It was sunny. All around me the sun was out, birds were singing through the air, and there was a gentle breeze toying with my wavy blonde hair as I subconsciously pulled my jacket tighter around me.

Somewhere a nice family was enjoying the day together and having a cookout, the aroma of hamburgers was thick and children could be hear laughing. Right underneath me, was the casket of the one whom I love. The one who got away, that I never had a chance to say goodbye to, or, to say I love you.

In front of me was a tombstone, obviously new since the engraving was still clean and there was no grass growing over the plot. He hadn't been dead for long, the body was probably still warm. On it was his name. Fred.

I had purposely come on a sunny, happy day during spring. Anything else wouldn't have been fitting, and going to the graveyard to mourn in the rain was an overused cliché used in muggle movies and soap operas.

"Hello Fred. It's been a long time, I know. I'm sorry that our reunion couldn't be under better circumstances." I murmured softly as I leaned down to trace the outline of his name with my index finger, my chest tightening as I read his name over in my mind while I tried to picture him smiling back at me the way he used to.

I looked down and realized that I was standing where his head probably was and quickly moved over to the left and knelt down, gently placing my hand on the stone. My eyes were starting to hurt from holding in the tears that I had managed to hold in on the walk to this site. Id never been particularly good at handling death, but over the past month I had been to so many funerals and wakes that id lost count of all the friends and relatives id seen buried. But that didn't make this goodbye any easier.

"I miss you Fred. I really do. I truly wish I had known you longer, and I wish I had gotten to the courage to tell you how I really feel. I had so many opportunities to do so, but I never did. I'm a coward, so unlike you. Remember the time when I accidentally opened the box of Mystic Moonshine Beetles? I was so scared they would destroy everything, but you just laughed it off like it was no big deal and caught them all." I said as I giggled softly at the memory, closing my eyes and feeling the breeze against my back.

I remembered that day well. I fell even more in love with him that day.

It wasn't all that long ago.

"FRED!" I screamed, so loud I was almost certain the windows would shatter.

"What I- Merlins beard! What did you do?" Came a frantic cry from the doorway to the shop.

"I opened the packages that came for you! Why wasn't there a damn warning label!" I managed to shriek from my perch on top of the ladder I used to stock the shelves.

"Dammit, hang on!" He shouted as he moved away from the insects.

All around us the beetles were jumping around spraying everything with shrinking elixir. I have no idea where the name came from for them, but I had no idea that this would happen.

"Hold on Annette! Don't worry!" he exclaimed as he attempted to assure me, and attempt that was doing no help considering the tears leaking from my eyes continued to drip like a leaky faucet.

I was in the corner with my wand trying to blast the bugs into dust before they could land on me, since I wasn't exactly sure what this product did since it was brand new. I was just the cashier, and sometimes stock girl which is just one way of saying I wasn't in on all the new inventions. I just sold them.

He whipped out his wand and yelled out a spell, I didn't quite catch it, and what looked like a mini tornado ran around and collected all the beetles, then literally hopped into one of the boxes. He then closed the boxes quickly, and walked over to me. I hadn't realized I was shaking until he put his hands on my shoulders and I saw his hands shake with me.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to cause all this chaos." I said looking down and trying to regain even a little composure, straightening out my mandatory royal purple top and green apron that was secured around my hips.

"It's alright, It was an accident and you didn't mean to do it. Deep breathes, you were brave." He said tilting his head to the side grinning like he always did, even when things were crazy all around him.

"You're so full of it." I replied, grinning widely up at him from under my eyelashes as I finally stopped shaking.

He smiled and ruffled up my hair, rolling his eyes at me as I relished the electricity that coursed through my veins whenever we would touch.

"So?" he said, calmly.

I couldn't help but smile and tug a little on my sleeve, adjusting it.

He chuckled and walked out the front door, putting on his dark violet dragon skin coat that somehow looked dashing on him, rather than gaudy seeing as it was noon and it was over 70 outside. On the way out the double doors he called over his shoulder, "be careful, and do try not to completely destroy the place while I'm gone this time!"

