Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Harry Potter. Drat.

A/N: I'd love it if you would let me know what you think. While the story is complete, it's not set in stone so if you have thoughts or suggestions, I'm open to them. I've changed stories around based on reviews before.

After the festivities were over and the house had been cleaned, Hermione followed Harry, Ginny and Ron back to Grimmauld. She wasn't sure where she belonged. She was a married woman and yet she didn't know who her husband was or how to proceed. She stood at the bottom of the stairs and considered her options. She could go upstairs to her room, or go back to her own cottage alone. Being alone held no interest for her, but staying here now felt awkward.

Harry saw her standing in the hall and went back down the stairs. "What's the matter Hermione? Worried about your husband?"

"Oddly enough, no. I'll deal with that when I have to, no sense in worrying about that now." She looked at her best friend and saw his soft smile. She loved him, she really did. "I'm going to go back to my house tonight. You and Ginny are married now; you should start your life. You don't need to have house guests. Tell Ginny I'll get her the money this week. I'll buy her portion of the house." She started to walk off when Harry grabbed her arm.

"Hermione, you don't have to go anywhere, and you are certainly not a house guest. This is your home. I know you don't want to be alone, just go on up to your room and we'll talk about it all in the morning. Ginny and I have been married a week, it's not like this is our wedding night."

"Are you sure?" No part of Hermione wanted to go home alone.

"Of course I'm sure. Go to bed, you'll feel better after a good night's sleep."

Hermione kissed her friend on the cheek and headed to her room. She sat on her bed and looked around. One way or another, her days in this room were numbered. She was a married woman. Within the next few days, she would know who her husband was and would be living with him. She would never bring a stranger into Harry's home, so chances are she would be living in her cottage or moving in with whoever she was matched to. At least she didn't have to worry about living alone.

The next morning, Hermione made her way to the kitchen, groggy and tired. She hadn't slept well and was looking forward to a large cup of steamy hot coffee. She had the day off as it was Boxing Day, which gave her all day to pack up her things and move them back to her cottage. The bank wouldn't be open, so she'd have to get Ginny's money later in the week. She mentally made a list of the things that she should accomplish on her day off.

Ron joined her not too much later, grunted a greeting and started making himself some tea.

"Good morning Ron," Hermione mumbled, for Ron looked as bad as she felt.

"Morning. Do you think the owls will come?"

"I doubt it. The Ministry's closed. We're probably going to have to wait until tomorrow at the earliest."

"Great. One more day of freedom, and I can't even have fun with it unless I want my important bits to be hexed."

"What are you going to do Ron?" Hermione asked, ignoring his comment about his "bits".

"Probably go back to bed," he answered.

"I don't mean today, I mean tomorrow, the rest of your life. Where are you going to live? Here with Harry and Ginny?"

"I don't know," he sighed. "I was up all night worrying about it. I almost went to wake you to ask if I could live with you at the cottage for a while."

"I thought about that myself. You are welcome to stay with me of course. I just don't know if I will be living there. I don't know who I'm going to be living with. He might have a house of his own. If that's the case, you can still stay there, with your wife."

"God, Hermione, why are we in this mess?"

"Because the Ministry enjoys making us miserable. I hope that you grow to love your wife, whoever she may be." Hermione reached across the table and took his hand. "I do love you Ron, even though we make each other crazy. I want you to be happy."

"Thanks Hermione," he said, giving her hand a squeeze.

"No more of that or your bits will be hexed," Ginny said as she came into the room. "How are the newlyweds this morning?"

"If I knew who I was newly wed to, things would be better," Hermione answered.

"Being married is great! You'll love it!"

"Says the woman who married the man she's loved for eleven years," grumbled Hermione.

"Yeah, how did you know to marry Harry so fast anyway? Did someone at the ministry tip you off that the law would pass?" Ron narrowed his eyes as he glared at his sister.

"No, not at all, which kind of hacks me off to tell you the truth. The ministry pretened that the law was still on the table and not set in stone. If there had been a warning we all would have had time to marry someone you loved." Ginny said, pounding her fist on the table.

"It wouldn't have mattered Ginny, there isn't anyone special in my life," muttered Hermione, looking down at her empty coffee cup.

"Owls!" Ginny said, pointing at the window.

"What?" Hermione turned toward the window and sure enough there were two owls sitting on the windowsill. "Do you think?"

"Only one way to find out," Ron said, getting up to let the creatures in. "Here's one for each of us. It's the moment of truth." Ron handed Hermione her official Ministry stamped letter.

"It might not be what we think it is. It could just be more information about the law, or a work notice," Hermione said, sitting back down at the table. She suddenly felt a little sick to her stomach. "Oh, but what if it is? Maybe it's better not knowing."

