Thanks to the amazing beta, MissingMommy!
George Weasley didn't need comfort. He didn't need to eat. He didn't need to sleep. He didn't need to talk to anyone. He needed Fred, his twin, his best friend, his partner in crime.
There was always that empty chair next to his. Harry and Hermione were staying over, but neither would sit in it.
When Angelina, Alicia, Lee or even Oliver come over, they would conjure a chair and sit in it.
No one sat in Fred's chair.
"George, eat something," Ginny once said. Her voice was cracked and broken, and that didn't make George feel any better. He just shook his head silently.
"George," his mother said, her voice worse that Ginny's, even after a whole month after Fred's loss. "Ron, how about you take your brother to the joke shop."
"Yeah, George, how about that?" Ron tried to sound cheerful.
"I will not open it without Fred," George said. Molly felt a bit better. George had finally spoken. It wasn't the best thing he could have said, but he spoke. "I've heard him, you know." Everyone looked at him. "I've heard him through the hole in my head. He has tried speaking to me."
"George, dear, how about you eat something and get some rest? You look really pale," Molly said to her son, a pained expression on her face.
"I know that you think I'm going mad," he said. Once he spoke, he couldn't stop. "I swear that I heard him!"
"Georgie," Percy croaked. "Look, I'm going to turn my head so you can put beetles in my food." George didn't move.
"I'm not lying."
"We know zat you are not lying. We want you to rest. Eet eez for your sake," Fleur explained softly. Harry put a comforting arm around Ginny who started crying.
"I don't need anyone to help me, alright? I'm perfectly fine!" George exclaimed, storming up to his bedroom.
He passed by a mirror on his way. Seeing his reflection, he remembered Fred, so he took out his wand, muttered a spell and left the shattered pieces of the mirror on the floor.
He sat down on what used to be Fred's bed and stared at the wall like he has done so many nights before, but this time, Ginny followed him.
"I wished I had died instead, Gin," George said, gloomily.
"That's more selfish than generous, you know," she replied. "You would rather die instead and leave Fred to handle the grief?"
"It's not what I meant," he said. Ginny put a hand on his shoulder.
"I know that it's not what you meant. It's hard, I know, but what would Fred say?" Ginny asked softly. "What would he want you to be doing?"
"He-he'd tell me to reopen the shop," George croaked, and his eyes started to water. Ginny gave him a hug.
"He'd also want you to talk to us, and if you're not ready to talk to anyone, just talk to me," she said. "I miss him too. Remember when you and Fred charmed Aunty Muriel's food to run away from her?" George laughed in spite of himself. "And when you dyed Percy's hair green?"
"Ginny, can you do me a favor?" he asked his sister.
"Anything," she said, her face still tear-streaked but with a smile.
"Can you come with me to the joke shop?" Ginny's eyes lit up at how much better her brother seemed.
Ginny and George descended the stairs. Molly was staring at the fire as if Fred would emerge sooner or later, and Harry, Ron and Hermione were talking quietly in the corner. Who could blame them? They singlehandedly won the war. They destroyed 7 horcruxes, and Harry defeated Voldemort. They didn't deserve to grieve. They should be out celebrating. That's what George thought anyway.
The living room looked dark and gloomy, exactly the opposite of how Ginny felt. "Mum, George and I are going to visit the shop." Molly pulled her gaze away from the fire. She gave Ginny and George a smile.
"Be back by dinner," she said.
"But can we use the fireplace? I don't want us to Apparate," Ginny said, and George knew that she meant I don't trust George not to splinch himself.
"WEASLEY'S WIZARD WHEEZES!" George yelled as he stepped into the fire. His throat hurt as he yelled. For the past month, he opted for speaking in whispers or not even speaking at all.
George's eyes almost fell out of their sockets. Weasley's Wizard Wheezes looked abandoned. It was dusty, and uncompleted jokes were lying on the floor. Nevertheless, he felt better. A part of Fred still lived in there, and George felt like the joke shop was what would combine him with Fred, because apparently, his family didn't believe he heard Fred talking to him a few times through his bad ear.
"Ginny, it's like he's still here. Part of him lives in the joke shop," George said. Ginny smiled.
"Fred will always live in here, and he will always be with you by spirit," she told her older brother.
"Ginny, for someone who's so little, you're so wise." Ginny gave him a playful punch.
"I'm always here for you, and so is Fred, and I'm a hundred percent sure that he would want you to talk to us, to reopen the shop, to have fun with Angelina, Lee and the others, and you know what he would say?"
"What?"
"He would be proud that he died fighting and laughing too," Ginny said. George grinned.
"He was laughing at Percy, wasn't he?"
"Here, have some Canary Cream," Ginny said with a grin that matched her brother.
"Thank you, Gin," he said.