They had reached the decision to stay at Fred's apartment full time after their second encounter. He had more wards in place and being in Diagon Alley there was the added protection of Ministry patrols. Hermione had transferred most of her clothing over to the apartment, as well as an unhealthy amount of books to Fred's amusement. Neither of them had seen the figure outside in the few weeks since the encounter with Ginny and Harry but the events had still made them on edge, knowing that they had been watched. They had actually had a serious discussion about whether it would be best for Hermione to join Ron in hiding. The thought was vetoed after a few hours though.

After so long of being hyperaware, Hermione just felt tired. She was at work one night when she realized just how much energy she had been putting into worrying. Everything else was taking second place in her life, her patients, Fred, the family. A year ago she had her entire life prioritized and she genuinely felt happy and safe. Now she felt paranoid about everything, scared of the unknown.

It was that night at work that she decided to stop being scared. If the plan against them was mainly scare tactics then it had worked brilliantly, but she wouldn't let it ruin her life any more. She pushed the fear she had felt to the back of her mind and smiled as she entered another patient room.

She changed in the locker room when she got off the next afternoon, switching her blue scrubs to jeans, a deep maroon sweater and grey jacket to ward off the chilly November air. She made her way out to the fireplace and went directly home, the noise from the shop drifted up the stairs as she stumbled out of the sooty fireplace of the flat. She looked around the place and laughed at the difference in the décor since she had been with Fred. The outlandish deep purple wall color was now a light grey, though they had allowed the teal blue furniture to stay, appeasing Fred. The wood floors had now been exposed, having been previously covered by a bright orange throw rug. Not much had changed in the kitchen except the addition of a coffee maker, which laughably was the only thing George had noticed the first time he came over after the changed had been made.

The noise from the shop got louder as she made her way down the stairs and without even seeing the front she knew that it was a busy day. She waved to George in the backroom as she passed, not wanting to stop and interrupt his hurried pace. As she had suspected, the shop floor was buzzing with shoppers. It was the first week of what the twin's liked to call their "Christmas Extravaganza" where it seemed everyone in the wizarding community suddenly realized that they had shopping to do. Verity was at the counter as she passed so she wove her way around customers in search of Fred.

When she finally saw him, she paused in her step. He was standing near the front of the shop, in a more secluded corner talking to someone she recognized quite well, Angelina Johnson. The way they were talking and had their heads bent close to each other caused a brief flash of jealousy that surprised Hermione. She remembered in school when they had been a couple, and she also remembered how upset Fred had been about their breakup the year after they opened the shop. She had always known that Fred had cared deeply for Angelina, and at one point during school she, Harry and Ron had even bet that he would end up marrying her. Their break up was a shock to everyone and Hermione remembered feeling terrible for the redhead, especially after finding him visibly upset in the shed a few days before Fleur and Bill's wedding.

Watching the interaction between the two in front of her brought back all of those memories from school and made her feel uneasy. It was an odd feeling, jealousy, and not one that she had experienced many times in the past. She trusted Fred completely but the feelings he had had for the other girl had been very real.

Fred looked up from his conversation with Angelina and saw Hermione. She smiled brightly and continued on her way to greet him, pushing down her earlier feelings. As she approached them Fred smiled back at her while Angelina seemed quite indifferent to her appearance.

"Hermione, you remember Angelina?" Fred asked as she came to stand beside them.

She turned her smile to the other girl and nodded. "Of course, though it's definitely been a few years. How are you?"

Angelina finally smiled back at Hermione but it didn't quite seem genuine, "I'm really good, thanks. Been in Paris following the Quidditch teams there since school. My mum is getting married so figured I'd stop in and say hi since I'm back in town for the wedding." She glanced at Fred and Hermione couldn't help wonder what they had been talking about before she arrived.

"Congratulations to your mum, that's really exciting." Hermione added, trying to read the other girl's expression.

Angelina nodded. "Yeah, it's great. Speaking of which, I should be going. Lots of preparation to get done." She smiled a little too brightly at Fred and Hermione. "It was really great seeing you, if you're ever in Paris look me up"

She left rather quickly and Fred watched her go with a confused expression. Hermione knew something was off about the interaction and had not been oblivious to the cold shoulder she had been getting from the other girl.

Fred turned to her and smiled, "Hi."

She stepped forward and hugged him, "Hi."

Sighing she pulled back and surveyed the craziness around them. "Has it been this busy all day?" She wanted to ask about Angelina but thought that was best suited for a quieter conversation.

"Yeah, its crazy! The new products I told you about launched and it looks like the advertisement Alicia put together really paid off. There were people waiting outside when we opened this morning." Fred looked proudly around the bustling business. He was still amazed at the success of this venture from what started as illegal brewing of potions under their beds at Hogwarts. He made a mental note to thank Harry for the thousandth time for the startup money.

"So I made a decision." Hermione said, pulling Fred from his thoughts.

He turned back to her, "Yeah?"

She nodded, "I'm not going to be scared anymore. And I don't think you should be either."

