It is over. The war is done. Voldemort is dead. Harry is alive. If the war is over, and Harry is still alive, then why do I feel such dread, such sadness?
The answer comes to me when I enter the great hall. When I look at the bodies on the floor, the injured being nurses near the wall. When I look at the cluster of redheads surrounding something. When I realize it is more than one something. It is three somethings. Fred. Tonks. Lupin. I approach my family, tears streaming down my face, joining the thousands already being shed. We hug each other, trying to come to the realization that Fred is dead.
Hours pass. People begin to leave Hogwarts, taking dead family members with them. We stay. Some members of the Ministry show up to collect bodies. We stay, protecting Fred, Tonks, and Lupin. Eventually, Bill suggests we leave. Slowly, carefully, we assemble ourselves. An army of Weasleys. Mom carefully lifts Tonks. Dad lifts Lupin. George starts to lift Fred, then breaks down crying. Bill picks up Fred instead. Percy envelops George in a hug. Hermione takes my hand. Ron holds her other hand. Harry sets his hand on Hermione’s shoulder. We apparate to the Burrow. Charlie is there. So are Andromeda and Ted Tonks, with Teddy. Everyone begins crying again. Eventually, we manage to find our way to our beds.
I wake up the next morning. The sun is shining through the window. For a moment I begin to smile, until Hermione walks into my room. She is scraped up and covered in grime. I probably am, too. We walk downstairs. Over the next hour, everyone gathers in the dining room. Breakfast is horribly silent. After breakfast, Dad apparates to the Ministry. He returns hours later with three sets of papers. One is for Fred. One is for Lupin. One is for Tonks. He tells us that each set contains information for their funerals and burials. There will be two funerals for each of them. Everyone who died during the battle will be given a funeral at Hogwarts. Then, there will be individual funerals for each person. Then they will all be buried, at Hogwarts.
I return to my room and cry. I don’t come out for lunch. Mom brings me some food. I don’t eat. I fall asleep crying.
The next day is cloudy. I cry again, all day long. Why? Why Fred? He was such a wonderful person, so young and full of life. He always managed to bring a smile to everyone around him. As for Tonks and Lupin, why them? Tonks had just had a baby, and they were finally happy. Why did they have to die, leaving the world bleak and gray?
The next morning is sunny again. I pick up my wand carefully from my bedside table and cast a silencing spell on my room. Then I start to yell at the world. Why is it so sunny? How can the sun be shining when Fred is gone? Why did they all die? They were all so young, and none of them deserved to die. Then a new thought forms in my mind. Harry. Harry is the reason behind all of these deaths. This is a relief. I have someone to blame. Harry is responsible for Fred, Tonks, and Lupin, and hundreds of others. If he hadn’t taken so long killing Voldemort, Fred would still be here. Then I start to cry again.
The next few days are cloudy again. Slowly, each person in the family manages to return to living. George can’t. I can’t. Fred was George’s twin. Fred was the only brother I was ever close to.
Two weeks after the battle that changed all of our lives, the Ministry holds the funeral for all of the fallen witches and wizards, recognizing those that died not only in the battle but also during the rest of Voldemort’s reign. I go, and try to listen. The list of names is long, so long. I begin crying again. I don’t stop. George cries, too.
Another week passes. I remain in my stupor, spending every day crying. Then the day comes for Fred’s funeral- and burial. I manage to get up and shower, but I do so robotically, as if I can no longer feel emotion. Mom has made me a beautiful black dress. I put it on slowly. Hermione comes into my room and braids my hair, then pins it up. She turns me to face the mirror. –You look beautiful,†she whispers in my ear. I look at the girl I see in the mirror. Her dark brown eyes stare back at mine. Her long, red hair has been braided in a circle around her head. She dons a black dress. Each movement she makes only adds to her beauty. But the reflection I see, it isn’t me. It doesn’t show the apathy I feel. The emptiness in my heart. The part of me that died with Fred.
We go to the funeral. I manage not to cry, until they begin to lower the coffin. Then I look at George, at the tears running down his face. Fred is gone. His body is being lowered into the earth. Now I have no chance of seeing him again. We will never laugh together again. As this realization comes, I begin crying. Tonks and Lupin have one funeral. I cry through the entire thing, barely able to see them being lowered into the ground side by side. They are gone, too, leaving Teddy Lupin an orphan. He has no parents, no siblings, no aunts and uncles, no cousins. I am carried home from the funeral and up to my bed. I don’t object as my mother gently eases my dress off my shoulders and pulls a nightgown on me, then tucks me into bed.
