"Are you cold?" Fred asked as he led Hermione to a bench on the edge of the courtyard, by the castle wall.

"A little," She hugged her arms to her and sat on the bench, which was solid stone and freezing to boot. Fred took off his cloak and wrapped it around Hermione's shoulders. "Here…"

"Thank you."

"No problem." Hermione scooted closer to him on the bench. Fred leaned back against the wall and let Hermione huddle close to him. A shiver went up Hermione's spine as he wrapped his arms around her. She felt a warm blush creep up onto her face. She let a short giggle escape from her lips.

"What?" Fred asked, looking down at her.

"Nothing," Hermione said, tilting her head back on his chest so she could see his face. He smiled down at her.

"You're sure?"

"Yep," About fifteen minutes passed before Fred whispered in her ear.

"You comfortable?"

"Oh yes…"

"Okay…" Fred hesitated for a moment before slipping his hands behind her and putting them on either side of her waist. He squeezed. She squealed as he tickled her.

"Fred stop! Fred! Fred STOP!" She yelled between giggles. Finally he let go and she laughed even harder. "Fred," She laughed again and kissed him. "C'mon, let's go inside and dance. I'm so cold even you couldn't warm me up." She took his hand and led him inside. She hesitated by the dance floor, wanting to dance, but afraid Fred wouldn't want to.

"You wanted to dance?" Fred asked. Hermione shrugged and looked away. He laughed and pulled her out onto the floor anyway. Just as they got into the middle of the crowd, a slow song came on. Hermione wrapped her arms around Fred's neck and he pulled her close.

"This is great."


Four hours and four glasses of punch later, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, Harry, Ron, and Lavender headed up the stairs. For the most part, Ron had avoided Hermione, and had spent a surprising amount of time with Lavender. He even appeared to be having a good time with her. Ginny came up to Hermione later and told her that Ron had even pulled Lavender off to the side and kissed her—only on the cheek, but it was a kiss just the same. Hermione was happy for him. She knew he and Lavender would end up together somehow. Maybe now Ron would leave her and Fred alone, although she doubted it. Fred pulled Hermione away from the group just as she was about to climb through the portrait hole.

"What is it?" She asked, yawning. It was already 1:30am and Hermione was tired.

"Not really anything…I just…I just don't want tonight to end." He led her to the head of the stairs that sat in front of Gryffindor tower. She sat down next to him and let him put his arm around her.

"Fred…don't worry. There can be plenty more nights like this." She brushed a piece of hair that had fallen in his face away and tucked it behind his ear. She leaned up and kissed him on the forehead. "This has been an amazing two weeks Fred." She put her arms around his waist and leaned into his chest. They sat that way for awhile, and a few minutes later, Fred looked down and saw Hermione had fallen asleep. He carried her into the common room and woke her up at the bottom of the girls' stairs so she could go to bed.

"Goodnight," He whispered.

"Goodnight." Hermione yawned and smiled at him sleepily.

"I love you Hermione." Hermione walked down two steps and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"I love you too Fred."


That night, George snuck up the boys' stairs and whispered the spell to unlock the 7th years' dorm room. He looked around and saw Fred sleeping in a bed close to the door. He tiptoed over and was about to lean over and tap him when Fred rolled over and looked up at him, obviously awake. George beckoned for Fred to come downstairs, and held a finger to his lips, signaling him to be quiet. Fred nodded and George disappeared down the stairs. Fred followed a moment after.

"What's going on?" Fred said, knowing and dreading the answer.

"It's time to go. Dumbledore just told me. He's already packed our things. I left a note for Katie…I don't know if you want to do the same for Hermione…" George faded off and Fred recognized his pained expression at leaving Katie behind. He felt just as horrible as Fred did.

"Okay…I'll meet you by Dumbledore's office in twenty minutes." George nodded and ran out of the common room. Fred took a deep breath and ran upstairs to get dressed. He grabbed a piece of parchment and a pen from his bedside table and scribbled a long but quick note to Hermione. He folded it up, wrote her name on the front, and took it down to the common room. He left it lying on the couch, hoping she'd find it, then disappeared into the hallway to meet George.