Hermione had to chase Ron up the stairs after Mrs. Weasley said the magic word, Harry. With no respect for the sleeping - well, he wasn't quite a man, but he was hardly a boy... Either way, Ron awoke him rather rudely.

"Ron, don't hit him!" Hermione scolded. Now Ron, Ron was a boy. There was no question about it. The groggy look on Harry's face hardly faded at all, even once he'd stopped squinting and found his glasses. She hadn't dared to ask about Sirius in any of her letters, for fear of him pretending to have never gotten them. He didn't look too bad, and he definitely still looked like Harry. Dark messy hair, bright green eyes, with the exhaustion and slight bewilderment of any teenager. But there was a more grim set to his mouth than usual, the clenching of his jaw made Hermione's thoughts trail off briefly to another stubborn male.

Hermione knew this was the twin's room. She hadn't been in it very often. It was all she could do to not systematically search each and every box.

The room was full of them. Hermione assumed they were products, a back up set or something experimental. Otherwise they would've been kept at the store.

Fred had been more secretive than usual about his products. He hadn't asked for help and hadn't given anything away. She got the feeling that he was making something special, something for her. It was a little ridiculous, because Fred knew that to run his business successfully, he couldn't make things that appealed to just one person. But that only meant that it wasn't fulfillment of some inside joke.

Ron mentioned Dumbledore, and Hermione had to give him her best, if not quite discreet, warning glare before he made Harry feel bad. It didn't work at all. She watched Harry for any sign of suspicion, but there was only a faint smile. He clearly knew Ron had been lying to him. And with Ron bringing up Umbridge, she was slightly concerned that Harry's mind would play through everything else that had happened at the end of the term.

"Something wrong, Hermione?"

Hermione jumped slightly and tried for a smile. Harry could be observant only when it would irritate her, the ungrateful sod. She made an unconvincing denial and asked, "So, um, did Slughorn seem like he'll be a good teacher?"

Harry clearly didn't know how to answer this question and shrugged. Ginny slunk into the room after a moment. Naturally is was something that Phlegm had done. Phlegm was a nickname for Fleur and a rather clever one at that. It was nearly a code word. All Hermione had to do was cough the right way and Ginny would know that the dainty woman was nearby. She made very difficult to tell that she was actually a superb witch. Apparently Bill had been helping her with her dueling, and Hermione often wondered how much of that was a cover for... other things.

Hermione slowly began to wander the room as they continued to talk. She wasn't snooping so much as she was investigating. It was plain curiosity that led her to that blasted telescope.

Harry had just... what did it mean, neither could live while the other survived? The difference was somehow key, it had to be. Live against survive. She couldn't imagine You-Know-Who having much of a life, but Harry might. She gripped the telescope a little tighter out of nerves. She had to comfort him somehow, but she didn't quite know what to say.

It scared her more than it hurt her. It made a loud sound, there was a flash and then everything went black. Something hit her eye, not very hard, but enough that it hurt a little.

"Hermione!" There was a loud clatter that she assumed was Harry's breakfast hitting the floor. One fist still clutched the telescope as she tried to fan the smoke out of her face.

"I squeezed it and it — it punched me!" Hermione said, still trying to catch her breath unsuccessfully. Harry looked relieved, whether from seeing her all right or from the change of subject she didn't know. Ron looked ready to giggle. Something must've happened then. It must've left a mark. If Ron was amused, it couldn't have been anything that would give away Fred and Hermione's relationship.

Ooooooh, she was going to kill that man.

~m~

It was better going to the shop with Ron and Harry. She tried not to skip as Mrs. Weasley hustled them down the street. Hermione was going to see Fred, she could feel it to her core. She could've sung.

The shop was decently busy. She'd seen it so packed that it became almost impossible to even move, but the boys seemed amazed by all the people, so she had to feign surprise as well. She went to examining the shelves for new products. She could still see a part of her swollen eyelid. She couldn't wait to give whichever one of them who'd come up with the idea a shiner of their own.

Her eyes caught on a display she hadn't ever seen before, and she made a beeline for it. If there were this many people crowded around, it had to be something new and more intricate than the self-explanatory Skiving Snackboxes. The boys trailed behind her as she picked up the box.

