AN: Hi! I would like to thank everyone who's read the first few chapters of this story, and especially those of you who reviewed! Every single review honestly makes my day and encourages me to write some more. I'm glad you seem to enjoy my writing so far, I hope it stays that way :)

Chapter VI - Welcome Back

It was just time for dinner at the Burrow, and the entire Weasley clan, plus Harry, was there. Harry and Ginny were setting the table, and Mrs. Weasley, assisted by Percy and Charlie, was adding finishing touches to her meal. Ginny suddenly yelped and dropped the glasses she had been holding when a bright silver light appeared in the dining room. George sat up on his chair. He was finding it suddenly easier to breathe, but he didn't know why.

"That's Hermione's patronus." Harry said when he recognised the otter. Ginny was painfully gripping his arm. She had grown accustomed to hearing bad news from patronuses.

"You all need to come to St Mungo's now. Fred is awake." Hermione's voice echoed through the room, loud and clear. She sounded ecstatic.

George immediately rose from his chair as his mother cried in relief. Ginny wrapped her arms around Harry's neck. He returned her hug fiercely. Charlie and Ron were looking at each other, their faces showing their disbelief.

"I was just with him…there were no signs of –" Charlie trailed off. His little brother was back!

"What are you all waiting for? We have to go!" George yelled.

This seemed to bring everyone out of their daze.

"Yes, of course." Bill said, grabbing the Floo powder.

He held it towards George, who grabbed a handful and said 'St Mungo's' before disappearing into the green flames of the fireplace. George barely took the time to dust himself off as he ran towards his twin's room on the fourth floor. When he got in, Hermione was sat where she usually was, holding onto Fred's left hand. She turned around and smiled brightly at him. He smiled back. For the first time since the Battle of Hogwarts a month ago, he gave her a real smile, because Fred's eyes were open and he was staring at him, looking very much alive.

"Fred!" George exclaimed in a strangled voice. Tears were running down his cheeks. He ran towards his brother, and Hermione discreetly moved out of the way. George hugged Fred, trying his best not to crush him.

"What's this, now? First we've got Granger crying over me, and now my twin brother is acting like I'm back from the dead." Fred said.

"You were dead, you git. You did die!" George shrieked. "You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her." He added, pointing towards Hermione.

Fred blinked in surprise. "Really? What happened?"

Hermione spoke up for the first time since George had joined them. "You were hit by an explosion, remember? You were fighting a couple of Death Eaters with Percy, and one of them made the wall next to you explode. We thought we'd lost you. You stopped breathing." She whispered. She was crying as well.

At that moment, Charlie, Ron and Ginny entered the room. Ginny was already crying, and Charlie had to hold her up. Ron did not even look bothered by the fact he had been taken away from one of his mother's delicious meals.

"Fred!" Ginny sobbed. She went around his bed to give him a hug from his right side.

"Good to have you back, mate." Charlie said with a huge smile.

"I just learned I apparently died. And that Hermione saved me?" He turned back towards her, his eyebrows raised in question.

She looked down to hide her blush, before clearing her throat to answer him.

"Well, uh…I just…I brought you back with CPR, it's a…a Muggle technique. I panicked, I couldn't remember any spells, so…"

"She was brilliant." Said Percy, who had just joined them, along with his parents, Bill, Fleur and Harry.

"I bet she was." Fred said, smirking.

Hermione blushed harder. She didn't feel like she deserved all that recognition. Fred squeezed her hand, and she jumped slightly. She hadn't realised he was still holding it. She let go of it to make room for Mrs. Weasley, who was gushing over her son. Hermione didn't notice the way Fred's smile faltered slightly when she released him.

"I see you're all here. Could you maybe fill me in as to what happened during that Battle?"

George, who was now sitting on his brother's bed, started telling him about everything that happened. Fred flinched when he heard that they'd lost Tonks and Remus. He let out an appreciative whistle when George told him that their mother had killed Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Woah, Mum! You killed Voldy's right-hand woman?" Fred asked.

"She was threatening Ginny." Molly simply answered. She could not, however, hide the pride in her eyes.

"Mum called her a bitch, as well!" Charlie added gleefully. Molly hit him on the arm, but the rest of the family laughed.

"And then Voldy went crazy, but Harry stepped in and cast a shield between him and Mum, and –" George started.

"Wait…you said Harry went into the forest to sacrifice himself, but…He's right here!" Fred said, pointing at Harry.

"Yeah, apparently he really can't die." George shrugged. "Anyway, then he started taunting Voldy, calling him 'Tom' – he was brilliant – and after a while, Voldy had enough, so he tried to kill Harry, and Harry responded with a Disarming spell, and he actually got Voldy like that!"

Fred cheered, and then started coughing. "Sorry, I haven't spoken in a while, have I?"

