Disclaimer: *In a dramatic voice* I own nothing….Nothing!

Year one

~o0o~

Hermione had been staring at the box for half an hour before Harry knocked on her bedroom door. She reluctantly rose from the bed, but first making sure to hide the box inside her nightstand drawer. For whatever reason, she wasn't certain she wanted people to know Fred had left her something.

And she was sure he had left it for her. Hours of spellchecking, testing enchantments on it to see if it was a prank or not (you could never be too careful) had proven to her that it was just a box. A box which would only have reacted to her touch, and only could be opened by her.

There were no doubts about it; Fred Weasley had left her, Hermione Jean Granger, something. The only questions remained: Why? And what was it?

She still hadn't opened it. The lid was lifted less than an inch when she began contemplating whether or not she should. She overanalyzed, it's what she did.

Harry was giving her a shy smile, and Hermione sighed.

"Did Ronald send you?" she asked after giving her best friend a hug and let him in. Her mother stood behind him and asked the two of them if they would like some tea. They both politely declined and Mrs. Granger left her daughter alone with Harry.

He gave Crookshanks a little ruffle and quickly made himself comfortable on her bed, and Hermione smiled. Both Harry and Ron had visited her often after the war, knowing she hadn't wanted to leave her parents for too long after returning from Australia. It was one of the few nice things the war had resulted in. Her two worlds had almost melted into one. She wished she had invited Harry to her home sooner, probably saving him from horrible summers at the Dursley's. After all, they hadn't lived too far from each other.

The-Boy-Who-Lived quirked an eyebrow at her. "What else?"

Hermione laughed. "So, what is it this time?"

Harry's smile faltered. "He told me you'd been acting odd ever since the two of you went to help George move Fred's stuff yesterday."

Hermione stiffened.

"It has been hard on everyone, I get it," Harry continued. "But you two actually had to be the ones to…well, move his things, and I know you weren't really close, but it must have been difficult for you, 'Mione. So, if you need to talk…I'm probably the one who can relate most you know?"

He was, she realized. Both of them had known Fred, but neither had been his sibling nor his friend for the longest time, like Lee. And they were both dating Weasley's, making them part of the family but not quite.

"It's just strange, Harry. I knew him, but there is no way I can understand how much it must hurt for his family. It just feels like I'm not allowed to be that sad, you know?"

Or allowed anything else for that matter...How can I accept a gift from Fred when he didn't even leave as much as a plant for George…?

Harry looked at her, calculating. "Is that why you volunteered to clean his room? Because you felt it would be the least sad for you?"

She nodded. "And Ron needed me, I didn't think he should have to do it alone."

Again, Harry seemed to be deep in thought. "I think- and don't take this the wrong way- but for the brightest witch of our age, Hermione, you can be quite daft." He held his hands up when Hermione sent him a glare. "Listen. Of course you're allowed to be sad over Fred dying. He was Fred. He made people laugh. Ginny's got people coming up to her on the streets giving her their condolences. People who only knew him as half of the Weasley twins."

He rose from the bed and put his hands on her shoulders. "If you don't want to keep helping them clean out the room, then just tell Ron so. He'll understand. I'll help him instead, he's my best mate. And so are you."

Hermione gave a small sob and hugged her friend. She rested her head on his shoulder, thanking him. After taking a deep breath she said, "The war really messed everything up, didn't it, Harry?"

She felt him nod and he pulled back and gave a tiny smile. "Yeah, but at least we got each other. And I have Ginny and you have Ron."

Yes, she had Ron. It was all going to be okay.

~o0o~

After Harry left Hermione took out the box again. Her friend had helped her realize that whatever reason Fred had for leaving her the box it was all going to be fine. If he had left her something it meant he had cared for her (however little) and that thought made her happy. Because she was sad he had died, that the boy who made everyone laugh and had been so alive was no longer doing any of that. She had confirmed she had a right to find out what he had left her.

And thus, she opened it.

She held back a gasp.

Inside the box were eight small vials. She knew what they were.

But why would Fred Weasley hand me memories?

If possible, she felt even more perplexed than before she'd opened the blasted thing. And they were labeled from one till eight. She supposed they were to be seen in order. She looked around her room.

