Moving On

A Fremione Fanfic

Summary:

After the war, Harry and Ron up and leave, and that leaves Hermione finishing her last year at Hogwarts alone. Or is she alone? New friendships, vacations, and feelings that Hermione did not expect to arise means that her last year at Hogwarts will be truly interesting. But can she, and everyone else around her, truly move on after the war?

Chapter 1: Rebuilding

Hermione let out a deep breath and wiped the sweat off her forehead. She was almost done with the small pile of debris that she had been working on for a few hours. Her and some of her fellow classmates had decided to be part of a clean-up crew for Hogwarts. It was one month and twenty-two days after the war, and Hogwarts was looking almost as good as new. There were a few piles of debris that still needed to be worked on, but the majority of it was repaired and being put back together. Hermione had spent the majority of the last month and a half helping with moving piles and fixing the wards around the grounds.

"Oy, Granger!" Hermione turned her head just in time to catch the bottle of water that was being thrown at her. "You really need to learn to take a break. You would think the brightest witch of her age would know she needs to actually drink water and relax once and a while."

Hermione turned to look at the voice talking. Draco Malfoy was sauntering over to her with Theo Nott following close behind. Hermione smiled. Her, Theo and Draco had become close over the last few weeks. In fact, Hermione would actually call them some of her closest friends. She liked this new version of Draco; he was still a right-git, but he had lost his malice after the war. Hermione remembered vividly the moment she had changed her opinion of the Slytherin Prince.

Hermione was out of breath. She had gotten separated from Harry on Ron on the way to the boathouse. She was throwing spells left and right, helping where she could, fighting to get there. To get to Harry. She looked to her right, and she saw Fred and George fighting back-to-back. They were incredible, throwing spells Hermione had not even heard of. As she watched, they got separated and overwhelmed by Death Eaters. Before she could blink, the wall behind Fred had gotten hit by a stray spell and it started to crumble.

"NO!" Hermione screamed and ran towards him.

All of a sudden, Fred flew backwards, away from the falling debris. He landed and hit his head on the floor. Hermione froze. She watched a s George ran over to him. She watched as he leaned over his fallen twin, whispering to him gently. She watched as Fred's eyes slowly fluttered shut. Hermione looked to where the spell had come from and saw Draco Malfoy with his wand still out looking at where Fred had been standing not even a moment before. In his place was a giant piece of the wall. Had Draco not stepped in and cast stupefy, Fred would be under that rubble.

Hermione snapped out of her frozen stupor and ran over to help Fred get George to safety. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief when she saw his chest rising up and down. She reached over and moved his hair out of his eyes. His eyes fluttered open and met hers. He gave her the smallest of smirks and closed his eyes again. Hermione felt hot tears on her cheeks.

While George carried Fred to the Great Hall where the rest of the wounded were being kept, Hermione turned around and saw Draco still standing and staring at where Fred had fallen. Hermione walked over to him. She was vaguely aware of Blaise Zabini and Theo Nott standing nearby, fighting whoever dared get too close. She walked in front of Draco and moved her head until his eyes met hers. Draco looked more scared than Hermione had ever seen him. His normal stony glare had been replaced by true fear- fear that he was about to watch one of his classmates die. At first, she was confused. Draco and his family served the Dark Lord, his house was their headquarters throughout this entire war. Hermione finally looked to the other Slytherins and noticed who they were fighting off.

Death Eaters.

Hermione's eyes widened in shock. She recognized a few of the cloaked figures that they were fighting off. As she watched, she saw a Death Eater turn his attention away from Theo and Blaise and look at Draco. Hermione reacted faster than she had before. She shoved Draco behind her and yelled, "Petrificus Totales!" The Death Eater fell where he stood.

Draco just stared at Hermione, truly shocked by her actions. He hadn't expected her to protect him, not after all he had done. She turned around and met his eyes once again. A silent agreement passed between them: they were on the same side. They were fighting together. Before Draco could process what happened, Hermione had thrown her arms around his neck and was hugging him. Draco had to fight to keep his balance, but he managed and hugged her back. They both weren't quite sure what this all meant, but once she withdrew, she locked eyes with both Blaise and Theo and gave them a huge smile.

"Stay safe," Hermione told all of them.

"Not to put too much pressure on you, Granger, but the faster you lot get this over with, the safer we'd all be," Theo said in his sarcastic tone. Surprisingly, Hermione found herself laughing.

"I'll do my best," Hermione called over her shoulder as she ran for the boathouse. She worried for a quick second that she had just put the lives of all of her friends and family in the wrong hands, but she shook that off when she remembered Draco's eyes.

Hermione knew she made the right decision when she watched the three Slytherins stay on the side of Hogwarts and ignored the demands of Voldemort and their parents.

