A/N: I would like to thank everyone for sticking with this story to the end. I know it was sad and trust me, it killed me to write it. But I knew I had to share it. Now, I've considered writing an alternate ending for this story but for now, I'm going to mark it as complete. For now, I'm going to focus on writing my other stories and I may come back to this one later on. I hope you all have a lovely day.

xoxo~ Andromeda

Chapter 14

The Truth

Shaking, and still a little confused, Fred sat down at the foot of Hermione's bed. He couldn't quite bring himself to look at the witch so instead he looked at his twin, his eyes filled with questions. George looked at him with pity and a pain of his own.

"What…" George began. "What did you see?" He asked quietly. Fred looked at him, unsure if he was able to speak without his voice shaking. "What memory did she show you, Freddie?"

Fred took a deep breath and licked his lips, not knowing where to start. "She… she showed me everything. It started out at the Yule Ball and then it ended with this… I don't know what it was. Go and see for yourself."

George nodded and entered the Pensive once more. Fred sat there, waiting for his twin's return. His mind was buzzing and he still couldn't make himself look at Hermione. To distract himself from glancing in her direction, Fred reread the letter she had addressed to him.

'If you choose to watch my memories, the rest of my letter to you will appear on the blank piece of parchment that is also in your envelope…'

Somewhat frantically, Fred ripped into the envelope, searching for the second piece of parchment Hermione had said would be in there. In his haste to see what else she had written, Fred nearly ripped the little scrap of parchment in half. He held it up to his eyes only to see nothing. The parchment was still blank. For a moment Fred got angry and smashed the piece of parchment on the bed next to Hermione. Fred growled in frustration and stood from his seat to pace the room. In his anger he toppled the chair his twin had been sitting in moments ago. Fred rubbed his face and ran his fingers through his hair. Fred strode the length of the room before slowly walking back to Hermione's bedside where he noticed the scrap of parchment had fallen to the floor. With a sigh he scooped it up and went to place it on the cabinet next to the Pensive when he noticed it. Slowly, words were beginning to form on the parchment as if they had been waiting for him to realize how much he wanted to read them.

Cautiously, Fred picked it up as his heart began to race with anticipation. He did not know why, but somehow he knew that the final words on this paper were going to destroy him.

Fred Weasley, I love you. I always have.

Take care of Alicia.

-Hermione

Fred fell to his knees as a broken sob escaped his lips. He crawled to Hermione's bedside and gently grasped her cold hand in his. He brushed his lips against her pale knuckles and gently stroked her hair as tears poured uncontrollably from his eyes.

Without even realizing it, George had emerged from the Pensive. Tentatively, George placed a hand of Fred's shoulder. Fred looked up at his twin through his tears.

After a moment Fred got up and turned to George. With a shaking voice he asked the one question on his mind since he left the Pensive himself.

"George… it's me isn't it?" he said. "She's… she's dying because of me, isn't she?"

George was silent and Fred took this as confirmation of his fault. Fred's knees buckled under his weight so he sat on the bed next to Hermione's side. Guilt filled him and he couldn't take it anymore. He looked at Hermione as she lay there and slowly grew colder. "Why didn't she say anything?"

George heaved a giant sigh and righted the chair so he could sit down to face his brother. "Hermione cared for you, mate," he said finally. "She didn't want to make you uncomfortable or to put you on the spot."

Fred shook his head angrily. "So, what? She still could have told me!"

"When?" George reasoned. "When you were in the middle of proposing? When you and Alicia were planning your wedding? When you were saying your vows? How was she supposed to tell you something like that, Fred? It's not like there was ever a good time to bring it up."

Fred ran his fingers through his tousled hair again. "She should have said something! Anything! She didn't have to let herself die!"

George shook his head. "You don't get it, Fred. Hermione loves you. She loves you so much, she was willing to watch you get married to someone else. She was willing to give up her own life and happiness just so you wouldn't have to! Hermione knew she wasn't the one you loved so – "

"What if she was?" Fred half shouted at his twin. Then his eyes grew wide and he looked down at Hermione in shock.

The silence was thick between them until George spoke to his twin quietly."What do you mean, Fred?" he demanded.

Fred sighed and took Hermione's small hand in his own. "I did love her, George. I was absolutely crazy for her before I got with Alicia. I thought she'd never look at me as more than a friend so I tried to move on. I did. I fell in love with Alicia. Now, Hermione's dying and it's all my fault!"

George paused. "It's not your fault, mate. You had no way of knowing how she felt."

Fred shook his head. "None of this would've happened if I just had the nerve to tell her how I felt back then."

"You can't blame yourself, Fred. Hermione wouldn't want that."

"She doesn't want to die, either!" George was silent again and Fred took a deep breath. "What am I supposed to do, Georgie?"

George responded slowly. "You do what Hermione asked you to do. You take care of your wife and you treasure her. She wanted you to be happy, mate. So be happy."

Fred sighed as he raised Hermione's knuckles to his lips one last time. "I hope it's that simple, mate."

With that, the identical brothers left the hospital room to rejoin their family in the waiting room. Neither of them spoke a word as they watched Luna send out her Patronus once more, alerting those others to whom Hermione had written a letter for.

It wouldn't be long now and the whole world would know that Hermione Granger had died.

Three days had passed after Hermione's death before she was laid to rest. It was bound to be a large spectacle. Hermione was famous, after all.

The Weasley family sat in front as the eulogy was given to those gathered to mourn. Per Hermione's Will, Harry was the one to give this speech. Fred remained silent and distant throughout the entire ceremony. When it was time to say one last farewell, Fred and his new wife made their way quietly to her casket.

As they looked down at Hermione's resting form, Alicia voiced a question she seemed to have held in previously.

"Fred," she said gently. "It was you, wasn't it?" Fred froze but slowly nodded as he continued to look sadly at the witch before him. Alicia nodded. "I thought it must be," she said. "My letter from her said to take care of you and that I must be something very special to capture Fred Weasley's heart. I figured that must mean that you were her… true love."

Fred nodded and looked down at his wife with gentle eyes. "It would appear that way. Hermione's right, you know? You are something very special."

Alicia's worried expression turned into a loving, somewhat relieved, smile. Fred kissed the top of her head as they moved away from the casket. Fred would do as Hermione asked. He would continue to love his wife and do so fiercly.