Fred's Chapter // George Weasley

3

It was the early morning, the usual time May would get up, and for the first time in years, she didn't want to. She let herself sleep in, angry with herself for the day before.

She didn't know what had triggered George. She assumed it was all her fault, since that is what he said. Maybe she was manipulating him, but she truly didn't mean to do so. She just wanted to talk to him, for him to open up to her. She didn't mean to harm him and she felt terrible about it.

But she would be lying if she said he didn't remind her of herself many years ago. The way she would snap at anyone and everything for so much as breathing too loud. The way she went days without wearing a single smile. It was all too haunting.

A couple hours later, she got out of bed to get ready for her meeting with the Weasley's, another thing she was dreading. May never dreaded anything. She would always be excited for something with a smile on her face. Yet this time, she didn't want to face George in case he was still angry with her.

She knew that Sam would be worried that she hadn't showed up to the pub this morning, but decided that it would be a later issue. She dressed quickly and grabbed her bag and apparated to the Burrow. Once standing before it, her nerves kicked in.

Nonetheless, she plastered a smile on her face, which seemed harder to do today, and proceeded forward. It was odd for May to have a bad day, and she knew that today was one of those. She shook off her feelings and knocked.

The door swung open to reveal Ginny, who also wore a bright smile. "May!" She hugged the girl in the doorway and stepped aside for her to enter.

"Ginny! It's so nice to see you again." May said while walking to the kitchen where the rest of the Weasley's would be.

As soon as she turned the corner, she was greeted warmly. "May!" Most of them shouted with big smiles. The only one who didn't was George, and she wasn't surprised one bit.

George had been at the pub this morning and he had noticed she didn't show up. Sam had asked him about it, but he insisted that he didn't know anything. It only made him feel more horrible about yesterday. Even with the smile on her face, George noticed that it was more forced today than any other time he had seen her.

She took a seat at the table and pulled out her notebook, looking around the family fondly. "Alright. Did you bring pictures?"

They all nodded and started pulling out multiple pictures of Fred to display on the table. Some of them laughed, some smiled sadly, and George cringed. He hated seeing pictures, he could barely look at himself in the mirror.

May studied the pictures with giggles and a wide smile. She picked up each one and examined the boy within them. They had a variety to show her. Some were of Fred alone, but most were of him and George. There were pictures of them laughing, pranking, family pictures, pictures with friends, the whole sort.

They went around the table and gave stories of each of the pictures, which May adored. She loved the fact that they had a story for each snapshot of their lives. She listened intently and jotted down tons of notes.

One picture stood out to her among the rest. It was a picture of Fred and George, lounging in a common room with their feet on a table full of fireworks, laughing hysterically. Ginny had told her that she took it right before the twins' massive showdown prank against some woman named Umbridge. It was their last picture before they left school. May loved it. They looked so happy and smug, they looked proud and happy to be together. She sat it aside in a pile of her favorites, knowing it was the one.

May changed the subject from the pictures to asking each person what Fred was to them. It was a broad question and they could answer however they pleased.