"Thank you, Draco. Theo." Hermione smiled. She took a few gulps of the cold liquid and realized that maybe Draco was right. Her throat was dry and scratchy, and she realized her legs were quaking, begging for a rest. She would never admit that to Draco, though.

Hermione sat down on a piece of debris and pulled out some sandwiches from her bag. Molly had made sure she packed enough food in Hermione's bag for her, Ginny, Neville, Luna, George, Draco, Theo, and Blaise. It was rather normal for there to be a huge crowd at the Burrow these days. Molly and the rest of the Weasley's had taken in the Slytherin boys as their own after their parents had all been taken to Azkaban for their war crimes. They all stayed at the Burrow the first few weeks after the war, until their houses were deemed safe enough to return to. When Molly first heard what Draco had done for her son, she had pulled him into a hug in front of the entire Great Hall. Hermione would never tell anyone that, although he was embarrassed and tried to keep a straight face, Draco cried in the arms of Molly Weasley. Hermione passed Theo and Draco their food and they all sat around, devouring their food.

"How are the wards coming along?" Hermione asked. She knew that's where the boys have been all day. Both boys were rather talented in broken spells and charms, and Professor McGonagall had asked both boys personally to assist the other professors in repairing the ones around Hogwarts.

"Good. I think they're almost done. Thank Merlin, because if I had to hear Draco complain one more time…" Theo rolled his eyes and Draco punched him lightly on the arm. Theo smirked at him and gave him a playful shove back.

Hermione smiled at the two. To anyone else, they would have seen two best friends joking around. But Hermione saw Draco's ears turn pink and his eyes light up before he would turn away. They have been together for roughly 6 months, according to Theo, and Hermione couldn't be any happier for the two boys.

"Any word from Potter and Weaselbee?" Draco asked. Although he had gained some respect for Harry for saving the wizarding world, he could not get over his silly childhood feud with Ronald. Draco got along with the rest of the Weasley's just fine, especially George.

Hermione shook her head. "I got another owl from Kingsley, letting me know all of our spots are still open at the Ministry if we still wanted them." Hermione rolled her eyes. "I would have thought that he would have gotten the message by now that I am most certainly not interested."

After the end of the battle, Harry and Ron had disappeared. They left a note saying that they felt too much pressure, that they had been put through so much, and wanted to take a break from everything. They left travelling but did not state where or when they would be back. They hadn't even stayed long enough for Fred to wake up from the hospital, and that bothered Hermione the most. His brother- Merlin, their brother- almost died and they had the nerve to leave before checking on his well-being. Hermione had felt that they were being entirely selfish. She had gone through the same hardships as them, if not more so, and she was here to help keep the family and the place she had considered home together. Not to mention that she never got the chance to speak to Ron about the kiss they shared in the Chamber of Secrets. As much as Hermione would have begged for that to happen years ago, she realized that she didn't quite feel that way about him. She loved him as a best friend and a brother, nothing more. And she was starting to feel that he had taken off because he felt the same way, but just didn't know how to tell Hermione.

Ever since their disappearance, Kingsley had been asking Hermione non-stop if she had heard from them. He wanted them to join the Auror training program immediately. He also wanted Hermione to join an internship for the Ministry to become a lawyer. Hermione had politely declined at first and kept Kingsley updated once a week with what she knew. Recently, however, she had been receiving an owl every other day at the Burrow from him. She was starting to lose her patience.

"Send him a strongly worded letter, then he'll be off your back," Draco suggested.

"I am not going to send a strongly worded letter to the Minister of Magic," Hermione stressed, "Besides, he sounds less enthusiastic. He might be giving up soon."

At that moment, Neville, Luna and Ginny came up and joined them. Hermione looked at Ginny and she noticed that her eyes were red and puffy. She had been crying again. Ever since Harry left without a word, Ginny had been devastated. Ginny had admitted to Hermione that she loved him and was hopeful that after the war they could start something genuine. But then Harry just left without even acknowledging Ginny or the fact that they had kissed at the Battle. At home, she would lock herself up in her room that she shared with Hermione and Luna and only come out for meals. She seemed to be getting better, even joining the rest of the group for the last few days in the rebuilding. Hermione gave them all a small smile.

"The dungeons and Gryffindor tower are officially free of debris," Neville sighed. He gave a small smile of thanks to Hermione as she handed him his food. "Once we finish eating, we'll help out here in the courtyard."

"We will, too," Theo chimed in.

"That would be wonderful," Hermione smiled. She looked around her small group: Neville and Ginny having a quiet conversation, Luna eating her food with small bites, Theo and Draco had both stretched out and had their eyes closed. Hermione felt comfortable and at peace. She didn't know if she would be able to move on after the war, if she would ever be happy again. She had felt so much loss, so much heartache. But in this moment, she felt the sun beating down on her and her friends, and she felt happy, truly happy, for the first time in a long time.

