Not My Brother

People always told him that when you are a breath away from death, your life flashes before your eyes. But he never knew that it could happen when he blacked out.

It was as though his life was rewinding backwards, like a broken tape. George thought he was probably dreaming as death scared him a little. He patiently waited for it to end when it stopped at a point of his life he barely remembered. It stopped when he pulled his first prank.

George was 8. He had just finished a toffee he struggled to give a name to. Its effects? Well, George wouldn’t say, but he would rather show.

That morning, he headed down to the kitchen for a late breakfast. And hidden in his small palm was the specially made toffee. He was hoping to try it on one of his brothers, and the one who so willingly sat at the kitchen table was Percy.

“Percy, you want candy?” George asked as he climbed onto the chair next to him.

“What candy?” Percy asked skeptically as he eyed his brother.

George stuck out his hand and Percy shook his head.

“Come on, i had too much last night and i didn’t want it to go to waste. AND mother said never to give Ron ANY candy.” George tried to coax his brother into taking it.

“Fine, but don’t tell mother. We’re not suppose to have candy before lunch,” Percy, the goody-two-shoes, said as he popped it in his mouth.

George waited and watched his brother closely, waiting to see if it worked. And just before his brother could spit the toffee out, out of suspicion, his tongue swelled up and plopped out from his mouth.

“Ugh!” George said as he laughed.

“Wha-di-do-do-do-may?!” Percy tried so hard to ask.

George, who was rather proud, was about to explain when his mother walked in. And what she saw didn’t make her happy at all.

“George Weasley! What did you do now?!” Molly Weasley’s voice echoed through the kitchen.

Not knowing how to answer his very angry mother, George ran. He ran around the table just to slow his mother down before dashing out the back door.

It was a beautiful day, but his yelling mother who was chasing him made it rather hard for him to admire the clear blue sky, which was what Fred was doing when he ran into him.

“Look at the sky, George. I think I see a dragon,” Fred said when he saw his brother.

“Mother. Is. Going. To. Kill. Me,” George said as he gasped for air.

Fred turned to look at the woman who was running towards them and he nudged his brother, “Run!”

They ran down the meadow as fast as they could.

“What did you do?!” Fred shouted.

“I gave Percy a HUGE tongue!” George shouted in reply.

“So it worked?!” Fred asked turning around to see their mother catching up.

“YES!” George laughed as he answered. “Is she catching up?!” George was too afraid to look.

“Yes! Hide! I’ll handle her,” Fred said as he pushed his brother towards a big rock.

When Molly finally caught up with one of her sons, she sternly placed her hands on her waist, inhaling deeply as she tried to catch her breath.

“Where is your brother Fred?!” Molly yelled.

Fred, who was standing in plain view, shrugged.

“Where is he?! You tell me now or i’ll…” Molly attempted to threaten the 8 year-old who didn’t even flinch.

“It’s not Fred’s fault,” Fred said.

“What are you talking about, Fred?”

“I’m not Fred, I’m George,” Fred confidently answered. And Molly was left wondering. Did she mistaken her sons again?

“I’m sorry, I won’t do it again,” Fred quickly apologize.

“Well, that doesn’t mean you can get away with it! You’re doing the dishes tonight, and you’re grounded for the whole week,” Molly said so sternly that Fred didn’t dare talk back.

“No more play time, you’re coming back to the house to help me with lunch,” Molly ordered.

“But mother…”

“Not BUTS!” Molly said as she pinched Fred on his ear and dragged him along. “Ow! That hurts!” Fred moaned all the way back to their house.

When the coast was clear, George came out from behind the rock. He felt rather bad for letting his brother take the blame, but what were twin brothers for?

The memory started to blur and George slowly came back to the present day. He wondered what had just happened, and why it happened now, when the death eaters were attacking. But as he ran to find his brother, he saw Percy, fist clenched and eyes wet.

“Percy,” George called, but Percy stormed pass him.

He immediately knew something was not right. And when he saw Fred, hidden in a wall niche, not moving, George had a very bad feeling.

“Fred?” George choked as he hurried to his brother. “No.” Tears welled up in his eyes as he touched his brother’s chest. It was not moving. “No.” Tears rolled down his cheeks. “Not my brother. Please.”

As the sobs became uncontrollable, one memory remained. The brother who was willing to take the blame for him was dead. Where was he when he needed him? His tears would not stop falling because through thick and thin, through ups and downs, they were always together. Today, death separated them. Forever.