Fred's POV

Fred had been helping his mum out all afternoon after he and George had closed up at the joke shop for the day, his mother had some big dinner planned and said that it was important that he and George attended and also help set up.
But that wasn't what was playing on his mind, oh no. What was playing on Fred Weasley's mind was the fact that he saw Hermione Granger in Diagon Alley looking glamorously flustered as always, Fred thought.

But what Fred was wondering was what exactly was Hermione doing there? He thought the witch never left the office any more these days. It wasn't just him that saw her either, so he knew that he wasn't imagining things, because his twin brother George had saw her too, heading towards the new café that had opened up just three stores down from Weasley Wizard Wheezes. It was weird, Fred thought, because one thing is, that if Hermione was in Diagon Alley, it meant that she was meeting someone, but Fred didn't dare have a look, he didn't want to interrupt the witches privacy, because as long as she was happy, that was really all that mattered.

Fred turned back to what he was doing, which was stringing up decorations in the kitchen with his brother George, whilst Ginny and his mum were cooking the biggest turkey he had ever seen step foot inside the Weasley Burrow. This made him smile, since the war had ended, everyone had got along so much better. Percy would visit often instead of not being seen at all, Ron and Ginny weren't always bickering with each other, his mum and dad weren't so frail, Charlie would come home from Romania frequently during the holiday's now that he knew it was safe to do so, and Bill and Fleur had come out of hiding at the cottage along the beach. It made Fred smile to see his family happy in one room, finally doing something together that wouldn't end in a total disaster.

Fred got down from the ladder he was standing on to get more decorations out of the box when Harry turned up at the Burrow along with his brother Ron as they both had just finished their day of work as an Auror for the Ministry of Magic.

"About time Ronald, Harry." Fred greeted them with a smile.
"Yeah, clock started ticking ages ago, we're supposed to of had everything done an hour ago." George replied with a groan as yet another paper chain had fallen down on him.
"Well perhaps if you boys had stopped messing around, then it would have been done by now." His mother interrupted as she put the meat in the oven, before turning to help Ginny prep the vegetables.
"Mrs Weasley, is there anything that I can help you with?" Harry asked her after hanging his coat up on the wrack by their door.
"Yes Harry dear, do you mind helping Remus and Arthur set up the gazebo outside please? They're having a little trouble, and when Sirius gets here, he can help you as well." Molly responded to Harry with a soft smile, the thing is, Fred thought, his mum had always had a soft spot for Harry, but now that soft spot had just grown extra big since Ginny and Harry got married last year.
"Oi, mum, what about me?" Ron asked, with a cheeky smile.
"Ah, Ron. Could you go up to the attic and fetch the table cloths please? The ones we always use for big dinners." Molly asked him with a smile.
"Of course mum" Ron responded, giving his mother a hug and going up to the attic.

Fred turned around to admire how the room was looking so far, before deciding to stop laughing at George and help him put up the paper chains that kept falling down before they took the table outside.
Fred's mum had told them all that there would be fourteen of them dining at the Burrow tonight, however Fred just couldn't figure out who exactly the fourteenth person was that would be joining them. It made Fred curious as to what his mother had got planned, but he soon found himself distracted as Sirius, Luna and Angelina finally turned up at the Burrow to give them a hand with setting up.
"Hello Padfoot." Fred greeted Sirius at the same time as his brother George.
"Fred, George, how nice to see you again." Sirius responded with a grin and the twins.
"Now, now Padfoot, no need for formalities, we only saw you yesterday." George responded with a light laugh.
"That's true Georgey boy" Sirius responded with a laugh before pulling both the twins under his arms and ruffling their hair.

Fred and George loved it when Sirius came to visit them, he was like an extended father figure to the boys, sure, their father was brilliant and they loved old Arthur Weasley dearly, but Sirius was the one who taught them many jokes and took them under his wing to turn them into the second best pranksters that everyone would of heard of. Of course, not many people knew what the Marauders always got up to in their generation, but for those who did, they were a legacy, a legacy that Remus and Sirius were willing to pass onto the boys.

Whilst Sirius went to help set up the gazebo, Luna went inside to help Ginny and Molly finish off cooking the food, whilst Angelina, Fred, George and Ron set up the table before lifting it into the gazebo where everyone was going to be gathered for the night.
Soon, Fred thought, they would find out who their mystery guest would be, Fred just couldn't help but try and figure out why his mother kept going on about tonight being so special and how everything just had to be perfect.
Shortly after everything was set up, Bill and Fleur joined them at the Burrow and 7 o'clock was rolling around fast and there was no sign of their mystery guest. Fred looked at his mother and Ginny out the corner of his eye and noticed that they seemed on edge. They were up to something, Fred thought, he just wondered what exactly that was.

Hermione's POV

Hermione just couldn't do it, she thought. How could she face going to the Burrow after nearly three years of avoiding it? Three years without having to face arguments that she knew would happen.
Hermione was pacing up and down in her living room trying to figure out what she was going to say when she got to the Burrow, somehow she thought a simple hello wouldn't cut it after three years of avoiding the place that used to feel like home to her. The place where all her friends would gather and always enjoy a relaxing atmosphere as well as Molly Weasley's amazing cooking.
Not only that, Hermione thought, she would have to face Ron. She had avoided Ron for so so long, somehow she managed to avoid him at work, even though they were practically in the same building, but tonight was the night that she had to face everything.
Ginny was right, Hermione thought, it was time that she stopped being a coward and faced up to everything that had happened in the last three years, to face up to Ron, to make peace with Luna properly even though she still sees the girl, something hasn't been right between them since Luna and Ron had started dating, and Hermione knew that it was her fault.
Hermione finally stopped pacing and turned to look at the clock, 7:30pm! She was half an hour late to the Burrow! Ginny was going to kill her when she found out the reason as to why Hermione was late, especially when she realises that it was because Hermione was going to chicken out of going.

Hermione quickly put on her jacket and apparated to the Weasley Burrow, only to land in the front yard where everyone was gathering in the garden and food was being put on the table.
Ginny quickly walked towards Hermione, and for that the witch was grateful that her best friend was there to help her through this dinner. Ginny guided Hermione towards the gazebo that was set up outside, and Hermione took a deep breath before stepping inside and facing everyone.
Hermione looked around the table, only to be greeted with shocked faces, there was Fred, George, Ron, Luna, Sirius, Remus, Harry, Bill, Fleur, Arthur, Angelina, and even Molly looked shock to see that she finally turned up, and relief that she actually did so.
Hermione noticed that the only free space at the table was in between Fred and Ginny, but she couldn't move her feet, she seemed frozen on the spot.

"Hermione?" Fred, George and Ron all said at the same time, as in shock that she was actually physically stood there.
"Hi everyone." Hermione said nervously, before looking down at her feet and quickly going to sit down in between Fred and Ginny, not looking at anyone.