A/N: This was extremely satisfying to write <3
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Loud voices woke you up from your deep sleep, and you stuck your head out from under the blanket to see Hermione standing in the middle of the tent and gaping in total bewilderment, and then she walked quickly out of the tent. You hurriedly climbed out from your bunk and pulled your boots on over your jeans, but then the sound of someone calling you stopped you in your tracks.
"Y/N?" that familiar voice called anxiously and you half ran into the common area of the tent. Just inside the entrance stood Fred, his eyes scanning the tent looking for you. His hair was overgrown and lay just long enough to pass the nape of his neck, though it was brushed back out of his eyes, and a light stubble dusted his face. His warm brown eyes had dark circles underneath them, which probably matched yours from weeks of worrying about him.
You froze when you saw him, feeling the breath leaving your lungs as you saw the love of your life standing in front of you for the first time in seven long weeks.
"Freddie?" you whispered tearfully and his gaze immediately flicked over to you and he visibly relaxed at the sight of you. You stood looking at each other in mild disbelief for a moment, and then he smiled that beautiful smile of his and you ran across the tent towards him. He met you halfway and swept you up into his arms and off the floor, just as you flung your arms around his neck.
"Oh, darling," he murmured croakily while you held onto him tightly, not daring to loosen your grip in case he disappeared again.
You sobbed in relief into the crook of his neck, and he gripped you tightly against him and breathed shakily, crying too. As he held you up in his arms you tangled your fingers in his hair and leaned back to kiss his head and face, every inch of him you could reach. He set you down on your feet again but didn't let go of you, instead he pressed a firm and lingering kiss to your lips and held your face in his hands, before pulling back to look at you properly.
You stared at him, touching his face with your fingertips to make sure he was really there after all this time. He smiled lovingly at you and you cupped his slightly stubbled face in one hand and gently brushed a falling tear away with your thumb. He rested one hand on the one you had holding his cheek and turned his face slightly to kiss your palm, while holding your face in his other hand.
His eyes scanned your face as if he was also reassuring himself that you were actually there in front of him, "it's so good to see your face again, love." You smiled wetly as you looked up at his beautiful eyes, and took in the face you'd missed desperately.
"I missed you, Fred," you told him, your voice breaking, and then you pulled him close and he immediately captured your lips with his. He held your face and you gripped onto his jacket as he kissed you urgently and more deeply than before, as if he were a starving man, and you allowed yourself to be overwhelmed by his presence, forgetting everything around you but him.
"I love you. I love you," he whispered against your lips between kisses and you tangled your hands in his hair again, pulling him closer if that were possible.
"I love you, Fred," you murmured breathily as you pulled back for air and he kissed your forehead and then straightened up to look at you again, scanning your face as if memorising it. You both wore matching smiles of adoration as you looked at each other, both of you finally feeling whole again.
"Wait- are the others..." you asked, suddenly remembering where you were, and he nodded, smiling softly at you.
"Yeah they're here, Ron and George are with Harry. I ran ahead to find you but they should be caught up by now. I just needed to see you as soon as I could, I couldn't wait another damn minute," he admitted shamelessly, you grinned at him and leaned up to kiss him again, and he gently cupped your neck and kissed you back eagerly, breathing you in completely.
"You. Complete. ARSE, Ronald Weasley!" You heard Hermione yelling outside, and you and Fred abruptly pulled apart, sharing a concerned look.
"We're definitely finishing that later," he said before he pressed another lingering kiss to your lips. You chuckled fondly at him as he took your hand and you hurried out of the tent towards the others.
Hermione was shoving Ron and throwing leaves at him while Harry and George stood aside, watching in a mixture of shock and amusement. George saw you and beamed, and immediately ran towards you and scooped you up into a bear hug.
"Glad you're still alive and kicking, Y/N," he said cheerfully and you hugged him back, rolling your eyes fondly, "missed you too, Georgie."
Hermione continued yelling at Ron and she pulled his backpack off his shoulder, and the rest of you watched the scene unfold in front of you. "You show up here after weeks," Hermione gave him a whack with his backpack, "and you say 'hey'!?" She stared at him incredulously and then turned around to Harry, "where's my wand, Harry? Where's my wand?" Harry backed away as she marched towards him, "I don't know!" he looked back at you and the twins helplessly, but you couldn't do much to help him.
