Last Request

By: pengz

Disclaimer: Don't own much but the clothes on my back, really. :

A/N: While reading this 'fic, please disregard the Epilogue. I liked it, it just doesn't fit with my 'fic is all.

Prologue Part Two: The Pretenses

A chilly mid-July morning found Hermione Granger on the doorstep of the Burrow. Not moments later, she was whisked inside by a fussing Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh, dear, you look so pale!", she exclaimed, brushing a motherly touch upon Hermione's cheek. "Come into the kitchen for a sandwich, that should bring some color to your face." Mrs. Weasley smiled kindly at her as they made their way into what was easily the happiest part of the Burrow. "Ron! Ron, come down, Hermione's arrived!", she called up the stairs after handing Hermione a plate with what looked like a small hill of sandwiches.

There was a deafening ruckus as a pair of feet thundered down from the very top of the Burrow to the kitchen. Ron arrived in a short bound from the stairs, smiling wickedly at one of his best friends.

"Took you long enough," he joked, settling down at the table across from Hermione, who grinned in a strained sort of manner.

Mrs. Weasley glared at her youngest son, "Ronald! She could have been longer if she wanted. The poor girl doesn't see her parents eleven months out of twelve except for Christmas. Don't be so crass."

Ron rolled his eyes. Yet, when Mrs. Weasley turned away to put her attention on the stove, he gave Hermione a searching look. She shook her head, showing the moment wasn't right. So they sat there, eating the sandwiches in small talk about how their respective summers had gone along.

"Harry will be here a few days before his birthday?" Hermione asked as soon as Ron relayed the news.

"Yeah, I tried to hear more from those Extendable Ears, but mine have gone a bit faulty. No wonder Fred and George are rich, they make 'em cheap so's the customers come back for more." Ron pulled an annoyed look.

"For your information..."

"We make our extendable ears with loads of tender loving care!"

Ron jumped in his seat at the twins' sudden entrance. Hermione giggled at the right of them, still scaring their little brother proper.

"Fred, George!" Mrs. Weasley hurried forth to ruffle her identical sons' hair. "Good, you're just in time, I needed someone to degnome the garden for me. They've gotten a bit more feisty with me since you two aren't around to get rid of them."

The twins audibly grumbled yet did not dissent any further before loping out the back door.

"We'll take care of 'em, mum," George called over his shoulder, exiting first.

"Come along Ronniekins, you've got degnoming duty as well," Fred said in a chastising voice. "What about you, Hermione? Ever seen any live action degnoming before?"

"Well, I've only read about the practical way to do it..." Hermione trailed off, blushing.

"There's a better way than any practical one you'll find in your books." Fred gestured for her to follow.

Hermione gave Ron a searching look before reading his expression. He'd be a while at the table, that was for sure, and she should take this opportunity to get some, ahem, fresh air.

" 'e ow thurr inna mo'", Ron managed through a mouthful of sandwich.

Out in the garden Hermione watched as George demonstrated the "Weasley Gnome Throw" and Fred narrated the motions.

"...a nice wind up, like Forge is doing now, is perfect for the launch. The throw, you've got to put your body into it. It's got to make it over the hedge there." Fred grabbed up a wandering gnome as George released one letting it soar over the hedge successfully.

"Ah, look at the bugger," sighed George happily, "He won't be back for a while."

Fred clapped his hand his twin's shoulder congratulating him on a great throw. "Looks like she's out here for more than gnome throwing," George mumbled under his breath under the pretense of watching his brother pitch a gnome into the distance.

Fred remained silent, knowing Hermione was still watching. George nodded and called to the girl still close to the Burrow's back door.

"Looks easy enough, right?" George said to Hermione as she came near, smiling nervously. "Good, you two get the gnomes and I'll get some slug repellant from the shed. Those things are getting away with the best of mum's cabbages..." He set off towards the shed without another word.

They threw gnomes in silence, not really knowing what to say. After a particularly good throw from Hermione, who seemed quite adept to this manual labor, she decided to break the silence.

"Did you get my last letter?" she inquired quietly.

"I did." he said curtly.

"What do you–" Hermione began before Fred cut her off.

"'Mione, can't you just tell me why we can't?" He faced her, his eyes boring into hers so pleadingly that she couldn't bear to his gaze.

