Shattered Reflection

Author's Notes: Sorry for the lateness, writing this isn't as easy as I thought it would be, in more ways than one. The first chapter has been updated in a few spots for the sake of canon, but nothing major. I wanted to use more spell names here, but lack of incantation words and useless online dictionaries held me back.

Chapter 2: ...We Fall...

"Sometimes I remember the darkness of my past,
bringing back these memories I wish I didn't have."
-"Easier to Run" (Linkin Park)

"Dunno how things started off on your end, Fred, but Oliver and I didn't see much action down ours at first," George told the wall. "Plenty to see outside, though, even if we couldn't tell the fighters apart all that well in the darkness. Still wonder how Mum, Katie, and the other snipers could for that matter."

He heaved a sigh, finished off his current bottle, then reached for another and took a swig, hoping it would dull the pain to come. As much as part of him hated doing this, perhaps mulling over things would help him cope better. It wasn't as though he had much else to do at this point.

* * * * * *

The two of them watched the chaos outside from the corridor's magically-expanded window, cheering their side on but not too loudly. Despite the great deal of noise being made out there, they didn't want to attract unwanted attention from any Death Eaters that might be looking up. Curses and hexes were flying diagonally both up and down as it was; they didn't need to make a target of themselves.

At one point they heard what sounded like several flower pots shattering in quick succession, immediately followed by a great chorus of shrieking Mandrake seedlings. Oliver and George instinctively covered their ears once they recognized the sound, but thankfully, the noise was distant enough to not affect them.

"Are they mental, using those blasted things without warning our side first?!" Oliver exclaimed after the plants' noise had subsided.

"We don't know whether or not they were warned ahead of time, maybe they were. If not, it's not like one of the throwers can use Sonorus and yell, 'Oi, break out the earmuffs! Incoming mandrakes!'" reasoned George with a laugh. Oliver nodded in agreement with a chuckle, and they went back to watching from the window.

Things remained quiet down their end until a hex bounced off of George's Shield Cloak and hit the wall behind him instead, causing the two defenders to snap to attention. They wheeled around just in time to dodge two more spells from the pair of Death Eaters coming out of the unguarded passage.

"Oh bloody hell." To buy them a little time, George sent a Banishing Charm at the pair, sending them flying back the way they came. Undeterred, it wasn't long before they returned, but this time, George and Oliver were ready and didn't let them get beyond the exit before firing off more spells. And so the dueling truly began.

The attackers' hoods had fallen back during their brief flight, and George was disappointed that neither was Severus Snape. Since the greasy-haired former Potions Master was responsible for his missing ear, the younger twin had been hoping for a chance to return the favor. But the way his luck was currently running, someone else would likely get to Snape first, if he was even in the castle at all.

Several minutes later, the Death Eater George had been dueling fell down after crashing into the wall one too many times. He'd been trying to escape a Bat-Bogey Hex's results, but was unable control which way he was going once George followed up with Tarantallegra. Though usually a bit more reserved than Fred, George was enjoying this chance to pull off some creative dueling that the teachers wouldn't have allowed under any other circumstances. His opponent's jinxed legs still tried to dance sideways, but a Stunning Spell put a stop to that.

And speaking of creativity, the results of a certain mass-hex incident that had occurred on the train ride home after the twins' sixth year came to mind. And no other Death Eaters had followed these; it was two against one. He quickly whispered instructions to Oliver, who nodded with a grin. "On three... THREE!"

The jet of light shot out from Oliver's wand a split second after the one from George's, but the timing was close enough to produce the desired effect: the unknown Death Eater was now covered in writhing little tentacles. Getting hit near-simultaneously by a Jelly-Legs Jinx and Furnunculus Curse was enough to knock him onto his back. He tried to pull them off, to no avail. Another Stunner, this one from Oliver, and he was out cold. His assailants laughed and high-fived. Their work was done here, for the moment.

"How did you know that would work?" Oliver asked, slightly amazed at George's quick thinking.

"Happened once before by accident a few years ago when we were hexing Slytherins on the train." George knew there was no need to explain why given the House rivalry. "Figured if it worked once, there was a good chance it would work a second time."

