Prologue: The Secret

July 31, 1997

"But it's Harry's birthday." Hermione insisted in a flustered voice, Fred tugging at her waist in a rush to get her away from the crowd. It had been days since he touched her last, with all the wedding arrangements for Bill and Fleur, all Fred got was secret glances and stolen smiles from the brunette.

Half the guests were leaving just after having cake for Harry's seventeenth and the Weasley's, including Hermione and Harry, were helping restore the garden to its normal state. Fred had been assigned moving all cutlery and the like back inside. He intercepted Hermione on her way to help with the tables. Grinning mischievously, Fred backed Hermione into the kitchen which was when she began her halfhearted reluctance.

Fred flicked his wand, the dirty dishes zooming into the sink though his eyes never left Hermione.

"Fred – they'll see us." She hissed in a whisper. He pressed her into one of the counters, hands roaming her thighs and hips.

"Please, Hermione." He begged, slowly moving his lips over her exposed shoulder. "It's been so long since I've kissed you. I don't care if they see."

Hermione's head tilted to the side when his gentle lips reached her neck, butterflies fluttered within her and then the familiar sensation of ache in the pit of her stomach riled up quickly. Her arms looped around his neck, Fred pushed himself to her and she felt his own excitement against her lower abdomen. "Fred." Hermione murmured breathlessly.

Egotism increasing, he nipped her earlobe with a growl. Hermione moved her head and captured his lips, their kiss desperate and rough. The cravings for affection from him drove Hermione relentlessly. She jumped up, hooking her legs around his waist and Fred shuffled her onto the counter, one hand staying at her hip while the other cupped her neck, clutching tendrils of hair with his fingers. Fred's teeth grazed her lower lip and Hermione immediately ran her tongue over his own lip, teasingly. He cursed and ground his hips to hers, eliciting a moan from Hermione.

The couple broke apart when a stomp from the stairwell echoed to the kitchen. Hermione, blushed in the face and neck, her lips swollen, quickly escaped from the room, leaving Fred sorely horny and more sexually frustrated than ever. His father appeared in the kitchen just seconds later and gave Fred a smile. Tousle-haired and out of breath, Fred returned the grin and once he was gone, leaned his hands against the counter, his eyes closing.

"Meet us upstairs," Harry told Hermione twenty minutes after the scene with Fred in the kitchen. "After everyone's gone to bed."

Hermione nodded an okay then went off to see if anything else needed doing for Molly.

"Oh yes, darling, I'd very much appreciate it if you could please help Ginny with the leftovers." Molly said, assisting some of the Order members with fixing up the tables.

"Sure thing." Hermione promised. She went off to find Ginny and saw the redhead sitting in the Sitting Room, surrounded with bits of cut up cake and nibbles on plates. Hermione laughed softly and sat opposite Ginny on the floor.

"Having fun?" Hermione asked, starting to tend to the cake.

Ginny used her index finger to brush it past her neck, making a sound. Hermione snorted. For a while they sat in silence, working through the bits of food. Despite having so many people over, not much of it was eaten.

Hermione had calmed down somewhat from the encounter with her 'boyfriend' – if she could even call him that? They'd been fooling around since she was sixteen and Hermione was to be eighteen soon enough. Since then she always sensed it wasn't the best decision, never having closure and always having the image of Fred in the back of her mind. Though, the possibility of a future with him was getting thinner by the days that went by. How much longer could they keep this up for? Surely tonight would be one of their last night's together in a long time. Harry was eager to leave for their mission, Hermione knew that, so they had only one guaranteed day left at the Burrow.

She knew she should be ending her relationship with Fred. Continuing it would be too dangerous and keeping Fred in the dark would drive him absolutely mental. She didn't know how long her, Harry and Ron would be away for. She didn't even know if any of them would live through it. Perhaps it was better to finish things now and save Fred a lot of hurt for the future. Her mind was telling her to cut him from her life, she cared deeply about the Weasley's but they lived in the wizarding world, not so easy to get rid of, much like her parents. But the less casualties, the better. However, in her heart she didn't want to play the hero. An on-and-off relationship with someone for two years had caused something to stir in her body, something that she couldn't rid of just by the attention of someone else. It was something so incredibly strong that Hermione could quite literally feel the pain of being without that person for so long.

"Hermione?" Ginny's voice rose again.

Hermione looked up from the cake and to her friend who actually appeared to be teary-eyed. Hermione bit her lip. "This is about Harry, isn't it?"

She didn't need Ginny to respond to know how Ginny was feeling. Hermione scooted herself over to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"It's okay to cry you know." Hermione said soothingly. "We're all scared... even if we don't want to admit it."

