Hello.
I've written this story a while ago, almost a year ago but I was not sure if I should post it or not but finally I've decided to post it.
It is a Fremione story and it is based on Hermione and how she dealt with the after war, how she ended up choosing Fred instead of Ron.
As as teenager, when I first read the book, I was a huge fan of Harmony, I never liked Romione, until I re read the books, years later, in VO this time, and realized that Harry would have been a good match for Hermione and vice versa except for one thing, unlike Ron, Harry had never seen Hermione as something more than his best friend, a sister... and then something hit me, specially on the fourth and fifth book, Fred and Hermione's interaction. There is no direct interaction between those two until the fourth book, and it goes on and on and that's how I started to ship them.
Then I read that JKR did think about killing Ron and having Hermione and Fred together, truth or hoax, it doesn't matter anymore but eh it would have been a very good match and I have to say that I do believe that it did cross her mind otherwise I really don't understand why suddenly those two started to interact and there was definitely an intent to make them interact and even signs to demonstrate that they did care about each other.
Unfortunately for us, Fremione shipper, JKR had decided to keep Ron and Arthur alive and to stick with her original plan which included Romione and I think that the sixth book confirmed it as suddenly Hermione was in love with Ron. The answer is no, I do not think that Hermione was in love with Ron before but I do think that Ron had always liked Hermione but her, no way. She definitely, from my POV, cared more about Harry than Ron and I still think that she might had feelings for Harry, hum hum the kiss on platform 9 3/4 at the end of the fourth book, the hug at the beg of the fifth, christmas holidays during OtP...
Also, people always wondered why Fred had to die and not another Weasley, well I like to believe that Fred because since Ron was going to live and end up with the girl then JKR had nothing left for Fred. No, I do not believe the theory saying that Fred had to die because the Weasleys could not all make it, first why not!? and then ok, let go one Weasley but choose Percy instead, that would have been tragic for all the Weasleys, maybe even more than Fred's death. Why? Easy, Percy had not been in touch with his family for so long, he was just back to his sense and his death would have let all the Weasleys, specially Molly with regrets and remorse, plus it would have been easy, Fred and Percy were together when it happened.
I think that Harry will always end with Ginny while, in all the parallel universes, Hermione never ends up with Ron. And this is why I've chosen to write my own version of the after war with Hermione and Fred being the good match.
In this story, we will see how Hermione dealt with her feelings for Ron after the war, how she dealt with her action (saving Fred and only Fred), how she slowly realized that she might still had feelings for Fred... and of course, we will see how Fred awoken from his coma, how he forbade himself to let his feelings for the bookworm resurface until he decided to finally accept them and prove to Hermione that they belong together...
I hope you will like it.
...
3rd of May 1998.
When they had left St Mungo it was already dark outside. The wind was cold for a beginning of May but the sky was clear.
Hermione was shivering. She was not sure if it was because of the wind or because of everything else though.
Yes the war was over, yes they had won, yes Voldemort was not gone but dead, finally defeated but at which price.
They had left Hogwarts a couple of hours ago, they had left not a school but something that looked like a graveyard, the amount of dead seemed to never stop its growth.
The tears of joy, from the victory, had vanished away as soon as they had stepped into the Great Hall, when they had started to count the dead and to look for the living. 280 persons had died, 74 had not been found, most of them were Death Eaters that had probably escaped, 87 were seriously injured or in coma like Fred, 13 were going to die before dawn and only 194 had survived, even if they added the 74, who had disappeared, to the list of the living, the amount of dead was still way higher.
...
Pr Flitwick had said earlier that it was time to write a new chapter, to start over but Hermione had no idea how she was supposed to go on with her life after what had just happened.
For the first time since she had gotten her letter, almost eight years ago, she was thinking that perhaps her life would have been easier in the Muggle's world, could be easier because she did not know if she could ever find peace in this world, if Harry could ever forgive himself. She knew him, she knew that her best friend was blaming himself and somehow she knew that she was blaming herself too.
She, never, had a thought about what her life could have been because she had always felt part of the wizarding world and it was definitely not the time to think about any what if. She had made choices and she had always assumed them until now. She was having doubts and Hermione Granger never had doubts before, she was a confident young woman, well at least she used to be...
...
She pressed the pendant, that was hidden under her shirt, against her breast.
She could not stop thinking about what she had done, she could not even explain why she had done it. Nobody would understand her decision. Nobody could find out.
Dumbledore, surprisingly present in his portrait in Pr McGonagall's office, had told her to do not overthink about it, which was easy to say but hard to do since she had failed, Fred was in coma, closer to death than life.
Dumbledore had warned her that sometimes it was not possible to change the past no matter how hard a person tried. When it was written, it was better to accept fate instead of playing with her and to take the risk to disrupt the balance of time.
...
Earlier in Pr McGonagall's office
« Death and fate are complicated ladies Miss Granger, it is better to do not upset them but you have to try, we will know only after you've tried what was really written. » had said the old man in his painting
« But what about the consequences. » had asked a torn Hermione
« They don't have to be negative. Do it, you want to do it otherwise you wouldn't have come here. I've been bothering you long enough, go now and have faith. If you ever feel lost Hermione listen to your heart, take it from an old man you hadn't listened to it enough. » had said Dumbledore with a sincere smile
« Thanks I guess. Goodbye Professor Dumbledore. »
...
Fred could not die, Hermione refused to believe that his death was already written.
He was supposed to be there with them, not fighting for his life in the hospital's bed of the room 502. He could not die, he just could not because if he died, the Weasleys would have lost more than just one son. There was no George without Fred, there was no Fred without George and there was no happy and full Weasley's family without their devilish twins.
He was 20 years old, he was brilliant and his death would affect too many lives, it just could not be true.
But what else could she do, she had used the time turner, she could not take the risk to use it again, she had no other option than waiting patiently to see what was going to happen.
She was following the rest of the group without knowing how she could still walk as even breathing was painful.
The word failed was resonating in her head, it had a double meaning but nobody knew why except her. She could not tell anyone, Dumbledore had made her swear that she would not tell anyone.
...
Still lost in her thoughts Hermione was not paying attention of what Arthur was saying.
She briefly raised her gaze and her eyes met Ron's. She felt a knot in her stomach, Ron, they had kissed, twice, earlier but the meaning of those kisses was now as foggy as everything else. She had not felt what she thought she would. She had feared it for a while now and she did not know how to face Ron, how to explain him. She did not even know if she should, she was lost, really lost.
How were they supposed to go on with their lives, how. It seemed impossible which was odd because Pr Flitwick was right, it was the start of a new Era. Voldemort was dead, it was time to write a new chapter and to make people forget about Voldemort's ideals.
They would have to fight again and Hermione was tired of fighting.
She was eighteen and she had the feeling that she had not done anything with her life except being the undesirable number two, the mudblood, the unbearable know it all. She was an adult who had been robbed of her teenage years, it was impacting her now that the war was over because she was feeling lost and confused instead of happy and relieved.
For many, she had lived more experiences than everyone else but she had the feeling that she had not been living at all with the exception of the Yule Ball and few more moments, most of them weren't even real, they were just dreams. She had been surviving and now she had to learn how to live, just live.
Except Harry, she had the feeling that no one else could understand it, not even Ron. Ron was experimenting other feelings, sadness, powerlessness, death and alleviation.
We aren't on the same page but have we ever. She wondered sadly to herself
Their gaze met, briefly, again. He smiled at her but she could not smile back. She was too confused to give him hopes.
...
I know I've changed the amount of dead, sorry for that and sorry for the mistakes english is not my mother tongue.