Fred Weasley
1. He disliked being Fred and George.
Growing up it was always Fred and George or the twins. It was never just Fred. He and George were always treated as two half of a singular whole, because of this he always felt that he didn’t know who he was. It was always them and never just him. Because of this he never had anything that was just his or his idea; he and George shared everything. He never really liked it but George did, so he put up with it. However, as they got older George started becoming more stubborn and pushed for his way far more than Fred was willing to fight. He loves George but wished he could have just been Fred sometimes.
2. He went back and got his N.E.W.T.S.
After the war Fred decided that he needed a break for the joke shop. When he told George this he didn’t say that he might not come back. He had a very close call in the Battle of Hogwarts and he felt as though his whole world was turned upside down. When decided to take a break Ron had already been helping them out in the store for a couple, so logically he let Ron take over his duties and took a year off. During this he took his N.E.W.T.S. for the three classes he got O.W.L.S. He then went back and retook four O.W.LS. and then took the N.E.W.T.S. for those classes.
3. He came back but it wasn’t the same.
When he came back he decided to stay at the joke shop, but only part time. So they split what Fred normally did and gave him half of that. Then, they combined the other half of Fred duties with George’s part and then split that between George and Ron. In his free time worked odd jobs and hung out with friends and family. This arrangement worked for three years before Fred signed over his half of the business to Ron.
4. The reason he left.
There were two reasons he decided to give up his part of the joke shop. The first being that was getting married in a couple of months and the joke shop just was as much of a passion project or priority to him anymore. Because of this he felt like wasn’t really helping the way that he should have been. He also had been offered an apprenticeship in a career field that he hadn’t thought about but was kind of falling in love with. The second reason was a fight with his mother. No one was there when that fight happened and both Fred and Molly refused to say what had happened. After the fight, Fred had distanced himself from the family. Fred continued his weekly lunches with Percy and added to his schedule a weekly dinner with Ginny. Harry joined him and Ginny most weeks. He had tea with Bill and Fluer once a month, sometimes more. He and Charlie wrote letters to each other frequently. His relationship with George while still very strong was strained by him leaving the joke shop completely and his refusal to say what the fight was about. But they always met up once a week to talk, but they did stay away from certain topics. Ron was the only one of his siblings that he didn’t talk to and that is because Ron believed that Fred pulled a “Percy” and betrayed the family.
5. The falling Out
The fight between Fred and Molly was mostly about his fiance. Molly had numerous times before made it clear that she had certain expectations on the spouses of her children. The current Weasley children’s spouses that Molly knew of were: Fleur, Audrey, and Angelina. None of these women really meant the expectations of Molly but they were women; which is something that Fred’s fiance was not. Fred was getting married to Aloysius Warrington. Aloysius was everything that Molly disliked. He was a gay male; who was not afraid to do traditional feminine things, such as cooking, cleaning and was overall a kind and sensitive individual. It also didn’t help that he was a Slytherin. The falling out happened because Molly wouldn’t stop complaining about Aloysius, saying that Fred was making a mistake and that he would regret marrying him. Fred had had enough and blew up on Molly, while everyone was out for the evening. The only reason Fred refused to say what the fight was about was because he knew that most of his siblings were a part of the LGBTQ+ and didn’t want to hurt them by telling them that it was because of Molly homophobia.
6. The apprenticeship and new career.
The apprenticeship was actually with Ollivander. Ollivander has two sons, the oldest is a year younger than Fred and was originally set to take over as the owner of Ollivander’s Wand shop, however he never really had any interest in the family business and Ollivander refused to make his son do anything he did want to do. The younger of the two sons always had shown an interest in his father’s work, and Ollivander decided to pass the shop on to his younger son. However, the youngest Ollivander was only 8 years old when the war ended, and Ollivander was ready for retirement after the war. Fred was offered an apprenticeship four years after the war ended and was an apprentice for Ollivander for three years, which allowed Ollivander to retire five years earlier than expected. Once the youngest Ollivander graduated, he was an apprentice under both Fred and Ollivander.
7. Friendship and Work Partners
The youngest Ollivander’s name was Gawain Ollivander. Gawain, although significantly younger than Fred, ended up being one of Fred’s closest friends, if not his best friend. He was also his boss even though he helped train him. Ollivander’s Wand shop is a family owned business and has always been family owned. Due to the circumstances of Fred’s employment, Gawain and Fred work more like equals than boss and employee. Most of the time Fred runs the Hogsmeade shop and Gawain runs the Diagon Alley shop.