Title: I Promise

Pairing: Fred x Hermione

Prompts: Task #3: Write about a dead person coming back to life (minimum 500 words, no max).

Characters: Hermione Granger, Fred Weasley & George Weasley.

Word Count: 2, 197

AN: Can be read as a part of Creation & Destruction.

Hermione Granger was never one to wear her heart on her sleeve. She was not the kind of girl to hide from the world when pain and loss struck her life. She buried herself in her work and she pushed through the days with a stern expression on her face as she waited for the constant pain to subside. The aftermath of the war was no different. People often told her that it was okay for her to grief. She didn't have to keep up a brave face for the world. They wouldn't want her to do that. When people such as Ginny, George, Angelina and Katie told her that Hermione often glared at them, not bothering to answer, before proceeding to do what she was doing before she was interrupted. She very well knew who they were. And she knew that her friends were right but that didn't make any difference.

She worked harder than ever and put down more time on school than she ever did before. Most of the time she tried getting some sleep but often ended up studying her way through the nights rather than facing the nightmares that had her turning into a quivering mess with her heart breaking into a million pieces over and over again. There were dark bags underneath her eyes but other than that Hermione looked the same. She forced herself to eat because she knew that she needed it and after a few weeks she became the master of faking a smile. She always was a faster learner. But what she could never learn was to stop thinking about them.

More than once a day Hermione thought she heard the sound of her best friend talking in the corridors. She often believed she saw his mop of black hair turn around the corner and vanish out of sight. And every morning before a game she imagined him sitting in front of her like he did when he was eleven and could barely eat because of how nervous he was. Hermione hadn't seen him die. She didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

On other occasions, she would see a flash of red walking up from behind her. She could almost feel a pair of familiar arms wrap themselves around her waist and a chin lean itself onto her shoulder. She wouldn't have to look to see that familiar smile and those eyes looking at her as if she was the only person in the entire room. Hermione heard his familiar laughter and more than once dreamed about the moment before they were torn apart. She often woke up screaming with the last words she heard him speak echoing in her mind. I promise.

Hermione knew that he was gone. Her brain was aware of what dying meant. Her heart for some reason couldn't seem to keep up. Through all the ups and downs of life Fred Weasley had been there solid like a rock and the realisation that he no longer was would, when it came over her, paralyze her.

Fred didn't know what death was supposed to be like. He never gave it much thought.

So, when he woke up to see a bunch of redheads looking down on him a smile appeared on his face. Maybe this dying business wasn't so bad after all?

George's face became clearer as his twin leaned in closer. "Freddie, are you awake?"

"I don't know. Can you be awake if you're dead?" Fred mumbled with a drowsy smile as the world outside became clearer by the minute. "How would that work exactly?"

George laughed. "Merlin, you're beginning to sound just like Hermione."

Fred felt his heart contract in his chest and a frown appeared on his face. Then two thoughts appeared in his head at once. He thought about Hermione, that he would never see her again. And then he thought about his heart. He could feel it beating underneath the palm of his hand. It wasn't supposed to be beating? The last thing he remembered was being knocked unconscious by a wall. He didn't have time to finish the thought but he could feel that he wasn't going to make it. But if he was dead, why was his heart still beating?

As if he had read Fred's mind George answered. "You're not dead."

"I'm not dead." Fred repeated stupidly.

He looked at the faces of the people standing around his bed. George, Ginny, Charlie, Bill, Ron, Percy, his mom and dad. Their cheeks were flushed, their eyes slightly more red than normal and they were all leaned against each other like one single unit; too afraid that they would end up falling if they let go of each other.

"My baby." Molly Weasley wailed as she was the first to let go and wrap her arms around him. Tears hit his cheeks as she held him as close to him as she humanly could. "You are never allowed to do anything like that again. In fact, you are moving back home and I am never letting you out of my sight again. Do you hear me Fred Weasley?"

Fred laughed. He rolled his eyes at George who only smiled back at him while drying away the single tear that ran down his cheek. "I hear you mum."

Hugs. Tears. Declarations of love. Threats. Those were all things that Fred Weasley got to experience during the moments afterwards. Everyone made him make a wove not to do that again and Fred promised even if he wasn't sure how he was going to keep it. Only one time did he ask why he was alive but no one answered. They all not so discreetly glanced at George who shrugged.

"You're the better twin." George said.

Fred nodded. "Well that answers my question." He stated ironically but didn't probe further than that. "Where's Harry and Hermione? I thought for sure they were going to be here?"

For the first time since he woke up his family looked away from him. Even George dodged his glance if only for a few seconds. "Hermione doesn't know that you're alive. She's back at Hogwarts doing her final year and Harry…" George took a deep breath. Fred saw out of the corner of his eye how Ginny reached for Ron's hand. "He didn't make it."

Fred frowned. "Oh. That's…" he became quiet as he couldn't find the word to describe what it was.

"Yeah," Ron nodded. "It is."

