The point of the video was clear to Hermione from even the first few seconds of footage. She recalled that George had told them in the poem that these were his true memories, and she swayed between worrying about what he had seen between her and Fred over the years and feeling intrigued and privileged to watch his personal memories of their friendship. Not to mention marvelling at how he had combined muggle and magical technology in order to figure out how to show them to others. This must have taken him ages. He had clearly been telling the truth about having worked on this all year.
The film was only a few minutes long and it was a George's-eye view of his motivation for the whole prank. The opening shot confirmed Hermione's suspicion that the video was cleverly designed to break the news to Fred that Hermione had feelings for him. It showed all three of them on the day on which the twins had tried to put their names into the goblet of fire. Well, she thought, there was no stop button on the little black box and George had taken her wand, so all she could do was to let it play out and find out what would happen.
As Fred watched the opening shots and recalled his own memory of that day, he was reminded of how Hermione had told them that their ploy to cross Dumbledore's age line wouldn't work. What he hadn't seen at the time was the look on her face when she was proven correct. George had turned just at the right moment to show her eyes full of concern as she gazed at the aged Fred. The real Fred looked at her in surprise, but that was just the beginning.
Next, a slow love song began to play on the video, and scene after scene showed what George had seen over the years but which Fred had somehow missed. Hermione gazing at Fred when she thought no-one was looking; Hermione yelling at Fred and then being unable to prevent a soft, wistful smile from crossing her lips as she turned away; Hermione laughing at every one of Fred's jokes; Hermione's eyes lighting up when Fred came near. It was clear to anyone watching that Hermione had a soft spot for the elder twin. Watching, Fred briefly closed his eyes. How had he not seen this himself?
The music changed slightly and the next scene made Hermione sit up straighter. She watched George's memory of her coming down the common room stairs dressed for the Yule Ball, and then she saw Fred turn to him with an unreadable look in his eyes. Had she been able to see George's own face, Fred remembered, it would have held a smirk. But all Hermione could see in the pensieve TV was Fred's face, before hearing George whisper, "I knew you liked her, you lying git." Memory Fred's eyebrows raised slightly and then his eyes filled with sorrow. He shrugged, looking directly into George's eyes and then away into the distance. "Doesn't matter, Georgie … she likes Ron…" he whispered, as his brother turned his gaze back upon Hermione as she greeted Viktor Krum, her date for the evening.
Hermione closed her eyes. Had she really had a chance with Fred, all those years ago, and missed it? Bugger. If only she still had the time turner…
There were a few more shots of the two of them gazing at each other through the years with each remaining oblivious to the other's possible interest; when the boys left school in a blaze of fireworks, when Hermione visited them at their newly opened shop, when they bumped into each other at Grimmauld Place and The Burrow, but they always seemed to just miss each other. Fred and Hermione were trying to keep up with watching the video and processing their own thoughts and feelings when it became clear from the music that the video was building to a grand finale. They both gasped as they realised they were seeing George's memories of the post-battle scene.
Towards the end of that horrid, fateful day, George had come running into the great hall to see his twin lying motionless on the ground. The video didn't show the tears that were pouring down his face, but they showed every one of Hermione's as she ran towards Fred, knelt beside him and took the lifeless body of the much taller wizard into her arms.
The background song faded and they heard Hermione chant his name over and over again in a broken voice. "No, Fred, no, please. I never had a chance to tell you, Fred, please don't go. Gods, Fred, I just kissed Ron and all I could think was that I should have been kissing you. You mean so much to me, to everyone, please don't leave us, I don't know how I could live without you, oh Gods, please no."
Hermione watched herself lean down to kiss the face of the wizard that she so clearly loved and, as her tears continued to drip down onto Fred's face and chest, George's memory had captured the way in which the look on her own face had turned from anguish to surprise and then to hope as she felt the slightest breath on her cheek.
