Hermione walked down the darkened corridor, her shadow bouncing off of the cracked walls. She was in Hogwarts again, in the secret passage Harry showed her after the war. It had been a year.
But to Hermione it wasn't the one year anniversary of when they won the war, or when her friend vanquished Voldemort, the mudblood hating monster, no, it was the anniversary of Fred's death. Her friend's death. The death of one half of the funniest Hogwartians, Rivaled only by Sirius Black, James Potter and Professor Remus Lupin, but then again, they were Freds heroes, so of course he took after the marauders, save for Wormtail, the scumbag. It was the death of a twin, and brother.
Fred Weasleys death shook the very foundation of his family's lives. (Hermione and Harry were Weasleys now anyways, even if Hermione didn't share the last name)
To honor him, on the first week anniversary of his death, the password for PotterWatch (which was slowing to a stop) had been Rapier, and George had choked out an explanation why the other founder of the radio channel wasn't on, he explained he was dead, then went off. She ran into so many teary faces that day, solemn portrayals of how she was feeling inside. The toll of the battle hit Hermione hard, but seeing Fred among the piles of the dead had nearly been to much.
It hurt so much.

Everything hurt so much.
Hermione had taken a lot of visits to PotterWatch, appearing as Reader. She always brought news of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley (who had settled down with a lovely witch recently). However anyone could tell her heart wasn't in it. When they'd asked her about Fred today, she had stated, in what she hoped was a calm voice, that "Fred was a good friend, and great brother. He will be missed. That's the funny thing, Rapier will be immortalized through his family, and friends, where as Voldemort is now merely a stain on the history books-" a dry laugh- "think of that if you ever get the urge to be a dictator. But joking aside, he was a remarkable wizard, which can be seen by the amazing spells at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."

She stopped, ready to pass the mic on before she pressed her finger back to the button, and in a softer voice, muttered out "and to all those who are weeping over him, or saddened by this loss… please don't. He lived his life making people laugh. Think of that as a final wish of sorts, eh?" But despite her careful wording and controlled voice a single tear dripped down her face.

George's voice entered the line then, "A moment of silence for rapier."
A minute passed before they said together in quiet voices, "this is PotterWatch, signing off."

Little did they know that just behind them, there was the phantom of the man they were mourning, trying to get their attention.

It had been months since the Battle of Hogwarts, and Hermione watched as slowly, but surely, wounds began to scab and scar.

Harrys self-blame had been eradicated, more or less, with the help of Ginny. He was happier now, and was able to look Mrs. Weasley in the eye without feeling utterly horrified at the deaths he felt responsible for. Ron was able to settle down with a nice witch. Percy and Charlie were around more, in fact, the loss of Fred seemed to pull them closer. Ginny was certainly better than she had been. There were still times when Hermione heard her sobbing through paper thin walls, but they were less and less frequent. Bill was now a father, which brought happy spirits to the entire family.

George was a different story. He was still very closed off, leaving Ron to work with customers while he made products at WWW's. He was only truly a shadow of himself at PotterWatch. It was as if he was picking at the scab. Like he wanted to feel the pain of losing his brother to keep Fred alive. Hermione didn't know how to help, she was nearly guilty of doing the same thing.

It was less of a for Fred thing, and more of a passing thought. A 'You saw that wall coming' or a 'Maybe if you'd been a know-it-all when it really counted' but it drug her back down none the less. She pressed such feelings back until she was truly alone, not wanting to force her problems on a grieving family she had no relation to.
That's why she was going to the Mirror of Erised.
The dark corridor finally ended in the door to the Room of Requirement. With trembling hands and a thundering heart Hermione pushed open the door to see a nearly empty room with only a mirror, and in front of it, a pensive looking George Weasley.

George was in the room, a frown marring his featured as his hand pressed to the mirror, staring right at his reflection. She doubted it was his reflection though.

She walked towards him, and he jumped, turning to her. "'Mione. What are you doing here?"

She cocked her head, "What are you doing here?"

He sighed, running a hand through his hair with a sigh, "I'm here to see him." He cocked his head at a grinning Fred, who waved merrily at her.

"It appears I am as well."

George let out a noise of surprise, "Out of the big world of things you could have, you see my brother?"

Hermione let out a shrug. "I see Fred. I consider his death my greatest failure."

Mirror Fred frowned, shaking his head, mouth forming words she couldn't read.

"I miss him." She finally declared, "It's that ache in your stomach and heart. That lump in your throat, the way your eyes burn at the thought of him. Everyone says he died a hero, which is true. The thing is, though, he shouldn't have died at all." She let out a dark laugh that made George look up, "I'm the top in class but when it comes down to it I couldn't even cast a shielding charm in time. Disgraceful, really. It's like I killed him myself."
George went completely still, blinking over at the girl who was tensed. 'is she worried I will condemn her?'

"Hermione." He started, slowly, "You didn't kill him. That was Rookwood."
"I didn't have enough knowledge to heal him either."
"There was nothing you could do. Although you tried until you were blue in the face, we had to give up."

"Honestly George-"

"If you want to repay your failure answer me this." He was now biting his lip, wondering if he should ask, before deciding on it, "Fred's gone. Does that mean I'm no longer a twin?"

She looked at him, head cocked to the side, "I believe, George, that you will always be a twin."

He sighed, a deep heaving sigh, before grabbing the short girl around the shoulder and tugging her into his side. "You really are a great girl Hermione. Fred thought the world of you."

"I reckon I feet the same."

They both watched the ornery boy behind the mirror. "This is the last time we can come her, isn't it."

She nodded, "The room will move him. It thinks we have found closure."

"Have we, though?"

She heaved another sigh. "I believe… We are as close as we can get."

She felt like a constrictor was crushing her, she felt like she was betraying him. She could only imagine how this must be for George.
She walked towards the mirror for the last time, pressing her fingers to her lips and placed a small hand on it, Fred's came to meet hers, and she could have sworn she felt warmth from his reflections hand.
"I'm sorry." She murmured, "but this is goodbye."
Then, with George's arm around her shoulders, they walked out of the hall leaving Fred behind.
The mirror shattered. A million jagged pieces on the ground. And from the frame a whisper of wind blew out. Carrying Fred's soul with it. And six feet under, in a pine box grave, Fred opened his eyes for the first time in a year