Today Means Something
Title: Today Means Something
Date: October 1st, 1998
Time of Day: 18:44
Characters: Fred & George Weasley
Location: 93 Diagone Alley
Status: Private
Brief Summary: George makes some calculations.
Complete
1st of October, 1994
“George? What’s the formula to find the circumference of a circle if you know it’s diameter?”
“It’s C = π x D.”
“Cheers,” Fred said. “I can’t believe I forgot that.” Grabbing his wand, Fred drew the equation against the red curtains of his four-poster.
“Why?” George asked after a beat. 584,040,000 appeared in flashing gold from the tip of Fred’s wand.
“I just had an idea and I wanted to know something...” he replied. Fred flicked his wand and scratched x 16.5 to the right of his summation and got back 9,636,660,000.
Fred looked up at George, unable to contain the huge smile that had spread across his freckled face. “I’ve been riding this planet for almost ten billion miles,” he said.
“...bloody hell. That’s Ace,” George replied.
“Yeah. It really is,” Fred said.
---
1st of October, 1998
George’s wand flicked carelessly across the window pane as the rain poured down in turrets. A small section of the window began to grow opaque with condensation and George quickly wrote a large number into the smudge from the warm safety of his loft.
October 1st, the twins' half birthday.
The date had never meant anything before. Fred had joked once that October 1st, being half their year, was the day he was supposed to have been born. However, out of kindness and love, Fred had stayed with George in the womb an extra six months just to make sure his brother came out alright. George had teased back that Fred simply hadn’t been able to leave his better-half behind. In return, Fred had managed something of a smile, but the fact of the matter was, if Fred had been given a choice, he wouldn’t have.
Today, however, October 1st meant something.
11,680,800,000 appeared in the fog on the window. George subtracted it from 11,972,820,000. He got back 292,020,000.
Sighing, George traced the final numbers with the point of his index finger until the digits faded and the condensation evaporated, leaving behind nothing but a clear window. For a moment, he stared at the rain wondering if it was possible to count raindrops.
“I wonder how much water 292,020,000 raindrops would make...” he asked allowed. There was no reply and George knew immediately why the silence was so deafening.
It didn’t matter how much water 292,020,000 raindrops would make. The sum, tangibly incomprehensible to George only meant one thing as numbers, raindrops or anything else.
292,020,000 was how many more miles George had traveled. Three million miles now lay between George and Fred and with every passing day, the distance grew longer. By the time he turned 21, Fred would be six million miles away and the absence of a response was the loudest reminder silence could ever give him.
October 1st now meant that George had left Fred behind. It meant that all the things Fred never did, were now untouchable. The things their mother had wished he'd bare in mind and all their dad had hoped he'd know. Instead of a full life ahead, there were just more untraveled miles. Distance that separated what once was inseparable.
The thoughts made him sick and George went back to the impossible task of trying to count raindrops.
Date: October 1st, 1998
Time of Day: 18:44
Characters: Fred & George Weasley
Location: 93 Diagone Alley
Status: Private
Brief Summary: George makes some calculations.
Complete
1st of October, 1994
“George? What’s the formula to find the circumference of a circle if you know it’s diameter?”
“It’s C = π x D.”
“Cheers,” Fred said. “I can’t believe I forgot that.” Grabbing his wand, Fred drew the equation against the red curtains of his four-poster.
“Why?” George asked after a beat. 584,040,000 appeared in flashing gold from the tip of Fred’s wand.
“I just had an idea and I wanted to know something...” he replied. Fred flicked his wand and scratched x 16.5 to the right of his summation and got back 9,636,660,000.
Fred looked up at George, unable to contain the huge smile that had spread across his freckled face. “I’ve been riding this planet for almost ten billion miles,” he said.
“...bloody hell. That’s Ace,” George replied.
“Yeah. It really is,” Fred said.
---
1st of October, 1998
George’s wand flicked carelessly across the window pane as the rain poured down in turrets. A small section of the window began to grow opaque with condensation and George quickly wrote a large number into the smudge from the warm safety of his loft.
October 1st, the twins' half birthday.
The date had never meant anything before. Fred had joked once that October 1st, being half their year, was the day he was supposed to have been born. However, out of kindness and love, Fred had stayed with George in the womb an extra six months just to make sure his brother came out alright. George had teased back that Fred simply hadn’t been able to leave his better-half behind. In return, Fred had managed something of a smile, but the fact of the matter was, if Fred had been given a choice, he wouldn’t have.
Today, however, October 1st meant something.
11,680,800,000 appeared in the fog on the window. George subtracted it from 11,972,820,000. He got back 292,020,000.
Sighing, George traced the final numbers with the point of his index finger until the digits faded and the condensation evaporated, leaving behind nothing but a clear window. For a moment, he stared at the rain wondering if it was possible to count raindrops.
“I wonder how much water 292,020,000 raindrops would make...” he asked allowed. There was no reply and George knew immediately why the silence was so deafening.
It didn’t matter how much water 292,020,000 raindrops would make. The sum, tangibly incomprehensible to George only meant one thing as numbers, raindrops or anything else.
292,020,000 was how many more miles George had traveled. Three million miles now lay between George and Fred and with every passing day, the distance grew longer. By the time he turned 21, Fred would be six million miles away and the absence of a response was the loudest reminder silence could ever give him.
October 1st now meant that George had left Fred behind. It meant that all the things Fred never did, were now untouchable. The things their mother had wished he'd bare in mind and all their dad had hoped he'd know. Instead of a full life ahead, there were just more untraveled miles. Distance that separated what once was inseparable.
The thoughts made him sick and George went back to the impossible task of trying to count raindrops.