p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"It had rained every day since the Battle of Hogwarts, as if the skies mirrored the feelings of the entire British wizarding community. It was as if every tear shed for lost loved ones and lost innocence were pouring down upon the small crowd gathered inside the tiny, winding cemetery in the town of Ottery St. Catchpole. The crowd formed a half moon shape around a freshly dug grave. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"A short, plump woman with golden red hair stood at the center. Her black cloak fought off the rain drops that were waging war on the mourners. In her hands she held a sheet of paper, slowly being consumed by water, which held all of her dearest memories of an impish boy with flaming red hair and a devilish smile. She spoke the memories quietly, but with conviction, as if she'd promised herself that she wouldn't cry./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Some of the mourners had faces full of tears, others of somber sobriety. The heavy bleakness would be broken with the occasional recollection of a particularly funny prank played by the impish boy. The serious faces flashing occasionally with a shadow of the devilish smile the boy in the ground held. To the right of the reading woman stood a sturdy man with short red hair, an unshaven face, blue eyes filled with tears that threatened to spill over, and only one ear with which to hear the woman's recollections./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"This boy—no, this man—looked remarkably like the boy in the ground. But any keen observer would be able to spot the small differences. The twins used to look virtually indistinguishable. They almost always held the same devilish smile, planning for one of their elaborate pranks. They also both used to have the correct number of appendages. But the war had taken things from everyone. From George, the boy standing next to his mother who still spoke, it took an ear, his smile, and half of his soul. From the boy in the ground, it took his life./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"The crowd thought of Fred Weasley as his mother spoke. The boy in the ground. The boy who died laughing. He would be missed by all, but by none more than his brother, George. Everyone in half moon circle would carry Fred Weasley's memory with them. Only George would be haunted by it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"As Molly Weasley finished speaking, the members of the crowd bent down to pick up handfuls of earth. One by one, down the crowd, mourners released handfuls of earth to fill the hole in the ground. The earth blanketed the boy in the ground./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""Mum?" A tall, fair girl with hair like fire spoke softly to Molly Weasley. "Should we go back to the Burrow and get lunch started?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Molly smiled softly at her daughter and nodded in response. The mourners filed out of the winding cemetery to make their way through the village of Ottery St. Catchpole, and up a hill that lead to the Weasley family home. Among the mourners were the six remaining Weasley children. Bill Weasley walked at the head of the group, his blonde wife Fleur Weasley, holding onto his arm and sniffling lightly. Following him was Percy Weasley, walking silently in step with his older brother Charlie. They made their way through town without exchanging words. Then came Ron, flanked by his two best friends Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. The two non-Weasley members of the golden trio tried to radiate strength to their ginger best friend as they walked beside him. Then came George, holding so tightly to the hand of his baby sister, Ginny, that she thought her hand might break under his grief. Arthur and Molly Weasley followed their children, with the patriarch's arm swung protectively around his wife's shaking frame./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"The closest of friends had attended the funeral. They followed the Weasley family, winding out of the cemetery. Minerva McGonagall, member of the Order of the Phoenix and newly appointed Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, lead the way. Also among the mourners were Kingsley Shacklebolt, member of the Order and newly elected Minister for Magic; Lee Jordan, best friend of Fred and George Weasley; Oliver Wood, friend and former Quidditch captain of Fred Weasley; Alicia Spinnet, friend and former teammate of Fred Weasley; Angelina Johnson, former teammate and girlfriend of Fred Weasley; Luna Lovegood, friend of the family and former DA member; Neville Longbottom, friend of the family and former DA member; and finally, Andromeda Tonks, member of the Order of the Phoenix, and in her arms sat her grandson Teddy./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"When the mourners reached the burrow they quickly fell into action. Ginny Weasley took charge, so her mother could sit with Arthur and George. She, Hermione, and Luna fixed up a buffet of sandwiches, chips, and butterbeer for the crowd to enjoy as they regaled stories of the fallen Weasley./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Oliver Wood began. Butterbeer in his hand, he stood in the shabby, but cozy, sitting room of the Weasley's family home. He told the mourners of the first quidditch match Fred Weasley had played in for the Gryffindor team. He and George had taken it upon themselves to put itching powder in the quidditch robes of the Slytherin team the night before the match. The Slytherins spent the whole match rubbing themselves against one another, the stands, and the goalposts just to relieve the itching. One particularly stupid beater had emhit the bludger at himself/em just to get an extremely itchy spot he couldn't reach./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Angelina told the story of her first date to the Yule Ball with Fred during their sixth year. Even though he spent most of the Ball conspiring with George to find a way to spike the unspikable punch with firewhisky, he still found time enough to whisk her off her feet into a dance. They'd spun one another late into the night, being one of the last couples to leave the dance floor. Angelina finished her story saying, "Fred just wanted to see people smile. Sometimes he needed to pull a prank to do it. Sometimes he just needed to be himself. He always made me smile."