Hermione Granger had woken up in Hogwarts, which is something she hadn't done in a very long time. Except this time, instead of waking up in the familiar four-poster beds of the Gryffindor girls' tower where she spent seven years, she had awoken on the sofa of Neville's professor's quarters. He was sitting in the armchair and based on the smell wafting in from behind her, Luna was making breakfast in the small kitchen.

"Good morning, Hermione."

"Hello, Neville. Thank you so much for letting me stay the night."

"Any time. Although you do know that we could've pulled the couch into a bed?"

"I thought this couch was familiar!" Upon looking closer, it was the same couch that she had in her living room, just a different color.

"Well when we all were over at your apartment last month, I just thought it was such a good idea! I love this Muggle stuff."

"We do have some really smart inventions. Molly and Arthur are really going to need a lot of these when we all get married and start having children."

"I can't imagine how many Weasley children are coming out of this next generation. I'm honestly a little terrified!"

"Well, unless Charlie and Zack find some poor unsuspecting woman to be their surrogate, you can count on some unbiological Weasley kids to keep all of the biological ones in line."

"Just like you did at Hogwarts?"

"I tried my best, but those boys."

There was a silent reminiscence as the two Gryffindors thought back to their days in school. It was interrupted by Luna, bringing a full English breakfast to the coffee table. They ate in silence, until Neville looked at Hermione pointedly.

"What?"

"Don't play dumb. You're not allowed to do that."

"I know; I have to go home. I'm worried, is all."

"What worries you? I bet you he's home right now, pacing around and waiting for you to get there."

"He's probably at work, trying to get his mind as far away from this as possible."

"Do you still think he's seeing someone else?"

"Logically, I know he isn't. But the little voice in the back of my head keeps saying 'well but what if he is' and I have a hard time not listening to her. They hired a new girl at the shop and she's quite lovely and I can't quite remember her name but she's very pretty"

"I think we can't offer you any information about what he's doing and you just need to go speak to him." Luna looked up from her toast, raising one eyebrow at the older woman in her living room.

"You're right, you're both right. It's just so very hard."

"Why, though? Hermione you are someone I always aspired to be like! And I know Neville felt the same way." He nodded vigorously. "What are you so afraid of?"

"That he'll think I'm being silly and even though he isn't seeing another woman, he'll want to leave me for being so ridiculous."

"The only way to find out is to go home and see."

Hermione let out a deep breath she didn't know she was holding. "You're right. I'm doing it. Thank you so much for letting me stay, and thank you so much for breakfast."

"Like I said, anytime. But I hope this doesn't become a habit." He winked a professor wink at her, which scared her a little. He's been spending too much time with McGonagall and it's really doing wonders for him. She collected her things, smiled at her friends who were looking very hopeful, and hopped into the fireplace to go back to her flat, not knowing what awaited her at home.

Fred was pacing around their kitchen. After spending the night with Charlie and Zack, he had taken the advice he was given, and decided to make the apartment spotless for when she came home. It was something he knew she wanted to do that weekend anyways, and he had hoped getting ahead of the game would score him some more points when she got home. He had no way of knowing if she'd be mad still, or even if she'd come back that day. And besides, he felt stupid just sitting and waiting for her to come home. Unfortunately, since he had mopped the floors, washed the counters, cleaned the bathroom, changed the sheets, rearranged the living room, and emptied out the fridge, everything that she needed to take care of this weekend was done. Just as he was thinking about how he should've done it the muggle way and not the magical way so it would've taken longer, Hermione popped out of the fireplace and skidded gently onto the rug.

The two stared at each other for a moment, not moving, taking in the appearance of the other. Hermione was wearing the sweatpants and oversized shirt that she had left the house in last night, but Fred noticed that she had dark circles under her eyes and worried that she hadn't slept at all. He, in turn, was dressed in jeans and a long sleeve shirt, as he had come home early that morning to clean so he had already showered off and gotten ready, in an optimistic anticipation of her coming home to him. They just took each other in, neither wanting to speak and dissolve the room into fighting and tears.

