Hermione smoothed out the bed sheet with her hand and looked around the room one last time to make sure they haven’t forgotten to pack anything. The bed sheets were perfectly straight, the mini fridge was void of any foods or water and the bedside tables were spotlessly clean. Two arms snaked across Hermione’s stomach, making her shiver as Fred’s voice whispered into her ear. His voice sounded like a quiet and peaceful piece of music to her. She leaned against him.

‘Shall we go or do you want to stay here another night, birthday girl?’ asked Fred, chuckling so that breath floated onto Hermione’s neck causing a chain reaction of another shiver and a small smile.

‘I think we should get home, Fred,’ Hermione muttered, twisting her hands into his and turning to face him. She noticed his red hair flopping in front of his blue eyes, hiding the eyes that should not be hidden. She moved his hair away as he kissed her lightly.

‘Let’s go then,’ Fred suggested.

His hand clenched around hers tighter and they grabbed their bags again. Hermione didn’t want to leave Switzerland in its beauty but she had to of course. Fred had to work since she just ruined the chances of him making more money, she told herself miserably. Switzerland had been great and she loved that Fred was so thoughtful and romantic to take her out to dinner and now he even had a present for her when they got back. Fred grinned at her as they were about to leave and in an instant Hermione felt herself being wrenched by the hips into space. She closed her eyes as pain shot through her lower body and after a second it was over. She opened her eyes.

‘This apartment is so small that we could her each other breathing from different rooms,’ Fred said miserably, letting the suitcases fall to the floor, ‘home sweet home anyway.’

‘We’ll manage,’ Hermione rubbed his arm and he shrugged, the grin had gotten lost somewhere between them apparating and landing. Hermione watched him with contempt patched across his face in large letters as he walked into the living room.

‘Hello big brother,’ a voice floated from the living room making Fred pause at the door. Hermione’s heart seemed to beat in her ears as her hand paused in the act of picking up the bag. Fred’s hands turned into clenched fists as the man spoke again, ‘you’re right. This apartment is quite small. Don’t you think she deserves a little better than what you can provide for her?’

‘Is that... Ron?’ asked Hermione, advancing towards Fred but he turned around and nodded, blocking the view from her. She noticed the flicker of fear on his face but his eyes turned hard as he looked her up and down.

‘You should probably change your clothes into something a little more suitable,’ Fred suggested, his eyebrows raised as he looked at her large stomach, ‘wear a jumper over. Its, uh, kind of chilly in here.’

‘I get it, Fred,’ Hermione whispered and rushed to the other room. She wrenched open the cupboard and raked her eyes over every jumper she had but all of them were too large on her. Finally Hermione decided to wear one of Fred’s instead. She pulled a blue hoody over her head, curiosity boiling through her and making her nearly run to the other room.

Hermione stopped at the door unmistakably breathless and locked her eyes on Ron who was sat on the sofa, glaring at Fred. Fred chuckled under his breath at how she looked in his clothes but she took no notice of him. Ron stood up as soon as he saw her and Hermione swore she could see him get nervous as he gulped nervously.

‘Are you... are you crying?’ asked Ron incredulously.

Hermione was indeed crying. Tears poured down her face and she pouted at him. It had been so long since she had seen Ron and she did really miss him even after everything he did to ruin her relationship with Fred. Speaking of, Fred stood up, his eyes flashing as he looked at Hermione and then to Ron. A mixture of jealousy and hatred was evident in his expression.

‘I just..’ Hermione panted and then wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. She tried to smile at Ron in a friendly manner, ‘I missed you, Ron.’

‘You did?’ asked Ron, eyebrows raised in surprise. Hermione nodded, wiping away her tears again. Ron glanced at Fred, smirked, and then look at Hermione again, ‘believe me. I missed you too.’

‘Hermione...’ Fred whispered but they didn’t hear him.

Fred’s heart twisted in his chest, shrivelled and sank deep down into the ground as Hermione walked forwards and wrapped her arms around Ron, giving him a hug. She kept her body a little away from him but lay her head on his shoulder. Red hot fury built up inside of Fred as Ron winked at him, smirking.