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Bill told a story about three-year-old Fred pulling his first prank on Percy, who was five at the time. Percy was a particularly anal five-year-old, and Fred had taken it upon himself to lighten him up a bit. He'd somehow found a way to charm Percy's books so that the characters in every picture stuck their tongues out at Percy when he tried to read them. "We never did figure out how to change those pictures back." Bill laughed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"After most of the mourners had spoken about Fred, Harry Potter stood up. "Fred Weasley was the first big brother I ever had. If it weren't for him, George, and Ron, I might not have been able to come back to Hogwarts for my second year. They broke me out of my Aunt and Uncle's house after they'd put bars on my windows and forbidden me from seeing any of my friends. Fred helped save me, and that's what brothers do." Harry raised the glass of firewhisky in his hand, "to Fred Weasley, the best friend, brother, and son any of us have ever known." The crowd took big gulps of the burning liquid to subside the tears that had filled many of their eyes after Harry's touching speech./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"People started filing out slowly after the speeches had ended and smaller groups had formed. Minerva and Kingsley were the first to leave, after thanking Arthur and Molly and wishing them the best. Andromeda followed shortly afterwards, as she needed to get her blue haired grandson, Teddy, to bed. Oliver, Alicia, and Angelina left after Andromeda. Tearful goodbyes and talks of running down to the only pub in Ottery St. Catchpole for more drinks were heard as they left./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"The Weasleys, Hermione, Harry, Neville, and Luna were left. Each cradling a glass of firewhiskey, their movements becoming freer with every sip./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""I hate to say it in front of you lot, but if I'd ever say it, today would be the day…" Ginny rambled on, her face flush with the warmth of the firewhiskey. "Fred was my favorite brother for a long time. Not anymore, mind you," she nodded briefly to all of her brothers as they stared back at her. "But when I was little, he was always the one most willing to play with me or do anything I asked…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""He doted on you, alright." Molly responded, looking into the distance as she tried to recall the image of her two children when they were younger, "Whenever I couldn't find that boy you could be sure it was because he and George were off planning some prank against Ron or Percy—usually Percy—or because he was catering to your every whim…" Molly trailed off tearfully./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"The mourners were silent for a moment as Mrs. Weasley gained her composure./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""Well," George broke his silence, saying the first thing he'd said since they had returned to the burrow after the funeral, "Gin, if it makes you feel any better, you were Fred's favorite sister."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"If this had been a normal day, a day where he hadn't just buried half of himself, the family would think George had been cracking a joke. Ginny was Fred's only sister, after all. But George hadn't cracked a joke since Fred died. To joke, you'd have to talk. And George wasn't doing much of that either, these days. The Battle of Hogwarts had been over for ten days. And in those ten days only three things were certain. One, the rain would persist. Two, there would always be a funeral to go to. And three, George Weasley wouldn't say anything more than absolutely necessary./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"After what felt like hours of the Weasley family staring at him, a light, bell-like laugh broke the silence. Hermione Granger hiccupped "That's funny, George. Because she's your only sister." Everyone looked at Hermione as if she'd finally broken. Looking around at the family she said "What? Don't you get it? She's his only sister so she has to be his favorite…" she trailed off, hiccupped again, and took another sip of her firewhiskey. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"The ghost of a smile grazed George's lips and he said, "Thanks, Hermione, it's nice that someone in this family appreciates my humor."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Ron dropped the empty glass he was holding, and it landed with a thump at his feet. His mouth hung open as he gaped at George. The rest of the Weasley clan didn't look much different. The friends of the family all exchanged wary glances. Except for Hermione. Still cradling her drink, she looked at George intently. Something inside her had warmed when George smiled—well, almost smiled—but if she were honest with herself, it was likely the copious amount of firewhiskey rushing through her system. Hermione had never had a particularly high tolerance for the stuff, and after a whole year of being on the run, living off of what she could forage in the forrest, and not drinking, it hadn't gotten better./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Attempting to break the awkward silence that had fallen over the group, Neville stood up. "Mrs. Weasley, can we do anything to help you clean up?