. There are only certain times I can come into your dreams and just be myself. I guess that's the best way to put it." Suddenly, my face felt much colder from the cool breeze blowing. I touched my face only to see that I was crying. Finally, after days of stray tears, I was crying a hearty cry. When we let go and Fred saw the tears flowing, he smiled a sad smile and said, "You needed that, George. I know you did." I slowly nodded my head, not bothering to wipe the tears away. "Yeah, I did. But" I didn't know how to put what I was feeling into words. I took a deep breath and just let the words flow. "You're my best friend. You're my number one. No one came before you in my best friend category ever. And I know this is going to sound so weird, but even though you're dead, I never want that fact to come between us. Ever." Tears now filled Fred's eyes. "I know exactly what you mean, George." We hugged again, and this time, I wasn't afraid to let go of a sob also. I closed my eyes tight, even as the tears slid underneath my lids, and tried to hold on to the moment forever. It felt good to finally cry, to let the emotions I balled up and hid for the past few days escape me. I didn't ever want to let go of my brother. "Fred," we heard a voice say. I opened my eyes and what I saw shocked me to silence. It was Colin Creevy and Dobby. I didn't know who'd surprised me more: Colin, because I didn't even know he'd died, or Dobby, because he wasn't in his tea cozy. He was in a white shirt with white pants fit for a free elf. "Hey guys," Fred said, letting go of me and turning to them. "It isn't time to go already, is it?" "We're afraid so," Dobby said. "Dobby wishes for more time, but alas, we do not make the rules." "You can't leave yet!" I cried, looking at Fred. "I have so many questions." "Like what?" Colin asked. "I mean, I guess we can hold out for just a few more minutes. No more, though." I walked over to him. "For starters, why are you dead?" "I uh well, I snuck into battle when I knew I wasn't supposed to. Damn age limit. I think one of the Death Eaters got me. It's all so fuzzy, really," he said with a sad face. "It was a tragic mistake, one I most definitely regret and wish with all my might I could fix. But it's great in Heaven. I have all kinds of people to talk to, including these two." He pointed to Dobby and Fred. "He's still more annoying dead than he was alive," Fred whispered to me. Colin gave him an evil eye. "I heard that, you reject. You still hang out with me, so I must not be that annoying. But anyways," he continued before Fred could get a word out, "as much as I miss my family and as much as I hate that I can't finish my last year of Hogwarts, I'm much happier in Heaven. It just works."

I smiled at him and patted him on the shoulder. "You take care, Colin. Keep Fred in check." "Like I need to be kept in check," Fred said under his breath. "How is everyone else doing? Tonks and Lupin?" "They're making it," Colin said. "They keep their eye on Teddy every day." "Hedwig?" "Miss Hedwig is doing wonderful!" Dobby said with glee. "She has become a close friend of Dobby's! Very clever owl. She understands Dobby the most!" I laughed at his excitement. "That's great, Dobby. And Mad-Eye?" The three of them gave each other an uneasy look before Fred said, "Well, um Mad-Eye went to Hell." Dobby nodded his head sadly. "What?" I exclaimed. "No. Just no, you guys have to be joking me!" "Of course we're joking you!" Colin laughed out loud, making the other two do the same. "He's up in Heaven, keeping his eyes on the Ministry. Joke courtesy of a Mr. Fredrick Weasley." "Don't call me Fredrick, Creevy!" Fred laughed. He smiled at me. "Don't take it personally George." "I've learned not to," I said, shaking my head and laughing. At the same time, we looked at our childhood memory as Ron began to head into the house, followed by Ginny, who carelessly dropped her toy broom right at the door step. Not paying attention to it, I tripped right over it, Fred tripping over me and landing on my back. I rubbed my chest while remembering that moment. Fred had knocked the breath out of me. "You alright, Georgie?" I heard the younger Fred say as he helped me up. It took me a moment to realize the Fred in front of me had spoken the exact same words at the exact same time. I turned to him and smiled. "I think I will be. You?" He smile turned a bit teary as he said, "Me too." I pulled him into our final hug, not caring about Dobby and Colin standing feet away, and said, "I love you, Freddie." I felt one last single tear slide down his face as it was crushed between our cheeks. "I love you, too, Georgie." Age twelve. August 31, 1989 Fred ran into his room yelling for his brother, who he knew was hiding. Something was wrong. George always hid when something was wrong with him. Fred knew him like the back of his hand. "George! Mum said dinner's ready!" He looked around and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Where is he? He thought to himself.

