Summary: Fred Weasley should have died in the final battle at Hogwarts. Yet somehow, he lives. He wakes up from a coma six months after Voldemort's defeat and remembers only two things. His name and Hermione Granger. Trusting the only person he remembers, Fred must re-learn everything about magic and the Wizarding World. With Death Eaters still on the lose looking to uphold Voldemort's beliefs, their main targets are muggleborns and the Golden Trio. Fred struggles to re-learn magic and re-gain his memories so he can protect the girl he loves and Hermione struggles with her growing attraction to Fred, her traumatic experiences during the War and Ron's jealousy. Why did Fred lose his memories and what does it have to do with Hermione? Will they be able to help each other before it's too late?
Author's Note: This is a re-write of A Kiss to Restore. It was my first Fremione fic and I started writing it quite a few years ago. I was re-reading it recently and decided that I wanted to change some things and fix some things. It shouldn't differ too much from the original story and I hope that you enjoy it just as much, if not more!
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters! The dialogue from the scene in italics is taken from the book, which I also don't own.
I'm not perfect, but I swear I'm perfect for you
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A Kiss to Restore
Chapter One
For a split second, there was nothing... and then there was fire. Pain like she had never felt before ripped through her veins and burst from her skin. It surrounded her and it suffocated her. Pushing at her from all sides, and she screamed. Her muscles contracted, sending her limbs flying in different directions, directions she couldn't control. Her body contorted at odd angles and eventually, the sound of her screams faded away... replaced by the sound of her blood roaring her in ears, a woman's maniacal laughter, and a boy's frantic shouts. Suddenly, the pain stopped and she lay on the ground, panting. A woman hovered over her and she flinched away from her. From her wild hair and the dark eyes that gleamed with malice. She'd like to say that she hadn't given Bellatrix Lestrange the satisfaction of breaking her, but that would have been a lie.
"I'm going to ask you again. Where did you get this sword? Where?!"
"We found it! We found it! Please!"
"CRUCIO!"
The pain was back again and she was screaming. She screamed until her throat was raw and even then, she kept screaming. Fire coursed through her veins and she writhed on the floor, desperate for relief. The pain stopped and she gasped, relishing in the cool air. Her body was slick with sweat and her limbs were heavy.
"You are lying, filthy mudblood and I know it! How did you get in my vault?!"
"It's a copy! It isn't real!"
"A likely story!"
Then Bellatrix's face appeared inches from her own, the older woman's weight pressing down on her, her hot breath on her face. She felt something cool on her arm and whimpered when the knife pierced her skin. This pain was different and she almost preferred it to the cruciatus curse. Anything was better than that. She felt Bellatrix's oppressive weight leave her and all too soon, the fire was back in her veins and she was screaming again.
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A pair of strong arms gripped her shoulders and a voice was shouting her name. Hermione Granger jerked awake, her mind muddled from sleep and shrieked when she took in the untidy dark hair of the person before her. She struggled frantically for a few seconds, before her mind cleared and she recognized the voice of the person. She went limp, panting softly and her eyes filled with tears. She usually tried to take a dreamless sleep potion before she went to sleep so the nightmares wouldn't haunt her, but she had been so tired while reading that she must have dozed off. She let out a pained sound before throwing her arms around the boy in front of her. Harry Potter was her best friend and the brother she never had. He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed soothing circles on her back until her sobs died down. Hermione pulled away from Harry and she wiped the tears from her face, smiling apologetically at him.
"Sorry, Harry," she murmured.
"There's nothing to be sorry for, Hermione," Harry said, sitting down next to her, "What was it this time?"
"Bellatrix," Hermione said in a small voice.
Harry nodded, "I had one last night about when we went to Godric's Hollow."
Hermione clenched her hands to keep them from shaking and leaned into Harry. The War had cost everyone terribly. Hermione took dreamless sleep potions and draught of peacewhenever she felt an anxiety attack coming on. Harry wasn't eating much and Hermione knew he was hurting himself, overcome with grief, but he wouldn't talk to her about it. Ron had thrown himself into the fame they received after the War. They had tried dating for a few weeks, but Ron had broken it off. He'd been with a different girl every day since then. Everyone else was struggling in their own ways and it seemed as though the War had left no one unaffected. The door to the hospital room opened and George walked in, a small smile on his face.
"Alright, Hermione?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, did I startle you?" George had been in the room with her when she dozed off so she could only imagine his reaction.
"A bit, but don't worry about it," he grinned, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.
"George couldn't wake you so he came to the burrow to get me," Harry said.
"Thanks, George," Hermione stood and hugged him before walking to the hospital bed where George's twin lay, sleeping soundly.
