Spiders

When Ron broke his brother's toy broomstick, he was three. He hadn't meant to. He'd just wanted to play with his big brothers.

But Fred was angry and glaring and Ron was just a little scared, and when he got scared he clutched his teddy bear except his teddy bear didn't usually have this many legs and -

Ron screamed bloody murder and tried to fling his former toy away but the spider was large and clingy and by the time Mum reached him the spider was dead in a corner and Ron was sobbing and shaking with terror.

For months, Ron wouldn't let the twins near him, and he would shriek to wake the dead if left alone with them.

Sometimes, he saw Fred in his dreams.

In Ron's dreams, Fred turned into a spider and attacked him.

When Ron broke his toy broomstick, Fred was five. He didn't know what he was doing. He just knew that he was mad and he wanted to scare his brother.

Then Ron - cheerful, chubby-cheeked three-year-old Ron - screamed bloody murder as his beloved teddy bear turned into a spider.

Fred screamed too, from fear for his brother and shock and maybe a little fear of the spider too.

But Ron was screaming and sobbing and shaking and that really scared Fred so he tried to reach out and comfort his little brother, but it didn't work because Ron wouldn't let Fred near him.

Fred lived in terror of magic, from then until he got his Hogwarts letter. Desperately, he wanted to control it. He never wanted to scare or hurt one of his brothers again.

Sometimes he heard Ron screaming in his dreams.

In Fred's dreams, Ron was cornered by a giant spider ridden by the twins, who laughed and laughed as Ron screamed and the spider ate him.

When Ron broke Fred's toy broomstick, George was five. He was just outside the door, on watch in case Mum came to investigate why Ron and Fred were yelling.

Then Ron and Fred started screaming - not in anger, but in pure terror - and George ran to find Mum, who came pelting up the stairs to find Ron scared out of his mind and Fred frozen in horror.

George rushed to Fred's side as Mum scooped Ron in her arms, but George was more worried about his twin, who was never this still, never so still he might have been dead except he was still standing up.

"Freddie?"

"I...I didn't mean...George, I didn't mean it!"

George stood by his brother as he lived in fear of magic. He stood by Ron, when Ron would let him, and tried to mend the gap between them.

Sometimes he heard them screaming in his dreams.

In George's dreams, Fred and Ron were covered in spiders and screaming.

Neither Ron nor Fred nor George ever spoke of it again (Ron's second year at Hogwarts aside).

But whenever Ron saw a spider, Fred was the one to kill it for him. Whenever the three brothers entered a dusty old room, Fred and George took care of the cobwebs if Ron got scared.

When he turned four, Ron understood, even if no words were said.

The bridge was rebuilt. The rift was healed. The nightmares stopped after that.

(Ron was still afraid of spiders, though).