Fred was late. It was ten o'clock and Hermione sat on her sofa with the television blaring. She wasn't watching it and couldn't have told anyone what was on but she needed the noise. Her house was quiet. Fred had never shown up. She'd given up on him for dinner and had put everything away, but she still hoped that he might come by. She figured she had two choices at this point. She could just go over to Grimmauld and the comfort of the full house or she could attempt to stay in her house alone. Her stomach clenched at the second choice but she reminded herself that she was a grown woman who certainly could spend the night alone in her own house. Option three was to call Ron but she had no idea if he had already moved into Katie's flat or what was going on there. She'd wait. She'd give him until midnight and then go to Grimmauld.
Fred was sitting in near darkness again, in his flat above the shop. He was staring out the window, not doing anything. When George found him he was counting the number of tiles on the roof next door. He did this every night and always got a different number. It kept his mind busy and he didn't have to think. He didn't have to remember.
"Hey brother, how did it go with Hermione?" George asked as he removed a beer from the refrigerator.
"Huh?" Fred turned toward George upon realizing he was in the room. "What are you talking about?"
"Hermione? Your wife? You were supposed to have dinner with her tonight."
"I was? Oh, yeah, I guess I was. I forgot."
"Fred! Damn it! You need to get your head out of your ass and start thinking about others," George snapped. "She's probably waiting for you."
"I'm sure she's gone to bed now. I'll send her a note in the morning and apologize."
"A note? You may not like it but you have responsibilities to her now. She deserves more than a note. Besides, you'd better check on her tonight. Now!" George growled.
"Check on her? She's a grown woman. She doesn't need me to check on her."
George picked up his cell phone, something Hermione had insisted he have, and keyed in Ginny's number. It only took a few minutes for his sleepy sister to answer.
"George?" Her voice was gravelly.
"Gin! Is Hermione there? Did she come over?"
"I don't think so, hold on." George could hear Ginny asking Harry to check Hermione's room and waited for her to come back on the line. "She's not here. Harry checked her room, the kitchen and the library. What's wrong? Wasn't she supposed to be with Fred?"
"Our dear brother forgot about his date with his wife. She's probably waiting for him at her house."
"Damn it! She must be in a state. We'll go get her," Ginny said, panic in her voice.
"No, that's all right. Fred's her husband. He'll take care of her and if he doesn't, I will. Go back to sleep, sorry to bother you." George hung up the phone and glared at his brother.
"What's the big deal?" Fred asked, growing confused.
"You think you're the only one who suffered? You claim that the war changed you, you have no idea how much it changed everyone. I have one ear. Bill is part werewolf. You aren't the only one with scars."
"Shut up George, you don't understand."
"No I don't. You're right. I don't understand why you are so selfish. Did you know that Harry has such horrible nightmares that he hasn't been able to sleep alone since the battle? Did you know that Ron has turned into an alcoholic to numb his memories? Did you know Hermione can't handle being alone for more than a few hours?"
"What's wrong with Hermione?" Fred finally asked, not enjoying having his brother's finger pointed in his direction.
"She's scared of being alone. She hates it. She has panic attacks, gets physically ill. If she's been alone at her cottage all night waiting for you, she's probably in a horrible state. I'm going to go get her, bring her back here. Go to bed, you asshole." George threw his coat back on and stepped toward the fireplace.
"No. I'll go. She's my wife," Fred whispered. He stepped into the fireplace and was gone in a flash. George smiled to himself while flipping on lights. If there was a chance he could get his brother back, he'd keep pushing.
Fred stepped out of the fireplace to a fully lit room with a television blaring. His eyes fell on Hermione, sitting straight up on the sofa. She was visibly shaking and he saw tears rolling down her cheeks. He felt a clench in his stomach when he saw her. He'd always admired the witch. She was very pretty. She was brilliant, everyone knew that, and she was clever. Her sharp mind led to a sharp wit. He knew she could hold her own around his brothers and she had claimed her own spot in his family. He didn't care to admit it but he had a crush on her once. Then everything changed. For both of them apparently.
"Hermione? I'm so sorry I'm late," Fred said as he sat down awkwardly on the other end of the sofa. "I'm not just late, I completely forgot. I do that a lot, forget things. I think I forgot the moment I agreed to come." He looked at her and noticed that she wasn't shaking so much anymore.