She was almost glad that Fred was in a coma. She hoped that he wasn't trapped in a dream that played out the terrible things that he went through during the War. She hoped that his dreams were peaceful. She had felt an inexplicable pull towards the Weasley twin ever since the final battle. Everyone had been so sure that Fred had died during the final battle. Hermione had seen it with her own eyes... the explosion, the rubble, and the ghost of a smile on Fred's frozen face. She didn't have time to dwell on it at the time, but once everything had settled down and she had gone into the Great Hall, Fred had been on the ground with the rest of the dead and something in her broke. She had collapsed on his chest and as soon as her skin touched his, she felt little sparks all over her body. Fred's chest then lifted ever so slightly and he said her name on an exhale of breath. Medi-witches had seen to him immediately. His breathing and heartbeat grew stronger, but he didn't wake. As the days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into months, the Weasley clan, Hermione, and Harry were beginning to lose hope. It had been six months and there was no indication that he would wake up any time soon. George and Hermione were at St. Mungo's practically ever day. Everyone else was helping out with the store. It had been miraculously undamaged and was immensely popular. It was a light in the darkness.
"Has there been any change?" Harry asked, bringing Hermione out of her thoughts.
George shook his head sadly, "None at all."
"He'll wake up, George. I know he will," Hermione said firmly, clutching at Fred's hand.
"He better. I don't know what-" George choked on his words and hid his face in his hands.
Harry touched her arm lightly, a silent gesture to let George be alone with his twin. Hermione brushed some of Fred's hair from his forehead and kissed him softly. She turned to place a hand on George's arm and whispered softly to him before leaving the room with Harry. She could use some coffee. She didn't want to risk falling asleep again without the dreamless sleep. She didn't particularly like coffee, she preferred tea, but it would have to do in a pinch. Harry and Hermione walked to the cafeteria that St. Mungo's had and found a table near the door. Harry got up to get coffee for Hermione and tea for himself, along with two muffins. He handed Hermione her coffee and muffin when he got back to the table and sat down across from her. She scrutinized him over her mug as he picked at his muffin. He managed to eat half of it before pushing it away and Hermione sighed. It was better than nothing. The coffee helped wake her up and energy fizzled in her veins.
"How's Ginny doing?" Hermione asked quietly.
"She's... okay," Harry grimaced, "She has a lot of anger and a lot of guilt, but we're working on it."
"That's good to hear," Hermione sighed, "I should be at the burrow more, it's just hard with Ronald there."
Harry reached across the table and interlaced her fingers with his, "It's okay, Hermione. Don't force yourself."
They lapsed back into silence while Hermione finished her coffee and her muffin. Even though Ron had broken things off, they were civil... although Ron still liked to know everything she was doing like they were still a couple. He was jealous about all the time she spent with George and would try to hold her hand or touch her in some way when they were together. It was driving Hermione rather insane. Why did he bother leaving her if he was just going to act like they were still together when he wasn't with one of his slags. Hermione scolded herself and shook her head, trying to derail her train of thought. It wasn't really necessary since George's patronus skidded into the cafeteria and jumped on their table, causing Hermione to jump backwards and completely lose her train of thought.
"He's awake!"
Those two simple words were practically shouted before the patronus disappeared. Hermione and Harry stared at each other for a few seconds, their mouths open, before they shoved away from the table and were running through the hallways. Hermione shrieked at people to get out of her way, not slowing down for any of them and burst into Fred's room, panting heavily. George was sitting on a chair by the bed, his head in his hands while a medi-witch was waving her wand over Fred, his expression unreadable. Hermione's brow furrowed in confusion and she took a step forward.
"George?" she asked hesitantly.
"He doesn't remember," George rasped, lifting his head, "He doesn't know who I am."
"Oh, George," she breathed.
Fred hadn't seemed to notice Hermione or Harry when they walked into the room and she walked over to George, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing gently. The witch that was tending to Fred stopped her incantations and scribbled something down on his chart before looking over at George, Hermione, and Harry.
"It seems there is a block on Mr. Weasley's mind," she said, walking around the bed.
"A block?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, it's almost as if they're behind a wall," the witch mused, "I've seen similar cases where someone buried their memories to protect them. It must have been instinctual when he nearly died. There is probably a trigger that will open the floodgates and he'll regain his memories."
"He did this to himself?" George choked out.
"Not intentionally, no. If the trigger is found, he could gain his memories very easily, but if it's not, they might stay behind that wall forever."
George let out a strangled sound as the medi-witch walked out of the room and dropped his head into his hands, his shoulders shaking. Hermione knew this was probably hard on George. The one thing he had wanted more than anything was for Fred to wake up... and now that he was, she wondered if he could accept that Fred may never remember him. Hermione finally looked over at Fred only to find him studying her silently. His forehead was creased and his blue eyes were intense. She had never seen him look so serious before. Fred's eyes were normally sparkling and his face crinkled with laugh lines. He opened his mouth and then closed it quickly.