"You've been out for a month." Ginny said.

"A month?! Merlin's pants, what's happened since?"

Molly didn't have the heart to scold him for his language. The Weasley siblings proceeded by telling Fred about everything he'd missed.

"And the shop?" Fred asked George, who looked at his hands awkwardly. "He wouldn't reopen without me, the nutter…am I wrong?"

Ginny shook her head. "We've been helping restock, but George was waiting for you to wake up to reopen."

Fred sighed. "I knew it. You bloody idiot. Of course you should have reopened already!"

George was still not looking at his twin. He had known Fred would react like that. But he couldn't reopen without him, no matter what Fred said.

"See, this is actually why I woke up." Fred said.

George's head jerked up. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Miss Granger here was talking to me." He smirked at Hermione with a mischievous glint in his eye. She blushed again. "She was telling me that I should wake up because you really should reopen the shop, and then she did that awful impression of me, and I was honestly wounded. I couldn't let that stand. So I woke up."

Hermione laughed. "Ah, but you see, that's what I wanted. So this isn't exactly a 'gotcha' moment, Fred."

"Fair point." He said. "But I'm still wounded that you would think such things about me." He pouted.

"Wait, you could actually hear us?" It was Ron speaking, this time.

"Yeah…well, not always. But I could hear some things. I just couldn't move or react in anyway. At least I heard when Angie came to visit…" He said, wiggling his eyebrows at his twin, who went bright red. Bill and Charlie laughed heartily at George's reaction.

"At least I told her how I feel." George mouthed back to Fred, whose ears turned pink. George smirked smugly.

"But yeah, I heard all of you telling me to come back, even though I didn't know what you were talking about."

Mrs. Weasley's sobs became louder, and her husband gently pulled her back.

"Molly, darling, you're crushing the poor boy." Arthur said.

A mediwitch entered the room and shot a disapproving look at the crowd of redheads.

"There shouldn't be that many people in a patient's room."

"We're family." Ginny said.

The mediwitch glared at Harry, Hermione and Fleur. "Really?" She said.

"We're family." Ginny repeated through gritted teeth.

The witch understood that it was not in her best interest to mess with Ginny Weasley.

"Anyway, if you could make some room, I need to examine the patient." She said.

George and Mrs. Weasley took a few steps back. The witch asked Fred a few questions, and she warned him about the symptoms he would most likely experience while his body was readjusting. She then tested his reflexes. She turned towards the Weasleys.

"Frederick doesn't seem to have any lasting damage, so he should be able to go back home within the week."

The whole family let out a collective sigh of relief, and the healer turned towards Fred.

"You'll need rest, though, no agitation, no reckless behaviour. Understood?" She asked him.

A few of the Weasleys snorted. This was the opposite of Fred. The mediwitch glared at them before looking back at Fred, who gave her his best innocent smile. Mrs. Weasley identified it as the smile that she'd stopped trusting when the twins had turned four.

"I'll make sure he rests." Mrs. Weasley said. The mediwitch nodded. She didn't trust her patient to control himself, but she knew his mother would make sure he was OK. Mrs. Weasley ignored Fred's pouting. The healer left the room.

"You'll be staying in your old room, of course." Mrs. Weasley said to her bed-ridden son.

"Mum, I…" Fred started to speak, but one look from his father made him reconsider what he was about to say. "Of course, Mum."

Mrs. Weasley sighed in relief.

"What about the shop?" Fred asked.

"I'm sure George won't mind reopening now." Molly replied. George nodded slowly. "Besides, he's been getting plenty of help from Ginny, Harry and Hermione. Angelina, too."

"Granger? You've been helping at the shop?" Fred added in an incredulous tone.

"Of course! Someone had to do something about it, it was in bad shape, you know?" Hermione scoffed.

"Yeah, she was the one who decided to do something, and then she kind of dragged everyone along." George added with a smirk.

"In any case, they'll still be able to help, there's a few more months until the girls go back to Hogwarts and Harry starts Auror training." Molly said.

"You're going back to Hogwarts?" Fred asked Hermione, who nodded. "And you aren't?" He said, looking at Harry.

"No, we were given the choice, and I figured I might become an Auror as soon as possible." Harry shrugged.

"What about you, Ron?" Fred asked.

"Same as Harry." Ron grumbled.

Fred narrowed his eyes at his younger brother. He hadn't missed the fact that he hadn't been mentioned as one of the people who'd helped at the shop, even though his two best friends had been. He had gathered that Ron was probably not on the best terms with Harry and Hermione. He would figure out why, once they didn't have the whole family as an audience.

"Nice." He simply answered.

