Disclaimer- I do not own any of the characters, as I am not J.K Rowling (however much I would like to be) I respect her and her work.
Angelina and George sat in silence in the dark room, a few candles illuminating their faces and the faces of people sitting around them. The chairs they sat on were rickety and poorly made – "Muggle-made" as George had put it, quite sourly. Angelina rested a hand on her friend's shoulder, and immediately regretted it. It was too hard. Every time she looked at George, she was reminded of him; the one she had lost. No, that wasn't right. He wasn't lost, that would imply that there was even the smallest chance that he would return, and there was not. Not even the smallest chance. No, he was taken from her – from both of them, her and George.
The room was filled with wizards and witches about their age, with a few younger and older; all feeling the loss of the last few months. It was September 1997, and George had just seen his youngest sibling – his little sister Ginny- off to complete her education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; which had been hastily rebuilt during the month's following the final battle. He was the most reluctant to let her go. His mother had been hysterical when her daughter had first suggested returning to school at all, but George went mad. He screamed at her, he shouted, he bawled, he did anything and everything to avoid losing his little sister to a place he still considered unsafe. George still couldn't erase all the bad memories of that place, where he had once been so happy. The memory of seeing his brother, cold on the floor, his face creased into the lines of a last defiant smile, included in thoughts which would never leave him.
He looked at Angelina, who had risen from her seat to speak whilst he had been thinking. She spoke quietly of their mutual loss, tears springing to her dark eyes as she spoke. Angelina told them about Fred, her loss, his loss.
It had been Percy's idea; the support group. He had even offered to go with his little brother, but Angelina said she would go; she had not been coping well herself. Of all his siblings, George had found Percy the most supportive. Bill had been looking after his wife, who had recently been ill, and Charlie had quickly spirited himself back to Romania, after their mother had composed herself.
Ron had, after spending months grieving for his brother, spent the last few weeks glued to the face of Hermione Granger, whom he had started dating at the end of the war. Ginny was inconsolable for the first few months, as they had all been, but soon focused her mind on her studies. Percy had been there for him. He deeply regretted not making up with his family soon enough, he felt an immense guilt over his brother's death, nearly as much as George did.
Angelina soon became an extra Weasley in the months following the first support group meeting. She would come to dinner at the Burrow afterwards, be crushed against the bosom of Mrs Weasley, and would proceed sit between George and Ron, in Fred's seat. George and Angelina became as close as George and Fred had ever been. She understood his feelings and thoughts; she could predict and decipher his emotions, she saw in George things that others had bypassed.
The Weasley family welcomed the addition of Angelina to their meals with as much warmth as they could muster. The first time that Angelina had walked through their door on a Friday night, Mrs Weasley half expected to see Fred trotting behind her, as he had always done. She was slightly dismayed when it was George that appeared behind the beautiful girl, and not Fred. They sat down next to each other, rather awkwardly, and ate in silence until Harry asked Angelina; "Play much Quidditch these days?"
Angelina replied that she played still; she did not play often, and wished she had more time to play and refine her skills. She inquired after Hermione and Ginny, who had returned together to take their final year at Hogwarts, which Hermione had missed because of the war.
"I haven't heard much from Hermione," started Harry.
"Probably studying," interrupted Ron.
George looked at his younger brother and started making kissey faces; "Not heard from you girlfriend either Ron?"
He ignored the teasing, though his ears turned red, and continued the conversation he had been having with Fleur, who was a few months pregnant.
The addition of Angelina to their meals became a regular affair at the Weasley house, and once or twice, Mr Weasley took it upon himself to ask Angelina a few, slightly personal, questions. One of which was; "Have a secret boyfriend hidden away somewhere Angie? That you haven't told us about?" He was teasing of course, but the though of someone replacing Fred in Angelina's heart hurt Mr Weasley, she might not want to come around anymore. He wanted her there because he enjoyed her company that was the truth of it, however selfish the notion may be. Angelina just blushed and continued to eat her meal.
One Friday night, about seven or so years after the end of the war, they sat down for dinner with their extended family. George and Angelina arrived home to the cries of Bill's daughters, six year old Victoire and four year old Dominique, and Percy's daughter Molly, aged two. Bill and Fleur were already seated at the table, along with Mr Weasley, Percy and his wife Audrey, Harry, Ginny and the recently engaged Ron and Hermione. The remaining members of the clan sat down and began to greedily wolf down Mrs Weasley's homemade meat pie. When he'd finished George and Angelina started to converse and laugh rather animatedly, much to the amusement of the youngest Weasleys. At the end of the evening, a rather confused Victoire stood up from her game, her long silvery Veela hair (inherited from her mother) swaying down her back, and walked towards her uncle. "Uncle Georgie?" she asked sweetly.
"Yes?"
"I'm staging an intervention," replied the confident six-year old, "why don't you and Aunty Angelina get married?"
Her grandfather and uncles let out a gasp. Ginny sighed and got down on the floor to talk to her niece; "Vic, don't say thing like that!" she scolded, and then she returned to her previous seat, Harry's lap. Mrs Weasley, on the other hand, looked completely taken aback, and turned to her daughter; "Why not?"
Mrs Weasley looked at her son, one half of her twins, the only memory of the son she had lost, and said;
"I can't see why my dear little Vicky should be told she is wrong. It is perfectly acceptable for her to ask, I have been thinking the same thing; why don't you two start something?"
The family looked on as Angelina began to blush and George's ear grew red, he threw down his head and replied solemnly; "Fred."
The rest of the family nodded in understanding. The room grew dark and the atmosphere clung to those situated there; the bombshell had been dropped. Mrs Weasley was the only one who seemed undaunted by the mention of her dead son's name. Leaning closer to her son and Angelina, she whispered; "Fred would have wanted you to be happy; you will not be betraying him if you are happy. Does Angie make you happy?"
The two looked up into the wise face of the speaker, and knew the answer.
George did not have a best man at his wedding; he believed it would be an insult to his brother's memory. He glanced up from Angelina's face every now and again throughout the service, his eyes full of hope that his brother was watching. That he was proud. That he saw that he had brought his brother happiness and that Angelina was his happiness too. He hoped he would not feel jealousy, or anger, or betrayal. He hoped his brother would be supportive, and loving, and caring, just as he had always been. As they were bound together, George looked at Angelina and knew they shared thoughts; of the lost brother, the fighter, the joker, of Fred; the Weasley who would never return to the Burrow.
"I love you," he said.
Somehow, Angelina didn't think he was talking to her.
