Hermione blinked open her eyes. Outside her window, the sky was dark. Clouds, heavy and thick, hung across the deep, dark blue of the sky and stars peeked through. Hermione picked her head up off her pillow and wondered why she had woken up. Then she remembered…Fred. She hastily looked at her watch—11:00. She was barely going to have enough time to get to Hogsmeade. She slid off her bed, careful not to wake Ginny and Lavender, and grabbed his letter, her dark blue cloak, and her wand and slipped out the door. She hurried through the castle, wishing she'd thought ahead enough to get Harry's Map and Invisibility Cloak, towards the one-eyed-witch. As she turned the corner, she heard footsteps. She shrank back into the shadows, breathless, praying she wouldn't be seen.
"…when I walked in she was writing it. I want to know when she got to know my brother this well!" A familiar voice permeated Hermione's ears. His voice stung—she hated disappointing her friend, but something had to be done.
"…this summer. I mean…she wasn't with us the whole time…" Harry was so good to her. He knew where she'd been all summer. One day he caught her when she snuck into to Fred's workshop. They secretly agreed not to tell Ron…Harry had thought she'd stop hanging out with Fred so much, but it just hadn't happened. She was glad he was continuing to keep their secret. She'd have to remember to thank him later. The voices gradually faded away as Ron and Harry walked away. Hermione peeked around the corner and saw the air shimmer slightly. She knew Ron and Harry were wearing the invisibility cloak. They were probably going down to the kitchens for a midnight snack. Hermione waited until their footsteps and voices faded away before stepping out of her hiding place and hurrying towards the statue. Sliding the hump out of the way, she scurried down the opening into the passageway. "Lumos." She whispered in the dark. Suddenly, her wand blazed, bathing all of the old, dirt walls with light. She hurried down the passage towards Hogsmeade, praying to Merlin she wouldn't be late.
An hour later, Hermione slid the slab of concrete covering the passageway over to the side. She hoisted herself out of the hole and hurried through HoneyDukes, which was closed and locked-down tight. She unlocked the front door and let herself through, being careful not to make any noise. She made her way stealthily down the streets of Hogsmeade, which were uncommonly crowded with young lovers having late-night outings. Hermione was sure she saw Oliver Wood with his new girlfriend, and she longed to go up and speak to him; since he'd graduated Hogwarts, everyone missed him. But, she couldn't afford to be seen. Fred was her main concern at this point. She hurried once again towards the Shrieking Shack and let herself in a back door.
"Fred—?" She called. She heard a noise upstairs, and followed the sound. "FRED—?" She called again.
"Hermione?" He emerged from
a door at the top of the stairs and Hermione breathed a sigh of
relief.
"Fred!" She ran the rest of the way upstairs and
lunged at him. She threw her arms around his waist and held on tight,
burying her face in his chest. He laughed at her eagerness, but
carefully pushed her away, holding her at arms length.
"Hermione, what is it? Why did you want me to meet you at midnight? In the Shrieking Shack? If you wanted to see me, all you had to do was come to the Burrow for the weekend. Did you really miss me that much?" He laughed.
"MmHmm…" She mumbled into his shirt. He laughed again, then waited as she sobered and looked up at him. "Actually, it's Ron—" Fred's smile faded rapidly as he took her hand and led her into the room above the stairs. It was the bedroom where she had first met Sirius. She shuddered at the memories. His death had affected her particularly. He'd been so….but she couldn't go into that now. She turned towards Fred, who leaned on a dust covered piano.
"Fred—Ron found the letter I was writing in response to the one you sent me. He thinks we're going to get married. He thinks—I don't know…he's…"
"Let me guess…" Fred said, taking her by the elbow and leading her over to the piano bench, which was equally covered in dust, and pulling her down on the seat next to him. "He went ballistic. He took your letter and showed it to Harry. He accused you of using him." Hermione stared at him, openmouthed.
"How did you—"
"Harry wrote me. He wanted to warn me in case Ron went wild. He seems pretty upset." They were quiet for a moment. Hermione didn't want to talk about Ron anymore at that point…he was only upsetting her, and here she was, sitting with Fred….a very good friend….and she wanted to know how he'd been.
"Did you—Have you figured out a way to get around the Contracts?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Actually…I think I might. I meant to write you about it, but then I got your note and I figured I'd just tell you tonight." He fiddled around with his school ring, which he wore proudly on his third finger on his right hand. Even though he hadn't graduated from Hogwarts, Dumbledore had sent the two infamous pranksters their rings. Hermione took her hand and laid it over his fiddling fingers and looked at him.
"How Fred?" She muttered.
"I need to get married." Hermione stared at him, her eyes wide, her eyebrows arched in a shocked surprise.
"M-Married?" She asked.
"Yes…and actually…I think I know a way to solve both our problems." He said. He stood and paced around the room, leaving Hermione sitting on the bench, staring after him.
"Fred…how…?" The minute he turned around, she knew what he was going to ask. She knew the minute she met his eyes. She blushed profusely as he dropped to his knees in front of her, and pulled a small silver ring out of his back pocket.
"'Mione…how about marrying me?"
