With a few well practiced charms Fred let himself into Honeydukes, reset the wards and ran down into the basement. The familiar feel of the one eyed witch passageway beneath his pounding feet helped to calm his fluttering nerves and he arrived beneath the statue's hump thirty minutes ahead of schedule. Initially he thought this time would help him to calm his nerves further but in reality it just made him more and more anxious over whether the recipient of his earlier note would show up. Would she have recognised his handwriting and known it was someone who wasn't trying to lure her into danger? Would Harry or Ron have learnt enough ancient runes from studying beside her to work out the note's content and be asking too many questions? Would she be too busy at her own party to come? Would she rather be snogging some other bloke like McLaggen instead of meeting him here?

Thankfully his mind was finally set at ease when a shaft of light appeared above him followed by the whooshing sound of someone sliding down the statue's hump.

"Hi" he breathed.

"Is everything okay? Your note wasn't very descriptive - one eyed witch, one in morning." Hermione asked, taking his face in her hands and running her eyes over him as though searching for some kind of injury he had wanted her to heal.

"I missed you like crazy but otherwise everything is good. I'm sorry for worrying you, love, my memory of ancient runes is limited even before a few drinks." His smile was reassuring to begin with but quickly turned roguish as his fingertips reached instinctively towards her hips.

"Halloween party?" She asked with a crooked eyebrow.

"Yeah. I hope I didn't stop you enjoying yours…"

"No, McLaggen was getting a bit too handsy so I was already reading in bed when your note arrived." A flame of jealousy flickered deep in Fred's abdomen at her words but he resisted the urge to slam her back into the wall and snog her senseless to claim her as his own. No, she was worth more respect than that.

"May I get a little handsy?" He asked cheekily instead, the smirk dancing on his lips doing a good job at hiding his jealousy and fear of rejection.

With a small giggle that delighted rather than irritated him, Hermione took his rough hands and placed them on the swell at the bottom of her back. His fingers creeped lower to cup her bum and she bit her lip to contain a moan. Fred's lips were on hers in an instant, freeing her bottom lip only to capture it between his own.

Their tongues tangled together and Fred lifted her up to wrap her legs around his waist. Backing her up against the stone wall, Fred rocked his hips against her core. He twitched as he swallowed her moan, her fingers tracing up and down his spine having worked their way up under his t-shirt. The cool metal of the bracelet he had given her sent shivers through his nervous system, not from the temperature but from the realisation that she was still wearing his gift.

The bracelet had been on Hermione's wrist ever since the day Fred had given it to her, she hadn't removed it once, even wearing it to sleep and in the shower. The shield charm it carried had come in handy more than once too, to protect her against the initial attack from Slytherins when Hermione was completing her prefect patrols or had her back turned in a quiet corridor, she was now one of the best duelers in the school and easily out fought anyone who attacked her head on but this gave her an extra edge.

"I missed you Mione." Fred murmured into her riotous curls when they separated for breath, encouraged by the care she had poured into their joined lips "I missed you so, so much."

She held him tight and buried her face in the top of his shoulder. He would be gone again soon and she would once again be alone. She had to remind herself that he was a free man now, he was out in the world with millions of available women who would be far more conventionally beautiful, far more experienced, far more likely to snag his heart than she was. She had missed him too, so much that her heart ached to even walk in certain areas of the castle, but she was doing so well at moving on and she couldn't backslide now.

"Happy Halloween" she whispered in reply.

Neither knew how long they stood there just holding each other and breathing in the one they would miss terribly, but after some time Hermione slid her feet back down to the floor and, with a watery smile, bid him goodbye.

'Enough now. It's time to move on.' She told herself sternly as she trailed the well worn corridors back to her dorm 'Fred will never feel the same, you need to find someone who might.'

"Didn't hear you come in last night." George piped up over breakfast the next morning, Angelina was having a lie in in his bed but the twins would need to open the shop soon.

"You were probably a bit preoccupied." Fred teased, a wide smile showing how pleased he really was for his brother.

"Actually we got a bit preoccupied out here and didn't move in there until about three o'clock." George wiggled his eyebrows suggestively "So who'd you choose to shack up with? Finally let Alicia back in on the action?"

Fred shook his head and cast a silencing charm at George's door, Hermione wouldn't want this information to get out.

"I met her in the one eyed witch tunnel" there was no need to specify who the 'her' was referring to thanks to the soppy expression that had consumed his features.

"Mate. You can't keep punishing yourself like this. Please, please start up something real with her or let her go." George begged, pity dripping from his words and an exhausted sigh escaping his lips.

"What I feel for her is real!" Fred shouted as he snapped at his twin.

"But this relationship is not." George bellowed back. It may have seemed harsh but George loved his brother and needed him to get over this "I know you love her but please just do one or the other before it's too late, you'll never forgive yourself otherwise."

Hermione had made it quite clear that this wasn't a real relationship, that they weren't even exclusive or official in any way, that it was just some incredible snogging when they happened to end up in the same place. Despite this, Fred couldn't face being with another girl no matter who it was or how blatantly they threw themselves at him. He did, however, enjoy their cuddles and, as he watched George and Angelina fall more and more deeply in love, Fred craved physical contact. The comfort he gained from being wrapped in the warm arms of Alicia, or any woman, helped to keep his escalating worries at bay as the evidence of war ramped up and loomed closer to home.

