Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own the rights to any of the characters or places, that's all J.K. Rowling. I also don't own the rights to the lyrics ('Come To Me' by The Goo Goo Dolls).
A/N: I really hope you all enjoy the story. It was really hard to write, but I was inspired and felt it needed to be done. I'd love to know what you all think, so please leave a review! Also, if you haven't heard the song 'Come To Me', I suggest you listen to it, because it's lovely. Thanks, and enjoy!
I'll be kind, if you'll be faithful
You be sweet and I'll be grateful
Cover me with kisses dear
Lighten up the atmosphere
Keep me warm inside our bed
I got dreams of you all through my head
Fortune teller said I'd be free
And that's the day you came to me
Came to me
"We're leaving, Fred. Tomorrow morning." Cringing inwardly, I turned to my boyfriend of a little over two years to see the look on his face. He was solemn, and, for what I could tell, didn't quite know what to say. Not really knowing myself, I kept quiet. I was tired, very tired, which wasn't good, because both of us had to be awake and alert at the crack of dawn to prepare for Bill and Fluer's wedding. At about three in the morning, neither of us had fallen asleep yet, so we decided to go and sit out on one of the hills near the Burrow. It was our spot. It had been where he'd asked me to be his girlfriend.
Lost in my own thoughts, I barely heard Fred answer me. "I've been wondering when you were going to tell me," he whispered, taking me completely by surprise. I turned my head a bit to get a better look at his face. He smiled softly, but his eyes were sad.
"How... How did you know?" I asked in a whisper. He scoffed, rolling his eyes and earning a small, rather girlish giggle from me. He was the only person to ever have that effect on me. To be able to make me feel... giddy.
"Hermione, we've been together for more than two years now, and I've been in love with you for three. I know when you're hiding something. I may not have known what was going on exactly, but I knew it was something along those lines." Completely taken aback, I spluttered for a few seconds before finally speaking.
"I'm sorry..." I tried to turn away, but he pulled my chin up so that I was forced to look up at him. He gave me his crooked grin that I'd grown to love so much, and I couldn't help but give a small smile myself.
"I know... I know you wouldn't go if you didn't think it was necessary. You'd miss me too much," he joked, but it caused tears to well up in my eyes. He was right, I would miss him. I honestly had no idea how I'd get through the battle we all knew was coming without having him by my side for every second of it.
"Hey, hey," he put a hand on my cheek, caressing it softly with calloused fingers. "You'll be fine. I have so much faith in you. Even if I don't know exactly what you and those boys'll be doing, I know you'll all make it through this... Besides, they need you. We all know they wouldn't last long if they didn't have 'the Brightest Witch of the Age'. I smiled a bit up at him, trying to see through the tears that were slowing streaming down my cheeks, blurring my vision. An overwhelming wave of love for this man filled me and I flung myself into his arms. He put his around my waist, and we just sat there like that, neither of us caring about time or anything else besides just being together.
After a while (I'm not sure how long, I just know that the sky was a bit lighter), I whispered, "Promise me something, okay?" He nodded, so I went on. "Come back to me... When this is over, promise me we'll still be together. Please?"
He grinned down at me, and pulled me in to the sweetest kiss I'd ever had. "Of course. But you have to promise me the same. I really don't think I could go on without you 'Mione." I nodded.
"I love you," he whispered, looking me deep in the eyes. I gazed back into his blue orbs, savoring the moment, trying to memorize it.
"I love you, too," I answered, kissing him once more, and losing myself in his embrace.
Come to me my sweetest friend
Can you feel my heart again
I'll take you back where you belong
And this will be our favorite song
Come to me with secrets bare
I'll love you more so don't be scared
When we're old and near the end
We'll go home and start again
Start again
"'Mione! I'm home, darling!" I rolled my eyes, smiling as I shut the book in my lap. Even though we lived above the shop, and I'd just seen him not three hours ago when he came up for lunch, Fred insisted on greeting me in the most dramatic way possible every evening when he was finished with his work.
"Hey," I said, coming into the entrance near the kitchen. I gave him a peck on the lips before asking, "How was the rest of your day? Action packed?"
"Oh, very. A kid accidentally set of a box of Whiz-Bangs. It was a mess to clean up, but we ended up selling a lot over this months margin because of it, so it was worth it." I laughed, and he gave me another sweet kiss on the lips. "I, however, am much more interested in how your day was," he suddenly caressed my stomach. I looked down, and we both smiled.
"Oh, we had a wonderful day," I answered. "Although, I feel more like I'm eating for five rather than two. I hope his appetite slows down once he's actually here, or we may have to move into the stock room." Fred laughed and shook his head.
"Hermione, be realistic, he's a Weasley." I laughed, rubbing my belly and looking down at it admirably.
