A/N: I'm back! Did you missed me? I told you it was not going to take me that long to update. Still I would have loved to have this up sooner… Anyway, it is here now. I have a huge test tomorrow, and I mean a HUGE test, but you are all such wonderful readers and reviewers that I couldn't help myself… I hope you like this chapter!

First Comes Marriage, Then Love?

Chapter XIII: Secrets revealed

Hermione could feel the sunshine entering the bedroom through the window. The wonderful feeling of being warm in bed knowing that outside the grounds were covered by a thick layer of white, shinning snow. She didn't know how she knew it, because when she had gone to sleep the previous night, it hadn't been snowing. Yet she was certain of it. After all, it was Christmas day and snow fight was part of the holiday, an unbreakable tradition. She didn't open her eyes, she didn't need to. She could perceive Fred next to her, and that was all she needed.

A spontaneous smile spread across her lips when the man she loved stretched his arm to put is around her waste and pull her towards him. Waking up next to Fred was one of her favorite moments in the day, closely followed by getting asleep in his arms.

"Good morning honey," he whispered in her ear, sending pleasant shivers down her spine.

"Morning," she said in a sleepy voice, with her eyes still closed. "What time is it?"

"Must be around eight, the sun's already up and I can hear mum making breakfast. Do you want to go downstairs?"

"Not just yet. I feel like cuddling in bed with a handsome man. Do you know where can I find one?"

Fred response was tickling her until she was forced to beg for him to stop. He grinned in triumph. She giggled and he leaned forward to kiss her. Hermione put her arms around his neck and allowed him to put his under her back. They were still kissing when the door was suddenly opened by Ron shouting:

"'Mione, wake up! It's Christmas and I have a present for…"

He never finished the sentence. By the time Fred and Hermione reacted and looked up, it was too late. Ron was standing there, looking completely stunned. His eyes and mouth were big as plates and he was becoming paler by the second. A whole minute passed and nobody said anything. In fact nobody moved a muscle. Then Ron started to react slowly. He was clearly trying to understand what was going on. But it was like his head did not want to acknowledge what his eyes were seeing.

When finally it was apparent to him what that situation meant, he plunged his hand into the pocket of his pajama and took out his wand. He looked menacing. He was pointing the stick at Fred and had hatred written all over his face. He was ready to kill his brother, Hermione had to do something.

"Ron, put that away… You are going to hurt someone!"

"I don't want to hurt anybody. I won't to kill him!" answered Ron panting; he was having problems to breath.

"Don't say that!" exclaimed Hermione worried. He really looked capable of doing something crazy and stupid. "Ron, listen to me…"

But again, she never finished the sentence; there was a shout and a flash of green light….

Hermione awoke panting. It took her a couple of seconds to realize were she was. The dream had been so real, and so frightening. She looked around, the sun was out but it was still early. The only sound she could hear was her own breathing. And apparently Fred could hear it two.

"What's up 'Mione?" he asked sleepily.

"I just had a terrible nightmare," she answered and started sobbing. That woke him up completely. He sat and hugged her. She sobbed harder in her shoulder.

"There, there. It's all right. It was only a dream," he consoled her, running one hand through her hair and keeping a firm grip with the other. "Do you want to tell me what was it about?"

Hermione took several deep intakes of breath to calm herself and started to retell the dream; she sounded as though she had a bad head cold. "We were here, I mean in this bed, kissing…"

"I hope that was not it, otherwise I'm the one who is going to start crying," interrupted Fred, trying to cheer her up, but he immediately realized that it was not going to work.

"And then Ron walked in on us… and then he, he…" She couldn't continue.

Fred didn't need her to. Although he had no idea of what had happened in Hermione's dream, the idea of Ron seeing them kissing was disturbing enough.

"I see. Well, calm down. It was nothing but a bad dream. Ron knows nothing about us and I promise you it will be us who tell him, when the time is right."

Hermione smiled weakly and hugged him tighter. She felt a lot better in her husband's arms. However, not even his comfort has been able to eradicate the bad feeling of the dream completely, which she knew was going to follow her along the whole day.