"It's not that." Ginny sniffed. Hermione felt Ginny's tears soak into her shirt but she didn't really mind.

"What is it then?" Hermione asked while starting to rub Ginny's arm.

"He thinks he's alone... I know he does," Ginny began. "He thinks he has to do everything by himself and he doesn't want to put anyone else in danger. But he doesn't want to admit that we're all in danger whether we're helping Harry Potter or not. Any one of us could drop dead from a Death Eater any day. So I don't understand why he has to be so secretive."

"I'm sorry, Ginny." Hermione muttered. "It was hard enough convincing him that Ron and I were..." she cleared her throat, "well, I'll be sure to remind him that everyone wants to help him. Not just Ron and I. And you know that you can help too. Just because you're sixteen doesn't mean you can't help."

Ginny snorted and wiped her nose on her sleeves. "It kind of does. I'm getting sent off to Hogwarts while the rest of you are off doing whatever you're doing."

Hermione frowned at her friend. She thought for a couple of seconds, trying to think of a way to comfort Ginny. Then it struck her.

"I'll be back in two seconds." Hermione promised, getting up quickly and taking two steps at a time going up the staircase until she reached Ginny's room. Hermione rummaged through her pink beaded bag. "Accio coin!"

Almost a hundred coins flew out and landed on the trundle bed but it only took Hermione seconds to find the coin she needed. She headed back downstairs, Ginny still where she left her. Hermione sat down again, breathing heavily from the running, and pressed the shining coin into Ginny's palm. "I'm sure that'll help."

The smile appearing on Ginny's face warmed Hermione's heart. "Thanks Hermione." She tightened her grip on the coin then tucked it into her pocket. "Oh, yeah, I just remembered. Fred told me to tell you that George was on watch tonight?"

Hermione knew what that meant. "Thanks Ginny. Yeah there was just some... mix up."

Ginny raised her eyebrow. "Right."

Something creaked downstairs.

"Probably just Charlie, now Mum's asleep, sneaking off to regrow his hair." Ron told Harry and Hermione.

"All the same... we should get to bed." Hermione replied quietly.

She ducked out of the room and heard Ron click the Deluminator once she'd left. Heading down the staircase, Hermione then realised it was not Charlie after all, it was Fred, roaming the Burrow.

He smiled at her through the darkness. "I was worried you wouldn't understand my message."

Hermione rolled her eyes playfully. "I understood it perfectly. Now hurry up, I'm actually really tired."

Fred smirked, grasping Hermione's hand while leading her to his and George's old bedroom. "Care to change that?" he said cheekily and Hermione hit his arm softly. "Shush."

They stepped quietly up the stairs, not wanting to alert anybody who may or may not be sleeping. Eventually, they were safely inside the small bedroom and Fred closed the door behind him. He flicked on the lights. The first thing Hermione noticed was that Fred had pushed the two single beds together to make one double bed for them to share. She almost giggled at the thought.

"That's cute." She turned to him. Fred was grinning from ear to ear.

"Do I finally get you all to myself tonight?" he whispered, walking her toward the makeshift bed.

Hermione nodded. "Just tonight." She promised him. He swept down and kissed her gently on the lips.

Afterward, they lay naked, breathing quietly. Fred stroked Hermione's curly hair and Hermione lay on his chest, admiring each of his arm freckles. This hadn't been the first time they made love, though Hermione guessed it was probably the last time. But tonight was different compared to every other night. Tonight really made Hermione feel alive. She didn't want to leave his arms.

"You're going soon... aren't you?" Fred asked quietly, starting to plait Hermione's hair.

"Yeah." She whispered back, not wanting to lie. "Fred I don't really want to talk about that..."

"Fine, I'll talk. You just listen." He told her and waited for a response.

Hermione sighed softly then nodded.

"When you get back... when all of this is done, we should make this more, well, serious. And tell people." He said.

"Fred, I-"

"Shh," he interrupted. "You decided you were just going to listen," Fred told her. He continued when Hermione shut her eyes. "When the war is over I want us to be together. Properly. The past two years have been nice... and I know we both never assumed it'd go on for this long. But it has and I want it to go further."

Hermione looked up at him.

"I want to be with you. You're the only girl I want, Hermione."

"Fred, we have no idea how long this war is going to go on for." She told him, trying to think logically.

"Hermione, I love you." He said.

Hermione was afraid he'd say that. She climbed up into his lap and cupped his cheeks. He leaned into her soft touch. "Promise me that when this is over, we'll be together. Okay? Promise me, Hermione."

She hesitated, searching his eyes and only seeing his desperation and pain for her. She couldn't break his heart right now. It wouldn't be right.

So she lied.

"I promise."