That was why on Christmas eve, after an excruciatingly long shift at the shop, Fred could be found wrapped up in Katie Bell's arms in a booth at the Leaky cauldron. She was home for the holidays and had come along with Angelina who was meeting George for a few drinks before they each travelled to their parents' homes ready for the celebrations the next day. Her fingers played with the hair at the nape of his neck, her other arm wrapped around his waist and her body snuggled into his side. Fred accepted the contact easily but was clearly the passive party in the exchange, with both hands on his glass of firewhiskey. Hermione was the only non-family female he actively initiated contact with.

"Fred, George!" Ron's voice was loud over the Christmas music "I'm sorry to interrupt but I need to talk. Without anyone at home overhearing… Can… Can I come back later?"

The vulnerability in their younger brother's eyes made it clear he was coming to open up about something, with Percy gone and with such a large age gap until Charlie and Bill, the twins were his only confidants, the brothers he went to for real life advice. Despite their usual teasing nature they were the brothers he trusted most when it came to things like this.

"Actually, I need to head off now anyway. We're having a family dinner tonight." Angelina said and pressed a quick but heartfelt kiss to George's lips "Happy Christmas George. Happy Christmas Fred and Ron, it was lovely to see you. Katie I'll apparate you home on the way."

A reluctant Katie untangled herself from Fred's unaffected form and went in for a kiss which landed wetly on his cheek when he turned his head at the last moment.

"Happy Christmas Katie." Fred wished her and the sentiment was echoed by his two brothers before the sulky girl vanished on her friend's arm.

"So what's up?" George asked.

"Is this a Ron or a Ronniekins chat?" Fred clarified, finding out if this was something Ron was okay being teased over or not.

"A 'Ron' chat… and I'll warn you now, that's going to be tough for you two seeing as it involves me being called 'Won-Won'!" Ron groaned and face planted the table.

"Start at the beginning then mate." Fred prompted and slid his own glass over for Ron to take a sip of the emboldening amber liquid.

"Well, there are these two girls I like. One of them is this incredible witch who is the most amazing person I've ever met. She's phenomenal in every way and I can't ever stop thinking about her. She's a great friend too so I know it's something real, something meaningful you know?" A stone dropped heavily inside Fred's stomach and his heart desperately wished this girl was not Hermione, although his brother couldn't stay oblivious to what an amazing woman was in front of him forever. "She's… she's… indescribable."

"And the other one?" George asked once Ron's ramblings had petered out enough for him to take another swing of Fred's whiskey.

George subtly slid his own glass over to his twin. If either of these girls turned out to be Hermione then Fred would need it. They both knew how close Ron and Hermione were as best friends and if it made both Hermione and his younger brother happy, then Fred would never step in the way.

"She snogs really well and her boobs, bloody hell they're great" Ron blushed crimson as he spoke "but she's really clingy and annoying. Plus I've ended up falling out with the first girl because this other one's not the nicest to her…"

"Where does being called Won-Won come into this? Because when this is all sorted out and just a funny story to tell in five years I'm going to need to know the context in order to mock you appropriately."

George's words showed Ron that, even though parts of this were tease worthy, he wouldn't be making fun of his brother just now. That knowledge, coupled with the kind smile very few people ever got the honour of seeing on a Weasley twin's face, gave Ron the confidence that any advice he received would be good advice. It also served to remind Fred that their little brother needed them right now and he had to stop wallowing long enough to be there for him.

"Lavender, the second girl, she's my girlfriend you see and well, she calls me Won-Won. It's rather embarrassing really, but I don't want to give up the good stuff with her and be all lonely. I just, I don't know what to do…"

"If she doesn't make you happy you shouldn't be with her." Fred spoke up, trying to separate himself from the conversation emotionally in order to properly help his brother.

"But she does make me happy, just not all the time. There are these things that she does and they make me very happy if you know what I mean!"

"Yeah, we know what you mean mate." George chuckled "You've just got to think, do you want a girlfriend that's fun for now like this Lavender chick - "

"Or are you ready to start something meaningful with this other girl." said Fred "It would be much harder work and it wouldn't always make you happy but if there's a chance she might be the girl you want to marry someday then all those arguments would be worth it."

"I don't think I'm ready for that just yet." Ron replied quietly, staring into the firewhiskey tumbler. "I think this is her though… The second girl could be the one I end up married to, if she'd have me of course but she's bloody brilliant."

"Just don't wait too long to tell her alright?" Fred nodded in understanding and clapped his brother on the shoulder.

"Yeah, if she's that 'bloody brilliant' there are probably other guys interested too" George added with an unseen glance at his twin.

"There are, she took McLaggen to the Slug club Christmas do." Ron's face became angry as he spoke. "That guy's slimier than the giant squid, I don't know why anyone would want to date him. Plus, she dated Krum last year" Ron really was awful at being subtle "and I know they kissed and did other stuff together and he's even older than you two! I may have got into a pretty bad argument with her over that, especially the age thing, even though I know they're not getting back together but they do still write to each other all the time...and she and I still aren't talking."

"Well they are both rich and fit." Fred huffed, trying to quell his own frustration at the idea of Hermione with McLaggen and recalled the way the muscular lad had looked at her in the shop last summer as though she were something for him to devour.

"If you haven't told her how you feel, Ron, then you have no leg to stand on there I'm afraid." George said, apparently the only rational one left of the three. He was keen to give both of his brothers present some decent advice and get the subject changed quickly before Fred managed to out himself by accident "Remember, even if you and her were together, you would still have no right to dictate or influence who she spends her time with or what she does with them, even if she chooses meathead McLaggen. Who she spends time with and what she chooses to do with them is exactly that, her choice. Now, I reckon it's time that Mum'll be looking for us. Up you get, time to head home for Christmas!"