The next day, Hermione planned on visiting Fred to see how he was doing. She was sure that he wouldn't be awake when she did visit, but she couldn't help, but expect him to be up and grinning. He'd be telling her not to worry and ask how the rest of the family was. He would tell her jokes that she couldn't get, but smile stupidly anyway. Hermione knew she was preparing herself for disappointment, but lying down in bed all day was just something that Fred didn't do.

Hermione dressed herself in semi-formal attire for no reason whatsoever. She could just wear a sweater and jeans and Fred probably wouldn't even be awake to see it, but she walked downstairs with a cream sleeveless formal dress shirt, a black skirt, and beige flats. Her outfit nearly screamed, "going out."

As expected, they questioned her. Ginny, who had been reading a Muggle magazine in the living room, threw it aside and asked Hermione, "Nice outfit. Going somewhere?"

She really couldn't deny it. "Yes. I'm going look for my mom and dad." Hermione told her that she erased her parents' memory of her, so Ginny left her be, thinking that it was a sensitive topic.

"I wish you all the luck in the world. I'll tell Ron if he ever wakes up." Hermione had been clever and took to sneaking to St. Mungo's early in the morning when Ron couldn't possibly be up.

She smiled, but her voice was caught in her throat. Hermione didn't like lying, especially to friends and near-family. The guilt had riddled her dreams and it threatened to spill the secret out of her mouth. Once Ginny looked away, Hermione ran out of the Burrow, gasping for air. She clutched her face and nearly cried. She shook her head firmly to try and snap out of it. Pulling out her wand, Hermione quickly apparated to St. Mungo's.

She approached the reception and spoke to a young brunette witch.

"Hello, welcome to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Are you looking to check in or visit a patient? How may I assist you?"

"I'm here for Fred Weasley. He was brought here from Hogwarts."

"You're family?"

"...Yeah." After all, she eventually would join the Weasley family.

"He's in room 401. That's four floors up and the first to your right." Hermione glanced down the first hall, seeing healers carry out a young wizard who had a swollen black eye and was apparently blind in the other. He had several bruises and was recognized as fellow Hogwarts student Justin Finch-Fletchley. Hermione felt instantly sad for him. She didn't know him well, but that didn't mean anything.

She stared at him for several moments before the brunette receptionist snapped her fingers and brought Hermione back to her attention. "You did want to see Fred Weasley?"

"Y-yes! I did. Thank you! Room 401, fourth floor, first on the left?"

"The right."

"R-right, right… Thank you." Being fairly embarrassed, Hermione went up to the fourth floor, going into the room on the right.

There was a healer already there. It was a woman who looked slightly older than herself. She looked up from her patient when she heard the door open.

"Hello. Hermione Granger, am I correct? Madame Pomfrey already told me." The healer walked closer to Fred. "He has sustained much damage throughout his body. Most of the damage was accumulated by the skull, which is not a good thing. With these injuries, it will take weeks for him to completely heal, maybe months. And whether or not it's actually necessary is up for review. There is a giant possibility that he will never wake."

"Please!" The woman whipped her head at Hermione's outburst. "You have to keep him alive at all costs. He has a family who cares about him and loves him. And his twin, George… He'll be absolutely devastated if Fred doesn't survive."

The healer kept silent for a few moments before answering, "...But they already think he's dead. Perhaps it's better to let them move on."

Tears escaped her eyes and trailed down her cheeks. She violently shook her head. "No. He has to live. Please. I'll do anything."

The healer sighed and brushed her shoulder saying, "Fine. We'll keep him alive as long as possible." The woman left. She felt relieved that at the least, the hospital would keep him here.

Hermione did feel the pang of disappointment when she saw that Fred wasn't up already. He was laying comfortably in his hospital bed with his eyes closed. She just hoped it wouldn't stay closed for very long.

Looking around, Fred's hospital room was big. His bed where he laid on unconscious was pushed far to the right. There were large rectangular windows on the far wall, but red curtains covered them completely, making it very dark without the lights on. There were counters, cupboards, and a sink in the right corner and the left had the door to the bathroom and there a small table surrounded with small green chairs stood.

Hermione's first order of business was to cut off the lights and push all the curtains to each side, filling the room immediately with sunlight. There was a table to the right of Fred's bed that held a small lamp and a glass vase, to fill with flowers. She made a mental note to bring flowers one day. She dragged one of the neon green chairs from the table and put it to the left of Fred.

Now what to do...

It was boring to sit in a room with a man in a coma who couldn't converse with you.

Her stomach grumbled. An hour had passed with her in the room and she hadn't even had breakfast yet. There was a visitors' tearoom in the next floor where she could possibly get some breakfast.

The food there wasn't enough to fill her stomach, but she didn't feel famished anymore. Hermione went to check back on Fred when she was done, but he was still trapped in his mind, hopefully not forever.

She once again plopped herself on the green chair next to Fred and laid her head on his bed.

"Fred. You have to wake up. I can't do this. I can't. I am so bad at lying and I feel so guilty about lying especially to your family. They think you're dead. I know you're not, Fred, because one pathetic little Death Eater could never stop you. No one can stop you. Not Umbridge, not Voldemort, and especially not Augustus Rookwood." She said the Death Eater's name with venom in her tone. "And that explosion? Talk about little. I mean, you couldn't possibly die because of one little explosion. I don't think you could be rid of that easily." She mentioned the explosion as little even though it did destroy an entire wall. She began to feel better, even though he couldn't respond back.

"This is what I like about you, Fred. You're so... I don't even know the words, but even though you can't talk to me, I feel better after I talk to you. I can hear you laughing now. It's so natural to. I can hear you boasting about yourself. It's so like you."

"When I saw you in the Great Hall before you came here, my brain exploded. I could not believe that you, of all people, would be dead. I had great expectations of you, Frederick Gideon Weasley. You and George would be together after all of us had gone. That's how it's supposed to be. You two live together and you die together, but, Hell, you would never let any of us see you two kick the bucket."

Hermione turned her head in Fred's direction. "I know you're still in there. I know you can wake up. You should. You've worried everyone already, don't go worrying me. Now wake up, Fred, and be with your family again." She closed her eyes. "Or I'll Stupefy you into next year." The last words faded as she drifted off to sleep.