The name of this chapter reminds me of something... I have an amazing author roommate (Kallypso) who may be secretly working on a Marauder's fic right now... it may show up around September, if it does exist ;) But even if you're not a Marauders fan (but seriously, who isn't?), she has a ton of other stories from other genres to choose from. :)

Chapter 21 – The Marauder's Map

Hermione awoke early on her day off and decided that she was going to clean house. Her husband and his twin had been busy lately with getting the new shop ready to open, and had been in and out of the house, storing boxes and conducting experiments in both places, and with her busy with training, the housework had been neglected.

She started with laundry, dragging the overflowing hamper halfway to the laundry room before remembering that she was a witch, and enchanting it to follow her. She looked forlornly at the wash basin, wishing for either a washing machine, or some knowledge of domestic spells. Fred was usually the one who took care of laundry, so she had no idea how to do it.

She was in the middle of looking up the correct spell in her Bewitching Wives' Spellbook (a wedding gift from Fleur, who said she wished she had been given one when she got married) when there was a knock at the front door.

Setting her book down, she went to answer the door. It was Ginny.

"Hey sis." She said with a smile, letting her in.

"Hi. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" She seemed a little off.

"Not at all. Fred's at the shop and I've got the day off."

"Good. Can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course. I'll make us some tea." Hermione asked, leading her to the kitchen.

Ginny sat at the table while Hermione put the kettle on.

"Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No, I wasn't hungry."

Something had to be wrong. "If I made you something, would you eat?"

Ginny nodded in response.

"Chocolate chip pancakes sound good? I got Fred to tell me his secret recipe."

"Putting chocolate chips in the batter?" Ginny managed a smile.

"It appears that it's not much of a secret." Hermione said, pulling the ingredients out of the cupboard, and quickly whipping together a steaming plateful of pancakes, which she sat in front of the silent Ginny. "What do you like on them?"

"Peanut butter, please." She requested, and Hermione got it for her.

"I've got to start laundry, so you start on those and I'll be right back, okay?"

Ginny nodded, her attention on the peanut butter jar. Maybe all she needed was a home cooked meal.

Once in the washroom, she flipped through the book, hoping the spell she needed would be in there. It was under cleaning – laundry. Of course. She filled the basin with a gush of water from the tip of her wand, then tried the first incantation, laundry began to jump from the hamper into the basin, scrub itself against the washboard, and hang itself up on the small drying line. She cast the second spell, and the clothes on the line dried quickly, folding themselves and laying down in neat piles on the table. That wasn't nearly as difficult as she thought it was going to be, she decided.

She returned to her sister-in-law, who was half-way through her stack of pancakes, which Hermione took to be a good sign. The kettle sang, and she turned it off, pouring two cups of tea, setting one of them – and the honey pot, as she remembered that's what she preferred – in front of Ginny. She added two sugar cubes to her own and sat at the table.

"Thank you." Ginny said, spooning honey into her tea.

"You're welcome. Did I do Fred's pancake recipe justice?"

"Don't tell him, but yours are better."

"It'll be our little secret." She winked, taking a sip of her tea. She decided to wait till Ginny had finished eating to ask what was wrong, but she couldn't help but wonder. Was it Sebastian? Since he was at Durmstrang, their relationship could be strained. After all, they barely knew each other and they were engaged. There was also returning to Hogwarts with the memories of all that had happened there still fresh in her mind. Hermione herself didn't know if she'd ever be able to return, even for a short visit. A memory flashed through her mind, one that she often tried to forget. She could see the twins and Seamus surrounded by death eaters, feeling her indecision, would Ron and Harry be okay without her?

"Hermione, you okay?" Ginny said, snapping her out of it.

"Yeah – I'm good. What was it that you wanted to talk about?" She asked, picking up Ginny's empty plate and rinsing it in the sink.

"It's … It's about Ron." She said after a moment's hesitation.

"What about him Gin?"

She bit her lip. "He's still at Hogwarts. He's a … a ghost."

She dropped her, now empty, cup. It shattered on the floor. "What?"

Ginny blinked back tears. "I can't stay there Hermione. Not while he's there, like that, looking the same as when he - as when he died. He won't leave me alone." Hermione had read that new ghosts, especially those who had died suddenly or violently, tended to be very hostile towards people that had been close to in life.

