A lot of you have been asking about what's going to happen; whether Fred's going to die or not.

I'm not gonna tell, so you'll just have to read my story ;-)

Sorry!

Hope you all still enjoy it!

Chapter 38: Thoughts

April 5th:

Fred hated when she left. It was as if his heart broke every time she waved at him from the Hogwarts Express.

"Come on, Freddie-boy," George said as he put his arm around Fred's shoulders. George had gone with his brother to Kings Cross to make it easier on Fred; George knew that the next few weeks for Fred would contain a lot of moping around and being irritated.

Or at least that was what he had expected; Fred seemed in a different kind of mood today – he wasn't snapping at George or getting irritated by the sound of him breathing. It seemed more as if Fred was sad. As they had apparated back to the flat, George finally plucked up the courage to ask his brother what was wrong.

"Nothing," was all he got for a reply before Fred slammed the door behind him and disappeared in to his bedroom.

"Go away!"

"Come on, man. You've been in there for hours. What the hell is the matter?"

"You can't do anything about it anyway."

"Maybe not. But will you please let me in. I have to check on you; if I don't Mum is going to kill me."

No reply. George took that as an invitation to open the door. Fred was lying on his back, hands behind his head, staring into the ceiling. His eyes were red and puffy.

"Are you crying?" George had to supress a laugh – he had never seen Fred cry before.

"Fuck off, George!"

"Sorry. I didn't mean it like that… So what's the matter?"

Fred didn't reply.

"You have two options: one, you tell me what the hell is the matter with you, or two, I write to Hermione and tell her that you're a big cry-baby!"

"As if she would care about me anyway…"

George froze, "you haven't broken up or anything, have you?"

"Might as well have."

"What are you talking about?"

"She's going to break up with me."

"You've known that all along. She told you that from the very beginning."

"That doesn't make it any less hard."

"I know… But hey, come on man. You'll get together as soon as the war's over!"

"I know - but it could be years!"

"Fred, she's doing this to protect you. You know that, right?" Fred nodded, "I don't mean to be rude or anything but she kind of is smarter than you; she has thought this through - so what I think you should do, is to just be a good boyfriend and do whatever she tells you to. This is going to be harder on her and you need to show her your support. Okay?"

"Yeah. Maybe you're right."

"Yup, always am," he winked at Fred, "come on, I think Verity is in the mood to make us pancakes!"

Hermione hated leaving him. Especially now after their argument. She was beginning to fear that he might not ever understand her decision. They hadn't spoken about it since that night where it all escalated but she could feel the giant elephant in the small room pushing them over the edge. They had for the past few days sent each other small glances and sad looks which neither George nor Verity seemed to notice.

Hermione could tell that Fred was jealous of George; not because he had Verity but because their relationship didn't have an expiration date.

Fred and Hermione had spent their last few days in silence. None of them knew what to say. It wasn't an awkward silence. More like a silence that had to be present to process it all.

During the nights they had both been fully awake, whispering words of comfort to the other, staring in to each other's eyes wishing that breaking up wasn't the only option. Occasionally a tear fell from Hermione's eyes, but Fred quickly wiped it away. They could hear George and Verity in the next room having the time of their lives. Both of them jealous of how little worries they had.

Now, Hermione was on the Hogwarts express reliving the past few days with Fred. She wished she could just stay with him instead of going with Harry but she knew that Harry would need her and as McGonagall had said; she would do what had to be done.