‘I, uh, I got you a gift since it’s your birthday,’ Ron muttered as she pulled away. He rummaged for a second in his pocket and Hermione’s eyes grew brighter in the light of expectancy. Finally Ron pulled out a card and a small rectangular box. He handed them to her, ‘happy birthday, Hermione.’

‘Thank you, Ron,’ Hermione said, touching his arm slightly and taking the gifts, ‘I’m so glad you came here today.’

‘I wasn’t going to come but... oh that reminds me. There’s a letter from Harry in your room, he told me to tell you so...’ Ron trailed off as he watched her open the presents. Hermione tried to open the card first but Ron stopped her, ‘you can open the card later. Open the gift first.’

‘Okay,’ Hermione shrugged and opened the rectangular box to reveal a long silver bracelet with red gems. She held it up in front of her and tears threatened to spill out at the beauty of the bracelet. Ron took it from her and she held out her wrist so he could put it on. Once it was fastened, she hugged him again, ‘this is amazing. Thank you so much.’

‘Hermione...’ Fred whispered, his gaze following Ron’s hand which seemed to grip her waist. Fred took Hermione’s hand and pulled her back. She turned to him as though she had forgotten he was there which was like a stab to his heart but he didn’t show it. Fred turned to Ron, ‘you’ve wished her happy birthday, gave her a gift. Now get out.’

‘A bit rude, big brother,’ Ron said, the past echoing in his voice. Fred realised he had always called Ron either “Ronnie kins” or “little brother” and now he guessed it was payback, ‘I'm sure if your girlfriend wants me to stay for a while... I’ll stay.’

‘Ron, just stop, that’s not-’

‘It’s my apartment, little brother, get out,’ Fred threatened, advancing towards him. Hermione let his hand go and he glanced at her. She frowned at him, ‘you know what he’s done so don’t give me that look, alright?’

‘He may be a – what do you call him? – a prat but he was thoughtful enough to give me a gift, Fred, and he’s your brother. Does that mean anything to you?’ asked Hermione, glancing at his clenched fist. Her jaw tightened up as Fred frowned heavily at her, ‘don’t you dare even touch him.’

‘Seriously, just give up, mate,’ Ron smirked and Fred’s furious eyes turned to him, ‘stop loving her when you know who she really has feelings for. I bet she screams my name when you-’

‘Why don’t you do everyone a favour and STOP BREATHING?’ bellowed Fred, pushing his brother. Ron’s eyes flashed as he staggered backwards, hitting his leg off the sofa. Fred raised his fist, about to punch him, but Hermione caught his arm swiftly. After a glare at Ron, she turned to Fred.

‘Fred! Stop it!’ Hermione yelled, bringing his arm down to his side, ‘just stop it! You’re acting like jealous kids!’

‘You still have feelings for him, Mia. I can see it in your eyes and when you flirt with him,’ Fred murmured, shaking his arm so that she wasn’t touching him anymore, ‘and that’s fine. If you want to go with him instead of me... I... he can give you what you want.’

‘You’re happy to give me up just like that?’ asked Hermione unbelievingly, ‘I don’t have any feelings for him. Ron has been my friend for years and I did have feelings for him once but not anymore. I don’t know how I fell in love with you, Fred, but I am in love with you. You’re gorgeous, caring and you do give me what I want.’

‘What can he give you that I can’t?’ Ron burst into the conversation, ‘he’s broke but I’ve been working. I can give you money, love and a home.’

‘You can’t buy my love, Ronald,’ Hermione said stiffly, ‘thank you for the presents. I think you should leave now.’

‘Alright, I’ll see you soon,’ Ron said and before Fred could stop him he pecked Hermione’s cheek once and then glanced at Fred before whispering, ‘I still love you... Mia.’

‘Git,’ muttered Fred but Ron only laughed and waved before disapparating with a pop.

‘I can’t believe you,’ Hermione stated, turning her back on him, ‘you pushed him like... where are you going?!’

‘Going to check out the letter from Harry,’ Fred said as Hermione followed him into their bedroom, ‘I’ve heard it all once, I don’t need to hear it again, Mia.’