Fred felt like he saw more people in the next few days than he had in his whole life. It seemed like the whole British wizarding community came to visit him. He welcomed his and George's best friend, Lee Jordan, with open arms. He knew that Lee had come to visit him several times, but that he'd lost family members during the final days of the war. He found it extremely difficult not to tell Angelina that he'd heard her entire conversation with George while he was in a coma, but his twin's threatening glares dissuaded him from saying anything. After all, George knew enough of his secrets to make his life miserable. He was happy to see that all of his old friends, despite having been changed by the war, were still themselves. Oliver Wood spoke of Quidditch with as much passion as always, he and Alicia Spinnet spent an hour poking fun at George and Angelina. Katie Bell's smile was still as earnest as it had been when she'd become Gryffindor's third chaser almost seven years before. Verity had also come to visit, her blonde hair and bright smile still impeccable, and she'd made him laugh with her habit of calling both him and George 'boss'. The world was truly at peace. Of course, hearing the names of the fallen still stung, and Fred felt lucky that he hadn't been particularly close to any of them. Ginny was haunted by the death of her classmate Colin Creevey. Fred remembered a tiny boy, obsessed with Harry Potter, always armed with a camera and a bright smile. Ron spent most of his time away from his family consoling Parvati Patil, who had lost her best friend, Lavender Brown, Ron's first girlfriend.

Coming back to the Burrow, Fred didn't know what he could expect from the future. The Burrow felt as homely as ever, yet there were still scorch marks on the outside of the house, traces of various attacks, and the structure looked more unstable than ever. The scars on each of his family members were a reminder that nothing would ever be the same.

"Welcome home, son!" Arthur greeted him happily as Fred set foot inside the house, held by his mother, who had insisted on picking him up at St Mungo's, and obviously didn't want to let go of him.

"Thanks, Dad." Fred smiled.

"We've prepared your old room, it's ready for you now." Arthur continued. "George came by earlier and brought some of your clothes from your flat." Fred smiled at his twin, who was standing next to their father.

Fred nodded. He was almost knocked over by his little sister when she threw herself at him. Molly released his arm.

"Woah, Ginny! I think you've rebroken several of my ribs." He huffed.

Ginny released him instantly.

"Sorry, I was just really happy…" She said apologetically.

"No harm done. I was just taken by surprise." Fred assured her. "Where is the rest of my loving family?"

Harry, Hermione and Charlie came down the stairs at that moment.

"Bill and Fleur have returned to Shell Cottage, they'll be here for dinner tonight, but we've all agreed they need to be on their own for a bit." Charlie said with a huge grin. "Perce is at work, of course."

"And Ron is with Parvati." Hermione finished. Fred frowned at her tone. She seemed upset. Could it be jealousy?

"I see. Well, do I get a 'welcome back' hug?" he asked.

George rushed to hug his brother, who patted him on the back. Arthur followed, before Charlie. Harry hugged Fred briefly, muttering 'good to have you back, mate'. Finally, Fred wiggled his eyebrows at Hermione. She chuckled and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Thanks for not letting me die." Fred whispered.

"I couldn't. You don't have to thank me!" she said back, and he felt that she'd repeated that sentence several times already. When she released him, she had a bright smile on her face, the sad expression from before gone entirely.

"Well, I'm going upstairs, then." Fred announced.

"Alright, go rest, I'll call when lunch is ready." Molly replied.

Fred went up the stairs to his old bedroom, followed closely by George. They entered the room and closed the door behind them, each then sat on their bed.

"So…" Fred started, before biting his lip.

"So?" George asked, raising his eyebrows.

"What's the deal with Ron? Why hasn't he helped at the shop? Why is he never here?" Fred continued, staring at his twin.

George sighed.

"Apparently…Ron and Hermione kissed during the Battle. I think it was shortly before you…so afterwards there were a few awkward days, but they finally decided to talk about it. Hermione told Ron that she doesn't actually fancy him, that the kiss was a 'spur of the moment' kind of thing. But Ronnie made a complete arse of himself, apparently – according to Ginny – he told Hermione that she didn't know what she was talking about, and that he'd wait for her to realise she's his or something." George explained.

Fred groaned. "Did he really say that? Surely he's not that thick…"

"He was hurt. And you know how he gets. He probably said exactly that." George said.

"Sometimes he makes it really hard not to punch him in the face." Fred mumbled.

"I know. Ginny and I have offered to rough him up a bit for Hermione." George grinned. "Anyway, he doesn't feel very welcome here. Hermione's understandably upset because of what he said, and she's hurt because she does love him, just not the way he'd like. Ginny is ready to fight him, and she grabs every occasion she gets to make fun of him. Even Harry's not really talking to him, he says Ron went too far with what he said. So instead of trying to apologise to Hermione, Ron chose to spend all his time with Parvati Patil. That's not a bad thing in itself, I've heard she's in pretty bad shape, she lost her best friend after all. But it's the why he's doing it that bothers me. I hope at least that he's not using the poor girl."

