Poison in My Veins

Groggily, Fred opened his eyes. Through blurry vision, Fred could tell that he was being shaken awake by someone. It was too early. He was tired. Last night, he and George stayed up testing their products on unsuspecting first years, so neither one had gone to bed until a few hours ago. All he wanted to do was sleep. Covering his eyes with a pillow, he rolled over on his side, hoping that whomever was trying to wake him would give up and let him go back to sleep. No such luck. The figure – Professor McGonagall, he later realized – began shouting. "Mister Weasley, I suggest you get up this instant. Your father has been injured and is in the hospital."

That got Fred's attention. He shot up from his bed and looked at his Head of House. "What? What happened? Is he okay?" he asked. Fred was sure he had never sounded so serious in his life.

"Your father was attacked," the Transfiguration professor stated. "It is not yet clear as to the cause or whether he is okay, only that he was harmed while doing something for the Order." Her voice was low as the last part was mentioned. No one was supposed to know about Dumbledore's secret rebellion. "Please wake your brother and, after you inform him of what I have just told you, come down to the common room. Professor Dumbledore would like to see you."

As Professor McGonagall went to retrieve Ron and Ginny, Fred scrambled up from his bed and headed towards his twin's bed. George, Fred knew, was much more difficult to wake. In his brother's dreams, he was able to do the one thing he always wanted. Fred hated to tear George away from those dreams, but Dad was injured. For all they knew Dad could even be dead. No, he couldn't think like that. He needed to tell George what happened to Dad. "Forge!" he called out hoarsely, shaking his brother furiously.

"What?" George called back tiredly.

Fred shook his head as this was said. Even though his brother answered him, it was obvious that he was still sleeping. He didn't want to do what McGonagall did to him only minutes before, but… "Dad's been hurt. We need to go up to Dumbledore's office to find out what happened."

"What?" George called again, this time sitting up.

"Dad's been hurt," Fred repeated.

"What? How?" George asked.

Fred shrugged. "Don't know. Shall we go find out?"

The twin brothers got up and were hurried away from Gryffindor Tower along with an equally sleepy Ron and Ginny by Professor McGonagall, only to discover from Professor Dumbledore that it was actually Harry who raised the alarm that Dad was hurt. That surprised Fred. Out of everyone who could have learned that Dad had been injured, it was Harry, who was lying in his bed asleep at the time the attack occurred, who saved Dad's life.

Not five minutes later, Fred found himself back at Grimmauld Place. The Weasleys and Harry were to be excused for the rest of the term as they attempted to find out what happened to Dad. Fred attempted to lead the charge to St. Mungo's, only to be stopped by Sirius – when had the Marauder, for Fred and George discovered that he and the former Professor Lupin were two of the Marauders (Harry's father was one as well; so was Scabbers, as weird as it seemed) earlier in the summer, grown up and started acting like an adult? – who cautioned them against going to the hospital before Mum did. Unable to learn what happened to Dad, the Weasley children sat there, awaiting their mother's call.

Fred attempted to stay strong for Ron and Ginny, but the truth was that he was terrified. He was scared that he and the others could lose Dad. They never really thought about how the war would affect them. Since You-Know-Who was resurrected six months ago, Snake-face had lain low; the blowhard Fudge was denying the resurrection and declaring Harry a liar, so there was never any reason to think that something like this would happen. But now? It had become clear to the elder of the Weasley twins that things had changed, drastically in fact. Now that Dad had been attacked – doing what Fred was not sure; the Extendable Ears only went so far in providing them with information – it wasn't as if he or any of the Weasleys could ignore it. Not like Fudge was trying his hardest to do.

News of Dad's status eventually came – Mum assured them that Dad would be okay – and the group dispersed. But, something occurred to Fred as he was sitting there. In about six months, he and George would be leaving Hogwarts. They would be caught up in the middle of all this. "We need to do something," Fred said to his twin once they were alone.

The dark blue eyes belonging to his twin bore into him. Fred could see a faint look of confusion in them. "Like what?" he asked. "What can we really do to help Dad? It's not as if we can go over there just yet, not until Mum gets back and takes us over to see him."

"No. Not that," Fred said.

"What then?" his twin asked.

"After hearing what happened to Dad, it occurred to me that maybe we should be doing something to help," Fred mused. He didn't want to be unprepared for any attack from the Death Eaters. CONSTANT VIGILANCE, as Moody would say. And, with the attack on Dad, Fred was beginning to believe it. "I was thinking maybe a line of Defense products."

George looked at him thoughtfully. "Play a prank or two on the Death Eaters?"

Fred nodded in agreement. "It's not as if the Death Eaters would expect something like that, especially from wizards who are still school." They still weren't sure how long that would last, of course. "We could charm items to repel jinxes, hexes, and the like. Obviously not from the Unforgivables, but we can make sure that people are protected, for whenever Fudge gets his head out of his ass and accepts that You-Know-Who has indeed returned from beyond the grave."

"When did you think of this?" George asked his brother.

"While we were waiting on the news about Dad," he replied. "As much as the Order thinks it's the right thing for us to do, we can't just sit around doing nothing. We need to help."

"And this is what you came up with?" he asked.

"What else can we really do?" Fred countered. "Even after we graduate, it's not as if Mum would let us join the Order. We're seventeen now, of age, and she still won't even consider letting us join. For right now, this might be the only way we will ever be able to help Harry in the fight against You-Know-Who." George knew this to be true. He would never admit anything else; Fred was sure of that. They spent the entire summer trying to find a way to become included in the Order; it was how they developed the Extendable Ears. However, Mum stopped them at each turn. She refused to let them be a part of the fighting, at least while they were still in school. And even then, Fred was not so sure that they would be allowed. Their best bet was to develop joke products that could be used to defend themselves in a fight. It was the only way they might ever be included.

Dark blue eyes met light blue. "If your idea is going to work," George said, "then it might be a good idea for us to get inventing. Who knows when You-Know-Who will strike next."

Fred nodded. His twin made a good point. There was no telling of what that monster might try next in order to get what he wanted. And, out of the terrible tragedy that was their father being attacked – a snake bite was the cause; he was almost poisoned – some good had come of it. He and George found a way to be included in the fight. They were going to give people a way to protect themselves. Not only would it make for a good prank, but it would protect those underaged witches and wizard from Death Eater attacks. "Yeah," he agreed.

"Let's get started then," George said.

Fred was like a man possessed after that. Knowing that Dad was attacked, knowing that he nearly lost his father because You-Know-Who was after something – again, he was not sure what that might be – he spent all his free time inventing, testing the items to see just how long spells would be repelled. George helped him, as did Lee, but neither one of them – the people he was closest to over the years – could see just how much all of this really affected Fred, how close he came to losing his father. He didn't want to see that happen again. He would do everything in his power to protect the people he cared about.

Author's Note: I would have to say that this was one of my favorite stories to write. This is a possible explanation for why Fred and George went from irresponsible pranksters at the start of Order of the Phoenix to the smart businessmen who appeared at the beginning of Half-Blood Prince.

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