"Oy, I do hope you saved some food for little ole' me," a voice called out. The group turned and saw George Weasley walking towards them. He wore a lopsided grin and sat down next to Ginny. She smiled up at him and he swung an arm across her shoulders and pulled her into a side hug. The twins were the only ones who could get her to act somewhat normally these days. Although, Hermione noticed, she had seen her smile with Neville a lot more. She put that thought in the back of her mind to bring up later.

Hermione passed George his food. "Are you going to St. Mungo's after we finish here?"

George nodded his head and finished chewing his food. That was one reason why Hermione liked George, he was much more polite than his brothers, who would talk with their mouths full of food. "I'll just be stopping by to tell him hello and to check on his progress, but then I must be getting back to the shop."

"Will you be going to St. Mungo's, Hermione?" Theo asked. No one else would notice it, but Hermione noticed the subtle glint in his eye and the way he flashed her a smirk before taking another bite of food. Hermione blushed.

"Yes, I was thinking of popping by to say hello," Hermione huffed. She knew Theo was toying with her. He knew that she fancied Fred, as did Draco. Neither of them had told anyone, but they did take great joy in teasing her to no end.

"Great! We can go together." George smirked at her and she blushed harder. Hermione would swear that George knew of her crush even though that was impossible. "Will you come, too, Gin? He would love to see you." George turned to Ginny and gave her a small smile. Ginny thought about it and gave a small nod. "Brilliant! Once we finish here, we can go."

With that plan set, everyone finished eating and began working on the pile. Hermione worked with a new enthusiasm, but she would never admit that it was for Fred.

…

George, Ginny, and Hermione all walked into St. Mungo's and started the trek up the stairs to Fred's room. The first time Hermione visited, she remembered a weight settling on to her shoulders and chest. She felt like she couldn't breathe and like she wasn't really in her body. The first time she saw Fred lying in the hospital bed with a bandage wrapped around his head and not moving, she burst into tears. The healers had told them he was put into a coma so that his body and magic could heal on its own with no interruptions. Hermione sat by his side all day, along with the rest of the Weasley's. Slowly, everyone left, one by one, until it was just Hermione by his side. She couldn't stand the silence, the stillness. This was not what the twins were known for. She wanted everything back to normal; she wanted to see Fred smirk like he did when he just pulled a prank, hear his laugh when Bill or Percy fell into one of his and his brother's traps, or see the way his deep blue eyes sparkled when she finally cracked a smile at one of their pranks or inventions. The quiet was starting to eat away at her, to make her start thinking the worst. So, she did the only thing she could think of doing.

She read to him.

At first, she would read him things like The Daily Prophet or The Quibbler, whatever she could find in the hospital. That started to get rather boring, even for Hermione. So, she started to bring books that she had been reading at home. It started off with wizarding books, old textbooks Hermione used to distract her from her thoughts or nightmares. But one night, she looked at Fred and she could have sworn he looked bored, even though he hadn't moved an inch. With that, Hermione had an idea. She made a trip the next morning to muggle London to go to a book shop. She came back with Matilda and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. She decided to start with Willy Wonka, she thought that he would like that one the most. With a small smile, Hermione started reading. Hermione was just starting to talk about Violet and the magic chewing gum when she heard a voice.

"Bloody hell, this bloke is absolutely brilliant!"

She screamed and turned towards the door, ready to have a go at George for scaring her like that. When she realized no one was there, she slowly turned towards Fred's hospital. Brown eyes locked onto blue, and Fred smirked.

"Hello, 'Mione."

Hermione rushed forward and threw her arms around him and burst into tears. He held her, rubbing small circles on her back, whispering that he was okay. She pulled away and went to go inform the healers he was awake and to send an owl to the rest of the Weasley's. It was only when all of them came tumbling into the room in their sleep clothes that she realized it was well past visiting hours. George, Bill, and Charlie were all smirking at her and she blushed and slipped out of the room before anyone could say anything to her.

That was a week ago. Ever since then, Fred has been in the hospital resting and being monitored for any lasting side effects. So far, everything seems to be normal. He can walk, write, answer questions with his usual gusto. Fred just cannot recall the battle after he was hurt. The last thing he remembers is fighting back-to-back with George. When Charlie went to explain what happened, Fred stopped him. He wants to remember on his own. The healers told him that it could take some time, but Fred was determined that it will be his memory, not just a story, that he recalls.

"Oy, mate, we're here," George called out as he opened the door. Fred glanced up from his book- he finished Willy Wonka with Hermione and was now on Matilda- and grinned. He set down his book and stood up to hug his twin. George smirked when he pulled away, "You're nothing but skin and bones, Freddie. How on earth do you expect to woo the witches with a body like that and a mug like that?"

