The sun rising, stirred the group out of their restful sleep
The sun rising, stirred the group out of their restful sleep. This was the soundest any of them had slept since the war and they all knew there were two reasons. One was that they had actually talked and gotten some tears out concerning the lost loved ones. The second reason is because they were together. The friendship they had comforted them and kept them safe from the nightmares that normally plagued their dreams.
They all laid there awake for a while, not wanting to leave the reverie of the peacefulness they had come to enjoy. But that's when they heard it; a loud scream coming from none other than Molly Weasley. They all jumped up quickly and ran toward the burrow.
They found her running through the halls throwing open bedroom doors. She grew happy and angry at the sight of them.
"How dare you all scare me like that!? I was worried sick waking up to an empty house and empty beds. I didn't know what to think." Molly's knees gave way and she fell to the floor sobbing.
Everyone ran over to the crying woman and hugged her until she calmed down.
"We're sorry, Mum. We fell asleep outside by the pond. We didn't mean to, honest."
"Yes, Mrs. Weasley, we are very sorry. It won't happen again."
"Please forgive us; let us cook breakfast for you this morning."
Everyone was trying to say something to help comfort the poor woman. At the sound of the word breakfast, Molly laughed.
"Come now, you all know I make brunch on Sundays. Now let me get downstairs and get started. All you kids are too thin. It's time we fatten you all up." With Molly starting to sound like herself again, everyone started getting showers and heading downstairs.
Draco and Hermione were the last down, which gave some of the others the wrong impression. When the couple made their way downstairs, they found Harry and Ron playing wizards chess, while George was showing Blaise a couple of his newest ideas for the shop. Hermione beamed with happiness at how happy everyone was. Draco and she made her way to the couch and sat down and just enjoyed watching the others while talking about plans for the wedding.
At hearing talk of the wedding, George came over and sat next to Hermione with a large flat parcel in his hand.
"Hermione, I know this can't even begin to help replace the best friend you lost when Ginny died, but I thought you could use this." He handed the package to Hermione and she gently tore the paper away to reveal a photo frame with a picture of Ginny in it. It was taken the summer before the war; Ginny was standing by the pond, grinning wildly, her hair blowing in the breeze. She had a green summer dress on, and green sandals. It was the day that Harry had proposed.
"George, I don't know what to say other than, thank you! You don't know how much this means to me." Hermione leant over and wrapped her arms around George, tears flowing down her cheeks.
"Well, it was the least I could do. I thought that we could set a small table next to you at the wedding and put the picture there, that way Ginny could be your maid of honor." Hermione started with a fresh wave of sobs as George hugged her closer.
"George, thank you. I have something for you as well. Let me floo home and get it." Without waiting for a response, Hermione was gone and back. She handed George a large wooden box. It had a star on the lid and a hinge on the back so you could lift the lid.
George opened it and found inside several of theirs and Fred's things from Hogwarts. It was everything that Hermione and Umbridge had confiscated from them during their final year. At the very bottom was a smaller box that held several pictures. They were pictures of their days training for the DA and from different quidditch matches. There were pictures from Hogsmeade and from the order headquarters. The one that he loved the most was one from the day in his sixth year when he and Fred attempted to fool the age line. It was Fred, Hermione and George sitting on the seats in the great hall, Hermione sitting between them telling them how foolish their plan was. They all had smiles on their faces.
"Hermione, how can I ever thank you for this?" George asked, still digging through the box that seemed to have no bottom.
"George, all I can say is this is for everything you have done and gone through for me, for everyone. I had this put together and planned to give it to the both of you after the war, but then there was a change in plans." Hermione started crying again. Draco wrapped his arms around her and she sobbed into him.
Everyone just sat and watched as George made his way to Hermione and grabbed her into his arms. The two stood crying for so long. Finally Molly came into the living room to tell everyone that brunch was ready, when she seen them. She looked around questioningly at the others in the room. Draco made his way over to her and walked with her into the kitchen, followed by Ron, Harry and Blaise. They told her what had happened and were sure they could use the alone time for a few minutes before joining them in the kitchen. Molly had a few tears, but held herself together pretty well at the recollection of the gifts George and Hermione had given each other.
Meanwhile, in the living room, Hermione and George finally pulled away and sat on the couch next to each other.
"George, I can't even begin to comprehend how you feel. I only lost friends, not family. It must be so hard. I want you to know how much I cared for Fred as a brother. He made me laugh sometimes when I thought all I could do is frown. If you ever need to talk, please just come to me. I'm always here."
"Of course, Hermione, and you and Ginny were like sisters, so don't say you only lost friends. You lost family same as me. Granted Fred and I shared a connection that only other twins would understand, but that's what makes it a little easier. I can still feel him like he is here and helping me with ideas for the shop and basically live life. Know that I am always here too. Did Fred ever tell you he fancied you?"
