A Tribute To Forge Weasley
George Weasley was, understandably, very blue once he got back to his and Fred's flat after The Battle of Hogwarts.
He was blue for days, despite his and Fred's agreement to not be so in the event of their passing. They had sworn they wouldn't, yet here he was, moping in the old shop. He felt slightly guilty because of this, but didn't care since Fred wasn't here to bug him not to be. Fred was bloody dead. Maybe if he could have taken justice on his killer, Augustus Rookwood, he would've been fine. But he couldn't even prank him, he was dead and he, like a few others of the Death Eaters, wasn't going to have a funeral to cause mayhem at.
Perhaps, if he hadn't just found the paper they had sworn on to 'Be Happy and Not to Mope, That's a Girl Thing' when the letter announcing Fred's funeral arrived, the mayhem wouldn't have been so…catastrophic.
But, it was only the nature of the Weasley Twins-now just George- to be so.
The day of the funeral, the fifth of May, was properly gloomy. Well, except for the sun stubbornly peeking through the clouds, and the bird chirping every few seconds. But, George knew, Fred would have wanted a happy funeral, not a "bloody Deathday Party" and so he was happily humming along with the bird's (the species George didn't know, but he was just happy that they were colourful) mismatched tune. He noticed he was getting quite a few worried looks (and a scandalized one from his Aunt Muriel, Fred would've been proud) and smiled when he realized it was most likely because of Dumbledore-style robes he had decided to wear, sky blue with cartoon skulls on it. He had a matching one for Fred, though the background was canary yellow instead of his own blue.
George stayed in the back, to his family's worry. He shook his head slightly in amusement; in the old days his mother would have dragged him-and Fred-by the ear to the front so she could keep an eye on them. Then again, he would most likely get an earful for this later, but it didn't matter. He was going to honour Fred's memory better than any of these dark robed mourners could ever.
First, George cloaked the area in Peruvian Instant Darkness Power. "Restituo Meos Thyrsos," he murmured, smiling when he felt the weight in his bag lower than grow larger. Cursing as he realized that the powder was wearing off, he swiftly walked around the crowd of people he could see with his Light (A counter to the Powder, only he could see it), behind Fred's casket. George knew that Fred would've already been laughing at his mother's face, which was currently very red like it usually was before one of her legendary lectures. He noticed Harry, Ron, and Hermione all look towards George's previously occupied spot with a soft grin on each of their faces. Ginny was looking directly at Fred's casket, directly where he was, amused. She always had had an uncanny ability to guess where either of them were.
The next part of the plan was just to wait and see when they would discover the switching. Kingsley Shacklebolt was the first, having raised his wand to set Fred's casket into the burial lot. His face was priceless when his "Mobilicorpus" served nothing but to turn into a rubber duck and start making the appropriate quacking noises.
George was thrilled that he had hired Dennis Creevey to follow his late brother's footsteps and take pictures of various results of George-no, Gred's pranking. Everyone tried to use their wands, only to find it turned into various objects including a pink flamingo, and miniature pig, a Hungarian Horntail figure (Harry started laughing when he got that one), a porcupine bequeathed only to those they disliked (such as Dolores Umbridge, honestly why had she come?), and, of course, rubber ducks of different colors, natures, quack rhythms, and their tendency to attack its holder.
George laughed from behind the casket, sobering when he thought, "I wish Fred was here." Then, George laughed again when the thoughts in his mind turned to what Fred would have said: "I am here, you toss-pot, you're leaning against my casket!"
Pulling a set of Weasley's Wildfire Whiz-Bangs (Deflagration Deluxe: Weasley Style), George pointed his wand and whispered the activation phrase for these particular fireworks: "Gred and Forge's Super Spectacular Scorching Spiz-bangs Start."
Instantly, a set of pink Catherine wheels set off for the crows, followed by rockets. George didn't bother hiding behind the casket choosing to stand beside it instead. (He did, however, put on a set of shield gloves and a Headless Hat for protection from any stray curses and so people couldn't see the tears of laughter running down his face) When Aunt Muriel attempted to Vanish the rocket, multiplying it by ten, he was hysterically laughing, reminded of their last year at Hogwarts. On that topic, Professor Umbridge had run away at the sight of the fireworks, not even bothering to pick up her abnormally short wand from the box labeled "Wands" in playful handwriting at the back. (There was a stinging jinx set up if someone took a wand that wasn't theirs as well as a curse that turned the thief's hands and face cherry red, unless they were a Weasley. Then, they turned rainbow colored.)
