Chapter 6- Fred

Fred responded right away telling her to just let him know where she was and he'd come quickly, so she let him know she would be at the Burrow that evening.

Hermione was wearing her regular robes that showed her pregnancy so she put on her outer robes on so he would not know. She had just put on her robes when Fred arrived.

He ran to her and pulled her into his arms. "I'm so sorry. I was wrong. I was a fool. Please say you forgive me." He whispered into her ear as he held her to him.

"Why don't we go for a walk? I hear your Mum has a beautiful flower garden."

"She does." Was all he said as he opened the door for her. He took her hand as he closed the door behind them.

Hermione was truly amazed with garden that Mrs. Weasley had created. It was beautiful. "This is amazing." She told Fred as they walked through the flowers.

"It is. I was awed the first time I saw it too."

When they had come full circle, they were back in the little sitting area.

"Is it too cold out here for you?" Fred asked her.

"No, I'm good. Let's sit down and talk."

"I have so much to apologize for. I was scared. I knew I was falling in love with you, and when I looked into your eyes, I knew you were too. I panicked. I didn't think I was ready for that, so I pushed you away. I was so wrong. If you could find it in your heart to forgive me, I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

"You know Fred, I've been sort of hiding out. I was afraid of seeing you again after you told me you didn't want a relationship anymore, but I've changed my mind. I am strong enough to take it. If you decide you want me to leave, I'll go because I know I can make it on my own, but what I truly want is for us to give it a try."

"I would never do that again. I want to be with you the rest of my life." He told her as he got down on one knee and pulled a ring out of his pocket. "Hermione, I think it's time for us to get married."

"What!?"

"I asked you to hear me out."

"But what you just said is crazy. We haven't seen each other in months."

"No, it's not. I already know that you will be my mate for the rest of our days, and that you are going to be the mother of my children, so why don't we just do it now?"

"Again, what!? Are you daft? What makes you think we are going to be married?

"Last night I dreamed we were dating. We were serious and I did something stupid and lost you. I don't want that to happen. I never want to feel that pain again."

"You're basing your entire future on a dream?"

"Yes, and hear me out. I know it sounds crazy but all my life I've known when something was the right thing to do and this is the right thing to do. I will be a good husband to you. I will love any children you give me and I will love and honor you for the rest of my days."

"Fred. Stop. You can't be serious."

"But I am."

"People don't just decide that they want to marry someone and spring it on them."

"I thought this would be the easiest way, but if you'd like we can date for a while again. Then get married."

"You're insane. I'm not going to marry you. At least not because of a dream."

"You mean right now, don't you? Because I can guarantee you that we will be married."

"You need to stop this craziness."

Fred got up and started pacing. "This is harder than I thought. I've always felt a connection to you and I know you felt it too. My dream just showed me that I was right." Fred knelt down in front of Hermione and looked into her eyes. "Hermione, tell me I was wrong. That you've never felt something between us. Tell me it is just my imagination."

"This is ridiculous. Normal people don't suddenly wake up and decide today I'm getting married."

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not 'normal' people?"

She started laughing and said, "No, I suppose you're not."

"Ok, we'll do it the long way. We will date first. You'll have no choice but to fall in love with me again and then we'll get married."

She smiled at him and he continued, "When we are dating, we'll spend all of our free time together. I will be a good husband to you. I promise to put your needs first and cherish you. I will be faithful and will support your projects. Remember SPEW? I donated to that didn't I?" He smiled at that thought and went on. "I will make sure you know every day how special you are and I will never take you for granted. I would never try to change you."

"Merlin, Fred. You just listed every good quality a husband should have. Did you read that in a book?"

"No, I am just trying to be honest and let you see how much you mean to me."

"But how can that be? How can you change your mind so quickly? As I recall you wanted to enjoy yourself while you could."

"I was wrong. Remember back in our school days? I asked you to go to Hogsmeade with me and you told me to grow up."

"I thought you were asking on a dare. Why would you have been interested in taking me with you, plus it wasn't even a Hogsmeade weekend. We would have been breaking the school rules leaving the grounds."

"Sometimes you have to break a few rules and it wasn't a dare and this isn't either. I am totally serious; I want to marry you. I don't want to let this slip through my fingers."

"I have never met such a hard-headed person in my entire life. I have not said I am going to date you either. But I have to admit I am intrigued by your persistence."

"See, you're already coming around."

"You're impossible." She said laughing. "I'm not sure what is going on here, but why don't we sleep on it and see if this conversation makes any sense tomorrow? I'm sure you'll come to your senses by then."

