Hermione
Soon after Luna and Rolf came to collect the children, Hermione slipped from the house and started walking. Her mind was a jumble of thoughts and she needed a minute of quiet. The way little Matthew had reacted to his sister’s accidental magic sat heavy in Hermione’s heart.
Her parents hated magic, and had since her sixth year of school when she came home scarred and scared. They hated watching her take ten potions everyday to heal the physical wounds and sitting with her in the middle of the night screaming from nightmares because of the emotional wounds. They hated how distant she became as a result and blamed magic. But they had always loved her.
“If you stare any harder the pond is likely to explode in flame,” Fred said, sitting down next to her on the frozen dock.
“At least it would be warm,” she replied with a poor attempt at a smile.
“Well, you’re the nutter out here in nothing more than a jumper.” Fred pulled his wand out and transfigured his mitten into a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders.
“For the first time in my life, I don’t know what to do. Everything is completely up in the air, and there are no books to search to find the answers.”
“These answers aren’t in books, love. These are the answers that you have to look inside for. You know what you want, you always have. You just have to untangle your thoughts and take it one step at a time. What do you want to do right now?”
“I want to be ten years old again and know nothing about wars and careers and magic.”
“That’s easy enough, here,” Fred said, offering her his hand. He pulled her up and took his wand out again. Without letting go of her hand he led her to the edge of the pond and pointed his wand at her feet.
She was happy he had a firm grip on her when she lost balance as her trainers turned into a pair of ice skates.
“I saw a photo or two of you ice skating when you were little, maybe you could teach me how to do it?” Fred said.
“You truly are wonderful, Fred Weasley.”
His face turned a slightly deeper shade of red and Hermione thought maybe she had been wrong, maybe there was a chance he didn’t just think of her as just a friend.
“So, let’s go one by one, yeah? First, the war is over. We won, and you’re safe. That’s not to say that there isn’t still conflict, but with a mind like yours on our side, I’m not worried.”
They made slow wobbly circles around the pond as Fred got his bearings on the skates. She stayed quiet as she digested what he was saying. It was true, if anything like Voldemort came up in the future they would be better prepared to fight it.
She said as much as they made the next circuit around the lake.
“Next, career. Let’s be honest, you know you’re going to take Fleur’s position at the foundation. It was a job made for you. You will take what Harry and Fleur have started and bring it to a whole new level. It will be hard, it will be exhausting, it will be worth it.”
“What if I make a mess of everything?” She asked the question she had been asking herself for days.
“Not possible, but if you do, then we will clean it up. Just like a flour covered kitchen.”
“We?”
“Hermione Granger, you are not alone.”
“No, I suppose I’m not,” she said looking down at their still clasped hands.
“So that’s wars and careers sorted, now about magic. Well, love, magic can be brutal and destructive, but it can also be beautiful. For instance, I would never have met you if it weren’t for magic. I can’t think of anything more beautiful than you.”
Hermione stopped short, he had just called her beautiful. The look he was giving her was anything but brotherly. It was full of heat and longing and a bit of fear.
She turned to him, placing both hands on his shoulders. They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment, then the wind blew hard as a branch above them snapped from the weight of the snow it was holding. In an effort to avoid being hit by the falling branch Hermione pushed Fred. But as they were on skates on slippery ice they both tumbled and fell hard on the ice.
“So much for a soft place to land,” Fred chuckled as they lay in a tangle of limbs.