"Do you think you'll want that one day, Hermione?" Fred's hand waved in the general direction of George and Angelina's bedroom. Everyone else was back in the bedroom now, rested and fed, and they had decided to sit back down on the sofa and await events.

"A family, or to give birth at home?"

"Well I meant a family, but I guess … yeah, whatever … do healers think about what kind of births they want? Is that part of your training?"

Hermione laughed. "No, but I know I would want to stay home like Angie and your mum. As long as everything was OK, of course, but I'm healthy and fit so there's no reason it shouldn't be. St Mungo's is great if there's a problem, but I'd prefer to stay put, have a birth pool in the bedroom, have my wizard kissing the pain away, being among familiar smells and people and all that..."

"You'd like a family then?"

There was a pause before Hermione spoke softly. "I'd love to have a family, Fred. I know everyone thinks of me as being career-focused, and I suppose I am a bit, but really I'd like to have both." She dropped her gaze to her knees and shrugged. "If the right wizard ever comes along."

Fred reached out and gently cupped her chin in his hand, tilting her head back up until their eyes met.

"And how will you know when he does?"

Her heart leapt at the way his eyes locked with hers, but she tried to calm herself. It's not like she could tell him that, if it was up to her, she would already be with him; that he was the right wizard in her mind; that spending the day with him had made it harder than ever to deny how she felt about him. No, he had never shown any interest beyond the ongoing, everyday flirting that seemed to come naturally to two thirds of the Weasley men. Why risk humiliating herself by letting him know that she had accidentally given him her heart several years ago when she saw him riding off with George on their broomsticks and taking a stand against Umbridge's oppressive regime, and had been hopelessly and increasingly in love with him ever since?

"Who knows?" she finally whispered, dropping her eyes again and not trusting herself to say more.

"Hermione?" he leaned in. "What's up, love?"

Hermione shook her head. "Nothing, Fred. Just being silly. All those bonding hormones getting to me, I expect." She attempted to get up, thinking that another good bustle around the kitchen might help her shake off the desire that was seeping through her body. But Fred caught her arm in his hand before she could rise and urged her to stay on the sofa with him. His eyes met hers again.

"There's someone you like?" His voice was gentle, and she nodded.

Fuck it. Maybe it was time to tell him, after all. Maybe if she did, they could laugh about it together, especially after their day of sharing intimate and intense experiences, and then move on. Maybe getting it out of her system and suffering the ignominy of hearing him turn her down gently would mean she could move on and fall in love with someone else; maybe a man who would actually return her feelings this time.

"Who, love?"

It was time, Hermione decided. Lifting her chin, she sat up straighter and looked straight at him. It was now or never, and she summoned her inner lion and chose now.

"You," she whispered. "Fred, it's always been you."

Before she could add anything else, her eyes filled with tears from the sheer shock of letting her feelings out, and she felt Fred's thumbs touching her and then gently wiping the tears away as he cradled her cheeks in his hands, a look of concern on his face.

"I'm so sorry, Fred. I shouldn't have said that. You don't have to say anything," she told him quietly, touching his forearm with her hand. "I need to get over this. I don't want it to get in the way of our friendsh-"

The remainder of her sentence went unspoken as Fred tipped her head slightly to the right and leaned in to give her their first proper kiss.

Hermione's breath hitched as she felt Fred's lips slide over hers. Her tears continued to flow for a moment, but the emotion behind them changed. Softening, she responded to his touch and lost herself in the sensation of kissing the gorgeous wizard who had been in her company all day and in her heart for so much longer.

Fred Weasley kissed like no other man she had ever been with. The way he used his lips and tongue was veritably sinful, and after a couple of minutes Hermione crawled forward and settled on his lap, wanting to be as close to him as she could while he made love to her mouth. Her stomach was churning in the most delightful way, and she couldn't wrap herself tightly enough around his body.

Fred gathered her up in his arms, hitching her body even closer to his. They kissed as if they had been apart for years and needed to make up for lost time. Which was exactly how Hermione felt. Even as she could feel the immediate evidence of his attraction to her against her tummy, Hermione still couldn't quite believe that this was happening. How had they gone from making cake and casserole and riding on shopping trolleys to making out on his sofa with four of his family members and two of her colleagues in the next room?

"Stop thinking, love," Fred mumbled against her lips. "I can almost hear you. Just keep kissing me…"

"Ohhhh, Fred…" she leaned into him again; his words sending shivers throughout her body.

After several more minutes, they pulled apart, both breathing heavily. Fred used one long thumb to stroke Hermione's lips.

"Merlin's pants, Hermione! If I had known snogging you would feel like that I would have done it years ago."

"Fred!" Hermione didn't really know how to respond to that, but she felt that some sort of response was required.

