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It was 8:30 p.m. and George sat in his dormitory. He still had some homework for the next day he hadn’t finished yet, so he was making it as fast as possible right now. Fred went to hang out with some of their friends like Lee Jordan. However, Fred had also made two new friends, Olivia Smith and Jonathan Grey. George didn’t like Fred’s new friends. They avoided him, gave him dirty looks and would try to keep him and Fred separated as much as they could.
He had just finished an essay for History of Magic. Now he just had to practise some Transfiguration and then he’d be done with all his homework. Before he could start, however, a knock was heard on his room door. As he shared his dorm with Fred and Lee, he thought one of them would walk in. So he turned around and looked towards the door to welcome one or both of his roommates.
What he hadn’t expected, however, was that Olivia and Jonathan would walk in. George’s smile faded from his face as he saw Fred wasn’t even with them. “Hi George, how are you doing?” Olivia asked and George already felt a bit uncomfortable as they never spoke to him directly. “I’m doing okay, I guess. What brings you guys here?” George answered and they walked closer to him.
“Not even asking us how we are doing? What a nice welcome, Weasley,” Jonathan spit his last name out as if it was venom. “We were looking for you actually,” Olivia then said and George raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were hanging out with Fred,” George spoke with a bit of hesitance and both of Fred’s friends smiled at him.
“We are, we just needed to tell you something,” Olivia answered as she walked closer to him until less than a foot was between them. Before George could register what was happening, a sharp pain was felt on the left side of his face. A burning sensation was felt where the girl had hit him in the face.
“You should be ashamed of yourself! Can’t you see what you are doing to poor Fred!” she yelled at him and he stared at her wide eyed. “W-what do you m-mean?” George asked and the first answer he got was a kick to the knee from Jonathan.
“What we mean is that you should stop bothering Fred all the time. Give him a break from you at least once in your life! Can’t you see you’re annoying him like crazy?” Jonathan angrily shouted in George’s face. “He complains to us about you all the time. He even wished he never had a stupid dumb twin in the first place. That’s how annoying you are,” Olivia didn’t yell the mean words this time, instead, her voice was latched with so much venom it felt even worse than the yelling.
They didn’t even give George a chance to speak before they started to kick him in the legs, stomach and chest and an occasional slap in the face from Olivia. When they were beating him up, they kept telling him how annoying he was. That it would’ve been better if he was never born. That he was a burden to Fred and every other member of his family.
The more they repeated the words. The more they said that it was Fred who originally said the venom filled words. The more he started to believe the words to be true. When the two had finally felt his dorm, he just sat there in his chair silently. Just thinking and reexperiencing what just happened in his head.
He could feel how tears started to burn in the corners of his eyes and he started to sob in his chair. What else could he be doing right now anywise? The pain of the physical abuse started to kick in and he curled up on himself to try and comfort himself. It didn’t work, however, as all he could think of was that Fred was hating him for existing. The words felt so real as well, which didn’t help at all.
Carefully, he uncurled from his position on the chair. He shakily walked over to his bed and fell face-first onto it. He didn’t even try practising that stupid Transfiguration spell anymore, he just couldn’t focus on it. Pulling the bedsheets over his shaking body, he buried his face into his pillows. His body felt numb, his mind was filled with Fred hating him.
After about half an hour, he had tired himself out with all the crying. If you looked at his face, it was clear he had been crying for a while. Red tear stained cheeks and red puffy eyes. He didn’t make any noise, he didn’t try to move his body as he was on the brink of sleep. His eyes slowly closed as he welcomed the feeling, he wanted this to be a nightmare.
He faintly heard someone walk into the room. There was talking and he recognised the voices of Fred and Lee. However, they stopped talking not long after entering, he guessed because they thought he was already asleep. Which wasn’t that far off the truth, he was really tired. So he listened as the two moved around the room doing their night routine as he slowly fell into a restless sleep.
-
George has been acting strange for the past 2 weeks. Fred already found it weird that his twin went to bed so early that one time. But ever since he only started to act weirder and weirder. He would only say a few short words to him, avoid him as much as possible and there was no clear reason why it was happening in the first place. Fred was becoming more and more concerned for his brother by the day.
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Olivia reassuringly told him. “He probably just needs time to get over whatever is bothering him,” Jonathan agreed with their female friend. “I hope so. We always went to each other when something was bothering us, so it feels so weird he is avoiding me. The last time this happened it was me who was angry at him and that was at least 5 years ago,” Fred explained to the two and they nodded their heads in understanding.
Then something popped into Fred’s head and he looked with panic at his friends. “Did you guys see that bruise on his face? Do you think someone is hurting him?” Or was he hurting himself? That thought was horrible and Fred wanted that image out of his head immediately.
