Best of You

“Fred.”

Fred stopped in his tracks, staring at her like he was seeing a ghost. On some level he was.

He fought down the automatic response to pretend he was George. It was more than futile in this situation. The twins had continued the tradition of confusing people over their identity post-war, despite both men having walked away with scars that now made them easily identifiable. George, of course, missing an ear, and Fred’s face and torso were littered with scars from shrapnel courtesy of a wall exploding above him moments before crushing him during the final battle.

They were still able to make most people at least second guess themselves, even with George now sporting a wedding ring and Fred being very very single, but there was never any hope of fooling Hermione Granger. Even before the rings and scars and missing ears, Hermione had always been able to tell the twins apart.

He couldn’t help but let his gaze track her from head to toe. She was still gorgeous of course, but even more so now. She had grown up. Her hair was a gorgeous controlled mass of sleek curls instead of the frizzy mane it used to be, and the sunshine in France had deepened her honey-toned skin to a delicious hue. Paired with her yellow dress it was absolutely criminal how stunning she looked. Fred had to make a conscious effort not to lick his lips.

As their eyes met he couldn’t help but think back to the last time he had seen her, four years ago.

It had been a couple of weeks since Hermione had broken up with Ron. His stupid younger brother had finally admitted that they were a terrible match and that breaking up was the best move, but he was still holding a grudge. Because Hermione was leaving. Tomorrow morning she was off to France for University and no-one was sure when they would actually see her again. It really was too soon to be walking up to her flat planning to profess his feelings for her, but Fred was also out of time. He didn’t expect her to stay for him, he wouldn’t want her to honestly, but he needed her to know. If she felt the same… they could figure it out from there. But to be honest Fred wasn’t holding his breath that she felt the same.

Fred had harbored a small crush on Hermione for years. It all started in his final year at Hogwarts, her fifth year. Watching her take charge of the situation and break the rules for the good of everyone around them. Seeing that spark come to life in her as they fought against Umbridge. It had made him realize that there was so much more to her than he realized. Over that year he learned more and more about her and all of her rule breaking (or bending, if you asked Hermione), and came to like her more and more. But then he had left school. And then there had been a war. Silly teenage crushes hit the back burner pretty quickly. When he had seen her at the Battle of Hogwarts though, it had all come rushing back to him. That glint had been back in her eye and despite her looking thin and tired and battered as hell, he could see the strength in her.

But then she and Ron had started up, and he was a good big brother. As big of a git as Ron could be, he was Fred’s brother and he wasn’t going to mess with that. So he had shoved his feelings and interest back into a box and moved on. He dated a bit over the year that Ron and Hermione were together, but nothing serious. No one else had that glint. Not yet anyway. As soon as he had heard they broke up Fred had allowed himself to hope again. A little at least. He wasn’t about to go charging after the girl that broke his brother's heart after all, that isn’t what good brothers do. But then Ron admitted he wasn’t heart broken. That he thought the breakup was good and he hadn’t been in love with Hermione really. Not like that. So then charging he went.

Not that he was in love with Hermione. That was far too far to go for a teenage crush that he hadn’t properly been able to explore. But there was definitely something there that he wanted to explore. That maybe someday could be love.

He took the stairs up to her flat two at a time, thinking about his opening line over and over again. He got to her door and raised his hand to knock, but the door was ajar slightly and Fred could hear voices coming from inside. Hermione, Ginny and Harry. And Hermione was crying.