"Come here, love," he leaned forward and captured her in his arms again. This time, he pulled her fully on top of him and then tipped them both to the side, making her laugh. He settled them carefully into a comfy position on the sofa for more kissing. One of Fred's hands wove through Hermione's curls and, in turn, she stroked the red hairs that curled on the back of his neck, causing him to groan.

"God, I wish we were properly alone!" His other hand strayed down to her back, making wide spirals across her skin. "Do you want to come to my room? I mean, not to do anything you're not ready for yet, love. Though I'd love it if you would stay the night, especially if we still have to wait a while … just to cuddle, maybe?"

Hermione wasn't sure how to answer that. She loved the idea, but she wasn't sure what Molly would make of it, and she needed to process that. On the other hand, her experience told her that, with the sounds that Ange was making in the bedroom, Molly wasn't likely to be here all night anyway, so she responded by initiating more kisses and they both lost the desire to plan or talk as her tongue tangled gently together with Fred's in the oldest kind of dance.

Her instincts were correct. Sure enough, a short while later – and neither of them could ever say how long – their passion was interrupted by the sound of a newborn baby who had arrived earthside and was greeting its parents with a mewl. Upon hearing the noise, the wizarding world's newest lovers broke apart and gave each other the most enormous grin. Already wrapped quite well around each other, Fred tightened his hold on Hermione and held her to him. "He's here, love," he said, gleefully. "I'm an uncle."

"He's a she, Gred" said a voice from the bedroom. "You're an auntie!" Hermione turned her head just in time to see the grin on George's face as he opened the door to share the good news. "Oh, good job keeping Freddie Bear occupied, Hermione, though I didn't know THAT was what mum had in mind when she called you over."

Hermione tipped herself off the sofa just seconds before Molly and Ginny came forward to investigate the meaning of George's words. However, the creation of a small bit of distance between her and Fred did little to hide the fact that they both had dark eyes, kiss-swollen lips, mussed up hair and grins on their faces the width of Diagon Alley.

"Oh yeah," said Ginny. "So that's why you needed a personal healer, Fred."

"Naff off, Gin-Gin," he whispered, but it was clear to all that he was joking. "I need to see my niece."

He launched himself off the sofa and reached George's bedroom in three strides.

"Hang on, Fred; she's only a few minutes old and Angelina's not dressed!"

"S'OK," said Fred to his sister. "I won't look. Ange can see Hermione when the time comes if it makes her feel better…"

Hermione laughed, shocked at his words, and then blushed when she saw an incredulous look on Molly's face. Catching up with Fred, she took his hand in hers and together they stood and admired the baby who was scrunched up against Angelina's breasts, naked underneath the warm blanket on which tiny green dragons were dancing. Angelina had the biggest smile on her face and her eyes were dancing with happiness. "I did it, Freddie," she told her brother-in-law. "I did it!"

"You so did, love," he told her as he knelt in front of his friend and kissed her on the cheek. "You were amazing; congratulations!" He leaned further across to pull his twin into a hug as well.

"Congratulations, Angie, George," said Hermione, reaching to touch the older witch's hand before giving the couple more kisses.

"Thank you." Angelina continued to grin as she looked back up at George, who was sat behind his wife, holding her snugly against his bare chest with one arm while stroking their new baby's hand with the other. They looked a picture of contentment and love, and Hermione felt so honoured to be a tiny part of this moment which she knew they would remember forever. Jane was taking photos and Hermione smiled at the other midwife, who was sitting quietly on the floor in front of Angelina.

"Hello Hermione," the older woman nodded at her friend; they hadn't really spoken when she had arrived. Sally was waiting patiently and keeping an eye on the newest Weasley and her mother.

Hermione smiled. "Hello, Sally. Do you need anything?"

Sally shook her head. "Just waiting for the placenta, but you could make some tea and toast for Angelina if you wouldn't mind?"

"Consider it done."

"We got champagne earlier as well," said Fred. "And then can I have a hold?"

"I think Ange might need to have the placenta first, Freddie! We're not cutting the cord til it's out. That way the baby gets all her blood, or something." That was George.

Fred shrugged. "Oh well, I've waited all day so I suppose another few minutes won't hurt. I'll get the champagne glasses out."

Fred was kept happily busy for the next hour and had little chance to talk to Hermione about what had happened between them. There was tea and toast to make, plates to collect and wash and things to be carried for the midwives. Molly had him get the shower clean and nice for Angelina, and he was then charged with walking on Ange's other side – just in case she felt woozy – as George helped her to the bathroom. Sally had used her wand to enlarge a bath towel so that it could wrap all the way around Ange's body with the end tucked in between her legs. It wasn't elegant, the midwife said, but it would make Ange feel secure enough to walk through the flat. Fred could hear Angelina telling George that she would only allow Fred to help if he promised never to mention her attire in the future.

