AN: So… we're going to start seeing more of George in future I think. I'm enjoying writing him and the feedback I've gotten suggests you lot like reading about him as part of this story too. Lol Title from Halestorm

Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from Harry Potter or its related properties.

Break In

Fred held her close as the water continued to pour over them, feeling her heart beat rapidly against his chest. He carefully ran his fingers through her curls as he leaned down to kiss her again and again, tiny little pecks he couldn't help. She sighed and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him tight as she nuzzled into his chest.

"I know this probably isn't what you were dreaming of…" she started.

"It was better," he interrupted, kissing the top of her head.

"What?" she stepped back from him slightly to see his eyes, confused by the statement.

"It was better. Hermione, you've seen me at my best and at my worst… not many women would have stuck around for this. And with everything else you have going on in your life… When it came down to it, you knew right where I'd go and you didn't hesitate to follow. You've done that more than once now and I'm not sure I deserve you. No, let me finish." He put his finger over her lips to shush her when she tried to speak.

"To let me touch you at all, to kiss you, to let me pin you against the wall like that after everything you've been through and after everything I've put you through tonight? You're still here and you gave me something I would have waited forever for. You're something else entirely and I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make myself worthy of you," he removed his finger and stared into her eyes, a mixture of awe and reverence boring into her confused whiskey coloured depths.

"You're an idiot," she breathed.

"What?" he chuckled nervously.

"You, Fred Weasley, are an idiot. Which isn't very attractive on a man with your brains… How can you not see that you're already entirely worthy? You didn't have to help me pick up the pieces of my life, but you've been by my side these last few months regardless. When George and I called you back here from wherever it was your mind went, you came back to us. To me. That makes you more than worthy…" she pushed onto her toes and kissed him gently before she stepped away from him, holding his hands in hers.

"We need to get cleaned up and out of this shower before George suspects something…" she smiled up at him, putting her palm over his mouth to stop him arguing with her assessment. She felt him smirk and saw the little spark of mischief in his eyes, matching the expression she was sure was on her own face.

They washed hurriedly, struggling to keep their hands off each other. They slipped into the hall, fingers intertwined with Fred going first to figure out where George was. Mercifully, the flat appeared to still be empty. They skittered into his room and locked the door behind them when they heard the floo activate.

"I'm back! Gin insisted on coming along, she'll be here in a few minutes…" George called.

"We've both showered, just getting changed!" Fred called back, smirking at Hermione's wide eyes and flushed cheeks.

"Of course Ginny would want to make sure everything is okay…" Hermione groaned, feeling slightly guilty that she hadn't given anyone else a single thought as they'd dallied in the shower.

"She's probably more so checking on you, love," Fred chuckled, tugging her to him by her towel, his own slung dangerously low on her hips.

"What are you doing?" she giggled at him, recognizing the flash of mischief in his eyes again.

"Come here…" he lifted her suddenly and dropped her on his bed, towel immediately falling away from her.

"Fred…" Hermione cautioned, staring daggers at the door.

"Shhh… they'll hear you…" he teased when the sound of Ginny arriving carried from the next room as he shifted her position and tossed her towel to the floor.

Before she could protest he was kneeling on the floor with his head buried between her legs. She clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle the moan that followed unbidden from her lips. She half-heartedly tried to push him away but found she couldn't make herself follow through as her hand gripped his hair instead. He licked and prodded, teasing and exploring her sex more thoroughly than he ever had before. She pulled one of his pillows over her face to muffle the moans and sighs that were coming more rapidly as he began to stimulate her clit as he feasted.

"Cum for me, Hermione…" he mumbled into her wetness as he picked up his pace, sliding one finger into her and searching out the spot he knew would drive her over the edge.

With a shudder and a barely contained scream, she was riding out her orgasm with her thighs clenched around him. When she relaxed and released him he chuckled softly and kissed the inside of her thighs before getting back on her feet.

"What in the world was that for?" she panted, catching the clothing he tossed to her from his dresser.

"Do I need a reason?" he smiled at her, pulling a clean pair of shorts on.

"I suppose not…" she trailed off, watching the way his lean muscles moved as he finished dressing.

"Do you intend to spend the rest of the night naked? I'm not exactly complaining, but I don't know how Georgie or Gin will feel about that…" Fred teased when he saw she was still sitting naked on his bed.

"Right… sorry," she mumbled as she hurriedly tugged on the clothing he had provided.

She did the best she could with her hair, the pins scattered from The Burrow to the bottom of his bathtub. She was still finger combing it as they emerged from the bedroom and joined the others.