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Molly checked the time and realized it was a quarter past midnight. "Oh dear! Look at the time! We ought to be getting off to bed…" The group cleaned up the house and Molly and Arthur retired to their bedroom upstairs. Bill and Fleur followed shortly after. The rest of the group found themselves unable to end the day quite yet. Neville, Luna and Charlie sat on the couch in the sitting room and discussed Charlies work with Dragons in Romania. Luna asked him if he'd encountered any dragon pixies? Ron and Harry reminisced about their favorite pranks the twins had played at Hogwarts, sitting in the corner chairs in the sitting room. George sat at the kitchen table listening to the rumbles of conversation in the other room. Hermione leaned against the counter after refreshing her glass of firewhiskey. She looked at the back of George's head./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""Got something you'd like to say, Granger?" George asked and Hermione started, not having expected him to notice her standing there. She wandered over to him, noticing that the edges of the room were a bit fuzzy and making a mental note to ask Luna if nargles could cause that? Hermione slid into the chair opposite him at the kitchen table./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""How are you, George?" she asked. This was the first time anyone had asked him that. Most people asked him "are you okay" or a variance on that question, which George hated. It was such a leading question. When people asked that, they clearly wanted him to say "yes" or something similar, so that they could avoid having an honest conversation. Hermione looked at him, but not expectantly. She knew it wouldn't be an easy question to answer. It hadn't been an easy question to ask./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""I'm…" George thought some more. He wanted to say "I'm okay" but he wasn't. He wanted to say "terrible, thanks for asking" but that wasn't it either. "The truth is, Hermione, I'm not sure how I am."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Hermione nodded vigorously, as if she understood completely. They fell into a comfortable silence before George asked, "How are you, Hermione?" Hermione took a deep breath while staring into her glass, swirling the amber liquid around a few times. Pursing her lips, she prepared to answer his question./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""I'm not quite sure, either. I mean, I'm sad because of all of the people we lost to the Battle. Fred, Tonks, Remus, Lavender…" she trailed off, unable to name all of the good men and women who had died ten days earlier. "And I feel guilty for surviving them. The truth is, I never expected to live through the war. But I'm also happy that I'm alive, and that we won. But I can't fully enjoy that happiness because I'm still so sad and guilty. And did you know Kingsley asked the three of us if we wanted to join the Auror program straight away? I've never really thought about the future after the War. I never let myself." Hermione spewed all of these thoughts swirling in her head one after the other, and when she was done, she looked like she was a little shocked at herself for admitting them. George gave her a moment to gather her thoughts./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""No one has ever asked me that either." She said, looking up from her glass, meeting his ocean eyes./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""Maybe it's time we all start." George responded, staring back with an intensity Hermione wasn't used to from either half of the prankster twins./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"They sat in silence, staring at one another for what could have been moments or hours, neither was certain. A stumbling behind Hermione broke their focus, and they turned to the sitting room doorway to see Luna and Neville stumble in. "We came to say goodnight," Luna said in her airy tone./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""And possibly goodbye, considering the power of the rain coming down outside. I'd be surprised if we don't wash straight away with it." Neville quipped./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""Oh Neville," Luna chastised, "don't complain about the rain. It's emsymbolic/em."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""Symbolic? Luna, weather can't know the state of the wizarding world." Neville responded./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""Of course not, but thousands of wizards grieving all at once? It's responding to that magic. Love is the most powerful form of magic, afterall." Luna said, matter-of -fact-ly. Neville chose not to respond. It was just another one of Luna's theories, like the Nargles. The two friends left with a brief farewell, plunging into the raging darkness outside of the burrow./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""I know Luna is crazy and all, but there are moments in the day where I think I might even believe her." George almost whispered his confession. "The rain … sometimes I'll taste it, accidentally, and I swear I taste the tiniest hint of salt—like tears. Like they're tears ricocheting off of me, not water like it's supposed to be."/span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""The past ten days, and even the years before, have been like walking through the woods in the dark. There are days when I feel like we'll never see day daylight again." Hermione responded./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Ginny swung around the sitting room doorway, her hands resting on the arch as she leaned into the kitchen to fetch Hermione, "before we drink enough to regret living through the night once morning hits." This type of dark humor had been the closest any of the Weasley's had gotten to cracking a joke since Fred died./span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""Coming, Gin." Hermione promised as she stood up, swaying slightly. With a last quick sip, she finished off her drink and turned to face George, "g'night, George." George watched Hermione leave. He wondered if the rain would ever stop. He wondered if he'd ever