"You really think he'd do something like that?" Fred asked.

"I dunno, but he's really upset and convinced that he's right. I think he thinks there's some sort of conspiracy against him, and he's really not rational about this. He blows up at us for just about anything, and Hermione gets the worst of it. I hope he wouldn't do something like that, but who's to say what he's capable of when he's that upset…" George answered, his shoulders slumping.

"So what do we do?" Fred asked worriedly.

"I don't think there's really anything we can do, just…be there for him when he inevitably realises what a twat he's been. In the meantime, we side with Hermione when he's mean to her." George replied.

Fred nodded, when their bedroom door opened.

"What are you two plotting about?" Asked Ginny, who'd just walked into the twin's room.

"Oi, Ginny! Didn't we teach you to knock?" George shouted.

"Actually, if I'm not mistaken, you were the ones who taught me not to knock." Ginny simply said, sitting next to Fred on his bed. "Hermione, come in! They'll behave."

Hermione, who had been standing just outside the door, timidly came in. She realised it was the first time she'd been in the twins' room. She decided to sit next to George.

"You didn't answer the question, you know?" Ginny said.

"Maybe because it's none of your business, dear sister." George answered with his eyes narrowed. Ginny stuck out her tongue at him. "But I don't mind telling you. I was just filling in Freddie on the Ron situation."

"Oh." Ginny said, looking at Hermione, who blushed slightly.

"Don't worry, Ginny, I'm sure he'll come around. He always does." Hermione assured with a warm smile.

Ginny's smile was sad. "I know, it's just…it sucks when he does stuff like that."

"Hermione, would you mind terribly if we were to prank dear Ronniekins?" Fred asked.

Hermione didn't answer straight away. Instead, she tilted her head, weighing her options. After a few seconds, she spoke up.

"Well, I wouldn't mind exactly, but…I don't think it's going to help very much. Or rather…It would make me feel better, but Ron wouldn't appreciate it, and he'd be even more upset."

Fred shook his head. "Hermione, you're really too good for him."

Hermione winced. "Don't say that." Fred looked taken aback by her reaction.

"What is it, Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"I don't think you understand…" She began. She fiddled with her hands, trying to think of the best way to say things. "Ron has always felt like he was in your shadow…all of you. He thinks he's not as good as you. And when you two prank him, it makes it worse because it shows how successful you are in your field and makes him the butt of the joke."

"Why would Ron think that?" George asked.

"It's just the way he is…He is jealous of Bill for being so 'cool' and popular, jealous of Charlie for being so talented at Quidditch and working with dragons, jealous of Percy for always following rules and being so clever, jealous of you two for being so successful and doing what you love to do." Hermione explained. "And I know he's even jealous of you, Ginny, because he believes your Mum loves you more because she always wanted a girl. The fact that you're always so confident doesn't help either."

The three Weasleys were staring at her with their mouths opened in shock.

"Did he…did he tell you this?" George stammered.

Hermione shook her head. "Not in so many words, but it was obvious in the way he talked about you sometimes. I remember the first time he told me about Charlie's life in Romania, he sounded so…pained. He thought he'd never do something as great as that. And Harry found out exactly how Ron felt when we were on the run and he…told me."

"Harry found out?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, it uh…came up when they were together. Harry also found out that Ron was jealous of him. He felt threatened by him because he thought there was something between us." Hermione added with a frown.

"Why would he think that?" Ginny asked, her eyes wide.

"I told you, that just how Ron sees himself. He was convinced that I would choose Harry over him because Harry was the 'Chosen One' and he thinks Harry is much better than him. So he persuaded himself that whenever Harry and I were talking, it was because we were hiding some secret relationship from him. Eventually Harry managed to make him understand that it wasn't true, but I think he still has those doubts."

"He thinks…that Mum loves me more…that's…how? I can't…I don't know what to say." Ginny said, her eyes now tearing up.

Hermione nodded slowly. "I'm not saying this to make you feel bad or to excuse Ron, because his behaviour is unacceptable, and I expect an apology. All I'm saying is I understand how he feels, and you two pranking him is going to make it worse. He already thinks you look down on him."

"Why would he –" Said Fred.

"All the times you call him 'ickle Ronniekins', all the pranks you've pulled on him over the years, they've made him feel like he was worth less than you. When I said to him that your products involved incredible magic, he was wounded, because I was always chastising him for not putting enough effort into his homework, and you two didn't even care about homework. To him it seemed like everything just came naturally to you, and you didn't even have to try."

"I…We had no idea." George said.

"I know. And I'm not blaming you. I know that you weren't treating Ron any differently than your other siblings. But I think he needs to hear it from you."

Fred nodded. "Thanks, Hermione."

She smiled brightly at him. "Anytime, Fred."