‘I have to come too?’ asked Hermione as Fred nearly emptied the suitcase looking for something to wear, a mask of desperation and a need to impress covered his face as Hermione peeked at him from underneath her covers, ‘why do I have to come?’

‘Because Mr Grey invited you for breakfast! I need to make a good first impression so, please, just come for me?’ Fred pleaded. His hair was dripping wet since he had just had a shower, the drops of water fell down his bare shoulders, ‘wear something good.’

‘Fine!’ Hermione sighed, dragging herself out of bed, she muttered to herself darkly, ‘If I start getting sick, I’m blaming you.’

‘You will not be sick! If you feel that way, just excuse yourself... politely,’ Fred said, grabbing her arm as she walked past him. He spun her around so that her eyes were looking directly into his, ‘please, I need this.’

‘Fine, I’ll try my best,’ Hermione muttered and Fred looked relieved as he let out the breath he had been holding. He leaned in to kiss her but Hermione stopped him by placing a finger on his lips, ‘not yet.’

Fred pouted but she only laughed playfully at him before starting to dig through her suitcase, throwing underwear and clothes out onto the bed, for nearly ten minutes as Fred changed into his dashing suit. He showed it to her, his eyes were determined and nervous, and Hermione had to say the suit looked good on him. He wore a white, spotless button up shirt with black trousers and a blazer on top of the shirt. Fred’s anxiety dropped only slightly. Hermione grabbed the dress that she had packed, it had always been a little loose on her so she had never worn it. First she took a shower, letting the warm water rush over her until Fred banged his fist on the door, shouting that she couldn’t take too long to get ready. Hermione quickly finished her shower and then dried herself off. She eyed the dress carefully before tugging it over her head. It was a knee length dark blue dress with a white belt around her stomach, ending with a small bow.

‘Okay, what do you think?’ asked Hermione, twirling around in front of Fred, ‘bit tight? Do I look fat in it? It’s quite tight at my chest, actually.’

‘Yeah, I guess it is a bit tight at the chest but no one’s complaining,’ Fred winked at her, making her face turn beet red, ‘it’s comfortable though, right?’

‘Yes, I’m sure it’ll be fine. I have shoes to match... Let me just fix my hair and do some make up,’ Hermione said, grabbing her wand as she did her hair.

Hermione had learnt a neat trick in her fourth year – the year of the Yule Ball. She had read about a spell that made your hair look silky smooth as well as professionally elegant, although that spell took hours to master. She remembered reading some more simple spells and tried to try one, hoping it wouldn’t mess up her hair. Fred, on the other hand, stood with his back to her and held up two ties in his hands. He surveyed both of them with inspecting eyes. One was a simple, diagonal striped dark blue tie while the other was a green tie. Fred couldn’t decide which one to pick or which one looked more... skilled. He turned to see Hermione who was in the middle of pinning her hair.

‘Hey, Mia, which one?’ he asked, showing off his ties by placing both of them near his neck. Hermione pointed to the dark blue one and he grimaced, ‘I like the green one, actually.’

‘Dark blue is better,’ Hermione stated, glancing at him as she was finished with her hair. She examined her hair. She had pinned half of her hair up onto her head with a blue butterfly pin that wrapped her hair around perfectly. The hair that was left had turned into big, glossy curls.

‘Green stands out more,’ Fred groaned, holding onto the ties and staring at them as though they would speak out.

‘Blue!’

‘Green!’

‘Seriously?’ Hermione turned to him when she was about to pick up her lipstick, her jaw set, ‘you ask me for my advice and won’t take it! Plus the blue one matches my dress. We never agree on anything!’

‘Fine, Mia! I’ll wear the blue one, just for you,’ Fred stated, swinging the blue tie around his neck, ‘and no, we never agree but we’re still together.’

‘True,’ Hermione sighed, doing her make up.

---

‘This house is truly incredible, sir!’ Fred praised as they walked up the massive walk way.