She was lucky she actually had obtained a Pensieve shortly after the war. Without the help and insight the memories of Severus Snape provided Harry, the outcome might have been different. However much Hermione felt her best friend recently began to glorify their old professor, she was glad he had tried to redeem himself.

Just too bad he never felt it was wrong to emotionally abuse his students, myself included, along with Neville, and giving Harry hell for something his father did…

She shook her head. Pensieve. Memories. Focus.

Hermione inhaled, and placed the container of memories on her desk before reaching for the vial labeled "nr.1". She brought out her Pensieve from the cupboard and emptied the flask. She was curious to see what she would meet and it wasn't until she had dropped her face into the Pensieve that she wondered whose memory it would be.

Not long after did that familiar sensation occur and she was met with the sound of a crowd and the sight of smoke. The scene was exactly how she remembered it.

No, but why…it can't be…

The platform Nine and Three quarters of the year 1991 was alive and bustling. The scarlet Hogwarts express came in full view, crowds edging nearer the locomotive to board it, and next to her stood a ginger-haired boy. Hermione knew it as soon as she looked at him. Fred. Not George. And he was staring at something ahead, a smile playing on his lips. She traced his gaze and her mouth dropped.

A Muggle family stood gathered not too far away. The parents were fussing over a small girl, with hair bigger than her head, bushier than she herself ever remembered it being. The girl was putting on a brave face, telling her mother and father she would write them regularly and for them not to worry. The mother kissed her daughter on her forehead, telling her to be good and make lots of friends. The girl's façade crumbled a little at the second comment, but was quickly covered with a smile, her parents not noticing. Eleven year old Hermione hugged both of her parents and boarded the train.

Real Hermione looked back at the third year Fred who was still smiling, looking as if he had found the scene in front of him amusing. Hermione wondered what could possibly have been so funny. She remembered what happened this day. She had been nervous beyond belief, but she'd known her parents wouldn't have allowed her to go if she showed any doubt and she truly wanted to become a witch, so she had played along. Played brave. It had been exhausting.

They stood there for a couple of seconds before a voice called.

"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!" George said.

Fred hurried to his twin brother and Hermione realized they were helping a small Harry tuck away his trunk in one of the compartments.

The scene shifted.

It was the Sorting Ceremony and Hermione saw herself eagerly running up to put the hat on after it had declared Seamus Finnigan be in Gryffindor. By the table next to her, Hermione heard Fred and George snicker.

"Isn't that the girl who told us to stop behaving childishly on the train," Lee whispered. "Bit bold for such a tiny thing, isn't she?"

"Oh, I do hope she ends up in Gryffindor, we'll make her see just how childish we can be. Right, Fred?"

Fred just shook his head. "No way, Georgie. Look at her. She's more nervous than Ron is around spiders."

"Bet you a sickle."

"Deal."

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Their fellow Gryffindor's cheered and Hermione remembered with a warm feeling spreading through her chest, how excited she'd been when she had sat down and have people welcome her in that way. She'd been waiting for this moment her whole life. To feel that she belonged somewhere.

It did bother her slightly that she now found out, after all these years, Fred had bet against her. Well, she'd shown him.

The person in question gave a big groan and reluctantly handed his brother the coin he owed. Lee laughed and the three of them joined in cheering for little Hermione. Big Hermione smiled warmly at the scene. Fred seemed as lively as she remembered.

Another thing Hermione noticed was how Ron looked absolutely unhappy from where he was standing, waiting to be sorted, after the hat had yelled Gryffindor. She understood why, she had been a bit of a know-it-all, but they had hardly even known each other for a day at this moment. Had she been that insufferable to him? She pursed her lips slightly but decided to let it go. This had happened years ago after all.

Again, the scenery switched.

"You're barking! Hermione Granger did that?"

"No, I'm telling you, she lied to Professor McGonagall! And that was after we saved her, mind you-"

"Yeah, we know. You're lucky mum hasn't heard about the troll. The mere thought of her ickle Ronniekins being in danger- she would need to be sent to St. Mungo's straight away."

The twins and Ron were walking down an empty corridor, chatting energetically. The light flickering from the torches was the only source of light. Hermione strode along the group.