Fred suggested trying to get some more sleeping time, but there was no way she could doze off again, so she decided to go downstairs and make herself a strong cup of tea. After turning down Fred's offer to go with her, she put on her dressing gown and left the room.

The halls of the house were so familiar to her by now that she could go through them in the darkness without hitting anything. This was really saying something considering that The Burrow was one of the most untidy places she had ever been to, with the possible exception of Neville's house. She couldn't blame Mrs. Weasley. After knowing Ron for more than seven years and especially after living with Fred, she had a very accurate idea of how messy the Weasley boys could be. She could not imagine having to deal with six of them at the same time. She occupied her mind thinking that it must have been fun those summers when they were all young and the seven brothers still lived under the same roof. When there was no threat of Voldemort of Death Eaters. When the only girl that could come between two of them was Ginny, trying to force them to play with her too.

"A knut for your thoughts." Hermione had reached the kitchen, but it was not deserted as she had thought it would be. Harry was sitting at the table, an untouched smoking cup of tea in front of him and looking as he hadn't slept at all. His eyes were red and there were dark shadows under them. But they still illuminated when he saw her best friend crossing the door.

"Care if I join you?" asked Hermione sitting in front of him and waving her wand so as to make a cup appear from thin air. She already knew the answer anyway.

"Can you believe there was a time when we would cheer every time Professor McGonagall materialized something?" commented Harry in a melancholic tone, with his stare upon the newly created mug.

"It seams like something from another life, doesn't it?" agreed Hermione pouring some hot water in the cup.

"I see you haven't lost your old ways. Still waking up at the crack of dawn."

"You, on the other hand, have change a lot. I still remember when I had to wait hours for you and Ron to come downstairs to have some breakfast."

Harry smiled reminiscently. "Never on a Christmas morning though…"

"That's true. Only day of the year you were up before me. Well, maybe before a quiditch match too." They exchanged a grin. They had been friend for a long time and both of them enjoyed a lot chatting with each other.

"I've missed you two terrible the last months. I still can't get used to not having you around every day," said Harry zipping from his tea.

"You know you only need to summon us, and we'll be there the next second"

"I know, but that's not what I mean. What I miss is sharing the little things."

"Yeah, I miss that too. We used to have a lot of fun together, when we were not worrying about Snape trying to kill you I mean."

"We had that worry most of the time though. It's weird how things can change so much in only a few weeks. Do you think we'll ever have that again? The three of us getting together just for the sake of seeing each other, and blab about stupid things?"

Hermione did not what to answer. She was certain Harry was going to conquer Voldemort in the end. It was not that what worried her. She was not sure if Ron would forgive her for falling in love with Fred, if he would get over it. Not after everything he had told her before leaving for Denmark. She felt tears forming in her eyes but she fought them back. Harry would surely realize there was something wrong, but she did not want him to see her cry over it. She was not ready to confess, and it would be much easier to invent some excuse for her sadness if she didn't have her eyes puffy and red.

"What's going on with you 'Mione?"

"I jut got melancholic…" she said looking away.

"No, I'm not referring about now. I mean lately. I've noticed there's something different in you."

"I don't know what you are talking about; I'm the same as ever."

"Yes, but with a twist. I can't put my finger into it, but there is something. It's like you are more relaxed and more nervous at the same time. You look radiant but act as if nothing had changed. And you've been like this for a while."

Damn him! Of course he was going to realize there was something with her. She was in love and that was not easy to hide, especially to your best friend. A best friend who had become extremely perceptive lately. What could she do know? It was going to be very difficult to invent a credible excuse. Of course, there was always the possibility of telling him the truth, but she didn't want to. Telling Harry was not like telling Ginny. First, he was not a woman, so he would never understand how she felt; second, both Fred and Ron were Ginny's brothers, and she loved them both the same, Harry cared more for Ron than he did for her husband; and third he has already warned Hermione against this situation. She was not sure how he was going to react and the last thing she needed was him angry at her for betraying their best friend. On the other hand, she did not know how much longer she was going to be able to keep it from him. And what if it was worst this way? What if he recriminated her that she hadn't trust him, once she finally told everyone?