Hermione was finally the one to break the silence. "Fred?" Her voice was sheepish, almost embarrassed. He stood up wordlessly, taking two strides towards her and enveloping her small frame in his strong arms. He lifted her body off the ground, pulling her as close to him as he could. She wrapped her legs around his waist and nestled her head into the side of his neck. She paused for a moment, giving him room to speak but when he didn't take it she continued.

"Fred, I shouldn't have left last night. We were having a discussion and I just walked out on it. I was so frustrated and so upset because I felt like you weren't hearing me. I was telling you what I needed, and how I felt like your last thought, and I just felt like you weren't listening."

Internally, he cursed his brother and his boyfriend for being right. But externally, he moved the two of them to the couch, sitting Hermione on one side and turning to face her as he sat down. "I'm going to preface this by saying that I love you and I am so happy that we're in a relationship and I don't want it to change. But you have to remember that our upbringings were so different. I have six siblings, one of whom is my twin. We spent so much time together while we were growing up, that it was just a big change."

"I'm sorry I didn't realize that you were struggling so much with this change."

"And they say you're the brightest witch of your age."

"Hey, that's not fair! I spent all my time with Ron and Harry. The emotional intelligence they experienced was limited." The two looked at each other and smiled. "So why did you keep going home?"

"I missed them. I would stay after work to spend time with George, or pop back to the Burrow to see Mum and Dad, or go hang out with everyone. And you get so tired after work, and I didn't want to bother you. So I would just go, hoping to pop by and then come home. But I would just get so caught up in spending time with them."

"I didn't realize what a big change this was for you. It felt so normal for me, because I was used to being on my own. To tell you the truth, it was strange when you stayed over in the beginning."

"Well in the beginning we were just staying over here all the time because it was convenient. But now it's more official. Mum isn't thrilled, you know. She keeps saying things like living in sin." He was hoping Hermione would find this laughable and say something along the lines of how much sinning Ginny and Harry or Ron and Hannah are doing, but he quickly regretted ever saying anything. Hermione's face instead fell, both with panic and sadness. "Whoa, babe, I'm sorry I said anything. I really don't care what Mum has to say, and besides—"

"Fred, did I pressure you into this?" She blurted it out without really thinking.

It was his face that fell with her question. "Hermione, I would hope by know you know that I don't do anything I don't want to do. I wanted to live here, and I still do. I want to be with you, and that's never going to change. And luckily, I have a wonderful girlfriend who picked out an incredible apartment that has two amazing bedrooms and a wonderful living room. This is far more than a starter flat. This is our home. We're going to spend the rest of our lives remembering this place as our first home. Where we came after we had gotten engaged in Paris or Rome or even America. Where we come after we get married and bring home our first baby. Maybe even our second, if we keep the baby in a cot in our room and our older child has the second bedroom as their own. We could raise our family here, at least for a little while." He looked at her, hoping to get an idea of what she was feeling from the expression on her face and the way her eyes looked back at him gave no clue. "Is this a lot for you? Am I saying too much? Because I can stop any time."

She smiled at him, realizing that she must've still had a blank expression on her face when he began to talk about their future. It was mostly because she'd been processing all the things that he was saying out in the open, but a little bit from shock. "No no, go on Fred. Keep telling me about all of your plans for us."

"I guess what I'm getting at is that I love you, and I want to put you first. You need to be my first priority, because if I don't put you first then all of those exciting plans don't get to happen. And I want more than anything to be your fiancé, and then to be your husband. I want us to have a few kids. Or one kid. Or a lot of kids. Or however many kids we decide is right for our family."

The two of them had spent time dancing around the topic of the future. Many of his brothers referred to her as their sister-in-law. Or they had talked about babies once or twice before, usually focusing on Victoire, or Teddy. Fred would never have admitted that he watched Hermione hold Teddy when he was an infant, before she and Ron had even decided to continue seeing each other after the war. She had come home to see everyone for a Sunday dinner, everyone was in the kitchen eating some food and socializing, but Hermione had migrated to a large chair. She had taken Teddy from Harry's possession so he could eat with two hands and so she could have an excuse to be away from the din. Fred had popped out of the kitchen to get some air and find some more alcohol, and he saw her. She hadn't noticed him, as she was still talking to Teddy, telling stories about muggle life. He stood in the cased opening of the living room, just listening to her. He hadn't ever mentioned to her that he had been there that night, but it was something he'd held close to his heart, not knowing how much it would truly mean to him one day.