"Hermione?" his voice was soft and tentative.
George's head whipped up quickly and Hermione's mouth fell open in shock. He couldn't remember his twin but he remembered Hermione?! She was the haughty, know-it-all Gryffindor Princess and he was the prankster extraordinaire. They were complete opposites and it made no sense what-so-ever that he would remember Hermione over everyone else. She thought it might be a prank, but his eyes stayed fixed on her and he didn't even glance in George's direction. Fred would never intentionally cause George this much pain and even though she continued to hope, she knew it wasn't a prank. Hermione left George's side to move closer to the bed. Once she was within reach, Fred took her hand in his and clung to her. His eyes were filled with questions and she could see the fear reflected in them.
"Fred," Hermione began, "Can you tell me what you remember?"
He frowned, chewing on his bottom lip, "I know your name is Hermione and that you're important to me. I know my name is Fred Weasley. Everything else is blurry. I try to grasp onto something and it slips away from me."
"Nothing about your family?" George asked desperately.
Fred shook his head, not looking away from Hermione. George's chair scraped across the floor as he stood. He muttered a quick apology to Harry before striding quickly from the room. Harry and Hermione were silent as they took everything in. Fred opened his mouth to say something, but the door burst open and the entire Weasley clan piled into the room. Hermione was pushed out of the way as Molly hugged Fred tightly. His eyes were wide and terrified as he tried to escape from his mother's arms and Hermione pushed her way back to Fred's side, gently pulling Molly off of her son.
"Molly," Hermione said gently, "Fred doesn't remember any of you."
Molly's face fell as she looked towards Fred, who had pushed himself against the head of the bed, staring at the group of people before him warily. A dry sob escaped her throat and Arthur gathered his wife into his arms. Arthur managed to get Molly out of the room before she broke down and Harry ushered the rest of the Weasleys into the hallway to explain things to them. Once Hermione and Fred were alone, his shoulders dropped and he rubbed his forehead. Hermione ached for the family that had become her own and for the man in the hospital bed before her. She smoothed his hair away from his face and he looked up at her, his face contorted in pain.
"Who are they?" he asked hoarsely.
"Your family," Hermione said simply.
"All of them?!"
Hermione laughed lightly and told Fred about his family. They talked briefly about the war and how Fred had gotten injured. She told him about magic and watched his face light up for the first time since he had woken up. His family didn't come back into the room and Hermione was grateful. She didn't want to see him look so scared and she didn't want to overwhelm him. After a few hours, the medi-witch came back to check on him and let him know he'd have to spend a few days at St. Mungo's so they could run tests. George had come back later that night and it gave Hermione a chance to run home and grab some things. She didn't see herself leaving St. Mungo's until Fred was released. When she came back, she stood in the doorway for a moment, watching George tell his twin some ridiculous story about some sort of trouble they caused. She was so happy to see George looking so animated and even more happy to see a small smile on Fred's face. He still looked a little bit uncomfortable, but Hermione was sure that the first person Fred would become close to again was George. They were etched onto the other's soul. No matter what happened, Hermione knew that she would be there for Fred and George would be, too. Fred glanced at the doorway and his eyes lit up when they rested on Hermione.
"Hermione!"
George stopped his story and turned to look at Hermione. Seeing both of their stares on her made her heart swell with joy and she blinked to keep the tears at bay. It was easy for people to tell them apart now since George was missing one of his ears, but Hermione had always known. There were subtle physical differences between the twins, but it was more of a feeling that eminated from them. She smiled softly at the twins before making her way over to them. She placed her hand on George's shoulder and he covered her small hand with his larger one. A flash of emotion passed through Fred's eyes but it was gone too quickly for Hermione to see what it was.
"Did you get everything you needed?" George asked.
"Yeah. Harry had all my stuff moved into Grimmauld place last week," Hermione said, squeezing George's shoulder before placing her bag on one of the chairs, "He said he didn't like me living alone but it's been four months since I left the Burrow."
"He's just worried about you," George said, standing, "Since Hermione is here to keep you company, I'm going to run out and get some things as well. Will you be alright, Mione?"
Hermione scowled, "I told you not to call me that!"
George laughed as he walked out of the room, waving at them over his shoulder. Hermione shook her head, exasperated, before she sat down in the chair that George had vacated. Fred seemed to be lost in thought, chewing on his lip, his brow creased, and Hermione just watched him. She had been watching him a lot over these last six months, but she had never studied his face while he was awake. She was never close enough to them to really study them. They were kind to her and she had gotten much closer to George since the War, but she felt this pull to Fred she couldn't explain.
"Hermione?"
Fred's voice brought her out of her own thoughts, "Yes?"
"Are you and George... dating?" Fred asked hesitantly.
Hermione blinked at him for a few minutes before she burst out laughing, "George and I? Merlin, no!"
