A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters

Word count: 945

Warning: Major canon character death

Living day by day, she wound it was not as hard as she'd thought it would be, one day at a time, not thinking about the future, about what she was going to do at any given point further than a few hours from the current time. She knew she couldn't live like this forever, but right now, it was the only way she could live. If she allowed her mind to wander, to think about how things might have been, it broke her heart.

She hadn't even talked to George yet, she wasn't sure she could, not without seeing his face there instead. Molly had reached out to her more than once, but she'd declined all invitations, declined all letters, any contact at all. How could she bear to face the woman with Fred gone, dead, as if it were just another day?

She'd left her flat entirely, there was too much that that reminded her of her husband, reminded her of everything she'd lost. There were pictures on the walls, her in a white bikini, the only white clothing they'd been able to find on such short notice. They'd been married quickly, rings were made of bits of twigs twisted into circles. Hermione had been laughing, knowing this was the prefect wedding, as it it was exactly what Fred wanted and not the people who wanted to plan the whole thing. Maybe she rushed into it, married him too quickly, but she couldn't stand the idea that she would be leaving to help save the world, that she would be leaving him behind without some kind of commitment to him.

Now, now he was the one that was dead, he was the one who had left her behind. She was a widow, she was nothing, sure she inherited everything Fred owned, the wedding had been legal after all, it had been... it had been everything. Now, she was trying to live one day at a time, trying to put him from her mind. She couldn't, not really.

Everything reminded her of him. The way the light played through the leaves on the trees, the same way it had when they'd taken their vows, when they'd been bonded with each other. Ice cream tasted like saw dust, they had enjoyed so many cones, bowls together, joking how it was one of the best foots on the planet, that Fred would never get tired of it it.

"There's so many different flavors, Hermione, so many different combinations, who could anyone ever try them all?" Fred has asked. Hermione had slipped into Diagon Alley under the invisibility cloak. She'd had to see him. Harry and Ron were at Grimmauld Place arguing about what to do next. Hermione had had to see Fred, to spend time with the man she loved. They'd grabbed ice cream a muggle shop.

"Don't forget about all the toppings," she'd added, pointing to the cherry on top of his sundae. He'd picked it up and popped it into his mouth.

"Exactly, and do rainbow sprinkles tastes different than the brown ones, I know they're supposed to be chocolate, but are they really?" he asked, looking at the ice cream in her bowl. She'd laughed.

'Only one way to find out," she'd answered, taking a bite. "Hmm, they do taste a bit like chocolate, but is it only in my because I'm looking at them?" she pondered, knowing this moment couldn't last, but she wanted it to, she wanted it to last forever.

"Here, I'll close my eyes, give me spoon the hast the chocolate ones and one that doesn't and I'll see if I can tell the difference," Fred suggested.

Herione did just that.

'They do! They taste like chocolate, this changes everything! Now I need to determine which one is better the sprinkles or the shaved chocolate bits. Just think, once this war is over, we can do this every day, spend every day tasting ice cream."

"And how long before you invent some horrid flavor and trick me into trying it?" she asked, laughing.

"Would I do that?" Fred asked. Hermione shook her head.

"Bertie Botts," she said. "Make an ice cream with those in it, who knows, it could be a disaster or horrible or the most amazing thing every?" she suggested.

"That's an interesting idea. But what if I take it one step further, make each individual scoop change flavor? You'd never know if you were lucky enough to get mint or grass."

"Grass doesn't taste that bad honestly," Hermione shrugged. "Id' eat it. Bet some pother people would too, but prank ice cream, isn't that crossing a line?"

"Maybe? I'd have to run it by George anyway. I mean, we're a team," Fred said.

"I know, and I would never ask you no tto. I'm sorry that I can't stay, that I need to get back to Harry and Ron," she whispered, ging him a quikc kiss. He gave her a wistfullook, a lingering look.

It had been one of the last times she'd seen him alive, that moment she'd sneaked away to see him, that moment where she'd been so in love. Then, the next time, the last time, he was standing there and then, then he wasn't.

One day at a time, she would continue to take it one day at a time, but as she walked down the street, a small cart caught her attention, an ice cream cart advertising a new flavor, matcha. She laughed, it would taste like grass, just like grass, and maybe, she might be able to handle a small cone... or at least a sample, just to make sure.