Hermione sat on Ginny's bed, holding the small piece of paper with shaking hands, her eyes staring blankly ahead.

All Muggle-born wizards and witches must marry a Pureblood witch or wizard by the age of seventeen…I'm going to marry my best friend's older brother because of a law. Her mind screamed, still not disturbing the odd silence around the room besides small rummaging noises from Arnold the Pygmy Puff's cage. Hermione looked down at the paper in her hands, shaking harder than ever.

It was a marriage license. At least, that's what it looked like. Hermione wanted it so badly to be an enchanted piece of joke-paper, like the type from Fred's shop.

Fred. Oh dear God, how was he taking all this? With a flourishing business, the admiration of any girl he meets, and he's stuck with me. Hermione Granger, plain and ordinary. She thought, the frown on her face deepening. She'd never be able to make this up to him. How could she do this to him? He deserved better than what she offered. Than again, a sixteen-year-old girl couldn't offer much.

"Knock knock." She recognized his voice immediately, without looking towards him. First, she had to get these stupid little tear-trails off her cheeks. Wiping them furiously, she stood, took a deep breath, and turned.

Fred stood leaning against the doorway, his hands in his pockets. His scarlet hair was untidy as usual, his face solemn. Though when he saw her, he still gave her the saddest attempt at a smile that was capable.

"Hi." She said dumbly, wringing her hands in front of her. It felt as though she were on a stage in front of millions of people, staring at her, pin-pointing every flaw of her nature. And even though Fred wasn't an audience here to embarrass her, it was still nerve-racking the way he regarded her with serious eyes. She was so used to him smiling, joking and laughing, that the change in mood was like stepping into a cold lake, and Hermione hated cold water.

"Hi." He responded, taking a step into the room and kicking the door shut behind him. Hermione took a deep breath and looked at the floor, allowing an awkward silence to settle over the two of them.

"So…" Hermione began, but promptly shut her mouth. What in the world was she supposed to say? 'Hey honey! Can't wait for our wedding!' Yeah, right.

"So…" She tried again, this time looking to the ceiling as if help would fall from the sky and land on her head. In two easy strides Fred was in front of her, his hands out of pockets as he ran them through his hair.

"Look Hermione. I-I know this is gonna feel really awkward at first. Same for me too! You're my little brother's girlfriend! This marriage law is stupid and a bad idea, but obviously, there's nothing we can do about it." He said as he began to pace irritably in front of her, stealing glances at her worried face every so often.

"Ron's not my boy-" She began, but he put up a hand to stop her.

"Doesn't matter." He said simply, stopping and staring at her dead-on. Hermione's stage theory came whirling back into her mind, and she felt light-headed for a moment. Sitting on the bed, she looked up at him, her eyes beginning to well up.

"Fred…I'm really, truly sorry that you have to do this." She said earnestly, allowing him to wrap an arm around her as he sat down next to her.

"Really Hermione, I think I'll get used to it. And you will too! Even if we didn't fancy each other, I'm sure we could just be married as friends. You're a great girl Hermione, and I enjoy spending time with you. I'm not saying everything will slip into place immediately. It's gonna take time, but we'll make it. We always do!" He said, shrugging his shoulders at her and allowing a true, genuine smile to brighten his face. Hermione processed his words, knowing full well they were just a cover-up over the situation. Still, she gave him a small, sideways smirk and nodded.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Just promise me something."

"Anything."

"Don't try any of your pranks on me. At least test them out on someone other than your wife." She said, attempting a joke. She noticed him momentarily stiffen at the word 'wife', but smiled as he relaxed and laughed mischievously.

"Hmm…we'll see." He said, narrowing his eyes happily. Hermione shook her head, and together they filled out that dumb marriage license.

………

The next day, Mr. Weasley and Fred went to the Ministry of Magic to turn in the marriage license. Hermione could only smile at the look on Lucius Malfoy's face when he found out she had escaped his little trap.

While the two men were gone, Hermione lay on the couch in the living room, staring blankly at the wall. In a bittersweet way, she was somewhat happy her parents' memory charms had accidentally been irreversible. At least now she didn't need to tell them about her getting married at age sixteen; something she knows they'd have highly disapproved of. Still, it brought tears to her eyes when she thought back on the day she found them, wandering around like tourists, quite content with their daughter-less lives.

