Chapter 10
Hermione did get up and went to move to join the party. She had her eyes on the food when George caught them. Alicia had her arms around his waist and was resting her head on his left shoulder. George had one arm around his wife's shoulders, hugging her to him. With his other he was pointing at one of the games as he stared at Hermione. She shook her head and pointe at the food then rubbed her tummy. He shook his head and jabbed his finger and the bottle-and-ball game. Hermione scrunched up her face, stuck her tongue out, and move to play the game. From his place on the stairs Fred watched the interaction between his twin and his girl with a smile. He turned towards the house and ran into Ron. He grabbed Ron's arm and ordered in his ear, "get Hermione to come inside, tell her, her guy is here, but do not tell her it's me."
"Got it," Ron said as he started walking to the booth Hermione was standing next to. He waited until she had tossed the ball and grinned as her first ball knocked all the bottles down. Hermione pumped her fist in the air. Ron looked pityingly at the bottles, "Been at the other end of that aim, no one stands a chance." Hermione looked at him as she laughed. "There's someone here, and he's asking for you."
"No," Hermione snapped. Ron held up his hands in a don't-shoo-the-messenger plea. Hermione sighed and started on her way to the house. "He has a lot of nerve. Coming to a family function and taking attention off the couple of honor. And don't even try to argue that point," she said as she saw Harry waving Ginny inside, George and Alicia following. Bill saw his siblings' departure, and Fleur and Charlie joined him in going to check out the goings on. Not to be left out, Percy pulled Oliver with him as he tagged along. Hermione looked back at Ron and raised her brow, "Because mine just got proven." Ron smiled and shrugged.
Inside the house she noticed it was empty, save for the populous Weasley family. She was thankful that at least all of Alicia's family and her and George's friend, and the non-immediate Weasley's were still outside. Ron's smile had grown as they'd walked inside the house. Ginny and Harry were beaming at her as they stood at the door separating the kitchen and the living room. When Hermione approached them Harry pushed open the door and allowed her to enter the next room. Molly and Arthur were standing on the bottom stairs, Arthur's arms around the silently crying Molly. Percy and Oliver were standing by the fireplace, arms wrapped around each other and temples touching. Charlie was leaning against the back of an arm chair beside the couch Bill was sitting on the arm of, Fleur in his arms. Luna was sitting on the fireplace ledge, and Ron hurried to her side. She laid her head on his shoulders as Ron wrapped her in his arms. A bookcase sat at the far side of the room and George leaned against that with Alicia in his arms. In the door way stood a smirking Fred.
Hermione looked at the couples in the targeted age group. None had to petition since Harry got bypassed this year, and Percy and Oliver had been assigned to each other. Even Ron, for the first time in a very long time, had gotten exactly what, or who, he wanted. Hermione turned to look at Harry and Ginny in question, but their only reply was to smile. She turned back and looked at the newly-weds, who'd she'd discovered that morning had also been paired. For the m at least Magic had made sure to put them with the person they loved and would do anything for. Looking back at Fred she shook her head in disbelief. He walked around the couch, nodding as he did so. Hermione walked towards him.
"Fred, you jackass," She accused, smacking him in the chest. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a kiss in order to silence her.
"Ssh, it's my turn," Fred told her. She looked at him with angry questions burning in her eyes. He smiled, took her hands in his and dropped to his knee. She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "I know you're mad at me, and you have every right to be. I probably should have told you on Thursday night, instead of having you think I hadn't opened the letter and wouldn't until you told me you loved me, but I needed to hear it before I could do this. You and I, we aren't getting married because of some ministry decree. We might be getting married a little faster become of some ministry decree, but that isn't why we're getting married. You and me, we're getting married because of the things you said earlier and I said Monday night. I love you Mione, and if you want to head for the hills and run, I won't stop you. I will chase you thought and remind you every day that I love you. I won't force you to marry me until and unless you are ready and want to. I'm not gonna ask this because we have to. I'm gonna ask this because I want to, and I want you to answer the way you want to. Hermione Jane Granger, will you make me the happiest, luckiest man alive and marry me?"
Hermione leaned down and whispered, "How mad would they be if I said no?" Fred laughed and shrugged, smirking at the little back-up he'd arranged. Standing back up, so that his family could hear the response she shrugged and said, "I guess I could do that."
"You guess you can do what, Granger?" Fred smirked.
"Make you the luckiest man alive," She grinned. He shook his head, stood up, and pulled her into a sweet kiss.