Fred and Hermione arrived at Alexander Grey’s house, it took them twenty minutes by car. All the way through the car ride, Fred fidgeted nervously and would give Hermione one word answers but she didn’t think too much of it. Fred was just nervous. Alexander Grey was the rich 30 year old who owned most of the Hogsmeade properties and apparently, Fred had told her, he was very picky about giving them away. When they arrived at the house they rode up the drive way and looked around, gobsmacked by the size of the house.

The whole house could fit more than a hundred of Fred’s small apartments in there. It was a huge white house with lots of big windows and the front door itself was so intimidating. The front garden stretched out on either side of them and flowers blossomed out as though it took no effort to maintain them. Fred lead Hermione up some stairs to where Mr Grey and his wife stood. Mr Grey was not what Hermione expected him to look like. He was really good looking with a noticeable tan. He wore a suit even in the immense heat, the suit looked like it cost more than Fred’s apartment. His hair was perfectly styled and jet black, not sticking up at all. His eyes shone hazel. His wife was beautiful and young. She wore a red dress that didn’t even come up to her knees, making Hermione feel too over dressed. Her brown hair reached her waist in admirable waves. She looked about 20 years old.

‘Thank you. It’s taken me at least ten years to get to where I am now,’ Mr Grey shook hands with Fred and then turned to Hermione, ‘this must be your wife.’

‘No, sir, my girlfriend,’ Fred said, his hand getting tighter around Hermione’s in nervousness.

‘Hermione Granger, sir. I must say, I have heard a lot about you,’ Hermione said, with a hint of lying. She stretched out her hand but Mr Grey leaned forwards and kissed her lips, lingering for a second.

‘I’m sure you have,’ he said and pulled back. His wife shook hands with Fred and then Hermione, introducing herself as Anna. Mr Grey turned on his heels and walked into the house, motioning for them to follow, ‘come on, breakfast awaits.’

‘Please tell me you saw that,’ Hermione whispered to Fred as Anna walked in, ‘he kissed my lips!’

‘Yes, he’s rich. I’m sure he can get away with it,’ Fred said, pulling her into the house after him, ‘please just go with it.’

Hermione shut her mouth, she would not ruin this for Fred. She looked around as they walked through the hall that could fit five or six limos in there. The walls were lined with paintings from different people and Hermione noticed a house elf cleaning the grand staircase. They were lead outside to where a table stood with all sorts of breakfast foods laid on top of a white sheet covering the table. A huge, blue swimming pool stretched out behind them looking sparkling clean. Mr Grey sat at the table and Anna took the seat in front of him. Hermione and Fred sat opposite each other.

‘This is wonderful but you didn’t have to go to the trouble,’ Fred said, taking off his blazer and placing it on the back of the chair.

‘I didn’t go to any trouble. My house elves did,’ Mr Grey laughed, taking a croissant into his plate.

Hermione held in her complaints when Fred gave her a stern look. Fred laughed alongside Mr Grey and started to fill his plate with food too. Hermione didn’t want to eat the food that house elves had laboured over for this stuck up rich man but she had to for Fred.

‘Come on, gorgeous,’ Mr Grey said, wagging his knife at Hermione, ‘eat whatever you want. If you don’t like anything here, I can get you anything you want.’

‘Thank you, sir,’ Hermione said, politely, taking some fruit pudding for herself.

‘Now tell me, Fred,’ Mr Grey asked and Fred nodded, ‘why have you not married this attractive young lady yet?’

‘We’re waiting for the right time,’ Hermione answered him, getting a bit annoyed at his obvious glances at her dress and then looking up to her face and smiling lightly as though he knew how annoyed and helpless she felt, ‘and it just so happens, we love each other very much but-’

‘No commitments because you might find someone better?’ he asked, eating a spoonful of fruit pudding. Hermione glanced at Fred who had a strained smile on his face, ‘Marriage is something that every couple want but those who don’t want it have a reason for declining. Two reasons at the most, the way I see it. One is that they might find someone better but don’t want to lose their boyfriend or girlfriend because they might not find someone else at all. The other reason is that they are planning on leaving the relationship later on. So which one is it, huh?’