"I get it," he said, holding up his right hand. "What happens in the birth flat stays in the birth flat. Assistant Midwife's promise, I swear. Come on, love," he offered her his arm. "Let me help escort you so Georgie can help you freshen up."

After leaving the couple at the bathroom door and seeing that Molly was currently holding her granddaughter – so no chance of getting in there just yet, he realised – Fred went back to the kitchen. Hermione was back at the sink and he walked up behind her, winding one arm around her waist and using the other to move her hair so that he could kiss her neck. "I haven't forgotten you, love," he reassured her. "And I'd still love for you to stay the night … no pressure to do anything … will you think about it?"

Hermione nodded. She could think of nothing she would rather do than spend the night in Fred's arms, and she wasn't at all averse to a bit more than kissing, if that's what they both wanted. She needed to know whether he saw this as a fleeting distraction or something more, though. She didn't think her heart could take it if she made love with him and then discovered that he wasn't open to them becoming more than friends. She smiled to herself at the irony of the role reversal, as her own mind – and heart – were jittery and racing while Fred was now seemingly relaxed and full of the oxytocin that she had taught him about earlier in the day.

She didn't get the chance to answer him that time either, as the midwives were saying their goodbyes, promising to visit first thing in the morning and letting the new parents know that they could floo call them anytime in the night if they needed to. Entering the kitchen, Sally smilingly told Fred that it was his turn to properly visit the new family.

"Finally!" He was back into George and Angelina's bedroom in double quick time, keen as ever to hold his niece. Hermione followed, at a rather slower pace, to find Angelina was tucked up in a freshly made bed feeding her daughter with Molly offering the occasional word of encouragement from across the room. George sat on the quilt beside her, now dressed in a clean shirt and looking as proud as punch. Hermione smiled at the picture they made.

"I have a present for you," Hermione told Angelina, passing over the red and gold hat that she had knitted.

"I helped make it," Fred told her proudly.

"Yes, he did," Hermione smiled.

"It's beautiful, thank you," Angelina popped the tiny hat onto Roxanne's head, and George laughed to see her, which startled Roxanne a bit. Angelina and Molly looked at each other and Molly shrugged; the child was going to need to get used to noise, like every other Weasley baby had had to.

"Can I have a hold now?" Fred was moving his weight from one foot to the other in anticipation, though much less slowly than when Hermione had arrived that morning.

"Sit down first, Fred," Angelina told him. Having been dimly aware of his antics during the early part of her labour, she wasn't sure whether she wanted her newborn to be bounced around by her excitable brother-in-law.

He obeyed, arranging his long legs underneath him in the low chair that sat in the corner of their bedroom. Fred held out his arms and Molly took the baby carefully from Angelina and stepped towards her son, handing his niece over and cautioning him to support her head.

Fred took the tiny baby in his arms and his eyes filled with tears. "Hello, love," he said to the little girl. "I'm glad you got here OK. You were a long time coming."

Molly and Hermione looked at each other and smiled wryly. Roxanne Weasley had actually taken a fairly average length of time to be born.

Fred used one finger to carefully stroke Roxanne's soft red hair and gazed at her for several long minutes before he looked up again. There was silence in the room as everyone gave Fred the space and time to enjoy the moment he had been anticipating all day long. Then he looked up and surprised everyone.

"Marry me," he said to Hermione. "Please marry me and have my babies. I want this with you, love."

"Oh Godric, I was right," Molly whispered under her breath to Ginny.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I'll pay you later; my purse is at home," she groaned, smiling at her mum.

"Fred?" breathed Hermione. Her stomach had dropped at his words. In a good way. "What do you mean?" She knelt down in front of him, wondering if he was OK. They had exchanged their first kisses only a couple of hours before, and she hadn't even known for sure whether it meant anything to him beyond being the product of the heat of the rather intense moment they were sharing.

"I know we've only just happened, love, but I'm never going to find a better witch for me than you." He snuggled Roxanne gently into the crook of one long arm and reached for Hermione's hand before looking at his family. "Am I? Really?" He looked around the room to see Molly, George and Ginny all shaking their heads and smiling. Angelina just looked a bit stunned; she had been too busy falling in love with her daughter to have realised that more falling in love had been happening during her birth.

"You're lovely," he continued, stroking Hermione's hand. "I mean, I've always thought you were lovely, but I didn't see just how very lovely until today, and I had no idea you'd be interested in me. And now … you are … I think?"

Hermione nodded, whispering, "very much, Fred," as he continued.

"And today you've been amazing. You've seen me at my worst, you made me feel better, you've helped me understand and calm down and actually be useful. I don't think anyone else could have done that. We had fun," he grinned widely. "And," he gazed down at his niece, "this has put everything into perspective. I want to be with you. I want this with you, love," he repeated, looking back into Hermione's eyes.