"We've got extra bedrooms upstairs, Gin, you're more than welcome to one of them. I'm sure considering the circumstances, Professor- I mean, Headmistress McGonagall has to understand."

"Thank you." She whispered. "I already talked to her about it… she said if it were okay with you two that I could live here and go over for class."

She walked over and put her arm around her shoulder. "I'll tell Fred about it tonight, I'm sure he will understand, and if he doesn't I'll make him." She wasn't too worried about him disagreeing, he was exceptionally protective of Ginny.

"I'm sure you can persuade him." She said, looking exausted.

"Are you tired?"

"A little … trouble sleeping lately. He likes to pester me." Hermione began to wonder if Ron was taking lessons from Peeves.

"There's a bed made up upstairs for guests. You'll be the first to sleep in it."

"I have to be back at the school by five."

"I'll wake you up."

Ginny nodded, already heading for the stairs.

After she had left, Hermione started cleaning up the breakfast mess, starting with the tea cup. "Reparo." She said, pointing her wand at the pieces. As she set it in the sink, she noticed that it had a chip in it.

***

"Do you still think the house is too quiet?" Hermione asked Fred, sitting at the end of their bed.

"A little." He replied, unbuttoning his shirt.

"Would you be okay with having a third member of the household?"

He looked at her with surprise. She couldn't be. Not already. He broke into a grin. "Of course." He answered, sitting beside her.

"Good, cause Ginny asked to move in with us rather than live at the school."

His smile faded. "What? Why?" He should have known better.
"It's a little difficult for her to be there right now. She'll go back every day for classes."

He took a deep breath. "It's got a lot of bad memories for a lot of people right now."

"It's a little worse than that." She admitted.

"Worse how?"

She hesitated, biting her lip so hard she drew blood. How bad could it be? "It's Ron." She said finally. "He didn't exactly leave."

"Are you saying… what I think you're saying?"

She nodded solemnly.

"Are you sure?" He didn't want to believe it.

She stood up, walking over to the dresser. From one of her drawers came a piece of parchment, which she then handed to him. He realized immediately what it was, despite the fact that he hadn't seen it in years.

"Where did you get this?"

"Harry gave it to me. He said there was something not right about it. I suppose that is what he meant."

He looked down at the blank parchment. Grabbing his wand from the nightstand, he tapped it, saying the words he'd repeated a thousand times, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

The map had changed, presumably to reflect the renovations that had happened since the battle. Hermione sat beside him, looking as well. He saw students in their beds, Headmistress McGonagall in her office, Filch still roaming the halls. Then he found it. Ron Weasley written under a tiny set of footprints. He was currently in the Ravenclaw common room.

"I can't believe it." He whispered.

"He's really there."

He couldn't look at it anymore. "Mischief managed." The parchment went blank.

"No wonder Harry wanted to get rid of it." His wife mused.

"So he gave it to you?"

"I was supposed to give it back to you and George."

He stood, rolling up the map and sticking it in a drawer. "We can't make Ginny stay there."

"I told her you'd understand." Hermione bit her lip. "Do you think that, that we should go see him?"

"Do you want to?"

She hesitated. "Yes, but not yet. I can't handle it." Tears were brimming in her eyes.

He kissed her the top of her head. "It's okay."

"It's all my fault, what happened."

"Hermione, that battle was not your fault."

"I was supposed to be watching his back. What if it had been Harry instead of Ron? Where would we be then?"

He wasn't sure how, but Fred knew if she hadn't done what she did, it would have been him and George instead of Ron. "It wasn't Harry. We won the war. It's over. It's time to celebrate, remember?"

She nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"You don't regret it, do you?"

"No." She lay her head against his shoulder. "I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't been there, but I know that you survived this way. I can't imagine a life without you."

He pulled her into his lap, holding her tight against him. "I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too." She sniffled, her head buried in the space between his shoulder and neck.

While the war had been difficult on everyone, Fred knew it had been the worst on Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They had been the ones who tracked down the Horcruxes, and while it had been Harry alone that had faced Voldemort that one last time, he never would have gotten there if not for the two of them. All three of them had been willing to give all they had to give.

He held her close until her breathing evened and she fell into sleep, soft murmurs escaping her lips. In that moment, Fred was just thankful to be the one holding her, and not one of the faces in her nightmares.

Ten points to your respective house if you can catch the small writing cliche that managed to slip into the end of this chapter. Beyond that, I hope you enjoyed, and please be sure to review :)

-Zen