A/N-The story takes place after the Deathly Hallows with George passing instead of Fred and without any Hermione and Ron pairing.

Insomnia

Fred Weasley lay prostrate on his bed, eyes shut firmly against a sweat soaked pillow. He slowly pried his right arm off his sheets and fumbled around his nightstand for his wand. After several fruitless seconds, Fred placed a firm grasp on the thin stick and turned his head to the side. The heat was unimaginable in his room; even in the middle of June there was no reason he should be this uncomfortable, he was a wizard for goodness sake. Fred mumbled a barely audible spell and a cool blue frost emitted from his wand and immediately took down the temperature in his room. Sighing with relief, Fred held his wand up several seconds longer before placing it back on the nightstand and readjusting himself on his bed. Blinking one, twice, three times he closed his eyes and prepared for a night of rest…

BAM!

Fred let out a gasp and nearly fell out of his bed in shock.

"What the hell?" Fred mumbled. Fighting off grogginess, he stumbled out of bed and took several haphazard steps to the door before regaining complete control of his lower extremities. Cracking open his door, Fred peeked his head out to see what the commotion was about.

"I don't care WHAT excuses you have, it's completely unacceptable!" A shrill voice that sounded much like Mrs. Weasley's, but not, resounded throughout the household.

"Ginny, please calm down, this isn't the time or the place to be discussing this." The hushed tone of Harry trying to placate Ginny traveled up the stairs.

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down Harry James Potter! Get your hands OFF me!" Ginny's screech made Fred wince. He briefly weighed his options, which were going down to see what the two lovebirds were fighting about or returning to bed. He chose the latter.

Before he was able to fully retreat into his room, a hand slipped in between the doorframe.

"Fred, wait," Hermione hurriedly whispered. "Can I come in?"

Eyebrows raised, Fred opened his door to allow access to his friend.

"What's up?"

"I don't want to keep you up, it's just I was bunking with Ginny, and well…you can hear it for yourself."

"Yeah, what is all that? I heard a crash and came out and the two were having a row."

Hermione folded her arms across her chest and rubbed her arms, looking uncomfortable. "I'm not entirely sure of the whole story…but it sounds like Harry's been doing something he shouldn't have been. I've never seen Ginny act like that before."

Fred nodded his head in agreement. "Which is why I'm casting a silencing charm so I can get some shut eye." With a casual flick of his wand, the shouting and banging emanating from downstairs vanished into silence. "Presto." Fred turned to Hermione with a small smile. "Would you like the floor or shall I take it?"

Hermione's eyes widened. "Oh! No, I mean…they shouldn't be too much longer. I'll just…sit. Until they're finished."

Fred furrowed his eyebrows and looked around at his chair-less room. "Um, okay. If you change your mind, you know where the bed is."

It was Hermione's turn to furrow her eyebrows, "You're going to bed?"

Fred plopped himself on his mattress. "Well, I know that it's an odd concept and there are many rumors about me having vampiric qualities-but yes, I do sleep on occasion."

Hermione frowned and wrapped herself tighter with her arms. Fred's mind started clicking a little faster. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes." Hermione replied a little too quickly. "I just wanted a respite from Harry and Ginny. It's their first fight as far as I know-it was bound to be huge."

"Would you like to lay down for a bit then?" Fred was running out of ideas of what Hermione could possibly want. And the reason that she had come to his room instead of Ron's was quickly becoming a cause for suspicion.

Hermione opened, then closed, then opened her mouth in response, "That would be nice." Her response was court and stiff.

Fred scooted over on his bed allowing ample room for Hermione to lay down. Her actions were beyond abnormal, but the prospect of sleep was overwhelming. He'd just have to figure it out in the morning. Fred turned to Hermione and watched her slowly walk over and stiffly sit on the bed. Then, one leg at a time, she swung them over and laid her head down on the pillow. Her arms were folded across her stomach and he was able for the first time in months to get a good look at the girl.

She looked exhausted, and not just from being up at three in the morning. Her hair was expectedly frizzy, but it had managed to lose a lot of its luster that Hermione had worked so hard to retain since her fourth year. She was thin too, verging on unhealthy, he could count every rib underneath the blue tank-top she was wearing. The bags under her eyes made the rest of her face seem sunken. Fred didn't usually have high expectations at this hour, but this seemed unusual.

Fred opened his mouth to say something but Hermione cut him off.

" I haven't been sleeping a lot lately."

Fred inclined his head towards her. "Well I guessed as much since you're awake, but I thought it was just because of Harry and Ginny."

Hermione continued as if he hadn't said anything, "I've just…I don't know, there's something wrong that I can't quite put a finger on. It's been really difficult to try and talk to Ron and Harry. And usually I would just talk to Ginny, but she's been rather preoccupied with Harry," a small smile tugged at her mouth. "It's just really hard to find someone to talk to."

Fred nodded stiffly. "So you figured you'd come to the only Weasley left?" the statement was meant to be light, but it came out cold and hard, much more so than he had expected.

