Chapter One
It was finally over with, finally done, the Dark Lord was defeated, but no one felt much like celebrating. The weeks after the final battle were spent in burying the dead. Harry went to all the funerals, feeling responsible for those killed, although he hid behind his cloak at the ones held for the Death Eaters. Even if they had been on the opposite side of a war from him, even if they had killed others, they were still people. Harry after all had someone's blood on his hands, an experience he found he had no wish to repeat. Explaining to Ron that he didn't want to join the Aurors had been a hard conversation, explaining to Ginny that he needed to do some soul searching before settling down had been even harder. He still remembered her tears and he wished that he could of waited, yet he couldn't do that to Ginny, who he cared about. He couldn't hold back something from her because it was incontinent.
Harry stared at the coffin, at the pale face of George and the Weasley brothers, who had been the pole bearers to help Fred to his final resting place. Fred had been so young and it was so unfair, Harry knew that no matter how bad he might be feeling, the Weasleys and George were feeling worse.
Harry hesitated, before stepping forward to be with the people he considered his family. He felt Bill put an arm around him as he walked over to where they stood. "Your one of us Harry, maybe not by blood, but once Mum has decided that your her's its no use in arguing with her." Bill said and Harry nodded.
"I'm so sorry."
"You must not blame yourself, it wasn't your fault, none of this was your fault." Ginny said and her eyes filled with tears.
"I still feel responsible."
"You aren't Rookwood is." George said gripping the coffin lid tightly. Harry hesitated a moment, before going over to George and taking his hand.
"I know that Rookwood might be responsible for Fred's death, but he wouldn't be there if it wasn't for me."
"We've always been a light family Harry, even if I never met you, we would have still fought against Voldemort." Ron said. "You have a tendency to put the world on your shoulders mate."
"I'd like to help out in the shop, if you need me George, until the pain isn't so fresh." Harry said and George looked so gratefully at Harry that Harry got a lump in his throat.
"I'd appreciate that and being given some time to myself." George said and Harry smiled.
"Its not like I have any idea of what I'm doing with my life, its no bother to spend a while at the shop while I try to figure everything out." Harry said as people started to file into the chairs, once everyone was seated a ministry official stepped forward.
"It is my duty to see to the last moments of our kind, as we are born out of magic, to magic we return, our magic becoming once more part of the collective. Who knows where we go after death, yet Fred Weasley was never the type to linger in life, nor would he linger in death. Fred Weasley was the fourth child born to Arthur and Molly Weasley, every day he lived life to the fullest. His friends and even those who did not know him well remember him fondly and he was a fine young man, though fond of tricks and trouble. Though his magic may be absorbed into the void, along with his spirit, his memory will live on in the lives of those he touched. Fred has six siblings that survive him, as well as dear friends that are like family. They will keep his memory alive for their children and grandchildren."
"So mote it be." The crowd said together.
"Now those that knew him best will say a few words." The ministry official said and when no one else wanted to go first Harry stepped forward and ran a hand through his hair.
"Fred was one of the first people I met going to Hogwarts in my first year. I'd never been around wizards, before I got my letter and was raised by muggles. Without the Weasleys I'd most probably have missed my first train, having no notion how to get to the platform. I saw the way they teased their little brother together and I remember wishing that I had siblings myself. Fred was always with George and the two never seemed to leave one another's sides in all the time I knew them. I think that most of us all saw them as a pair, as they wished to be seen by others. Fred's laughter and pranks got me through some hard times and his sense of humor helped me along the way. You know who your true friends are when they slip your cousin a toffee to make his tongue grow five feet. Fred was a true and loyal friend to any who had the privilege of calling him their friend. He would do anything for his friends and family. He always wanted others to laugh even at the darkest of times. I'll never forget how he was around others, when his brother lost part of his ear helping me to get to safety one time, he said that George had a whole variety of ear related humor and he had stuck with holey. So for Fred, even though we miss him, lets not try to make this day about sadness, I don't believe he would want that. Instead lets remember him as he would be remembered, with laughter and joy." Harry stepped back into silence and felt George hugging him.
"Thank you." George said and Harry nodded, as George started to cry. Harry was uncertain of what to do, so he somewhat awkwardly patted George on the back.
"I think that we could use a brief break." Harry said. "We'll come back in a moment." He added and helped George into the house. Molly had baked enough for an army, the table was full of sweets and candies of all kinds. Harry helped George to the couch and held him as George clung to his shirt and cried. All Harry could do was hold him, he knew that George would want to be at his brother's funeral, would regret missing it in time. Yet how could Harry suggest that they go out there together. Harry pulled a bottle from his robe, took a nip of it, before passing it to George, who gulped from the bottle like it was water. "Easy Georgie." Harry said. "This has cheering charms added to it, I use it at the worse ones." Harry said and took the bottle back.
