I stood in all black in the circle around the casket. All around me people were crying and dabbing at their eyes. No one said anything but I could hear the heartache anyways. I felt a new wave of tears run down my face as I remembered him and all of the happiness he brought to everybody. I missed him so much and now he was gone.
"Hermione…"
I jumped a little and turned to see Harry standing to the right.
"Wouldn't you like to say something?" His voice was low so only I could hear. Harry was the only one who knew how much he meant to me.
I paused for a moment, wondering if I could make it through a speech without completely falling apart. I knew the chances were small but what choice did I have?
I nodded at him and somehow was able to make my legs move towards the center of the dark circle. I could feel stares of people wondering what I could possibly have to say about someone who they thought I hardly knew. I stood in the center for a moment taking in the circle of his family and friends.
I cleared my throat once and began, "Most of you are probably thinking that I didn't know Fred for more than an annoying prankster. But in all honesty I knew Fred on a more personal level. He was one of my closer friends even though we were hardly seen together. Actually," I could feel the buildup of tears behind my eyes again as I spoke of him, "I talked to him briefly before the fighting started…"
*Flashback*
"Hermione!"
Despite all of the commotion and fear of what was going to happen I smiled as I heard the familiar voice calling my name.
"Hermione…Do you have a moment to spare?" Fred asked, a little out of breath.
"Of course." I replied, still smiling. Fred took my hand and led me through the massive crowd running in all directions. He pulled me into a broom closet and shut the door. He turned, grabbing my face and crushing his lips to mine. I could feel the fear coming from him and I couldn't blame him. I was terrified too. Finally he pulled back and looked me in the eyes.
"Hermione…I'm going to tell you something and it is going to be hard for me but I need you to trust me, okay?" I nodded slightly. "This could be the last time that you see me…alive. I'm not sure if any of us will be alive by tomorrow so I wanted to see you one last time."
I could tell he had thought about dying and leaving me alone before. His eyes were looking directly into mine and he was more serious than I had ever seen him.
"Fred…nothing is going to happen-"
"That's exactly it, Hermione. I don't know that. I can't stand here and tell you that we will see each other again. I can't make that promise because if I die or you die I couldn't keep it. Believe me, though, every moment I am fighting, I'll only be fighting for you. I'll only be thinking of you and how lovely and brave and smart and amazing and beautiful you are. But I can't do anything more than that."
I could feel tears running down my face as I thought of how this could be our last time together.
"I wish I could tell you that after this fight we will both be okay and we'll go on dates again were you look stunning and I can't ever seem to say the right thing. I wish I could say that someday I will propose to you and we'll get married along the beach and have the most romantic honeymoon where it was just you and me and the unconditional love I have for you. I wish I could tell you that we will have kids someday. However many you wanted and we would watch them grow up and make mistakes just like we did. I wish I could say that we will grow old together and sit out on a porch at night and just watch the stars. That is the life I wish I could tell you we were going to live but I can't." Tears were running from his eyes as he started to breakdown. "So instead I want you to do me a favor, okay?"
"A favor?" I asked. At this point we were both crying and my face was in his hand. He kept running his thumbs over my tear-stained cheeks which left a tingling sensation under my skin.
"If I die-"
"Fred please-"
"Hermione I need you to do this for me. If I die will you read something for me at my funeral?" He pulled a small envelope from his robes and placed it in one of my hands. I looked down at it and then back up into his eyes.
"I will….if you promise that you'll take it back if you survive." I couldn't seem to wrap my head around the fact that he could die.
"I promise." He said. "There is just one more thing that I need from you."
"What?" I knew I couldn't take much more of this."
"If my time comes please forgive me for all if the awful things I have ever done to you. I need you to help me leave behind some reason to be missed and remembered me as more than just a prankster. Please, don't resent me, either, when you are feeling alone and empty. Please keep me in your memory forever. Can you do that for me?"
I couldn't contain myself and I wrapped my arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder. This could be the last time that I ever felt his arms wrapped around me in a way that made me feel so safe.
