Chapter Text
George opened his eyes, but consciousness came slowly. He could hear himself talking excitedly to Fred about their Hogwarts letters, he could feel himself dish up his own helping of breakfast, and he could feel the building excitement about going to Diagon Alley after breakfast. His thoughts were slowly merging, 27 years sinking into his 11 year old body; into his mind. At the end, it felt more like he just had his older self’s memories. Not that he was an adult in his childhood body.
He still felt more aware that he had his right ear.
George felt a sense of peace that he hadn’t felt in many, many years. Not since he watched Harry come out of the maze with the dead body of Cedric’s, and heard him screaming about how he was back. Not since Percy and Ginny died. Not since mum had almost lost herself to the grief.
She hadn’t smiled much after that.
He looked over at Fred and raised an eyebrow, ‘I’m me Forge, are you you?’
Fred looked over at George and grinned with a nod and a raise of the corresponding eyebrow, ‘Of course I’m me Gred, It bloody worked!’
“Fred, George, Stop conspiring with each other and finish your breakfast.” Mum’s voice rang out from her where she was putting more food on Percy’s plate.
Percy was preoccupied with rereading his school supply list to pay attention.
“Yes Mum.” Fred and George’s voices sound, suspiciously, and in unison.
Breakfast continued without incident, and soon enough, George was stepping out of the floo behind Percy, with Fred following him right after. It was odd, not bad, but still odd seeing Diagon Alley like this after so long. It was even weirder to see the building that was their joke shop no longer their joke shop.
Bill, Charlie, and Percy took Ron with them while they got their school supplies, and mum took him, Fred, and Ginny to get his and Fred’s. They stopped to get their books first at Flourish and Blotts, and Fred and George immediately split off to look around for bargain prank books they could try to convince their mum to get them. They were debating whether they should try their luck with ‘ 742 pranks to annoy your family ’ or ‘ 37 color changing spells for various uses and occasions ’,when they heard Ginny release a fearful shriek.
They both reacted on instinct; battle reflexes came into action after years of dormancy. George cast a shield over Ginny to protect her from the unknown threat, and Fred summoned her closer. Fred pulled Ginny into his arms while both he and George looked around to find the danger.
There was cotton in George’s ears, adrenaline coursing through his veins, while his eyes continued to scan the room before they finally landed on a few books laying on the ground, looking like they had toppled over.
Books.
It was only an unsteady pile of books.
Not an escaped Death Eater.
Just a fallen pile of books.
He looked over at Fred, “Just books.” George was a little shocked at how shaky his voice was; at just how small and young it sounded as it left his mouth.
He looked down at Ginny, Fred having yet to let her go, and she looked unhurt; if not a little shaken up about almost getting hit in the face with a stack of books, and confused at her older brothers reactions. Or she could have been surprised at the show of ‘accidental’ magic her brothers just demonstrated.
Maybe it was the shockingly serious expressions on their faces; because at this point in their lives, they had yet to show any kind of ability to be serious
At this point in their lives . That was right, Fred and George were eleven. The war hadn’t started yet, Voldemort wasn’t back, Ginny was eight not 16, and right now she was looking at them with concern and her mouth was moving.
There wasn’t any sound.
Why couldn’t George hear her? He opened his mouth to ask her, and that was when he realized he wasn’t breathing. He took a large gasp of air and it was like all the sound flooded his ears, as air flooded his lungs, once again.
Oh yeah, he had both his ears.
“-ed, George!” Ginny’s voice was loud. How come he didn’t hear her before?
“Mom! Mom!” She waved her hands in front of their faces, the breeze from her movements made George realize he was crying, and his hands were shaking.
Ginny was eight.
Ginny was alive.
Ginny was yelling for their mum because Fred and George seemed to start freaking out, out of nowhere, after a burst of accidental magic.
Her eyes were wet.
Not dull and lifeless.
George bent down and hugged her. He hoped it would be enough to ease her worry, and he felt as Fred did the same. It seemed to work a little bit, at least she wasn’t yelling for mum anymore.
George felt Ginny grip onto them tightly; she must’ve been worried.
When was the last time he hugged his baby sister? He was sure it was last week when she woke up from a nightmare, but he knows it's been more than a decade by now. It was with this realization that something in him snapped, and the foggy haze that he didn’t even realize was there, started to lift. He was shaking and crying and clinging to his little sister who wasn’t dead and he missed her and-
He hadn’t had this bad of a reaction in years. Was it because he was a kid again? This him hadn’t been through the war, nor did this him have the therapy to help cope with the aftermath.
George felt guilty as he realized he was still crying. He didn’t mean to scare her; he was just caught off guard. Him and Fred both were.
Breathe in, hold, breathe out. Rinse, Wash and Repeat.
“Sorry Gin, didn’t mean to scare ya.” and wow, George’s throat was sore and his voice sounded raw.
