Hermione couldn't close her eyes without seeing flashes of the war. Flashes of spells ricocheting off of worn stone walls and mournful shouts echoing around her. Friends and foes falling in a bitter display of humanity. Despite all of the fragmented memories, however, there was one moment that she recalled in agonising detail.
The moment he almost died.
Hermione's eyes welled with tears every time she thought about it. The wall near the Room of Requirement had exploded with almost no warning. A stealthy blasting curse from an unknown Death Eater was the cause. Fred Weasley had been the only one injured in the blast, a surprising occurrence considering its size, but his injuries were so extensive that Madam Pomfrey claimed he was worth the work of 5 patients.
Hermione had only been ten metres away from the wall when it blew, and had been one of the first to reach the rubble and begin digging Fred out. All of her usual rational thinking was discarded as she dug at the rubble with her bare hands. Even with Harry, Ron and Percy helping, the rubble seemed to shift slowly. When all of Fred was visible, Percy and Ron scooped him up quick smart, dragging his limp body in the direction of the Great Hall. Hermione wanted to follow but Harry had stopped her.
"We need you here, Hermione," he told her with a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
Hermione nodded wordlessly and pulled her wand out of her pocket before she leapt into the fray once more.
Blinking back tears, Hermione looked down at the stretcher in front of her. Fred slept peacefully in front of her, looking far better than he had when Ron and Percy carried him away. He was slowly regaining his colour and had even woken up once. There was immense damage to his front from the impact of the explosion plus the force of the rubble on top of him. The damage was especially bad on his face, torso and arms but Madam Pomfrey was working to the best of her ability to minimise the scarring.
Besides George, Hermione was the only one who hadn't left the ginger boy's bedside for three days. She couldn't bear it, not with those memories crushing her whenever she was devoid of other thoughts. No, she couldn't leave him because in that instant when it was realised Fred was beneath the rubble, Hermione realised her long standing feelings for Fred as more than just a friend.