Hermione wiped her eyes and looked at Fred. "I put the dinner away but I could fix you a plate if you want one," she whispered.
"No thank you. I ate already. Did you still want to talk tonight?"
"No, I'm tired Fred. I'm more than tired, I'm exhausted. I'll go over to Harry's now. Maybe you could come back tomorrow morning?"
"Why are you going to Harry's?" Fred asked, even though George had given him the answer. "Don't you live here?"
"Yes, more or less. I just. . . well I sleep over there sometimes. I like to be around my friends." Hermione didn't want to tell him the truth. She was ashamed of her fears. She'd faced death over and over and yet she couldn't sleep in her own home alone.
"It's late Hermione, why don't you sleep here and if you don't mind I'll stay on the couch. That way we can talk over breakfast."
"You want to stay?" Hermione asked, looking closely at the man she was now married to.
"Well, we're married right? Eventually we'll have to work out living situations. I don't want to go home and disturb George. I think Luna was coming over anyway. It feels like a comfortable couch."
"Sure. You can stay, but why don't you take Ginny's room. She hasn't slept here in months so the sheets are clean."
"She hasn't slept here in months? Where has she slept?" Fred asked.
Hermione looked at him strangely. Had he been that oblivious? "With Harry of course. We've all been staying with Harry. He has nightmares."
"Oh, I should have known that," Fred said, not meeting her gaze.
"You did know that, at least I thought you did. Good night Fred." Hermione turned off the television and the lights in the kitchen. Before walking down the hall she turned back to her husband. "Promise you'll stay?"
"Yes. I promise," Fred said before standing up and following her down the hall. She silently pointed at the room in which he was to sleep before slipping into her room and closing the door behind her. Fred stood there a moment before going into Ginny's unused room. He didn't bother to turn on the lights or change his clothes, he just climbed into bed and listened to the house settle around him.
Hermione woke up and started to panic. She wasn't sure where she was at first. It took a while to realize she had slept in her own room, in her own bed, in her own home. It must have been the first time in months. To her great relief she had slept well after the traumatic night she'd had. Fred actually snored. Not as loudly as Ron, but he made enough noise so that she knew he was in the house and she was able to sleep. She climbed out of bed and hit the shower. She didn't want to walk around the house in her pajamas with a man present. Remembering that the man in question was actually her husband didn't help any.
She could still hear gentle snoring coming from Fred's room when she stepped into the hallway, clean and dressed. She quietly opened the door and saw that he was indeed there and still asleep. It was still early, she had time to make him a good breakfast. About the time that she pulled the biscuits out of the oven, Fred wandered in looking disheveled after sleeping in his clothes.
"Uh, hi. Good morning," she said nervously.
"Good morning. This looks good." Fred pointed at the table full of food.
"I wasn't sure how hungry you'd be or what you'd like so I made a little of everything. Sit down! I'll bring you some juice. Do you want coffee?"
"Yeah, sure. Coffee would be good." Fred sat down at the table and looked at the spread in front of him.
"Did you sleep all right?"
"Yes. I did. It's nice and quiet here. You didn't have to go to so much trouble with breakfast."
"No trouble. I enjoy cooking." She sat down across from him and started filling her plate. "Go ahead, eat!"
Fred gave her a confused look and started placing food on his plate. "You wanted to talk about things?"
"Right. The logistics of our marriage. From what I understand the Ministry is going to be checking on us in the coming months. We are supposed to be living together by the end of the week, before the New Years Eve Ball anyway. Obviously, I have this house but if you'd rather live above the store, we can do that too." Hermione really hoped she could stay at the cottage, she did love her home.
"I'll have to talk to George about where he and Luna are going to live. This is a nice place though. I could live here. Could I stay in Ginny's room?"
"Of course. Ginny doesn't have much here anymore. She can take what she wants and you could make the room your own. There's no. . . um. . . consummation clause on the marriage contract so we can each have our own room. There's a basement if you want to have a lab here at the house too."
"Don't go to any trouble for me. I won't take much space. The lab at the store is more than enough for me to do my work. I'm not really good company these days. You've probably noticed. I tend to keep to myself."
