Fred returned home that evening to find his mother cooking enough dinner for at least sixty or seventy people.

"We're having an engagement party!" she exclaimed when Fred entered the kitchen. "Harry proposed to Ginny just this morning, can you believe it? My little girl is getting married!"

Fred nodded and tried to slip unobtrusively closer to a basket of rolls that was sitting on the counter as his mother turned to tend to a pot of soup sitting on the stove.

"Well, that's Bill, Ginny, and Percy all settled down, and of course George is dating Katie. Merlin knows when Charlie will find somebody; why he chooses to live on that reserve in the middle of nowhere, I'll never know. But, if it makes him happy."

Fred had reached the basket now, and slowly stretched out a hand to grab a roll. Mrs. Weasley turned around suddenly, waving a ladle, and Fred quickly snatched his hand back.

"And you," she said, jabbing the ladle at him, "What about you and Angelina? I haven't heard from her in such a long time! For awhile there, I was thinking that maybe you two would..." she trailed off, looking hopefully at Fred.

Fred made a face. "Mum, Angie and I dated for three weeks. She's like my sister; it was gross. She's going out with Oliver now."

"Oh," Mrs. Weasley said, and turned back to stir the soup. Fred took his chance, grabbing a roll and walking quickly to the stairs.

"Be down by seven!" Mrs. Weasley called. "Make sure you dress nice! And for Merlin's sake, Fred, no pranks!"

Fred waved his hand back down the stairs at his mother and continued up to his room, stuffing the stolen roll in his mouth.

Hermione's smile felt frozen onto her face. Her head ached, her feet hurt, the party had been going on for hours, and all she really wanted to do was go inside, climb the stairs to her bedroom, and go to sleep. It had been a very long day at work - although breakfast with Fred had certainly been nice; she couldn't remember ever having such a long conversation with him - and although Hermione was happy for Harry and Ginny, she wished that they would just send everybody home already.

Harry and Ginny were starting to look a little worn out, too, she noticed. However, they were still basking in the glow of a newly-engaged couple, caught up in the happiness of being with each other. Hermione's eyes slid over to the massive tent on the lawn, where Mrs. Weasley was holding court. She seemed almost as happy as Harry and Ginny, talking away to poor Professor Flitwick, who had only had the misfortune to have been going to get more punch. Hermione giggled slightly as Flitwick tried in vain - yet again - to step a little closer to the table of refreshments.

"Having fun?" a voice sounded in her ear, and Hermione jumped. She turned sharply to find a twin - she was too tired to bother to focus and tell them apart - standing behind her. The twins had followed Mrs. Weasley's warning to the letter, and had been on perfect behaviour all evening. Instead of pulling pranks, however, they had dressed exactly alike, causing quite a bit of confusion.

"It certainly is a lovely party," Hermione said.

"Yes," said the twin, "But are you having fun?"

Hermione was about to answer, but found herself yawning instead. She grinned sheepishly. "I may be just a little bit tired"

"See, that's not fun!" the twin said, his eyes glinting mischievously, "What you need is a-"

But Hermione never found out what she needed, because at that moment Mrs. Weasley tapped her wine glass with a spoon, calling the room to silence.

"I would like to make a toast," she said, "I have watched Harry grow up, and come to love him as if he were one of my own. It brings me great joy that he will soon become an actual member of the family. I look forward to spending many holidays and birthdays with him - and his children - in the future. To Harry and Ginny!"

"Harry and Ginny!" everyone said. Harry's face had turned bright red at the last bit of Mrs. Weasley's toast, and he downed his glass of wine in one gulp. Ginny laughed a little and patted his arm.

Someone put some music on, and soon couples were out on the floor dancing.

"Would you look at that?" the twin standing next to Hermione said, pointing. Hermione looked over to see Remus Lupin dancing an odd sort of waltz with Tonks. Tonks looked like she was having the time of her life; Lupin looked like he was simply trying not to have his feet stomped on. Hermione laughed.

"I think that that" she said, pointing a little further to the left, "Is much funnier."