"Harry Potter, you give me my wand!" she hissed at him and he backed up against a tree and protested, "I don't have it!"
"How come he's got your wand?" Ron asked and Hermione scowled at him, "nevermind why he's got my wand!" Then she took a step towards him looking shocked, and you followed her gaze to what Ron was holding. "What is that?" she demanded and he held up the locket, which appeared to be broken.
"Is that..?" you whispered and Fred nodded in confirmation, "it is, bloody thing."
"You destroyed it," Hermione remarked, still looking at Ron warily. She looked back at Harry briefly and then narrowed her eyes at Ron, "and how is it you just happen to have the Sword of Gryffindor?"
You looked over at the twins in shock after noting the weapon in Ron's hand. "It's a long story," George whispered to you just as Harry said the same thing to Hermione.
"Don't think this changes anything," Hermione said icily to Ron as she turned away from him as if to start walking away.
He scowled at her in typical Ron fashion, "oh of course not! I've only just destroyed a bloody Horcrux! Why would that change anything?"
She turned around to look at him again and he sighed unhappily, "look, I wanted to come back as soon as I left. I just didn't know how to find you."
He looked over to you and the twins sadly and then looked back at Hermione, "if Fred and George hadn't come with me when they had, I would've been completely lost and alone. We tried to find you but we couldn't."
Fred took your hand in his and looked devastated, and George also wore a downcast expression. If you were missing them for seven weeks, you wondered how long they'd been actively looking for you for, and how they'd even managed to get past your protective enchantments and concealment charms to find you today.
"How did you find us?" you asked them, and before either of the twins could answer, Ron did. He looked at you and pulled out a small device from his pocket, which you recognised as the Deluminator he'd gotten from Dumbledore.
"With this," he replied, holding it out for everyone to see, "it doesn't just turn off lights."
"Here we bloody go again," George muttered as his younger brother continued explaining, "I don't know how it works, but Christmas morning we were sleeping in this little pub, keeping away from some Snatchers...and I heard it."
"It?" Harry asked, looking baffled.
Ron nodded, "a voice. Your voice Hermione, coming out of it." He looked right at her and her stony expression faltered slightly but then she crossed her arms defensively, as if protecting herself.
"I personally didn't hear anything apart from this git snoring," Fred said nodding towards George who snickered.
Ron scowled at them both, "shut up, Fred."
Hermione ignored them all and narrowed her eyes at Ron, "and what exactly did I say, may I ask?"
He swallowed nervously, "my name. Just my name. Like a whisper."
"Oh for fu-" you nudged Fred's arm to shut him up and let Ron continue, he just smirked at his younger brother and shook his head. Ron held the device up again, "so I took it and clicked it, and this tiny ball of light appeared. And I knew," he smiled shyly at Hermione, "and sure enough, it floated towards me, the ball of light, went right to my chest, straight through me. Right here," he pointed to his heart and you watched Hermione's expression soften as she listened.
"I knew it was gonna take us where we needed to go, so I Disapparated the three of us and we came to this hillside," Ron said gesturing towards the twins, "it was dark, we had no idea where we were. We just hoped that one of you would show yourselves, and you did."
He smiled at Harry and Fred chuckled, "yeah we had to pull the bloody idiot out of a frozen lake."
George raised his eyebrows at Harry, "going for a morning swim, yeah?"
"What?" you demanded and Hermione looked horrified while Harry held up his hands defensively, "look, the Horcrux is destroyed, that's all that matters, alright?"
George shrugged and picked up his backpack from the ground near a tree, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm cold and I need a cup of tea."
Fred seconded the suggestion and picked up his own bag, and you watched as Ron and Hermione exchanged a long look before she turned away and walked over to you, both of you slowly making your way to the tent. You said nothing to her, you just reached down and squeezed her hand comfortingly, and she squeezed yours back gratefully.
That evening Hermione insisted on taking watch, so the rest of you sat inside, Harry and Ron sat on Ron's bunk while you sat between the twins on the steps next to it. Ron stared wistfully at the jar on the small table in front of him that had a tiny flame in it, one of the few you'd been using as lanterns when it got dark in the tent.