The memory slowly faded away to the back of my mind, and I found myself still in the graveyard, still kneeling in the freshly cut grass, and the grey tombstone also still there. I stopped talking and just looked at the flowers that I had left leaning up against the face of the stone underneath the engraving, sunflowers and daffodils tied with an orange ribbon. The flowers reminded me of him, in so many ways. Bright, cheery, and always making a statement amidst even the most menacing plants. I tied them together with an orange ribbon, a tacky, awkward way of trying to imitate his loud ginger hair that I still missed to this day.

I remembered the first time I saw that mess of hair, way back when I'd just moved from my home in London to a flat in Diagon Alley. I'd been looking everywhere for a job, focusing on the restaurants since id been convinced I had a calling to be bartender. The search was going horribly, and id found myself drinking alone at the leaky cauldron. I was moping and sending cross looks at the owner whod refused my resume when I saw him. Or rather, he saw me. Id looked up at the right time and he was looking at me intently, I wasn't used to such a fixed stare so I stared down at my drink and tried to figure out what to do.

"I don't think I've ever seen anybody as rubbish at trying for an interview as you. Truly remarkable." The stranger said, now standing next to me at my table, grinning at me.

"Rubbish? I beg your pardon?" id squeaked, not sure whether to be insulted or if he was simply joking.

"That resume had maybe four lines on it, was stained, and you never looked him in the eye once. Have you ever worked before?" he said all of that with the same goofy smile, his eyes never leaving mine.

"No, but I can learn quickly." I grumbled, taking a swig of firewhisky.

"Well you happened to catch me in one of my very philanthropic moods, and I have a proposition for you." He exclaimed, sitting down in front of me where I finally was able to see what he looked like aside from his beautiful blue eyes.

There was definitely something interesting about him, I'd never seen anybody wear a dragon skin jacket in public without trying to make a statement or be ironic, and the purple was a particularly shocking shade that contrasted peculiarly with his bright ginger hair.

I was definitely intrigued.

"Well?" I asked, leaning forward with interest. And the firewhiskey had impaired my ability to sit up straight.

"My brother has left me in charge of our local store while he handles business at our other potential business venture. I need somebody to handle the main floor while I work on the creative process that is my genius. You could do that job, while you get experience and learn to bartend properly." He said with a grand voice.

I was usually a very cautious person, but he had caught me in a very buzzed mood. I was working there the next day.

I hadn't gone to the funeral. I hadn't been invited. Nobody knew who exactly I was, I was just the smiley girl with grey eyes who worked around the shop the twins owned in Diagon alley. I wasn't family, and nobody thought I was a friend of Fred. I was just, an employee. It felt like my heart was being strangled in barbed wire and dipped in vinegar at the thought.

I didn't know the details of how he died, but I know that it was during the final battle against he who must not be named. George never brought it up, and I wasn't about to make him, it would be too painful.

"I really miss you Fred, even after all this time has gone by." I whispered solemnly, feeling the sun on my back.

"Hey! What are you doing here!" called a voice, shocking me since this was a private graveyard for the Weasley family.

I looked up, and for a moment I saw Fred rushing over, furrowed eyebrows and confusion on his face. I shook my head and realized it was only Ron. I had seen him a few times at the store in Diagon alley, I had never met him or anyone else in Fred and George's family.

Fred had tried to introduce me but the store was usually too busy, or I was too nervous. And then the war came, and he disappeared leaving me only a cryptic note about "holding down the fort" while he took care of "entirely necessary worldly important matters" and a bag of galleons.

Hed left the items for me in the store on the register, but he didn't know I always came early. He didn't know that I watched him place them on the register, that I saw him punch the counter and curse. That I didn't chase after him when he walked out the door.

I never saw him again.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I'll leave you to mourn your loss in peace." I stammered, mustering a very small smile, fiddling with the bottom of my sleeves in anxiety.

I saw his face twist up in confusion as he looked from me, to the tomb stone, and then to the flowers.

With that, I smiled sadly at him, and I walked away holding back my tears. I didn't say goodbye, I didn't tell him I love him. Why should I burden him in death, when I couldn't even do it while he was alive and still with me.

I kept walking, I didn't look back and I felt like I was going to burst into tears and sob any minute. But I didn't, I couldn't allow myself to ruin Fred's memory with sadness over things I couldn't change. I wouldn't cry. I would be strong. I'd be brave for him. If anything. I was going to honor Fred, with the one thing that I learned from him before he died at the end of the war.

Be brave in every situation, no matter what, and everything will turn out ok in the end. It just has to.