Hermione smiled at him; she was so happy, but she couldn't possibly miss the opportunity to tease the man who had spent so much of their youth teasing her. "You were a nervous wreck for most of the morning, Fred. How will you cope when you're the dad-to-be?"

Fred grinned. "Well I'll have something to do then, won't I? I'll be the one who gets to do the kissing and bath running and massaging. Georgie can pace and go to Waitrose if he likes. He's got a debit card too."

Hermione tipped her head to one side. "There is that, I suppose."

"So will you?"

"Marry you?"

He nodded; eyes still moving between Hermione and the baby who was happily snuggled in his arms. He wanted to look at them both so much and it was hard to tear his eyes from either.

"Isn't it a bit sudden?"

He shrugged. "Not really. Sounds like you've liked me for a while. And it's not like we're strangers. We've known each other nearly half our lives."

Hermione took her lip between her teeth, thinking. Fred knew better than to interrupt her pondering, but he decided to hand Roxanne back to Molly while he waited for her to consider her decision. There was a chance that he would need to sweep the clever little witch into a dramatic show of his affection if she agreed to have him. He gave his niece a tender, lingering kiss on her forehead and snuggled her more deeply into her new hat before passing her to his mum.

"Yes," said Hermione, when he was done. "I'll marry you, but there's a condition."

"Anything." Fred leaned forward and took her other hand in his as well.

"I want the witch whose birth brought us together," she indicated the youngest member of the Weasley family, "to be a flower girl at our wedding, so that means we'll need to wait a couple of years until she can walk down the aisle with me. That'll give you and I time to be together as a couple and we can make sure we work and that it's not just your hormones!"

"It's definitely not just my hormones," Fred whispered into her ear, as he pulled Hermione onto his lap for a kiss. "But I accept your terms."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Hermione didn't go home that night. In fact, she didn't go home until the next afternoon, and then it was just to feed and placate her cat and bring some clothes and toiletries back to the flat. She moved into Fred's room that evening, never slept another night at her own place and brought Crookshanks over the following week. Three weeks later, she brought everything else she owned over in a weekend and put her flat on the market. Hermione couldn't believe how fast it had all happened, but she wasn't ever sorry that she had plucked up the courage to tell Fred how she felt after loving him for all that time.

Fred couldn't remember being happier. He had never imagined himself with Hermione but he couldn't for the life of him work out why not. Whenever he said that to Hermione, she just told him that they had just needed to wait for the right time, and he liked that assessment. A month after they got together, he presented her with the first box of Healer Hermione's Comfrey Salve for St Mungos and took her out for a special dinner. In return, she took him back to Waitrose the next day so they could buy the ingredients to cook a special celebratory meal together for themselves, George and Ange. He was delighted to be in charge the trolley again but, having been allowed to take Roxanne with him in her baby seat, he agreed to push rather than ride it this time around.

Angelina and George were equally delighted with the second new addition to their household; not only did Hermione run Angelina daily bubble baths and hold the baby so she could enjoy them, but she knew just how thirsty breastfeeding witches got and would put the kettle on at even the merest hint of a snuffle from Roxanne. Angelina promised to return the favour when it was Hermione's turn and joked that they needed to carefully stagger their future babies so that they could take turns pampering each other. George was happy that Fred had finally fallen in love, and even happier that it was with someone who they all already cared for. Not to mention the benefits that he suspected they would enjoy over the years from drawing on Hermione's expertise when developing new WWW projects.

Molly and Ginny had returned to The Burrow sworn to secrecy about Fred and Hermione's news. So naturally Molly only told Arthur and Ginny only told Harry, who told Ron, who told the rest of his brothers, but everybody pretended to be surprised when Fred and Hermione turned up to Sunday dinner holding hands that week. Ginny paid over the five galleons and Molly used it to take her out for coffee so they could discuss the new development at length.

Ten and a half months later, Roxanne Weasley was thrilled when she pulled herself up onto a coffee table at The Burrow one lunchtime and took her first three steps across the living room floor before falling into her father's outstretched arms. She clapped her hands together in glee and was pleased to find that her mum, dad, uncle, auntie and a horde of other relatives joined in to congratulate her achievement. That very same evening, Hermione accepted an engagement ring which Fred had placed in her wine glass during the family's Sunday dinner.

And two weeks before her second birthday, Roxanne served as flower girl to her Uncle Fred and Auntie Miney as the pair stood together in the garden of The Burrow and said the vows that would bind their lives together. She watched their wedding from her dad's arms and helped him pass over the rings. Roxanne didn't know it then, but the happy couple were already growing her a baby cousin who would be born in the very same flat into which she had entered the world. Though her Uncle Fred would be much calmer this time round.