"Tell me again," Fred asked, pulling out of the kiss.
"I love you," Hermione said. Fred groaned and pulled her back, this time into a hungry kiss. His hands were buried in her curls as he her mouth pressed to his. As their tongues tangled he swallowed her pleasure-filled moans. Her hands clenched his shirt at his chest, making sure he couldn't leave her until she was read. They slowly broke away when the wolf whistles and cat-calls broke through the fog their hormones were quickly creating. Fred pressed his forehead against hers and kissed her nose. She giggled, ducking her head into the crook of his neck. He wrapped his around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head.
"I love you," he whispered as she snuggled closer into his hold. He looked up at his smiling family, the brightest grin they'd ever seen on his face. HE noticed that his older brothers had let go of their partners and were stalking towards him. He twisted and saw that his younger ones were following their elders' lead. He pulled Hermione out of his grasp, kissed her quickly, and ordered her, "Run."
Hermione felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Fleur beckoning her to safety. The women climbed onto the couch as Fred searched for a way out. He appearated to the other side of the couch, and his brother's changed direction. Moving quicker they rushed him and jumped. Luna picked her feet off the ground and Oliver hopped onto the fireplace as the six other men fell to the ground. Percy was right on top of Fred and smashed his hand into the boy's face. Bill and Charlie were next and proceeded to tickle the younger man. Ron landed in a way that he could stop any attempt at escape by grabbing Fred's arms. George was on top, and was holding down the boy's legs. Ginny ran to the pile and sat of top of them all. Fred tossed and turned, licked Percy's hand which made the boy remove it and screamed, "Help, help me Mione. "
"I think I'd much rather watch," Hermione laughed. The other significant others moved to the couch and watched with glee the interaction of the siblings they loved.
"Mione, I need you," Fred called in the midst of his struggles he pulled one hand free. He used it to start tickling Percy, which got the older brother to start squirming for release.
"Ollie, help," Percy squealed. Oliver laughed, but as the two brothers on the bottom continued calling for help their better halves shared a look. They moved to intervene, but Harry and Alicia stepped in to stop them. Oliver faked moving left, and Alicia went to block his right, and Oliver kept course to bypass her. He easily picked up Ginny and handed her to a protesting Harry. Alicia tried to block Hermione, but Hermione somersaulted past her as Oliver tore George off of Ron. Alicia took George to the side as Hermione tickled Ron. With his defenses lowered Oliver made quick work of pulling the young keeper out of the game. Ron didn't protest returning to Luna's side. Hermione looked over the shrinking pile at Fred. He nodded and she made Charlie jump when she poked his left back knee. Oliver grabbed Bill's ponytail, knelt so he was eye level with the man and threatened darkly to pull if he didn't get off Percy. Bill didn't need to be told twice before he was scurrying into Fleur's waiting arms. Hermione and Oliver high-fived as Percy rolled off of Fred. The trickster and the law-abider pulled their partners to the ground and thanked them properly.
"Look at that Molly," Arthur whispered in his wife's ear. "Two already married, three will be by years end, and the youngest is entering her last year. Six out of seven have partners that are crazy for them as they are for their partners. I'd say we've done good."
"Yes," Molly said, watching her children and their companion. Charlie was rolling his eyes at his siblings. "Now we've just got to get that one taken care of."
"Charlie," an unfamiliar voice called, as a darker skinned man poked his head through the door. "There you are, I was wondering where you'd ran off to."
"Simon, come here," Charlie ordered the man that didn't hesitate to follow the direction. Charlie wrapped his arms around Simon's waist. Simon draped his arms behind Charlie's neck. The men pressed their foreheads together before Charlie tipped his head up to press his lips to Simon's. He was taller, but his seat on the arm of the couch gave Simon the slight height advantage. Molly turned back to look at her husband and smiled.
"Seven out of seven before they are all out of the house," Arthur cited. "My dear, we are the best parents of them all."
"Parents," Molly sighed, before shouting, "I want grandbabies." The couples pulled away and looked back at the parents of the Weasley's with fright in all twenty-eight eyes.
A/N: I have started working on the sequel to this story. It will have a mature rating when it is finished and published. I have to apologize for being a tease. I will try to finish and publish it soon. Certain changes have greatly affected my life in the past month. I won't bore or bother you with the unhappy details. I will only hope to make you proud by telling you the happy change. On January 13, 2013 I will be publishing my short novel on Amazon. More information and a teaser can be found on youtube under the title of The Chronicles of Blackmoor.