Okay, Fred's death was one of the worst in the book for me. I decided to write about his funeral, and had an idea on how George could get some closure after losing his twin brother.
Although there had been obviously much celebration over the defeat of Lord Voldemort, there where still the saddening aspects of the funerals of those who had died fighting in the war.
There had already been a funeral/memorial service for those of the Order, who had died, which included Mad-Eye, Lupin, Tonks, Sirius, Snape, (Harry had at that point, told people that he was good,) Emmeline Vance, and a few others. But now came the dreaded funeral of Fred Weasley.
The entire Weasley family had been in a state of sorrow and shock for the entire week that Fred had been dead. Now they were at the day of his funeral. It was being held in the Weasley's backyard, just like the wedding, but the atmosphere couldn't have been more different. Everyone was dressed in black and grey, and every expression was somber. The Weasley's sat in the front row; Mrs. Weasley was sobbing into her husband's shoulder, George had tears running down his face silently, as did Percy and Ginny. The other brothers had matching expressions of grief on their faces.
There were other Weasley family members there as well, many that had been at the wedding, including Aunt Muriel, who was uncharacteristically quiet. The Lovegood's were there as well, looking odd without their usual flamboyant colorful clothing on. Angelina Johnson, Fred's old girlfriend, sat with her parents, not crying, but looking as though in shock. Harry and Hermione were a few rows back from the Weasley's. Hermione was already crying, and Harry was numb with the shock of Fred being dead.
At that point, the slow, sad music stopped. As it did, Harry reflected back on his first start-of-term feast, where Dumbledore had everyone sing the school song. Fred and George- he recalled- had sung it to the tune of a funeral march. Feeling slightly sick at this irony, he returned his attention to the funeral.
The person presiding over the funeral was of course, the same tufty-haired wizard. He started his speech with,
"One of the worst things in the world, is a parent having to attend the funeral of their child. We are gathered here today to remember this child…"
A few phrases then started floating around in the air.
"Loved life….lived it to the fullest…..great practical joker."
Aunt Muriel gave an insulted huff at this.
"Great friend, brother, son…..wonderful spirit…very smart, although grades didn't show it."
He went on for a little bit longer, and when he had finished, it was Mr. Weasley's turn. He detached himself from his wife, and made his way up to the podium. Clearing his throat, he began his speech.
"For those who knew Fred Weasley, they knew he was far from perfect. Now that is not necessarily a bad thing."
A few people gave watery chuckles at this.
"Well, because Fred wasn't perfect was what made him so likeable. Although he got no-so-perfect grades, yet he had an incredible imagination, which made up for it, and helped him found that joke shop. He was cheerful, friendly, joking, (that especially) very loyal, and passionate about what he cared about. He will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him, even the people who he drove up the wall with his practical joking.
Now if we were to have every member of our immediate family come up and talk about Fred, we'd be here all day. So instead, I'm going to hand it over to George."
George got up, and as he passed him, his father clapped him on the shoulder. George had managed to stop his tears by now, and started his speech.
"Well, I think Dad pretty much covered Fred's personality."
There was a short pause, and then George started talking again.
"It has been really weird without out Fred here. We did talk about what would happen if one of us were to die, (although we didn't really expect it would happen.) We agreed to keep the eulogies short, to try not and make people cry, because a funeral is sad enough, and we wanted to keep people awake. We also agreed that we would confess to the one thing that has ever caused us any guilt."
That got the attention of just about everyone who was there. George looked directly at his mother and said,
"Mom, you know that expensive, antique, priceless, irreplaceable vase that was your most treasured material possession? Well Fred and I broke that, not Ron. We figured this would be a good time to tell you, when you were too upset to yell at us. Sorry."
Mrs. Weasley managed a very watery chuckle at this, along with some other people. Ron, however, glared at George, as he took his seat. Then, just like that, the funeral was done. People went up to give the Weasley's their condolences, while Ron and Ginny made their way over to Harry and Hermione. The latter engulfed the other two in hugs, as they stood there in grief.
Meanwhile, George had wandered away from the crowd. He was getting sick of everyone saying sorry. Sure they were, but that wasn't gonna bring Fred back, would it? Just then, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw a man dressed entirely in black, including a black fedora pulled over his eyes. He thrust a square object into George's hands, and walked away without a word.
George turned the object over in his hands, and found himself looking in a mirror. Except…..he didn't have his eyes closed. And the last time he checked, he only had one ear. Then the face blinked and yawned. George stared in shock. It wasn't. No, it couldn't be. Could it? While he was thinking this, the face started talking, jolting him from his thoughts.
"Hey! Are you gonna stand there all day, gaping like an idiot, or are we gonna get a conversation started here?"
"F-F-Fred?!" an incredulous George stammered.
"No, it's Lockhart. Of course I'm Fred. Now I'll make this quick before people come over here asking what you're up to. You can now talk to me, because you have my portrait. You can share this with the rest of the family if you want, but you don't have to."
"I don't think Dad would like that all too much," George said, now getting over his initial shock.
"Why not? I heard his inspirational speech on me there!"
"Well, he always says you shouldn't use a magical object if you can't see where it puts its brain."
"Ha-ha, very funny. Now put me away, before someone see," said the portrait-Fred.
George put the picture in his back pocket, and started walking back over to his parents. As he did, he distinctly heard a voice from his back pocket say,
"Oh yeah, this is just a lovely view!"
George couldn't help but smile.
He had finally gotten his brother back.
Thank you for reading. Please R&R. I would appreciate it very much. R.I.P. Fred Weasley.