The Flower Bouquet
She knelt down next to the grave, reading and re-reading the words on the tombstone. It didn't seem real. It had to be a practical joke that was just not funny anymore. As she re-read the words once more, tears clouding her vision, comprehension finally dawned on her.
Frederick Gideon Weasley
April 1, 1978 – May 2, 1998
Son, brother, lover, and hero
The words seemed inadequate to her. How could three short lines of text sum up the life of one of Hogwarts' most infamous pranksters and the love of her life?
She looked down at her hands, and remembered the reason why she had come to this spot again. She gingerly set the flowers next to the tombstone. As her eyes roamed over the bouquet, she remembered her reasons for purchasing each type of flower.
The lisianthus flowers made up one-fourth of the bouquet, symbolizing Fred's outgoing nature. If there was one way to sum up Fred Weasley, it was outgoing. The boy had always seemed to have a surplus of that characteristic and she could not remember a time when she had been feeling down and he could not make her feel better.
The protea flowers symbolized his courage. Throughout his life, down to the last moments, he would never think about the consequences his courageous actions might have – he just did them. He was a Gryffindor after all. It still pained her beyond words to think that his last courageous act, one that had meant to save her and his family from living under the rule of a horrendous being, was the one that had claimed his life.
The lilac flowers in the bouquet symbolized his youthful innocence. He may have technically been a man when he died, but he was a practical joker and still just a child at heart. If he had lived longer and had been able to live out all those day with her, she liked to think that he would have maintained his air of innocence.
The last flowers in the bouquet were statice flowers, which symbolized how much she would miss him. She wanted him to know in his eternal slumber, that while she may move forward, she would never forget him and she would always cherish what they had had and the time they spent together.
"I'll love you forever and always, Frederick Weasley," she whispered, tears freely coursing down her face, "but it's time for me to move forward, instead of dwelling on what could have been."
Her right hand moved to her left hand, gently removing the ring that had resided there since before the Final Battle. With trembling hands, she slipped the ring on the stem of one of the statice flowers, thinking of what her life would have been like if she had had the chance to put a wedding band on her left hand as well.
She then moved a ring that had resided on her right hand for some time onto the spot that had become vacant only moments before. She let out a mall, mirthless chuckle at the similarities between her current engagement ring and her former. She figured that it made sense for the two of them to have similar tastes.
"Hermione?" A deep, yet quiet voice called from somewhere behind her. She turned her head slightly to the right and saw him in her peripheral. "Are you ready to go?"
She turned back to face Fred's tombstone and read the words once more. With a sigh, she lifted herself off the ground, brushing off stray bits of grass that had stuck to the knee of her trousers. She turned around and smiled at the man waiting for her.
"Yes, I think I am." She walked over to him and took his hand in her own. "How did it go for you?"
"It was difficult. I mean she was the first woman I had ever loved. But I think she would have been okay with this." He made a small motion with his head, indicating their entwined finger, as they walked towards the gate of the cemetery. "Fleur only ever wanted me to be happy. And pretty soon I'll have two beautiful girls that make me happy."
With his free hand, he rubbed the small bump that had begun forming from her stomach. She smiled up at him and brought their hands to her lips, placing a small kiss on his knuckles. They continued walking, swinging their hands slightly as a warm breeze enveloped them, as they exited the cemetery for the final time.