Fred Weasley x Reader x George Weasley

                                    

                                          
Warning: Angst ahead

                          
Requested by: Toxicfoxr
                          
Fred stood up from the tall chair, picked up his crystal glass from the satin tablecloth, and took a deep breath. He rubbed a nervous hand on his tailored suit and raised up the glass. It was practically empty now, Fred had been drinking during the entire ceremony. This was his fifth glass, and it wasn't doing anything to help the feeling in his chest. 
                          
He swallowed, and with his dry mouth all that went down was his pride. He swung his glass to his mouth and downed the rest, the crowd of people watching him chuckled. He heard a sweet laugh beside him and that alone brought a smile to his face. He tried to keep the corners of his lips up, even as he looked his brother in the eye. The man sitting next to her, now with a new wedding band on his finger.
                          
"I've known George for all of my life, give or take a few minutes," Fred said, chuckles spread across the crowd. A crowd full of people he knew, and some he didn't. "I met (Y/N), geez, almost a decade ago."
                          
The memory was anything but crisp in his mind. The details were fuzzy, similar to his eyes which were on the brink of tears.
                          
~
                          
In his mind, (Y/N) looked the same as she did on her wedding day. Even though he knew she had looked entirely different all those years ago, but he couldn't remember her any other way. She was just as beautiful back then, but she wasn't dressed in an entirely too expensive wedding dress. 
                          
Even her simplistic set of robes were always a mess. Fred was never sure if it was because she was so clumsy her clothes were all lopsided and messy before she even stepped out her dormitory, or if she never bothered to try putting them on right in the first place. Her tie was always askew, if it were there to begin with. There was always a stain on her vest, likely from frosting. She never seemed to care. 
                          
The day Fred and George first met (Y/N), they were at Hogsmeade. It was their first official meeting. They had seen her before, briefly bumping into her in the hall between classes. She had potions right after they did, and they were always late leaving the classroom so she would bump into them in the doorway or even inside the classroom. Fred sat in her seat, and some days he made a special point of taking an extra long time to remove himself. Just so that he could listen to her huff about in the back of the room with her friend, trying hard to be patient but ultimately failing.
                          
In all that time they had never learned her name. At least Fred hadn't. If George had known, he didn't tell Fred. Fred wouldn't usually distrust his brother, and he hadn't the day they met (Y/N). But later on when he found out George and (Y/N) had been dating secretly and Fred's jealousy had gotten to him, he started to wonder what else George could have been hiding. 
                          
"Sorry!" (Y/N) exclaimed as she narrowly missed George. 
                          
"Watch where you're going," The boy walking next to her said.
                          
"Excuse us," Fred said quickly, looking only at (Y/N). When she caught his eye he looked away, but it was too late. She'd noticed him looking and was looking over both of them thoroughly.
                          
"You're the fella who's always hogging my desk in potions aren't you?"
                          
Fred looked up to see she was talking to George.
                          
"Sorry but that's Fred here," George nudged his brother in the side. 
                          
She laughed. "I must have gotten you mixed up."
                          
"It's alright that-" Fred was cut off by the boy she was with. 
                          
"We better get going (Y/N)," He tapped his foot and looked at his watch impatiently.
                          
She lost her voice for a moment and only nodded. "I'll see you around," She said with pursed lips. 
                          
~
                          
Fred shook his head, shaking the thought away with it. He played it off with a chuckle, but (Y/N) looked into his distracted eyes in a way that convinced Fred she knew what he was really thinking about. 
                          
"George and I were always troublemakers," Fred continued. "but when we caused trouble it was always on purpose. (Y/N) did it all without even trying!"
                          
The crowd laughed, and he continued. "If I remember correctly that's how we became friends with our dear (Y/N)." It hurt him to say our, as though she truly still belonged to both of them. The sparkling ring on her finger proved otherwise.
                          
~
                          
Fred and George caused damages all the time. They enchanted paint balls to hit professors in the backs and the paint wouldn't come off. They messed with the clock tower and all the bells were off for a week. They did all sorts of things just for the sake of messing with people. They destroyed and enchanted and at the end they were always laughing.
                          
(Y/N) always caused trouble without ever meaning to. Certain teachers let it slide, looking into her sweet eyes and desperate look and couldn't help but forgive her. But there were a few professors who still gave her detention. 
                          
Fred stared at her from a distance in the quiet classrooms, too entrapped in her to realize his brother was doing the same.
                          
She became their target. They framed her and she became the subject of most of her pranks. She didn't mind, because that only meant they spent more time around her which meant they were more likely to get wrapped up in the trouble she caused. 
                          
Slowly they became more than trouble makers. Fred couldn't avoid his need to talk to her, to find any excuse to talk to her. He explored every topic of conversation with her, absorbing all of her words and adoring every moment with her. They shared secrets and he told her all of his, but only later did he realize she wasn't telling him all of hers. Every moment they shared made him smile and became ingrained into his brain. 
                          
Slowly, as she became more than friends with George and fell out of love with Fred, his memories were infected and poisoned. Covered in a dark haze that wouldn't lift and eventually he couldn't remember what they were like without it. He couldn't remember seeing her smile or hearing her laugh and not feeling a pang in his chest and a swelling in his throat. 
                          
~
                          
Fred was crying now. He sat down, allowing the others to make speeches but he wasn't listening to them. The memories were all flooding back now and he couldn't go anything to stop them. He held a napkin to his eyes as he continued to cry, grateful that George and (Y/N) weren't looking at him anymore. 
                          
He had been in love with (Y/N) for as long as he could remember. Longer than George, he was sure. But in the end none of that mattered. They were happy even if he wasn't. They smiled and celebrated as he held back tears. They danced and kissed as he found anything he could to distract himself. They made toasts and cheered as he drowned himself in as much alcohol as possible. They remained oblivious as he knew far more than he ever wished he did.