If Only

Everything was numb. All he could do was look down at body on the floor and let the crystal tears fall. They came easily; much more easily than movement or speech.

There were two overwhelming feelings inside of him at this moment. One was relief, though in its slightest form, as Voldemort had been defeated once and for all. But the relief was overpowered by despair.

George Weasley was staring down at his twin's lifeless body, which lay on the floor of the great hall at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Fred was completely intact, from the tip of his mop of smooth ginger hair to the toes of his brown leather shoes. Parts of him were still warm, but others were as stone cold as the marble floor. His face still had the joyful expression which he had made when Percy had told that fateful joke, but it was no longer funny; the amusement had worn off long ago.

George could not recall how long he had been sitting there, staring at the face that he and his twin had shared. All he knew was although that celebration had been going on around him, and other mourners had mourned, including some of his family, though they left him to have some time on his own, time seemed to have completely stopped now that Fred was gone. He realised that this was the first time he had been well and truly alone, ever.

Occasionally he had glanced down the row of dead to see Lupin, the funny, brave Marauder, or Nymphadora Tonks, the legendary Northern metamorphmagus who preferred to be known by her last name. His gaze would have only rested on them for a second, before they snuck back to his brother, but seeing them made it seem worse. Made it seem all the more real.

It was quite a while before someone approached him, and he couldn't have thought of anyone less likely to have come over. "George," drifted the dreamy voice of Luna Lovegood, though it had much more despair in it than usual. "Don't give up." At once he spun around to face her, angry tears starting to spill down his face. He made no effort to stop them. "You don't understand," he said quietly, but it was somehow more powerful now than it could have been if he had yelled. "He's my other half. He was my other half." He corrected himself, though his voice was shaking.

George opened his mouth to speak once again, but before words could tumble out, he found himself enveloped in a hug. He couldn't help but notice that Luna's messy blonde hair smelled like citrus.

Just as quickly as she hugged him, she released him. "I want to tell you something." She said, her voice almost a whisper, her eyes bright with excitement, the cuts on her face glinting in the light. George stayed quiet, praying in his head it wasn't a love confession. She reached into the pocket and pulled out a small silver stone, and pressed it into his palm, the jagged edges cutting his hand slightly. His breath caught in his throat, and before he could enquire as to what it was, she said it for him.

"This is the Resurrection Stone." Luna said breathlessly. "You know its purpose, I assume?" George nodded, eyes fixed upon her face. "But you don't know what it can do to the recently dead." A look of confusion filled his face, and he tilted his head slightly. "What can it do?" he asked, intrigued.

Luna, on her knees, padded over to the side to get to Fred. George almost stopped her, but he decided not to. Something inside him told him this was right. Just as gently as she had closed Dobby's eyes at Shell Cottage, she opened Fred's mouth, breaking his last expression and making him seem slightly hysterical. Without warning, she grabbed George's hand, making his pulse race and his cheeks heat.

"Put it in his mouth." Luna said excitedly, her eyes scarily eager about feeding his dead twin a disgusting old stone. The moment broke, and George frowned. "Why do you seem so excited? Fred's dead. Not even the darkest of magic could change that." Luna rolled her eyes, an action he never would have expected from her. "I'll do it then." She prised his clenched fist open and grabbed the stone, and before he could stop her, Luna dropped the stone into Fred's mouth.

"What the hell are you do-" Before he could finish, a slight fizzing sound came from Fred, and his eyes fell on his twin. The stone was dissolving, right before his eyes, and something else was changing.

Fred's chest was slowly moving up and down, and his eyes flickered. Disbelief showed clearly on George's face; this was too good to be true. He looked to Luna. "This is the last action the stone will ever fulfil." She answered the question he was thinking.

A gasping noise came from next to him. "What happened?" piped an all too familiar voice. George span around. There was Fred, and this time, not in corpse form. He was as real as could be. "How long was I out for?" The whole hall was silent, shocked. But the silence soon turned into roars of joy, and a surge of Weasleys came forward, screeching and crying tears of joy. But they were too late, for George was already hugging Fred so tight he might have strangled him. After a moment, he let go, beaming into his brother's face. "Don't ever leave again."

George was aware of Luna next to him, and he turned to face her, no sign of pain on his face any longer. "Thank you, thank you so much." As she smiled, George felt something he had never felt for anyone before.

It was because of that feeling, that he kissed her.

A bemused Fred looked over his mother's shoulder, for she was hugging him, and over the catcalls, he smiled. "Seriously now, how long was I out for?"