It's like it's become a part of me.

I know that sounds ridiculous, especially because I'm talking about a building, but it's true. For the short amount of time when I felt like I wasn't welcome here, it was physically painful. I kept telling myself it was all because of the hostility of the people in the house, which was partly true, but it was the place I missed as well. The crookedness of the structure, the orchard at the back, the yard with the chickens running freely and even the ghoul in the attic.

It was where I learnt what it was really like to be magical. Granted, I learnt as much as I could from books, but just being around magical people made all the difference and showed me wizardry was more than spells.

It was where I learnt that sometimes you had to make decisions that you didn't want to make, but had to for either the greater good, or for your own good. Sometimes the two aren't mutually exclusive, sometimes they are.

I learned to love, to hurt, to cry, to live and to Ifeel/I. To make the right decision, to accept when I had made the wrong decision, to trust, to be cautious, and to laugh. Of course I knew all of these things before, but I didn't really Iknow/I them until I became myself, and that happened during my time at the Burrow.

Can I really credit all that to a building? Well, I suppose not. A house is not a home without the people you love inside it. I loved them all. I had a second set of parents and many siblings. I fell in love with one of them, and then another. The time when I wasn't exactly welcome… that would be the time I 'chose the wrong brother'.

And that would be one of the decisions I made for my own good. Was I selfish? Probably. But I know more people would have been hurt in the long run had I not made it. This is my justification for choosing Fred over Ron. Don't ask me what went wrong between Ron and me because I can't honestly tell you. I'd be lying or insulting either of us if I came up with some half-hearted excuse, so I never have. I just fell out of love with him, and then found true love with Fred.

It was strange, I'm not going to deny that. Even when people insisted they were fine with the whole situation, I still refused to be affectionate towards Fred when we were here. I didn't care if Ron was in the house at the same time as us, it felt strange and I felt guilty for far too long.

We're all okay now, though. More than okay, in fact. We've had our heartaches and pain over the years, and there's been Imany/I years. I wish less of them would show up as grey hairs on my head.

People passed on; thankfully, when the time seemed right, and through various circumstances, the Burrow is now the place I truly call home. Our children have called this home, and our Grandchildren, too. It's still the most open house you will ever come across. With a Weasley family that is now too big to explain in an afternoon, it could never be quiet. We love it this way, it's the way it always has been and the way we always want it to be. I don't think this house would survive without the constant flow of people coming in and out of it.

There I go again, talking like it's alive or something. Call me mad or crazy, with the amount of magic that this house has seen and been strengthened by over the years, there's more to it than brick, slate and wood.

'Hermione?'

'Yes, my Love.'

'You're staring at the house again.'

'Of this I am perfectly aware, Fred.'

'You know, I think you might be more in love with this house than you are with me.'

'Yes. Probably.'

Even after all these years I do love to make him laugh.

'Ah well, at least you're not running off after younger men. At least if the house is here, you'll still be here.'

I looked up at the old building once more.

'How long do you reckon it'll be here for?'

'I dunno. Longer than us I'd guess. There'll be many more Weasley generations passing through this old house.'

'Good. It's the way it should be.'