August 9th, 1983:
George was terrified. He remembered thinking it would be funny to scare his mum and dad - to crawl into a bush as they were making their way to the portkey on the hill and stay there until one of them realized that he was gone. But he didn't think it all the way through - because being alone and listening to the wind rustle the leaves on the trees behind him, and the sound of animals prowling the forest was downright scary.
He was stubborn, though. So he stayed in that bush until Molly Weasley pulled him out of it angrily. George didn't dare look her in the eyes - instead, he found himself looking towards his twin brother. Fred's face was pale, and his eyes looked as though they were red from crying.
"George Weasley! Never - and I mean never, do that again! You scared all of us half to death!"
George nodded, and hurried to Fred's side.
They walked in silence for a while. George would peer over his shoulder to stare at his brother occasionally, and he would try to get his attention whenever Ron would waddle into their view and give him a funny idea for a joke. But Fred ignored him for the whole day. In fact, he ignored everyone. Not a word came out of his mouth until later that night, when the two of them lay on their beds as the sun began to set.
"I don't know what I'd do if you were lost for good," Fred said, and then he had stared straight into George's eyes with his own widened owlishly. The two of them were five when they decided to stick together for the rest of their lives. The two of them were young children when they realized that life without the other would be worse than hell itself.
"Let's come up with something to call each other with, then," George had said in response. "If one of us is ever scared that the other has been lost, whistle like this -" and then he had whistled three times, each time getting more loud - more high pitched.
Fred's face had lit up, and he responded by whistling the same three notes back.
They both grinned and, at the same time, exclaimed; "Wicked."
Hogwarts; 1994.
The Weasley twins did not only use their signature whistle when they were scared the other had been lost, or worried that something bad had happened to them. In fact, it was seldom used for that. The two brothers were as happy as can be while at Hogwarts. They had friends, and they pulled pranks, and there was really no danger to the two of them. So they whistled to each other for other things - whether it be reassurance that the other was just there, or to call each other over, send signals for activating things, and more. Their whistle was arguably the best thing they had come up with.
"George?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you sure that this aging potion is going to work against Dumbledore, mate?"
"What could possibly go wrong?"
Turns out; quite a bit. As Fred stared at George across the room, gaping at the long, grey beard he sported, he wanted nothing more than to say 'told you so". He didn't think he'd be able to hear above the roaring laughter that sounded throughout the room from the people who circled them.
So he had whistled. No one had heard it, but he had seen the look of recognition cross George's face, and soon enough, the two of them were fighting.
"You said -" Fred had grumbled out from beneath George as he dodged yet another punch.
"I never said we wouldn't get a nice beard along with it," His brother had grumbled back, and suddenly the both of them were laughing again.
When George got older, he would realize that, whenever the two of them used to whistle, that moment would become something unforgettable later on - whether it was good or bad, whistling meant cherishing that moment between them and never, ever forgetting. It was impossible anyways, George would always remember his brother's raucous laughter, or his face scrunched up in anger or disgust, or even the way his brother's ears turned red whenever he was worried or embarrassed.
The Department Of Mysteries; 1996.
The next time the two of them whistled to each other, they had used it for it's original purpose. Fred had felt like he was five again, as he frantically looked for any sight of his brother. George had been looking equally as frantic, and when the two found each other, they had refused to let go, and they spent the whole night by each other's side.
"I don't know what I'd do if I lost you for good," Fred had said, sounding just like he had when they were five; young, boyish, and scared.
George grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Stop being so - so -"
"So what?"
"I don't bloody know, but you need to cheer up. We're both alive, aren't we? It'll stay like that. I promise."
Fred laughed. "Don't promise what you might not be able to keep, little brother."
"I am only 5 minutes younger, you idiot!"
The Second Wizarding War; 1997.
They didn't whistle at all in 1997.
"Mum says she doesn't know what's going on with Ron."
George closed his eyes. "Right. Reckon he's with Harry and Hermione?"
Fred, who had always been discomforted by sadness, laughed. It did not sound like what it used to, though. The war had taken much of their joy from the twins the moment they realized that the chances of their whole family making it out alive were... not great. "I bloody hope so."
George did not return the laugh. "I'm sorry," he said instead.
Fred looked at him, puzzled. "For what? Did you steal my chocolate frogs again?"
"No. I'm just - Merlin, we'll be alright after all of this, right?"
Fred had smiled reassuringly. "Of course we will, we're the Weasley twins!" And then he had winked, and said; "Also, Georgie, you promised."
The war had taken much of their happiness, but it would never take away the way that Fred and George spent the months before the end of the war together. George would never know how Fred would've liked to remember it, but he assumed that it would be similar to how he looked at it all now - the two of them ignoring the stress of the situation by doing what they did best. Joking around, and helping others by rebelling against Voldemort's regime by starting PotterWatch with their best friend, Lee Jordan.
It was not a good or fun time for anyone, but they had made the best of it.
After The Battle Of Hogwarts; 1998.
George whistled.
And whistled.
And whistled.
Some passersby looked at him strangely or gave him dirty looks. Hogwarts was in ruins, and many people were openly sobbing as they found one of their friend's or family's dead bodies. He felt numb to it all, he was only focused on one thing - hearing those same three notes repeated back to him.
And so he whistled.
And whistled.
And whistled.
Hours passed, and there was no whistle back. The sun beamed down on him, and George hastily wiped the dirt and sweat off his face.
"You're not going to whistle back," he said, despairingly. "I lost you - oh God, I lost you -"
George fell to his knees and screamed. He screamed until he couldn't anymore - until his voice was hoarse. Percy was the one who found him there - in an abandoned, utterly destroyed corridor of Hogwarts. He had looked down at George, who's eyes were red from crying - who's face and arms were still smeared with blood from the battle.
"Everyone else has gone home," He had said, but George did not move. "You should too."
"I promised him." Was what George said in response. "I promised that we would all make it out of the war."
When George finally did look up at his older brother, although he looked exhausted and aged from what he had gone through, Percy also saw the way that he trembled and how his lip quivered as if he was trying to stop himself from crying again. But there was something else, something that he was all too familiar with. Percy had worried how his family would react to his return, especially since he was there with Fred in his last moments. He was worried that they would think that it would be better if it was him that died, and he had been terrified to see them all again after Fred's death. He was terrified of other things, too. Like how he would continue on after this, how his family would cope - wondering if The Burrow would ever be as loud and happy as it once was. Wondering if The Burrow would ever be a happy place again.
George was terrified.