‘Actually, Mr Grey, you are wrong,’ Hermione stated, avoiding Fred’s alarmed eyes. She looked right into Alexander’s hazel eyes and said confidently, ‘marriage is something that should not be rushed at all. When two people are in a happy relationship they might not want to jeopardise it by getting married because that seems as though everything is final and set and nothing can be changed. The future of marriage seems to me like a straight paved pathway and when you notice a huge hold in that pathway, things get difficult. In other words, when the two people realise that they can’t live together, whatever the reason for that may be, they will get a divorce which is a tricky and long business, especially for some who may have children. Fred and I are different. We enjoy each others company and we love each other immensely. The reason we don’t get married is that we are not going to rush things just to metaphorically find the huge hole in our pathway that means that we’ll need to take a break from each other. I, for one, would hate that.’

Fred was staring at Hermione with a mixed expression full of admiration, love and fear of how Alexander would respond to that. Even Anna, who had been very quiet during everything, was staring at Hermione with a small smile playing on her lips. Mr Grey wiped his mouth with a napkin, his plate empty, and then turned to Hermione.

‘Smart and hot, huh?’ he asked, winking at her as Hermione kept her head held high. He turned to Fred, ‘you should keep her close to you. You never know when someone else might claim her.’

‘Yes, sir,’ Fred muttered, finishing his breakfast.

 Alexander and Fred continued talking after Hermione’s speech. She was happy that she hadn’t ruined Fred’s opportunity but she knew she had to keep her mouth shut now. They started to talk about business in terms of how much Fred was making and other things like that. Hermione turned to Anna and they had a discussion about clothes and the different weather in London compared to Switzerland. Hermione found Anna  was quite nice and not as stuck up as her boyfriend. Time passed by quickly as they talked between themselves and she was shocked to realise that it was nearly one o’clock.

‘How about we go fishing?’ Alexander asked Fred as the table was magically cleaned, ‘I know this place, well I own it, really. It’s quite beautiful. We can fish while the women can swim in the pool.’

‘Sure,’ Fred said, turning to Hermione who raised her eyebrows at Fred, ‘if you’re up for it, Mia?’

‘In case you haven’t-’

‘Um, I’m sure Hermione and I can keep ourselves busy in the house. We could make dinner while you men go fishing,’ Anna chirped, looking at Hermione, ‘I don’t really feel like swimming.’

‘Yes, sure, making dinner would be fine,’ Hermione nodded, glaring at Fred who shrugged slightly, ‘let’s get going.’

Hermione, Fred, Anna and Alexander stood up as some house elves scurried by, trying to empty the table. Alexander and Anna walked ahead of them, talking carelessly, and Fred and Hermione walked behind.

‘I can’t believe you are so oblivious to his intentions!’ Hermione hissed, pulling Fred’s hand to slow him down, ‘I don’t like him one bit. The kissing, winking and staring at me...’

‘I’ll make sure he stays away from you, okay?’ asked Fred, rolling his eyes at her, ‘just take it as a compliment.’

---

The house was like a lake house. It was a one storey house with a kitchen, dining room (a bar included) and two bedrooms. A lake sat in front of the house, almost waiting to be jumped into. Beside the lake was another pond with fish swimming in there. Fred and Alexander started fishing straight away. Hermione watched them from the kitchen window, admiring Fred as he sat on one of the rocks, taking his shirt of and placing it beside him.

‘He sure is handsome, that one,’ Anna sighed, coming to stand beside her, ‘but Alexander is strikingly handsome.’

‘When you love someone, you learn to look past how attractive they are but, yes, I suppose Fred is quite stunning,’ Hermione sighed longingly as she watched him fish, ‘I can’t believe we’re together.’

‘There was a lot of news of the war in Britain,’ started Anna, sitting on the counter top and sipping her champagne, ‘and they showed Potter, Weasley and you. I lived in Britain too at that time but I had to flee when they started to torture and kill muggle borns.’

‘You’re a muggle born too?’ asked Hermione, eyes widening slightly as she absorbed this piece of information.