"It's ok if you are not ready to tell me, but remember that you are my friend as much as much as anyone in this house, and that I would never judge you."

Either he had been practicing Occlumency, or he suspected something. Hermione hadn't had so many unanswered questions since she had read that advanced transfiguration book in her third year. She looked at him straight in the eye. Those green eyes were sincere and reflected how much he cared for her.

"Ok, there is something. But I'm not sure if I should tell you. I don't think you wanna know about it."

"If it concerns you, I certainly want to hear it. You are like my sister. Don't forget that you are more of my family than my real relatives."

"I know, but it's not that. I know you worry about me just as I worry about you but still…"

"I don't want to put pressure on you. But may be it would help you to discuss whatever it is with someone. And you can trust me"

"Thanks Harry. It really does help me a lot you saying that. I promise you that when I'm ready to tell, you'll be the first to know."

They smiled at each other warmly. The eye connection was broken by Mrs. Weasley entering the kitchen.

"What are you doing up so early dears? Are you hungry? Do you want some breakfast?"

"No, it's ok Mrs. Weasley. Thanks… We were just catching up," said Harry. "I think I'm going to try to get some sleep before it's time to open the presents."

"Yeah, me too," said Hermione standing up and taking the cups to the sink in order to clean them.

"Leave those to me dear, both of you look like you could do with some sleep. Get to bed and when you come back down I'll have ready and spectacular Christmas breakfast for you."

They exited the kitchen together, leaving behind Mrs. Weasley, who was already busy with pots and puns.

"It's amazing how she always makes us feel like we are part of the family and guests of honor at the same time."

"Yes, it's a very special woman. Harry, you never told me why you were awake all night."

"How do you know?"

"The same way you knew there was something going on with me. I just know you too much and I have seen you countless times staying awake the whole night."

"I'm just worried about Voldemort. It's been happening a lot lately, nothing to worry about. But it was nice having someone to share my insomniac nights with. Even if you wouldn't confide in me like you used to," teased Harry. They had reached the door of the room Fred and Hermione were sharing

"May be some other insomniac night. See you in a couple of hours." She kissed him in the chick and entered the room.

The chat with Harry had the desired effect of helping Hermione to get some sleep. When she woke up a couple of hours later, she felt a lot better. The sun was shinning now and the dream was apparently left behind with the darkness of the night. She knew that Fred was not in the bed even before she looked his way. He could hear him in the bathroom.

The door opened and he came out, his hair soaking wet and wearing only a pair of black boxers

"Are you feeling a bit better?" he asked when he saw she was awoke.

"Yes, a lot. And particularly now. Have I ever told you that you look incredibly sexy when you just come out of the shower?"

"Granger, just admit I look sexy all the time, no matter what I'm wearing." Hermione snorted and Fred pretended to scowl. "Ok, if you won't say it, I'll have to force it out of you." He dived or the bed and landed on top of Hermione. He started tickling her so hard she couldn't breathe from laughing. When he stopped, he was still laying over her. He was looking down at her, holding himself up with his elbows, painfully aware that the only things between them were his underwear and her gown. She looked so beautiful that it was hard for him to focus in anything else but how much he loved her, and how much he wanted her.

Hermione, however, was thinking about something quite opposite. Something that was nothing but a turnoff.

"If we were in my dreams, Ron would enter right now, while we are kissing."

"You mean like this?" he leaned down and kissed her deeply.

She pushed him away softly, looking desperately at the door.

"Don't worry baby, I locked it and put an imperturbable charm on it before I got into the shower. Nobody can come in or hear to what we are saying. Actually, I'm surprised you didn't think about it last night. You are always so careful with this sort of things…"

"My excuse is that I was distracted on the cute guy I have now laying on top of me…" she answered. That was too much for Fred to bear. Either he went back to the shower or he continued kissing her and come what may…

At that precise moment a knock at the door brought the answer to Fred's predicament. He rolled to the side of the bed and covered himself with the sheets before asking "Yes?"