Whichever twin she was talking to smirked as he saw Luna and Ron dancing together. Or rather, Luna was dancing, waving her arms about and shaking her hips, and Ron was watching bemusedly, a small smile on his face.

Hermione and her companion had just started laughing at Hagrid trying to dance with Professor McGonagall, when Mrs. Weasley suddenly appeared.

"Why aren't you out there?" she asked. "Go on, George, dance with Hermione! Just because Katie isn't here doesn't mean you can't dance." Mrs. Weasley shoved them towards the group of people. "Go!"

George took Hermione's hand, leading her out into the crowd. "Well, if Mum says so..." He stopped suddenly and pulled her into his arms, his feet moving in a complicated pattern in time with the music.

Hermione's eyes grew wide. "You know how to waltz?"

George grinned. "Why wouldn't I?"

"I- I don't know. I guess I just didn't think you would."

"Well," George said, dipping Hermione down, "This proves you wrong, then. Who would've thought it, Hermione Granger finally proven wrong by a Weasley twin?"

Hermione laughed as they spun in circles, dancing around the other guests. After a couple of fast songs, a slower one came on, and Hermione found George pulling her closer. Her arms automatically went around his neck as his slid to her waist. This feels nice, Hermione thought. Comfortable. I wonder...

"You didn't finish what you were saying, earlier," she said.

George looked down at her. "Hmm?" he said absentmindedly.

"Earlier. When you asked if I was having fun and I said I was tired. You were about to say I needed - something - and then Mrs. Weasley made that toast."

"Ah." George grinned. "Well are you having fun?"

Hermione smiled. "Yes, I suppose I am."

"Well then," George said, "You don't need what I was going to say you needed, so I don't need to tell you."

Hermione stuck out her tongue. "Tell me anyway," she said.

A look crossed George's face. "How about I show you instead?"

Hermione nodded, looking into his eyes. She was vaguely aware that they were swaying slowly to the music, vaguely aware that they were standing so close their bodies were nearly touching. She looked into George's eyes as he leaned in, and a niggling thought formed in the back of her mind.

George's lips touched hers in a soft, chaste kiss and Hermione melted. He drew back and smiled softly before leaning in to kiss her cheek.

"What you needed," he whispered in her ear, pulling her closer to him, "Was a kiss."

At the feel of George's lips touching her ear, Hermione suddenly realized what she should have known all along.

"You're Fred," she said softly, pulling back to look at him. "You're not George. You're Fred."

Fred stilled, stopping their swaying. Just as Hermione was about to reassure him that it was perfectly fine - that she was actually glad he was Fred - the song ended. Fred kissed her hand and quickly left the dance floor.

Hermione stood for a few seconds, not quite comprehending what had happened. Fred Weasley kissed me, she thought. He kissed me and I was glad that he wasn't George. And I wanted to kiss him again. Hermione left the dancing couples and wandered through the party, searching for Fred. As many of the guests were relatives of the Weasleys, however, Fred's defining feature - his hair - blended in perfectly with the crowd.

Finally Hermione gave up her search, instead sitting down with a bottle of butterbeer and watching the party. She was almost through the whole bottle when Ginny came and sat down.

"Hey."

Hermione smiled. "Hey."

"You should go dance; enjoy yourself," Ginny said, bumping Hermione's shoulder with her own. "You looked like you were having fun earlier."

"I was," Hermione replied, "But I think I'm just going to rest now."

"Are you sure? I'm sure Charlie would dance with you if you asked. I saw him over here earlier, but it looks like he's disappeared...come to think of it, he's been avoiding being near you all night." Ginny's tone turned suspicious. "Is something going on?"

Hermione laughed a little. "Fred dared me to seduce Charlie the last time Charlie visited. So I did."

Ginny's eyes grew wide and she broke into giggles, stifling them with her hand. "You...Charlie...Seduce..." She finally gave in and bent over double, placing a hand on Hermione's shoulder for support. "Oh, Merlin, that's perfect! You and Charlie!" Ginny said, before bursting into laughter again.