Memory Hermione touched memory Fred's lips with her fingers, and then her hands began to move over his throat and chest as she felt for a pulse. "You're still alive," she whispered. "Fred, come back to us! George!" she had summoned his brother's attention and turned bossy as she worked to get George to pull himself together and assist her. "George, yell for help and then help me; we might be able to save him…" and her wand flashed in every direction as her hands worked over Fred's body administering magical healing and muggle resuscitation and her tears fell and then dried as she focused on returning the man she loved to life.
After a while, George's shouts had brought healers to the scene and Hermione was gently pushed backwards, but she remained just a foot or so from Fred's body. A warmth ran through Hermione as she remembered that she hadn't been alone. Never alone. Memory George's view was now of the top of her curly head as well as of his brother's still body and it was clear to Fred that George was hugging and holding Hermione tightly on his lap as they sat next to Fred and watched healers work on him.
When memory George looked down, Fred saw something that made tears spring to his eyes. Hermione had refused to let go of Fred's hand, which stretched out from his body. She had brought his hand into her lap, intertwined with both of hers, and then George had surrounded their hands with his. Somehow, she and George had jointly conjured a silver chain which connected their wrists together so that the healers couldn't separate either of them from Fred.
Fred had never realised quite how viscerally or literally the two of them had refused to let him go. Hermione and George hadn't let him be alone or without their touch for a moment, even when his life hung in the balance, and the healers had accepted and worked with that. He wiped his eyes. In George's memory film, Hermione was murmuring reassurances to them both as she and George watched the mediwizards treat Fred's injuries and stabilise his condition.
"I'll never forget this, love," George was speaking into her ear. "No matter what happens. Gods, they had given up."
Memory Hermione's sobs were clear to hear. "Well they shouldn't have. Not for Freddie. Never. We can't lose him. He's too precious."
George had hugged her more tightly at that, she remembered. That had been the moment when she knew that she and George Weasley would be friends for life. No matter how crazy he might drive her with his tricks, she would always be there for him as they had been for each other on that fateful day.
The scene on the pensieve TV faded to blackness and director George had allowed the viewers a few moments to compose themselves before himself coming into view on the screen. It looked like he was in his bedroom at the flat. Frowning, Hermione couldn't work out how he had managed that, until he spoke, with a lopsided smile. "Before you singe your brain trying to work out this bit, Hermione, Angie's helping me. She's watching me and is going to let me add her memory of this to my pensieve and then the video, because I can't leave it all to my own memories."
Video George bounced up and down a bit before he spoke again. "OK, you two. If this has gone as planned, then you're tucked up together in our old bedroom in an armchair and chained together. With eggnog and truffles, which I thought was very considerate of me." He winked and laughed a bit at that thought, before continuing.
"I think the memories show most of what I want to say, but there's a bit more to add. I love you both, and I know we all needed time to heal and rebuild after the war, and maybe before now it might have been too soon, but ever since last Christmas I kept feeling that you two needed to see and know all of this, together. By yourselves, without any chance of interruption or not getting to the end. So that's why I invented the pensieve TV and made this."
Hermione realised that she had now fully cuddled into Fred. The memory of almost losing him was less fresh, but still painful, and she had pressed her face to his chest to hear his heartbeat. Fred's arms had tightened around her as they listened to George's conclusion.
"Now, this isn't about forcing you into anything, so if you truly want to leave the room separately and go your own ways, you'll find a magical key taped under the windowsill which will fit in the door, release everything and turn your hair back to normal, Hermione. If you want to hex me, I'll be in the kitchen, probably getting grief from mum about why you show as being at home on the clock but she can't find you. But please, try to see things through my eyes and you'll see why I'd like you to follow the rest of my instructions and then think about leaving together. And Hermione," video George's voice broke, "whatever happens, I'll never be able to thank you enough for saving my brother. Even if I say it every day and buy you all the chocolate truffles in Honeydukes. Which I have, by the way. They'll be in your stocking in the morning."
Video George grinned, saluted, blew a kiss and disappeared from the screen.