"What in the bleedin' hell was that?!" Ginny screeched as she ran to her brother and jumped into his arms, the panic and fear obvious in every part of her being.

"I had a bit of an episode… I don't do so well with sudden explosions these days…" Fred explained, setting his sister back on her feet and shushing at her soothingly.

"We're owling Dr. McKinnon first thing in the morning to get him in for an appointment. He's put this off long enough and I think I may know what's wrong with him…" Hermione offered, accepting two mugs from George and making her way to the couch.

Ginny reluctantly released her brother, settling into one of the armchairs while George took the other. Fred perched next to Hermione, accepting his mug and resting a hand on her thigh.

"What do you think it is?" George pressed, watching the two of them with careful eyes.

"They don't know much about it in Muggle medicine, but I think I recognised some of the symptoms from stories I heard in school about soldiers coming back from war. They used to call it Shell Shock, but it's known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder now. Essentially, the upset and panic attacks Fred has been experiencing can be quite common after a traumatic event. I honestly don't know much about it, but I think talking to Dr. McKinnon about it could put us a step in the right direction for working out how to help him feel more stable."

"Is it treatable?" Ginny asked, catching Hermione's eye.

"Should be. I don't know what sort of therapy that entails or if there is some sort of medicinal potion that exists that could help. I think, with time and help, Fred has a really good chance of getting something better than what he currently has." Hermione turned and smiled softly at him when he squeezed her thigh.

"I don't know, Hermione, seems like he has something pretty great now with you… I'm guessing you two are a thing now?" Ginny teased, relaxing significantly.

"If by 'thing' you mean she's my girlfriend and we've told mum and dad, then yes." Fred laughed, voice sounding more tired than he'd let on before.

"Do you need to lie down?" Hermione asked, trying to hide the concern in her tone.

"You look and sound pretty tired there, brother," George added on, noticing the way all the energy seemed to have been zapped from his twin.

"I think the adrenaline has worn off now." Hermione offered, trying to coax him out of his seat.

"I'm not going anywhere…" he grumbled.

"You sound like a petulant child," she laughed at him as he wriggled out of her hold.

"Why not stretch out on the couch here?" Ginny suggested, seeing the way he kept angling himself subconsciously closer to Hermione.

"Fine." He sighed heavily and did just that, resting his head in Hermione's lap after a long draw on the toddy George had made him.

"So… why'd it take so long for the adrenaline to wear off then? I was gone for some time…" George asked, eyeing her curiously and gesturing toward his neck.

"Ummm…." Hermione blushed as Fred chuckled beneath her, she'd forgotten about the love bite he'd left on her in the shower.

"You didn't…" Ginny's eyes went wide as she clapped and bounced in her seat.

"Well shite," Hermione mumbled.

"Did you just swear?" George whooped, laughter overtaking any lingering concern he had.

"I swear…" she shot him a dirty look.

"Mostly just been you're turned on… and apparently when you've been caught out for shagging your boyfriend." Fred offered with a deep chuckle.

"Not helping." Hermione sighed heavily, cheeks flaming at his nonplussed announcement that they'd shagged while he was supposed to be recovering.

"Hey, if it helps, it helps." George through his hands up with a shake of the head, eyes full of mirth.

"I feel like a terrible person." She mumbled, burying her face in her hands.

"Bollocks that, Hermione. You're a fine person. And apparently, Fred really likes you if the first thing he wanted to do after all that was get in your knickers." Ginny teased.

"There is something horribly wrong with all of you…" Hermione groaned, gulping down a fair amount of her toddy.

"We're just less repressed than most." Ginny shrugged her shoulders and leaned back in her seat, relaxing as she saw Fred start to drift to sleep.

"Thank you for knowing where he'd go." George's voice was low and serious, trying not to wake his twin.

Hermione stared down at the sleeping man, running her fingers carefully through his damp hair. She smiled at him when he didn't stir, knowing he'd sleep fairly heavily after everything that had happened. If he was lucky, there would be no nightmares tonight.

"We've been together so much these last few months, I don't think I even really had to think about it. I've been here before actually when he's had trouble…" she admitted, locking eyes with George.

"Trouble?" Ginny asked, concern finding its way back into her voice.

"Fred has hurt himself a few times, Gin. Thought about offing himself a few times too. Tried it once…" George admitted.

"What? How did none of the rest of us know?" Ginny stared at her sleeping sibling with pain in her eyes.

"I was handling it. We were afraid Fred would get put in St. Mungo's. We've joked about having a ward with our name on it, but we've no intention of either of us ending up permanent residents there." George explained, reaching over to grasp his sister's hand.

