Disclaimers: I really own nothing. The credit belongs to JKR and Christina Dodd. I just like to mix and match. I am just continuing this story, because I am motivated by my reviewers.

Title: Deception

Author: SoniJanu54

Previously in Chapter 4:

"Fine." Hermione moved closer to him, and tilted her face, but stubbornly kept her lips firmly closed. He knew just how to soften an unwilling woman. He kissed her again and again. Little pecks. On the corner of her mouth, the tip of her cute nose, her eye brows, and then finally her lips. Ah! The feel of her soft lips on his was pure heavenly. He kissed her mouth with little brushes again and again, until she gave in and parted her lips slightly. He took full advantage of it and drover his tongue into her moth very gently. He kept moving his tongue in and out for a few moments. He wanted to laugh when his body- weak, wounded, and aching- stirred to life. He pulled out of her mouth and ended the kiss with a small peck. He smoothed her hair, and looked at her until she opened her eyes. He wanted to kiss her again, but he weakly said, "Darling, we have company." Dumbledore stood in the doorway.

End of Chapter 4.


Chapter 5: Filling him in.

Hermione was shocked. Of all the things she had expected would happen when Fred woke up, this was the last thing she had imagined. He couldn't remember a damn thing about himself. It was exhausting. She couldn't deal with this. She had played enough of Fred's games while they were together. Right now, he was nothing more than a patient. But she knew that she couldn't lie to herself about not caring about him after the way he had kissed her. When they were married, there was no gentleness, no hugs or kisses, no comforting touches. Fred had only cared about satisfying his needs. But this kiss had held so much passion. It was very unlike Fred she used to know. Her body's reaction was very confusing as well. She had felt things in a kiss that she even know existed. Hermione was so busy in her thoughts, that she didn't even blush when she saw Dumbledore in the doorway,

"Oh, I am sorry, Headmaster, I didn't see you there." Hermione said. Dumbledore entered the room followed by Professor Snape, Remus Lupin and Hickey, who was carrying a tray.

"It should be I who should be apologizing for interrupting the long awaited reunion." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled merrily. There was some hope for the man on the bed after all.

"Weasley, you had us worried." Lupin said.

"I could imagine." Fred did not sound at all grateful to have these three important men leave their work to talk to him. Instead, he watched all of them coolly and carefully.

Weasley had his nerve, but Hermione already knew that.

"It's about time you woke up." Lupin continued, trying to ignore the icy tone from Fred. Fred didn't say anything to that.

"How do you feel?" Dumbledore asked.

"As if I've been beaten and starved." Fred looked at Hickey and asked. "Is there any food?"

"Aye, sir, there is some broth." Hickey replied.

"I don't want any more broth. I already had some. Can I have some real food?"

"Miss Hermione has the final say in that sir." Hickey replied, not at all intimidated by Fred's tactics.

"You can only have some broth tomorrow. If you can manage to keep it down, then you can have some food tomorrow."

"But I have a taste for peaches." Fred whined, ignoring the other men in the room.

"Tomorrow." Hermione promised. She couldn't look at him. Wouldn't look at him. He looked so smug, so self-satisfied. It was distracting. Where had he learned to kiss like that? And with whom? Was she jealous of some faceless woman now after she had prayed to god that Fred would be as far away as possible for seven years? No, all she would have to do is act professional, like a nurse that she was,

"Can I have some water then?" Fred asked. Hermione poured a glass of water and moved to the bed. She took Fred's head in her arms and slowly fed him water. The men watched as one of them was fed like a baby.

"Now lass are you going to burp me?" Fred asked cheekily, lessening the tension. The men laughed. The woman and the elf exchanged look that clearly said. 'Men.'

"Now that you are comfortable, let's discuss your condition. I am Albus Dumbledore. This is Remus Lupin," Dumbledore pointed to Lupin who moved closer to the bed, "and the man who is sulking in the corner is Professor Severus Snape." Fred nodded as the introductions were made.

"Hickey tells me that you cannot seem to remember anything. 'Tis very unfortunate. I am guessing Hermione already answered many of your questions. Do you have any for me?" Dumbledore asked.

"I wish to talk to you alone." Fred said to Dumbledore, not breaking the eye contact. Before Dumbledore said anything, Lupin and Snape left without a word; Hickey followed. It seemed like the men were used to taking orders from Fred. What had happened in the last seven years? It took a few moments to comprehend Fred's sentence, and she moved to leave, but Fred grabbed her hand.

"Please stay. You're my wife. I wish for you to hear this." Fred was looking at her.

"Now I am your wife? Quiet a change from an hour ago." Hermione said, although she did not make any moves to cross the room and leave.

"Of course, you're his wife." Dumbledore looked at Hermione strangely.

"See, now we have a ruling from the authority. We are married." Fred said.

Hermione wanted to retort, but closed her mouth and moved to the shadows. The two men seemed to size up each other. Their concentration, the sense of power each man exuded astounded Hermione. Of course Dumbledore possessed that indefatigable air of command, but now Weasley seemed to possess it, too, and when had that happened?

"So I am in a school? Are there students here now?"

