The battle was over. George was sad because of Fred. Fred didn't know how everything ended, how it happened. George was sad because he lost his brother, his twin brother. He didn't know how to live with that, he didn't want to live without him. He was sure he could never smile like he did with him or laugh. The day Fred died was the day George lost half of himself. They were so close and now, that one of them is dead, George isn't himself.

George continued running the shop, alone, it was the only thing that he had left from Fred. He tried finding new ideas for the shop, but it hurt him so much thinking about something funny for the shop without Fred. The shop was their dream and now that he didn't have Fred, he didn't want the shop. It was the only thing that reminded him of Fred, but it also reminded him that Fred wasn't there.

Half a year or so after the battle, George visited Hogwarts to clean some of the mess left. He cleaned until he found a room. He entered the room for some rest. All the cleaning reminded him of the pranks he and Fred used to pull on students and teachers, sometimes even the headmaster. He looked around the room and spotted a mirror with gold crust, and upon the crust was written "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi".

George heard about the mirror, it was called the mirror of erised. He knew it was supposed to show your deepest desire, and that if you read what is written on the mirror backwards it will spell "I show not your face but your heart's desire".

He looked into the mirror expecting to see his brother, for that was what he wanted the most. He looked, but he only saw himself. He stormed out of the room, frustrated for not seeing his brother, but if he would have looked more closely he would have seen a difference. He would have seen himself with two ears, a slightly different posture and that the person in the mirror was smiling a smile meaning trouble. If he looked more closely, he would have known he saw his brother.