He heard small movement coming from the wardrobe, and then something fell. Fred ran to the wardrobe and opened the door. Sure enough, there was George sitting on the floor. Jackets from the top shelf had fallen on his head. "What are you doing in here?" Fred asked his brother. "Mum made macaroni and cheese!" When George didn't say anything, Fred said, "Come on, brother! You love mac 'n' cheese." "I hate mac 'n' cheese!" George yelled. "Really" Fred asked, looking confused. "I always thought you did since I do." He dragged his brother from the wardrobe and onto the rug in front of his bed, then sat down in front of him. "Come on, tell Uncle Fred what's wrong." "No. You'll just laugh." "When have I ever laughed at your problems?" "Not mine in particular, but you laughed at the skirt Mum made Ginny wear last week and Ginny kicked you in the face." Fred rubbed his eye that had been black the week before. It was finally returning to its normal colour. "Oh yeah. I forgot about that. Well, you're my twin, so I promise not to laugh. I will help you out." "Yeah. Sure." George sighed. "I'm a bit scared of tomorrow. I know we were so excited to go to Hogwarts and get our business started, but I just realized that I don't wanna go." "Why not?" "Believe it or not, I'll miss home. We won't see Mum and Dad for our birthdays and other holidays." "Um, trust me, I don't think our parents are the least bit sad they won't see us on our birthday," Fred laughed, thinking of the amazing April Fool's Day pranks they pulled on their family every year. It never got old and even when their parents thought they saw the prank coming, they never did. The twins knew extremely well what they were doing. "What if the Sorting Hat doesn't put us in Gryffindor?" George asked softly, looking at the rug he was sitting on. "Or worst." He turned his looks to his brother. "What if it doesn't put us in the same house?" Fred could tell George wasn't making any of this up. He was truly afraid. "You shouldn't worry about that. I've never heard of the Sorting Hat separating twins before, so we'll be fine. As for not getting into Gryffindor, please! Remember what Dad told us?" "He said all Weasleys' have been placed in Gryffindor house for many, many years." "That's right! So what are the odds that we'll suddenly break it? We don't belong in Slytherin because even though we're pure-blood status, we don't flaunt it like the big-heads in there. Ravenclaw just won't do because we'll be too busy running our business to care about learning. As for Hufflepuff um well, I'm not exactly sure what they do, but I know we don't belong in there. "But you know, George, even if we were separated or put into a house that's not Gryffindor, we'd always be together." "Really?" George asked with hope in his eyes.

"Really," Fred said smiling. "Me and you, we aren't just brothers, but we're also best friends. Best friends don't let anything come between them, especially girls. Seriously, George, you ever let a girl come between us and I'll hex you." "What? But what if you let a girl come between us?" George asked. "Dang it. I give you permission to hex me." "George! Fred! Come down for dinner NOW!" "Mum's getting mad, so we should go," Fred said, standing and helping his brother up. "Yeah." George dusted himself off, then held his arms open for his twin. Fred gave him a weird look. "What?" "Hug me brother!" "Gross, no way! Why would I hug you?" "Because we just had a moment, didn't we?" "Of course we just had a moment, but the point of that moment was to NOT mention that it was moment, but you just completely ruined that moment by mentioning it!" George, looking exceedingly confused, ran to Fred and tackled him in a bear hug, Fred yelling to be released. "Twins, I will not tell you again!" their mother said as she came into their room. The moment she saw them hugging though, she seemed to forget being mad and began smiling widely. "Aw, Arthur, get the camera!" she yelled downstairs. "Fred and George are hugging each other!" The she headed back stairs, babbling about how she knew they loved each other. Fred turned to his brother, who still had a tight grip on him. "You see? THIS is why we don't hug! Things like that happen!" "I don't care, brother!" George said, laughing and pulling his brother into a tighter hug. "I love you, Freddie!" Fred shook us head and chuckled. It won't hurt to let George have his moment. These pictures will come back to haunt me though. He hugged his brother back and said, "I love you, too, Georgie."