A/N: I own nothing! Enjoy! :)
Hermione was cleaning out her attic the muggle way, trying not to feel upset by the fact that she was being moved from her home, the only home that she had been a wife in. However, she understood the reasoning, since the house was getting too small. As she reached for another box, a crimson and gold book caught her eye. Never one to pass up anything with paper and ink, her hand changed directions and grasped the book by its thick spine, already smiling as she realized what it was.
The cover gave nothing away, since it was a simple design of red and gold striped leather, but as Hermione opened the front cover, the first picture of many met her eyes. It was a black and white moving photo of her, Fred, and George Weasley. Almost instantly, as she saw their young, mischievous faces, she was swept back to the first time she ever saw them….
Hermione Granger would never admit it to a living soul, but she was scared. Her hands shook, but she covered their tremors by authoritatively grasping her wand in one hand and the side of her robes with the other. She could do this. There was nothing to worry about at all.
With determined steps, she strode through the Hogwarts Express train, trying to find a seat. She was just turning around to head back towards the front of the train when suddenly, she felt something plow right into her, knocking her violently to the ground. "Oof!" she gasped as the object behind her landed on her ribs. She was pleasantly surprised that she didn't hear any snapping sounds to signify that her ribs had broken, but her relief was short-lived as anger began to warm her blood.
"Sorry," the weight muttered.
A pattering of feet made Hermione turn to the side even as the weight rolled off of her, and she saw a boy in third year coming towards them. "Gred, you're not supposed to literally knock the girls off their feet," he teased.
Hermione turned to look at the person that this boy was talking to and was surprised to see a mirror image of the boy that had spoken. Twins. Twins with flaming red hair and mischievous blue eyes. She glared at the boy sprawled out on the floor and winced as the gentle rocking motion of the moving train pressed into her now-sore tailbone.
"I'm really sorry," the boy that had knocked her over said, grinning at her and then at his brother. "Are you hurt?"
"A little late to be asking that, don't you think?" Hermione asked angrily, flinging her bushy hair out of her eyes.
The boy seemed to be enjoying watching her cheeks turn pink and her eyes flash because he grinned even wider and shrugged. "Better late than never," he told her with a smirk. "Besides, it was kind of your fault that I ran into you."
Hermione, always up for an argument, raised an eyebrow. "How so?" she questioned.
"Well, you did-"
"Kind of stop-"
"In the middle-"
"Of the aisle," they finished together, trying not to laugh as Hermione's head swung back and forth between them.
Having just learned about the magical world, not all of the customs were still clear in Hermione's mind, but one did leap to the front of her mind at that moment. She eyed the twins' tall, lanky frames and muscles, and she asked, "Do you both play quidditch?"
The boy on the floor raised an eyebrow and another smirk slid across his face. Hermione was surprised to realize that she found this troublemaker quite handsome. Immediately, she brushed her embarrassing thoughts aside by wondering hotly if all these boys ever did was smirk. "Yes," he told her, breaking through her thoughts. "We're beaters," he added.
"Unbeatable beaters," the other boy put in smugly.
"Well then," Hermione said, standing stiffly and waiting until the boy beside her had joined his twin so that she could say to both, "you should've had good enough reflexes to stop yourselves." Their faces showed the barest flicker of surprise as she brushed past them, and then one laughed.
"Wait!" they both called after her when she moved past them to go sit down. "What's your name?"
She turned and said very calmly, "I'm Hermione Granger," and then she was gone.
She never heard Fred whistle or George shake his head. "The wizarding world will never be the same again," they said at the same time.
Meanwhile, Hermione had barely sat down to stand up again, searching for a frog named Trevor. She began to feel her temper rise and she purposely strode into the last compartment, saying, "Have you seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one."
Seated there, amidst containers of sweets, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and chocolate frogs, sat two young boys, one looking almost exactly like the two boys that had knocked her down moments before. She tried not to let her sigh come out as she mentally groaned. This year was going to be very interesting.
Hermione smiled, passing the tip of her index finger over the picture fondly. She no longer felt the intense need to hurry up her attic packing, so she gingerly flipped the page and was rewarded with a picture of the quidditch team from her second year at Hogwarts. Almost immediately, her eyes fell on Fred and George, both grinning ridiculously large grins and waving.
"Filthy little Mudblood," Draco Malfoy spat, his hands still cradling his Nimbus 2001 even as they tightened in anger and his knuckles turned white.
Hermione felt as though someone had punched her in the stomach, and she saw both Fred and George leap forward as though to attack Draco, their faces darkened by fury, but just then, Ron Weasley pointed his wand at Draco and cried, "Eat slugs!"
Even now, Hermione laughed at that memory. Ron had been so miserable for a time after that! She turned the page and saw a picture of Harry and Ron smiling with her in the middle. They slung their arms around her and laughed at some unheard joke, and she watched as a smile crept over her own face. Merlin, she loved those boys.
As she flipped the page, she found a picture taken from the Yule Ball. She was standing there in her beautiful dress, forcing a smile. Hermione squinted, noticing that the younger version of her had a pained look in her eyes.
"Next time there's a ball, pluck up the courage to ask me before someone else does," she cried, glaring at Ron and flinging her curls out of her eyes. "And not as a last resort!" she added.
She chased both Ron and Harry off to bed, collapsing on the stairs and not wanting to move an inch. As the tears rolled down her cheeks, she looked up and spotted Fred watching her from afar, a soft look on his face. He pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on and took a step towards her, but just then, George came flying into him so hard that Fred actually stumbled.
"I've done it!" George cried. Hermione stood and slipped upstairs, her heartbroken heart not wanting to know exactly what he had done.