“Everyone that has seen him saw the bruise. It’s very clear on his face,” Olivia pointed out and Fred clutched the tie in his hands. “If someone is hurting him, then we’ll help you take revenge,” Jonathan explained and Fred smiled at the two of them. “Thanks, guys, I appreciate that,” Fred explained gratefully and the others just smiled reassuringly.
-
It was the end of the school year now. Fred was still worried about George as his behaviour around him hadn’t changed at all in those 2 months. If you asked Fred, he’d even say it became worse in those months.
He was boarding the Hogwarts Express together with Olivia and Jonathan. As they looked for a cabin that was still empty, Fred spotted George not too far away from them. He didn’t even try to hesitate as he walked over to his twin as fast as he could. “George!” Fred said happily but his twin looked over with clear anxiety (and… fear?) In his eyes.
“Oh, H-Hi Fred. W-What brings you h-here?” his twin had a clear stutter in his voice which caused more concern to fill Fred’s body. “What do you mean? I’m going home just like you. Want to sit with me, Olivia and Jonathan?” Fred asked politely, but the moment he suggested it George’s breath hitched and his eyes widened like a scared animal.
“W-Well, I-I’d l-l-love to, b-but P-Percy asked m-me to s-sit w-with him,” George stuttered out and walked back towards where the prefect cabin was. “But, he doesn’t want to sit with anyone else but the other prefects,” Fred protested and George just gave an awkward chuckle as an answer before turning around and walking away.
“Fred! We found an empty cabin!” He heard Jonathan call out to him and he gave one last glance at his twin before walking over to the cabin his friends were in. He felt so confused about George’s reaction. George didn’t stutter that much, and if he did it wasn’t this much. Worry was flowing through his entire body worried for his brother. He’d ask him about it at home.
-
Carefully, he knocked on the prefect cabin door. The door slid open and he came face to face with a Slytherin prefect. “Oh, Percy, your brother is here,” the Slytherin prefect said and turned away back into the cabin. A moment later, an annoyed Percy looked back at him. “Where is the other twin?” Percy asked and George shrugged. “I don’t know, somewhere in a cabin. Don’t know which one,”
“What do you want?” Percy’s voice was filled with irritation. “Can I sit in the cabin with you?” George asked quickly and refused to look Percy in the eyes. “What? This is the prefect cabin and last time I checked you weren’t a prefect,” Percy explained crossing his arms. “Why don’t you go sit with that twin of yours?”
“I can’t!” George yelled out and finally looked into Percy’s eyes. He saw a shocked expression on his older brother’s face for only a second before it went back to neutral. “Why not?” Was the only thing Percy asked and he gulped. “I don’t think he wants me to sit with him. And all other cabins are full, so can I maybe sit with you?” George asked and Percy sighed.
“This is some type of prank, isn’t it? Are you going to throw a stink bomb in the cabin before running back to the other twin?” Percy asked with irritation clear in his voice and George quickly shook his head. “It’s not a prank! I promise! I will be silent, I won’t bother any of you. Please, Percy, can I sit with you?” George begged and Percy sighed before agreeing. George could tell Percy didn’t want him in the same cabin as him.
As he was led into the cabin, he came face to face with all the other prefects. “Okay, a few rules. No pranks, no bothering anyone here, especially me and if one of the other prefects complains about you, you’re out,” Percy explained with a serious strict voice and George nodded his head. Silently he went to sit next to the window and Percy sat beside him. He just stared out the window the entire 7 hours home and made sure not to talk at all. He didn’t even try to listen to what they were saying, he was just staring at the outside world.
-
It was a long drive home in the Ford Anglia from his father. George didn’t even sit next to him. His twin decided to sit as far away as he could be in the small vehicle. While he and his twin were silent the entire ride, everyone else was talking about whatever they could remember of the previous year.
When they had finally made it home, George immediately went up to their shared bedroom. Fred decided to go after him and put his luggage back in the room. He saw that George was unpacking his suitcase and Fred was about to do the same before he found himself staring at his twin. Concern filled his entire body yet again. On the train he had Olivia and Jonathan to distract him from George’s strange behaviour, now that wasn’t the case anymore.
When he had finally started unpacking, an awkwardness was filling the air in the room. Fred couldn’t help but hate it. He wanted to be talking to his twin again. Making up pranks and think of ways to mess with their brothers. He missed those times a lot and couldn’t help but reminisce about them. A small smile formed on his face as those memories filled his head.