Looking at her feet she spoke in a small voice, "I won't be around for a long while, Fred, we'll see each other less than how much we've been seeing each other these last years. Besides Harry is giving up Ginny isn't he? It wouldn't be fair, my mind half on you, half on the task Dumbledore left us."

"You're not the chosen one, you don't have to give up anything." Fred countered, his tone a little frustrated.

"I've already given up so much, Fred. I don't want to start something I'll lose to V-voldemort or have to give up." Hermione whispered, her voice thick with tears.

Fred stiffened. She was doing this for him, to protect him? Shouldn't it be the other way around? He was about to open his mouth to comfort her but she went on.

"Harry told Ginny, at Dumbledore's funeral that Voldemort uses people. He's right. He uses loved ones as bait, for coercion. Think about what would happen if he knew about us? There's double jeopardy on you. You're Ron's brother and my..." she trailed off not being able to say 'boyfriend' since they weren't on those solid terms yet.

"Right." He could only agree with her. He knew, when it came to Hermione Granger, he could not argue, only agree. "Then there's only one thing we could do, isn't there?"

Hermione looked up questioningly at him. "What?"

"Pretend there's nothing. Then, after this war is over, we'll have tea or something. Talk it out." Fred was surprised at his own level-headedness in the situation. What he said would probably have bee something that Hermione would say. Something practical, something hopeful. "I'll be myself, you'll be yourself. I mean that's not hard is it? Ron and George are the only ones who know about our er... relations."

He referred tp the letters that they had been writing to on another for the past three months. Hermione had been writing to Fred and George about their brother's bettering condition since his birthday poisoning. Somehow Fred was always writing the responses. Soon after Ron's condition got better and was released from the Hospital Wing, the letters became more personal. They were, in fact, the reason Hermione was in a good mood most of the time. They helped her put up with Ron. Sure it seemed that perhaps her attention was on Ron but that was only because he found out soon enough that Hermione was writing to his brother.

That's when things became clear for them. They had been missing each other all these years. Their timing was always off. Besides that, they were the best of friends. Sure, they fought often, but it was the knowledge that they were not meant for each other is what made all that underlying tension ease up. They knew where they stood with one another. Ron even laughed about the idea of Fred with his best friend. Bossy Hermione and prankster Fred. Talk about opposites...

"Yes, that seems to be the solution..." Hermione said resignedly, her tears were long gone, having wiped them away herself to keep they touching minimal.

"So don't worry if you catch me running about with another woman." Fred winked devilishly as Hermione finally looked up at him. "I'll be pretending she's you."

Later that day, after the garden had been degnomed and slug repelled, was when Hermione finally had a chance to speak to Ron.

"He had the same idea as me, really." Hermione was saying as she closed the door to Ron's bedroom and made it imperturbable. "The whole pretending part."

Ron raised his ginger eyebrows. "Wait, we're talking about Fred, right?"

"Oh, ha ha, Ron. You know your brother is clever. We'll just have to wait until the war is over before we let anything happen."

They had taken the same seriousness that Harry had when he broke it off with Ginny. Ron, who only had a soft spot for Luna Lovegood, did not have nearly as much difficulty with his emotions as Harry and Hermione did. They sat there on Ron's bed, holding hands, lost in their own thoughts.

"We'll have to pretend it's us." Ron said after a long while.

"What?"

"I mean, look at it this way, it's always been us, hasn't it? At least, that's what it's looked like to everyone else. It wouldn't be surprising if one of these days we start looking like more. The eyes will be on us and not our families or loved ones..."

"You're right, that means we can't tell Harry incase Voldemort invades his mind and finds out we're faking it. He doesn't have to know." Hermione added the last part to reassure Ron's skeptical look. "He's probably expecting it'll be us anyway."

Ron nodded. They drew close, now hugging. They had to be strong for Harry. He didn't have much ground to walk on if they weren't a unit. The last few months for Ron and Hermione had made them more intimate than they had been in recent years. Their bond had become more noticeable, surely, to Harry and other around them, shadowing what was truly occurring beneath the surface.

"You're going to come back alive, if it's the last thing I do, Hermione." Ron mumbled.

"Ditto, Ron, ditto."

The sun blazed into the room and slowly fell, yet they remained embracing. Quietly enjoying a moment they knew would end too soon.

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xxx

pengz