“I just can’t stay here.” She was saying through her tears. “I can’t sit here and watch you all be so happy and be a part of this family.”
“You know that you aren’t the only one struggling.” Harry responded darkly. Tersely.
“I know,” Hermione’s response was soft. “That’s not what I mean. I just… My parents.”
Silence followed. No one really knew what had happened to Hermione’s parents. They had disappeared right before all hell broke loose. The Order had been unable to find them, and everyone hoped that meant the Death Eaters had as well, but they couldn’t be sure.
“What happened to them Hermione?” Ginny’s voice was gentle. More gentle than Fred would have thought she really had in her.
Hermione took a shuddering breath. “I wiped their memories. I sent them away to Australia before Bill and Fleurs wedding.”
The silence from Harry and Ginny was so loud. Fred was sure their faces were the same expression of disbelief his was.
“It was the only way I could think of to keep them truly safe.” Hermione continued, her voice still watery, “I went to go find them after the last funeral but… They’re gone.”
“They weren’t where you sent them?” Harry’s question was practically whispered. A tinge of hope to his voice.
Hermione laughed and it sounded so sad. “No. They were. But they died. Nothing to do with the war or anything like that, just a car accident. But I didn’t save them.”
“Oh Hermione.” It sounded very much like Ginny was hugging Hermione now.
Fred had to fight with every cell in his body not to barge in there and do the same. What a strong, brave, selfless thing to do to send her parents away to protect them, then for them to die in some kind of accident. Fate was just too cruel sometimes.
“So I can’t stay here and watch a happy family. I love you all and I know Molly and Arthur are practically my parents as well, but it feels almost disloyal to sit here and be happy with you and them and have a family when I threw my old one away.”
“First of all,” Harry’s tone was strong, almost scolding, “You didn’t throw them away. You did what you thought was best to protect them. It isn’t your fault that they got into an accident. For all you know if you hadn’t done that things could have been much worse for them. There’s no point ‘what if’ing the past. Okay?”
Fred nodded in agreement, forgetting for a moment that he was eavesdropping on a private conversation and no one could see him.
“Second of all,” Harry’s tone gentled, “You do what you need to do for you. We will all be here if and when you are ready to come home, but you take care of yourself first. We love you.”
Things fell silent inside the flat. Fred was equally silent outside the door. He couldn’t tell her now. Couldn’t add to any of this for her. She needed to get some space and that was so much more important than exploring some crush. He should go.

Fred started to turn away from the door only for it to open to Hermione’s splotchy face, with Ginny and Harry right behind her. Clearly she was about to say goodbye to them, but now Fred looked awkward as hell. He raised his hand to look like he had been about to knock before Hermione really registered him. He hoped it looked like he had just arrived and not like he’d been listening at the door. By the way Ginny’s eyes narrowed at him he definitely had not fooled her at least.

“Fred!” Hermione smiled up at him and his stomach fluttered a little. God he wanted to wrap her up in a hug and make everything better. “What are you doing here?”
“Well,” He glanced over Hermione’s shoulder at Ginny and Harry. Ginny widened her eyes at him threateningly, clearly telling him this wasn’t the time. Obviously. “I came to say goodbye of course! Can’t have you swanning off to France without a goodbye!” He let himself reach down and pull her into a hug, arms wrapping around her waist and lifting her onto her toes. Probably holding her a little more snug than he really should, but he just needed to make her stop aching.
Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck in response and he felt her face snuggle into the crook of his neck. Fuck this felt right. He let his face fall to the top of her head and drop a soft kiss into her curls, then gave her one last squeeze before letting go. He grinned at her and he hoped it was rakish and not sad.
“Give ‘em hell in France ‘Mione.” He grinned at her again, then turned and left. She needed to go, and he needed to let her go. For his sake and for hers.

“It’s so good to see you.” Her voice brought him hurtling back to the present, and Fred really hoped he was still smiling at her and not drooling at all.
“‘Mione!” He finally spoke and stepped forward, scooping her up into a hug and swinging her in a circle before setting her back on the ground. “Welcome back! I heard rumors you might be joining us today.”
He had been a nervous wreck since he heard those rumors. He might have decided he needed to let her go four years ago, but that didn’t mean he had. He had been worried that it would all come rushing back as soon as he saw her again, and boy was he right to be worried.

Hermione laughed and stumbled as he set her back on the ground, grabbing onto his forearms to steady herself. He tightened his grip on her waist to help her out and pulled her towards him slightly, helping her find her footing. This also meant she ended up very close to him once she was steady, and as their eyes met again Fred found her very much within kissing range. Which is something he suddenly was thinking about doing. Not that he had never thought about kissing her before, but not quite like this. Before it had been teenage thoughts fueled by raging hormones, worried about doing things fast. This was different. This wanted to go slowly. Take his time. Forever maybe. He couldn’t help himself from glancing down to her lips before meeting her eyes again.

They stood frozen for a moment like this before Ginny cleared her throat, causing them both to jolt and take very large steps away from each other.

“Mmmhmm.” She said, staring at them both. “Seriously.” She rolled her eyes and headed inside.
“I should probably go in too!!” Hermione’s voice had pitched up an octave and her words were a little hurried. “Say hi to everyone.” She gave him an awkward grin and hustled after Ginny.
Fred gave her an awkward wave as she left, and turned away from the house once she was inside, staring at the horizon.

He ran one hand through his hair and let out a long sigh. “Shit.”

His teenage crush wasn’t gone at all. It had turned into feelings. Very Adult Feelings. And he was pretty sure he had just freaked her the fuck out.