He furrowed his brows at her. "Well that's easier said than done, love. It's not like we're scared for nothing. There are actually people out to kill you and a masked crazy person outside our homes."

"No, I know. But until something happens I don't want to waste my life being scared to step foot outside of my own apartment. I'm not saying be any less careful. Just that I refuse to let death eaters overthrow my life again." She hoped he would understand, he had felt the same sense of dread and fear over the past few weeks as she had.

He thought for a moment before nodding. "You're right. I don't know if I can fully stop worrying, but there is too much to enjoy to let them ruin it. I mean I finally got the girl and am squandering my time with her double checking the windows at night."

She smiled at him and stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. "Then we had best remedy that."

He grinned back at her before his attention was quickly pulled away by the sound of shattering glass by the love potion display. A teenage boy had dropped one of the bottles as he stared at another teenage boy who was making his way around the shop. Fred grinned as he approached.

"Word of advice mate, a conversation goes a lot farther than one of these potions." He said quietly to the boy who then blushed and nodded.

Hermione grinned at the interaction and wondered briefly just how much dating advice the twins had given Ron throughout his younger years. With how busy it was she decided to stay for a while and help out, bringing stock out from the back, helping customers at the till and giving George reprieve in the back. When the last customer had checked out and the closed sign was displayed, the group gathered in the front, pulling up chairs and stools around the counter.

"I quit." Verity said as she tried to elevate her feet on the counter.

"Me too." George said from his spot, studying the different colors staining his hands.

"Sorry Hermione, looks like you're on your own." Fred joined in.

She scoffed and shook her head at everyone. "You all are the reason for this madness. I just got sucked into it."

"Only way out it to dump this fool and run away with me." George said, grinning up at her.

"Or me." Verity said slyly, causing the three to look at her with shocked expressions. She shrugged and grinned. "I'm not picky."

They laughed and decided they deserved a drink for their long day. The leaky cauldron was busy when they arrived and they made their way to an empty table at the back where the noise was slightly less. Verity made her way to the bar and came back with four shot glasses filled with bright green liquid.

"Verity.." George groaned, seeing the liquid.

"What?" She asked indignantly. "These are for me." She laughed before passing them out.

"To the troublemakers turned success story. May your genius minds never fail." She saluted before downing the glass in one gulp.

The other three followed suit and Hermione wrinkled her nose at the bright apple flavor of the drink. They did another round of shots before settling back with glasses of mead.

"Sooo Freddie." Verity asked after her second full glass. "Saw Angie earlier today at the shop. You two get a chance to talk." The witch was definitely teetering on intoxication judging by the red flush to her pale face and the glassy look in her eyes. Not to mention the way she giggled after she asked her questions.

Hermione glanced over at Fred who had narrowed his eyes at the witch. Even George shifted in his seat looking uncomfortable. "Yeah I saw her. She's around for her Mum's wedding."

Clearly expecting something juicier, Verity huffed. "You know I never understood why you two broke up in school. I mean everyone was convinced you were perfect for each other. Even Hermione thought so, right?" She asked the other girl.

Fred turned to Hermione with a surprised look on his face. She looked back at him and shrugged, "You were pretty much attacked at the hip your entire last year." She offered in explanation.

"Yeah," Verity cut in. "Not to mention the whole conversation between George and you about 'not wanting to wait for her any longer' and how you were going to 'ask her this summer'." She raised her eyebrows suggestively. "What happened Freddie, she turn down your proposal?"

Fred glared at her, having not known anyone had overheard that particular conversation he and his twin had had the year after they had opened the shop. "Something like that." He said flatly.

George, deciding this was a good time to end things, clapped his hands together at the tension between the two. "Well folks, I think it might be time to call it a night. Maybe sober up a bit." He added under his breath with a look at Verity.

Hermione had been silent through the interaction, thinking about the scene earlier in the shop and then Verity's comments. They nagged at her and she decided she thoroughly hated this feeling. She nodded at George's words, thankful for the interruption before things got even more awkward. The four of them went out to the street to leave and George offered to drop Verity back off at her place to make sure she didn't end up in Germany.

Hermione and Fred arrived back at the flat shortly after and she went immediately into the kitchen for a glass of water.

Fred followed her apprehensively, trying to catch her mood. "Hermione, what Verity said.."

She shook her head. "No, don't. It's okay. That was years ago, and she's right, we all really thought you were going to end up together."

Fred ran his hand through his hair, wanting to explain everything. When he couldn't think of the right words he nodded before going to the bedroom to change out of his work clothes. He had jeans and a green T-shirt on when he returned to find Hermione seated at the dining room table, flipping through a healing book. He took the chair on the other side and watched her.

After a few minutes she sighed and closed the book, looking up at him. "Can I ask you something?"

He nodded, "Of course, anything."

She thought for a few seconds, wondering how much she had the right to know. "Why did you and Angelina break up? I wasn't joking earlier; we really all thought you two would be getting married after Hogwarts. You both seemed really happy together."

He thought back to when he was seventeen and nodded. "We were happy." He said looking at her.

"Then what happened?"

"You did." He said bluntly. It was odd to have to relive an experience he had buried a long time ago. One that he did not remember fondly and had sworn to never think about again.