Hermione shook her head, releasing all of her memories. That night had been awful, but it had awoken something in her, a longing for Fred and George's company. After that, she had found reasons to hang out with them whenever Harry and Ron weren't available. They never commented on her visits, they simply slung their arms around her and began teasing her. Again, she smiled and turned the page.
This picture was of George and Fred standing in front of WWW the first day they had opened the shop. Their bright magenta robes stood out, along with their bright red hair, and Hermione was once again pulled back into her thoughts.
"Fred!" she cried as he lifted her onto the counter of their shop.
Fred only laughed and looked around the store at the people that were coming, buying, and leaving. "Isn't this great?" he asked her, his eyes sparkling.
Hermione felt her heart beat a little faster and she nodded, pleased for her friends and for their success. "It's brilliant," she told him earnestly.
For a moment, he seemed to gaze at her. Then, he gently reached out and pushed a lock of her hair back behind her ear, caressing her cheek as he pulled away. Her heartbeat picked up even faster, and she bit her bottom lip, wondering if Fred actually felt the same way about her that she did about him.
He was just opening his mouth to say something when George called for his help. He left her seated on the counter, gazing after him wistfully.
Hermione sighed and then flipped the page of the book. Instantly, she tensed, and her heart began to beat wildly, but it was not from love, or passion, it was from a sense of fear. The picture was of Hogwarts, taken right after the Final Battle. The fatal wall stared back at her.
"I'm coming with you," Hermione stated firmly.
"Fine," Fred sighed, giving in. She followed him as he and Percy did their duties, helping in any way she could.
A blast shot through the night and Percy stumbled out of range, his wand out and ready as he searched for the wizard. The wall in front of Fred and Hermione blasted apart and began its descent right on top of them. Without thinking, Hermione pushed Fred out of the way and dove on top of him. "No!" she screamed, but she could barely hear herself over the noise and the clouds of dirt that were spewing up from the wreckage.
Debris flew around her, and she vaguely heard someone calling her name. Hands grabbed her and hauled her up, patting her and looking for injuries. Thankfully, she had pushed on Fred hard enough that they had escaped the worst part of the wall. Someone was asking her if she was okay. "Fred," she gasped out.
"I don't know," someone said, as she was pulled away from Fred's body.
"No!" she screamed when she realized that the boy she had loved for so long wasn't moving.
"Hermione!" another person called as she crumpled to the ground. "Hermione!"
"Hermione."
The voice jolted Hermione back to the present. She sat up with a start, her hands shaking and tears running down her face. She looked up and her eyes met her husband's worried ones. "Hermione," he said again, striding over to where she sat with the album in her lap and bending down so that he could reach her.
She looked back at the picture and winced. "Just remembering the past," she said. "I'm fine."
Her husband raised an eyebrow and said wryly, "Yup, because you've been crying so loudly that I could hear you downstairs and your eyes are red." He touched her arm and added, "You're shaking."
Hermione shrugged and glanced again at the album. "It's been a while since I've seen this. I guess it just hit me pretty hard."
Her husband grinned. "Yeah, it hit you pretty hard," he agreed, nodding to the picture and remembering the small piece of the wall that had fallen on her and had almost broken her back.
Hermione managed a laugh, though it was ruined by a sniffle. "Yeah," she said absently.
Her husband slid onto the floor next to her and put his arms around her. "Hermione, you were brilliant that day." He tilted her chin up and gave her a dazzling smile. "I wouldn't be here today if you hadn't been brilliant." He smiled. "I would be as dead as George's ear."
Hermione smacked his arm. "Not funny, Fred," she growled. "I thought you'd died that day."
"I thought I had too," Fred told her seriously. "I woke up and saw you and was certain I was in heaven."
Hermione rolled her eyes and groaned even as he laughed. He took the album from her, and Hermione was afraid that he was going to pack it away, but instead, he set it on his lap and turned the page. The next picture was one of her favorites, and apparently his too, because he stared at it for a long while.
It was their wedding day, and they were standing in the garden of the house Fred had bought for them, holding each other. Fred was wearing a dashing black suit and bow tie and was holding Hermione (dressed in a simple, yet classy white dress) close against him. They wore matching smiles as they gazed at one another, barely pulling away to wave joyously at the camera.
"How did I get so lucky?" Fred whispered, his finger tracing the photo Hermione softly.
"I saved your life, you woke up and thought you were in heaven, and you've been lost ever since," Hermione told him dryly.
"Ah," Fred said, completely enlightened. "So that's how it happened. I always figured that I started to fancy you the day I knocked you down and you insulted my quidditch skills."
"Ah," said Hermione, pretending to be disappointed. "And here I thought that it was my angelic appearance."
Fred grinned and pressed his hand to her cheek, smiling. "That too. You're gorgeous, my Hermione." He shook his head once more and said, "I'm still not sure though how you accepted my proposal. The most brilliant witch of our age and you said yes, yes to me!"
Hermione leaned forward and kissed Fred softly, her hands winding up into his hair and brushing over the scar that slashed across his skull, out of sight to everyone but her. It was the only evidence of the battle that was still physically visible, and it was one of her favorite spots to brush over. It reminded her of just how much she could have lost.
When she pulled away, she turned the album to the last page and stroked Fred's cheek. "It was meant to be," she told him softly, pulling him close for another kiss.
The last picture smiled up at them, showing Hermione and Fred cuddling on the bed with their two, brand new twins pressed lovingly in between them, the same twins that were just down the hall at the moment, taking a nap. Underneath the picture, magical letters shimmered, illuminating five precious words.
It was meant to be.
A/N: I've been in quite the writing mood today and this popped into my head, so I had to write it. I do realize that it is not perfectly compatible with the actual Harry Potter series, but itsn't that the joy of fanfiction?? I hope you enjoyed it, and please review!! :D