"Brilliant. So, what n-" Oliver was cut off by a sudden explosion elsewhere in the castle that jolted the rest.

'George...'

But the explosion wasn't what caused George to fall to his knees. For at that very moment, in tandem with the familiar voice in his head, he had felt his heart painfully contract and release in a way it never had before. And it was if an invisible, icy hand had taken hold of it and stolen something deep and precious; something it had no right to touch, let alone take. A great feeling of dread washed over him as he clutched his chest with one hand, trying to make sense of the foreign sensation. Only one thing came to mind; something that did not bear thinking about...

"George? You all right there, mate?"

Oliver was ignored as his silently panicking former teammate closed his eyes and reached out to his brother telepathically. 'Fred, you all right? Where are you? What's happened?' No reply... 'Damn it, Fred, answer me! This isn't funny! ... Freddie...?' It was as if the mental connection between them was no longer there, but that was impossible! Fred had used it just moments ago to call his name! Unless... "Merlin's shriveled kidneys no-!"

"No what? What's going on?"

"S-something's wrong... Got to find Fred, fast..." George opened his eyes and quickly got to his feet, wishing he'd thought to ask Harry if he could borrow the Marauder's Map before they had left the Great Hall.

He took off down the corridor, but Oliver called out, "George, wait! Fred can look after himself but Shacklebolt'll have our hides if more Death Eaters come through here because we left the passage unguarded!"

"I know, I know! But I've got to find out what's happened! I can't just- Whoa!" He all but crashed into a plaque resting on a small pedestal on the right side of the corridor, something he hadn't remembered being there when they were still students. Behind it was a square foot or so of swamp. A faint grin spread across his face as he recognized his and Fred's handiwork and read the plaque's inscription:

In honor of Fred and George Weasley,
Troublemakers Extraordinaire,
and their sacrifice in the service of this school.
This swamp is all that remains of what led to their
final act of defiance against the unjust usurper,
former Headmistress Dolores Umbridge.

Oliver read the plaque over George's shoulder, then gave him a confused look. "'Sacrifice in the service of the school?' You two? What's this all about?"

"What do you- oh right, you'd already graduated. You heard about how the Ministry was interfering at Hogwarts two years ago, right?" Oliver nodded. "Well, that overgrown toad Umbridge had systematically stripped us of almost everything that made it worth staying. So once she'd taken over as Headmistress, we reckoned it was time we caused a little mayhem as revenge. This swamp, or rather, the full version, was one of our inventions and Phase Two. But we weren't careful enough and ended up leaving for good before Filch could whip us bloody. Our finest hour," he added with relish. "Fred should see this... Wait, Fred!" He mentally kicked himself for getting distracted. His twin was still in peril, if it wasn't already too late... No, he didn't dare think that, lest it become true.

The Portable Swamp's remnants gave him an idea, and George pointed his wand at them. "Get on this side unless you want to be trapped." Oliver did as he was told, and George took a handful of steps backwards. "Engorgio Swamp!" As expected, the swamp quickly regained its original size and appearance, expanding and stretching from one side of the corridor to the other. The pedestal was quickly covered in vines and Stinksap, but otherwise stayed put. "That should hold them for a while. Flitwick can always shrink it back down again when the fight's over, now let's go!" Oliver had no more objections, so they hurried away toward the other side of the castle, where Fred's team had gone.

Sadly, getting there was no easy task; a fact that shouldn't have surprised George given the circumstances but irritated him nonetheless. The secret shortcuts he knew by heart were decidedly off limits, as they might contain a Death Eater or two if they had penetrated Hogwarts that well. As it was, he and Oliver stopped more than once to aid fellow passage-guarders they had found dueling invaders; proof enough that they were better off sticking to the main corridors.

Despite the waste of precious searching time, George had made them stop not just to help, but also to inquire about his twin. Fred had not been among any of the students they'd passed, and most of them, even those under the elder twin's command, had been unsure of where he'd gone. They had also been concerned as to why George insisted on seeking Fred out, a matter he had neither the time nor ability to explain. Thankfully, such questions only came once the Death Eater(s) had been defeated, which allowed him to wordlessly brush them off and continue the search.