She had figured quickly that the memories belonged to Fred but she was still trying to figure out the connection. Surely, they weren't just random? Were they?

The bickering eased up-or as much as it possibly could in the twins' presence- and Ron continued, his cheeks a bit red and a frown on his face. "Anyway, Harry and I saved her and Hermione told the Professors it had all been her idea to wander off and chase the troll down herself. And McGonagall believed her."

"Amazing," said Fred, an impressed expression on his face.

His twin looked at him curiously but then turned to their youngest brother. "Maybe she isn't as much of a know-it-all as you've made us believe, Ron?"

Ron snorted. "Believe me, she still is. But-"He struggled to find the words. "We're mates now, aren't we? We fought a troll together, hard not to become friends, right?"

The twins exchanged looks and then grinned at their brother.

"I do believe ickle Ronniekins is in love, George."

"Shuddup, am not."

"Oh, look at 'im blushing."

"Blushing? Isn't that how his face normally looks, Gred?"

"Nah, you're thinking about his red hair, Forge. This one usually has the pale, ghostlike tinge, accompanied by a dumb look on his face-"

"-ah, you mean the one where it looks like he's trying to widen his mouth as much as possible?"

"Oh, shut it, you two," Ron growled before briskly walking ahead of them.

"Oh, dear, I think we upset him," Fred said, placing a hand dramatically on his mouth.

"Mischief managed then, I suppose." The twins smirked at each other at their private joke.

Hermione then, without warning, found herself behind one of the twins, sitting on a broom, and emitted a loud shriek. It didn't matter, seeing as how no one there could hear her.

It was the match against Slytherin and Harry was dangling from the jinxed broom. Fred and George were circling under him, hoping to catch him if he fell. Despite knowing how it ended, she found herself growing worried. It really looked like her best friend would fall anytime.

Fred, who sat in front of her, looked up as often as he could, but he was also evidently on the alert for any rogue Bludgers. Then, a small laugh escaped him, disbelief marking his face, as he looked sideways at one of the stands. A bush of hair had just knocked over Professor Quirrell headfirst, down at the row in front of him.

The scene switched again.

The twins tip-toed through the corridors, having been outside at night, and appeared through the Entrance Hall when they saw their brother and little Hermione talking to Professor Dumbledore. They quickly hid as the Professor turned around briefly, his eyes twinkling at them. He murmured something to Ron and Hermione before departing towards the third floor.

The pranksters made their way towards the youngest Weasley boy and were taken aback when they took in the state of the two first years.

"What happened to you lot?" Fred asked.

"It's a long story," Hermione said. She and Ron looked at each other, tiredly. "But we better get Ron to Madam Pomfrey, he was hurt."

"I'm fine, Hermione. It's Harry we should be worried about."

"What happened to Harry," the twins asked in unison.

On their way to the hospital wing they got their explanation. They listened to a story full of three-headed dogs, conspiracy theories and heavy rule breaking. They somehow managed to make it to their destination without stumbling upon Filch, Mrs. Norris or Peeves.

To say Madam Pomfrey was shocked was an understatement. Nevertheless, she examined both Ron and Hermione and determined they were well enough to get back to the Gryffindor tower. She nearly, physically and literally, threw them out when Dumbledore arrived with an unconscious Harry. The four Gryffindors barely caught a glimpse before being ushered out.

"Thank Merlin he's alive," Hermione sobbed.

Fred put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Granger. Potter's not The-Boy-Who-Lived for nothing."

Hermione smiled but that smile quickly turned into a scowl when he added, "Although, I suppose, that's in past tense. Lived, not lives- Oy, don't give me that look, you two. I'm only joking."

They were being awarded the House Cup.

"Second- to Miss Hermione Granger…for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points." Dumbledore said.

Fred and George were whistling and both of them laughed when they saw Hermione burst into tears in her arms.

And then it ended. It had been strangely abrupt, and when Hermione returned to the present she couldn't help but shake the feeling that Fred's memories were somehow about her.

~o0o~

A/N: I hope you enjoyed!

I can't believe so many have already followed, favorited and reviewed my story! Thank you so much!

Please continue reviewing as it honestly makes my day!
Until next time!

/Primrue