"Fred and Hermione dears," It was Mrs. Weasley's voice "breakfasts is ready and everybody else is already at the kitchen"

"We'll be there in a second Mrs. Weasley," answered Hermione. "I just have to get changed." She got out of bed and went into the bathroom leaving Fred to put some cloths on and muse over his thoughts.

There was no way Hermione had felt nothing. She was a woman, and a very passionate one, in all senses of the word. He could tell by the way she kissed him. He did not know what may had happened if his mother hadn't a gift to appear in the most awkward moments. But the truth was that they could not go on like that. Or at least he couldn't. He would have to talk to Hermione, he needed to know how she felt about the subject.

Once downstairs it was back to normal. It was one of the best Christmas breakfasts many of them remembered having in a long time. There was laughter and singing. The cheerful faces reflected the happiness they felt. Happiness at being together, alive and able to forget, at least for one, what was going on outside the walls of the house. There was no mention of Voldemort or the Order or anything unpleasant, with the possible exception of George's descriptions of the effect of their latest invention, which made you vomit and bleed at the same time.

Ron's attitude was different from that of the previous night. He didn't comment anything on the subject of Fred and Hermione. In fact he barely spoke to them during the whole morning. They didn't know it, but he was following Haley's instructions. He was to act indifferent until she arrived later. And so far he was doing a great job. So Hermione was free to think about Harry. She had been incredibly selfish earlier that day and she wanted to talk to him. She had a nagging feeling that it wasn't just regular worries about Voldemort what had kept him off bed. And as his best friend, she felt it was her duty to try to help him.

They decided to wait till after lunch to open the presents, so everyone but Mrs. Weasley had some free time once they had finished breakfast. Before anyone could distract her, Hermione asked Harry if he wanted to go with her for a walk. Fred gave her a quizzical look, but she ignored him. In any case, she would explain later. Not that she needed to give any explanation if she wanted to talk with her friend alone.

They exited the house through the back door and walked over the untouched snow, chatting about the minor incidents of breakfast.

"Ok, fire away," said Harry one there was nothing else to comment about Uncle Thaddeus.

"What?" she answered half perplexed, half amused.

"I know you too well for this. Either you want to ask me something or to tell me something. I just took a wild guess and supposed you wanted to ask."

"So, I did have some sort of influence over you!" she said in triumph. "Ok, I wanted to ask you why you couldn't sleep last night. It's ok if you don't want to tell me, but don't lie. I know it wasn't just because of Voldemort."

"Suppose you know me as much as I know you. Ok, I'm worried about Voldemort but I'm also worried about Ron. And the too things combined left me sleepless."

"Why are you so worried about Ron? He seems fine."

"No, he doesn't. He is not fine and he doesn't look fine. And I think you of all people know it." His tone was not accusatory, he wasn't blaming her. But he spoke the awful truth. "He's been acting strangely lately. And he won't tell me what he's up to. I know it has to do with you and I think he is afraid that if he tells me, I'll try to stop him or tell you about it. And I'm worried he might do something stupid. You know how he gets when he feels frustrated… especially when he is overshadowed by one of his brothers. And I believe he had thought you were his, like there was no way they could get in the middle of you two. And now he has to see you kissing Fred and sleeping with him." He turned to look at Hermione who had suddenly stopped walking. She was staring at the ground but Harry could tell she had tears in her eyes.

"'Mione, I'm not saying it's your fault or anything, I just…" she looked at him and that was enough to interrupt him. She looked miserable. He retraced his steps and hugged her. "What's wrong?"

""Nothing's wrong, and that's the problem. I'm happy, happy as I haven't been in years."

"If this is your way to express it, then I still have a lot to learn about women. Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

Hermione nodded and blew her nose while Harry conjured a bench for them to sit. She took a deep breath and, as she had done with Ginny only a day ago, she prepared to confess to Harry.

"The thing is, I'm in love…with Fred."