"What's going on?" Harry asked as he shuffled into the room.

"They got their owls, they just won't open them," Ginny told her husband.

"Just rip it open. Quick and painless," Harry said, pouring himself some coffee.

"Easy for you to say mate." Ron banged his head against the table for emphasis. "What if I'm married to someone horrible? Like Pansy Parkinson or worse?"

"Pansy's already married. She was engaged to some bloke from Durmstrang when she was eight. They married right after she was out of school." Ginny was always the fount of knowledge when it came to relationships.

"Well that's good I suppose. All right, here I go." Ron took a deep breath and popped the wax seal on the back of the envelope. He removed the letter very slowly, finally opening the folded piece of paper. "Oh, well, that's all right then."

"Who?" asked Harry.

"Katie Bell. She's pretty, plus she likes Quidditch." Ron was practically beaming. "I've already shagged her too! I think I did anyway. It was that one night. . . Oh, never mind. I guess I should go get dressed and pay her a visit." He jumped to his feet and headed to the door before he was stopped by Ginny.

"Don't you want to find out who Hermione's married to?"

"Oh yeah. Right, go on then," he encouraged.

Hermione opened the envelope with a flick of her finger and pulled the paper out. There was no point in waiting any longer. She opened up the letter and her eyes widened. "Didn't expect that," she whispered. "I should have, but I didn't. He was the only one I didn't check. Molly always said I was meant to be a Weasley." She looked up at her friends. "I'm married to Fred."

Ginny squealed, before leaping on her friend to hug her. Hermione wasn't sure how to react. She sat there stiffly trying to process everything. Fred was her husband. At least she knew him, loved his family, and she trusted him, but this was the "new" Fred and she didn't really know him anymore.

"That's so perfect! You're my sister! Oh Hermione, I can't wait for Mum to find out, she's going to be so happy!" Ginny continued to gush as Hermione started to feel faint. She tried to take a few deep breaths and scooted away from Ginny's fierce hug.

"Let her go Love," Harry said. "You're squishing your sister-in-law. Congratulations, Hermione. Fred's a great guy."

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "Good for you. I'm off to find my wife!"

"Holy shit, I'm married to Fred," she whispered. She looked blankly around the room, finally meeting Harry's encouraging gaze. "Do you think he'll like me?"

"Gin? Can you give us a moment?" Harry asked, giving his wife a look.

"Um, sure. Of course. I'll go shower and get dressed." Ginny hopped up, kissed her husband on the cheek, and left the room.

Harry kneeled in front of Hermione who was clutching her letter and looking terrified.

"What's wrong, sweetheart? You don't have to hide anything from me." He brushed the hair away from her cheek. "Let's go into the library, cuddle on the sofa and talk." He pulled her up with him and led her by the hand into the library. He sat down, pulled her down next to him, and put his arm around her.

"Ok, now that we're comfortable, why don't you tell me why you reacted the way you did? You've handled everything so well until you found out who your husband is. What's up?

"I don't know. I guess reality finally smacked me. It didn't seem real until I had a name. Now I'm Hermione Weasley. I used to write that name in notebooks and my diary. Hermione Weasley. Only I thought I would be married to Ron, not Fred."

"Be thankful you aren't married to Ron!" Harry laughed.

"Oh I am, and Fred is great, but he's just so different. I don't know him anymore. He's almost a stranger."

"Maybe this will be good for him, bring him back. You know that the real Fred is in there somewhere. You'll be a good influence on him."

"Do you think I should go over to see him? Wait for him to come here? What do I do?" she asked, looking up at Harry with moist eyes.

"Hermione, I think you need to go to him. If he were acting like himself, he'd already be over here begging for a shag. I know that's probably not the answer you wanted, but that's my opinion."

"You're right. Of course, I should go to him. I'm his wife. Maybe he didn't get the owl yet. I should tell him that we're married and find out if he wants to move into my cottage or if I should move into his flat." Hermione stood up with renewed confidence, her emotional break was over and she was once again a woman who could handle almost anything that came her way. "Harry, until we get the living situation straightened out, would you mind if I slept here? I still don't. . . Well, I don't. . . "

"Hermione, you can stay forever as far as I'm concerned. I understand more than anyone why you don't want to be alone."

"Thank you Harry. It won't be forever, I'm married now. I won't have to be alone any longer, I hope anyway. Tell Ginny I'll get the money for her half of the house this week."

"Don't worry about the money. We don't need it," Harry answered as she moved toward the door.

"I know, but neither do I. I'll see you later." Hermione left the room to get dressed and go pay a visit to her husband.

