Twinless

by Cerulean Leader

ø,,ø¤º°°º¤ø,Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ,ø¤º°°º¤ø,,ø

"I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid - we know we're called Gred and Forge."

"For instance, this new idea that You-Know-Who can kill with a single glance from his eyes. That's a basilisk, listeners. One simple test: Check whether the thing that's glaring at you has got legs. If it has, it's safe to look into its eyes, although if it really is You-Know-Who, that's still likely to be the last thing you ever do."

"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."
"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat!"
"George!"

"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE! THERE WAS NO NEED – I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS – JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE ALLOWED TO USE MAGIC NOW, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WHIP YOUR WAND OUR FOR EVERY TINY LITTLE THING!"
"We were just trying to save a bit of time!"

"The thing about growing up with Fred and George is that you sort of start thinking anything's possible if you've got enough nerve."

George cried himself to sleep every night; ever since the death of his twin brother, everything had been so hard for the prankster.

He missed Fred dearly; probably even more than his own mother. Fred was more than just his brother; he was George's best friend. He was the one who came up with ideas for pranks, products for their new store in Diagon Alley, who helped put the laughter in people's lives, including his own.

Fred was the only one who truly understood him.

The redhead clenched his eyes shut tightly as he turned around to face the moonlight which was glimmering inside through his window. He couldn't sleep.

"Fred, I hope you're listening. I miss you so much, mate, why did you have to go?" he stammered, tears glistening out of the corners of his mocha brown eyes. He had circles under his eyes from lack of sleep, which had been happening for the past few weeks ever since the war.

He didn't blame anyone, let alone Harry. Personally, he blamed Voldemort. That bastard had changed everyone's lives forever once again when he had decided to attack Hogwarts.

But Voldemort was also finished, but at a price. He had lost many of his loved ones; Remus, Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody...

But none of them scarred him more than the death of his twin brother, Fred. It was like half of his own being was gone. He wasn't able to cast a patronus when he had to send a message to the Order of the Phoenix, but he wasn't able too because all his happy memories were with Fred, and that seemed to drain him more and more into depression.

People had tried and talked to him, even his mourning family members, but he had refused to listen to any of them. That was until Angelina Johnson had come to visit him. The girl had tear stains on her cheeks, and her eyes were red and puffy, but she had managed to get through to him, and managed to convince him to write a letter to his twin. It had helped her a little bit.

So now, here he was, sitting at the desk of his former room at the burrow, a piece of parchment in front of him and a quill in his hand, ready to be dipped in ink and written with.

But what should he write?

Soon, he had ideas in his head, and he soon began writing, the quill scratching against the parchment.

Dear Fred,

Hey, mate. Angelina came past recently and convinced me to write this letter to you. I know you won't be able to read it, but I guess it'll give me a bit of comfort.

How are you doing? I hope you're doing okay up there...

Nothing has been right since you left. Mum won't stop crying downstairs, and keeps staring at the clock downstairs. Your hand has been still, and won't move. It's stuck on 'Lost'. Everytime I go downstairs, she looks up at me hopefully, thinking I'm you until she realizes that it's only me. She's called me Fred a couple of times.

Dad keeps going through our old stuff at home, and staring at pictures of you. Either that, or he's with mum.

Percy has been a wreck. He keeps blaming himself. He hasn't gone to work, and he keeps moping about. I think I've heard him crying a few times as well.

Bill and Fleur... what can I say? Bill's trying to be strong for everyone because he's the oldest, but we all know what he's like. Fleur has been upset too. Speaking of Fleur, do you remember her cousins at the wedding. It seems so long ago...

Ron has hardly been home at all and has been spending heaps of time with Hermione. They got together, actually. You'd be proud of our little brother, Freddy.

Ginny refuses to leave her room. She refuses to eat, refuses to come outside and fly, or just do anything. I never realized how big of an impact we had on our baby sister. Harry's tried talking to her, but she won't listen.

As for me? I don't think you want to know. Nothing is the same without you here anymore. No one to pull pranks with, and whenever I talk, sometimes I pause and wait for you to finish my senteces, but then I realize that you can't.

Do you remember the first time we pulled a giant prank, back in first year? When we made those stink bombs in the great hall or the time we accidently turned Snape's hair purple? Or back in fifth year when we dropped out and decided to leave with a bang by kicking Toad-face's arse with those fireworks? Or the time we opened the shop officially?

Those memories will never leave me, but the more I think about them, the more I deny that you're not gone.

I miss you.

A reporter actually came down to the Burrow to interview mum and dad, asking about the war. He then asked about us, and asked why they had six kids. I snapped after that. Even if you are gone, you'lll always be part of the family. Nobody will forget you.

I hope you're not lonely up there without me.

I love you, mate,

George.

Even if the letter was short and he hadn't expressed all his feelings, he didn't want to write anymoer. Putting down the quill, he folded the parchment in half and wrote 'Fred' across the middle, before setting it on the desk and leaning back in the chair.

A stray tear escaped one of blue eyes, and he didn't bother wiping it away, instead clenched his eyes shut and swallowed a lump in his throat.

Fred watched as his brother wrote the letter, with a sad look on his face. He couldn't believe he had caused this much grief. Sighing softly, he watched more as George began to cry.

"C'mon Georgie, be strong. I'm still around, and you'll never be twinless. Continue the Gred and Forge legacy of pranksters. Love you too, mate."

The words echoed inside George's head, and a small, watery smile slowly formed on George's lips.

He would never be twinless, even if Fred was gone. But he never truly was, as he still was still watching over his family.

He would never be twinless, no matter what happened.

A/N: Once again, and angsty one-shot. This was another one of the one-shots I came across when I was going through my files on my computer. I hope you liked it. I was actually teary when I began to finish this off just now.

Word Count: 1188 (not including A/N's and quotes).

~CL