Only Hannah Abbott had any inkling of Fred's whereabouts. "Said he was heading up to the Seventh Floor to check on things, but he hasn't been back since," she explained, pointing to where she had seen him go. Though troubling and vague, it was better than nothing, so George thanked her and quickly tore off in the indicated direction, his former team captain struggling to keep up.

But the only person they found in the area was Percy, who had his back to them. Not a good sign. "Percy! Where are the others? Where's-"

"No..." Percy whirled around to face them, and visibly paled. "No... It, it can't be... You're-"

"George, and you're not making any sense! Where's Fred? What's happened?" George didn't like the sound of this. If Fred had decided to leave Percy here to go and guard another area, running into one twin or the other shouldn't have elicited this kind of reaction.

It didn't help that his older brother wasn't in the least bit relieved at his revelation. In fact, he now seemed both saddened and fearful, speaking in broken sentences. "Didn't see it coming... Still don't understand why it happened when the rest of us... He... He's..."

Confused and angry, George closed the gap between them in a few quick strides. "He's what? What didn't you see coming? What happened to my twin you useless prat?!" Percy attempted to retreat by backing up, but found his back against the wall. Despite being three years out of practice, George hadn't lost his muscular Beater's build just yet, and thus he was still an imposing figure despite being a bit shorter, to say nothing of his reputation. Percy's lip trembled as he tried to find the words. "Well?!"

"I'm sorry, George... He's... He's dead..."

"WHAT?!?!" George and Oliver exclaimed at once. True, this explained the chest pain the former had felt earlier, but he refused to believe it without further proof. Oliver just stared in disbelief.

"You're lying! He can't be dead, he can't!" George forcibly grabbed Percy by the shirt collar and pulled so that their eyes met. "Where the bloody hell is he?!"

"Please, let me explain... We were dueling two Death Eaters not far from here, they're in the castle now and-"

"We know they're all over the castle, get to the bloody point!"

Surprisingly, Percy didn't give a cry of indignation but simply continued. "Harry, Ron, and Hermione appeared out of nowhere and started helping - not that we needed it," George highly doubted that since he knew Fred was a better dueler than Percy, and therefore he had probably been doing most of the work, "but it was welcome nonetheless.

"One of them turned out to be Minister Thicknesse, so I told him I was resigning from the Ministry. Fred thought I was joking and made a big show of it, but was cut off by an explosion that wrecked the corridor and sent the lot of us flying..." George didn't like where this was headed, but didn't interupt despite the grim expression that appeared on Percy's face. "When it was over, I saw that we were divided across the corridor: Harry and Hermione on one side; Ron, Fred, and I on the other..." His voice grew shaky now. "Everyone seemed all right until we tried to wake up Fred... He wouldn't respond, and then I saw his eyes... They were still open, and he was smiling..."

"No...!" George wanted to yell at him to stop this subterfuge, but he knew Percy wouldn't lie about something like this. Not about something this serious and not when George was in the perfect position to beat the living tar out of him. Still, part of him desperately hoped it wasn't true...

Besides the obvious, the lie would give him an excuse to hex and wail on Percy. The twins had been tempted to at least do the former when he had first appeared in the Room of Requirement. They'd welcomed him back into the family with open arms without so much as a jinx not so much because of his repentance as the presence of Lupin and the rest of the family. They would have been justified, but that kind of revenge was best done in private.

"I refused to believe it myself at first, but there was no mistaking it, come to think of it... If you want proof, I can show you where we hid his body."

"Let him, George," Oliver managed, trying to remain calm. "We'll get to the bottom of this."

"All right, but if he's lying..." George shot his older brother a nasty look that would have made even the most fearless Death Eater cower before letting go.

Percy gulped quietly and slid away before George could change his mind. He led them to what initially appeared to be a vacant niche in the wall where a suit of armor normally stood. Before George could draw his wand and demand an explanation, Percy quickly waved his own and dispelled the Concealment Charm he'd placed upon the wall.

The clatter of George's wand hitting the floor echoed through the otherwise-silent corridor as he beheld what had just been revealed. For there was Fred, smiling with his eyes closed, as if he were only sleeping despite the uncomfortable position he was in.