"I've always liked these little flames Hermione makes," he said quietly and then he looked in the direction of the tent's entrance where Hermione sat outside, out of earshot.
"How long do you reckon she'll stay mad at me?" he asked and you smirked at him, "well, just keep talking about that little ball of light touching your heart and she'll come around."
"Shut up, Y/N," Ron said but he chuckled, "it was true though, every word."
You'd missed the younger boy while they'd been gone, but you were furious at him for leaving in the first place. As soon as he'd come into the tent after the rest of you, you'd told him as much but instead of listening to your ranting and scolding he'd pulled you into a tight hug. You'd stopped scolding him then, glad that he was alright, and just hugged him back, unable to bring yourself to stay cross at him for too long, though it seemed Hermione was doing a better job at it.
"This is gonna sound crazy," he continued, "but I think that's why Dumbledore left it to me, the Deluminator. I think he knew that somehow I'd need it to find my way back, and she'd lead me."
"You mean Dumbledore predicted that you'd be a stubborn git and throw a temper tantrum?" Fred asked casually while George continued, "and that you'd follow Hermione's disembodied whispers to the ends of the earth?"
Ron sighed loudly in exasperation, "I hate you all."
George straightened up, "bloody hell, I just realised you need a wand Harry, don't you?" Harry looked at him in surprise, "yeah, actually," and George ran to the other side of the tent where he'd put his bag down on his bunk and came back moments later with a wand.
"Blackthorn, ten inches. Nothing special but I reckon it'll do," he handed it to Harry and sat back down on the wooden steps beside you, "took it off a Snatcher that tried to jump us a couple of weeks ago."
"Thanks, George," Harry said gratefully and then he pointed it at the tiny flame in the jar between you all, "Engorgio!" The flame immediately shot upwards, a result of the wand not being with its proper owner and therefore its magic being more unpredictable, and you all jumped to duck down and cover your faces.
"Reducio!" Harry yelled immediately and the flame shrank back to it's normal size.
"What's going on in there?" Hermione demanded and Harry and Ron shouted in unison, "nothing!" You and the twins just chuckled as the other two looked like schoolchildren who'd just been caught causing trouble.
Hermione walked into the tent and Harry and Ron stood up to meet her, she looked between them warily for a moment. "We need to talk," she said and Ron stepped forward, "yeah, alright."
She just looked at him with furrowed brows and then pushed between the two of them and addressed all of you, "I want to go see Xenophilius Lovegood."
"Sorry?" Harry asked, confused, and Hermione flipped open her now-worn copy of Rita Skeeter's book on Dumbledore.
"See this?" she said, pointing out a page to Harry and then turning it to show you as you stood up and walked over to her. "It's a letter Dumbledore wrote to Grindelwald. Look at the signature."
"It's the mark again," you observed as you noted the symbol you'd seen before. Hermione nodded, "it keeps cropping up, In Beedle the Bard, in the graveyard in Godric's Hollow..." She trailed off and Harry nodded in recognition, "it was there too, outside Gregorovitch's Wand Shop."
"What does it mean?" Fred asked as he and George came to stand behind you and Hermione to peer down at the book. You shrugged, at a loss, and Hermione sighed, "look, we've no idea where the next Horcrux is, but this," she pointed to the symbol on the page, "this means something. I'm sure of it."
"Yeah, Hermione's right," Ron piped up, walking over to stand on Hermione's other side, "we ought to see Lovegood." Hermione glanced sideways at you in exasperation and you bit back a smirk at Ron's grovelling.
Ron was, of course, unaware of the awkwardness, "let's vote on it. Those in favour?" He raised his hand and the rest of you just watched him in silence.
"Give it up mate, you look like an idiot," Fred said to him and Hermione glanced at you again and raised her eyebrows in mild disbelief, and then she walked away while Ron slowly lowered his hand again.
"Better luck next time, bud," George said brightly, slapping him on the back and then you all dispersed to get ready for bed.
You curled up with Fred in your bunk, resting your head on his chest as he gently rubbed your back. You tangled your legs with his and shuffled closer, trying not to fall off the edge, and he chuckled and pressed a kiss to your forehead, "I bet you're missing having the bed to yourself now, hm?"
