"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Hermione winced as Fred shut the door behind them.
"You didn't tell them?!" Fred groaned.
"Can we stop shouting?!" Hermione demanded.
"TWELVE HOURS!"
"I'm sorry if I missed dinner-"
"YOU WERE GONE TWELVE FULL HOURS WITHOUT ANY WORD OF WHERE YOU WERE, WHO YOU WERE WITH, OR WHEN YOU WOULD BE BACK! WE HAD HALF A MIND TO CALL THE POLICE YOUNG LADY! ONLY THAT WOULDN'T HAVE DONE ANY GOOD BECAUSE YOU LIVE ON ANOTHER PLANET WHERE IT'S OKAY TO WALK OUT THAT DOOR WITHOUT A PEEP!"
"Jonathan, stop," Hermione's mother grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the hallway so Hermione could get fully into their home. "Fred, it's good to see you."
"She didn't get into any trouble," Fred assured Hermione's parents. Her father began to pace between the kitchen and the living room. "She was supposed to tell you; I invited her to come visit the shop. Angelina - that's George's girl - came to pick her up this morning. Angelina's looking to become an Auror if the whole Quidditch thing doesn't work out, plus she's seventeen, so Hermione was safe as soon as she walked out that door."
"But she wasn't safe inside?" Hermione's mother asked. Hermione looked to Fred nervously. She'd duelled more than one Death Eater that day in the Ministry. She wouldn't be surprised if they held a grudge, especially against a teenager. She didn't like the idea of a Death Eater in her house.
"I've been talking to Remus, he thinks it would be best if the Order put some protection charms around the house," Fred said. Hermione began to pace beside the couch. They'd talked about this at dinner. She'd made him tell her every word he'd spoken to Remus and Moody about joining the Order. They thought he'd be useful because he was smart. She thought he'd be dead because he was prideful. They'd agreed that Remus should come and talk to Hermione's parents for a little bit. There, Hermione would convince Remus to forbid Fred from joining the Order. George was too occupied with Angelina for Hermione to catch him alone, but Hermione would make him understand how things were going to work. Neither one of them was going to join the Order. It was too difficult for the rest to tell them apart; if they let George in, Fred might go in his place on missions.
"What kind of charms?" Hermione's mother asked.
"Well, you won't be able to have house guests for a time," Fred grabbed Hermione's shoulders and steered her onto the couch. He sat down beside her, putting one leg up and turning so he could still see her parents. "Remus has a list, I suspect that he, Moody, and Bill will be by to perform them."
"Moody her old teacher?"
"Our old teacher, yes."
"And Bill is?"
"My older brother. He specializes in charms. Breaking them, mostly, but he's also decent at performing them," Fred shrugged and dragged his finger down Hermione's back. She shuddered and looked back at him. He smiled and returned his gaze to her mother, "Did you have any other questions?"
It was almost terrifying. Hermione stared at Fred the entire time, wondering just how much surprise was on her face. She imagined quite a bit. He gave every last detail that her parents asked for. He explained everything that had happened to her over the year. Everything except what had happened with Sinclair. Even as he breezed over that part Hermione touched her bracelet and was sucked into a better memory. She didn't want to think about it at all. But when her parents asked why Williams and the others had walked her to class he didn't have a choice. And so Hermione relived the Yule Ball, the wondrous expression on his face to see her so dressed up, hair tame, with make-up and magic to force her awkward body into beauty.
Then Fred explained what had happened at the Ministry. And Hermione remembered when Sirius had walked in on her and Fred in Grimmauld Place the summer before. She wished that she had a thousand more beads. She'd learned that she could charm them with a different memory, and so she often did. She should like to be able to go through them more quickly than that though. They could still only hold one memory each.
"His cousin, Lestrange, hit him with a Stunning Spell," Fred said quietly, and Hermione had run out of memories. She rested her head on his shoulder as Fred finished thickly, "He fell into the Veil. It's a sort of one way portal into the next life. He's dead."
Fred wrapped his arm around Hermione's shoulder. Her parents had run out of questions: it was nearly midnight and they must have been just barely awake from horror. Hermione's mother had come to sit beside Hermione and rub her hand up and down Hermione's back. Hermione hadn't said a word since she'd walked into her house. She didn't think she wanted to.
"Hermione," her father knelt on the carpet in front of her and took her hand. He kissed it gently, "I'm sorry, honey. I'm so sorry. I had no idea."
"We love you, Hermione," her mother said, hugging her tightly. Fred pulled away from her and left her alone with her parents. "We love you so much."
~m~
"She wasn't even there," Fred said, drinking the Energy Elixir quickly. His entire body shivered and his eye twitched. "I mean, she was there, but she wasn't there."
"Is that bad?" George asked, frowning at the empty bottle. He didn't think it was safe to drink so much in one dose, but he knew Fred hadn't gotten a wink of sleep.