"Oh," Fred's ears turned red and he picked at the blanket that covered him, "Are you dating anyone?"
"Not anymore," Hermione said, her laughter dying down, "I was dating your brother, Ronald, but things didn't work out between us."
"Why not?"
"The War that you were injured in... a lot of people are dealing with it in their own ways," Hermione said slowly, "Ron's way didn't include me, although I suppose that's for the best. We argued endlessly and I think I was with him mostly because it was what was expected of me."
"How do you deal with it?" Fred questioned.
Hermione's shoulders stiffened, "I don't. Not really. I have panic attacks and nightmares. I use potions to help me get through the day. Granted, there aren't many resources in the Wizarding world for psychological problems."
Fred nodded and was silent for a moment before speaking, "I have to go to the bathroom."
"Do you need help?" Hermione asked, pushing away from the bed.
"No, I think I got it," Fred threw the covers off of his legs and slowly moved them to the edge of the bed. He let them dangle for a moment before setting his feet down on the tile and standing legs shook and he faltered, but Hermione was there. She grunted softly when his weight fell against her, but she wrapped an arm around his waist and helped him walk across the room to the bathroom. Sweat beaded on his forehead from the effort and Hermione let him use the bathroom in peace.
"Wow," she heard Fred's muffled voice coming out of the bathroom, "We really are identical."
Hermione stifled a giggle, recalling the night they had taken polyjuice to look like Harry. When Fred was finished, she helped him into bed and fished Hogwarts, A History out of her bag. He had wanted to know more about Hogwarts and she figured this was the best way for him to learn.
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The next week flew by. Hermione and George kept Fred constant company. She was glad to see that he was slowly warming up to George and that they seemed to be getting along. It was different for the rest of his family. They came to see him one at a time and they never stayed for too long. Hermione was sure it was difficult on them and that hopefully, it would be easier once he was back home. George and Hermione had been walking around St. Mungo's with Fred and he'd been taking a lot of potions to help him get his strength back. By the fourth day, he was able to walk around without their help. Hermione read to him often, bringing books back about the different things he seemed interested in about the magical world, while George regaled him with stories from their early years and Hogwarts days. They had settled into an easy routine. On the ninth day after Fred had woken up, his medi-witch had come in to let them know that he would be discharged the following day. When she left, Fred looked a little green.
"You alright, Freddie?" George asked, concern etched into his features.
"I'm fine," Fred muttered, "Just nervous to leave, I guess. It's been nice being here with just you and Hermione."
"Don't worry," Hermione reassured him, "George and I will both go back to the Burrow with you and if it gets too much, we can move to your flat above the shop."
"You'll stay with me?" Fred asked weakly, "Both of you?"
Hermione wrapped her arms around Fred's neck and held him tightly, "For as long as you need us."
The next morning, the entire Weasley clan gathered in Fred's hospital room to see him off. He was stiff and awkward, keeping close to either Hermione or George. When it was time for him to change, Molly shooed everyone out of the room to fuss over him. He shot Hermione a panicked look and the door was closed in her face. After a few minutes, Molly stuck her head out of the room.
"Hermione, he wants you," she said, a little sadly.
"He does?" Hermione asked.
Molly nodded and opened the door, stepping out into the hallway. She fussed over Hermione's hair for a few moments, "You'll help him, won't you?"
"Of course I will, Molly!" Hermione said.
"Thank you, dear," Molly whispered, pushing her inside.
Fred was struggling with his robes and Hermione let out a soft sigh, "She's your mother, you know. You should let her help."
Fred spun around and glared at her halfheartedly, "I know she's my mother but I don't remember her. It's weird having her fuss over me."
"You'll have to get used to it at some point, that's just how Molly is. She fusses over all of us," Hermione said as she walked over to him to straighten his robes.
"I'm scared, Hermione."
Hermione looked up at Fred, his eyes were hidden behind his bangs, but she knew he was vulnerable. She was quite for a few moments as she finished helping him with his robes. Once he was dressed, Hermione wrapped her arms around him, relishing in the way her body molded against his.
"Don't worry, Fred. I'll always be here to help. We'll get your memories back," she said firmly.
"What if I never get them back?" there was a slight quiver to his voice.
Hermione pulled away and placed her hands on his cheeks, forcing him to look at her, "Then we'll make new memories."
A bright smile lit up Fred's face and Hermione's breath caught in her throat. He was absolutely beautiful in that moment and he trusted her completely. Fred took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles, sending tingles throughout her arm and causing her cheeks to heat. She knew that she would do whatever it took for Fred to get back his memories, even though she was afraid that if he remembered, she would get left behind.
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Author's Note: And here is the re-written chapter one! I hope you all enjoyed it! Please tell me your thoughts in a review and I'll get the next re-written chapter up soon!