"Do they help?"
"Somewhat, but not that much." Harry admitted. "There is no permanent curer for grief except time." He added. "Still as hard as this must be for you, I don't think you want to miss it. We can stay for a while, let you gather yourself so to speak, but we should go back."
"I don't want to, I don't want to think of him in the ground, being eaten by worms, his flesh slowly rotting off his body. I want to think of him laughing with me, of what we used to do together, not of how it ended or this day."
"I understand that Georgie, but someday if you don't go, you wish that you would have and you will want to remember this day as one that sucked horribly, but one you got through reasonably sober."
"I just want the pain to go away, why can't it go away?" George demanded and Harry hugged him.
"Pain is part of life, as is joy. I hate feeling pain, or being miserable, but it makes me appreciate all the times I have been happy in my life and all the happiness I have yet to come."
"I can't imagine being happy without George."
"It will make you feel better to say it, to say how you feel. Your family and friends will understand and its better to say it when everyone is remembering him, then in a few months or years, when someone isn't expecting it. This is coming from someone that doesn't enjoy sharing his problems with other people." Harry said. "When Sirius died, I wish that I had someone to talk to me, like I'm talking to you."
"Alright I'll go." George said and they stood together. Harry reached for his handkerchief and dried off his eyes as George did the same. They then walked back together to where the hole had been dug in the backyard.
"Alright there Georgie?" Bill asked and George shook his head.
"How can I be alright, when he's gone. He's always been with me, when we were small we were rarely without each other. I remember not even Mum could tell us apart. Fred said when we were about three that if we were both going to get into trouble for his pranks, we might as well act similarly. Without Fred I wouldn't be who I am today. Fred was the one person in the world that I wanted most to be and I think he wanted to be like me as well. Fred was the creative one, he was always coming up with wild ideas and plans which he never quite knew how to fallow through on. That was where I would come in and determine how exactly what he thought up was going to work. We were two people that worked and lived as one, except for some matters where we both agreed that we go our separate ways. Fred was always more gifted at getting people to go out with him then I was, or getting them to do something he wanted. Fred just outright asked the girl he was interested in, when we were in our sixth year and she later became his girlfriend and fiancé." George paused then, trying to put himself back together. "I keep thinking of all the things we never did together, of all the things we would never do. Fred will never see our business grow past one shop, he won't get to be married, or have children like he always wanted. He will never get to be more than a young man, as I will get older..." George stopped and his eyes filled with tears, as he took a deep breath. "Fred will remain twenty one forever and I'll begin to look less and less like him. That comforts me, as every time I look in the mirror I see his face and am reminded again that he's gone." Bill stepped forward and put an arm around George.
"No one could have said it better Georgie." Bill said and George nodded, together the Wealeys and Harry raised their wands, before lowering Fred into the grave. Molly went first taking something small out of his pocket and enlarging it, until Harry saw a large blue rabbit. Molly kissed the head and patted the ears.
"I gave Fred and George two rabbits that I knitted when they were first born, this is Fred's...It belongs with him." Molly said simply.
Arthur stepped forward next, he placed a pen into the grave. "As a child Fred loved to color and draw and loved pens, so I suppose this belongs with him."
Bill stepped forward next and pulled out a rock. "When we were kids, Fred and George always wanted to follow me everywhere, we used to go by the stream in back of our house and collect rocks together, so this belongs with him now." He said and cast a rock into the coffin.
"Fred was actually interested in dragons before I was, he used to tell me all about them and demand that I read to him about the different kinds of dragons there are in the world, so this belongs with him." Charlie said and took a dragon scale from his pocket, casting it down onto the coffin.
Percy stepped forward next, a wooden spoon in his hand and some of his siblings smiled sadly. "When we were young, Mum was overrun by us, so much so that when we were really bad, she'd threaten us with a wooden spoon, though she never actually hit us. Fred was threatened the most out of any of us, at least I'm pretty sure it was Fred, so this belongs with him."
George stepped forward next and took out a piece of parchment. "The idea for the joke shop was Fred's, I thought it was a great idea of course, but he was the one that came up with it. This is the paper we wrote down what we would call it on, as he came up with the name eventually, this belongs with him."
"You kept a copy though right?" Arthur asked and George nodded, before putting the scrap of paper into the grave.