‘Yes. I hid from the death eaters when they came but I witnessed the death of my parents right in front of my eyes,’ Anna said, looking into her glass. She nodded when Hermione apologized, ‘I came to Switzerland and found Alexander who was taken with me. I just stayed with him because I had nowhere else to go. I never loved him although I did anything to make him happy. I got the Daily Prophet every day and read it, hoping you would finally defeat Voldemort. I remember when you did defeat him and the whole news was about how heroic the fight was.’

‘Harry was heroic, we stood by him,’ Hermione commented.

Their voices were quiet as though they were discussing a secret. Anna’s eyes were far away and Hermione could see the same glimmer in her eyes that she saw in Fred’s frequently. It was the glimmer of loss.

‘When I read the news about Voldemort being defeated, I was beyond happy but that night after making love to Alexander and hearing his soft snores in my ears, I though the most odd thought ever... what was everyone so happy about? What was I so happy about? My parents were dead and I have no one in my life anymore. No one I love. We shouldn’t be happy, we should be mourning. Although the news showed pictures of people smiling, drinking and enjoying their freedom,’ Anna sighed, shrugging, ‘war is horrible as it is but when the war is over, it’s even more horrible. That is the time where everything settles inside you. The dread, loss and fear of being alone.’

‘You’re not alone,’ Hermione said, covering her hand as her glass shook slightly, ‘everyone else has experienced loss too. Fred lost his twin brother and that nearly killed him but I helped him through it and you just need to find someone else to help you through it too.’

‘Thank you, Hermione,’ Anna said, gratefully with a small smile, ‘I need someone but Alexander is enough for me at the moment... Now, let start cooking, shall we?’

‘We shall!’ Hermione said as Anna got off the counter.

---

*Fred’s POV*

Fred had always imagined fishing to be like this. Peaceful, soothing and serene. The fish swam about in the small pond lazily, this way and that. Fred took of his shirt as the sun beat on his back with it’s ferocious stare. Fishing constantly brought back images of George. He missed his brother so much. He missed being able to prank with him, joke around with him and even have serious conversations with him.

His mind travelled back to when they were at Hogwarts. Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table, her hair it’s usually wavy brown, her fringe tied back with a small pin. So simple but Fred still thought she looked beautiful. George was sitting next to him, a couple of seats away from Hermione, Harry and Ron. George had noticed the look on Fred’s face and they had gotten into a small argument at the table. Apparently, George thought that he shouldn’t be falling for Hermione because Ron liked her and it was so obvious that they were going to end up together and Fred would just end up heart broken. The argument lasted a couple of days, getting angrier and louder as they argued in their dormitory. Finally Fred snapped and said he wouldn’t make a move on Hermione because Ron liked her. How foolish he had been.

Love always finds a way, Fred thought with a smile.

‘So, Weasley,’ Alexander said, sitting next to him, ‘tell me your secret.’

‘Secret, sir?’ asked Fred, confused.

‘Yes, yes, your secret,’ Alexander stated impatiently and then chuckled, ‘how did you manage to land that babe?’

‘Hermione?’ asked Fred and he nodded. A burning sensation fired up in Fred’s stomach but he tried to cool it down, passing it off as a compliment although he didn’t like it, ‘I love her and she loves me. Simple, really.’

‘You bang her yet?’ he asked, cocking an eyebrow. Fred only stared at the pond as though he hadn’t heard him, ‘I mean she must be good in bed, right?’

‘Hmm, yeah, I guess,’ Fred said, coolly and changed the subject, ‘so how many properties do you own in Hogsmeade, sir?’

---

‘I missed you,’ Fred whispered into Hermione’s ear as they went in the house to eat. He handed her a small red flower, knowing her cheeks would turn the same colour soon. He kissed her cheek and her cheeks flamed red.

 ‘Come on in and eat,’ Anna called out, taking her seat.

The rest of the day had passed by with the men fishing and Hermione and Anna cooking. It was six o’clock by now and they cooked a three dish meal. They had cooked so many things and had fun as well. They chattered away about everything. The started was some prawns or some salad followed by chicken curry which tasted amazing as Alexander commented. The dessert was made by Hermione. She had spent her time making four chocolate sundaes in four tall glasses.

