Somewhere on a Beach
Epilogue Two
"Ah! Well, if it isn't the Weasleys!" Linda smiles a warm smile as Hermione and Fred approach the check-in desk, suitcases in hand. "Welcome back!"
Unsurprisingly, Linda quickly rounds the desk, wrapping her arms around Hermione as if greeting an old friend. When she pulls back, she gives Hermione a rather strange look, her eyes flitting to Fred for a moment before she steps back fully.
"Well, when debating where to celebrate our anniversary, we couldn't think of a better place than here," Fred says, using his hand which isn't carrying his suitcase to wrap around Hermione's waist, tugging her closer to him.
Linda doesn't respond for a moment, instead seeming to take a moment to examine Hermione and Fred. The aforementioned witch supposes that much has changed in the last year, though not much that Linda would know, really.
"Well, we're so glad to have you both back. I'll get you your room keys so that you can get settled in."
It takes all of five seconds after Hermione and Fred enter their suite for Hermione to find herself with her back against the door and a redhead on her lips.
Fred unceremoniously tosses his suitcase and Hermione's to the side, using his now freed arms to wrap tightly around his wife's waist. Hermione returns by threading the fingers of one hand through Fred's long, copper hair and wrapping her other arm around his neck.
Hermione stands up on her toes, crushing herself closer to her husband, smiling with unrestrained joy against his lips.
"I love you," Hermione whispers, pulling back from Fred for a moment.
Hermione and Fred married in a small ceremony in the backyard of the Burrow two days ago– just four months after their relationship began in April. Fred unofficially proposed the morning of April 2nd, the day after his birthday, and then actually proposed three weeks later. Of course it had been fast in some ways, but in others, it had been far too long in the making. Hermione had said yes without hesitation– both times.
When Fred had asked Hermione where she wanted to celebrate their honeymoon, there was truly only one place that she could think of. She had already enjoyed one honeymoon with Fred at this hotel, so she knew that she would enjoy this one even more.
Technically, Fred hadn't been lying when he told Linda that they were there to celebrate their anniversary– the anniversary of their first trip here, anyway. Perhaps not the anniversary that the older woman might be thinking, but it's certainly an important place in the timeline of Hermione and Fred's relationship.
"I love you," Fred replies, nuzzling his nose against Hermione's. "Now, we have about two hours until dinner. Any particular preference for how we spend those hours?"
The corner of Hermione's lips tip up into a smirk as she slips out from her cage against the door. She drags the tips of her fingers down Fred's arm from behind until she reaches his hand, twining her fingers with his and beginning to lead him backward in the direction of the bed.
Fred doesn't take much convincing, following behind Hermione happily.
"And to think, it was only a year ago when you were horrified at the thought of shagging me," Fred chuckles, his eyes widening minutely in appreciation when Hermione crosses her arms and lifts her jumper up over her head.
Hermione scoffs, rolling her eyes at her husband as she climbs onto the bed, kneeling up to be of somewhat equal height with him.
"Actually, I thought that you were horrified by the thought of shagging me," Hermione corrects, draping her arms over Fred's shoulders and pulling him forward until his knees hit the edge of the bed.
Fred smiles his signature disarming smile as he brackets his arms around Hermione's now-bare waist.
"Horrified is definitely not the word that I would use to describe the way that I felt about shagging you– then or now," Fred winks, slipping his hands down to rest on Hermione's bum, using that grip as leverage to bring her flush against him.
Hermione adjusts herself to place both of her hands flat on Fred's chest, dragging them down until she reaches the waistband of his jeans.
"Oh? Well, what word would you use then?" Hermione teases, deftly popping the button on her husband's jeans and undoing the zipper, the sound loud in her ears in their otherwise quiet room. It makes the hair on the back of her neck stand on end in anticipation.
Fred licks his lips, briefly parting from his wife to tear his own shirt off and throw it somewhere onto the bed behind Hermione.
"Right now? Eager."
Hermione snuggles in closer to her husband, inhaling his familiar scent and smiling into his chest. Her head is resting on Fred's chest and her arms are wrapped around him as her right leg is draped over his thighs, much in the same way as she had woken up that first morning with him a year ago now.
"What're you thinking about, love?" Fred asks into Hermione's hair as he glides the tips of his fingers on his right hand up and down his wife's still-bare spine.
Hermione presses a kiss to Fred's sternum before tilting her head up to look at him.
"You," she replies easily, leaning up on her elbow to drop another kiss to her husband's lips, which she may or may not get a bit lost in before she pulls back to continue speaking. "The way that you smell. How I can't believe that it's only been a year since I felt like the world was ending. Asking you to come with me last year was possibly the second best decision I've made as of late."
