Coming Home

Twins

Fred watched as him twin paused, confused, then turn to look out the window. As if it were happening in slow motion, George ran out the door, frantically looking around. When his eyes eventually landed on Fred, the amazement and tears were visible in them. Fred just stood there and looked at the face that he had seen so many times in the mirror. He felt tears prick at his own eyes. George, his twin, was standing there in front of him. George kept opening and closing his mouth, trying to find words. 

'Hey Georgie'. Fred telepathed to him. He could hear the emotion in his own voice. Oh how he missed George. He saw his twin visibly flinch, eyes widening even more.

Only then did Fred become aware of a very confused Ron watching the two. He kept looking between the awestruck George and emotional brown-haired stranger like it was a tennis match. Fred decided he needed to take action. With a slow step, Fred approached the two, his heart beating so fast he could practically hear it.

"Hi," Fred stutered. With that, George seemed to come out of his stupor and gasped. He quickly grabbed onto Fred's arm, sighing with relief when it was real. George held a tight grip, afraid to let go. Fred grabbed his twin's arm in response. He wanted nothing more than to hug his twin, but decided it would be better if the two were alone. That meant getting rid of Ron. "It's good to see you both again. I'm here to discuss some business things with George." Fred turned to Ron.

"Percy normally handles the business stuff," the confused Ron answered. "Do I know you?"

Fred let out a little chuckle. Percy helping run a joke shop? He couldn't believe it. Slowly, a grin spread across his face. He looked at George and saw that he was doing the same thing. Ron was now looking back and forth between the two, who had creepily identical grins.

"We've met once or twice." Now it was George's turn to chuckle and snort. "I'm here because I have some ideas for products that could be sold," Fred lied with some difficulty. "Come on George, let's go to the storage room."

"Wait," George managed, looking into Fred's eyes. "Please... I need to see...." He trailed off, leaving Ron even more confused.

'I need to see you. The real you. I need to see me.' George said this into Fred's mind. The latter nodded.

'Okay, but just the eyes. I want to reunite with you without Ron in the way'. George nodded and Fred reached for his wand. He removed the glamor on his eyes and knew that his eyes were now identical to the man's next to him. Fred looked straight into George's eyes and watched as tears sprang into them.

George gasped and flung his arms around Fred, who gratefully returned the hug. Then George started laughing. It was a deep, true laughter. Fred could not help joining in. He laughed like he hadn't truly laughed in years. It felt so good. To be able to laugh about nothing with his twin. It just felt right.

George led his brother toward the store, a gigantic smile on his face. They were both just now noticing that Ron had slipped away during their laughing fit.

As Fred entered the store, the sense of nostalgia came back full force. He was truly back. While he loved his wife and son and his life in America, there was always a little hole in his heart. That hole has been filled up today. The shop looked amazing. Fred could do nothing but stand at the door and look around. George walked a few steps before he noticed that Fred wasn't with him. Panicked, he turned around and was relieved to see him still there. George smirked and waved a hand around the place.

"Welcome back," George's smile grew even larger. 'Gred.'

Fred's heart swelled as he heard his old nickname come from George's mouth, or mind. They were FredandGeorge. GredandForge.

'Forge,'  Fred thought. Tears came to both of their eyes as they journeyed deeper into the shop. About halfway to the storage room, they passed by Fred's son and wife, who stopped to stare at George. They really were identical twins.

"Dad?" George II said, causing both men to turn around.

"Yeah?" Fred responded.

"This is your son?" George asked Fred.

"Yep," Fred smiled proudly. "This is my wife Sofia and my son George." At this George's eye's twinkled.

"I like your name! It's lovely to meet you!" George shook hands with Sofia and ruffled the hair on his new-found nephew's head. "Ron!" George spun around until he found his younger brother. "No charge for this little bludger. Anything he wants is free."

"Why-"

"No time for questions. Just remember that." George spun on his heel in joyous spirits, Fred right behind.

"Do you have kids?" Fred asked. He wanted to learn everything about his brother's life. It made him sad to think he had missed so much.

"I have two. Roxie is 10 and Fred is 11," the irony of George's son's name was not lost on Fred. They had both named their kids after each other.

"What damsel did you convince into marrying you?" Fred teased. It felt so natural.

George gave a sly smile. "Just someone from our Hogwarts days. You might remember her. Angelina Johnson?"

Fred laughed. "I always thought you two would be great for each other. I'm glad you found someone." He knew he had slipped up and said the wrong thing, as the mood darkened. Fred knew George was thinking of living without his twin. Angie had helped to fill that gap. It saddened them both.

By now, they had reached the storage room. Fred opened the door and pulled George with him.

"Fred," George started, stuttering a little at saying his twin's name aloud. "How are you here? What happened?" He stared into his brother's eyes. Which at the moment was the only thing natural. 

Fred sighed. So they were going to talk about this right now. He waved his wand and took off the glamour charms. George gasped.

"Fred." They just stood there, staring at each others' faces. It was like looking in a mirror. George smiled. Fred wanted to, but the wait of the guilt was coming back. Fred sat down in a folding chair that was in the corner. George conjured up one and sat across from the suddenly somber mirror of himself.

"During the war," Fred suddenly broke the silence, causing George to flinch. "A little but before we went into hiding, I was cornered by some Death Eaters. They had a little fun torturing me-"

"How dare they!" George yelled, "they hurt you."

"I'm okay now Forge. I promise. Anyway, they forced me to make an Unbreakable Vow to tell them where Harry was, as soon as I got word. So, when we got the call from the D.A. I had no choice but to pass that information on to Voldemort.

"I was so overwhelmed by guilt that I couldn't live with myself. I thought it was my fault. I thought about killing myself, but I couldn't do that. When Percy came back, I knew it would be okay. I was confident that Harry would finish off Voldemort. I knew that eventually everything would be fine and that our family would be okay. So, I faked my own death. It hurt so bad, but I knew I had to do it. For a few years after, it was torture, but eventually I managed to move on. 

"I'm so sorry George. I'm sorry for bringing Voldemort to Hogwarts. I'm sorry for leaving everyone. I'm sorry for leaving you." At this, Fred collapsed into tears. George, who already had tears in his eyes, enveloped his brother in a hug and sobbed along with him.

"It's not your fault for bringing Voldemort to Hogwarts," George choked out between sobs. "I forgive you for that and probably would have done the same thing. While I don't know if I can forgive you for of forget the years of pain," George shuddered, remembering how he first felt when he saw 'Fred's' body. "I will try to forgive. What matters is that you're back now."

They sat there only for a few minutes, though it felt like hours and seconds at the same time. Fred and George reunited at last. Just as they were getting over their tears, the door to the storage room opened.

"Hey George," Ron said as he entered. "I was just wondering about --" He stopped as he saw two identical redheads turn to look at him. "What?"

***

What did you think? Was their reunion good enough? 

Thanks for reading!

Love Ya.