"You're off tomorrow, right? The shop will be open until 5:00 tomorrow, so if you'd like you can drop in to see that I'll be able to provide for you and our children. Then we can go on our first date again. How many do you think we'll need before you're ready?"

"Fred! I don't know how to get through to you, but I am going to go home. If you are serious about a date tomorrow, I accept the offer."

"Of course, I am serious. I am already counting the minutes until we see each other again." He said as he pulled her up to her feet and looked into her eyes as he slowly leaned his head down and kissed her.

The next morning when George went down to the shop the shelves were already stocked and Fred was waiting on a customer.

"Did you turn my alarm off?" George asked after the customer left.

"Yes, I was up early and stoked the shelves, so I thought I would let you lay in. You're welcome!"

"Thanks. How did it go with Hermione?"

"It's going to take a little more time than I thought, but she'll come around. She's still at the stage where she thinks I'm crazy."

"I wonder why everyone thinks that about us. It would save so much time if everyone just agreed to what we said when we said it."

"You got that right."

"So, what's the plan?"

"We're going to take it slow. Date for a while. Then she said we'll see how it goes. So, starting tonight I am turning on the Weasley charm. It will be our first date again, so I want to make it something she'll remember."

They went out and had a lovely time. When they got back to the Burrow Hermione turned to Fred, "Before I give you an answer, I have something I need to tell you."

"Whatever you need. I just want you to think about how happy we were together. Don't you want that again? We can have it forever; you just need to say the word." He looked at her with love in his eyes and continued, "Where have you been? I would have told you sooner that I was wrong, but I couldn't find you."

"I'm going to school at the Ministry in Romania."

"What? Why in Romania?"

"I needed to get away. So, I signed up for classes there. Anything to keep my mind busy. You know me."

"Yes. School is exactly what you'd do. I never thought of that."

"Are you living there?"

"Yes, I rented a small house there."

"Are you lonely being there by yourself?"

"No, my classes keep me busy, and I get a few visitors."

"Let me guess. Harry and Ron?"

"Yes. They come as often as they can."

"I'll come too. How long until your classes are finished?"

"Not until spring."

"Will you have the Christmas holidays off?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to come and stay here with me over Christmas?"

"We'll see. Do you want to come to my house and talk? We'll probably be more comfortable there, than out here in the cold."

"We would need to go to the Ministry for a portkey, Romania is too far to apparate or floo. Wouldn't you rather come to my place? George is out, we'd be able to talk there."

"I have a portkey, so the choice is yours."

"If you have a portkey already, let's go."

"I have to go tell your Mum that we're leaving. Come on." She told him as she led him by the hand.

Mrs. Weasley had fixed a huge dinner, so she insisted that Fred and Hermione take some home with them. She could tell by the way Mrs. Weasley was smiling that she thought everything was great, but Hermione had a huge secret to tell Fred. One that could make him change his mind. If he did change his mind, at least she'd know she did everything she could for their relationship.

When they arrived, Fred glanced around and said, "Nice. I like it. Go look around. I'll set out the dinner then we can talk.

"I can help you; I have plenty of time to look around."

Hermione took off her robes and hung them by the door. When she turned around Fred's eyes almost bulged out of his face.

"Surprise. You're going to be a father." She told him.

"This is better than I expected." He said happily.

"What? Aren't you shocked? Am I missing something?"

"There's no way you can't marry me now." He said laughing. "And you don't know the things I was imagining that you had to tell me before you'd accept my proposal. This is so much better."

"Why not? Lots of women raise children by themselves."

"Not a lot of Magical women."

"For your information Fred Weasley, I have been proposed to several times, even while I am pregnant."

"You wouldn't think of marrying someone else, would you?" He asked her, sounding a little unsure.

"I just don't want you thinking I don't have any options."

"I would never think that. I'm sorry. Let's eat dinner and then if it's not this, you can tell me what you wanted to tell me."

"Hello! Where have you been? This is what I wanted to tell you."

"Did you think I wouldn't want you just because of a baby? Didn't you hear me earlier? I've been miserable without you."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. But I guess we need to move up the wedding. When is our baby due?"

"The beginning of March."

"Do you have an objection with a winter wedding? I know you birdies always want summer weddings, but I would rather have our baby born to married parents."

"I don't need a huge wedding. I am willing to go to the Ministry and get married and then have a reception for our family and friends."

"Then that's what we'll do."