"You always know just what to say, don't you?" The two became silent, sitting together on the couch, snuggled up together. Their hands were roaming each other's bodies, at least where they could reach from where they were sitting. Hermione moved closer and closer to Fred, until she was straddling him.

"So nice of you to join me over here."

"Well I just can't get enough of you. I think that was just our first fight, dear."

"It certainly may have been. Is there something we can do to mark it?" He raised an eyebrow at her, almost challenging her to ask him to bed.

"Well, Fred, now that you mention it, there are some extra-curricular activities that we could do, just to cement the fact that you love me more than anything and you're going to stop abandoning me in the evenings and weekends, and I'm going to not walk out in the middle of a conversation or argument ever again."

"Do any of those extra-curricular activities involve taking all our clothes off and making love right here on this couch?"

"Oooh, you know I hadn't thought of that." Hermione winked at her boyfriend, glad that he understood where she was going with her line of questioning.

"Am I going to take that as a yes?"

"Is that how you want to take it?"

"I think I'd rather take you." She began to kiss his neck, and his arms instinctively pulled her in closer. His fingers on her back put just the right amount of pressure, reminding her that his strong hands always held her up. Her kisses trailed to his ear and then to his lips, and she ran her hands through the mess of hair on top of his head, giving it a gentle tug. He shuddered, and stood up abruptly off the couch.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Throwing you on the couch." He did exactly as he promised; Hermione let out a small noise with the air out of her lungs. He climbed up on top of her, pinning her arms to the couch. She struggled against his grip. "'Mione, darling, you are a strong woman and while that is incredibly sexy, I am stronger than you." He knew that speaking to her like that would light even more of a fire within her, and she fought back harder, tossing him to the floor.

"Don't presume to know how strong I am, Weasley." Her shirt came off, ending up in a pile on the floor. "Don't waste time, dear. Unless we're doing this on the floor." She raised her eyebrows at him, waiting for his response. His shirt and jeans came off, and he pulled her pants off, leaving them on the pile.

"Mmm, what do you want next? Seeing as you're the one in control here." He winked, and she pulled him up on the couch, resuming the original position of her straddling him. They had the whole day ahead of them, but neither was wasting any time. Undergarments were being slid off and before either of them could get any banter in, Hermione had dropped herself onto Fred's hard cock, with no pause. "Fuck, Hermione." Fred spoke through gritted teeth, and dug his fingers into her hips. They quickly found a rhythm, thrusting against each other. Fred's hands gave the illusion that he was moving her, but she was truly completely in control.

"How do you like that, Fred?" She whispered into his ear and then gave it the softest nibble. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, gripping her harder.

"Oh for fuck's sake, you have no idea what you do to me." He put his head into the crook of her neck, kissing in time with his thrusts. "I'm not going to last much longer, love." She took this as encouragement, rocking her hips against his every time they met in the middle. Three more thrusts and his hands had found her hair, pulling tightly as he groaned into his orgasm. No words came out of his mouth, just noises. Once he had finally ridden it out, she collapsed into his chest.

"Did you enjoy that, then?" She asked through ragged breaths, looking to his face for an answer.

"It was incredible. Do you want a turn?"

"No, I think I'm okay. I slept a little poorly last night, so I'd quite like to go back to our bed."

"Are you sure?" He rubbed her cheek with his finger gently and swiped a curl out of her face.

"Yes, I'm sure. Now, take me to bed so we can have a bit of a lie in before I fall asleep right here on this couch."

He stood up, carrying her to their bedroom in his arms. The two knew that all was forgiven between them, and things would go on as normal. Their normal.