feel daylight as warm as it was before the Battle. And mostly, he wondered where Fred was now, and if he was okay./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"A short, plump woman with golden red hair stood at the center. Her black cloak fought off the rain drops that were waging war on the mourners. In her hands she held a sheet of paper, slowly being consumed by water, which held all of her dearest memories of an impish boy with flaming red hair and a devilish smile. She spoke the memories quietly, but with conviction, as if she'd promised herself that she wouldn't cry./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Some of the mourners had faces full of tears, others of somber sobriety. The heavy bleakness would be broken with the occasional recollection of a particularly funny prank played by the impish boy. The serious faces flashing occasionally with a shadow of the devilish smile the boy in the ground held. To the right of the reading woman stood a sturdy man with short red hair, an unshaven face, blue eyes filled with tears that threatened to spill over, and only one ear with which to hear the woman's recollections./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"This boy—no, this man—looked remarkably like the boy in the ground. But any keen observer would be able to spot the small differences. The twins used to look virtually indistinguishable. They almost always held the same devilish smile, planning for one of their elaborate pranks. They also both used to have the correct number of appendages. But the war had taken things from everyone. From George, the boy standing next to his mother who still spoke, it took an ear, his smile, and half of his soul. From the boy in the ground, it took his life./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"The crowd thought of Fred Weasley as his mother spoke. The boy in the ground. The boy who died laughing. He would be missed by all, but by none more than his brother, George. Everyone in half moon circle would carry Fred Weasley's memory with them. Only George would be haunted by it./span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"As Molly Weasley finished speaking, the members of the crowd bent down to pick up handfuls of earth. One by one, down the crowd, mourners released handfuls of earth to fill the hole in the ground. The earth blanketed the boy in the ground./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""Mum?" A tall, fair girl with hair like fire spoke softly to Molly Weasley. "Should we go back to the Burrow and get lunch started?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Molly smiled softly at her daughter and nodded in response. The mourners filed out of the winding cemetery to make their way through the village of Ottery St. Catchpole, and up a hill that lead to the Weasley family home. Among the mourners were the six remaining Weasley children. Bill Weasley walked at the head of the group, his blonde wife Fleur Weasley, holding onto his arm and sniffling lightly. Following him was Percy Weasley, walking silently in step with his older brother Charlie. They made their way through town without exchanging words. Then came Ron, flanked by his two best friends Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. The two non-Weasley members of the golden trio tried to radiate strength to their ginger best friend as they walked beside him. Then came George, holding so tightly to the hand of his baby sister, Ginny, that she thought her hand might break under his grief. Arthur and Molly Weasley followed their children, with the patriarch's arm swung protectively around his wife's shaking frame./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"The closest of friends had attended the funeral. They followed the Weasley family, winding out of the cemetery. Minerva McGonagall, member of the Order of the Phoenix and newly appointed Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, lead the way. Also among the mourners were Kingsley Shacklebolt, member of the Order and newly elected Minister for Magic; Lee Jordan, best friend of Fred and George Weasley; Oliver Wood, friend and former Quidditch captain of Fred Weasley; Alicia Spinnet, friend and former teammate of Fred Weasley; Angelina Johnson, former teammate and girlfriend of Fred Weasley; Luna Lovegood, friend of the family and former DA member; Neville Longbottom, friend of the family and former DA member; and finally, Andromeda Tonks, member of the Order of the Phoenix, and in her arms sat her grandson Teddy./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"When the mourners reached the burrow they quickly fell into action. Ginny Weasley took charge, so her mother could sit with Arthur and George. She, Hermione, and Luna fixed up a buffet of sandwiches, chips, and butterbeer for the crowd to enjoy as they regaled stories of the fallen Weasley./span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Oliver Wood began. Butterbeer in his hand, he stood in the shabby, but cozy, sitting room of the Weasley's family home. He told the mourners of the first quidditch match Fred Weasley had played in for the Gryffindor team. He and George had taken it upon themselves to put itching powder in the quidditch robes of the Slytherin team the night before the match. The Slytherins spent the whole match rubbing themselves against one another, the stands, and the goalposts just to relieve the itching. One particularly stupid beater had emhit the bludger at himself/em just to get an extremely itchy spot he couldn't reach./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Angelina told the story of her first date to the Yule Ball with Fred during their sixth year. Even though he spent most of the Ball conspiring with George to find a way to spike the unspikable punch with firewhisky, he still found time enough to whisk her off her feet into a dance. They'd spun one another late into the night, being one of the last couples to leave the dance floor. Angelina finished her story saying, "Fred just wanted to see people smile. Sometimes he needed to pull a prank to do it. Sometimes he just needed to be himself. He always made me smile."