You tilted your head up and grinned at him, pressing a gentle kiss to his jaw, "just a bit. If you start to annoy me I'll take the top bunk." He grinned down at you and suppressed a laugh, both of you trying to keep quiet and not wake George who was fast asleep in his bunk in the far corner of the room.
"In all seriousness, though, I'd happily sleep on a hard floor as long as you were next to me," you said happily and you closed your eyes, but Fred had other ideas.
"Well, in that case," he pretended to push you off the side of the bed and you clung onto him, trying very hard not to shriek out loud, and then he laughed quietly and pulled you back up and into his chest. He held you close to him, your back pressed to his chest, and he kissed your shoulder and your hair and wrapped his arm around you, entwining his fingers with yours.
"I hated being away from you," he whispered against your shoulder and you sighed sadly and squeezed his hand. "I hated it too, I listened to the radio broadcast every evening, hoping I wouldn't hear your name, or George, or Ron, or anyone I knew."
"I did the same, when we could get access to a radio, that is. I'm guessing you got my letter then?" he asked and you turned around in his arms so you were facing him again.
"I got it, and I could practically recite it with the amount of times I've read it," you told him and he smirked, "go on then, I'm listening."
You rolled your eyes fondly, "alright then. It said, 'dearest Y/N, love of my life, funniest person I know-'"
"Oi, I'm definitely the funniest person I know. You'd be like...the thirteenth funniest person I know," he told you in mock seriousness and you swatted his chest playfully. He moved around on the bed and held himself up on one elbow until he was leaning over you, "you got the first part right, though."
"Which part?" you asked, trying to remember your own words. He chuckled and pressed a gentle kiss down onto your lips, "you are the love of my life, obviously."
"Oh I am, am I?" you teased and he chuckled and kissed your lips again, and then pressed kisses across your jaw and down your neck, right down to your collarbone and then back to your lips again.
"In case I haven't made that obvious with the..." he looked down at your hand and frowned slightly and you pulled your necklace out from under your shirt and held it out to him, showing him the promise ring you had put on the chain next to the pendant.
"Looking for this?" you asked him playfully and he grinned and kissed the fingers you held the jewellery out with.
"You never know, you could've changed your mind and run off with a Snatcher while I was away," he teased mischievously.
You rolled your eyes at him and he laughed into the crook of your neck, "I'll have you know I put it here to keep it safe. You wouldn't believe the amount of times I've had either mud, dust, or blood on my hands in the last few weeks." He frowned and you could see concern suddenly etched into his features, even in the dim light of the room with only a jar with a flame in it next to your bunk as a source of light.
"Been getting into brawls, have you?" he asked you, and you could tell he was making a joke to hide his very real concern. You figured he'd hear about your trip to Godric's Hollow soon enough anyway so you thought you'd give him a summary, "we went to Godric's Hollow where You-Know-Who's snake was possessing the corpse of Bathilda Bagshot."
His eyebrows flew up into his hair and you smiled and brushed your fingers into the strands of red hair that had fallen over his forehead, "I'm fine though, clearly."
He sighed and shifted his weight from his elbow and lay back down beside you, "bloody hell. We just spent the last few weeks hiding from Snatchers and tearing into Ron for being a dickhead. Seems like you were having all the fun."
You chuckled and nestled your face into the crook of his neck, feeling your eyelids beginning to droop, "oh yeah, we had loads of fun without you. In fact, you coming back has really cramped my style."
He grinned, "oh shut up, you. You missed my blindingly attractive face, don't lie."
You laughed and pressed a kiss to his cheek, "I did."
He leaned over to trace your cheek with his knuckles as he continued smiling fondly at you, and then he pressed a kiss to your lips and you kissed him back, smiling against his lips and sighing contentedly.
"I love you, Y/N," he whispered as you rested your head on his chest and you smiled tiredly, though he probably couldn't see your face, "I love you too, Freddie." He wrapped his arm around your waist and pulled you closer into his side, and then he pulled the blankets higher up and over your shoulders. He pressed a few soft kisses to your hairline and you eventually drifted off to the rhythm of his breathing, the familiarity of his sweet cinnamon and smokey fireworks scent surrounding you and making you feel safe and home.
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A/N: Everything is fine again, for now :)