"Patented Daydream Charms," Hermione murmured. When had they had the time to get a patent?! How long had Fred been keeping this from her?! The art work on the packaging was decent too. It showed off a pirate and a swooning woman. As Hermione watched, the woman stole the man's sword and put it to his throat. Had they hired an artist? Or charmed a photo they'd stolen? She read the description of the product, not realizing she was doing so aloud until she noticed that Harry was listening. "You know, that really is extraordinary magic!"

"For that, Hermione, you can have one for free," she turned, her wonder and anger almost perfectly balanced. Her eyes caught on his brilliantly magenta robes. She immediately wanted to burn them. It was the only way to make them less bright. And at that moment, she didn't care whether or not he was in them. There was fear in his eyes, and for good reason, though probably the wrong one. He reached out to Harry, "How are you, Harry? And what's happened to your eye, Hermione?"

His dark voice made it clear that he had no idea he was to blame for her injury. She scowled, "Your punching telescope."

"Oh, blimey," Fred grew pale steadily. "I forgot about those. I-I've got something in the back that will make it go away."

"You had better," Hermione said lowly, following him away from the boys.

"Verity!" Fred called as he passed a woman in near identical magenta robes, "Tell George that lightning has struck the Daydreamers!"

"Yes, Mr. Weasley!"

"You finally hired someone," Hermione said, setting her jaw.

"I couldn't send you a letter," Fred said under his breath. Hermione nearly missed the words with all the clamor. Fred opened the door to the store room and gestured for Hermione to enter. They'd had to charm it three times bigger than it normally would be. Otherwise they'd run out of product every four hours. Fred shut and waved his wand at the door. Hermione recognized the incantation vaguely.

"You did a Revolving Door Charm?" she asked, a little too angry to be truly impressed.

"Nah, we had Bill do it," Fred smiled, "Didn't want to mess it up. Depending on the incantation, this is either the store room, the laboratory, the offices, or... a safe room, for if Death Eaters decide to have a little visit."

"Can you get this bloody bruise off already?!" Hermione demanded.

"Oh, right," Fred dug into his pockets, removing a tub. He unscrewed it hastily, revealing a pleasant smelling yellow paste. Fred scooped some onto his index finger gingerly, set the tub to levitate beside him, and touched Hermione's face with his other hand. "Hold still, love."

Hermione wasn't sure if she was supposed to close her eyes or not. She watched Fred as he tilted her head this way and that, biting his lip. No matter how close he came to touching her eye, the thick paste never reached anywhere but skin. Fred finally stopped, pulling the tub out of the air and replacing the cap. He shoved it back into his pocket.

"So, why couldn't you write me?" Hermione asked. Fred still looked mostly at her one bruised eye.

"The Ministry is searching the owls that go to the Burrow. The last thing we need is a Ministry worker getting curious and storming off to find Dad," Fred murmured, touching her cheek. "I missed you so much. George figured there was some way to bring happy memories forward, like I did with your bracelet. But I didn't really want that, I wanted new time with you."

"So you made the Daydream Charms," Hermione smiled. "I missed you too."

Fred kissed her lightly, "You can take as many as you want for the school year. So long as you're thinking about me."

"I can assure you; I will be," Hermione curled into his chest. He held her calmly, kissing the top of her head every now and then.

"You don't have time to-"

"I really don't," Hermione sighed.

"It'd be nice to say goodbye properly," Fred said.

"It isn't goodbye," Hermione frowned and looked up at him. "You're a part of the Order. The Order is monitoring the secret passageways. But how's a student to know that? Why wouldn't they try to escape to the Honeyduke's Cellar?"

"You are a certified genius," Fred beamed, kissing her. "I'm still sneaking into the Burrow tonight."

"Of course you are," Hermione smiled wider.

~m~

Hermione was introduced to Harry's Draco-is-a-Death-Eater theory on their way back from Diagon Alley. It made no more sense to her than it did to Ron. She half expected the tale to end in Harry and Ron trying to duel Draco for what he'd said at Madam Malkin's, but luckily they just followed him around. While Borgan and Burkes was hardly a reputable store, Hermione sincerely doubted Draco had gotten anything of serious Dark Magic origins. After all, she knew of the increased security faced by anyone trying to bring a Dark object into Hogwarts.

Harry was stubborn as always, though, and could not be convinced that he was being paranoid. Every time something happened, it was either Draco or Snape, or at least in Harry's mind.

