Author's Note:
Thank you for all you wonderful reviews, they make my days so much happier and make me feel more able to update!
I'm so sorry this has taken forever to be put up (anxiety really sucks) but I'm better again now and have still been writing so get ready for a few chapters to go up over the next week!
Love you all,
Wishin' Girl x x
...
"So…" George began, not really sure where to go from there.
"He's not good enough for her" Fred snapped.
George just nodded and cast a mid strength muffliato spell over them so that his parents would be able to hear that they were up there and not worry, but so that no one would be able to hear the words of Fred's heartbreak.
"He's not nearly clever enough for her" Fred continued, the bitterness George expected to hear was absent and instead all he heard was heartache and sorrow.
"He might not be book smart but he's great at strategic thinking like in chess" George countered kindly, he knew that Fred needed to get over this and hating Ron would only push him further away from Hermione.
"She's so much braver too, he's even scared of little spiders" Fred continued.
"He's brave too, he's done all those brave things with her. Far more than either of us know about I'm sure…" George guiltily recalled being the cause of Ron's arachnophobia but didn't feel it would be wise to bring this up just now.
"And there's so many sides to her that he doesn't even know about! He can't appreciate her like I do!" Fred sat on the roof with his brother for another hour processing his anger out loud and promising himself that he would be there for her anyway, he would love her forever and he would protect her from heartbreak as much as he could.
When they finally were ready to head back inside breakfast was a joyous celebration, full of noise and laughter. The table was surrounded by pajama clad Weasleys, Harry and Hermione. Fred couldn't keep his eyes off how stunning she looked without makeup and with her hair tied loosely in a messy bun. His heart soared each time his eyes met hers but clenched every time they dropped to notice the bright orange t-shirt of his brother's that she wore with her small sleep shorts.
…
That morning, while Fred rested and was thoroughly coddled by Molly, Arthur and George escaped to the WWW shop in Diagon Alley with Ginny, Ron and Harry. They floo called Bill and sent a patronus to Charlie and Lee. With their combined efforts and hard work the group managed to make the flat above the store safe and liveable in. The hardwood floors were repaired and polished by Charlie and Lee, walls and doors were rebuilt and painted by Ron and Harry under Arthur's tutelage, George and Ginny fixed every item they could and threw out any beyond repair, while Bill set up extensive wards around the property and shop below. As they didn't need to even allow customers through the wards for now Bill set up similar wards to those at the burrow and keyed them all in.
"If you want anyone else to be allowed in, like your friends or Hermione, one of you will need to bring them here yourselves and key them in like this" Bill taught the twins the complicated wand pattern and incantation before declaring the area safe and secure.
Breakfast had been such an enormous meal that the family skipped lunch and the secret repair crew arrived back at the burrow in the late afternoon with the two oldest brothers in tow, to Molly's motherly delight. On her firm insistence they agreed to stay for dinner and their partners Fleur and Ashlynn soon joined them too. Percy had been slowly reintroducing himself to the family and was eager to see his younger brother out of hospital so came round for the family dinner as well meaning that, for the first time in far too long, all of the Weasley children, through birth and through love, would soon be sat with Molly and Arthur around the long kitchen table.
"Where were you all day?" Molly scolded Arthur gently "Fred didn't notice as Hermione's been reading him some silly story about a girl called Alice all day. He's barely put down his quill and notebook long enough to notice you all missing, thank goodness. How do you think he'd feel about his family ditching him on his first day back!?"
"George said that Fred's missed the flat so much and that he would heal faster there with the peace and quiet, so we went to fix it all up. You know that Fred would never dare to mention he wanted to go back there instead of here in case he upset you Mollywobbles" Arthur soothed his wife and cuddled her close to his chest "but we need your help now. You know that Ginny, the boys and I are rubbish with the homely touches and making sure that everything that needs to be there is ready to use. Would you mind taking Hermione and heading over after dinner to get it all finished up? I know you want him to stay here tonight but it'll just be so good for him to be in his own home again after being away from there in hiding and then the hospital…"
Molly sniffed against Arthur's warm chest and nodded. She really wanted what was best for her family and if that meant Fred staying at the flat then that was what he would get.
"Hermione and I can go over now and get started." Molly announced firmly "She's been doing so well since spending her quiet time with the twins in the evenings that I don't want to disrupt her routine. Anything we don't manage to do now I'll head back to finish after dinner with Fleur's help."
So Molly explained to Fleur what her plan was, the two were really very close now after working together to get through the war, who gladly agreed to organise dinner for everyone while Molly and Hermione apparated to the flat with George and Bill to key them into the wards. Fred spent the rest of the afternoon with his dad and brothers. His thoughts kept wandering to Hermione, wondering where she was and what she was doing, but he kept his mind so busy with jokes and several rounds of exploding snap that soon Hermione was reentering the lounge to announce that dinner was ready.
She and Molly had thoroughly cleaned the flat top to bottom, fully stocked the kitchen and collected any missing items from muggle shops to avoid the hubbub of being recognised in public. After a delicious welcome home feast Fleur and Molly apparated back to the flat, again with George to arrange Fleur's acceptance in the wards, to arrange the furniture and decorate with brightly coloured curtains, bedding, cushions, rugs, ornaments and a large collection of Weasley family photos. It was midnight when they placed the final touches and travelled back to the burrow via floo.
Hermione and Fred were snuggled up together in the arm chair under a blanket chatting quietly and going over bits from the book she had been reading to him earlier when the fireplace suddenly flashed green. Fred hadn't even had the time to blink before Hermione was across the room with her wand held firmly against Fleur's throat.
"Sorry" she mumbled as she backed away sheepishly and cuddled back up with Fred.
"That's alright mon cherie" Fleur reassured, stroking the young war heroine's hair as Molly followed through the fireplace.
"Where have you two been at this time of night anyway?" Fred questioned as he held Hermione tightly and stroked her hair soothingly as well.
The three women shared a knowing smile as the rest of the family came into the lounge.
"Well, I think it's time for bed everyone" announced Arthur.
At that Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Ashlynn and Percy said their goodbyes and left one by one through the floo. Harry and Ginny bid everyone goodnight and headed upstairs to 'say goodnight' to each other. Ron held out his hand to help Hermione up, who gratefully accepted and followed him up the stairs after kissing Fred on the cheek and hugging George as was her routine.
Fred watched her go up the burrow staircase hand in hand with his little brother, wishing she was still in his arms instead. His mind filled with images of her in his brother's bed and he hated himself for letting his mind torture him in this way.
"You ready to go home for the night Fred?" George asked with a grin that didn't quite fill his eyes. This was the real reason he was so keen to get their flat ready, Fred wouldn't be able to take his mind from the scene in Ron's room that morning if they stayed here.
"Home?" Fred questioned simply.
With a goodnight from Arthur and Molly, George pulled his twin into the floo and whisked them away to their flat in Diagon Alley.
…