She let go and looked up at them with worried and puffy eyes, “You two-” Ginny punched him in the arm, “Uhg!” She then punched Fred in the arm, “Why did you have to scare me like that?”
“Sorry.” George looked away, and it was at this moment their mum decided to make her presence known.
“Fred, George, what happened? Are you alright?” She fussed as she moved them this way and that way, in order to see if there was any visible evidence or reason for what had just occurred.
“We’re alright mum, just a bit startled.” Fred’s voice sounded just as rough as George’s, speaking for the first time since they both had calmed down.
“We heard Ginny,”
“-and reacted on instinct-”
“-almost like-”
“-we were possessed-”
“-by the spirit-”
“-of older brothers past-” Fred and George bounced off each other, trying to lighten the mood as they got back to their usual cheeky behavior.
Their mum relaxed a little at their antics, and now looked torn between letting it be or fretting over them some more.
“-they did some really cool accidental magic mum!” Ginny interrupted, “George made a shield so the books didn’t hit me and Fred pulled me over to him,” she pulled away from them as she bounced excitedly, “like you pull things to you before they hit the floor so that they don’t break.” she continued to ramble, forgetting that she was upset with them for the moment.
Fred and George let out a sigh of relief, grateful that they wouldn’t half to explain how they did it because it was just swept under the excuse of accidental magic. That being said, they didn’t leave Ginny’s side the rest of the time they were in the store.
After mum had gotten the books that they came for, they started their way towards Madam Malkin’s so Fred and George could get fitted for their robes. It was then that they accidentally met up with the rest of their siblings. Ginny started to regale Bill and Ron with the events that happened in the bookshop. Bill looked a little concerned when she got to the part where Fred and George had started to freak out out of nowhere, and Ron seemed only concerned with the sandwich he managed to get Bill to buy him. Charlie and Percy weren’t to far behind, engaged in their own conversation about who knows what
Charlie and Percy weren’t too far behind. They were engaged in their own conversation about who knows what, when George saw a familiar rat tail peeking out from Percy’s pocket. It filled him with a silent rage, and he knew they had to get rid of the rat sooner, rather than later.
And it seemed that the incident with Ginny gave them the perfect excuse to ‘accidentally’ reveal the traitor.
George made eye contact with Fred, stretching up and in the general direction Percy was approaching from, ‘ Fe Fi Fo Fum, I smell the blood of traitorous scum.’
Fred glanced in the direction George was gesturing to, and he could see the moment Fred understood what he ment, ‘ I see the rat’s alive, Not dead as his lone finger suggests’
‘ We should reveal the bare bones of what’s going on.’
‘And cook up some trouble while we’re at it.’
George nodded slightly in agreement and waited for an opportunity to arise. Said opportunity seemed to come much quicker than they expected, because Scabbers scampered up Percy’s arm, and hopped over, and onto, Ron’s shoulder. He yelped in surprise at the sudden appearance of their family rat and it’s quest to steal his sandwich.
It was the perfect opportunity.
Fred and George pretended to startle, with George ‘accidentally’ creating a barrier again, this time around Scabbers , and Fred wordlessly casting the anti-animagus spell, under the guise of startled accidental magic, and subsequently exposing the rat for who he truly was.
In the barrier stood Peter Pettigrew; and his almost decade as a rat didn’t do him any favors in the looks department. Peter now stood hunched over in torn, dirty, and ratty clothes. He had also gained quite a lot of weight from his time spent as a pampered pet.
It was show time, and Ron’s wordless yell seemed to be as good enough of a starting point as any.
“Scabbers was a man this whole time?!” Fred screeched while looking every bit the surprised kid one would expect to see in this kind of situation.
“But he watched us change-!”
“-and slept with us in our beds-!”
“-he’s been with us for years-”
“-and I’m disgusted-”
“-our family pet-”
“-has been creeping on us for so long!” Fred and George played off of each other, making sure to make their voices were loud, grossed out, and scared. They wanted as many witnesses as they could get, and after all, wizards were nosy folks.
“He made me drop my sandwich.” Ron’s quiet voice spoke up as looked down at his fallen sandwich in despair; his eyes welling with tears, it was all the warning anyone got before he started wailing.
“PETER PETTIGREW!!” Mum seemed to snap out of her stupor at the sound of one of her kids crying, and she lost it. Her voice was louder and angrier than any howler they had ever had the displeasure of hearing, while she verbally tore him to shreds. It got even worse when she caught sight of his Dark Mark. So, while their mum continued to do an excellent job of making sure everybody knew just what was going on, Fred and George turned to consoling Ron; and in George’s case, keeping the barrier up until the Arouros arrived.
It wasn’t long after that they showed up, and took him into custody. Fred and George made sure to remind everyone that he was an animagus, and that he was disguising himself a family pet for the years he was thought to be dead.