‘Beautiful,’ Fred stated, wiping his mouth as he sat back and then muttered to Hermione, ‘especially the dessert. It was perfect just like you.’

Hermione blushed again, looking down at her sundae. Alexander, who had finished his dessert, turned to Fred.

‘How about some drinks?’ he asked.

‘Um, I don’t think-’ Hermione started but Fred cut her off.

‘Drinks would be good,’ Fred said and Alexander got up, leading him to the bar. Fred turned to Hermione, leaned down so it looked like he was kissing her cheek, he whispered, ‘just one, it’ll be fine.’

‘Have you tried this? I don’t think you’ve tasted anything better than this,’ Alexander said, handing him a glass of alcohol. Fred sipped it and his eyebrows raised, Alexander chuckled, ‘I  knew it. Help yourself, there’s some music in the other room, you should check that out.’

Fred nodded and left the room, after a quick glance at Hermione. He twisted his face in disgust and then motioned to the drink, pretending to be sick. He left and Hermione tried not to laugh. Anna excused herself for a moment to use the bathroom so Hermione and Alexander were left together. Hermione got to her feet after a quick glance at him. He was looking at her dress now. She started to gather the empty plates to take them back to the kitchen when she felt a hand move her hair away from her neck.

‘You are beautiful,’ Alexander whispered in her ear and Hermione stood up straight, closing her eyes as his breath tickled her, ‘really... really beautiful.’

‘Don’t... touch me,’ Hermione whispered, feeling her throat close up as his lips grazed her neck. She wanted to scream out but she couldn’t as her throat burned as though she was parched of water for days.

‘Why not? A beautiful woman like you deserves more,’ Alexander whispered, turning her around slightly, grabbing her wrists in a secure motion, ‘look into our future and I promise you there will be no obstructions in our path.’

He leaned forwards a little, smiling at Hermione’s discomfort. He lips grazed hers slowly and Hermione shook her head, pursing her lips to stop him from kissing her. He twisted her arm a little so she nearly screamed and then leaned forwards a little more so that his lips were right on hers. Hermione felt disgust rise up her throat. She didn’t want to ruin the chances of Fred getting the property but this was wrong and she was sure Fred would understand so that was what Hermione thought when she did the next thing. She gathered all of her strength and kneed him where men don’t like to be kneed. Hermione pushed him away from her as he cried out loud. In a flash, Fred and Anna appeared at the door.

‘I’m sorry, Fred,’ Hermione said, feeling the tears threaten to leave her eyes at Fred’s fuming look, ‘he tried to kiss me and-’

‘He tried to kiss you?!’ yelled Fred, grabbing Alexander by his shirt, ‘how dare you touch her! How dare you even look at her!’

‘I’m so sorry about this,’ Anna said as Fred punched Alexander in the jaw. Anna made no move to stop him. Fred let him go and grabbed Hermione by the hand, ‘I’m so sorry!’

‘It wasn’t your fault,’ Fred stated and then looked to Alexander who was clutching his groin and rolling on the floor, glaring at Fred, ‘keep your stupid property!’

He grabbed onto Hermione’s hand more tightly and disapparated into the hotel room. Once they were there, Fred let go of Hermione’s hand and instead grabbed his hair, walking away from her. He paced the room in silence for a minute, deep in thought, his face red with anger. Hermione watched him and after a minute she laid a hand on his shoulder but he shoved her off.

‘I can’t believe he touched you, the little git! I can’t believe he nearly kissed you! I don’t need anything for him, Hermione,’ Fred turned to her and grabbed her face in his hands, ‘I love you and even if I need money, I don’t need it from the likes of that guy who dared to even look at you in the wrong way. You are mine and I love you.’

‘I am,’ Hermione whispered, hugging him, ‘and I love you too.’

Fred pulled back and kissed her lips, pulling her closer to him. Hermione stood on her tip toes to deepen the kiss. She really was lucky to have Fred and she knew it.