A New Year

December thirty-first, New Year's Eve. It was supposed to be a happy, pleasant occasion, filled with laughter, fun, and family. But the laughter wasn't there, the fun was nonexistent, and the whole family would never be together again.

George sat quietly on his bed, slowly sifting through the clump of photos in his hands: Two redheaded boys celebrating their second birthday together, both waving and giggling happily...

The same two boys one year later, huddled around their new baby sister with the rest of their brothers. They were smiling up at the camera with mischievous grins on their faces, occasionally poking the baby girl, who started to cry...

The same boys, years later, in new dress robes, ready to board the Hogwarts' Express for the first time...

A Quidditch team grouped together, all smiling and laughing. The same identical boys were in the picture, both shouldering their beaters' clubs...

The same Quidditch team two years after the first was taken, this time holding up the Quidditch Cup and smiling triumphantly...

The two brothers again, this time standing in front of a shop in Diagon Alley, the sign above their heads identifying the shop as Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. They were smiling proudly and giving the thumb's up...

Christmas of the same year: Most of the family was there, including a few others. George turned the picture around to read the names on the back. "Arthur, Molly, Bill, Fleur, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Remus, Christmas 1996."

The very last photo had been taken only a few days ago. It was Christmas time again, two years after the other Christmas picture. George's eyes lingered on this one the longest. Unlike the rest of the pictures, not everyone in the photo seemed to be very happy. George's parents were there, but both looked tired and worn, smiling wearily at the camera. Bill and Fleur were both smiling, and one of Fleur's hands rested gently on her protruding belly. Charlie was there, too, smiling half-heartedly and looking a tad uncomfortable at being among all the grief and uneasiness. He didn't look as uncomfortable as Percy, though, who looked as if he hadn't slept in a while, and he glanced up at the camera sheepishly, twitching his lips in a nervous smile every once in a while. The only happy people in the picture were the ones in the front. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny were all laughing and sharing jokes as they grinned up at the camera, Hermione and Ginny both sporting diamond rings on their left hand. Both Ron and Harry had surprised their girlfriends on Christmas day, neither one knowing that the other was planning to do the same thing. In Harry's arms was eight-month-old Teddy Lupin, who seemed to be fascinated with his godfather's glasses, and kept trying to pull them off. Harry just laughed some more and fixed his glasses, only to have them pulled off again. Standing in the back, partly hidden behind Bill and Charlie, was George, hands in his pockets and shoulders hunched. His face was smiling for the picture, but his eyes showed the hurt and sadness that he still felt at the loss of his brother. It was the first picture to be taken of him in which his brother wasn't there beside him.

George set the pictures down net to him and wearily rubbed his hands across his face. He knew it wasn't any use to anyone for him to be sad all the time, and he tried hard to be cheerful and pleasant around his friends and family, it was just when he was alone that it was hard. And that was the reason...he was alone. It was still a new feeling to him, and he still had not become used to it. For all his nineteen years, when he had been distant from friends or family, he had known that he could always count on Fred. Fred, who always understood him...who was always there for him. And he had always been there for Fred. Except when he needed me the most, that voice inside his head spoke. No, he told himself, I didn't know it would happen, there was nothing I could have done even if I was there. There was an explosion, and he was there when it happened, he couldn't escape.

It made him feel a little better, but it still didn't stop the ache in his heart.

He could hear voices and laughter coming from the backyard, people greeting old friends and sharing news. The Weasley's had decided to hold a large New Year's Eve party, and invited anyone and everyone they knew, telling Harry and Hermione to do the same. It was time to celebrate, they said, and to prepare for a new year, and not to dwell on the past. It was a good idea, and apparently everyone else had thought so too, for almost every single person accepted the invitation with much excitement. The family had spent all day preparing outside, setting up tables, cooking food, and hanging decorations. Now everyone was arriving, and the noise was gradually ascending.

There was a faint knock on the door, and Harry poked his head in. "George? You want to come downstairs? People are coming by the hundreds, and Lee, Angelina, and Oliver have been asking for you."

"Okay, I'm coming," George replied, but didn't show any sign of moving. He looked at the pictures still in his hands and tried to tune out the voices out on the lawn.

Harry came in, carrying Teddy in his arms. Andromeda, Tonks' mother, must have come to the party as well. Harry sat down on Fred's old bed, bouncing the young Lupin on his knee absentmindedly as he looked at George. "You okay?"

George nodded mutely. Neither of the young men spoke for a while, just listening to the cheerful voices outside the window, then George finally broke the silence. "It's just that we've always been together for things like this, and now I'm having to do them without him...first Christmas without him," he nodded at the pictures sitting beside him, the most recent Christmas picture on the top of the pile, "and now the first New Year alone..."

"Not alone," said Harry sharply, causing George to look up. "You have the rest of your family here; you don't need to forget about them. They lost a son and a brother, too. You can help each other."

George smiled. "Thanks, mate."

He and Harry both stood up. Teddy Lupin held his arms out to George and smiled. Harry laughed. "Here you go, Uncle George, I think he wants you." George took the baby up in his arms and tossed him into the air, safely catching him again, while Teddy giggled madly. His hair changed from green to yellow, and George and Harry laughed. They walked down the stairs and out into the lawn, George still carrying Teddy in his arms. He heard a familiar voice call his name.

"George! Over here!" He looked around and spotted Lee Jordan sitting at one of the many picnic tables, along with Oliver Wood, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnett, and Katie Bell. They were waving him over, and Lee pulled a chair out for him. He walked over and sat down between Lee and Angelina. He sat Teddy on his lap and started bouncing him on his knee like Harry had done.

"Aww, who's this?" Angelina cooed, gently running her fingers through the baby's now blue hair.

"This is Teddy Lupin, everyone," George said to his friends. He was glad they could talk about something other than Fred...a subject that always came up when he was with them. It was nice to talk about something else for a change.

"Lupin...isn't that the name of our Defense teacher, back in my seventh year?" Oliver asked.

George nodded. "Lupin and his wife were both killed in June during the..." he stopped, but the damage had already been done. Everyone's eyes shifted uncomfortably and then they all looked down at the table. George knew they were all thinking of Fred. He tried to bring the conversation back to normal. "Anyway, his grandmother's taking care of him now, but Harry's his godfather, so he takes care of him every once in a while, too."

Teddy Lupin looked around at everyone at the table, and then held his arms out to Angelina, who took him with a small laugh, breaking the tension at the table. Teddy looked up at them happily, as if knowing that he had helped them in forgetting their grief for a while.

The night passed pleasantly after that, the friends reminiscing on past times, happy memories instead of sad, and joked around, something they hadn't done in a long time. Soon the countdown to the New Year began.

"Ten...nine...eight..." People were changing all around them, and George and his friends joined in. George thought back on the past year and everything he had gone through.

"Seven...six..."

It would be hard to let him go, but George knew that if he kept thinking about his brother, he himself would never have a chance to live.

"Five...four..."

He decided right then and there to use this New Year as a new way to live. He would go on, keeping Fred's memory in his heart, always reminding him to live life to the fullest...for his friends, for his family... For Fred...

"I love you, brother," he whispered.

"THREE...TWO...ONE!"

Everyone around him cheered, and, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted off him, George joined in.