Ron stepped forward next and pulled out a joke book" Fred was a great big brother, although he was fond of teasing me, above all else though he loved jokes, so this belongs with him." There was a pause, before Harry realized that they wanted him to step forward next.
Harry stepped towards the grave and took a deep breath. "When I first went to Hogwarts, Ginny was upset about not going as well, so Fred said that they would send her a toilet seat. I asked the Headmistress for permission and she allowed me to take a Hogwarts toilet seat that had been damaged in the final battle, so this belongs with him." Harry said and tossed the toilet seat onto the grave.
Ginny stepped forward next, cradling a battered tea cup. "Of all my brothers, Fred and George were the only ones willing to sit for more than one tea party, so this cup belongs with him." Ginny said and put the cup on the grave. More people came forward then, each telling a story about Fred and adding another thing to the grave, finally the last person finished and together they buried the coffin and the things people added to it.
As they put the last shovel of dirt on the coffin, Hermione stepped forward from the crowd. "I know its not keeping with tradition, but Fred was so full of life, his grave should be too." Hermione said and handed Arthur and Molly a packet of wildflowers. Molly stared at the flowers with tears in her eyes, before hugging Hermione.
"Thank you dear." She said and wiped at her eyes with a handkerchief. "Thank you everyone for coming, there are refreshments in the house." Molly said and everyone walked together into the house.
"Have any more of that whiskey Harry, I just don't want to think." George said and Harry nodded.
"I actually carry several bottles with me, but first lets get something to eat."
"I haven't been hungry since..."
"Not eating, punishing yourself, won't bring him back Georgie and think of how angry Fred would be at you, if he knew." Harry said. "Come on I know you don't want to eat, but you need to." He said and led George to the table, he piled two plates with sandwiches and sweets, as well as some water and sat down on one of the fold up chairs Molly had set up in the garden. He ate and made sure that George did as well, Harry had thought himself screwed up, but George's grief was all consuming. They both finished their meal and Harry got out another bottle of whiskey, he took a long drink and then passed it to George, who drank quite a bit, before passing it back to Harry.
"You shouldn't be drinking boys." Molly said and Harry smiled at her.
"Want some Molly? George just wanted not to think for a bit and that sounded good to me too. For all that I'm supposed to be the chosen one all the time, I'm still only seventeen and I've been through shit most adults could never...dream of." Harry paused for a moment and drank some more. "I just want to not think for a bit."
"Oh Harry, oh Georgie, carry on then, if you get too blotto you can always spend the night." Molly said and Harry nodded. "Still wouldn't you be more comfortable doing this in Ron's room, some of the other boys might want to have a bit as well."
"Well if they do, we'll be in Ron's room, right George?" Harry asked and George nodded, Harry linked elbows with George and together they climbed up the stairs to Ron's room. Harry took off his shoes and George did as well before they sat on the bed moving back against the wall. Harry decided that he didn't want to get pass out drunk, but it was clear that George did. "If you want to go to sleep George, you don't have to drink yourself there."
"Can't take..."George frowned as he didn't remember the words. "You know potion to stop bad dreams?"
"I understand, you don't want to get addicted to dreamless sleep, but I've been using another potion. I found it in the Black library and took it to a potion's master to check with them. They said it was non addictive, but its called Sweet sleep, you sleep like the dead for however many hours you want, depending on the dosage." Harry said.
"Really?" George asked and Harry nodded.
"I use it every night and you can have some if you like." Harry said and took a vial from his pocket, as well as a dropper. "One drop will make you sleep for four hours." Harry said and squeezed the vial until it was a quarter full. "This should be enough for a while." He added and gave the vial to George, George drank the potion and a moment later his eyes fluttered closed, his chin came to his chest and he started to snore loudly. Harry felt horrible for George, he understood what it was like, but to loose someone that you had spent nearly every moment with growing up, that was something he'd wish on no one. Harry watched George sleep, until George toppled over his head and torso falling into Harry's lap. Harry wasn't really sure how to handle this, he'd realized that he might like guys and it was rather strange having his friend's head in his lap. Harry hesitated a moment, before gently trying to move out from under him.
"Fred." George said in his sleep, a hand coming up to rest on Harry's robes and grip them tightly. Harry stared at George and wondered how close the twins had been. Then he decided that it didn't really matter. Harry reached for his wand and levitated George under the covers, having to come along, because George wouldn't let go and his grip even in sleep was really strong. Harry wrapped his arms around George and decided to take the potion as well. He took a few drops and fell fast asleep.