At last I've reached the finish! Here is the second ending to my story for those of you who wanted Fred to live. I must say, this fanfiction went on much longer than I expected, and I'm glad people seem to like it. Thanks for reading, and I hope this ending is satisfactory (personally I feel it's missing something, but maybe that's just me). By the way, I changed the rating to T. I'm always paranoid about ratings, so I wanted to be safe. But I really don't think it's that bad.

There was a bittersweet mood in the Great Hall following the battle. The joy of victory was tinged with the pain of loss, and the relief of being alive was mixed with the guilt of surviving when others hadn't.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione found the Weasleys gathered together. They were all present with one exception – strangely, Fred himself was absent.

"What happened?" Hermione asked in a low voice. "Where's Fred's body?"

Ron shrugged, and Harry said, "Beats me. I guess they couldn't find it."

"But we could see it! It's not like it was hidden or anything –" Hermione broke off as they were approached by Mrs. Weasley, but inside her anger continued to bubble. Fred had fought bravely in the battle, and yet no one had had the decency to bring his body back so his family could bury it? She supposed the Death Eaters could have taken it, but she couldn't fathom why they'd want it.

I guess we're as much to blame as anybody, though, Hermione thought. We should've stayed there. No, we should've saved him so he wouldn't have even died in the first place.

Mrs. Weasley enveloped her youngest son in a tight embrace when she reached the trio, her face streaked with tears. It was a mark of the tragedy of the day's events that Ron didn't protest at all; in fact, he hugged his mother back.

After a few minutes, Mrs. Weasley let go of Ron and proceeded to hug Harry and Hermione. When she broke away from Hermione, she carefully dried her tears. "They couldn't find his body," she said quietly, confirming Harry's suspicions, "but we're still going to have a memorial for him."

"Of course," Hermione said. "And we'll be there – if you want us to be there, that is."

"Oh, don't be silly," Mrs. Weasley said. "Fred loved you, and Harry's practically part of the family as well."

"MUM!" Ginny shrieked suddenly. Hermione turned toward Ginny along with Mrs. Weasley to see the younger girl pointing toward the entrance to the Great Hall. She followed Ginny's gaze and saw…

"Fred?" Mrs. Weasley said incredulously. Hermione's mouth fell open. It couldn't be. Fred was dead. It had to be George. But when Hermione whirled around to face the Weasleys again, there was George, his expression shocked and confused. Hermione looked back at Fred, who was grinning.

"Hello, everyone," he said easily.

"But how?" Hermione exclaimed. "I thought you were dead!"

"Me? No. I was only unconscious for a while," Fred said.

"I checked your pulse!" Hermione cried.

"Well, you didn't do a very good job, did you?"

And for a moment, Hermione forgot her sorrow and burst into tears of joy. She ran over to Fred and threw her arms around him, her lips meeting the ones she never thought she'd kiss again.

"I was such an idiot," she whispered when they separated. "What if we never got to do that again?"

"Hey. Don't worry about it. We're all here, aren't we?"

"Not quite all of us," Harry cut in sadly. "Remus and Tonks are dead."

The smile quickly faded from Fred's face. He pulled Hermione closer to him and held her tightly. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to be so insensitive."

"It's okay," Hermione said. "You didn't know. I didn't know either."

Fred shook his head. "I hate war. Why does it seem like people think killing each other is the only way to resolve conflict?"

"I wish I knew, Fred," Hermione replied. "I wish I knew."

"Hey," Fred said again, seeing Hermione's eyes filling with tears. "We can get through this. Anytime you need me, I'll be here."

"Thanks, Fred," Hermione said softly. If anyone could give her comfort right then, it would be him.

"Hermione!" Ginny squealed. "You look absolutely amazing!"

Hermione blushed. "So do you," she said.

"Thank you, but today's not about me," Ginny said. "It's about you! And Fred, of course." She took Hermione's hand and led her over to a full-length mirror. "There. Just look at yourself and tell me you aren't gorgeous."

Hermione slowly turned on the spot, admiring her long white dress from every angle. "It is nice," she admitted. "Okay, it's very nice."

Ginny almost laughed out loud. "I guess that's good enough," she said.

There was a soft knock on the door. Hermione's father poked his head in the room. "Am I allowed to come in?" he asked.

"Dad!" Hermione exclaimed, hurrying over to her father and hugging him.

Mr. Granger stepped back and gazed at his daughter. "You look wonderful," he said. "I can't believe you're getting married today. It seems like only yesterday your mother and I were bringing you home for the first time from the hospital."

"Stop it! You're going to make me cry!" Hermione said, brushing a tear from her eye.

"Sorry," said Mr. Granger, whose eyes seemed slightly watery themselves. "As the father of the bride I feel obligated to say those things. Not that they aren't true, mind you."

Ginny handed Hermione her bouquet of flowers. "Come on, Mrs. Weasley-to-be," she said with a grin. "Time to go."

Mr. Granger offered his arm to Hermione, and the two of them followed Ginny outside to the place where the wedding was to be held. Rows of chairs were set up on either side of an aisle, leading to an arch of flowers that the bride and groom would stand beneath.

Music began to play as Fred and his best man, George, got up and went to their places. Hermione suppressed a giggle when she saw Fred's outfit. He wore jeans and an orange shirt that clashed horribly with his hair. Harry had told her what Fred had said years ago at Bill and Fleur's wedding: "When I get married, I won't be bothering with any of this nonsense. You can all wear what you like, and I'll put a full Body-Bind Curse on Mum until it's all over." And Fred had done exactly what he'd intended, though luckily the Body-Bind Curse hadn't been necessary. However, it had taken lots of pleading from Fred and assurance from Hermione that she didn't mind for Mrs. Weasley to consent to it.

Ginny made her way down the aisle and stood in her spot. Then Hermione took a deep breath and moved to the center of the aisle with her father. The entire congregation of guests seemed to stop breathing, and Fred couldn't resist staring. Hermione and Mr. Granger, both beaming happily, walked to where Fred waited patiently for his bride.

"Take care of her," Mr. Granger said to Fred, squeezing his daughter's hand.

"I will," Fred promised. He turned to Hermione while Mr. Granger went to his seat. "Merlin, you look beautiful," he breathed. He wished he could kiss her right then and there. Whose idea was it that they couldn't do that until the end of the ceremony, anyway?

"Thank you. You're looking handsome yourself. Very sophisticated," Hermione replied teasingly.

From that moment on, Fred and Hermione's eyes never left each other's. They spoke their vows in loud, clear voices. Neither of them could stop smiling. And then, at last…

"You may now kiss the bride!"

"It's about time!" Fred shouted, causing everyone to laugh except Mrs. Weasley, who looked mortified.

"Fred Weasley!" she hissed disapprovingly, but Fred was too busy kissing his new wife to notice. It was easily the best moment of his life, and he hoped Hermione felt the same way. He wished he could freeze time and stay there forever.