hey there... dahlia? | george weasley

still trying everything to get you laughing at me - fred

They say your name shapes and defines your identity, and it represents your persona, two or three words that encapsulate in them your whole essence. Frederick Gideon Weasley detested his name, rather than who he is defining his name, his name predestined who he was expected to be. The mere fact that he willingly didn't live up to the legacy of his name made him a disappointment, and he knew it.

Frederick is a pompous and pretentious name, it meant 'powerful ruler', almost as if being born first his parents expected him to grow up and go on to do grandiose things. He couldn't help but notice the stark contrast in etymology between his name and his twin's, George, whose name suggested that he wasn't expected to accomplish much at all, he could just be a humble farmer. As if the burden of his first name and his family name wasn't already heavier than what his back could handle, his middle added an extra cherry on top. He had to be named after his maternal uncle, who bravely fought Death Eaters to his death despite being outnumbered. How could he and George live up to the legacy of Gideon and Fabian Prewett?

He had always been the most extroverted twin, even when they were little, Fred would be the mind behind their mischief, and while George would also take part in his shenanigans, Fred usually got the attention because of it. He didn't mean to steal the spotlight from his brother but actually knew this wasn't the case at all, because for one of them to take the other's spotlight, people would have to tell them apart and separate them in the first place. Telling them apart physically wasn't the difficult part, despite the jokes and the twins often lying about who is who, the people closest to them knew who was who, George had more pronounced cheekbones and a slightly crooked nose, whereas Fred had fleshier cheeks coated with slightly visible freckles that George didn't have. Most of their siblings had Arthur's blue eyes, but the twins and Ginny had Molly's brown eyes, but he later on noticed, only after Lee Jordan pointed it out, that his brown eyes had hints of hazel and green, whereas George's brown eyes where just chocolatey brown.

Despite the slight differences in their physical aspect, what pained Fred the most growing up wasn't that some struggled to tell him and his twin apart: that was understandable since they were identical twins, what wasn't understandable is that even those who could tell the boys apart still didn't treat them as two separate individuals, they were one, and just because he was more outgoing and mischievous they became Fred and George Weasley. His brother could resent him all he wanted for not being George and Fred Weasley, which Fred was aware of, contrary to what George might think, but deep down they knew that both of them had a growing anger and frustration inside them because people refused to see them as Fred Weasley and George Weasley. They might share a very similar face, the same passion for mischief and dislike for Severus Snape and the Slytherin Quidditch Team, but they still were two separate people.

Fred was also incredibly jealous of George too, his brother who he loved more than anyone in the world, who was too caught up in his complexes about being in Fred's shadow that he never paid attention to how much better he is than Fred. They were both beaters, yet George was better at dodging and throwing bludgers; they were both not as academically engaged as others, despite that, George was one of the best students in their year, better than Fred too, in Charms, Transfiguration and even Potions. Fred often lacked the emotional intelligence to fully understand people's emotions, and that often resulted in making it seem like he lacked empathy, whereas George was quite good at understanding their friends' feelings and was one of the most empathetic people he knew, witnessing how fast he lighten up the mood of their friends. The truth was that Fred also had a lot of empathy, he cared deeply about his friends, his siblings, and even Ron and Percy. Despite his difficulties immediately catching up to how they felt, once he knew something was wrong he too did feel a lot of empathy towards others.

Truthfully, Fred felt like if one of them deserved a spotlight on him, it was George, not him, however having always been in the spotlight he knew that it was more of a burden than a blessing: extra responsibilities, extra expectations, and eventually when he failed to meet every single one of the expectations people had on him, it also meant being hampered with a wave of extra disappointment. He knew people would eventually catch up on his mediocrity compared to his twin's humble geniality and pure effortless talent in everything he does, and that was a burden he did not want to pass onto him, as long as it was Fred who carried all this extra weight, George could do anything he wanted, be anyone he wants to be, and he won't have to be bothered about the outside world's judgement. For Fred, taking that spotlight wasn't an act of self-centredness, at least not one regarding his twin, it was an act of love, an act of preservation towards his brother's integrity, morality and all the qualities that made him the better twin.

That is why he became the prankster, the troublemaker, the lazy git, the heart-throb, the soul of the party, all to overcompensate his lack of...

Fred didn't know what exactly, but whatever George had that he didn't, he had to become something else, not only to free his brother from that burden but also because he was selfish. He was nothing without his prankster persona, what was under that mask wasn't something worth staying for, he was afraid that he would disappear being just Frederick Gideon, so he told himself that he would become just Fred, he told himself that if he used his only talent, his natural inclination to pranks and jokes, people would not forget about him.

He loves that. The validation, thrill and ego that came from it were an addictive outcome, so he became growingly and desperately dependent to put this act on. Even now, he is still trying everything to get people laughing at him, it doesn't matter if to some he is pathetic, or if he is ridiculing himself, the sight of people laughing at him made him feel seen, maybe negatively, but seen nonetheless.

Fred, however, was observant, people usually don't notice because they think he is too caught up in his own plots to pay attention to people, but actually he catches up onto thing quicker than his twin. His friends didn't have to tell him for him to know things about them, he noticed how Lee tenses every time he gets a letter from his father, yet looks so hopeful when writing, to be disappointed again in his responses. Every time he would be disappointed yet he never stops trying.

Fred always felt like Delilah was different from anyone he has ever met, a feeling that started when they first spoke on the train compartment they sat together during their first year. It didn't take long for Fred and George to become close to her, and everyone knew how well she went along with everyone despite being an introvert, but Fred never got rid of that feeling. He felt like he was the only one to notice when he slowly started to see it, her poker face, how quickly she would agree with people, even though he knew she didn't. He was quick to catch up to her inconsistency, he observed her a lot.

While Fred was very loud, but had nothing else to offer, and now that he is growing up, now that his closest friends, Lee and Delilah, have known him long enough, he was terrified of them catching up with his big act, and while he had grown affectionate with his friends' flaws as well as their positives, the Frederick under the mask was trembling with fear in front of the idea that his friends and his brother, on the other hand, might only love Fred and not what was beneath.

Author's Note

Yay, Fred's introduction chapter is finally here. I know this characterisation is very different to the one people typically adopt on his character, but honestly, I think that even if some might think he is slightly OOC, to me he still is pretty much canon Fred Weasley, I just offer a slightly deeper and more profound interpretation of him. Anyways, LEE JORDAN NEXT see ya xx