Hermione couldn't remember how long they had sat there in the rubble. Could have been minutes or hours, would have made no difference. Surrounded by the dead and dying was too much, hermione couldn't bring herself to look at any of the faces. Going by what she had heard Tonks and Lupin were gone. and Fred had gotten crushed under a wall. After that she had cast a silencing charm, she couldn't bear to hear any more names.

She couldn't take it any more. The war was over, they had won. But at what cost? How many innocent lives had to be lost? Hermione ran away from the Hogwarts grounds until she had passed the boundary. Then she apparated away to Number 12. It was a while before the others showed up, but eventually they did. One by one, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Arthur and Molly, Percy, Bill and Fleur, Charlie and George.

And then he showed up last. Hermione jumped up upon seeing him and ran over, stopping a few feet away. After a moment of convincing herself he was real she threw her arms around him in a hug. "Fred, you're here. Your alive. They said you were dead but you're not, you're right here. You're alive!"

Fred couldn't help but laugh softly as his own arms around her petite body, "No, people only thought I was. Got knocked out but I got extremely lucky." He whispers softly as he presses gentle kisses to her neck and shoulder. But after a minute of just holding her, he had picked her up off her feet.

Hermione was so relieved she was laughing, her eyes a tad moist. She wasn't sure why exactly she was acting this way. Sure, the Wesley's had always been a second family to her, but she was never close with Fred like she had been with Ginny. Not that she minded the kisses, they were very welcome. "Well good. And now that everything is over you are going to stay safe, you hear me?"

Since Fred was still pretty weak from the war he'd let her sit on the closest table but he stayed quite close to her. His forehead touching hers and his arms on either side of her, "I'll do my best but I do have a prank shoo which can result in some injuries in the making of new pranks." He whispers softly as he gently kisses her cheek. "Though you could always just stick by my side and make sure I'm safe."

Hermione swatted his side gently, careful not to hurt him. She tried not to let the kisses get to her head, but it was no use. She knew she was blushing, she could feel the heat in her cheeks. "You are not going anywhere until you are fully healed. No pranks until you are at full health."

"Who's going to take care of me? Because Georgie is, his words, holy so he's half deaf." He chuckles as he takes a glance inside the kitchen. "And Mum will have her hands full already." He whispers but he slowly buries his face in her neck just to continue holding her close. "I was worried about you, Hermione."

Hermione shook her head and ran her hand through his ginger hair, loving the feel of it between her fingers. "Oh please, I was fine the whole time." She couldn't believe how selfless he was. Here he was almost dying, and HE was worried about Her. Being close to him was getting to be too much, her head was getting all fuzzy. But she couldn't push him away, she didn't want to. "Don't you worry, I'll take care of you. Promise."

"I'll enjoy that." He whispers softly as he softly traces circles into her lower back, but he heard Ginny clear her throat from the kitchen doorway. "I better head to bed, Mum won't want me to do much. Neither will Ginny." He whispers softly before he reluctantly pulls away.

Hermione nodded slowly, not particularly enjoying him leaving. "Yeah, that's probably what's best. Get to bed, I'll see you in the morning." Hermione watched him slowly leave and tried to ignore the looks Ginny was shooting her.

"What was that?" Ginny asks as she keeps her eyes on Hermione, slowly walking towards her before she saw Fred was gone. "Do you and him have something going on that I don't know about?"

Hermione sighed and ran a hand through her thick hair. How was she supposed to explain what happened? She didn't even know what happened. "No, nothing like that. You know I would have told you. How much did you see?"

"Since he picked you up." She says as she glances upstairs again before back at Hermione, "You can tell me if there is. I wasn't mad when you seemed interested in Ron. I wouldn't be upset if you were interested in Fred."

"I don't know Gin. I thought he was dead for a few hours, that was what I heard. And then he shows up, I was just relieved I suppose. And then.. well I'm not sure what happened. We just got carried away." Hermione had loved the feel of him pressed against her, she had loved his light kisses all over her neck. Maybe it was just the heat of the moment. She needed time to think this over.

"Why don't you go check on him then? See if things will be the same. Because If things are staying like this between you two I want to be prepared." Ginny said with a chuckle before she motioned for Hermione to go up the stairs, "Go on."

Hermione mentally prepared herself the whole way up the stairs and down the hall until she had reached his room. Hesitating for a moment she knocked and opened the door a crack. "Hey Fred. Can we talk?" She cringed at those words, that was probably the worst thing to say.

Fred had just pulled on a pair of pajamas when she came in, and he was quite thankful to see her as well. "Of course, are you okay?"

Hermione nodded and bit her lip, walking over and taking a seat on the bed. She reached out for his hand, pulling him down to sit with her. "Yeah, yeah I'm good. A little confused is all. Umm... with all the... touching and... k-kisses earlier. I mean we've never... We hardly even... Why did you do it?"

Fred slowly wrapped his arm around her waist, "Well... I thought maybe something happened to you. And I've always had special feelings for you. I'm sorry." He whispers softly as he looks down to the ground. "I know you like Ron and he likes you."

Hermione shook her head, there was nothing to apologize for. She brought a hand up to his face, gently caressing it. She tilted his head up, making him look at her. "It's not like that between me and Ron. It could have been, a few years ago. But that's over now, we are just friends." She wasn't sure what else to say so she decided to show him. There lips were only a few inches apart, but Hermione changed that and kissed him lightly on the lips.

He was a little shocked that she had made him look up at her but he wasn't spending any moment to hesitate the second she kissed him. He was quick to deepen the kiss and slowly have his other arm bring her legs up across his lap. "So what does that kiss mean?" He murmurs quietly as he just parted their lips enough so he could speak.

She sighed in contentment. Something about this just felt right. "It means that I have special feelings for you. Is that okay?" She whispered. Hermione bit her lip, now feeling embarrassed about her boldness.

A grin slowly spread across his lips as he leaned down to press small kisses onto her neck again. "So will you stay with me tonight? I mean just lay in bed with me and we can just sleep. Just relax and cuddle." He whispered softly

Hermione tilted her head to the side, giving him better access to her neck. "You are amazing. Of course I'll stay with you."

He very slowly kissed up to her lips again before he whispers, "Let's head to bed then. Before Mum can come tell us we can't." He says with a light chuckle

Hermione smiled and nodded, waving her wand to close and lock the door. She had been practicing a lot of wordless magic, but she had yet to master wandless yet. "Just in case someone walks past." She explained and let him lead her to the bed.

Fred chuckled as he lies down and slowly pulls her down beside him and wrap his arms around her waist, "Sleep tight, alright?" He whispers

Hermione curled into his side, her head resting on his chest while her fingers drew lazy circles on his stomach. She hummed peacefully. "You too. Don't be leaving me in the middle of the night to I wake up alone."

"Would never dream of it."