Left Behind (A Fred & George fanfic)

14. The Inbetween

 Where do I start? Good question. Fred looked at George's expecting expression and decided to start with the last thing he could clearly remember – and the thing he was sure was real.

“I remember fighting at Hogwarts. Kingsley Shacklebolt told us to defend the secret passages. There was screaming everywhere, curses flying back and forth. Total chaos... You weren't with me, were you?”

George looked troubled, he didn't want to relive these painful moments, not even with Fred more or less sitting besides him. Fred saw this as a sign that George had indeed not been with him at that time.

“I remember something else...” He began, not knowing for sure if the thing he remembered was real or not. “It was something with Percy. I think he made a joke... But that can't have been... Can it?”

George smothered a laugh, only Fred could break the tension like that. “I don't know, seems next to impossible to me! Percy still doesn't joke around. He still bores everyone to death with his lectures all about the ministry.”

“He bores them to death? Maybe that's what he did to me!” Fred giggled.

George, however, didn't laugh. “He's been feeling guilty for a long time, you know.” His voice had a sharp edge. “He still blames himself for what happened to you.”

Both of the twins fell silent for some time.

“Oh...” Fred said, shocked. “But it wasn't his fault, was it? He had nothing to do with it. He was just... Joking around.” The scene came back at him; they'd been standing there together, defending the school, Fred and his lost brother, Percy. They'd been fighting the Minister of Magic, Pius Thicknesse, Percy's boss. 'Hello, Minister! Did I mention I’m resigning?' 'You're joking, Perce! You actually are joking.... I don’t think I’ve heard you joke since you were –' Boom. Lots of smoke. Lots of screams. More chaos. And then... Nothing. Nothing but darkness.

“It wasn't Percy.” George answered his question. “It was Rookwood. He blew up half the corridor. But I wasn't there. I didn't see you until everyone assembled in the Great Hall - “

Wow. That must have been horrible for him, Fred thought. He remembered that one moment right after the flight from Little Whinging, when George had been badly injured by a curse from one of the Death Eaters. Fred had felt terrible at that time, seeing his brother in pain. But seeing your brother dead... That must be unbearable. Fred shuddered.

“What was it like after that?” George wondered, changing the topic a bit.

Fred tried to remember, but he only came up with vague images of people he didn't know – or did he?

“I don't remember much to be honest. I honestly have no idea where I've been all this time.” He laughed. “Dead as a doornail, I guess.”

George didn't even smile.

“Oi, I'm dead already, we might as well joke about it!”

It didn't work. George ignored his comment completely.

“Did you really appear on the Marauder's Map?” He asked.

“What?”

“Fred – Little Fred, I mean – and James saw your name on the Map when they were in the Kitchens some time ago... Was that really you?”

Kitchens. Little Fred and James. That did ring a bell.

Come to think about it... How did he even know about little Fred and James in the first place? He'd been dead by the time they were born, and still he knew who they were.

“I remember them – I think.” A memory that shouldn't have been his started to come to him. “They were in the Kitchens with some other boy. They...” He laughed as he realized what his nephews had done. “Maybe they aren't that bad at pranking after all!”

Now he saw everything as if he had been there – who knows, maybe he had. He saw the little Gryffindors exchanging the food with sweets. He saw the chaos in the Great Hall the next day – the canaries, the bleeding noses, the puke, the teachers running to and fro trying to help the confused students. Man, this new caretaker must be some nephew of Filch, he thought.

“So you really were there?” George asked.

“I guess so, I don't clearly remember being there though. I remember what happened, but I can't remember actually witnessing it. Is that weird? Probably.”

“Only a bit.”

“It's crazy.”

“Basically, yes. It's plain weird.” Laughing, George added. “I knew it had to be you, it just had to be... So do you remember any other things?”

“I only see this vague pictures in my mind. All of Hogwarts, of students who flout the rules, mostly. There's a lot of little Fred and James in there, to be honest.” Fred said, determined to make sense of whatever came to his mind.

“Yeah, that isn't much of a surprise, I've known those two for quite some time now – I raised one of them, for Merlin's sake. It would have been a shame if they hadn't been causing mischief!”

“So I guess the only things I remember have something to do with Hogwarts and people causing mischief. Seems legit. Then the only remaining question is...”

“Where were you in the meantime?” George finished his brother's sentence.

Fred didn't remember anything apart from those moments he had apparently been at Hogwarts looking at students – woah, that just sounds wrong – without really knowing it.

“I wasn't really dead, was I?” Fred started off. “But I wasn't really alive either. It's almost as if I was somewhere in between.”

“So you were in the Inbetween?” George joked.

“Yeah, pretty much.” He answered. “I'm glad to be back on the living side though, as far as you can call this living.” He pointed at the little stone that George was holding.

George smiled. “I'm glad you're back too. It sounds really stupid, but I missed you, Fred. I really did.”

“Don't you dare making me blush, Georgie!” Fred laughed.

“Now there's just one problem.” George said, his arms crossed over his chest, face serious again.

Fred was confused. “Problem? What problem?”

“Well, you're in the Inbetween, whatever that may be... But I'm supposed to be the holey one here!”