The Shrimpy Soldiers were next. The red and black palm sized soldiers set off, screaming profanities at anyone who stepped on them. (Why you, Crumple-Horned Snorcack!" a malfunctioning one screamed at Ginny, shaking its miniature fist at the girl.)
Finally, after the twentieth prank, (An army of Minotaur Muggle Mice, each screaming "Weasleys' Wizards Wheezes!") George set off the sparklers he had created for the event. Instantly, the darkening sky was lit up by a set of Weasley-red fireworks proclaiming some memorable quotes, each being spoken in George's voice, which sounded an awful lot like Fred's.
ooOoo
"Oh don't worry,-"
"-dear Percy,-"
"-we'll behave-"
"-in school. "
"We won't lose any more points-"
"-than we have-"
"-until our sixth year!"
"We swear!" None of the people other than George could tell who was saying which phrase, though they seemed to be much younger. Except, of course, Percy, who remembered that conversation in the summer before their first year. They had, coincidentally, not broken the promise, though they had, "for kicks" they had said, lost one hundred and two points in Potions the first day of school in Percy's seventh year, leaving Gryffindor with one point.
ooOoo
"What do you reckon, George, do you agree with Oliver?"
"I could only wish I was a human Bludger, then I could ram into those Slytherins without getting detention from Minnie!"
In the audience, "Minnie" smiled in amusement before turning a glare on where she presumed George's head to be. "Minnie" was not her name.
ooOoo
"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."
"Great idea though, thanks, Mum. "
Molly Weasley had tears in her eyes, in memory of one of her mischievous son.
o
"Toilets are rather easy to explode, aren't they George?"
"Yeah, much easier than I expected. I thought it'd be harder to find a gift for dear Harry in the Hospital Wing."
Harry laughed at this, remembering Dumbledore telling him that they had tried to send one to him in his first year.
o
Fred (or maybe George's) voice sounded indignant. "I can't believe she confiscated it!"
"It was out of the goodness of our hearts, and she decides to take it away from us! From Harry!"
"Not hygienic, my arse."
"Want to get another one to send back to Ginny?"
Ginny joined her boyfriend in his laughter, remembering the letter they had sent her.
o
"Alright, got one from the second floor girls toilet. Shall we write a letter?"
"On it. Dear Sweet Ginny-"
"Enclosed is the toilet seat we promised you. We were going to give one to Harry too, but Madam Pomfrey seems to think it is unhygienic."
"Don't worry; I'm relatively sure it's clean enough to hang in your room as a gift from your favorite brothers."
"Unless the owl we're sending with this decides to be crafty and poop on it."
"We doubt it will, but we give no promises. "
"Love your dearest brothers, Gred and Forge."
"Perfect." Anyone in the funeral who knew the twins could see them in their minds eye, turning to each other with grins on their faces at the statement.
ooOoo
"Wasn't it funny how Mum and Dad reacted to getting Harry out of the Muggle's house?"
"Yeah,'You could do with taking a leaf out of Percy's book!' were her exact words, I think." A snort followed, as if they were wondering why on earth anyone would want to be like Percy.
"And Dad was more curious about if it worked or not. Of course, when Mum glared at him like that-"
"D'you reckon there's a creature that has fire coming out of its eyes?"
"I dunno, maybe a vampire? They have red eyes."
"True, but that's more like Snape than Mum. If Mum was a vampire, we'd be screwed."
Everyone present kept sneaking glances at Molly, her children subtly inching away from her in case she exploded. She surprised everyone by managing to smile and keep in her temper.
o
"Make way for the heir of Slytherin, seriously evil wizard coming through …"
"It is not a laughing matter," Percy's voice said.
"Oh, get out of the way, Percy. Harry's in a hurry."
"Yeah, he's nipping off to the Chamber of Secrets for a cup of tea with his fanged servant."
Harry smiled at the memory, putting an arm around Ginny who looked slightly guilty at the events of her second year.
o
"It's a shame Mum caught us trying to lock Percy in one of those pyramids."
"Imagine, it would be life without any Prefects or Head Boys at the Burrow!"
"But where would we put Ron if he became one?"
"With all the trouble he's getting into with Harry? I doubt it."
"Yeah, I suppose we can just drop him off to play with the Giant Squid at Hogwarts if that happens…"
Ron looked alarmed. 'At least,' he thought, 'they didn't go through with it.'
ooOoo
"Goodbye Messrs. Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail and Prongs."
"May you continue to cause mischief with Harry."
"And with any other rule-breakers in the future."
"Mischief Managed."