Hermione noticed the letter that she hadn’t noticed before when she in search of a jumper. It lay on Fred’s desk, weighed down by a small ink bottle. Fred snatched it up and his blue eyes scanned the letter before handing it to Hermione. She read:

Dear Fred and Hermione

                                        We hope you had luck in Switzerland and that you had a fabulous time. Happy Birthday Hermione, hope Fred bought you something special. We’d like for you to come over to dinner tonight if that’s possible. See you then?

Love Harry and Ginny

‘Ginny wants us to come over?’ Hermione muttered to herself, unable to believe it but she as glad.

‘Happy birthday, Mia,’ Fred said, handing her a box, ‘it isn’t exactly a bracelet but...’

Hermione eyed him before ripping open the box. She felt her hands tangle in smooth cloth and she held it up, letting the box fall. It was a long, red dress with white sequins at the top. Quite beautiful and it matched her bracelet. She hugged Fred, kissing his cheek lightly.

‘It’s beautiful,’ she murmured truthfully but he only shrugged, ‘we should get ready to go to Harry’s.’

---

Hermione wore her red dress that Fred had gifted her. It flowed down to her ankles and had white sequins in the shape of bows near the top. She wore white heels and the bracelet that Ron gave her, much to Fred’s disdain. They arrived at Harry’s and Ginny nodded to he uncomfortably before apologizing for her behaviour. Hermione smiled at her and then hugged her before Fred did too. They

‘You look beautiful,’ Harry complimented again as they walked into his kitchen after eating dinner which was cooked splendidly. Ginny and Fred walked ahead of them slightly, Hermione couldn’t tell if they were arguing or conversing. Harry followed her gaze, ‘she was upset when she said all that to you. Don’t take it personally. This whole baby thing has gotten her a little scared actually.

‘Sounds like someone else I know,’ Hermione chuckled, meaning Fred and Harry nodded, ‘Fred was really scared. Now not so much... I love him so much.’

‘I can tell,’ Harry stated and then paused. He glanced at her from the side of his eye and then sighed, ‘what about your future with him? Marriage? I know you’re pregnant and that is one of the reasons you stay with him but... have you ever considered your future? A child is very expensive to take care of.’

‘I don’t think...’ Hermione lowered her voice as they stood in the kitchen. She looked over to Ginny and Fred, standing away from them, laughing at each other like siblings do and then looked back into the green eyes of her best friend, ‘he has asked me to marry him but I don’t think he’s ready... I don’t think he ever will be. Fred’s not the commitment sort of guy.’

‘You can’t string him along, Hermione, you need to make a decision,’ Harry whispered, ‘sometimes people love each other so much but they can’t be with each other so they drift apart and find other people. Those other people come close to filling the whole in their heart and they move on. I think Fred needs someone other than you, Mia, and I only say this because I'm your best friend and I care about your future.’

‘He loves me,’ Hermione whispered back with wide eyes, ‘I love him but he can’t support a family and I know that. I don’t want to hurt him.’

‘He’ll hurt for a while but we’ll be there to help him. I’ll be there and Ginny will be there. He’ll find someone else, Mia. He’ll concentrate on work and make money,’ Harry shrugged, ‘it’s better for you to go your separate ways. He’s hurting by thinking of how to finance for everything, I could see it when he walked in here.’

‘So I just leave him? Who’s going to take care of me and my child?’ asked Hermione, sipping some water that Harry had handed her.

‘Take some time apart,’ Harry suggested, ‘I’ll help you with anything you need, I promise.’

‘I can’t leave him,’ Hermione sighed, leaning closer to Harry, ‘I love him too much.’

‘It’s getting late, Mia,’ Fred said from the other side of the kitchen, ‘shouldn’t we be leaving?’

‘Wait... uh... we have some news,’ Harry said as Ginny came over to take his hand, ‘we’ve scheduled over wedding for January.’

‘That’s great!’ Hermione said as Fred congratulated them. They hugged them both as Ginny grinned at them, ‘I’ll look like a whale at the time though.’

‘You’ll look beautiful, I'm sure,’ Harry said as Fred took her hand and agreed.

Hermione, Fred, Harry and Ginny talked for a long time after that. The chilly winds from outside didn’t affect the mood inside. Everything was fine and Hermione was happy as Fred hugged her closer although the whole time they had been talking, a thought formed bigger and bigger in her head as if it was a snowball thought.

Was Fred going to be a part of her future?