Weeks after the war and you could still hear people celebrating from miles away. Voldemort was dead, everyone should be happy but happiness was not a feeling that you could associate with the family's that had lost a loved one in the midst of the battle.
Dust was setting in and the sky look glorious on that Sunday evening. The sky was painted with orange and reds, which formed the most exotic of colours. The blue, blending into the sky of reds and oranges to form a beautiful purple on the horizon. The Burrow stood tall on the outskirts of Ottery St Catchpole. Long elegant shadows marked the bumpy roadway, that led the family of wizards to the village very often.
The normal house that was usually filled with noise and happiness was now filled with silence and tears. The family still raw over the death of there Son/Brother. Everyone had a different way of grieving and in this family's case, the way they grieved was to not talk until the pain went away but the pain of losing a loved one would never go away.
The body of Fred Weasley, still fresh in the ground outside the family home. It was never going to go away, the pain.
Everyone grieved over Fred's death differently. Molly would cry constantly as she watched the clock with all her children's faces on the golden hands. Fred's hand pointed to lost and it broke her heart because even though she knew where he was, she would not be able to find him standing there with a cheeky grin on his face and George by his side. Arthur was trying to hold it together for his wife and remaining children, though at night he would cry downstairs hoping that no one would hear him. Everyone heard him but nobody spoke of it.
After the funeral, Bill had went back to shell cottage. He didn't grieve like the others. He didn't even cry, he swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to get on with his life the best he could. Charlie had stayed at the burrow after the funeral, he couldn't leave his family like this. He turned to the firewhisky and was seen punching the burrow walls on the outside and screaming in the middle of the driveway. Percy had gone from being in denial, to anger,to bargaining, to depression. He blamed himself and wouldn't dare leave his room encase of running into George on the landing but what he didn't know was that George had already left to the flat above the joke-shop.
Depression was something that the Weasley twins never thought they would experience. At the same time, they never thought that one would die and the other would feel like he was drowning. Depression was what George felt and as he often slipped into the bath to wash his battle scars, he would lean back and let his head slide under the water. The water surrounding his face and bubbles coming to the surface. He would close his eyes and just wait for death, death to take him back to his other half. Then he would think about his already grieving mother, grieving siblings and resurface.
Bargaining. The third stage of grieve that usually came after anger and before depression. Ginny Weasley was experiencing the third stage of grieve and Harry Potter could do nothing about it except try and make it better. She let him hug her and then she would scream and cry. Harry had never seen her like this before and the thought that he had caused this broke his heart. "Make this not happen and i will do anything" Harry didn't know if she was talking to him or praying but either way, he pulled her closer.
Numbness. Ronald Weasley had went through every stage in a matter of weeks. Denial, Anger, Bargaining and Depression. He had yet to hit Acceptance but was currently in a state of numbness and shock. All he did was stay in his room, the room he had missed so much when he was away on the horcrux hunt. It didn't matter that their woman, children and muggleborns were much safer on the streets. It didn't matter that the dark lord had perished. None of these matter any more, not to him. All that mattered in his mind was that his brother had died during an explosion and he couldn't help him. He was so close to where his brother had died and knowing he couldn't help him, hurt him to the core.
The burrow was filled with silence. You could here a pin drop, it was that silent. Ronald Weasley lay in his room, staring up at the ceiling. His mind fogging up with memories of Fred Weasley. His mind so far away that he didn't even hear someone knocking on his door until a bushy haired brunette walked in with a tray of food.
Ron finally noticed Hermione who had tear tracks streaming down her face as she rested the tray of food on his bedside table. The smell of food wafted into Ron's nostrils and without feeling hungry or overjoyed that he now had food. Instead, he felt sick at the sight of it. "I'm not hungry" his voice cracked as he turned back to staring at the ceiling.
"You have to eat" Hermiones voice sounded distressed and for some reason, Ron sat up in his bed and began taking small bites of his mothers cooking. They had yet to talk about the kiss that had happened during the war and there feelings. The feelings that had been brewing for seven years.
"Do you need any help with getting through this" Hermione asked shuffling towards the bed. She wasn't sure whether to smile at him or burst into tears because Fred had been like a brother to her.
"I can manage" Ron tried to snap but it came out more like he was going to bawl any second.
"You don't need to" Hermione took her chance and sat down on the edge of his bed. He needed her and she needed him. After everything they had been through, he couldn't shut her
out now.
"I can't remember..." his voice cracked as he felt a lump creep up in his throat. "I can't remember what his last words to me were"
"It doesn't matter" Hermione tried to comfort him. "He was your brother and all that matters is that even though he didn't say it, he loved you and you loved him"
"He IS my brother" Ron corrected her fiercely. "I just wish i remember what his last words to me were"
They sat in silence. The silence not comfortable but more tension filled. The tension in the room felt like they had just had an argument and were now waiting for the other to apologize.
Hermione let out a sigh as she looked over at Ron who had stopped eating and was now looking at his door as if he expected someone to walk in.
"It's okay to need comforting Ron" said Hermione sadly. Ron still looked at the door. His eyes never leaving the door knob.
"I keep expecting him to walk through the door and make some sexual remark about us being in my bedroom, alone" Ron told her. His face not blushing at the thought like hers was. She laughed softly and then as soon as it had came, the laughter had gone and her lips were now in a thin line.
"I keep thinking that this was some big misunderstanding." he paused and turned back to Hermione who was listening very carefully. "He's been here my whole life and now he's gone"
Hermione felt the lump in the back of her throat and swallowed, trying desperately not to cry any more tears. She turned to look at the door for a second before turning back to Ron. "As long as you remember how he was" she moved closer towards him, wanting him to comfort her as much as he needed comforting, "Nothing anyone says or does can take him away" she rested her hand on his thigh. Ron turned away from her as Hermiones hand lingered on his thigh before she slowly took her hand back and they sat in yet more silence. The silence wasn't filled with Tension like the last one instead this one was more comfortable.
Ron lifted his arm up and snaked it around Hermiones waist. She was caught completely off guard as he pulled her down into a hug. Her head resting on his chest as she felt Ron's slow and steady heartbeats. "Thank you for this" Ron muttered into her bushy messy hair. Hermione smiled before she could stop herself. "I didn't really do much" she felt Ron's lips pressing into her scalp before he replied. "You did"
They didn't need to say anything after that. They just held eachother closely, no words intended. They loved eachother and they knew that the other felt the same without having to say the words. The love Hermione felt for him was in the way she comforted him and the love Ron felt for her was in the way he assured her with two simple words: "You did"