Ginny sat in the bright sunshine watching the clouds roll by. It was an absolutely beautiful day, the kind of day that always made Ginny want to fly. But not today. Today she had to bury one of her brothers.

Ginny had been sitting outside for the best part of two hours. She couldn't stand to be inside The Burrow anymore. It was too quiet, too… empty. Sure, there were a bunch of people in there but it still seemed empty. Ginny had escaped the obsessive cleaning of her mother, her father's tinkering with a plug, Harry's brooding, Charlie's anger, Percy's guilt, Ron's overwhelming exhaustion, Hermione's anxiousness, Bill's brave face, Fleur's mothering, and, worst of all, George's silence. George hadn't said a word since the battle and didn't look as though he ever would again. Ginny hadn't been able to bear any of it and so she had left unnoticed. Everyone was too wrapped up in their pain and grief to notice, or to care.

Ginny closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall of the house. She breathed deeply and slowly, trying to calm her nerves. The soft breeze blew through her hair, the sun warmed her face, and her heart slowed to an agonizing pace. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think. She couldn't do anything. Ginny rested her hand over her heart and opened her eyes. She took a deep, shuddering breath, stood up and started running. She jumped over the back fence and kept running. She ran until the Burrow looked as big her thumb. Ginny stood, panting, in the hot sunshine staring down at her home. Then she screamed.

Ginny screamed loud and long. She screamed so long that she ran out of breath and fell onto the soft grass, facing the sky. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and despite not having any breath left in her body, she kept sobbing. Her sobs filled the air and her tears fell down onto the grass. Ginny clamped a hand over eyes and tried to stop the tears. She was stronger than this. She had survived a whole year being tormented by two Death Eaters and all of Slytherin House. She had survived a personal encounter with the young Tom Riddle. She had survived so much; she couldn't break down. Not now, not before… the funeral.

Ginny sat up and furiously brushed away the tears. She knew that her family would notice but she didn't care. As Ginny started slowly walking back to the house she couldn't help thinking about all the other funerals that she would be going to. And she would go to every single one. She had to pay her respects to everyone who had fought and died in the war. If that meant days and days of crying it didn't matter. So long as she got to say goodbye to the people she loved and cared about. Ginny ran her hand over her face and was surprised to find that she was crying again. Ginny groaned and mentally slapped herself. She had to pull herself together. She had to be strong.

When Ginny finally climbed back over the fence she found Bill standing in the middle of the yard, looking up at the sky. Ginny bit her lip and wondered if he had been waiting for her. As she got closer, Ginny noticed that Bill had tears running down his cheeks. His scars were brighter in the sunshine and Ginny could hardly bear to look at them. She brushed away the last of her tears and cleared her throat. Bill looked at her and kind of smiled.

'Hey, Gin. I knew you'd come back eventually.' Bill wiped away his own tears and sat down on the grass. Ginny went over and sat down next to him. Bill wrapped an arm around his little sister's shoulders and she leaned her head against him. 'We're gonna be okay, Gin.'

'How do you know, Bill? We won't ever be the same. Fred's de… Fred's gone and he ain't coming back. How can we ever be okay without him? Without George?'

'Honestly? I don't know. I just know that we're all strong and we can pull each other through this. We've got each other and that's all we need. George will be okay. He just needs time.'

'I sure hope so.' Ginny wiped her eyes. Bill smiled and kissed her forehead.

'Go talk to him, Ginny. He won't listen to the rest of us. Not even Charlie if he were up to it. George and Fred always did listen to you. Go on.'

'Okay.' Ginny stood up and went back inside. She glanced at Charlie sitting on his own, Percy sitting next her dad, Ron and Hermione sitting side by side, Harry sitting on his own, her mother cleaning the surface of the Weasley family clock which still had a hand for Fred. Ginny didn't stop to talk to any of them and instead walked straight past all of them and went to up to what used to be Fred and George's room. Ginny hesitated at the door considering whether or not to knock or just walk in. Ginny sighed, opened the door and walked in. George was sitting on the bed staring down at a photo frame he was holding loosely in his hands. Ginny sat down on the bed next to him and almost burst into tears when she looked down at the picture. The photo had been taken while they had been in Egypt after they had won the Daily Prophet draw. Ginny could see herself standing in between Ron and Fred. Ginny remembered the holiday fondly. Even Charlie had come with them. Ginny gently took the photo out of George's hands and put it down on the bed beside her. George turned away from her and stared out the window. Ginny placed her hand on George's shoulder.

