Word Count: 511

Ministry: L4: Office of Misinformation: Trio Era

Easter Egg: Day 7, Chevron: "You look lovely."

the brightest colours (make me think of you)

Despite wearing black robes usually, funeral robes just seemed more sombre. Unfortunately, over the last couple of weeks, Harry had had far too much opportunity to wear the ones he'd hastily ordered from Madam Malkin.

Dressing, he ran a hand through his perpetually messy hair and sighed. It would, thankfully, be the last time he was expected to wear them—hopefully for a long while—but he knew it was also going to be the hardest of the many funerals he'd attended since the Battle of Hogwarts.

Fred was being laid to rest.

Despite feeling like he just wanted to lie down in the grass and sob for hours, Harry knew he had to be strong today. For Ron, for Ginny, for Molly.

For George.

Swallowing hard, he straightened the collar of the white shirt beneath his robes and left the room. The Burrow was full to bursting when he arrived, the many Weasleys and their friends all wearing dreary robes, sad expressions on their faces.

Molly was the first to see him, and she hugged him tightly.

"You look lovely," Harry said softly, unsure what else to say to her.

She smiled at him and patted his cheek clumsily. Harry found himself a seat in the kitchen to wait, not sure that he wanted to brave the throng of people already outside.

"He'd have hated everything about this," George said softly.

Harry turned to see George standing by the kitchen door, and hesitating slightly, he got up to join him, following him out into the garden. They slipped off to the side slightly, a little away from the crowd.

"Fred hated funerals, and he hated the idea of funeral robes, and he'd have hated this. People should be wearing bright colours, smiling and laughing and remembering him that way."

Harry nodded slowly. "I know."

He didn't want to ask how George was holding up; he didn't think there were words available to explain the grief of losing a twin and he didn't expect George to have them.

"Maybe we can fix that?" He offered.

George turned to look at him, and in the ghost of the smile on his face, Harry saw Fred.

…

The coffin was set alight, and Harry slipped his wand from his pocket and whispered a spell. Behind the trees, a whizzing sound was heard, and then fireworks shot up into the sky overhead, bright enough to be seen even in the light of the afternoon sun.

As sparks fell over the crowd, black robes were turned into a multitude of bright colours; yellow, pink, green, blue, orange…

And in the front row, George smiled through his tears, his eyes on Harry as he silently mouthed 'thank you.'

Harry nodded to him, and then chuckled at Ron as he grimaced at the Orange robes that clashed with his hair terribly. Beside him, Hermione giggled, and then it was like a wave of laughter took over the crowd.

Later, George would sit beside Harry, a glass of Ogden's finest in his hand, and he'd say, "Fred would have approved."