Orca was the exact opposite of Scotty in how she looked. She was all black except for her paws and ears being white, while scotty was all white with his paws and ears being black. She wondered if Fred had done this on purpose. Hermione watched as Fred ran the mouse through a series of tests to show Hermione Orcas progress. While she was almost completely trained, Fred wanted to put her through a few more long distance practice runs, before handing her over to Hermione.

" Turns out she is just like you Hermione. Very Clever. On the last run i sent her on, instead of going the whole way on foot, she hopped on a bus for most of the route. Still can't get scotty to do that!" Fred laughed as the little mouse finished her cheese puff and crawled into her little house for a nap. That was her way of telling Fred she was done with training. This mouse was just as stubborn as her owner.

" Well she is beautiful Fred! Thank You!" Hermione stood from the chair and stretched her body. Glancing out the window, she noticed it was late as Diagon Alley was shut down for the night. That meant she had been watching Orca for a few hours at least. She couldn't stop the smile forming. Fred had been so excited to show her all that the little mouse could do. Hermione had been most impressed with Orcas fearlessness when being confronted by potential dangers and predators.

" No thanks needed. It is my honor. I needed something to do while you guys were out there risking your backsides. I promised you i wouldn't cause mayhem and risk myself being a bigger target so this was the only safe thing i could come up with. It helped keep the constant worrying at bay, for the most part anyway. Fred turned at the sound of a little mouse running around on her wheel and his entire body drooped with sadness. Hermione walked over to the orange and white mouse. It looked up at her for a moment before running on its wheel again. She heard Freds footsteps coming up behind her.

" Thats Cheese. She was supposed to be Rons mouse." Fred said quietly behind her. I haven't had the heart to keep training her. Can't seem to let her free either. "

Hermione turned to look at Fred. Sorrow swam behind those baby death had been hard on all of them but more so for Fred and Ginny. Fred had been fighting beside Ginny for most of the battle but seeing his father becoming surrounded he had left to aid him. However George had thrown a flash bomb prank into the midst, disorienting the group and snuck his father away. When Fred turned back around, Ron was jumping in front of Ginny to protect her from a stunning curse. Before Fred could get close enough to help, another death eater hit Ron with the killing curse. While he knew that it wasn't his fault, it did nothing to stop the guilt creeping in from time to time. Ginny had sorted through her feelings of guilt, of not being strong enough to fight and protect herself at the same time, but she still suffers nightmares occasionally.

" You know he wouldn't want you beating yourself up over this. Beating yourself up over all the spider pranks you pulled on him yes, but not this." Hermione whispered, adding humor was the only way to bring him out of these little funks. Just like she had hoped, a small smile formed.

" Still surprised he isn't haunting us over those." Fred chuckled to himself as the memories played in his head.

Hermione wrapped her arms around Fred as he sorted through his emotions. It was one of the things she loved about Fred. Every emotion was there for her to see. While he hid most from everyone else, he was an open book for her. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on top of her head.

" You're warm." He mumbled.

" So are you." She smiled into his chest. This she also loved. Just a simple soft moment. No crazy flirting, no sexual feelings burning through her bo…

" Bet i could make you warmer." He whispered. She could feel him grinning against her head.

Well that lasted all of a second.