This will be a series of one-shots of how various characters deal with Fred's death even years after the final battle. Memories of the dead linger and those left behind have to deal with the after effects.

This first chapter focuses on George.

Jolt
1. to jar, shake, or cause to move by or as if by a sudden rough thrust; shake up roughly
2. to shock emotionally or psychologically

The first year was… unspeakably horrible. First summer without Fred. First re-opening of the shop without Fred. First Christmas without Fred. First Easter without Fred. First birthday without Fred. First anniversary of Fred's death.

First everything, in short.

The few days that follow the anniversary of the battle prove to be harder than anything George could have anticipated. With a jolt, he realizes, those are not the only days without Fred.

They are the first. Fred's never coming back.

He managed one year without his twin. This was not a period of absence. This was an acid taste of what was to come for the rest of George's life.

At first, everyday was a jolt to his systems when he woke up and saw an empty bed next to him.

Going through old files from the shop a decade after the funeral, George comes across original papers detailing the first sales to friends in the Gryffindor Common Room. A jolt of electricity flows from the paper as he sees Fred's sloppy signature.

Years to come, he would pass a mirror and feel a jolt in his stomach. Out of the corner of his eye, was that Fred? No.

Finally, George wakes up one day, follows the routine of washing his face and heading downstairs for breakfast with his wife. It's not until she sets down a plate of all his favorite breakfast foods that he remembers today is his sixty-fifth birthday.

And with a sickening, shocking jolt, he realizes this is the first birthday he has had without thinking of Fred. The first birthday without remembering Fred.

This jolt, he thinks, is the worst one yet.

Next to come, Molly Weasley. (fold)

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