The audience was rather confused by these quotes, other that the trio, Ginny. Harry looked alarmed, realising he had never told them who Padfoot was.
o
"He bit Goyle for us once!" Ron's voice said. "Remember, Harry?"
"Yeah, that's true," the Boy-Who-Lived replied.
Fred's voice came out a little choked with laughter. "His finest hour. Let the scar on Goyle's finger stand as a lasting tribute to his memory."
The attendees didn't know what to say to that. Who exactly bit Goyle's finger?
ooOoo
"Oh, shut up, Weatherby." Percy blushed at the name.
o
"You're mental."
Harry's voice replied, "No I'm not. You take it and get inventing. It's for the joke shop."
"He is mental." Molly cast a suspicious glance at Harry, who was innocently whistling with a smile on his face.
ooOoo
"I love hearing Mum shout at someone else." In the background you could hear Molly Weasley screaming at Mundungus Fletcher.
o
"I don't believe it! I don't believe it! Oh, Ron, how wonderful! A prefect! That's everyone in the family!"
"What are Fred and I, next-door neighbours?" Fred (or so they guessed) made an agreeing sound.
Ron and Harry looked at each other, both remembering the twins melodramatics over Ron being made Prefect.
o
"Kenneth Towler came out in boils, d'you remember?' said Fred.
"That's 'cause you put Bulbadox powder in his pyjamas."
"Oh, yeah." You could hear the grin on Fred's face."I'd forgotten… hard to keep track sometimes, isn't it?"
Minerva glared in the direction of George that had been one of the many incidents in their fifth year that she couldn't prove anything about. Until now.
o
Hermione's angry voice rang out. "…but I will write to your mother."
"You wouldn't!" the two of them said in unison.
Hermione grinned at the memory.
o
"I've always thought Fred and I should've got "E" in everything, because we exceeded expectations just by turning up for the exams."Anyone who knew the twins during their school years knew they were speaking the truth and made agreeing noises. ("Humph!" Aunt Muriel said, obviously thinking badly of the twins.)
o
"George, I think we've outgrown full-time education."
"Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself,"
"Time to test our talents in the real world, d" you reckon?"
"Definitely."
"Accio brooms!"
"STOP THEM!" Umbridge yelled. A few looked to where she had been, disappointed not to see her reaction to this.
"Give her hell from us, Peeves."
The Hogwarts students in the crowd cheered loudly, almost making the next words inaudible.
ooOoo
"Point is, people, don't get lulled into a false sense of security, thinking he's out of the country. Maybe he is, maybe he isn't, but the fact remains he can move faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo when he wants to, so don't count on him being a long way away if you're planning to take any risks. I never thought I'd hear myself say it, but safety first!" The followers of 'Potterwatch' all laughed, quite a few happy to find out exactly which twin had been Rapier on the rebellion broadcast.
o
"Pathetic. Pathetic! With the whole wide world of ear-related humour, you go with 'holey'?"
o
"You're joking! You actually are joking, Perce ... I don't think I've heard you joke since you were -"
The sparklers died out, falling to the ground in front of the audience. They exploded in a cloud of dust on the Weasley's, Harry, and Hermione, much to George's amusement. The crowd was laughing, except for those who had heard the last quote being said by Fred during the battle, his last words.
George did start laughing again, however, when he managed to magic Colour-Changing Powder on most of the guests. Soon, Fred's funeral was exactly how he wanted it: Colourful, Happy, and reminiscent. He then looked at the Fred through the open casket. They had closed his glassy eyes, but his lips were still turned in a smile. The only thing that bothered George about it was that he was wearing plain black robes. He pulled out the canary yellow skull robes that matched his own, shaking off any dust or other dirt it may have gathered inside his bag. "Restituo," he murmured, effectively switching the robes for the black ones. The new robes looked awful on Fred. Yellow had never been his color, but Fred wouldn't have cared. George smiled before rummaging through his bag.
His mother, on the other hand, insisted on attempting to ruin the event. "George Weasley! Put those fireworks away right now!" George ignored his mother yelling through her lime green lips, setting off the Lion's Growl Grenade and another set of sparklers.
"George Weasley!" Molly sounded enraged, but he couldn't take her seriously. Her head reminded him of a watermelon, with green on her face, hair and eyes, and her cheeks red (and her eyes sparking).
"Mum! You should know by now, my name is Gred!"
In the now darkened sky, in red and gold, a growling lion appeared under the words that George had dedicated to his brother.
In dedication of Forge Weasley. May he learn how to be a Human Bludger.
-Gred Weasley.