When she had tried to undo the spell, her mother had looked at her quizzically and asked if Hermione needed a doctor. Mr. Granger had gripped his wife protectively, as though his very own daughter might try to mug them or something. When still nothing happened after every memory charm she knew, Hermione began to cry, excusing herself from the couple before apparating to safety. It had been the worst day of her life. It was as if she had died and her parents had forgotten she had ever existed.

Sighing, Hermione stood from the couch. It wasn't wise to dwell in the past, especially when one's past was as twisted as hers; it would make the future seem farther away, and therefore eliminating anything she could look forward to. Her grandmother had told her that.

"Hello Weasleys!" A cheerful Mr. Weasley announced, opening the door to the kitchen and stepping in, smiling as usual. Mrs. Weasley appeared out of nowhere from near the oven and bustled over, kissing both men on the cheek.

"How'd it go?" She asked eagerly as Hermione walked over and sat at the table, nodding to Mr. Weasley and smiling at Fred.

"Brilliant! You should have seen the look on Malfoy's face!" Fred said, sitting down beside her, his face bright with excitement.

"He was actually there?" Hermione asked, smiling herself. Fred nodded.

"Oh yes. It's the Minister's job to oversee all marriage licenses. Don't know why though…" Mr. Weasley answered, looking from his wife to Hermione. Hermione smiled brighter and looked back at Fred. He looked really happy.

"Well come on! Hermione and I have been waiting for you to discuss wedding plans!" Mrs. Weasey said with excitement, pulling the two out of their chairs and hustling her husband into the living room, pulling a book from the shelf with a wave of her wand.

Fred looked at Hermione quizzically as they sat down on the couch, watching his mum open the notebook which was full of scribbled ideas.

"I thought we were just going to do it quick and easy." He said. Hermione nodded.

"I thought so too. I mean, that's kind of what I wanted. I apologize if this is offensive to anyone but I'd didn't really plan on having a big wedding ceremony. Really, I thought Fred and I would just sort of…dash through it, I suppose." She said, looking from Mrs. Weasley to Fred for backup.

"Dash through it? But Hermione, don't you want to plan your own wedding?" Mrs. Weasley asked, looking as though her daughter had died. Hermione smiled sympathetically and shrugged.

"Honestly Mrs. Weasley, not really. I've never had much patience with weddings." She looked at Fred, who was smiling and looking rather relieved. "Is that okay with you?" She asked, earning a quick nod from him.

"Definitely. We could probably just zip down the road to that chapel and get married there in less than an hour. I kind of want it to be short too mum." He said, nodding.

"B-but…why?" Mrs. Weasley asked, ignoring her husband's hand on her own and looking at the two of them with a forlorn look. They both sighed.

"It would be less awkward that way, we think." Fred explained. "It's going to be uncomfortable enough, living in our own house and being married." He said, his nose crinkling slightly. Mrs. Weasley's face suddenly brightened like Fred had flipped a light switch on.

"That reminds me!" She said hurriedly, running off into the kitchen. Even Mr. Weasley suddenly looked excited.

"You two are going to love this!" He said, rubbing his hands together. Fred and Hermione looked at each other, obviously wondering what his parents were up to.

"Ta-da!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, holding a picture in front of her chest proudly. Hermione and Fred squinted forward to see it more clearly.

"Is it a-ahouse?" Fred guessed. Mrs. Weasley squealed excitedly, nodding her head in such a vigorous fashion that Hermione feared it would fall off.

"And it's yours!" She squealed again. Hermione immediately could feel the color drain from her face, her eyes widening. She didn't dare look at Fred's face, fearing his reaction. A house?! They had a house now?!

"Uh…mum, dad…you bought us a-a…house?" Fred gulped. Clearly, he hadn't been expecting that from his parents. "How'd you afford it?" He asked, a look of disbelief etched on his features.

"It was half a gift from the owner. He works in my department in the ministry and didn't have anything to do with it, so I thought you two should have your own house. The other half wasn't that expensive. Besides, you're both graduated now so you can move out and we don't have to worry about text-books for any of you, minus Ginny." Mr. Weasley explained, looking at them eagerly for a hint of their approval. Hermione was too shocked to grant it, but she did her best to stand and walk over to him.

"Thank-you." She said, turning him around and hugging him, throwing Fred a confused look over his dad's shoulder. Fred raised his eyebrows before copying her by hugging his mother, who had of course, begun to cry.