It was almost midday on Sunday and Fred was checking and re-checking his latest creation before leaving for family dinner at the burrow.

He had collected some spare off cuts of dragon hide from Charlie at the new hatchlings reserve he was setting up on the Isle of Wight, they tended to use dragon hide to make their protective gear from as it was tough enough to withstand the hatchlings' tantrums and resilient enough to last for a very long time even with constant daily use. The reason for collecting this material was to make a new work bag for Hermione, he had noticed that her old leather satchel was becoming rather tatty when she had brought it to his hospital room the week before, overflowing with research texts and lab ingredients that couldn't risk going into a magically enhanced bag in case the latent magic interfered with them. Fred had therefore spent every evening since Tuesday when he had collected his materials, plus his mornings before work, all day on his day off on Wednesday and all morning this morning to make her a sturdy new cross body satchel.

The dragon hide was a dark burgundy in colour and he had embroidered it with gold thread, her name written beneath the flap in an elegant script and a prowling lion frozen mid step along the bottom edge, it was lined with a heavy cream linen and a gold coloured buckle sat halfway along the long strap with two matching buckles sealing the flap down on the front. He had made the bag entirely by hand to ensure no lingering magic could interfere with her belongings and was exceedingly nervous to see her reaction to this gift which he had poured his heart into.

During their many hours shared walking the cliff paths between the burrow and shell cottage together when recovering from the after effects of the war Hermione had taught him that it was muggle tradition to always include a coin when giving someone a bag or a purse. Fred had therefore gone to a muggle bank on his lunch break the day before and asked for a traditional coin, the elderly bank teller had been thoroughly confused until Fred, blushingly, mentioned that it was to go in a gift for a young lady at which point the elderly man smiled knowingly and handed over a small silver sixpence for him to use.

As the clock struck twelve Fred popped the silver sixpence into the hidden zip pocket he had sewn into the lining and leapt into the floo, heading to the burrow in a whirl of emerald green flames.

His second eldest brother Charlie was playing chess against his twin on the lounge floor as Fred emerged through the floo and offered Fred an encouraging wink as he stepped out of the fireplace with the finished satchel bundled securely in his arms and Molly gushed over what a beautiful bag it was until George finally piped in and asked who it was for causing Fred's cheeks to burst into a violent blush.

"Um. Hermione can I speak to you for a second before we eat please?" He asked over the hubbub of the Weasleys gathered in the burrows lounge and cutting off a conversation between her and Ginny.

"Oh, um... sure." Hermione acquiesced with a quizzical look and followed him up to the first floor landing.

"I noticed last Sunday that your work bag was looking a bit well used and I didn't want it to break on you so I…" Fred stumbled over his words anxiously "I made you this. It should be pretty strong and last you a long time and don't worry I didn't use any magic at all, I sewed it by hand and even used all muggle ingredients except the dragon hide but I made sure there were no lingering enchantments on it first and…" his babbling cut off defeatedly at her silence and he fought back tears "if you don't like it you don't have to use it. I just thought…"

"It's gorgeous." She breathed in awe, fingering the delicate embroidery and admiring his painstaking handiwork and attention to detail "Thank you so much. You didn't have to. I love it."

Taking the bag reverently into her arms she investigated every inch of it, beaming at the sight of her name hidden under the flap and gasping as she found the small muggle coin. Her heart swelled with the level of care she felt from each minute detail he had incorporated for her.

'For me.' She thought 'He's done all this for me.'

"You remembered." She breathed again out loud in wonder as she turned the silver sixpence over between her fingers.

She imagined placing that exact coin into a cream coloured shoe. She imagined the feel of the cool silver beside the arch of her foot as she walked down an aisle flanked with white roses and bright wildflowers. She imagined Fred standing at the other end of that flower lined aisle, his smile wide and heartfelt as their gazes met.

Her eyes lifted up to meet the searching bright blue ones of Fred, the amount of care she felt in that one look was overwhelming and she couldn't help but gravitate towards him, their faces drawing slowly closer, gazes locked and small, safe smiles adorning both of their faces.

His large hands came up to brush against the outside edge of her hips and she raised her chin up slightly to hold his gaze firm as their faces inched closer and closer together. He could feel the warmth of her breath against his lips and she could smell his mint toothpaste, with no lingering scent of rum. This time it was clearly his deliberate, fully conscious choice.

Their lips were parted by a mere breadth of hair, eyes fluttering gently, trustingly closed when...

"Oi! Dinner's ready!" Came Charlie's bellow up the stairs and the pair immediately jumped apart in shock as reality crashed down around them. As the pair hurried down to join the rest of the family, both parties began thoroughly berating themselves for what almost happened. Again.

Authors Note

Hope you enjoyed today's double update!

Next two chapters will be longer than usual so there's some good on the horizon...

Love you all!

Wishin' Girl x x x