'George?' Ginny whispered. George's head inclined slightly, indicating that he had heard her, but other than that he didn't respond. 'George, I just wanted to say that… we're here for you. Whether you like it or not.' Ginny attempted a laugh but it came out as something closer to a sob. This time George did respond. He turned to her and enveloped her in the tightest hug that he had ever given her. Ginny hugged him back and somehow managed to hold back another flood of tears. She could, however, feel George's tears falling onto her shoulder. Ginny rubbed her brother's back and held onto him as tightly as she could. Ginny hadn't seen George cry since that night, but sometimes she had heard him crying in his room at night. Not that Ginny could blame him.

'It's okay, George. You'll be okay. We're all gonna be okay.' Ginny felt George shake his head and then he suddenly sat up straight and went over to the window. Ginny watched him closely just in case he tried to do anything stupid. George lay his forehead against the cool glass and stared out at the beautiful day. Staring out at the scenery George had an overwhelming feeling of grief knowing that Fred would never again see anything so amazing, or anything at all. George, filled with grief, rage and guilt, slammed his fist against the window pane and was mildly surprised when the glass shattered and his hand was split open. He slowly turned around to face Ginny, who sprang to her feet and raced over to him, grabbing a random scarf on the way. She wrapped the scarf tightly around George's hand and led him out of the room and began the long, slow descent to the kitchen.

Halfway down the staircase, however, Ginny heard someone coming up and moved so that George's hand was hidden from view. She didn't want her mother or father to see George right now. Instead of seeing a shock of red as she had expected Ginny saw a mane of silver hair coming around the corner and breathed a sigh of relief. Fleur would heal George's hand and not a say a word to anyone, even Bill. Fleur came around the corner and stopped when she saw them, fully intending to let them pass by her.

'Fleur, can you help us, please?'

'Of course.' Fleur looked a little confused but when George silently held out his hand to her she simply nodded and carefully removed the scarf. She very quickly healed the cuts and smiled warmly at George. 'That should do it.'

'Thanks Fleur.' Ginny spoke for her brother, who would only nod. Fleur smiled again and let them pass by her. When they reached the kitchen Ginny forced George into a chair and sat down beside him.

'Now, I'm going to talk and you're going to pay attention to me. I don't care if you're not interested you have no choice. If you try to leave or if you stop paying attention I'll tell mum about your hand,' Ginny waited for George to nod and when he did she ploughed on, not caring if she hurt him even more. 'I know that you feel like a half of you is missing and although I can't say I understand that, I don't blame you. Fred was your twin and your best mate and you miss him. I get it. But we all miss him, George. Everyone misses Fred. He was our brother as well and we miss him.

'You can't blame yourself for his death. Percy, Charlie and Ron are already doing that. None of us could have saved him no matter how much we want too. You're still here, George. You're still alive and somehow I don't think that Fred would've wanted his twin to put himself through this. You get to live George and you're wasting it. You rarely come out of your room and when you do you never talk to any of us. You haven't been back to the shop yet even though you always said that as soon as the war was over you'd re-open it no matter what happened. And now that the war's over the place is still closed and is collecting more and more dust and grime. People need laughter in their life and you're the person to give it to them. You give people a reason to laugh and that's what we need right now. We need laughter and love and hope. And you give that to people.

'George, you are my brother and I love you. I hate seeing you like this. I hate seeing you quiet and broody. That's not who you are. I know that nothing is ever going to be the same again but we have to keep going. We move on from the horror and fear and live. You have never been this person you are now. Do you know why we're all finding this harder than it should be? It's because it feels as though we've lost you as well. We miss you, George. We miss your jokes, and your smile, and your laughter. We miss you just as much as we miss Fred, except your here and he isn't. I love you, George, we all do and we want you to come back to us. If you ever need anything you know that we're here for you and we always will be. Whether you want us or not. You need to keep living. If not for yourself than for Fred.'

Ginny fell silent, her voice having finally cracked on Fred's name. George continued staring at the floor and it was only when she glanced down did Ginny notice the tears falling onto the floor. Ginny pulled her brother into a hug and held onto him tightly. Ginny could feel George's shoulder shaking and her own tears began to fell from her eyes. Although George still didn't speak Ginny knew that he was going to be okay. And if George could be okay then so could she.