It took a couple of seconds for Harry to fully understand what his friend was saying. He didn't react immediately. He merely looked at her, disconcerted. And he had thought that Ron's only problem was having to deal with a fake marriage for some time… How wrong he had been. For a moment he considered screaming to Hermione and force some sense into what she was saying, but there was no point, and he knew it. In fact, he had known this for a long time, since the wedding. He just had not wanted to see it. It wasn't Hermione's fault, and it wasn't Fred's fault either. He knew that, he couldn't blame them for falling in love. He smiled at Hermione who was looking at him with fear in her eyes. He walked up to her and hugged her tightly, as only he could do it.

"I'm happy for you, for both of you," he said honestly.

"You don't heat me?" asked Hermione, he could feel the tears wetting his shoulder

"Of course not! You didn't do it on purpose. 'Mione, I care for you as much as I care for Ron, and I want to see you both happy. But this is going to be tough for him."

"That's what worries me the most. You can't imagine how guilty I feel. Just tonight I had a horrible nightmare about him finding out in the most terrible way. That's why I couldn't sleep. I wish it was different. I wish I was in love with him, but I am not."

"Well, don't worry. You have me to help you. I think he'll understand it, in the end. He always has…"

As they hugged again Hermione's heart felt lighter than it had in weeks. Not that Ginny and Harry knew she felt braver. She had them to back her when the moment of truth came. They walked back into the house shoulder to shoulder. And Hermione couldn't help but think that sometimes there are things in life worst than facing your greatest enemy, worst than facing death. The prospect of hurting someone you loved was much worst. But all the times she had faced death, her friends had been there to support her, and now, she still had them.

Inside everyone was oblivious to their absence. The twins were suspiciously gone and the rest were doing some thing or another, entertained in their own thoughts. Harry went upstairs to get a dry cloak and Hermione sat next to Ginny, who was reading curled up in the couch.

"I told Harry," whispered Hermione.

"You did? What did he say?" she asked, and her hushed tone did not conceal her excitement and anxiety.

"That he is happy for me, and that he will help me with, well, you know…"

"Oh my God! I can't believe it…"

"What? I told you he said he was ok with it."

"I know, I can't believe he is so perfect. No wait, let me rephrase that. I can't believe how he can be so supportive of other's feelings and so stupid when it comes to his."

"He does love you, you know it."

"That's what makes it so frustrating. If he was in love with someone else it would be understandable. But he is so exasperatingly noble and overprotective that he makes us both unhappy." She threw a pillow in exasperation.

"And that makes you love him even more, doesn't it?"

"Yes! Why?"

"It's one of life's greatest mysteries," she said looking towards the stairs from which Fred was coming. His hair was all messed up and there were parts of his face covered with some sort of cinder, which probably meant he had been with George making something explode. He looked a complete mess; and yet, at that precise to her he was the most handsome man in the whole world.

He walked towards the coach, and seeing there was no place for him, he sat on Hermione's lap.

"What have you been up to?"

"Believe me, you don't want to know," he answered, his eyes twinkling.

"It's incredible"

"What is?"

"That at your age, your eyes still shine when you misbehave, like when you were thirteen."

"And how do you know my eyes shone when I was thirteen? Don't tell me you had a secret crush on me on your first year."

"No, silly! But have you ever wondered how I always knew when you were up to something? Your eyes were a giveaway."

"You are simply amazing!" he said bemused. And he was about to kiss her when suddenly the flames at the fire place turned green.

Ron stood up immediately. "It must be Healey."

And sure enough, a couple of seconds later the slim figure of Healey was unfolding out of the fire place. She smiled at Ron and hugged him.

"It's good to see you again. Denmark has not been the same without you," she said in a provoking tone.

"I missed you too. I'm happy you could make it. Come, I want you to meet my family." One by one, he introduced her to every Weasley and non-Weasley present. Ginny of course, made a rude gesture to Hermione the moment Healey was not looking and Hermione had to focus not lo laugh. She hadn't liked the girl either.

"Hey, where's Harry?" asked Ron looking around.

"Right here," answered Harry entering the room.

"Come mate, I want you to meet Haley." Harry walked forward with his hand outstretched.

"Nice you meet you," he said smiling

"Harry Potter, it's really an honor to meet you."

Harry's smile vanished instantly, he froze, his hand still in the air. There was something about that voice…

A/N: How was it? Tell meeeeee, I'm dying to know!