Knowing that Fred was planning on visiting her that night gave Hermione the chance to prepare something Ginny had cooked up. They'd managed to sneak away from the watchful eye of Mrs. Weasley into a store that made Hermione blush, and she really, truly resented the amount of things she'd tried on.

Although she didn't mind the things she'd bought.

She was reading in bed, running her tongue over freshly cleaned teeth. Being the daughter of dentists, she appreciated the feeling. Her book was still clean and slightly stiff. The spells in it were nothing special, and she expected Charms to be reasonably rigorous. It would be hard to tell, she didn't know how difficult the N.E.W.T.s would be.

There wasn't a knock in the door. He was silent as a butterfly, opening and shutting the door without much more than a whisper of his feet on the floorboards.

Hermione kept reading, pretending not to have heard him. He ghosted across the room to the foot of her bed. She made her face stubbornly still, reading without reading, making sure her eyes were still moving.

"Are you wearing a shirt?" Fred was not fooled for a moment.

"Not exactly," Hermione murmured, turning a page.

"Use a Daydream Charm yet?" Fred asked. Hermione pretended to not notice the way he was pulling the sheets ever so slightly away from her.

"I'm saving them," Hermione answered, turning the book to view one of the illustrations better. He'd given her a stack of them, which she'd immediately hidden in the bottom of her trunk beneath a large supply of wool for knitting.

"Shall I turn off the lights?"

"I'm reading."

"You're pretending to read, there is a difference, love," Fred gave up on his sheet tugging and settled on the bed beside her feet. A wave of his wand left them in moonlight alone. "Are- Are you ready? For your sixth year, I mean."

Hermione looked up, "I always read my textbooks before the term starts, worried or no."

"So you are worried," Fred said softly. Hermione didn't deny it. "You shouldn't be. Anita and Tess, and Jacob's friend Albert-"

"I'm not worried about getting hurt. I'm a better dueler now," Hermione said, closing the book (but searing page 72 into her memory). Fred pulled his feet up so his legs rested over hers. She continued, "I'm more worried about other Muggleborns, the first and second years, the ones who don't remember when Hogwarts was – well – happy. I don't want them to be afraid."

"What did I do to deserve you?" Fred murmured, looking at Hermione with a pained look in his eyes. "How do you care so much about people that you don't even know? That you've never even met?"

"Your family protects each other, Fred. It's always been that way. I don't have siblings, or cousins really," Hermione stared at her knees. "I've always had to fight for myself. I should've liked someone to- to fight some of the battles I couldn't even understand then."

"Didn't you have any friends when you were young?" Fred asked.

"One. Emelina, a Muggle I went to school with before Hogwarts," Hermione hadn't given the girl a thought in years. She'd moved off Hermione's street after the witch's second year at Hogwarts.

"You only had your parents?"

"And my grandparents. They live pretty close to Godric's Hollow, actually," Hermione smiled. "They still smuggle me sweets sometimes. They're my dad's parents. My mum's are – were – in France. It's why we visit so much."

"They..."

"Died, yes," Hermione shrugged her shoulders, "I don't remember them. Mum wasn't real close with her dad."

"I never knew," Fred said.

"You're now one of four people who do," Hermione offered him a small smile.

"Why-" Fred pushed himself closer to her, sitting nearer to her thighs. He rested a hand on her legs as he tried to find space for his legs. Once he was comfortable, he lowered his voice, "What did you see in me?"

"I saw kindness," Hermione whispered, touching his hand gently. He laced his fingers with hers. "Kindness that you never seem to let anyone else see. I don't think you see it. You see your anger, which is most often caused by your desire to protect, your sense of justice that is so clear. You see your teasing, which is so often a respite from the troubles of the world for those who appreciate it. I am no kinder than you, and you have been blessed with an extreme amount of charisma that-"

He kissed her, so swiftly but softly that she couldn't help the low breath that tore a small sound from her. He touched her face, brushing his thumb across and underneath her cheekbones. "What am I going to do without you?"

"I have no idea," Hermione murmured, resting her forehead on his. "I'm going to study like mad, I know that. You won't be able to distract me."

"You're making it very difficult to get you thrown out of Hogwarts," Fred kissed her again. She tried to memorize every second of it, every touch, every sigh, every smell.