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Bill told a story about three-year-old Fred pulling his first prank on Percy, who was five at the time. Percy was a particularly anal five-year-old, and Fred had taken it upon himself to lighten him up a bit. He'd somehow found a way to charm Percy's books so that the characters in every picture stuck their tongues out at Percy when he tried to read them. "We never did figure out how to change those pictures back." Bill laughed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"After most of the mourners had spoken about Fred, Harry Potter stood up. "Fred Weasley was the first big brother I ever had. If it weren't for him, George, and Ron, I might not have been able to come back to Hogwarts for my second year. They broke me out of my Aunt and Uncle's house after they'd put bars on my windows and forbidden me from seeing any of my friends. Fred helped save me, and that's what brothers do." Harry raised the glass of firewhisky in his hand, "to Fred Weasley, the best friend, brother, and son any of us have ever known." The crowd took big gulps of the burning liquid to subside the tears that had filled many of their eyes after Harry's touching speech./span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"People started filing out slowly after the speeches had ended and smaller groups had formed. Minerva and Kingsley were the first to leave, after thanking Arthur and Molly and wishing them the best. Andromeda followed shortly afterwards, as she needed to get her blue haired grandson, Teddy, to bed. Oliver, Alicia, and Angelina left after Andromeda. Tearful goodbyes and talks of running down to the only pub in Ottery St. Catchpole for more drinks were heard as they left./span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"The Weasleys, Hermione, Harry, Neville, and Luna were left. Each cradling a glass of firewhiskey, their movements becoming freer with every sip./span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""I hate to say it in front of you lot, but if I'd ever say it, today would be the day…" Ginny rambled on, her face flush with the warmth of the firewhiskey. "Fred was my favorite brother for a long time. Not anymore, mind you," she nodded briefly to all of her brothers as they stared back at her. "But when I was little, he was always the one most willing to play with me or do anything I asked…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""He doted on you, alright." Molly responded, looking into the distance as she tried to recall the image of her two children when they were younger, "Whenever I couldn't find that boy you could be sure it was because he and George were off planning some prank against Ron or Percy—usually Percy—or because he was catering to your every whim…" Molly trailed off tearfully./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"The mourners were silent for a moment as Mrs. Weasley gained her composure./span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""Well," George broke his silence, saying the first thing he'd said since they had returned to the burrow after the funeral, "Gin, if it makes you feel any better, you were Fred's favorite sister."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"If this had been a normal day, a day where he hadn't just buried half of himself, the family would think George had been cracking a joke. Ginny was Fred's only sister, after all. But George hadn't cracked a joke since Fred died. To joke, you'd have to talk. And George wasn't doing much of that either, these days. The Battle of Hogwarts had been over for ten days. And in those ten days only three things were certain. One, the rain would persist. Two, there would always be a funeral to go to. And three, George Weasley wouldn't say anything more than absolutely necessary./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"After what felt like hours of the Weasley family staring at him, a light, bell-like laugh broke the silence. Hermione Granger hiccupped "That's funny, George. Because she's your only sister." Everyone looked at Hermione as if she'd finally broken. Looking around at the family she said "What? Don't you get it? She's his only sister so she has to be his favorite…" she trailed off, hiccupped again, and took another sip of her firewhiskey. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"The ghost of a smile grazed George's lips and he said, "Thanks, Hermione, it's nice that someone in this family appreciates my humor."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Ron dropped the empty glass he was holding, and it landed with a thump at his feet. His mouth hung open as he gaped at George. The rest of the Weasley clan didn't look much different. The friends of the family all exchanged wary glances. Except for Hermione. Still cradling her drink, she looked at George intently. Something inside her had warmed when George smiled—well, almost smiled—but if she were honest with herself, it was likely the copious amount of firewhiskey rushing through her system. Hermione had never had a particularly high tolerance for the stuff, and after a whole year of being on the run, living off of what she could forage in the forrest, and not drinking, it hadn't gotten better./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Attempting to break the awkward silence that had fallen over the group, Neville stood up. "Mrs. Weasley, can we do anything to help you clean up?