A/N: I hope this one is as emotional for you to read as it was for me to write.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Please review!

George had found out a lot of secrets over the years, most of them concerning his brother Ron and everything that the Golden Trio had gone through since practically their first year at Hogwarts. The whole family had sat down and asked Harry to tell them everything as as they story went on, they had been shell shocked at everything they didn't know. Like how Harry, Ron, and Hermione figured out the Sorcerer's Stone, how Harry fought the Basilisk, how Harry and Hermione used the Time-Turner to change Sirius's fate, how Harry and Sirius had communicated for almost a full year before Dumbledore had entrusted the Weasley's into Sirius's story of innocence, how Harry had been practically tortured by Umbridge, what Harry saw in the cave with Dumbledore, the battle with Inferi, and their whole adventure after they disappeared when Bill and Fleur's wedding was attacked. It was like some fairytale, like something Beadle the Bard would have written. But it was the absolute truth.

During this story, Harry had mentioned Voldemort's - or rather, Tom Riddle's past, and had briefly mentioned how Voldemort had framed Hagrid while they were in school for the murder of Moaning Myrtle, which had actually been the result. of looking directly into the eyes of his Basilisk.

While George remembered the whole fiasco with Hagrid being arrested and taken to Azkaban for the false crime of reopening the Chamber of Secrets, he had never actually bothered to learn the full story behind it. Actually, he and Fred had been quite busy worrying about their little sister, who had seemingly been getting ill. Now, years later, it seemed a large oversight on their part.

George remembered the first day they had met Hagrid. Not the first day they got off the train, no. It was the first time he, Fred and Lee Jordan and snuck down after hours to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Of course, as always, Professor Dumbledore had cautioned at the start of term feast that it was, obviously, forbidden. Which made it all the more enticing to the twins.

So they had managed to avoid all the teachers patrolling the corridors, though they narrowly avoided Peeves as he bounced around the halls screaming at the top of his lungs, and slipped by the door just before it was locked for the night. They, three flimsy little first years, ran down the grounds, not even seeing the cabin right there at the edge. They were too eager to find pixies, unicorns, centaurs or a werewolf. They were stupid, that's what they were.

The three of them hadn't counted on it being so dark in the forest. Or that even with Lumos it wouldn't be enough to prevent them from wandering into Tarantacula territory. George remembered being terrified (Lee actually wet himself, though none of them ever mentioned that night) and Fred hadn't spoken for two weeks after that incident. But he also remembered the reason they were alive was because a giant had come lumbering through, yelling at the spiders to back off.

"Oi! You lot! Get off them firs' years. Aragog won' be too pleased if you attack them, and neither will Dumbledore. Sure he'll give me permission to exterminate the lot of ye. Git, you pests."

It never mattered that the three of them had lost two hundred points for Gryffendor that night. It didn't matter that he and Fred got loads of Howlers from Mum and Dad, and even Bill and Charlie. it didn't matter that for three months, they had detention every night along with extra homework and were banned from over a dozen school activities. They were alive - and they had finally met Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts.

Somehow, most of their detentions ended up being under his care (George always suspected Dumbledore might have had a hand in that, though he could never be sure) and they had become easy friends with the half giant man. Despite all his grumbling, George knew that Hagrid always found his and Fred's antics amusing, even comparing them to the Marauders once or twice or twenty, a comparison neither of the twins got until later that year when they nicked that glorious map from Filch's office.

Now, over twenty years later, George couldn't hep but smile as he reminisced those months spent in Hagrid's hut, helping him gut the giants slugs that infested his garden, mucking out the weeds surrounding the giant lake, helping him take care of the grounds. Once their detentions were over, admittedly, he and Fred and Lee had spent less time with him, choosing to immerse themselves back in school and otherwise less deadly antics than running through the forest. But they never stopped their visits, and they never forgot the service Hagrid had done them that night.

George let those memories wash over him as he held the next letter in his hand. There was no way he could ever forget Hagrid's rustic scrawl, the words "Fred Weasley" written boldly on the envelope, the letters sliding all over the place. He carefully peeled up the seal and slid the parchment out, noting that it was slightly damp and smelled of salt and whiskey. George unfolded it and saw that, while most of the letter was clear, some of the ink had smudged due to drops of moisture dotting the pages. Teardrops.

"Oh Hagrid." George hummed. "My dear friend."

Dear Fred,

It's been nineteen years. Nineteen. Can' help but think it was only yesterday tha' you - I won' even write it. Can't. If I do, it's like it happened all over again, and I won't put you through that a second time. Or yer brother for that matter. Doesn't seem fair.

I won't say you've missed a lot, cause I doubt you've left your family alone fer a second since it happened. You've doubtless noticed all the young Weasley's and Granger's and Potter's ya got runnin' around, drivin' all the teachers and me wild here at school. Though, I will say I don't really mind em all that much. Reminds me of when you and yer brother were at school, and when Harry's dad and his pals were here too. What a lot of ya.

I never expected ya ta die, Fred. Harry's faked death was hard enough, and we all knew it might come ta that. But you…..you were supposed to live. You were supposed to be happy with your brother and live to a ripe old age with that girl of yours, Angelina, and have a dozen kids. More Weasley's to run wild and nearly kill Headmistress McGonnagall. Lord, how she paled when Harry's son James came through. James Sirius Potter - he is a handful. Not to mention Teddy Remus Lupin, whose practically a Potter, and all those Weasley kids coming through. Hogwarts is practically overrun with yer lot!

Oh, erm, Fred…if me dad is over on that side with you, could ya see if he's doing alright? And tell him that I'm doing alright meself? He passed before he really got to see that I was doing okay, and well, I want him to know I wasn't such a screwup after all.

Olympia and I - that's Madame Maxime, remember her? - are gettin' real close after all this time, and I think I'm about ready to move to settle down a bit. Maybe get a bigger cottage, or even splurge for one of those fancy places in France for her. Can you imagine me gettin' all fancy in a place like Europe? Nah….maybe just a bigger cottage then here on the grounds.

I'm crying, Fred, gawd. If you could only look at me, you'd a think I was a bawling little troll. Ugly and all blotched like a Blast-Ended Skrewt. I hate it cause it's making the ink run down the paper and go all splotchy and runny. Merlin I'ma mess.

Don't go forgetting your old pal Rubeus, now, don't cha. Remember the time I saved yours and your brother's sorry hide from Aragog's nest? And the time when I caught you trying climb the trees to try and catch sight of the centaurs, and before you could so much as break your leg, I just called Firenze out from where he was watching you and introduced you, all civil and like. And I won't mention the bow truckle incident, but….you remember. Fools, both of you. But brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

I'll miss ya, Fred. As much as anybody ever could, I will miss you.

Yours,

Rubeus Hagrid.

"As anybody ever could…" George whispered. "I never thought….Hagrid….."

He folded the letter and placed it on the pile.