It was another hard day in the life of the Weasley family.
George silently sobbed into your shoulder, your hand soothingly stroking his head. The best you could do for him now was to let him cry. It'd help him feel better for the moment, until he could cope with the loss of his twin. It wasn't going to be an easy road, but your relationship had gone through many rough patches before. You couldn't leave him like this anyway; your one and only had lost his brother and now it was up to you to help him heal.
Something that had begun to help was writing letters. You had suggested it to Mrs. Weasley first, and she had agreed that it could help everyone cope better with the loss of Fred. It was odd she took so quickly to the suggestion, to the rest of the family she was the one who managed to keep it together. The only thing that would send her off into tears was whenever she accidentally called George by his brother's name.
It was the first Christmas without Fred here, and you knew it wouldn't be a very jolly Christmas. Mrs. Weasley had taken to her room early and the others sat downstairs awkwardly, eating cookies and attempting small talk.
"Do you want me to get you something to eat? I'm sure your mum won't mind if I bring it up here." George didn't speak, simply nodded as he rubbed his reddened eyes. You gave him another frown, lightly pecking his forehead before leaving the room. Mrs. Weasley quickly burst from her room as you were walking by, her cheeks tinged pink as she hurried off downstairs. She left the door to her bedroom opened, and your curiosity was peaked when you saw a piece of parchment on her bed.
Silently, you snuck into the room, closing the door behind you as you quickly made way to the parchment. Taking it in your hands, you quickly scanned the words that were obviously in Mrs. Weasley's.
'Dear Fred,
It's the first Christmas without you dear. Your presents are still going under the tree. I keep wishing you'll be here to open them when morning comes. I still put an 'F' on your sweaters. We miss you so much, dear.
Love, Mum.'
You could feel the tears prickling at your eyes, although you hadn't been particularly close to Fred, you and him had been good friends. But this letter, this letter showed how hard it was on Mrs. Weasley, too. She just managed to hide it far better than the rest of them did. Silently, you stared at the letter, before grabbing a quill thrown off to the side and writing underneath her original letter.
'Dear Mum,
I miss your sweaters. It gets cold up here sometimes.
Love, Fred.'
Silently you dropped the quill down and snuck back out of the room, just in time as Mrs. Weasley bustled past you and inside again. You decided to quickly rush downstairs, where George had reappeared next to Ron and Harry, sharing a treat and chatting idly. You smiled, ready to join him when a loud sob was heard from above.
Mrs. Weasley rushed down the stairs, the parchment clutched in her hands as a large smile was on her face, although tears were flowing freely down her face. She held out the parchment to the other members of her family, not speaking as the letter was passed around. Soon enough everyone was in hysterics, laughing and talking about what a great prank it was. How proud Fred would be had he been here to see it.
The delightful memories started up again and Christmas cheer began to return to the Burrow. With a smile, you rested your head on George's shoulder.
You had done a good deed, the beginning of the healing process to a family with a broken heart.