Someone coughed. Fred wasn't sure who it was but afterwards Bill began talking about the battle. His voice was strained and occasionally he would stop talking altogether with a pained expression on his face. When that happened someone else continued and so the entire story was told. Fred looked between the members of his family and saw the brokenness as clear as day. No one did a particular good job at hiding it but then again, he suspected that they weren't trying. Not like he knew Hermione would be doing. Eventually, everyone said their goodbyes with the promise of being back the very next day. George was just about to follow the rest of them when Fred grabbed his arm.

"I need a favour." Fred said with a smile. "I need you to…"

"Take you to Hogwarts, yeah I kind of guessed you'd ask me that." George rolled his eyes. "Let's go."

Fred changed into the change of clothes his family had brought with them. Then he grabbed a hold of George's shoulder and felt that familiar sensation of being lifted from the ground and then landing somewhere completely different. Fred's eyes glazed over the walls and the floor. The last time he had seen it everything was ruined. And even though it was mended Fred could still feel that something was different. There was something about the atmosphere that crawled underneath his skin and made a shiver travel down his spine.

"She spends pretty much all her time here." George said in a whisper. "Or so I'm told anyway."

The library. Fred wasn't even a little bit surprised. "Will you come with me?"

George glanced at his twin and the frown vanished within seconds. "Of course, I will."

So, the two brothers walked into the library towards the end of the room near the windows where they knew she would probably be seated. And there she was. Hermione was propped up in one of the chairs leaning against the wall deeply enthralled by the book that was resting against her knees. The brown hair fell around her face like a curtain but Fred didn't have to see her face to know that she was probably biting her lower lip. He felt his heart beat quicker than it did before and he couldn't not smile.

Hermione saw two flashes of red out of the corner of her eye. The first person she recognized as George but she didn't know which one of the brothers that second flash of red was. She braced herself as she always did when faced with George. Despite how hard she tried or how much she wanted to stop her heart broke a little bit when she saw George. He reminded her too much about Fred.

"Hello Hermione."

She took a deep breath and looked up. "Hello Geo…" she stopped midsentence.

The book fell to the floor with a thud. Blurry vision. Thoughts arguing with each other in her head, feelings that contradicted each other and paralysation. There were so many words she could say. She could yell at him for leaving her. She could ask him if he was real or she could simply tell him that she loved him. But the words didn't leave her mouth. Hermione tilted her head to the side as tears ran down her cheeks. This wasn't real. It couldn't be real.

"I must be going crazy." She said with a laugh and shook her head. "I am so sorry for this outburst George but if you saw what I can see then you'd be acting pretty much the same way."

"What are you seeing?"

Hermione shrugged and looked down on her hands. Tears made them blurry. "It's not a what but a who. I see Fred." She bent down to pick her book up. "But he's dead and you don't come back from the dead. Not even magic can do that."

Rushed steps. Hermione saw two pair of shoes appear in her vision. "I'm not dead, Hermione. Will you please look at me?"

"This is not funny, George." She managed to croak out before her voice broke.

"I'm not George." The voice sounded different as it pleaded to her. The hands that grasped her wrists didn't have the same set of scars she knew George did. "Please look at me."

Hermione slowly looked up. Red hair. Freckles. Eyes that looked straight through everything she did, said, felt and knew exactly what had made her do whatever it is that no one else understood. A smile despite the heavy flow of tears. Neither noticed when George left the room. Hermione placed her hands on either side of the young man's cheeks. His hands never left her wrists but the grip appeared to grow stronger.

"You're real." Her voice quivered as desperation took its hold on her. "I'm not dreaming, you're really here. This is not some sick joke. Because if it is I will kill the one responsible."

Hermione watched Fred open his mouth and wanted so badly for him to tell her that he was alive. Every fibre in her being, every cell in her body needed to hear it.

"I'm real." He nodded and wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her closer to him. "You're not dreaming and this is no joke so there's no need to kill anybody today my love."

Hermione touched his forehead, his cheekbones, his nose, his eyelids and his lips. Her heart felt as if it was going to beat its way out of her chest and there was nothing she could do to stop it. It felt like breaking all over again while simultaneously being fixed. The broken pieces of her inner were mended.

"You are never allowed to die on me again." Hermione croaked out as she desperately held onto the man in front of her. He laughed. "This is not a laughing matter Fred Weasley. Promise me that you won't die."

Fred kissed her forehead. "I promise."

"That's not enough." Hermione replied.

"Well, how many times do you want me to make the same promise?"

Hermione leaned her forehead against his and looked him straight in the eyes. "You can start with a few hundred times."

Fred laughed. "Well, I guess I'd better start then."

He kissed her right cheek. "I promise."

He kissed her left cheek. "I promise."

He kissed her nose. "I promise."

And then he kissed her lips. Not quickly like he used to when he believed that they had all the time in the world. But slowly, gently and with as much emotion that he could muster into that one single action. "I promise."

The end