"No," Fred said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. His voice squeaked slightly as he said, "I mean, I love her, obviously. Some help would've been nice, but, I mean, it's been a rough year for her. I mean, I don't like talking about it. Why would she? I gave her that bracelet so that she could forget the bad stuff, and then I went and spilled it all to her parents. She has a right to be upset with me. I mean, she's not. Do you think she should be? I didn't want to tell her parents about the Sinclair stuff, but, I mean, they asked and I swore to myself that I would answer all their questions, so I couldn't just not answer the biggest one. You know what I mean?"
"Why don't you stay in the back today?" George asked. He could only understand his twin because he'd known him since birth. To anyone else, even Hermione, the only thing they would've caught was the worry in his voice and the 'I mean's. The Energy Elixir's label warned of incomprehensible speech.
"They invited me back to have dinner with them. I don't know if that's good or if Mr. Granger is going to kill me. Did you know his name is Jonathan? I didn't know that. Jonathan Granger. I mean, it sounds good enough."
"Fred, back," George pointed, rubbing his forehead. Listening to him for five more seconds was going to make his head explode.
~m~
Hermione must've nervously checked over her shoulder about a hundred times. She'd straightened the dark green napkins underneath the silverware. She'd twisted the patterned plates until the blue square one each faced the glasses. She'd rotated the glasses of water until she was satisfied that the overhead light cast the blueish shadows in just the right way. While her parents thought she was nervous about having Fred over, she was only avoiding talking to them. The best part of them knowing everything was that they let her stay silent.
The doorbell rang. Hermione abandoned her masterpiece of a table setting and calmly dashed to the door while her mother ran to the kitchen. Hermione's father loitered in the living room. The witch pulled open the door.
"You brought flowers?" Hermione asked with a slow smile.
"For your mum," Fred nodded nervously. "Bill told George to do it when he met Angelina's parents."
"You've already met my parents," Hermione laughed, shaking her head. "Come in, please."
She stepped aside so he could pass her. Hermione scanned the street behind him and shut the door, making sure to lock it. She knew it wouldn't do any good against a Death Eater, but it made her parents feel better. Fred shook her father's hand then gave the flowers to her mother. Hermione stood half in the living room and half in the entryway, the keenest sense of awkwardness she'd ever felt outside Ron and Harry's presence washing over her. She had no idea what came next. And, unfortunately, Fred was with the two people in the world that could make him clam up.
"How are things at the shop?" Hermione's mother asked, pulling a vase out of the cupboard and carefully filling it partially with water. Fred looked around the edge of the dining room's half wall to see her.
"Oh, brilliant," Fred said. He jumped into a long, enthusiastic telling of some customers that seemed strange or odd in one way or another. There was one he suspected to be a Zonko's spy, another he thought might've been from the Ministry. Fred presented Hermione's mother with a scarf that had a Shield Charm on it, then gave her father a hat with the same. "They'll protect you against minor spells, jinxes, and hexes. Some wizards will hurt Muggles for the fun of it, and they won't get punished nearly as much as they would be without bona fide Death Eater running around causing a stir. Besides, if you glare at them and threaten to report them, they might think you're one of us."
"Did you ask your dad if it was okay for you to give Muggles enchanted objects?" Hermione whispered to Fred as her parents admired their gifts.
"Yes," Fred answered too quickly.
"Fred!" Hermione moaned, "You're going to make him arrest you."
"What?" Hermione's mother stopped stroking the silky scarf, "Fred, dear, we don't want to be any trouble."
Hermione gaped at her mother. She'd know Fred all of four hours and she was already 'dear'-ing him. It was absolutely unbelievable.
Maybe it was her mother's clear support of Fred that made the dinner go so smoothly. Fred gave Hermione a look that translated to 'why was I so scared of these people?!' and proceeded to get increasingly confident. By the end of the night Hermione didn't have a single worry about... well, anything. Fred seemed to have tapped into that miraculous part of him that made him impossible to hate.
"You released flamingos-" Hermione's father wheezed from laughter.
"In the toads office, yeah," Fred laughed, "We figured if she liked pink that much..."
"I'd forgotten about that," Hermione giggled, leaning her head against Fred's arm, which was draped casually across her shoulder. "You really made her life hell, huh?"
"I tried," Fred grinned.
"You two, stay like that," Hermione's mother ordered. She pushed out of her seat.
"Mum, no," Hermione groaned, picking her head up.
"Best not to fight it," her father winced sympathetically. "Your mum has always been a bit nutty, 'Mione."
"I heard that, Jonathan!"
"Fight what?" Fred asked, infectious grin as wide as ever.
"I got it," Hermione's mother returned triumphantly to the dining room, brandishing her weapon of choice, "Hermione, smile."
"Mum-"
Fred prodded her in the stomach until she glared at him. He smiled innocently. There was a bright flash accompanied by a click. Hermione's mother ordered, "Now, smile."