-
The family of 7 people (Bill is in Egypt and would come home a few days later, Charlie was still in Romania and would come at some point but Fred didn’t know when) sat together at the dinner table. It quickly became clear to the family that something was seriously wrong. George and Fred sat at polar opposite sides of the table and only Fred dared looking at the other twin.
The moment George had finished eating his food, he excused himself and went upstairs. Fred just couldn’t take it any longer and just looked at the rest of the table. “Does anyone here know what’s going on with George?” Fred just immediately pleated with his family in the hope to find an answer to what has been happening these last few months.
“You don’t? We thought something happened between you two,” Ron explained his thoughts and every single one of his siblings nodded along. “No, I just woke up one morning and he just started to act distant from me. And as time went by it became worse and worse and now he’s trying to avoid me!” Fred’s concern was clear in his voice and he watched his family give worried glances back at him.
Fred then turned to Percy. “George said you asked him to sit with you on the train,” Fred said and Percy looked at him with confusion. “What? He asked me to sit in the same cabin as me. He asked me on the train itself,” Percy explained and Fred felt the colour drain from his face. “He lied to me?” Fred asked and a quick look of sympathy was seen on Percy’s face before it went back to neutral.
“He said he didn’t think you wanted to sit with him on the train,” Percy then said and Fred looked up at his older brother with confusion. “What? But I asked him if he wanted to sit with me on the train! But he then said you had asked him to sit with you and he just left. He was also stuttering a lot when he said that,” Fred explained what had happened and the rest of the family was filled with confused and thoughtful faces.
“Maybe you should ask him why he’s been avoiding you? You two share a room after all. So you can easily ask him,” Ron suggested and Fred just nodded his head. “I’ll do that. So if you guys will excuse me, I have to confront my brother,” Fred stood up and walked over to the staircase.
Each step he made up the stairs made him more and more anxious. What if his brother just ignored him? What if he ran off again because he didn’t want to stay in the same room? These thoughts with possible reactions filled Fred’s mind as he made his way up the stairs. When he had finally reached his shared bedroom door, he paused and took a deep breath before entering.
-
George sat in his room, still hungry as he hadn’t eaten a lot. He didn’t want to bother his twin by staying in the same room any longer than he needed to be. Months had passed since Olivia and Jonathan first beat him up telling him Fred didn’t want to be bothered by him anymore. Since then it became a regular thing to get beaten up by those two.
George never told anyone about the abuse. Fred didn’t want to talk to him ever again, so he couldn’t go to his twin for it. Other people may think he’s playing some sick joke on them. After all, with all the pranking he’s been doing the last few years at school, who knows whether what he says is real or not?
He sat on his bed, looking down at his lap. He was just thinking of the old days. The days when he and Fred would go play outside, smile and laugh together and would make up jokes together. You were inseparable. What happened that caused that to change? Why didn’t Fred like him anymore? Did he do something wrong? Did he cause all this? Is he at fault? These were the thoughts that repeated in George’s head over and over until he started to cry.
The door to the shared bedroom opened and George’s eyes widened as he held his breath. He couldn’t let whoever was there know he’d been crying. He avoided looking at the door as he kept his mouth shut. Trying his best to stay quiet as an awful silence sat in the air.
“George?” Fred’s voice asked and George’s breath hitched a little. “Y-yeah?” he asked, accidentally stuttering. A bit of panic started to flow through his veins as he sat there in another awful silence. It was horrible and he couldn’t stand it, but he didn’t want Fred to hate him more so he kept those thoughts to himself.
“George, look at me,” was all Fred said and George hesitated for a second. If he looked at Fred, his twin would see he’d been crying. Wiping away the tears a little with his arms as he took in a deep breath. He turned towards his brother, not daring to breathe.
Their eyes met, for the first time in a very long time. George couldn’t hold his breath any longer and he started to breathe heavily and quickly, barely getting enough oxygen in his lungs. He saw a flash of panic in Fred’s eyes as well. His twin walked closer to George and he felt his whole body tense up.
He remembered when Olivia and Jonathan would walk up to him. Saying mean comments about almost everything that made him, him. Then he remembered how Olivia would slap him in the face and then Jonathan kicking him in the stomach. So when he saw a hand reach out towards him, his eyes widened and he flinched away very obviously.
George squeezed himself into the corner of the bed, his back against the wall. He looked at his brother as the memories of being beaten up flashed in front of his eyes. Would Fred, his own twin, do the same to him? Would he never be safe from the beating, even in his own home? He watched as Fred stood in the room with him, clear shock on his face.
“George? What was that?” Fred asked and George whimpered as he imagined being kicked in the legs. “P-please,” he whimpered as tears started to roll down his eyes. He couldn’t look at his twin for much longer, so instead, he looked at the blanket he was sitting on.
