A/N: This was written for the Monthly Oneshot Competition with the Burrow as my prompt. It was also written for the Number of Your Pen Name Challenge, the SuperMegaFabby Friendship Only Challenge, and the 25 Days of Christmas Competition with hot chocolate as my prompt. Warning: This is another Fred is dead story, but it will probably be the last one I'll write. Sorry! Fred will be alive in most of my other stories. Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. JK Rowling does.

George Weasley didn't want to get out of bed on Christmas Day after the war ended. The loss of his twin had taken a toll on him, and he couldn't seem to get the strength to carry on again. Ron and Percy had talked him into keeping his shop open and they took turns running it, though he still couldn't face going there. He spent most of his time at the Burrow.

He hadn't seen anybody really since the war ended. He hadn't been able to face them. George didn't want to look in their eyes and watch them glance behind him as if they were expecting somebody else. His mother had tried talking him into coming down for presents, but he didn't see the point. He didn't want anything that was underneath the tree.

George wanted Fred. Nothing else mattered to him anymore. The afternoon rolled around and George heard a soft knock on the door. He ignored it like he did the other few times, but he hadn't heard footsteps walking away this time.

"George? It's Hermione." George froze when he heard Hermione's voice. She was the last person he wanted to see. She had been dating Fred when he died and he knew that they loved each other more than they had let on. George had hoped that they would get married when the war was over. But it didn't happen. His fists clenched tightly against his sides as he closed his eyes.

He couldn't see why Hermione wanted to talk to him. She must hate the fact that he lived while her boyfriend hadn't survived.

George somehow managed to stand up and walk over to the door. He knew that she was the only person who would understand his loss. When he opened it, his heart sank. She looked as awful as he felt, though she somehow managed to hold herself together more. "Hermione," he muttered softly as their eyes met for the first time in months.

He almost closed the door on her, but something held him back. "George…c-can I come in? Please? I can't stay down there any longer." She shook her head and started trembling. She was barely able to stop her tears from falling.

George ran a hand through his hair before letting out a sigh. He really didn't want company that day. But something told him that Hermione needed him. He finally nodded and stood aside to let her in. "I probably won't be much company," he mumbled as she walked in.

"That's ok. I didn't want to talk to anybody. I-" her voice shook as she trailed off. Hermione held out a mug she was holding. "Your mum made me take some hot chocolate…I don't want it though. Do you?" She held it out toward him, and he shook his head. She sniffed as she glanced around the room.

He stood there helplessly when she buried her head into her hands and turned around to calm down. George had the feeling that she had burst into tears again. He closed his eyes tightly. Fred…I don't know what to do here. You should be here with Hermione. Not me.

He felt a nudge from behind him and it almost made him jump and look behind him. George didn't dare look behind him though, because he knew there would be nothing there. He opened his eyes and started walking toward her. "Hermione," he murmured.

Hermione turned around at the sound of his voice and buried her head into his chest.

George felt himself stiffen at her touch, but then he slowly wrapped his arms around her waist and held her. He felt protective of her suddenly. She had been his brother's girl after all. He ran a hand through her hair soothingly.

"I miss him," he heard her say, even though her voice sounded muffled.

Tears started to form in his eyes, though he squeezed them shut again so they wouldn't fall. He couldn't talk about Fred with anybody. But he couldn't bear to see Hermione like this. He pulled her into a hug and rested his head on her shoulder.

"I…I miss him so much that it hurts to breathe sometimes. N-Nobody else understands. They try," she said.

George pulled away and lifted her chin gently. Their eyes met and he quietly wiped the tears away. "He loved you," he said weakly. He cleared his voice to make it sound strong again. "He never told me. But I could see it. I saw the way he looked at you, and the way treated you. You were everything to him."

He could feel her relaxing a little, and she had stopped shaking by now. "Fred wouldn't want to see you like this. Hell, he wouldn't want to see me like this either." His voice shook as he thought about how Fred might feel if he could see them right now. George knew that Fred wouldn't like it one bit. He finally remembered what everybody else had been trying to tell him about moving on during these last few months.

"I don't know how to be myself without him though. I'm sure you feel the same way," George said, quickly looking into her eyes. She nodded in response and he continued talking.

"Hermione…. I don't ever want to take Fred's place. But I think we need to be friends. I won't replace him." He shook his head stubbornly as he said that. George didn't think he could live with himself if people ever thought of him as Fred's replacement. He was his own person after all.

He held his hand out toward her. "Will you be my friend?" George held his breath as Hermione started wiping the tears away from her eyes.

"Yes…I think he would want that." She sniffled as she took his hand, but no tears came out of her eyes this time. George was pleased that he had made her stop crying for a little while at least. His heart still had that missing feeling he had ever since Fred died, but he still felt like this was the right thing to do.

George reached over to hug her again and he thought of Fred again. After a few moments, they pulled apart. "Do you want to try going downstairs?" He asked her. Hermione hesitated for a second, but then nodded and started walking toward the door.

Fred… I wish you were here. More than anything else, George thought to himself as they walked downstairs together. He mentally prepared himself to face his family. Sometimes he felt like Fred could actually hear his thoughts and that actually gave him strength more than anything else in the rare moments he was strong. I'm going to try to survive somehow. I'll carry our legacy on. I just wish you were here.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a review! This will definitely be the last chapter of this. I just had to add George into this collection.