Hermione smiled. "Shush, Gin. Anyway, Fred walked in to make sure I was doing the dare, and it was really embarrassing. I think I upset him a little."

Ginny finally stopped laughing, wiping her eyes with her wrists. "Well, knowing Fred, he'll not show it if you did. He'll just carry on smiling like always. Say, you were dancing with him earlier, weren't you? Or was that George? They look too much alike tonight."

Hermione shook her head, smile fading a little. "No, that was Fred."

"Well do you know why he went inside so early? He promised he'd show Neville some of the new breeds of plants he and George are working on..."

Fred went inside? Hermione stood and made her way towards the back door of the Burrow, ignoring Ginny's calls behind her.

Fred sat on his bed, head in his hands. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! I shouldn't have pretended I was George - no, I shouldn't have kissed her, that's what I should'nt have done. Stupid! Fred's fist shot out and hit the wall. Why did I have to go and do that? She probably only let me kiss her because George already has a girlfriend; a little kiss from him wouldn't mean anything. He got up and paced the room, running his hands through his hair.

What do I say? I'm going to see her tomorrow...No, no, I don't have to see her tomorrow. I can just...avoid her, until we get the flat fixed and move out of the Burrow. Yeah, that's it. But Merlin, her lips are so soft...No. Stop it, Fred. Don't think of that.

Fred flopped back down on the bed, arms covering his eyes. Bloody hell, this is too much to think about. I need to get some air. With a sharp crack, he Disapparated.

Hermione cautiously made her way up the stairs. What am I going to do when I see him? What am I going to say? Hi, Fred, I followed you from the party because I think I have feelings for you and I want you to kiss me again? Yeah, that will sound good. She stopped outside the twins' room and knocked on the door. No one answered. Hermione knocked again, a little harder. Still, no answer.

Well, here goes me making a fool of myself, she thought, and opened the door.

Fred wasn't there.

Hermione walked over to Fred's bed; he hadn't bothered to make it and the blankets were all twisted. Hermione smoothed away a few of the wrinkles out of habit and was surprised to find that the sheets were still somewhat warm. He must have gone back to the party right before I came in the house. Should I go look for him? Hermione sat down on the bed. No, I'll just stay here and wait until he comes back. I don't much feel in the mood for a party now, anyway. She yawned. Merlin, I'm tired...

Within a few minutes, Hermione had fallen asleep.

"Hermione?"

Hermione blearily opened her eyes at the sound of a man's voice calling her name. What time is it? she thought sleepily. It certainly isn't time for work. Why are the walls red? My walls aren't red...

Hermione sat up quickly. I'm in the twins' room.

Fred was standing over her, an apprehensive look on his face. "Hermione? Are you ok?"

Hermione hastily stood, smoothing her dress and trying to style her hair. "Yes," she said in a voice that was a tad bit higher than normal. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Ok," Fred said. Silence descended, and they stood, awkwardly looking everywhere but each other.

Hermione took a deep breath. He's here. I should say what I came to say. "Fred?"

"Hmm?" Fred said, looking up from where he had been intently studying the floor.

"About tonight, I just wanted to say..." Hermione faltered, looking for the right words.

Here it comes, Fred thought. She's going to say that it was nice and all, and she appreciated it, but that she's always thought of me as Ron's brother. That I'm family, and family don't date, let alone kiss.

"Well, I wanted to say that..." Hermione trailed off again. "Ohhhh, how do I phrase this?"

"It's ok," Fred said, "You don't have to say it."

"Yes, Fred, I do. I wanted to say that...that...Oh, damn it all!" Hermione grabbed Fred's neck and brought his head down for a kiss. He hesitated a second, and then suddenly one arm was around Hermione's waist, the other tangled in her hair. Hermione pressed herself as close to him as she could get, needing to feel Fred's body against hers. Her tongue explored his mouth and he moaned.

Slowly the kiss turned gentler, sweeter. After what seemed like hours Fred pulled away, cupping Hermione's face in his hands and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"I think I understand what you wanted to say," he said.

"Good," whispered Hermione, and pulled him to her again.