Fred quirks a half-smile and raises his left hand to adjust Hermione's leg higher up on his pelvis, using that leverage to tug her even closer to him, if at all possible.
"Second best?" Fred wonders, arching an eyebrow at his wife.
Hermione chuckles lightly, unsure if Fred is genuinely asking or if he just wants to hear her say it. Either way, she elaborates.
"Marrying you was the first," Hermione states, absently drawing patterns on Fred's left pectoral muscle with the free edge of her fingernail. "I know that we moved fast, but I wouldn't change any of it."
Fred breathes a laugh against the crown of Hermione's head, catching her hand in his own and twining their fingers together.
"Not even when Ronnikins loudly broke up with his girlfriend at our reception? Or rather, she broke up with him."
Hermione smothers her own laugh into her husband's skin, inadvertently replaying the memory in her mind before responding. Admittedly, she wasn't too disappointed when that event had happened. Of course, she doesn't wish harm on her ex-fiance, but she does find it somewhat amusing that the woman whom he thought was so special only ended up lasting another month after the infamous Sunday supper and that every subsequent witch he'd brought around was also so special, according to him– at least, until they each left him, anyway.
"We shouldn't have even invited him," Fred says– again– for probably the tenth time since the wedding.
Hermione twists just slightly, enough that she can more comfortably meet her husband's eye and have the same conversation that she has had with him approximately ten times already.
"He's your brother, Freddie. Regardless of any history there, he's still your brother. It would've broken your mum's heart to not have him there."
Fred shrugs, squeezing Hermione's hand for a moment.
"Mum would've gotten over it. Lia was his fourth 'girlfriend' in a year and every one that he brings home he swears is the one. He needs to grow up."
Hermione rolls her lips in to fight off her smile.
"I'm sorry, is Fred Weasley telling someone to grow up? You do remember that you own a joke shop, yes?"
Fred scoffs, though there's no real bite in the noise. Instead, he uses his leverage of his hand in hers and of his arm around her back to easily flip the two of them over, Hermione landing on her back with Fred kneeling over her.
"Ooh, someone thinks they're funny, huh?" Fred breathes, dragging the tip of his nose against Hermione's jaw before peppering said jaw with warm kisses. "And anyway, there's a difference between selling tools to make people laugh and shagging your way through Wizarding London."
Hermione hitches her leg up on her husband's hip, tugging him a bit closer to her– as much as she can without him losing his balance, anyway.
"I know, love. Just don't let him ruin our honeymoon. Ronald Weasley is neither of our problems anymore. Either he'll sort himself out or he won't, but that's not your responsibility."
Fred leans down, this time, pressing his lips against his wife's in a soft, but meaningful kiss.
"My, how the tables have turned," Fred winks, nuzzling his nose against Hermione's before kissing her again. "I seem to remember having a similar conversation with you at one time."
Hermione raises her hand to brush a chunk of copper hair back from her husband's forehead, an adoring smile beginning to stretch her lips.
"Well, I learned from the best."
Hermione and Fred eventually untangle themselves and get up out of bed, deciding to take a quick shower together before heading downstairs for dinner. As has become normal for the newlyweds, Fred takes Hermione's hand in his, not to guide her, but instead, simply because he can. Any chance that Fred can get to show his affection to his wife, he takes it without fail.
"Table for two?" Linda smiles as Hermione and Fred approach the hostess stand in the front of the dining room.
Hermione nods as Fred replies in the affirmative, walking alongside her behind Linda until they arrive at their table for the evening. Linda places two menus on the table and lets them know that their waiter will be around shortly before disappearing back through the dining room in the direction of the hostess stand.
Fred pulls Hermione's chair out for her, waiting for a moment while she sits before helping her to push it back towards the table. Then, he rounds the table and takes his own seat across from her.
From across the candlelit table, Hermione meets her husband's eye and smiles at him.
"I love you," Hermione mouths, reaching for the water goblet which is already on the table and taking a sip.
Fred returns her smile and stretches his hand across the small table to squeeze Hermione's and mouth back to her.
"I love you."
"Excuse me for a moment," Hermione says as she picks her serviette up off of her lap and places it beside her supper plate.
"Of course, love," Fred replies, smiling a charming smile at his wife as she stands from the table.
Hermione weaves her way through the dining room until she comes upon the restroom, where she makes a quick stop before turning back around and searching for the table she left. Before she gets there, though, she is stopped short by an older woman with dark hair– Linda, of course.
"Oh! Hello, Mrs. Weasley, dear," Linda beams, catching Hermione by the forearms when she very nearly runs into her. "Has your dinner been up to par?"
Hermione smiles in return.