"We're both stuck in a situation that we can't control Fred. You can have as much time to yourself as you want. I won't interfere. I do have one favor to ask you though."
"Ok, go ahead and ask," Fred said taking another bite of breakfast.
"I was kind of hoping that you could come home every night. I know that sounds stupid but I have. . . " She trailed off, unsure of what to say. Hermione finally took a deep breath. "I have trouble being alone. I got used to always being around other people and I just need to know that someone else is in the house."
Fred looked at her and cocked his head. "I'll come home every night. I can do that."
"George says that sometimes you sleep in the lab and I know that at times a potion has to be kept a close watch on so maybe if that happens and you can't come home, you could let me know. Just an owl or a Floo call or something would be great. I can then go over to Grimmauld or to the Burrow."
"I promise. That's an easy one. Now how about a promise from you?"
"Ok, tell me what it is first," she smiled. She was glad they were having an actual conversation. She hadn't had one with Fred for a couple of years.
"Maybe once a week or so we could sit down for a meal and catch up on things. I sometimes forget things, don't focus well. I miss things," Fred said quietly as he looked down at his plate.
"I can make that promise. You are welcome to join me for any meal I eat at home but I like the idea of setting a time and day for us to talk. How about Sunday brunch? We can have a good meal in the morning and talk about things before we go to the burrow for dinner." Hermione was hopeful that somehow she could have some type of relationship with Fred. She'd like to be his friend again.
"Tomorrow is Sunday so we could go ahead and plan for that. I guess I could cook if you want me to. I haven't cooked in a while but I think my mum's lessons stuck with me." Fred was shocked at the words coming out of his mouth. He hadn't talked this much in two years and now he was offering to cook? Something was wrong yet the smile on Hermione's happy face prevented him from backing out of the offer.
"We could cook together if that's all right. I should probably go grocery shopping today. You can make a list of the things that you like to eat and I'll make sure to get what you need."
"Like to eat? I have no idea," Fred mumbled looking down at his near empty plate. He didn't realize he'd been that hungry. Food was just something he ate to stay alive these days.
"Surely there is something you like to have on hand," Hermione prompted.
"I'm not sure. I don't think I've gone grocery shopping for years. Food is just always around when I think about eating."
"Okay. Well that's all right. I did a lot of the shopping for Harry and Ron so I'll just get what I normally buy and if you decide you don't like something or want something additional you can just let me know." Hermione started making a list. "I'm going to go out this morning and get to the bank. I need to transfer the money for Ginny's half of the house. I think Gringotts should be open until noon today. I'll go to the grocers after and then probably go to Grimmauld and pack my things."
"You're buying Ginny's half of this house?"
"That's the plan. I always knew I'd be doing that so I set the money aside for her. It's only right."
"I'll take care of that Hermione. If I'm going to be living here, I should pay for her half."
Hermione looked at Fred in shock. "Really? You don't have to do that."
"I'll take care of it. I'll go to Gringotts first thing before going to work. Just give me the information. I should probably leave now actually. I don't have any clothes here so I should probably head home, shower and change. I'll go to the bank and then go to work. No, I should go to the bank first, before going home. Yes, bank first. Write down the price for me all right?" Fred was babbling to himself as he stood and put his dishes in the sink.
Hermione stared at him a little longer trying to make sense of the man she was now married to. His demeanor had changed before her eyes. He had gone from a responsive man, having an actual conversation, to a flustered man who looked very stressed at doing an easy task. She grabbed her pad of paper and quickly wrote the sum for Fred to pay Ginny. He was standing at the sink looking at the dirty dishes while whispering to himself.
"Fred? Here's the amount." She held out the paper toward him and he turned slowly to look at her. He took the paper and looked at it.
"The amount. Right. I'm supposed to give this amount to Ginny. I'm supposed to transfer this amount to Ginny," he looked up at her and gave her a half smile. "Do you think the account has been changed yet? To Ginevra Potter?"
"I don't know. Try Ginevra Weasley first and then try Potter. I doubt they had time to get that taken care of."
"Goodbye. I'm going to the bank." Fred walked quickly to the Floo, muttered "Gringott's Bank" and was gone.
Hermione was beginning to think there was more to Fred's change in personality than was initially believed. Her husband appeared to be a puzzle and fortunately for him, she loved puzzles.