Hermione entered Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and looked around the crowded store. The Boxing Day sales were popular and the store was full of children eager to spend their Christmas money. Hermione saw George at the cash register while his assistants helped the customers with questions. George caught her eye and she waved at him, while moving through the crowd.

"Busy day! I had no idea," Hermione said as she approached the counter.

"It's a big one. What are you doing here? Shopping?" George answered.

"Did you get your letter?" Hermione answered, avoiding his question.

"Sure did, but I didn't need it. Remember when I went to visit Luna last night? Well, let's just say my bits were not hexed."

"Luna? Really? That's great! You're a good match."

"I think so. She's supposed to be coming by soon."

"Give her my best. Is Fred around?"

"Yeah, the tosser is in the back working on potions. Couldn't even find it in him to help me out this morning. What do you want with Fred?"

"Did he get his letter?" she asked, her voice shaking just a little.

"He got it, but he didn't open it. Why?" George looked at Hermione carefully when realization hit. "Seriously? You're married to Fred?" George looked at Hermione and grinned when she nodded. "Thank God," he whispered, "Go on back and talk to him."

"Fred? Are you here?" Hermione called, as she walked into the storage room. She pushed through the maze of shelves before coming to a doorway where she knew the potions lab was kept. At her left were two desks on top of which was an official Ministry letter, clearly unopened. Knowing better than to barge in on someone working on potions, she knocked on the door.

"Come in," a muffled voice called out.

Hermione pushed the door open and looked around the dark room. There were no windows and the lanterns that usually lit the room had been mostly extinguished. Only two faint lights remained in the room. There were no fires lit under any of the cauldrons and the telltale aroma of a Weasley potion wasn't present.

"Fred?" Hermione finally saw movement from the corner and saw the shadowy form of her husband sitting at a work desk. His head was bent over a piece of parchment and he was furiously writing, although how he could see anything was beyond her. "Do you have a moment to talk?"

"Sure," Fred sighed, pushing the paper away and stepping out of the corner. He lit a few more lamps and Hermione felt much more at ease now that she could actually see the man who now stood in front of her. "What do you need, Hermione?"

Hermione was always unsure of how Fred would act. She knew that for the most part he wasn't an angry sort of person, yet she half-expected him to snap at her for interrupting him. "Did you get your letter from the Ministry this morning?" she finally asked.

"I got something, I ignored it. I don't have time to deal with the ministry right now." Fred walked by her and into the brightness of the storage room. "What was it? Do you know?"

"Yes, it's informing you of your marriage and who you're married to," Hermione said, as she followed him out of the room. Fred stopped when she said those words and turned to look at her.

"I forgot about that. So I'm a married man huh? Do you know who she is?"

"You're looking at her," Hermione told him, standing up straighter. "I'm your wife."

"You? You're Hermione. You aren't my wife." Fred grabbed the letter off of his desk and opened it quickly. "Huh. I guess you're right. You must be very disappointed."

"What? Why would I be disappointed? I know you, I'm already a part of your family. It could have been so much worse, believe me."

"Not much worse. I'm not the same man I was two and a half years ago, Hermione. I've changed, and not for the better. I'm sorry you are stuck with me, but I promise you won't have to deal with me too much."

"We have a lot to talk about, Fred. I'm not the same person I was either. Can we please sit down and discuss everything?"

"I can't right now, I'm in the middle of some important work. Come by later."

"Why don't you come to my cottage tonight. We'll have dinner and discuss everything, figure things out. I'll have dinner ready around seven, will that work for you?"

"Fine," Fred mumbled as he headed back into the lab and closed the door.

Hermione stared in shock at the heavy wooden door. The conversation, if you could call it that, was not the one she had planned in her head. She didn't expect a romantic moment, but she did expect a little more from him. There was nothing she could do now but to make the best out of an awkward situation. She'd make him a good meal and they'd have a good conversation. He was a Weasley after all. A good meal could make all the difference.

She made her way back out into the store, which was emptied of customers, and was shocked to see George and Luna locked in an embrace. She ducked her head down and made a dash for the front door before being stopped by George.

"Hermione? How'd it go?"

"Fine, I guess. He's supposed to come over for dinner tonight and we'll discuss things," she sighed. "Hi Luna! Congratulations!"

"Thank you Hermione," Luna said, as she drifted toward her. "We're family now."

"We are! I need to get going. Tell Fred I'll see him at seven."

"Sure," George said. "Hermione? I don't know if you can help him, and I don't want to put any pressure on you, but I miss my brother."

"I don't know what I can do, George, but I'll try." She gave him a quick hug and was out the door.