The room reeked of death. Everything around me felt dead. I didn't understand how it was possible that so many people who were once strong, brave soldiers could possibly have been killed by death eaters. I lay there on that stretcher knowing they all thought I was among the fallen. I could hear my family, my friends, and even those who had once wronged me standing above me, sobbing.

The worst was George. I heard his sobs. I felt his waterfall of tears stream down one by one, landing on my cheeks. I wanted more than anything to open my eyes, get up, and wrap him in a warm embrace. To tell him that I was alive, but I couldn't. I tried with all my might to open my eyes, nothing. I tried to wiggle my fingers, nothing. If I could even take one deep breath, they'd know that the wall had not taken me out, nor had the flash of green I saw moments before I fell to the ground, unconscious.

They knew they had to leave me. I was laying there, presumably dead, and the war was not over. No matter how hard it was for any of them, they had to go back onto that battlefield without me and fight. They had tried every revival spell they knew, but you can't revive a person who has not passed. They tried to find a pulse and they found nothing, but I knew I wasn't dead. I couldn't escape my body, but I didn't know how to wake up either.

Hours passed. Everyone was out on that battlefield fighting. I didn't know who else had died, I didn't even know if the battle was actually still going. All I knew was I was alone in a room with all of these dead bodies. All of my friends, family, and professors, were lying next to me, but they were actually dead.

Finally I heard it. The triumphant cry of a victory coming from outside. The happiness didn't stay long however, because those who were celebrating only moments before were crowding into this room and saying their final goodbyes to the dead.

The first to approach me was Percy. He rested his hand on my neck, checking for a pulse one last time. Nothing. He pressed his fingers into my wrist because he thought perhaps he could find one then. Nothing. I felt a single tear roll off his face and land on my chest.

"I'm sorry, Fred. I'm sorry for leaving the family to go to the ministry. I'm sorry I betrayed the family in a time of need. And most of all," he froze. I heard his voice crack as he let out a giant sob before forcing himself to continue. "Most of all, I'm sorry that I couldn't save you."

Next came Bill and Charlie, but I couldn't understand what they said through their tears. They both hugged me, and then stood up, trying to be brave for mum and dad.

Then came Ginny. Good Lord, Ginny was a mess. She couldn't talk. Her bawling was the only sound that came out, but I knew she was trying to talk. I knew she wanted words to come out.

Harry came over, Ginny still laying by my side, and comforted my little sister, while he said his goodbyes and thanked me for fighting for him. He told me that if he could change anything, he'd be lying on this bed instead of me. He'd give anything to take my place because he didn't ever want anyone to die for him.

Then came my git of a brother, Ron. He and I had never really gotten along, but we always loved each other anyways. He kept his goodbye short and simple, but I could tell he was breaking inside, maybe even more than everyone who had said goodbye to me only moments before.

After Ron got up, Mum and Dad kneeled by my side, mum crying too hard for words, and Dad only being able to apologize for all the years he spent yelling at me for my pranks.

The worst one came next, George. He was a mess. He was telling me how he couldn't live without me, and he'd give anything to bring me back. He told me how he didn't think he could last even a day without me and if he couldn't bring me back, he was planning on killing himself before the next sunset. I couldn't let that happen. My twin was not going to take his own life, I don't care if I was actually dead.

I thought he was last. After he stood up, they all stood there quietly above me. I knew Hermione hadn't said goodbye but I kept telling myself she had said it before I was conscious. I was wrong. I heard footsteps coming towards me. Soft ones, but moving rapidly.

She threw herself to the ground, her head landing on my chest. I felt a soft hand move to my face. It ran up along my cheek, and into my hair. She sat up, and cried like this for a while, her soft hand running through my hair, her quiet sobs killing me from the inside out. If I thought I wanted to hug George and tell him I was alright and he could stop crying, these feelings were doubled.

She removed her hand from my cheek again, sliding it down my cheek and leaving it there. She used her other hand to grab my own and wrap her fingers around mine. I never thought Hermione cared this much for me. I always thought she saw me as the annoying prankster who always got himself into trouble.

Truth is, I had always had slight feelings for the girl. It was just so cute the way she scolded people for not following the rules. It was probably her fourth year I started to develop a crush on her. When she was telling George and I that Dumbledore was too smart for two gits like us to put their names in the goblet of fire. Later, when she went to the ball with Krum, I got a bit jealous, and couldn't stop thinking about her after that.

"FRED!" She cried. "FRED YOU CAN'T BE DEAD! DON'T DO THIS TO ME! I CAN'T LOSE YOU!" Her voice broke off and trailed into mumbles. "George can't lose you, Molly and Arthur can't, your siblings can't, especially your sister. You're her hero Fred. You can't leave her heroless. This isn't fair. I won't let you die on my Fred Weasley. I can't."

"Let him go Hermione. He's gone. We can't undo this. Fred is dead and we just have to accept it." Molly said softly, trying to stay strong but we could all clearly tell her words hurt her more than they helped anyone.

"How can you give up on your son like that? How can you just accept that he's dead? How can anyone let him go? I won't. I won't accept it. He isn't dead. He's not…" her voice trailed off into soft sobs as she stroked my face with her hand, her other hand still intertwined in mine.

She leaned down right next to my ear and began to whisper through her pain into my ear. "Fred Weasley, I didn't want to ever admit this, but I like you. I like you a lot and I don't know if I could ever handle losing you so if you're in there, if you can hear me, please wake up and stop this pain." Then she rubbed my cheek a couple times, and to the shock of everyone in the room, gently placed a short kiss upon my lips.

I knew I couldn't leave. It wasn't my time, and if it were, I was just going to have to change that because today was not the day I was going to die. I couldn't leave anyone behind but most importantly, I couldn't leave the girl I had thought about every day since that day at the Yule Ball when I saw her dancing with Krum. I had to find a way to wake up.