I don’t move for the next several days. I try to, but I just don’t have the strength. I just lay in bed, not speaking, not moving. My family enters my room, trying to coax me into activity. I eat the food I am given, but do nothing else. All the while, I think of Fred, how I will never see him laugh. He will never make another joke, never pull another prank. I feel numb. So numb, I can’t cry.
Days pass. Then weeks. One morning, I wake up and hear birds chirping outside. My window is open. Slowly, I get out of bed and walk over to my window. I breathe in deeply, smelling the flowers of the summer. I look up at the sky, at the sun shining. There are no clouds in any direction. Suddenly, I feel the need to live. I have wasted so much time not living, over a month. I quickly shower and dress. Then I run downstairs and grab a bagel. I eat it outside, walking around in our yard. I think, slowly, of all the things Fred would want me to do and how he would want me to live my life. George.
After my realization, I begin to care for George. Bill has returned to Gringotts. Charlie has returned to Romania. Dad has returned to work. Mom travels across the country, repairing damage caused by the war. Ron takes over Fred and George’s joke shop. Percy helps him. Hermione leaves to get her parents. Harry travels across the country, repairing lives. George stays in bed all day, doing nothing. I sit with him, talking to him. He needs someone to be there.
A week passes. I talk to him about the family and how each person is doing. Then another week passes. I talk to him about my feelings and how my perspective of the world has changed. I am no longer numb with pain. I still miss Fred and still mourn his passing, but I have continued living. More importantly, I have found how to live. A third week since I awoke begins, marking two months since the battle.
–Morning, George,†I say as I enter his room. I set his breakfast on his lap. He picks up the fork and begins to eat, as usual.
–Thanks.†I look at him in shock, but he doesn’t say anything else. When I bring lunch, he says the same thing. Same with dinner.
The next day, I walk into his room with breakfast. He is awake and looking out the window. More importantly, he is standing out of bed, dressed and showered.
–Good morning, Ginny. I fancy today will be a good day.†I drop the plate in shock. –What? Am I not allowed to speak?â€
–No. It’s just.... It’s been two months since the battle. You haven’t made hardly any progress, just sitting on your bed all day, every day. But now, now you’re healed.†I pause for a moment. –Want to go for a walk?â€
–I’d love to.†George and I go for a walk through our yard. We don’t walk far, but we still walk. And we have a conversation, the first conversation I’ve had in months. We talk about the weather and the flowers. What we will do now that Voldemort is dead. We steer clear of any mention of Fred, or any of the others who have died.
Slowly, we repair each other. We continue walking through the neighborhood each morning, gradually lengthening our walks. At breakfast one morning, an owl comes with a letter for me. It’s from Hogwarts. George immediately grabs my hand and we apparate to Diagon Alley. We shop all day, gathering my school supplies. When we return home, I feel another purpose in my life. I will go to Hogwarts and continue studying. I can move on.
September first comes. George takes me to the train, even though I don’t need an escort. I promise to write him every day.
The school year begins. Students are missing, but we pretend not to notice. Many students who do come to school are still in a stupor, feeling no emotion, simply doing what they have to do to stay alive. I help in every way I can. George keeps me updated with what is happening at home and how the family is doing. I read his letters each day, treasuring each word. We are moving on. We will overcome this.
I return home over Christmas. Bill and Fleur come visit. Fleur is pregnant. Charlie visits, too. He has a girlfriend in Romania. Percy works at the ministry with Dad. George has returned to Weasley Wizard Wheezes and is the manager again. Ron works with George. Our family is almost perfect. Fred is still gone. There is still a hole in our lives.
Christmas is quieter than usual. There is less laughter and less happiness. I don’t go home again until summer, after I have graduated. I apply for a job as Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies. I save up enough money to buy a flat to stay in. I leave my past behind and begin looking towards the future. I return home three times a year- Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Other than that, George is the only person in my family I speak with. We visit regularly.
My life gains meaning again. I attend practices and work hard. We win some games, and lose others. Eventually, the final game of the season comes. We train harder than ever. The game is against Montrose Magpies. The dreaded day comes.
I enter the stadium on my broom, flying in formation with the rest of the team. The two team captains shake hands. We place ourselves in position for the game to begin.
The Snitch is released. Then the Bludgers are released. Finally, the Quaffle is tossed and the game begins.
Overcoming by Kaitlyn Snape
Chapter Notes: Many thanks to Liet Dumbledore for helping me to edit this chapter!
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-