"That is true."
He kissed me and chuckled softly, pulling into a tight embrace, my protruding stomach sandwiched between us.
(*)(*)(*)
I jerked awake, nearly falling out of bed.
Where was I? What had just happened? I took in my surroundings and sighed into my hands as I rubbed my face, which had broken out in a cold-sweat. It had been a dream. None of it was real, and that was the scariest thing in the world, because reality was honestly a nightmare.
I pulled the Horcrux from my neck and looked over at Harry. Good. He was still asleep. I then noticed Ron's empty bed and promptly lost it completely. It'd been nearly a month since he stormed off, but the wound he left behind was still fresh. How could he do that? I'd asked myself that question countless times over the last few weeks, and hadn't come up with a complete answer... No matter now. Mowing over it in the early hours of the morning never seemed to do any good.
I laid back down, willing myself with all my might to fall back asleep. Trying to force myself to dream of Fred may not have been the most natural thing to do, but the hope of him was all there was...
I caught you burnin' photographs
Like that could save you from your past
History is like gravity
It holds you down away from me
You and me, we've both got sins
I don't care about where you've been
Don't be sad and don't explain
This is where we start again
Start again
"'Mione?" I barely heard a voice call through the haze in my brain. It felt as though someone had wrung my it out like a wet towel, but there was a distinct pain all through the rest of my body that caused me to whimper quietly. Immediately I found that that was a mistake.
"Hermione?!" The voice, that, sounding more familiar now, called out to me, much more alarmingly. I tried to open my eyes so that I could at least see who was saying my name, but it felt as though there were heavy weights holding each of them down. Frustrated, I attempted the last thing I could think to do.
"Yes?" I said, though it was barely audible and hurt my scratchy throat. After I spoke, everything that had happened came flooding back to me in a massive wave of panic and fright. Malfoy Manor... Bellatrix... My arm... Dobby...
My eyes instantly flew open. "Where's Dobby?" I asked, doing my best to ignore the pain radiating through my body, particularly in my arm, as I tried to sit up. It took me a few seconds, but I finally realized fully who exactly was sitting on the end of the bed in this strange room (Shell Cottage, I thought to myself, I could remember that much), and who had been the one calling me only seconds before... "Fred?" I asked quietly, as a fresh wave of shock rang through me.
"Hello, love." He answered quietly, a small, sad smile on his face. He reached out and gently caressed my cheek with his hand, which I leaned into.
I was in shock, to say the least. I hadn't seen or spoken to Fred in about nine months, not since the night of the wedding... I was suddenly hit with so many different emotions. Not knowing what to say, I simply repeated the question from earlier. "Where's Dobby?" I ask, doing my best to keep my voice level, doing my best not to cry. I knew the answer, but I didn't want it to be true. He simply looked at me with that sad smile again, and I nodded, leaning into him and sobbed as he wrapped his arms around me.
After a few minutes, I had calmed down a bit and was sitting in Fred's lap, my face buried against his shoulder, inhaling the scent of him that I'd missed so much. Parchment with a hint of peppermint.
Sensing that I was doing a bit better, I guess, Fred answered my question. "Harry's buried him... Near the beach. A real pretty spot, if you ask me." I looked up at him, ignoring the pain it caused my neck, and smiled.
"He'd like that. Dobby, I mean. He'd like the view."
"Yeah... Yeah, I reckon he would." Suddenly, Fred pulled away from me. He took in my appearance, a look of sadness on his face, until he came to my left arm, then, the look on his face turned into something more... Disgust? I guess I couldn't really blame him.
"It's horrible isn't it? So ugly." I gently lifted my arm, tears falling freely down my cheeks, though still not as hard as before.
Fred grabbed my arm suddenly, but very gently, and brought it up to his face, kissing it tenderly. It didn't hurt at all, but it brought a few more tears to my eyes. It was the sweetest thing I'd ever seen. He then looked deeply into my eyes, and they were filled with the most love I'd ever seen in them.
"Nothing about you could ever be considered close to ugly. You're the most beautiful, amazing, loving woman I've ever known. What's ugly is the person who did this to you. This," he looked down at where 'Mudblood' had been etched into my skin. "just shows how strong you are. You'd rather put yourself in an immense amount of pain than betray what you believe in, and that's amazing. You're amazing. In fact," he fumbled around for something inside the pocket his robes- his work robes, if I wasn't mistaken. Bill must have told him I was here, he must've come straight from work.- "I've been wanting to say this for a while now. I was going to the night of the wedding, but, well, I didn't get the chance." He proceeded to get down on one knee. My eyes must have widened comically, because he grinned up at me, trying to hold back what looked like laughter.