"No, but the school opens in a few weeks, in about twenty days." Dumbledore replied.

"What happened to my wand?"

"I happen to have it. If Mrs. Weasley says that you can use it, you can simply ask Hickey to retrieve it from me. Anything else?"

"How was I injured?"

"You were on a secret mission from me, but the wrong people found out and you got into a duel. You were injured, and another man killed. Because of the safety reasons, I must ask you to not leave the Hogwarts ground. It is unsafe for you to be seen." Fred simply nodded. For a few minutes, Dumbledore seemed really concentrated.

"If you are done searching my mind, and really believe that I am telling you the truth, would you please stop invading my mind and leave?" Fred asked, breaking the silence.

"Of course. I hope you don't mind, but the use of legimency was very crucial. I needed to know for sure that you were telling me the truth. You are really important in the war right now. Please lock the door after I leave. I have put up anti-apparition charm. Only Hickey will be able to enter." Dumbledore said, and left before Fred could ask anymore questions.

"That was an odd conversation. Now I have more questions that I have answers." Fred said thoughtfully after Dumbledore exited. "What is your impression of Dumbledore?" Fred's voice was strained, and his eyes were drooping. He was remaining awake on pure will power.

"You need to sleep. You haven't strength for this kind of exertion." Hermione said.

"What do you think of Dumbledore?" He repeated.

"I like him." Hermione refused to elaborate.

"But is he telling the truth?"

"Yes. I mean, I think so. He has given me no reason to think otherwise. If you were the enemy, he could have killed you a long time ago." Hermione still didn't understand why her husband was so paranoid.

"But if I have discovered information he wants, and the information exists only in my head, then Dumbledore would keep me alive until I have given him the information. When he gets it, he can easily kill me."

"I hadn't thought of it that way." Hermione said. "So you really don't remember." Fred shook his head. "But then I work for Dumbledore, and you don't really remember that I am you wife."

Fred took a minute to answer that. "You could be my executioner," he said as his eyelids closed, "and there isn't a damn thing I could do about it." He was asleep.

She stood looking down at him. The swelling on his face had gone down, leaving a sharp bone structure, softened by a padding of healthy flesh, Instead his skin was slashed and scared. His blade of nose looked broken, his beard was scraggy. His lips…when she had first come to Hogwarts, they had been cracked with fever. She'd rubbed them with ointment, bringing them to a state of wide, pale smoothness. To tell the truth, she'd fallen a little in love with his lips. Not that she'd gone as far as to imagine another kiss, but she'd found pleasure in their shape, their velvety texture, the way they might feel if they brushed her neck, her chest, her... well, she'd found pleasure in their velvety texture.

She still didn't recognize Frederick Weasley, but as each day passed and she concentrated solely on the man in the bed, the old memories faded. She would never again resemble the man she'd married, but perhaps that was a good thing, for he gave an appearance of wanting…things she wasn't ready to give.

He'd kissed her. More important, she'd kissed him back. That kiss had succeeded because Weasley had caught her by surprise. Yes, that was it. He'd caught her unaware, and her response had been a reaction more to years of deprivation than to real passion. She needed to remember who he was. What he had done. To her. To her unborn child. To others, too. Fred Weasley had never been too concerned with telling the truth, or allowing others to retain what was theirs. They'd fought about that. And many a times, he had taunted her, called her an orphan who didn't understand how her betters lived.

When this man's memory returned, his old feckless personality would return. She knew it. No man changed as Weasley had changed. She needed to remember that because… because if he stayed the man he had been for this brief hour, she'd develop a passion for him.

She'd suffered through infatuation once, and the results had almost brought her to her knees. The thought of springing that trap again frightened her as she hadn't been frightened for seven long years. Her gaze fixed on the unconscious man; she freed her fingers from his and retreated from the bed.

Plagued by sleep terrors, he jumped. He groaned. His eyes fluttered open and glanced wildly around him. His gaze found hers, and he sighed. "Stay with me." He asked.

She heard the undercurrent of desperation in his voice. She didn't want to feel sorry for him. She didn't want to make promises.

He tried to struggle on his elbows. "Stay." He insisted.

"I'll be here when you wake up."

He extended his hand.

Helpless to resist, she returned.

His fingers grasped hers. "I really need you."

Surely there could be no harm in promising such a simple thing, so she said, "I won't leave."

On that assurance, he was asleep. Really asleep this time. But even in deep slumber, he clung to her.

Sighing, she looked her foot around the straight-backed chair, and brought it around so she could sit. "I want you to understand something," she told the sleeping man. "I am not promising forever."


A/N: Wow, I am so surprised. I didn't think you guys would like this story this much. I got 8 reviews for the last chapter alone. You guys are the best. Keep reviewing, and I will post the new chapter faster. Tell me what you think of this story so far, please. I need feedback. Don't hesitate to leave some advice. I am sorry I couldn't thank the individual reviewers, but I read that somewhere that Fanfic is closing down accounts of people who respond to their reviewers in their chapters, so I'll pass on that. But, my faithful reviewers, you guys know who you are. Thank you so much. Expect the next chapter to be posted by Wednesday next week. Review please...