"Of course it is," she answers with a laugh and a shake of her head, twisting her hands to hold onto Linda's hands. "I thought that Fred was going to inhale his steak. I blinked and it was gone."
"Well, I'll give his compliments to our chef," Linda chuckles in return. "And congratulations to you, of course– on your wedding."
Hermione opens her mouth to thank Linda before the reality of her words hits. She stammers for a moment, furrowing her brows.
"Oh, please, dear. I own a hotel. I'm quite adept at reading people," Linda explains, shrugging her shoulders. "Forgive me for saying so, Mrs. Weasley, but your husband still looks at you the same way as he did a year ago. You don't look at him the same way as you did."
Hermione's eyes widen. Surely Linda isn't saying what she thinks she's saying..? She couldn't possibly have known, could she?
"And then there's the little matter of this," Linda continues, lifting her right hand– which is still grasped around Hermione's left– and pinches her ring finger in between her own thumb and forefinger. She fiddles with the two rings now sitting on Hermione's ring finger which decidedly hadn't been there last year. "This is new since your last visit."
Hermione bites her bottom lip, unsure of what to say.
"Don't worry, dear, I'm just glad that things worked out the way that they were meant to," Linda smiles, squeezing Hermione's hand once more before letting her go.
Hermione narrows her eyes at the older woman, unsure of how to respond, exactly.
"The– the way that they were meant to?" she wonders.
"Well, of course, dear. I meant what I said," Linda states, her voice soft but firm. "That man looks at you like you hung the stars. You must be a remarkable woman because he certainly thinks so."
The corner of Hermione's lips tip up into a half-smile. Of course, she knows how Fred feels about her, but it's different hearing it from someone who is practically a stranger who has done little other than observe the two of them together.
"He's remarkable too," Hermione insists, not because she feels the need to defend her husband, but because it's true. "Fred is an identical twin and even still, there's no one quite like him."
Linda smiles a warm smile which bears uncanny resemblance to that of Hermione's mother-in-law.
"Well, then you ought to get back to him, dear."
Hermione glances back over her shoulder where she can clearly see her newly-minted husband eyeballing what appears to be a dessert menu.
"Don't mind if I do."
In the years to come, the Weasley gang and their ever-growing populace continue to return to the quaint little hotel where Hermione and Fred spent not one, but two of their honeymoons.
The year following Hermione and Fred's true honeymoon, they return with George, Angelina and their newborn daughter, Roxanne, alongside Harry, Ginny and their brood. They spend the week relaxing somewhere on a beach and entertaining Daniel and Linda with the chaos that is the greater Weasley family.
The year after that, Molly and Arthur join the group. That's the year when Hermione surprises her husband– and most of their extended family– with the news that they would soon be adding to their family. In a twist of fate which could not have been planned more perfectly, Angelina has a similar announcement to share that year.
After that, Ron comes along, making three new additions to the group that year– himself, Hermione and Fred's daughter, Georgia Rose, and George and Angelina's son, Freddie. Unsurprisingly, Ron finds himself a blonde on the beach who– surprisingly– keeps his attention for longer than the week during which they reside at the hotel.
With every year that passes, a great many things change. What doesn't change is the Weasley crowd and their annual visits to the place where Hermione and Fred Weasley managed to fall in love while on their 'honeymoon'.
Hi, friends! Happy Friday! (:
The End! Kinda, lol. So, this chapter is the final chapter of Somewhere on a Beach, however, we are not quite finished with this universe. Coming over the next couple of weeks, I will also be sharing a couple of one-shots which can stand alone, but which were written with the intent of being a part of this universe. There are two of them, the first of which is a prequel and the second which takes place between the previous epilogue and this one of this fic. (:
I am planning to upload the SoaB prequel, which is called 'Stripes', next Friday, so stay tuned. (:
As far as other work coming from me, I have lots coming. Aside from the two one-shots which are a part of the SoaB universe, I also have two other Fremione one-shots, a short Fremione multi-chapter and a Dramione one-shot and multi-chapter. I would encourage you to follow me as an Author here on FFN if you're interested in knowing when each of those works go live. (:
ALSO. Shameless plug, last week I completed another fic. My longest fic- and the one I am most proud of to-date- Snippets, is finished. For those unfamiliar, it is a Dramione inspired by the prompt 'Your character begins to remember things that have never happened'. I am so, so proud of that fic. Please check it out if you haven't already and let me know what you think. (:
As always, thank you so, so, so much for spending a bit of your time here with me this week and for coming back week after week to watch Fred and Hermione's story play out. Check out my profile next week for more if you're so inclined. Either way, you have my thanks. I am so grateful.
Please, if you feel so inclined, leave a review. I'd love to hear what you thought of this fic. (:
See you again soon.