Hermione's face displayed the confusion she felt at his words, "I did? What does that mean?"

He smiled slightly. "I mean love, that you ruined Angie and my relationship."

"What?" She asked shocked. "I did not!"

He laughed at her, "Well, not directly. You remember when I told you how long I've liked you?"

She nodded, still waiting for an explanation.

"Well," he continued. "I was still with Angie. And towards the end of our relationship, the times I was with her I couldn't help wish that it you. I really did care about her at first, but my feelings at the end weren't fair to her."

"So you broke it off?" Hermione asked softly.

Fred chuckled and shook his head. "Not exactly. I think Angie picked up that something was wrong and confronted me about it. I didn't lie and obviously she ended things." He remembered the screaming that had ensued when his ex-girlfriend found out about his feelings for another girl. He cringed inwardly, knowing it was a mistake to not tell the witch right away, but he had definitely been confused about the new feelings for his brother's best friend.

"Guess that explains the cold shoulder I got today at the shop." She said. "But what Verity said about you planning to ask her something that summer?" She had figured from the conversation that Fred had been planning to propose to Angelina.

"George and I weren't talking about Angelina." Fred said, looking at her. "We had already been broken up for months at that point."

"Then who..?" she stopped speaking, understanding. "Me. You were talking about me."

He nodded and reached over for her hand, turning it over in his larger ones. He softly traced the lines on her palm. "It was right before we went to get Harry that last time. George had called me out for my stupid excitement about the whole deal. He knew I wasn't so much excited about the plan as I was seeing you again." He grinned up at her. "George pretty much told me to get my head out of my arse and stop fawning. I was going to ask you out that summer."

Hence the 'asking her this summer' comment that Verity had overheard. "Why didn't you?" Hermione asked, watching his fingers.

Fred shrugged, thinking back to the events of the summer. "After George got hurt it didn't quite feel like the best time. Then the wedding happened and before anyone knew it, you lot were gone. And then I missed my chance."

It was strange to think about how different her life would have been if he had just found a moment to ask her that summer. She wasn't even sure what she would have told him if he had asked. There had been so much going on, and with the plans to leave, she probably would have turned him down. In a way she was grateful he hadn't asked. If she had turned him down the first time then maybe they wouldn't be together now, and she wasn't willing to sacrifice that for anything.

She got up and walked around the table to stand next to him. She smiled at the stray strands of hair sticking up on his head and reached her hand out to tug on one. "Everything worked out alright in the end, yeah?"

He smiled up at her and caught her hand before she pulled it back, pressing a kiss to the palm. He then stood and brought his mouth to hers, tipping her head back as he buried his hands in her hair. She responded immediately and gripped the front of his shirt in her hands. She laughed when his hands went to her back side and lifted her against him. In three quick steps they were at the counter and she felt the hard surface against her legs as he set her down. He stood between her legs as his hands rested on her hips.

She shrugged out of her jacket before his hands wandering up across the bare skin of her back, pulling her sweater over her head as they went. Goose bumps formed on her skin as she sat exposed in her bra. Their lips crashed together again as she let her arms fall to his shoulders.

"Oi!" They pulled apart suddenly at the sound. Hermione looked around Fred to see the other twin standing in the living room with his hand covering his eyes.

"George!" She pushed at Fred and slid down from the counter, wrapping her arms across her chest as she looked for her top. Fred glared at his brother as he picked up Hermione's sweater off the floor and handed it to her. He tried to adjust his jeans to hide the painful evidence of their activity.

"Can we help you?" He asked his brother as Hermione shrugged back into her sweater.

"Yeah, you can tell me where the bookworm got such a great little body." George grinned at them, still covering his eyes.

"George." Hermione said sternly.

The younger twin lowered his hand to look at them. "Next time get a room."

She threw up her hands. "We live here!"

"And have frequent visitors." George said innocently with a smile. "Though if I'd known there would be a show, I'd drop by more often."

"George." It was Fred's turn to speak up.

George raised his hands at his brother, "All right, all right. Figured I'd drop by and make sure the power couple was still together after Verity's comments tonight. Wasn't sure that Hermione would believe your story so I wanted to be here to provide collateral."

"What makes you any more trustworthy?" Hermione asked.

George considered this, "Good point. But either way, looks like you survived the firestorm so I'll just be going."

He turned to leave before glancing over his shoulder with a grin, "By the way, Alicia is pregnant."

"What!" Hermione yelled in surprise as the prankster apparated away.

She turned to Fred with a shocked expression on her face, "Was that a joke?"

Fred laughed and shook his head, "Doubtful. When he first told us about Roxy he thought the best way was to give everyone puking pastels to emulate the morning sickness Ali had. Not the most tactful when it comes to sharing big news."

"Well congrats I guess," she said with a slight smile. "Favorite uncle status just increased by a point."

He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her waist, "Don't tell my brothers."

She laughed, everyone already knew that Fred was the favorite among the younger kids. "Wouldn't dream of it."

He grinned and leaned down to kiss her again, "Now where were we?"