Hermione nearly choked on the air she inhaled. George laughed which was a wondrous sound for those who hadn't heard it in a while.
"I'll take that as a no." George continued laughing while watching Hermione's face go red from choking, white from surprise, and red again from embarrassment.
"No, he didn't. When was this?" Hermione asked when she finally found her tongue again.
"You're fourth year, the year of the tournament. That picture of us three, that was the day he told me, right after in fact. He planned on asking you to the Yule Ball but he found out you were going with Victor. It broke his heart, I will say that much. But when he went with Angelina, he fell in love with her. But even up until he died, he always had a special place for you in his heart. You were the first girl he really fancied."
Hermione was crying again and she leant into George, almost wishing it were Fred, just so she could say that she was glad he found love, even if it wasn't with her.
"I fancied him too for a time. Actually, it was that same year, around the same time I suppose. But I didn't think he could ever like me so when Victor asked, I said yes, afraid no one else would ask. Victor waited so long, and no one else even tried." Hermione sounded a bit down and looked sad by this. George decided to tell her a little secret that nearly every boy in Hogwarts knew, but no one ever told.
"Well, you may want to kill Victor for what I am about to tell you, but he put the word out long before he asked you, that he was going to and whoever tried to beat him to it would have to face him. But believe me when I say that plenty of guys wanted to ask, and a few nearly did until Victor found out." Hermione smiled a true genuine smile. Those were few and far between when Draco wasn't in the room. Then she started laughing, and George soon followed. They both stood, coming to a silent agreement that they would have to do this more often. They walked into the kitchen to see many staring eyes on them.
"Everything okay?" Draco asked, as always concerned about the mother of his future offspring.
"Draco, darling, I'm sorry, but George and I just fell hopelessly in love and are running away together." Hermione leaned into George, who went along with the joke without any coercion.
"Sorry mate, I guess you just weren't enough man for our little Mione here. Don't worry; I'll take good care of her." Her twisted Hermione around and went to kiss her. Just before their lips met, George's face became covered in a bowl of eggs.
"I don't think so," Draco said laughing. He grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her to him and bent her backwards and kissed her long and passionately.
"Come on guys, we are trying to eat," Blaise complained, having already become addicted to Molly's cooking. George sat down after cleaning himself up, thoroughly happy at getting to pull a quick prank. He had a feeling that Hermione and he would be good friends now.
Draco pulled Hermione back to standing and walked with her over to their usual seats. He had a feeling of belonging and family when he was with these people. It felt good to him. He was also glad that Blaise was with him through it all. It amazed him the drastic changes that took place in what seemed like a long time, but in reality it wasn't that long at all. They all sat talking about what to do for the day when Hermione noticed a worried look on Ron's face.
"Ron, what's the matter?" Hermione asked, taking a small bite of toast.
"Well, I was thinking about a couple of things." Ron said with a bit of sadness in his voice.
"What is it, mate?" Harry asked, seeming to truly worry about his friend.
"Well, first thing, are you only here to visit, or are you staying?" Ron looked at Harry, who looked astonished, not believing that is what Ron was so worried about.
"Ron, I've already moved all of my things into Grimmauld Place. If I go back to Kentucky, it will be to visit. Not to stay." Harry looked thoughtfully at Ron, hoping he had settled some of his fears.
"That's great, I think it was something we were all wondering, so don't everyone look at me like I'm crazy. Now, the second thing is, Draco are you going to still be an Auror with me now that Harry is back?" This time Ron looked at Draco, who couldn't believe Ron would even ask a thing like that.
"Mate, you're crazy if you think I am going to let you guys have all the fun. Can you imagine all the trouble we could cause, the three of us together." Draco, Ron and Harry started laughing and talking about the things they are looking forward to and the things they aren't looking forward to.
Hermione just sat there blissfully happy at the turn of events. Her life finally had some meaning, some hope. She sat there thinking about how good the food was and how much she was laughing at the guys between bites. She thought about the picture of Ginny and how much she wished she was actually still there, but knew deep down she would forever be watching out for her. She felt a pang of unhappiness pass through her stomach.
Wait, no that was no pang of unhappiness, it was a pain; a sharp pain, right through her abdomen. She was scared. She looked around, but in the shock of the pain she couldn't say anything. Blaise was the first to notice something wrong.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" Everyone turned their attention toward Hermione. They seen that her face had paled and she was holding her stomach. Her face was contorted with anguish and pain.
Draco and George grabbed Hermione's arms, helped her to her feet. While they made their way to floo to St. Mungo's, Harry and Ron had apparated there to get a healer and a bed to wait for them. Draco, George, Molly and Hermione made their way over to the fireplace and flooed to St Mungo's.