“Please what?” Fred then asked and George gulped as he carefully looked up at Fred. “P-p-please, d-don’t h-h-hurt m-me,” George managed to stutter out and he looked at Fred in fear. Was he enjoying this and just acting concerned, or was he generally concerned? Maybe it was all just a prank and Fred didn’t hate him. Fred wouldn’t use abuse for a prank, did he?
“What?” there was a pause between the sentence Fred wanted to say. “What are you talking about? Why would I hurt you?” Fred asked with… panic in his voice. Was the panic real? Fred was a good actor, he may be playing with him. This wasn’t a fun prank. Pranks should be fun, not harmful. George didn’t know what to believe and what to think.
“George, is this some sick prank? Because if it is you need to stop now because it’s not fun!” Fred almost yelled at him and George couldn’t help but flinch away from the yelling. George started to have clear visions of Olivia slapping him in the face as she told him his pranks were not okay. Why did Fred sound so confused? Wasn’t this the goal of the prank? What was the goal of this prank anyways?
“George! Look at me! Tell me this is some sick prank!” Fred yelled to which George flinched again. He did look up at Fred as his brother had requested of him. However, he couldn’t find it in himself to speak, even if he tried. He couldn’t say that this was his prank and that he was confused about how George was at fault. Maybe it’s not even a prank, maybe this is all just an act to make him suffer more.
“George, did someone hurt you?” the question caused the horrible memories to pause for a second. George looked at Fred and then back at the blanket. He then carefully nodded his head, to which he heard Fred gasp in reply. “Who? Who hurt you? And for how long?” Fred asked and George gulped. Would Fred even believe him if he told him his new friends had been hurting him?
Fred slowly sat on the bed with George and touched his knee. “George, you have to tell me who’s been hurting you,” Fred’s voice was calmer than ever before and George carefully looked up at his twin. There was concern in his brother’s eyes, a concern that you couldn’t just fake that easily. Even though he was still scared that this was all true and that Fred was faking it, he couldn’t help but break at the look Fred gave him.
“O-Oli-via and J-Jona-than,” George stuttered out and a look of shock appeared on Fred’s face. “They… hurt you? But why?” Fred asked and George started to cry more as the question left Fred’s mouth. The crying caused him to be unable to speak properly and Fred quickly pulled him into a tight, warm hug. “Shhh, Shhh, it’s alright. I’m here, take your time,” Fred reassured him as George continued to cry into Fred’s shirt.
“T-They w-w-wanted m-me to p-pay f-f-for f-for,” George’s voice broke right before he could say the reason. The memories of that first beating returned to his mind. “We are, we just needed to tell you something,” “You should be ashamed of yourself! Can’t you see what you are doing to poor Fred!”
“What we mean is that you should stop bothering Fred all the time. Give him a break from you at least once in your life! Can’t you see you’re annoying him like crazy?” “He complains to us about you all the time. He even wished he never had a stupid dumb twin in the first place. That’s how annoying you are,”
“George! Breath! Please, it’s okay. They can’t hurt you here,” Fred explained after he got George out of his train of thought. George found himself hyperventilating and it took a few minutes before his breathing was back to normal.
Taking another breath, he tried again. “They w-wanted m-m-me t-to pay f-for a-annoying y-y-you,” George finally got the entire sentence out and it felt good to finally tell someone about what has been happening. “Me? Why would you be annoying me?” Fred asked and George shrugged.
“T-they s-said t-that I w-was a-annoying y-y-you like c-crazy. A-and t-that you w-wished t-t-that y-y-you n-never h-had a-a t-twin i-in the f-f-first p-place,” George explained and he saw a look of anger flash in Fred’s eyes. For a second George thought the aggression was directed at him and quickly scrabbled away from Fred again, cowering in his corner as he whimpered a little. While he was preparing to get hit again, Fred pulled him back and hugged him so tight that he could barely breathe.
“George, you aren’t annoying me. And even if you do, it’d never be a reason for me to wish I hadn’t had a twin. George, you are my favourite person in the world and I can’t imagine living without you. I can guarantee you that Olivia and Jonathan will pay for what they did to you. I am so sorry, this happened to you and it’ll never happen again. I promise,”
Fred’s words were filled with warmth, care and love. George couldn’t help but relax in Fred’s arms as he started to cry a little more. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Fred’s concerned voice asked and George just shook his head. “I-I’m just glad to have m-my brother back. I m-missed you,” George said and to his surprise, he barely stuttered. The embrace tightened and George hugged Fred back. “I missed you too, George,” Fred said and the two stayed like that for the rest of the night.