"Is that why you want me to sneak down the school passage ways?" Hermione shifted, pulling the sheets down as she did, to wrap her thin arms around his neck.

"That was completely your idea, love," Fred reminded her, yanking at the covers and throwing them over her head to the floor. His eyes grew wide at her attire. Or perhaps her lack of it.

Trust me, I know Fred. He might never let you out of his sight again.

"You talked to my sister," he growled, low in his throat. It was the most pleased thing ever to be growled. He moved backward, pulling at his shirt hastily. Hermione remained still, filling her lungs as Fred tore off his belt. It crashed into the wall with a noticeable sound.

"I might've," Hermione bit her lip and propped herself up, both hands pushing down the mattress behind her. Fred's eyes raked over her body in the predatory manner they had the night Bill had tried to catch him.

Ginny had demanded midnight blue. She wouldn't tell Hermione what Fred had said that made her insist, but Hermione hadn't argued.

Wizarding lingerie wasn't nearly as substantial as Muggle lace. It was more like ribbons, three-dimensional tattoos that covered her breasts and nether regions in loops, whorls, swirls, curls, and arcs. She'd been extremely hesitant.

The look on Fred's face removed every scrap of that.

"What did you buy in Madam Scarlett's, 'Mione?" Fred asked lowly, dropping his briefs to the ground.

"You tell me," Hermione said, smirking at his slightly hooded eyes.

He crawled over her, letting her fall back to the bed as he braced himself on his elbows. He kissed her for too short of a time. "You're the most beautiful being to have ever walked the earth."

"You should never have given me access to your bank account," Hermione teased, kissing his chin. "Beauty is expensive."

"I'd happily go broke, so long as you look like that every once in a while," Fred kissed her again, this time for so long, the world could have ended, Voldemort could have strode through the door, and she would have neither noticed nor cared.

He kissed every inch of her, lingering in some areas longer than others. The lingerie began to glow, as it had been enchanted to do, until Fred peeled it off with his teeth and it joined his clothes on the floor.

~m~

"Hermione!" The banging on the door nearly made Fred groan. Then he realized that would put him and Hermione in a more than awkward situation. "Come on, get up, we have to go!"

Fred tried to disentangle himself from Hermione, but last night he'd lost all sense of which parts were his and which were hers, and he still couldn't quite separate himself from her. He wasn't ready to; he didn't want to.

Hermione hummed as he kissed her shoulder, "Ron thinks he needs you."

"I don't suppose you'll go tell him off," Hermione sighed.

"I can, if you want him to find you with your cute little ass out there for all the world to see," Fred kissed the meeting of her ear and her neck and pushed her slightly.

"Hermione, I'm-"

"I'm changing!" Hermione shouted at her pillows. Fred chuckled quietly.

"You'd better hurry up!"

Hermione groaned, "How are we going to get you out of here?"

"I have no idea," Fred realized. They probably should have tried to formulate a plan for that before they'd fallen asleep with tangled limbs.

"Get off of me," Hermione sighed.

"I would, but you're on top of me," Fred pointed out. There was no picking up his arm with Hermione's head rested on it.

"Hermione!"

"Go away, Ron!"

"Are you all right?!"

"I'm having womanly problems!" Hermione cried eventually.

"We-Well, hurry!" Ron spluttered. He stomped down the stairs a moment later.

Hermione managed to disentangle herself without falling onto the floor. Fred watched her dance around trying to find clothes. She looked back over her shoulder at him, holding up her bra. "Care to help?"

"Put clothes on you?" Fred rolled onto his back, "It's against my philosophy."

"I didn't know you had one of those," Hermione said lightly, pulling on her knickers. Fred rested his hands beneath his head and looked to the ceiling. He didn't need that image swimming around in his head until the end of all time. Especially if he was going to be seeing her even less than he had been.

"I don't want you to go," Fred told the ceiling. He turned her head and watched her pull on a blouse. She buttoned it watching him, but she missed one. Fred sighed, not bothering to correct her.

"I have to finish school," Hermione said. "You could always come with me."

"I have to get to the shop," Fred pushed himself up. Hermione glanced down at her feet and fixed the missed button. "I'm sorry that I screwed up-"

"You didn't," Hermione said immediately, ignoring her skirt and sitting down beside him. She touched his face, "It isn't your fault. If I had been born half a month-"

"You'd still have a year left," Fred sighed. "But I like them young."