"Hermione Jean Granger, I love you so much, I honestly can't put into words how much. These last few months have been absolute hell, and I know that they'll only be worse if I know I can't have you to myself forever when this is over. Would you please do me the extraordinary honor of marrying me? Will you be my wife, 'Mione?"
He'd found what he'd been fumbling around in his pockets for and presented it to me. Inside it was the most beautiful ring I'd ever seen. It had two thin bands that wound together, and in the center were three flowers. The two on the outside were smaller, on held a small diamond, and the other a sapphire. Our birthstones. The flower in the center held what seemed to be a combination of the two, as the blue and clear swirled together. It was something I'd never seen, or even heard of before. He must have magicked it, I thought, smiling like a fool up at him.
I kissed him sweetly before answering. "Yes. Yes, of course I will, Fred. I love you so much." My arm forgotten, and he kissed me back.
"I love you too, 'Mione." He smiled even bigger before adding "Soon-to-be Mrs. Weasley." I laughed happily and he hugged me before saying, "I'd like to get married soon, as soon as this is all over. I want to make you mine as fast as I can." I nodded in agreement, but didn't really think much of it. We'd have time to talk about all that later. For now, we'd laugh, and savor this time together. I'm sure Harry, Ron, and I would leave again soon, so I'd enjoy just being with him, if only for a little while...
Come to me my sweetest friend
Can you feel my heart again
I'll take you back where you belong
And this will be our favorite song
Come to me with secrets bare
I'll love you more so don't be scared
When we're old and near the end
We'll go home and start again
Start again
I followed Harry quietly into the Great Hall, still crying a bit from what he'd just told Ron and I he was going to do. The worst part was that I couldn't think of anything to do to stop him. I almost always had a solution, but I just couldn't think of anything to say this time...
Suddenly, someone pulled me into a tight hug, sobbing into my shoulder. I'd recognize that long mane of ginger hair anywhere.
"Ginny?" I asked, hugging back, and not really knowing what else to do. Had something happened...?
That was when I saw him. He was oddly pale, paler than I'd ever seen him, even that time when he got a bad head cold and had to stay in the Hospital Wing for three days. He had a small smile on his face, as if he'd just told a joke, or knew something no one else did. It was mischievous, but there was an uncomfortable peace about it... Then I realized...
"No! Fred!" I yelled, sprinting forward. Without fully knowing what I was doing, I'd hurled myself on top of him, sobbing into his shoulder. He was still slightly warm, and I could still smell him. Parchment with a hint of peppermint- my favorite scent on earth. "No, no, no," I said uncontrollably. I leaned back and put my hands on his cheeks, some of my tears spilling onto his face, so many so, that it eventually looked as though he'd been crying as well.
I felt George come up behind me and pull me into his shoulder. I leaned into him, sobbing and eventually asked the question I already knew the answer to.
"Is he...? Are you sure?"
George nodded and gave a broken sob at the same time Mr. Weasley said, "We did everything in our power to try and save him, but we think he was killed instantly." I heard, rather than saw, Mrs. Weasley sob, because I was busy doing the same.
How am I supposed to go on...?
Today's the day I'll make you mine
So get me to the church on time
Take my hand in this empty room
You're my girl, and I'm your groomCome to me my sweetest friend
This is where we start again, again
I was sitting on the hill near the Burrow, our hill, looking out at the clear blue sky. It was July 8th. The day Fred had wanted to get married, and the day he'd convinced me to agree on the day he proposed. I'd almost wished I wouldn't have given in, and had worried about that later on, because the pain it caused to think about getting my hair done, slipping into an elegant dress, and declaring my love for one of the best people I ever knew, may have been just a little bit easier, would have made it all a little less real.
I'd been surprisingly strong through everything. At least on the outside. On the inside, I was a wreck. I keep thinking of what could've been, but never would be. I didn't want to remember, because it hurt, but I was also so scared of forgetting it all. It was a viscous cycle.
I laid down in the soft grass, just like he and I used to do together, and closed my eyes. I know you're here Fred, I thought.
I'm always here, 'Mione. I pictured him laying beside me, whispering the words in my ear, caressing my cheek with those calloused fingers I loved so much. I always will be. I made a promise to you, I'm going to keep it.
"So what now?"I said out loud, opening my eyes, and it was like he was actually there, looking down at me.
Be happy. Live life. I'll always be here He traced a heart gently around where my actual heart would be. He gave me a tender kiss was gone just as fast as he'd come. I smiled softly, looking down at the ring on my finger, which seems to grow suddenly warm.
He'll never really be gone.
Come to me my sweetest friend
Can you feel my heart again
Take you back where you belong
This will be our favorite song
Come to me with secrets bare
I'll love you more so don't be scared
When we're old and near the end
We'll go home and start again (yeah)
Start again (yeah)