Secret Admirer: A Fred Weasley Love Story

Epilogue: Hope and Devastation

Fred and Rose lay in the grass near the pond out back of the Burrow. It had been three years after their first kiss, one year after their graduation from Hogwarts. It had been an exciting year to say the least.

But just after their graduation, a rather surprising and amazing moment happened which is best experienced from the mind of someone whom this story revolves around.

Rose

Fred had just opened his Joke-Shop with George, their business booming immediately. It was proudly dubbed Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and of course those horrible Puking Pastilles were one of the best-sellers. The opening night was one of celebration and stolen kisses between Fred and I (of course all of them were welcome), and that night our worries dissipated with the burning of the sunset. It was roughly three years of us being together, and our relationship was one of the most passionate and sturdy things I've ever been a part of.

That night of grand happiness and sweet remarks was wakened horribly, however, with headaches only coffee and time would cure, and the abrupt realization that the world outside of our land of laughter and brightly colored packaging was falling to ruins.

The Wizarding World was under attack by it's own citizens gone mad, and we tried our best to keep glowing smiles upon the faces of those who walked within meters of our shop. We brightened the outlook of those too innocent to see what was past the walls of their homes, and in return they shared with us their high spirits and warm smiles. Everyone was doing their part to keep our homes safe.

In this time of need and fear was one of which any small gesture of kindness was looked upon with hesitance. I was losing my faith in the people surrounding me, as glances grew wary and uncertain. It was in this time that the most magnificent thing had happened to me.

Fred and I were walking back from an amazing Italian muggle restaurant, our smiles wide, and our hearts and stomachs full. We held hands, his long fingers taking hold of mine gently, our arms swinging in unison. We stopped at a bench in Dulwich park, somewhere in a rare section of seclusion in the nightlife of London.

The lake adjacent to us moved softly away from Fred and me, as if giving us privacy for our date night.

"Uhm... Rose?" Fred asked, his eyes crinkling into a nervous smile.

I looked up to Fred sitting on my right, his pale freckled skin nearly luminescent as the moon above him.

"Hm?"

Fred stood up from his perch on the bench and brushed off his pants. He cleared his throat. I waited.

Kneeling down on one knee in front of me, Fred brushed a stray hair to behind my ear with gentle fingers. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he took something out and covered it with his hands.

"Rose? I just, well, I just wanted to say that ever since I first noticed you, like really saw that beautiful girl with the chestnut hair and the short height and temper to match,"

I laughed softly, and he placed his hand on my knee. I felt his warmth through my stockings.

"It wasn't love at first sight. It was something else to an entirely different degree... I was... I was driven towards you like the opposite ends of two magnets. And that pull has only strengthened with time and I just want you to know that Rose, you were always the one.