"And I love them old," Hermione kissed him gently.

"Hermione!"

Fred growled, "I'm going to kill him."

"He's your brother," Hermione reminded him, hurrying to find her skirt. She seemed to be saying that a lot, as if it was somehow his fault, or Bill's.

"Your best friend," Fred grumbled.

"You'd better hide for a moment."

Fred groaned and collected his clothes, pulling on his pants and rolling under the bed.

"And you have the gall to call me bossy," Hermione said as she pulled open the door.

"You don't usually sleep in so late."

"Rest is essential," Hermione said a little stiffly. "Help me with my trunk."

"See? Bossy."

Fred banged his head on the bed for a full minute once they were gone.

Why was his brother trying to flirt with his girlfriend?

.o0O0o.

Has it been a while or what?! N-No don't throw things! I swear I'll never do it again. I mean, I planned to update... And then school, and snow... and more school. I've typed nearly two-hundred pages of words since we last saw each other. Most of that was probably for my lit class. And NaNo (which I completely). Ummm, I learned that I breathe with my hip muscles (real long story that is very complicated). I read Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Mist and Fury, which is even better than A Court of Thorns and Roses in my humble opinion. I saw Moana, cried, foamed at the mouth, cried some more. Rewatched the first season of Young Justice. You think I procrastinated? Hell, yes, I did.

Guest: 20 days later is not a 'soon' update... Sorry, but thanks!

cochran4444: I will explain George next chapter. I don't get how you can be mad at me for following cannon! Jo wrote it, not me! Dude, Bill sees things that others are *clearly* oblivious to. He doesn't need to know because he gets with Lavender. Is good.

Guest: I really hate WIP as well, but you can't just upload a hundred chapters in one night. It doesn't work like that. I'll try to get things back on a weekly or bi-weekly schedule.

AryiaChan: It was quite the place to leave the chapter. I waiting on the real good stuff until year 7 because why not?

AnotherAddicted: You are very welcome and thank you so much!

I was BOTWP: He isn't the last to know though. Molly is. Except, she isn't. So, yeah, Ron is the last to know. I already have the scene nice and written about five different ways with varying levels of what the fuck. I'm going back around to Remus and George next chapter.

animelover5107: Thank you!

Infernalbooks: Remus always knows what's up, let's be real.

filmdork: Lmao, of course he's a dumb man, there isn't any other type. Clueing for looks sounds like something a drunk Sherlock Holmes would say, but I'm not entirely sure about the reference.

sdrlana21: You might have to wait. It is quite a few chapters away.

GUYS SOMEONE SAID FANTASTIC IN A REVIEW AND I REALIZED THAT WE ALL GOT TO SEE NEWT SCAMANDER IN THE FLESH AND HE WAS AND FOREVER WILL BE THE CUTEST AND MOST LOVEABLE HUMAN BEING TO BE SEEN EVER, IN ALL TIME.

TaylorNReed: This is definitely the Remus-doesn't-think-he's-good-enough-for-Tonks-and-can't-stand-to-lose-anyone-else phase of his life. Which is sad, because he dies first and then Tonks is like AAAAAAHHHHHHHH NOOOOO. I feel like Hermione is secretly the most ironic and sarcastic person ever, because the more intelligent you are, the more likely you are to be able to word things in such a way that can mean something entirely different than what it actually does.

aimsm: Not going to lie, I sometimes have to go back and read the previous chapter so I know what I've done and what I haven't. So the Ron thing is going to coincide with the Lavender thing and also a McLaggen thing.

Guest: It's cute that you would think my life could ever get less busy with what I put myself through. Thanks, Bill is a tricky guy to get right.

I'm a Nerd and Proud: Stony huh? How was Civil War for you? Solidarity is a thing, stress, also a thing.

marvin1984: You'll know when something is wrong when I just decided to KILL THEM ALL. *maniacal laughter as I realize you guys might take me seriously. As you should. FEAR MEEEEEE*

Newsie35: I also forget about this story and then in punches me in the face. Generally when I'm about to go to sleep and I realize I didn't update in the months of October or November.

PSA: DON'T BINGE THIS 'CAUSE- Oh, it's chapter 54? Too late, oh well.