She was kissing him, and she never wanted to stop. She was kissing Fred Weasley. If someone had told her two months ago that she would be going on a romantic date with one of her best friend's older brothers, she would have laughed in their face. Yet here she was, snogging him like she hadn't a care in the world. And at the moment, she didn't.

Her arms were wrapped around his shoulders, and his hands were threaded through her curly hair. He was pushing her head, her mouth, closer to his, even though they were as close as physically possible. Hermione felt her cheeks flush, and leaned back slightly to catch her breath. Before she could take a full breath though, Fred took advantage of her open mouth and was kissing her more passionately than ever. Hermione could feel more than her cheeks starting to warm up.

Fred lowered his hands from her hair and settled them on her waist. Then he gently pushed and nudged her until she was sitting on his lap, straddling him with her ankles crossed behind his back. Her chest was now crushed against his, and her mind was so fuzzy with bliss that she wasn't sure where she ended and Fred started, it was as if all of the kissing and heat and closeness had fused them into one being.

She wasn't even aware when Fred lost his shirt. One minute she was running her fingers through his hair, the next she was exploring all of the bare skin on his back. She ran her fingers down the length of his back, and when she reached the waistband of his trousers, she dipped her fingertips under the fabric and lightly touched the top of his bum. A small groan came from Fred's mouth, and she smiled against his lips.

Soon, Hermione felt his fingers brush against the hem of her shirt. He scooted his hand under her shirt then paused, he pulled his lips away from hers and looked at her questioningly, asking permission for him to continue.

It was all she could do to remember to nod her head. Her brain was in a wonderful fog and her skin felt like it was on fire. Who knew kissing like this caused so much heat? It's no wonder people tend to lose their clothes quickly. She felt his cool fingers against her warm, soft stomach and felt the flames rise up again. She wanted to kiss him, and touch his, and do this forever.

They were becoming less controlled now. Half of the time their lips didn't even meet, she kissed his chin, his nose, his cheeks. He nibbled at her neck slightly, causing her to shiver. He moved his hands further up her shirt, and she got goosebumps wherever he touched.

Then Hermione came crashing back to reality. She wasn't sure exactly what had caused it, whether it was because Fred reached up to cup her breasts, or because when she shifted her weight, she felt, for the first time, the hardness of him beneath her. "Fred, wait." She gasped out, and his hands immediately froze.

"I-I'm sorry." He stammered out, "I didn't mean to go too far and make you uncomfortable."

"No, no, it's not that. I've never been more comfortable in my life. It's just that-" she climbed off his lap and buried her head in her hands in an attempt to clear her head.

"Just what, Hermione?" Fred asked, still worried he'd done something wrong.

Hermione took a deep breath. "It's just that this isn't real!" She raised her head up and glanced at him to see his reaction. She expected to see him surprised and hurt, but instead he looked angry.

"Of course this is real, how could you say that what we have isn't real? Does this all mean nothing to you? Do you just wake up every day and forget about me?"

"Fred, that's not what I meant." She squeaked out. She couldn't recall ever seeing him look angry before. "Of course what we have is real. Everything I feel for you is real. I wake up every morning and I can't wait until I get to go back to sleep and see you. Don't you dare say that you mean nothing to me, because you do Fred. You mean so much to me that I can't even put it into words how important you are. But that doesn't change the fact that even though this may be real to us mentally and emotionally, physically this isn't real. And if we are going to do, um, this, don't you think it would be better if we were both technically awake for it, not in this pseudo-dream world, however amazing this place may be?"

Most of the anger had left Fred's face during her speech. "As much as I hate to admit it, You have a point." he started, reaching out to touch her cheek, where a tear was making it's way down her face. "I guess that's what I get for falling for a Granger." Hermione smiled weakly at him. "I want to wake up and do all of this with you, I do, believe me, I just-" his voice trailed off and he looked away, too nervous to finish his sentence.

"Just what, Fred?" she prodded. Most of the time when they brought up him waking up, he brushed it off, but now that he was finally talking about it, she hoped that she would finally get an answer.

He took a deep breath and turned back around so they were face to face. His anger completely dissipated, sheer uncertainty now covered his face. "Hermione." he said softly, reaching out to cup her face again, "I'm scared. Everything we have here is amazing, so amazing, I'm afraid that when I wake up things won't be the same. That once we are both awake and bombarded with reality, our feelings won't be the same. Here, it's just the two of us, only us, no outside interference. But in the waking world, there's my family, yours, the Order, everyone." Hermione sucked in a breath at the mention of her parents, she still hadn't gotten around to restoring their memories. "I'm just afraid things won't be the same, and I'm even more afraid that when I wake up, this will become like a real dream and I will forget most of it. I don't want to forget even a second with you Hermione Granger."

Hermione could feel her eyes welling up again, this time though it was out of tenderness. She had no idea that he was so worried about this, that the main reason he didn't want to wake up was because of her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and scooted closer to him so she was almost in his lap again. She nuzzled his neck and inhaled his comforting, woodsy scent. He wrapped his arms around her waist and they sat like that in silence for several minutes.

"You won't forget about me." She said at last. She sounded certain, but in the back of her head, her mind began to wander. What if he was right? What if he does forget about everything that happened here? "I won't let you forget, Fred. When you wake up, I will be right there and you will remember everything."

"How can you be so sure?" He asked.

"Because...because I love you Fred. I love you and I know you love me too. None of that will change once you wake up."

"I do love you Hermione, and I love that you have so much faith in me, in us, when I don't."

"Of course I do, and I know everyone else is waiting for you to wake up too. George has barely left your side this entire time. We have to all but force him to go home and shower every couple of days." She heard Fred chuckle slightly.

"I know I need to wake up, I've just been putting it off because, well, my dream is better than my reality. But if I wake up and all of this, you and me, becomes real, truly real, then how can I refuse?"

Hermione smiled in surprise. "Does this mean you are going to wake up?" She asked.

"I'm certainly going to try to 'Mione. I'm just not sure exactly how to go about it."

"I don't either, but I think as long as you're wanting to, you should be able to find a way."

"Thanks Love, it really means a lot to me that you believe in me."

"Of course I do." She said as she snuggled into him again. He leaned back so they were both lying on the blanket, his arm still around her. Hermione put her head on his chest and listened to his breathing as sleep started to take her over. He's going to wake up was the last thing that went through her mind before falling asleep.