Hermione's reaction showed less in her face than it did her eyes, but she seemed to be expecting that kind of response. "I didn't mean it like that," she said softly. "I just thought you might be curious as to why I'm here and not in Ron's room."

Mentally berating himself, Fred forced himself to be friendly. He didn't want to ostracize someone that he was genuinely concerned about. "The thought did cross my mind. I just figured you had gotten confused in the darkness and stumbled into my room by accident," he lied.

"I just thought if I spent some time with you the change of scenery might help."

Fred gave her a genuine smile. "You came to the right place dear Hermione. I'm glad to be of some assistance." Fred waved his wand and the lights slowly faded. He reached across Hermione's chest to put his wand on the nightstand and he felt her breath against his arm. He slowly pulled back and settled into his bed. Though he had been so looking forward to sleep, he couldn't help but stare into the darkness. The two were on their backs and the uncomfortable air that was in the room was almost palpable. Not that it was unexpected; though Hermione had been through a lot with the Weasley's, it's not like the two were best friends.

Fred felt Hermione squirming on the bed, her arm touched his briefly and both pulled away sharply as if there was an electric shock that went through them.

"Sorry," Hermione muttered, the clarity in her voice indicating that she was nowhere near sleep.

"S'okay." Fred turned on his side, his back facing Hermione. The more he thought about the situation they were in the more ridiculous it was beginning to seem. Hermione Granger in his bed-for no particular reason other than insomnia. Well, truth is stranger than fiction, Fred thought wryly.

The minutes stretched into hours and the light of morning crept through Fred's curtains, casting a pale blanket throughout his room. Fred had gotten a couple winks of sleep, finally drifting off at some point in the night. He turned over to find Hermione on her back, eyes open.

"Morning." Hermione said as Fred flipped onto his back.

Even though it was the break of dawn, Fred felt strangely alert. "Hermione, have you been awake this whole time?" he asked incredulously.

Hermione didn't say anything, but her pursed lips and the way she averted her eyes spoke volumes.

"Hermione," Fred addressed her in a solemn tone that he had adopted frequently since the death of his twin, "This is ridiculous. Have you tried taking any potions to help you sleep?"

Hermione shook her head. "I don't want to start relying on potions or pills or magical fix-its to get through this. It's something that wasn't started with magic so it can be fixed naturally."

Fred observed her with a critical eye, the pale light made her skin look pallid. He knew she wasn't one to lay out in the sun all day like his sister, but she looked sickly. "Have you been eating enough?"

"I'm still alive, aren't I?" Hermione tried to crack a smile, but it faltered after a moment. Fred could see her exterior shell begin to break down and crumble.

"I don't know what's wrong with me Fred," she confessed. Hermione sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "I feel like a zombie lately, I can't eat, I can't sleep, nothing seems appealing to me anymore."

Fred sat up but stayed where he was on the bed. "You're telling me that neither Harry nor Ron nor Ginny have noticed this?"

"Not exactly…if you haven't noticed your brother and sister aren't doing too well either. Everyone's still trying to deal with what happened, this kind of behavior is normal. I thought you would understand," she said slowly. She turned her head to the side, allowing a profile view of her face.

"Why would I…I mean what makes you think that I could help?"

Hermione shrugged, "You're always busy, but the strain is still noticeable. You can stay at the shop all you want but you have to face it sometime."

Fred pushed himself off the bed and walked over to his window, away from Hermione. "Face what exactly?" He asked her coldly, knowing full well what she was talking about.

"Fred, don't play games. If you don't want to discuss it, that's fine. I just wanted you to know you're the one I came to for help and if you can't or won't help I understand. I just had to get it out there."

Fred turned towards her. She had rested her hand behind her so that she could face Fred fully and look him straight in the eyes. The one thing he noticed that hadn't vanished from her façade was the burning fire that laid behind her eyes. Seeing some life in her brought back some of her old features and made her fatigued face seem more alive.

"I want to help, Hermione, I really do because honestly you look like hell. But I just don't know what you're asking me to do." Fred held up his hands, as if he was admitting defeat before he had even had even tried.

"I just…" Hermione bit her lip. It was rare to see her at a loss for words, she was typically the quickest thinker of the three. "I just want to spend time with you is all. I think it would help."

Fred quirked an eyebrow. "And what gave you that idea?"

"Intuition? I suppose it was just a gut feeling, nothing else is working," she responded with a shrug, causing one of her straps to fall.

"Fair enough. Maybe we should start in a couple hours though? It is about five in the morning, you are aware?"

Hermione's whole demeanor seemed to droop. "Of course." With a small smile, she rose from the bed and towards the door. "They must've stopped fighting by now anyway. It's lucky your parents are gone for the next two weeks, I can't imagine Mrs. Weasley if she had been woken up by their screaming."

"Something tells me they would have kept it a little quieter if Mum had been around."

Hermione nodded and gave Fred a fleeting smile before disappearing behind the door.

Fred sank onto his bed and ran his hand through hair, sighing deeply. He couldn't imagine what had possessed Hermione to want to come talk to him. It's not like he was ever unfriendly to her, but he wracked his brain as to what would've given her the idea that he would be an adequate confidant.