"After the war"
Those were the words they had told each other upon reuniting in the Room of Requirement. Those were the words they told each other at Bill and Fleur's wedding.
It seemed to be fated to happen after all.
Fred cradled her lifeless body in his arms, careful not to move her unnaturally. Even if her spirit had left her body, he held on as if he had hope, tears streaming down his cheeks rapidly as he hiccuped.
Ron and Harry were speechless and there was two reasons for this. Their best friend, the girl they watched grow up from an 11 year old bushy haired know-it-all, to the brightest witch of Hogwarts, had died. The other being the obvious show of strong affection from Ron's older brother Fred.
The two didn't seem close before going off for the Horcrux hunt. They seemed as if it was Charlie or even Bill talking with Hermione. They hadn't seen it.
Harry now knew why she had been so eager to tune into Potterwatch, despite being on a hunt. He now knew why she had clung to the voices from the radio. He now knew every single one of her reasonings.
"May I have this dance, dear Hermione?" Fred bowed jokingly as he offered his freckled pale hand to his younger brother's classmate.
"Of course, dear Frederick." she smiled, taking his hand and placing one on his shoulder as the music became a slower tune.
George noticed how Fred and Hermione watched each other, softness in their eyes, the way they swayed together, and how close they stood with her head eventually staying on his chest and his chin delicately on top of her hair. Fred was almost hugging her, his arms wrapped safely around her petite and shorter frame. It was as if the world around them stopped and they could savour this one moment together, just the two of them. They seemed to love each other even more than the bride and groom. No, they did love each other more than the bride and groom. No one could love someone more than Fred could Hermione.
That much was apparent to George and Harry, the two who couldn't be more blind to romance.
It was so she could reassure herself that he was okay. George and Harry had seen how Fred and Hermione gazed lovingly at each other at the wedding, how they danced together, and how they had even snuck off for a few minutes.
Harry felt guilty that he had, in a way, taken away such a beautiful relationship from two people who loved each other.
He watched sorrowfully as Fred mourned the loss of Hermione, the woman whom he thought of as a sister and whom Fred thought of as a future. Many tears erupted from Harry's eyes. Another relationship destroyed by the Voldemort... How many more would perish until the sick bastard disappeared for good?
It was the first time Harry saw anyone this broken. Hell, Fred didn't even make any attempt to wipe his tears or try to stay silent, he openly wept. Even Ron and George were surprised by this. To them, it was the very first time they'd seen him cry.
George crouched down beside Fred and parted Hermione's hair from her face, and mumbled in a sad tone, quietly "Fred... We should bring her to the Great Hall." Fred nodded and slowly stood up, holding Hermione the strong-willed, compassionate, loyal-until-death woman whom deserved nothing more than a long peaceful life without the overwhelming fear of death or violence to torment her. What had she done to deserve such an end? Did the universe despise them so much they couldn't let her survive this much?
In the Great hall, many people turned to see the Weasley twin carrying the Gryffindor princess, the one who was so knowledgeable from the very beginning. Sad glances cracked throughout the crowd as they realised the worst had happened.
Hermione Granger had died protecting those she loved.
Flanked on his right, George had a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder as he carried her towards an empty cot. On his left, he had Ron and Harry clearing a few boxes and debris and opening a cot to lay down their best friend.
The second half of the battle had now just ended. Why did they have to lose even more?!
George weeping just as loudly as his twin had hugged Fred who was laid in a cot, lifeless and wounded from the battle.
Why?! Why had this happened!? First, he had been made to experience the pain of watching his brother lose the woman he loved his soulmate and now he had to watch that very same brother his other half die before him? How could life hate him this much!?
George pushed his brother's cot next to Hermione's and reached for her left hand and his right and placed them together, much like Bill and Charlie had for Remus and Nymphadora.
"George, what are you doing?" His mother asked through her many tears.
It took many seconds before George was able to muster up an answer. "We're going to bury them together." through his mother's confusion and his dad about to say something, he spoke again. "They'd have wanted this."
His father who had wanted to say something closed his mouth and nodded. It was clear that he had seen how the two had looked at each other and how they interacted. And his own memory of the wedding confirmed any suspicions that he had had at the time.
"I agree." Everyone looked to Harry as he sat beside George and admired the two fallen warriors that he had known for more than half of his life. "Together. They should be together."
"Then we'll do that."
May 4th, 1999
The first anniversary of the battle came along quicker than most people had realised.
The first grandchild of Arthur and Molly had been born that very morning, named appropriately Victoire Weasley. Victory; it fit well. Everyone in the Weasley clan thought as Bill held his daughter in his arms.
Hogwarts held a ceremony to commemorate those fallen in battle, those who had fought, and they remembered the battles that had defeated a long running evil. Parents of the fallen had shown up, parents from both sides of the war, old professors and some students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had come to pay their respects.
A large stone stood in one corner of the courtyard, commemorating the 50 fallen students and the many more who fought.
Though George Fabian Weasley was elsewhere.
He stood in one of the many fields, two stones in front of him.
Frederick Gideon Weasley
1st of April, 1978 4th of May, 1998
"After the war"
Hermione Jean Granger
17th of September, 1979 4th of May, 1998
"After the war"
George lay the reefs of flowers and sat beside the two isolated stones. Taking out a small music box, the slow tune of their dance from the wedding played quietly, flooding memories of his brother and his lover back to George's memory.
Here, it felt right to have them buried. Where Fred and Hermione seem to have had their first connection, the connection that had connected them for the years to come into a journey of ups and downs. It felt right to have them here as their resting place, seeing as it had been the end of their journey together.
"Thank you, George." George lifted his head and strained his ear. He looked around and saw the faint outline of his brother, the sunlight radiated from behind him, making him nearly impossible to see. His transparent form had him in the clothes and rough shape that he had been in that night.
"Thank you so much" Beside his brother, was the transparent form of what could have been his sister-in-law, Hermione. The sun was so bright you could barely make out the details, but George could see them. He could see them clear as day
"If you ever need us, we'll be here." the two said together. They floated towards George and gave him some sort of odd cold hug, but it felt warm to the living Weasley.
The three finally stood up and walked/floated towards the school, simply waiting to show everyone what the universe had decided to give him; the spirits of Fred and Hermione would live on for centuries to come in the school where they had met, and where they had met their ends.
Many tales would be spread about the two in a good century or two, and they would gladly pass on their tales to the eager minds who wanted to listen.
This was but the beginning for the two who would later be dubbed
The Fallen Lovers of Hogwarts