"Yes. I love you so much." was all I could say between my sobs. Finally he released me but only for a moment because his lips instantly found my. This kiss was not crushing like the first but soft and full of emotion. I could feel all of the love he had for me and I could feel all of the time we spent together in that one kiss. I could feel the time we spent sneaking out at night and taking walks down to the small pound by the burrow. Or the time he surprise attacked me out of nowhere while I was reading by under a tree. He dropped down out of nowhere and I almost jumped out of my skin. I could feel the time that he took me for a midnight flight on his broom even though I was terrified of flying. Every single moment we ever spent together I could feel in that one kiss and I never wanted it to end. Finally he pulled away and everything that we had escaped from for a few short moments came crashing back down on us.
"I love you too." He wrapped me in his arms again.
"The others will be wondering where we are, especially George." He said almost reluctantly. He took my hand and led me out of the small broom closet. "He turned to me one last time, kissed my forehead, looked into my eyes and said, "I will always love you my dear Hermione."
Then he turned and started to hurry away. I looked down to find the note still in my hand. "Fred!" I called. He stopped and turned. "You're coming back for this!" I could see his face darken and he just turned and disappeared into the crowd. "Aren't you?" I said quietly to myself.
*End Flashback*
"That was the last time I ever saw him alive." I said to the crowd. "Maybe if I had known that I would have said something more meaningful." I was crying as I concluded our last moments. "And so I would now like to read the note he gave me to all of you just like I promised." I pulled the envelope from my jacket pocket and opened it. I pulled out the parchment inside and unfolded it. I swallowed hard once and began to read:
Dear Everyone,
If you are hearing this is means I perished while fighting for what I believed in. I am hoping you are hearing this from the mouth of dear Hermione and if you are not it is because she must have perished too which I can only hope is not the case. I first want to thank all of you for coming to my funeral. I hope you remember all of the great times we've had together whoever you are. I have some personal thanks to give out.
To My Mum- You were the best mother I could have ever hoped to have even when you were yelling or scolding us for something that was entirely our fault.
To My Dad- Without your curiosity towards muggle objects some of the pranks George and I made would not have been possible so thank you.
To Ginny- You were a great apprentice in the art of pranking and I hope that you continue your studies. Also make sure George is okay. Don't let him do anything stupid.
To Ron- Pranking first years was nothing compared to how wonderful you were as a test subject and I apologize for your fear of spiders.
To Percy- Even though I know you couldn't stand George or me at all you were a great older brother….mostly. Please come back to the family. We all miss you.
To Charlie- Age held no judgment in your eyes. Please stay that way.
To Bill- No words will ever express how truly grateful I am to you.
To Harry- Without your help George and I would have never been able to open our shop. You were truly our hero.
To George- Where to start? Please don't close the shop because of my death. I don't want you to hurt but I know you will. Please remember all of the pranks we've pulled over the years and please remember me in the pranks to come. I just don't want you to destroy your life for me.
And last but never least my dear Hermione- Please remember that I will always love you. You were my one and only. Please live on for me. Live the life that I was robbed of. Help my family and friends. I cannot imagine how hard it must be to look at George and see my face but you are a strong and beautiful young woman and I know that you will survive for me.
These are the last words I will say to those of my loved ones. I apologize that I couldn't tell them in person. Please know that I will be watching over all of you and I hope to see all of you again someday. Please keep me in your memory.
Fred Weasley
As I finished I looked out into the crowd of people with new tears running down their face. And then something happened that never happened at a funeral. People started clapping. Just a few at first but soon everyone was. The thunderous applause was deafening. There were yells and cries of Fred's name. Finally I joined in, yelling my beloved's name to the sky.
A.N.-I hope you liked it. It was sad I know….But I had a wonderful time writing it. I based this story kinda off of the song Leave Out All the Rest by Linkin Park because I adore that song. I would love to hear what you think about it. Thanks again for reading.