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Molly checked the time and realized it was a quarter past midnight. "Oh dear! Look at the time! We ought to be getting off to bed…" The group cleaned up the house and Molly and Arthur retired to their bedroom upstairs. Bill and Fleur followed shortly after. The rest of the group found themselves unable to end the day quite yet. Neville, Luna and Charlie sat on the couch in the sitting room and discussed Charlies work with Dragons in Romania. Luna asked him if he'd encountered any dragon pixies? Ron and Harry reminisced about their favorite pranks the twins had played at Hogwarts, sitting in the corner chairs in the sitting room. George sat at the kitchen table listening to the rumbles of conversation in the other room. Hermione leaned against the counter after refreshing her glass of firewhiskey. She looked at the back of George's head./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""Got something you'd like to say, Granger?" George asked and Hermione started, not having expected him to notice her standing there. She wandered over to him, noticing that the edges of the room were a bit fuzzy and making a mental note to ask Luna if nargles could cause that? Hermione slid into the chair opposite him at the kitchen table./span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""How are you, George?" she asked. This was the first time anyone had asked him that. Most people asked him "are you okay" or a variance on that question, which George hated. It was such a leading question. When people asked that, they clearly wanted him to say "yes" or something similar, so that they could avoid having an honest conversation. Hermione looked at him, but not expectantly. She knew it wouldn't be an easy question to answer. It hadn't been an easy question to ask./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""I'm…" George thought some more. He wanted to say "I'm okay" but he wasn't. He wanted to say "terrible, thanks for asking" but that wasn't it either. "The truth is, Hermione, I'm not sure how I am."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Hermione nodded vigorously, as if she understood completely. They fell into a comfortable silence before George asked, "How are you, Hermione?" Hermione took a deep breath while staring into her glass, swirling the amber liquid around a few times. Pursing her lips, she prepared to answer his question./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""I'm not quite sure, either. I mean, I'm sad because of all of the people we lost to the Battle. Fred, Tonks, Remus, Lavender…" she trailed off, unable to name all of the good men and women who had died ten days earlier. "And I feel guilty for surviving them. The truth is, I never expected to live through the war. But I'm also happy that I'm alive, and that we won. But I can't fully enjoy that happiness because I'm still so sad and guilty. And did you know Kingsley asked the three of us if we wanted to join the Auror program straight away? I've never really thought about the future after the War. I never let myself." Hermione spewed all of these thoughts swirling in her head one after the other, and when she was done, she looked like she was a little shocked at herself for admitting them. George gave her a moment to gather her thoughts./span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""No one has ever asked me that either." She said, looking up from her glass, meeting his ocean eyes./span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""Maybe it's time we all start." George responded, staring back with an intensity Hermione wasn't used to from either half of the prankster twins./span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"They sat in silence, staring at one another for what could have been moments or hours, neither was certain. A stumbling behind Hermione broke their focus, and they turned to the sitting room doorway to see Luna and Neville stumble in. "We came to say goodnight," Luna said in her airy tone./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""And possibly goodbye, considering the power of the rain coming down outside. I'd be surprised if we don't wash straight away with it." Neville quipped./span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""Oh Neville," Luna chastised, "don't complain about the rain. It's emsymbolic/em."/span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""Symbolic? Luna, weather can't know the state of the wizarding world." Neville responded./span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""Of course not, but thousands of wizards grieving all at once? It's responding to that magic. Love is the most powerful form of magic, afterall." Luna said, matter-of -fact-ly. Neville chose not to respond. It was just another one of Luna's theories, like the Nargles. The two friends left with a brief farewell, plunging into the raging darkness outside of the burrow./span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""I know Luna is crazy and all, but there are moments in the day where I think I might even believe her." George almost whispered his confession. "The rain … sometimes I'll taste it, accidentally, and I swear I taste the tiniest hint of salt—like tears. Like they're tears ricocheting off of me, not water like it's supposed to be."/span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""The past ten days, and even the years before, have been like walking through the woods in the dark. There are days when I feel like we'll never see day daylight again." Hermione responded./span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"Ginny swung around the sitting room doorway, her hands resting on the arch as she leaned into the kitchen to fetch Hermione, "before we drink enough to regret living through the night once morning hits." This type of dark humor had been the closest any of the Weasley's had gotten to cracking a joke since Fred died./span/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify; line-height: 32px;"span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;""Coming, Gin." Hermione promised as she stood up, swaying slightly. With a last quick sip, she finished off her drink and turned to face George, "g'night, George." George watched Hermione leave. He wondered if the rain would ever stop. He wondered if he'd ever feel daylight as warm as it was before the Battle. And mostly, he wondered where Fred was now, and if he was okay./span/p
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