Fred laughed, "At least I have all of my body parts. Angelina is always nagging about how you can't hear her."

"I just like to take the piss with her. Sometimes, I'll turn my bad ear towards her when she's talking about chores." They all laughed at that.

The next person Fred hugged was Ginny. He gave her a nice, long hug and she buried her face into his chest. "Ginny, I can't breathe," he gasped, and Ginny let go. She was smiling ear-to-ear, something no one had seen in a long while.

"I'm sorry, I just haven't seen you in days, it's felt like ages. You are my favorite brother after all," she said. George gasped and grabbed his heart in mock offense. "One of my favorite brothers," Ginny amended with a smirk.

"Don't mind him, Gin, he's just mad I'm still the favorite after all this time he could have won you over. Plus, I still am the better looking," Fred mock whispered. George stuck his bottom lip out in a pout. Finally, Fred turned to Hermione.

Hermione gave a huge smile and wrapped her arms around his neck, and he buried his head into her hair. She could hear Fred give a sniff and then he pulled away with his nose scrunched up.

"Have you been rolling around in the laundry room with all the dirty socks, 'Mione?"

Hermione gave him a smack on the shoulder and sternly said, "You are a git," and she moved to pull away from him. Fred laughed and pulled her back, and she couldn't help but hug him. She loved his hugs.

After what seemed like ages, she pulled away and got settled into what had been dubbed her seat by the rest of the family. It was situated next to Fred on his right side and his stack of books were right next to her. No one seemed to mind, and when she first tried to give her seat up to George, he had winked at her and told her that it was just something he would have to get used to. Hermione had no idea what he meant by that, she still didn't, but none of the other Weasley's seemed to mind so she left it alone.

The rest of the time was spent telling Fred how the rebuilding was going, how everyone was at the Burrow, and George updating him on the status of the shop. Ginny even told him how the Holyhead Harpies had reached out to her, and that they would love to talk with her more after her final season of Quidditch. Fred was beaming at her.

"Wicked. Way to go, Gin!"

Ginny gave a small smile and looked at Hermione. She gave her a reassuring smile. "I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to go for it. I haven't ridden a broom all summer, and after last year with Snape and the Carrows and there being no quidditch, I wasn't sure…"

Hermione interjected, "But we discussed it and decided that once the rebuilding was finished, you would get back on a broom and practice. Your brothers all said they would be more than happy to play some games, and Draco, Theo and Blaise all want to learn from you anyways. Merlin knows they need it."

The three Weasley's all laughed at that and Ginny reached over to give Hermione a small squeeze. She was grateful for her friends to be there to keep her together. She really was rather excited to get back on a broomstick, she loved the feeling of flying and missed playing with her brothers and friends. Maybe the rest of this summer will give Ginny that push that she needs to move on and get ready for her future.

Shortly after that, George and Ginny had to leave to get back to the shop. They said their goodbyes, and left Hermione alone with Fred.

"Well, I must be leaving as well. I promised Molly that I would he- "

"Thank you," Fred interrupted. Hermione looked up and met his eyes. He seemed genuine, and Hermione knit her eyebrows together.

"What ever for?"

"For taking care of Gin. She must be going mad with Harry leaving and me being here and after everything else she's been through. I haven't been much help, but I know you have. So, thank you." With that, he got up out of bed and gave Hermione a hug. He tucked her head into his chest and rested his chin on top. She wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a small squeeze. She really didn't know what to say. Frederick Gideon Weasley is never one to show his appreciation outright, and Hermione was taken aback by his genuine emotion.

"You best get going, you still smell like rancid socks, and I wouldn't want mother yelling at you for being late," Fred laughed as he pulled away from her. She huffed and tried to swat him, but he dodged her while still laughing. Hermione gave in and laughed with him.

"You, Fred Weasley, just might be the death of me yet."

"Why, Hermione, are you asking me to spend the rest of your life with you? Not a bad thought, being with the brightest and most beautiful witch of her age," Fred smirked as he watched Hermione turned a shade of red he thought was only possible from his family. What an absolutely beautiful sight, Fred thought. He watched as she tucked a stray brown curl behind her ear and Fred had wished she was close enough for him to do it. He watched as her other hand was tugging on the bottom of her t-shirt, that was dirty and stained from all the work she had been up to. Fred knew she didn't see her true beauty, and that brought a small frown to his face as he watched her fuss over his comment. Something about that thought didn't sit right with him.

Hermione's coughing brought him out of his stupor, "Yes, well, I do plan on being part of the family for some time yet." It was Hermione's turn to smirk as Fred turned red and his mouth dropped open at what she couldn't possibly be implying. "Ginny is my best friend after all." With that, they both laughed and said their goodbyes.

Fred watched her leave and promised himself that he would force Hermione to see that she truly was beautiful and amazing. Especially to him. She did save his life, after all.