Notes: Thanks again for reading and reviewing. It means a lot to me and keeps me motivated to continue.

Chapter 14

"What is all this?" Hermione asked as she entered the twins' flat. Fred had asked her to be there at 7:00, but he hadn't given her any other details. He had obviously gone to a lot of trouble, however, because the kitchen was a complete disaster with dirty pots and pans strewn everywhere.

He grinned sheepishly. "Um…I cooked?"

She couldn't help but laugh. "We could have just gone out for dinner, you know." She gently wiped away what appeared to be some sort of red sauce off of his face and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek.

"Never," he said pulling her through to the door that led to the dining table. "I can cook for my girl. I just might be a little messy about it. Besides," he said as he pulled her into his embrace, "I want you all to myself."

"And what about George?"

"Oh, he won't be bothering us. Special code and all that."

She raised an eyebrow at this. "Code?"

"Well, yeah," he shrugged. "One of us has a girl over and the other makes himself scarce."

"Have lots of girls over, do you?" she teased. She wasn't really insecure about Fred's past, but she had to admit she was a little curious just how many girls he was parading through.

He winked at her playfully, but then shook his head. "No, actually. I never have. Not been anyone special enough for that before."

She could feel her cheeks turning pink as he pulled out her chair. "Well, this looks wonderful, thank you. I didn't know you could cook."

"A lot like potions, isn't it? And I do alright with that."

She just shook her head. There was so much she didn't know about Fred. It was amazing really. They had spent a great deal of time together over the years, sometimes in fairly close quarters, but he was still able to surprise her. It was remarkable how little you learned about someone if you didn't take the time to ask.

He seemed to be reading her thoughts. "I just thought that we could talk," he said as he began serving the food. "Never done a lot of that, have we, just the two of us?"

"No," she agreed, "but who on earth would have ever thought we would have something to talk about? We don't exactly have a lot in common."

"Maybe we have more in common than we thought," he said softly. "We are here, after all, aren't we?'

She had to agree with that as well. Something had certainly propelled them to this point. Sure, on the surface they seemed like polar opposites, but maybe that was a good thing. He could help her loosen up and have fun and she could help keep him grounded when the twins' antics started to get out of control.

"Well, we have to start somewhere, don't we?" she smiled shyly at him. She didn't want to admit it, but she was feeling a little nervous now that it was just the two of them, everything out in the open. She had fought in the Battle of Hogwarts, helped Harry defeat Voldemort, and yet here she was all out of sorts trying to talk to a boy. She was a fully grown witch. It really was pathetic, especially since said boy had already admitted he was crazy about her. For some reason that made her even more anxious.

"Well, what are your plans now?" he asked. "I know you were taking a much deserved break after the war, but have you given any thought about what you might want to do eventually?"

She relaxed a little at his question. That was an area in which she felt she had a little more control. She had given a great deal of thought to what she wanted to do now that she was no longer in school or out chasing Horcruxes. It had been overwhelming at first, there were so many possibilities, but she eventually decided to pursue her passion for the better treatment of house-elves. "I recently accepted a position in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," she answered. "I start in a couple of weeks."

Fred beamed at her. "That's fantastic, Hermione! You will be perfect there. They do like to follow the rules quite a bit, I hear," he teased.

"And what about you?" she teased back. "Going to wreak havoc on more unsuspecting young witches and wizards?"

"Yes, actually," he managed between bites. "George and I are looking at buying Zonko's old spot in Hogsmeade."

"You're expanding?" she cried. "How wonderful! Things must be going really well then. Of course they are, the store is always packed."

He shrugged. "We were the lucky ones, even during the worst times of the war, people came to the shop. We reckon people needed a little fun in their lives."

"Yes, I suppose they did," she said quietly. Her mind wandered as she thought of how badly she could have used a good laugh during those dark times. If only she had the twins' infectious personalities around then.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. I know that was a hard time for you, I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, it's okay," she insisted. "It was hard on us all. Besides, it's over now."

"It has been good to see you smile again," he said softly. "I was so worried. We all were."

"It has been tough," she admitted, "but I am doing better. A lot of that is thanks to you. This has been a great couple of weeks. Thank you, Fred."

"I should have done something sooner."

"Why? It wasn't your responsibility to cheer me up. We were all going through things. It wasn't your job to make your younger brother's friend feel better."

"You were not just my younger brother's friend," he argued. "And I should have done something a long time ago for the same reason I did it now." He looked at her, a slightly pained expression on his face. He placed his hands on the table. "Hermione, I am crazy about you. I have been for a really long time. Do you know much it killed me when you three were gone? Not hearing anything at all? Not knowing if you were dead or alive? It was maddening. And then to see you after the war, some of your fire was gone. It made me want to go confront any Death Eater I could find and personally defend your honor."

"You have been crazy about me for a really long time?" she asked, a smile breaking out on her face.

He glared at her. "You have a knack for making me say more than I meant to, you know that?" He sighed, rubbing his hands across his face as if he was trying to clear his head. Standing up, he walked over to her and knelt down beside her chair. Taking her hand is his, he looked up at her tenderly. "But yes, if you must know, I have been totally mad for you since about my fifth year."

Hermione gasped. "What?" she exclaimed awkwardly. "That was my third year. That was… at least five years ago!"

"Well, yeah," he said, grinning up at her. "You punched Malfoy. Had it bad ever since." He laughed, immediately reverting back to his normal playfulness as she blushed uncontrollably.

"How do you know about that?" she hissed.

"Everyone knows about that one, I'm afraid," he winked. "But with bloody good reason. It was brilliant!"

"Language, Fred!" she scolded, but couldn't help but laugh herself. Despite her protests, it had felt awesome to punch that little ferret that day. She could still remember it completely fresh in her mind. He had deserved it, of course. She shuddered thinking of her last encounters with Draco Malfoy.

"See?" he nudged. "I love it when you laugh."

"Thank you, Fred," she whispered, leaning down to plant a kiss on his lips. She sighed contentedly. She loved it, too, when he made her laugh, and she couldn't wait for many more opportunities.

Please review!