Fred tightened his arm around Hermione and she smiled for her mother. She took about fifty photos in the three second span. "Mum, please."
"Oh, all right," her mother set the camera down on the table and began to clear the empty plates. Fred immediately jumped up to help her.
"He's a good kid," Hermione's father said quietly. Hermione nodded and watched him follow her mother into the kitchen. "You have better taste in men than your mum ever did."
"Mum has crazy exes?" Hermione demanded, leaning in closer to him.
"I meant me," Her father said flatly. "But also, yes. Several."
"No way," Hermione grinned.
"Don't tell her I told you that," Her father whispered conspiratorially. Hermione nodded seriously.
"Honey, come help me with the dishes, wouldn't you?" Hermione's mother called. Her father stood and winked at her. Fred returned to the dining room and Hermione stood, taking his hand and pulling him stealthily through the house toward her room.
"Oh, you're trying to get me killed," Fred stopped just outside the bathroom. He planted his feet and Hermione could tug him no more.
"Fred, I'm pretty sure they love you more than I do at this point," Hermione leaned against the wall and pulled on him again. This time he took pleasure in invading her personal space. He looked down at her with narrowed eyes.
"That's only 'cause there's two of them and one of you," Fred murmured. Hermione shrugged. Fred dug something out of his pocket, "And because I haven't given you this yet."
"You can't purchase my love, Frederick Weasley," Hermione said coolly. He raised an eyebrow and held up a charm for her bracelet. This one was purple and in the shape of an X. She took it carefully and Fred stepped back. Hermione turned the charm over in her hand.
"Because you beat it. The curse tried to hurt you and take your memory, so now, here it is, ready for you to put the best moment yet in it," Fred said quietly. He smiled weakly, "Do you think you love me yet?"
"I might," Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and fiddled with his hair.
"Good, because unrequited love isn't really my thing," Fred kissed her lightly, touching her waist. She tried to pull him deeper into the kiss but he refused, "Your parents are right there."
Hermione turned her head slightly, "No, they aren't."
"They may as well be," Fred kissed her cheek, "I have to go home."
"You could always say that you did," Hermione brought her mouth closer to his ear and outlined a dastardly plan. Fred's grin grew slowly.
"You're brilliant," Fred kissed her again, bade her good night a little too loudly for it to have been natural, said a few quick words with her parents and left.
"Night, Mum, Dad!" Hermione called. She was glad they couldn't see her. She was grinning almost as much as Fred.
.o0O0o.
So I was really happy, but then my computer lost internet as I hit submit document so all my original, bubbly responses to my lovely reviewers are gone. I sincerely apologize if the following responses are mediocre.
aimsm: Thank you so much! I hate binging on something until there's nothing left to binge on and then have it not even be finished. FREMIONE IS THE ULTIMATE SHOULD-HAVE-BEEN IF YOU DISAGREE YOU CAN FIGHT ME NERDS! Romione has always felt a little bit forced to me. I solemnly swear that when/if I kill Fred it will be the most excruciating, traumatizing, dear god why, heart wrenching, kill me now, thing that I have ever written. I might cry while writing it if we're being honest. Or maybe... I've already cried. Or maybe I never will. Who knows?
filmdork: LMAO I didn't expect anyone to catch that little cameo ;) Charlie has such good potential. Like, he never settled down and his excuse? Dragons. Imagine him trying to explain that to Mrs. Weasley!
sdrlana21: Thanks! Here is that chapter, as per your request.
Just 1 Thought: Chapter 47 was a 'holy shit I need to upload something' chapter that resulted from panic and wasn't as planned as most things are (not all chapters are created equal). Chapter 48 was me being super excited and then trying some different things and then being like 'yeah I can fucking do this' and then it just *poof* happened. I'm sorry about murdering you, I normally don't do that sort of thing.
I'm a Nerd and Proud: I love it when I'm not dead! *heart* Write the fics! Write all the FanFics! Do it! Yeah, when I get excited I have a tendency to type too fast and then I typo. Sorry.
Infernalbooks: Padre = redeemed! Yay! So this is going to be at least twenty more chapters. I'm trying to stick close to canon with the whole Year 6 thing, and I don't need to detail every single letter that goes between them (we can all assume there are many) and there aren't many Fremione moments. The ones that are there are gold, but they're few and far between.
Raven that flies at night: I ask that question of myself every day...
Guest: I don't even know how to thank you anymore. You're super encouraging all the time - how do you do it?
Fandomqueen104: I doubt Charlie could survive the mating process of a dragon to be honest, like how would that even work? Everyone else but three find out Deathly Hallows, yes.
If anyone ever has any questions, ask; You can review or even just PM if you don't want the world to see the answer to the question. But please don't ask if Fred lives or dies because at this point I'm just going to start quoting politicians as they dodge questions. Save yourself. I don't want to throw Presidential candidates at you but I will.
