"Hello, love," George smiled as Hermione walked into the shop. He had enjoyed working with her over the last few days. She was surprisingly carefree. He had his reservations about taking her on in the beginning, thinking she'd hate being around them and their pranks. But she seemed to have taken to them. She was even discussing new products with them. He knew with her brains, they could definitely improve on their stuff.

"Hey," she smiled. She dropped her coat and purse off in the office and headed out front. "How's the new quills coming?"

"Having trouble getting the charms to stick longer than a week. I think we need to try a different method. It's fine though. Fred and I will get it eventually. You know, the canary creams took us almost a year to perfect. But here they are today, some of our biggest sellers still," he grinned.

"Yeah, you two never quit, do you?" she laughed. "How's Angelina? Gin said she's decided she wants to get married next month?"

"Yeah," George sighed. "A bit soon if you ask me. But it's really only a matter of time anyway. She's just ready to get it over with, really. Says the sooner we do it, the sooner we won't have to worry about the ministry anymore. I guess she's just accepted that whether we do it now or in 4 months, it's bound to happen. This gives her enough time to get the stuff planned and done," he shrugged.

"You don't look happy," Hermione put a hand on his shoulder. She had assumed Angelina and George were about as happy as anyone. They were close in school and she knew they had at least been attracted to each other at one point.

"It's not that I'm not happy with Angie. She's wonderful. It's just the whole thought of being forced into it. It makes it hard to fall in love on a deadline," he laughed. "You know how I feel I'm sure. You can't tell me you aren't having the same thoughts about Fred."

"I can't say I'm itching to walk down the aisle," she shrugged. "But at the same time, it's not so bad. Fred makes me laugh. And he likes my cooking," she laughed. "I just wish we could stay friends and not be forced to have kids. The hard part is knowing what has to happen, not living with him."

"You think you might be getting feelings for my dear brother?" he laughed.

"I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that it's not so bad being around him. Living with him. It's different but I suppose things could have ended up a lot worse," she shrugged.

"I have to say, Mione. My brother lucked out with you," he put an arm around her. "I know he'll do his best to make you happy. Just remember that when you want to strangle him someday," he laughed. "You're coming to Percy's wedding tomorrow right? I mean, I know you didn't exactly get an invitation sent out, but that was before you were back. Mum expects you to be there," he laughed.

"I suppose I'll be there with Fred," she replied quietly. "At least he's happy with Audrey. It'll be good to go to a wedding of people who love each other," she smiled. It was true. She knew there would be several weddings to attend over the next few months, including her own. This one would be one of the few that were actually wanted, even if it was quicker than the couples would have imagined. "I should get out front and open up."

"Hey Fred," Hermione smiled as she walked into the kitchen. "You cooked?" she was surprised. Fred never cooked. And even more surprising, it smelled delicious.

"No, actually, mum dropped off food. I just put it in the oven," he laughed. "You wouldn't want to eat anything I cook."

"Thank you in advance for that warning," she laughed with him as she sat down and started to eat. She missed Molly's cooking almost as much as she missed being around everyone when she was gone.

"Hey, we got this today," Fred's smiled disappeared as he handed her the envelope.

She inspected it slowly. It was from Luna and Ron. "What is it?" She opened it, surprised by the sadness that caught her at the sight of it. "A wedding invitation? They've decided? I can't believe he didn't tell me," she added slowly.

"When is it?"

"April," she replied, still shocked. "Do you think Harry knows? Does your mum know?"

"If she does, she hasn't told me. And If this is how he chose to tell her, then things are not going to be fun tomorrow," he sighed. They were interrupted when Ginny apparated into the kitchen with them. "Gin, what the-"

"Not now Fred. I know I promised not to ever apparate into your house, but this is serious. Did you get this?" she frowned as she held up the invitation that Hermione was still holding. When they nodded, Ginny went on. "How could he do this? How could he not tell us? And right before Percy's wedding?!"

"Gin, calm down. Being upset is not going to make anything better," Fred got up out of his chair. "Sit down. I'll make you some tea."

"Even Harry didn't know. He went over there. Told me I couldn't go because I wanted to punch Ron on his nose," she huffed.

"He didn't tell Harry?" Hermione looked at her concerned.

"No. Of course, Ron hasn't come by for a couple of weeks," she sighed. "I think he's taking this whole thing really hard. Marrying Luna. Knowing you're-" she stopped. She didn't want to upset Hermione or Fred. It wasn't their fault any of this was going on. And it certainly wasn't their fault that Ron was upset. "We got our first pop in from the ministry today," she changed the subject quickly.

"How'd that go?" Fred propped himself up on the counter.

"Well, they came in, checked all the rooms. Asked a lot of questions. As if we'd have registered ourselves if we weren't in love," she huffed.

"That bad, huh?"

She was ready to answer when their doorbell rang. "I'll never get used to that thing," Fred hopped down and headed to the front door. "Hey Harry, come in," he closed the door behind him before following back to the kitchen. He knew this was about Ron.

"Seems Ron got a visit too," Harry said quickly as the girls looked at him expectantly. "That's why the sudden invitation. The ministry knew they weren't happy with the arrangement. Ron got hot headed and started talking about Hermione. So the ministry made them pick a date. Made them send out invitations. Luna said the ministry was ready to snap their wands right then."

"So they bullied them into it?" Ginny's anger flared.

"Said they didn't have much of a choice," Harry added sadly. "Their checking up extra hard on the people who haven't set dates yet. And if that's the case, you two need to be careful. If they don't think you've accepted this and learned to live with it, they'll do the same to you," he looked to Hermione and Fred.

"So what are we supposed to do?"

"I'm just saying when the ministry is here, you better make them believe you two are happy. You don't want to be put in that position. I know you don't. The only reason they have till April is because Luna convinced them she needed to time to plan everything. Because of her dad being away. They wanted to make it sooner than that. So just be careful," he sighed.

Hermione and Fred looked at each other, unsure of what to say. This was not going to be an easy task. And neither of them were ready to get married yet. They had barely accepted this whole situation. "Well, I guess we'll just have to put on a show for them," Fred shrugged.