"I've found a therapist that I see for my own problems. I think she may be able to help Fred too. If she can't, she may know someone who can." Hermione looked up from Fred's sleeping face to lock eyes with Ginny.

"Gin, I promise I'll take care of him. Fred saved me. Least I can do is help save him."

"Saved you?" Ginny's brows knitted together as she studied her friend.

"There are a lot of things I haven't told you about, but I don't think tonight is the time. I promise we'll get together soon and I'll tell you everything. You just need to trust me, Gin." Hermione asked her, letting her own exhaustion peek out.

"Okay." She nodded and watched as Hermione shifted so Fred could better seek out and grasp her hand after several moments of fruitless searching.

"He really cares about you." She observed, face softening to see the way he seemed to smile in his sleep at Hermione's touch.

"He does, yeah. And I care about him too." Hermione smiled back at her, her heart fluttering at the memory of his telling her he loved her earlier in the evening.

"He told you didn't he?" George smiled wide, pulling her focus away.

"He did. And I told him too." She blushed lightly, rubbing her thumb affectionately over the back of Fred's hand.

"Wait… didn't you just start seeing each other?" Ginny leaned forward in suspicion.

"They've been dancing around it for a while, little sister. Though I think it really started on our birthday…" George explained with a grin.

"You are full of secrets. The two of you." Ginny shook her head in amazement, standing up and bringing her empty mug to the kitchen.

"I'm going to go back and reassure mum and dad everything is okay here. You might want to consider coming 'round tomorrow again so she can see you all and ease her own mind. You know she'll worry until she's laid eyes on you again…" Ginny sighed, crossing the room and giving Hermione and Fred pecks on the cheek. After a quick hug with George, she left through the floo.

"I'm going to disable it for the night, except for calls. Just on the off chance mum gets it in her head she needs to rush over here,"

"George…" Hermione called after him when he made to leave the room completely after fiddling with the floo.

"Hmmm?" he asked, pausing next to her on the couch.

"I really do love him, you know? This isn't some sort of rebound thing or a game. Losing him… I couldn't even consider it."

"I know, Hermione." George gave her shoulder a squeeze and kissed her forehead as he dimmed the lights and left the room. She noticed he'd left Fred's wand on the coffee table, having decided he was safe now.

Fred woke with every part of him aching, as if everything had tensed all at once and slowly released. As his mind came into focus he remembered what had happened and gave a little groan.

"'Mione?" he called, rolling over and realising he was asleep on her thing.

"Hmm?" she responded in her sleep, barely stirring.

"Come on, love," he spotted his wand and tucked it into his pyjama pocket before carefully gathering Hermione into his arms and carrying her back to his room.

The time on his alarm read 3 a.m. After all the drama of the evening, he didn't have the heart to wake him. He slid her beneath the blankets before tucking himself in behind her, wrapping her in his arms. He breathed in the scent of her, marveling that the woman in his arms could love him as broken as he was. He thought he heard her sigh as she snuggled closer to him, the little bit of tension in her form releasing. He kissed the back of her head as he settled himself into the pillows to sleep.

Several hours later, Hermione stirred to the sound of birds chirping somewhere in the distance. She yawned and cuddled into the warmth behind her, slowly registering she was now in Fred's bed. His familiar scent filled her lungs and she smiled to herself, even after all he'd experienced he hadn't woken her to move to his room. She felt his arms tighten around her and wondered if he was awake or just reacting to her slight movements.

"I'm awake," he mumbled into her hair, sending tingles down her spine as he read her mind.

"Go back to sleep, it's early yet," she whispered, turning herself in his embrace to being them face to face.

He sleepily kissed her before settling back and staring at her with slightly out of focus eyes.

"You know last night when you said you and George called me back?"

"Mmmhmm," she gently caressed his cheek with her fingers, wondering what half-asleep conversation he was trying to have at six in the morning.

"It was just your voice I heard. Like an echo leading me back home in the darkness. I just wanted you to know that. It's you that pulls me back without a second thought."

"Fred…" she breathed, unsure how to respond.

"You're the one that best knows my heart now, Hermione. You've broken through the walls I'd built around myself after the war. No one has read me as easily as you besides George. You really are amazing…" he whispered, closing the distance and kissing her deeply.

She let him roll on top of her, lips dancing together in the early morning light. She couldn't help but consider how, somehow, their broken pieces seemed to fit together. There was no sugar coating or hiding their flawed parts after everything they'd shared. This man was either going to be her forever or the most reckless mistake she'd ever made. She wasn't sure which version scared her more.