Unforgettable (Fred & Hermione)

XI

(A/N - I had to change the layout of chapters because I added a whole new memory and section earlier on to the story so that's why this might seem weird to anyone who was reading it as it was first uploaded. I would recommend going back and reading the added in section as i think it adds a whole new element to their relationship! Thank you so much for reading x M )

Their time was up. Hogwarts was closing its doors, promising it would re-open in September but there were a few people had no desire to leave. Harry had locked himself in Dumbledore's office, refusing to even answer their calls. Ginny was losing her patience with the situation and had already tried to get in to no success. Hermione lay in bed that morning listening to Ginny snoring and couldn't stop wondering was Harry alright or would he ever be alright. He was in there using the Pensieve to watch Snape's memories and to talk to the portraits of Dumbledore and Snape. He was convinced there was more he could have and should have done to save people.

Hermione lay there worrying about her friend when suddenly, as quickly as lightning strikes, the idea came to her. She sat up in the bed and bolted out of the bed. She pulled her socks and shoes on and grabbed a cardigan that she pulled on as she ran to the boys' dormitories. She couldn't believe how stupid she had been to take this long to figure it out. She found Fred in Ron and Harry's room as Seamus and Dean had gone home yesterday leaving their beds vacant. He slept on his stomach, as he always had with his face tilted to the side and tucked down into the blankets so all she could see was his messy hair and the lump of his long, lean body under the covers. 

She climbed up onto the bed, shaking him awake until his bleary eyes were looking up at her in shock "What? 'Mione? What's happening? Are you alright?" he said in a croaky morning voice.

Hermione couldn't stop the excitement and she couldn't even explain it. She grabbed his hand and started pulling him out of the bed "I have an idea Fred you just have to trust me" she begged of him.

Fred found himself being handed a jumper and shoes were pushed near his feet which he slipped on, not sure what he was being told to do or why but Hermione was the logical one so he went along with it. 

Minutes later he was being dragged by his hand through corridors and up stairways. They eventually reached the entrance to Dumbledore's office where Hermione pulled him to a stop.

"Harry! Please let me in! It's an emergency!" Hermione shouted. When she got no response she considered using the spell she had learnt years ago that would blow open the doorway but she also considered that Dumbledore was cleverer than to let that spell work on somewhere so private. 

But suddenly the stairway began to move. Hermione, with her fingers interlaced with Fred's climbed the staircase.

Fred smiled "Never been up here except when George and I tried to sneak our names into the Goblet of Fire". That seemed decades ago. It seemed forever ago since the Yule Ball when all of this started.

Stepping off, Hermione pushed open the heavy oak door to reveal the immaculate office inside. It seemed to be the only place in Hogwarts untouched by the Final Battle.

Harry stood from his seat on the floor where he presumably had slept when he saw his friends in front of him. He looked terrible. His skin was pale and tired, his eyes were red rimmed from exhaustion and possibly from crying.

"Harry" Hermione exclaimed "You need rest. Proper rest. You still have time to try sleep before the train leaves at noon"

Nodding slowly Harry went past them muttering something about finding Ginny. They heard him slowly descend the stairs until they were alone.

Fred looked around and tugged at Hermione's hand "As much as I love being jumped on by you while I'm asleep I do wanna know what I'm doing here 'mione"

Hermione hoped her idea would work. It had to. It was the only decent one anyone had come up with since Fred woke up with no recollection of the last three years.

"I know you have none of your memories Fred but I have all of mine" She explained, taking his two hands in hers.

This explanation did nothing to clarify her plan and Fred's bewildered expression egged her on.

"I have all of our memories Fred. And if I could just show you mine then it would be like you were watching back on our memories together"

Fred's eyebrows sat low on his eyes and his forehead stayed scrunched in confusion until his eyes landed on the contraption behind them. The Pensieve.

"Do you trust me?" She asked, moving to stand beside the stone basin.

Fred smiled "Meh" he shrugged before rolling his eyes and admitting "Of course I do"

Raising her wand to her temple Hermione closed her eyes. Fred watched as she pulled her wand back with a white smoke like string following the tip of her wand.

She dropped it down into the Pensieve where it swirled around in the liquid.

Fred stared down at it. He was about to watch the story of their romance.

He couldn't explain it but he was slightly nervous when he leaned forward and let himself fall into the story of him and Hermione.

Hermione waited impatiently as Fred stayed wrapped in the memories, watching them unfurl. He was watching the Yule Ball and their first kiss, the moments they shared in Grimmaud Place after he realised she didn't just fancy him, the nights at the boat house and their first night together in the Room of Requirement. He relived how heartbroken she was when she ended things with him and how lonely she felt with Cormac and without Fred. He watched from her side of the story as it tore her heart in two to think he might be dead on the night Mad Eye was killed and how much pain she felt watching Fred be tortured in Malfoy Manor. It wasn't the same as living it himself but Fred began to understand it all, to see what George meant when he said that Fred and Hermione were somehow perfect for each other, what his mother meant when she said they were something good after everything they had suffered. 

She paced the floor until she thought she'd mark it with her shoes. After what seemed like hours Fred pulled back and fell into the room with her again. She rushed to him, grabbing his arm and steadying him.

"Merlin's tits" he gasped. "That was... I mean I just saw... that was the last three years of us. That was... that was a fucking lot"

Hermione waited for him to say something else. But his mind was reeling, he could barely take it all in. She felt him move his arm from her grip so he could wrap his arms around her waist. He pulled her up into his arms with a loud laugh. That was a sound she had missed all year. He pulled her tightly to him grinning. When he leaned back he rested his forehead against hers unable to contain his smile.

"I missed you Granger" he laughed. It was almost bizarre to think he had missed her when he couldn't remember her. But it was true. Since he had woken up in that hospital bed there was something missing inside of him. He could feel it. Like a hole that was left in his heart after Alecto Carrow ripped her from him.

"You've no idea how much I missed you Weasley" she grinned. He took her face in his hands and didn't think twice before kissing her. It felt exactly as it should have. It felt unbelievably right. They couldn't stop smiling into the kiss as they would pull away from each other only to look at each other and lean back in for another.

"I mean... that was everything I missed with you wasn't it?" he asked, unable to wipe the smile off of his face. Hermione smiled back. He could finally see it all.

"There's just one more memory I need to show you" she whispered. He took her hands in his.

"What is it? Show me" he asked of her.

She had been nervous to show him this since she figured out her plan. She didn't know would it be enough to show him how he felt. She prayed it would be because it was all she had. If this memory of hers was enough to show Fred how she felt about him then they could make it. She prayed her side of this part of their story would be enough for both of them.