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Rain pelted down on her as The Rising Phoenix swayed violently beneath her feet. The storm raged loud and the waves crashed with vengeance against the ship's hull. Calypso gave no quarter, and Hermione couldn't exactly say she blamed her.
Chaos erupted around her as Tom Riddle's men crossed the space between The Inferi and The Phoenix on ropes, landing on deck with already swiping swords. Crashes and yells flooded her ears as Hermione tried to fight off every enemy that came for her. Her clothes were weighed down with water and her hair stuck on her neck and cheeks, but she didn't let it slow her down. The hat on her head was the only thing keeping the rain from impairing her vision, and she knew that a single moment of distraction could cost her her life.
She grunted as she parried an attack, driving her sword deep into the half-coral, half-man's chest. When one fell, another was already taking their place, and Hermione barely had the time to duck before a new sword passed where her neck had once been.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a flash of red hair twirling near her. The enthusiastic shout and bright, amused laugh that reached her ears over all the fighting let her know it was Fred. Hermione sighed in relief; He was still fighting.
She sidestepped a sword coming for her stomach and grabbed the creature's wrist with her free hand. A kick in its middle sent it stumbling back, and Hermione had time to move closer to Fred.
"How are you doing, love?" he asked, voice raised to be heard over the hell raining down on them.
"I've been better. You?" She grunted with the effort of fighting off her current attacker.
"Having the time of my life, 'ta." Fred said, and she could hear the smile on his face. "Switch!"
Hermione felt fond exasperation fill her chest, unable to contain her own grin as they twirled around each other, switching places in practiced motion. Their backs met while they fought their new opponents.
Time seemed to be passing in a flash, and the battle felt like it had been going on for ages. Logically, Hermione was well aware that mere minutes had passed. The enemies were more resistant than she was used to; Riddle's not-quite-human crew were hard to keep down and even harder to kill. Around her, her crewmates fought with everything they had, shouting and grunting, sweating and bleeding. She knew Ginny, Harry and Ron were somewhere in the mess, George too. She could also just about hear Captain Snape's sarcastic remarks about their enemies.
As she avoided being skewered once more, Hermione used her enemy's own balance against it as she tossed them over the hull's edge and into the violent waters below.
"Hermione!" She turned at the sound of Fred's shout, just in time to avoid a machete coming her way. She ducked and rolled, away from the edge and ready to face her new attacker.
Dispatching the man covered in fish scales, she heard Fred calling her name again.
"Hermione!" And suddenly he was fighting next to her again. Barely sparing her a glance, he asked "Will you marry me?"
The urge to stop and look at him was cut short as she parried another enemy. "I don't think now's the best time!"
Fred's sword buried into the creature's middle. "Now may be the only time."
Hermione kicked her opponent away and turned to meet him, taking advantage of the brief lull in the fight. Fred held her arm as she did his, keeping each other balanced as the waves threw the ship around.
"I love you, Hermione Granger." Their eyes met as the world faded away. "I've made my choice. What's yours?" In that short moment it was just the two of them. Hermione felt her stomach twist itself into knots, butterflies fluttering around it as the excitement built within her. She could see their future shining in his eyes, all the love he held for her that she returned with her whole heart and soul. She didn't have a choice, not really. There was only one thing she could say.
"Snape!" she shouted over the chaos, feeling amusement color her features at the shock on Fred's face. She turned to look at the Captain where he was fighting two creatures at once by the helm. "Marry us!"
Fred's sigh of relief was cut short as a particularly violent wave pulled him and Hermione apart, directly into their enemies' paths.
"I'm a bit busy at the moment," Captain Snape's voice drawled over the storm.
Hermione lunged and deflected, quick movements to avoid an untimely death. She slid on the wet deck and kicked her opponent's feet from underneath them, swiping her blade across their neck.
She stumbled back just as Fred found his way back to her, an arm going around her waist to hold her steady. "Snape, now!"
"Fine then." the Captain thrust his sword into a fish-person's neck and turned towards them from his perch at the helm. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today..." He cut himself off, kicking his latest attacker in the face.
Hermione ducked as Fred dispatched the enemy behind her.
"...because we are fighting for our lives, but Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger have decided to make it about themselves."
"Hermione Granger," Fred started, ignoring the Captain's less than romantic words, and having to turn from her quickly to dispose of another creature while she did the same, "do you take me to be your husband in all the adventures that life may take us?"
Happy tears blurred her vision for a moment as a smile painted her lips. Hermione's free hand cupped Fred's cheek as she nodded. "I do."
"Brilliant!" Fred enthused, shining a big, great grin down on her.
They were pulled apart once more, cutting down enemies as Hermione called out over the noise. "Fred Weasley! Do you take me to be your wife," she huffed, slicing through another opponent, "in sickness and in health, with health being—" Hermione cut herself off with a yelp as a sword swung at her face, but quickly dispatched the enemy "—less likely?"
Finally, they made their way back to each other, just in time for Fred's eyes to soften, his whole heart in his words as he said, "I do."
Hermione sent him a soft smile of her own before pushing Fred away, getting him out of an oncoming blade's way.
"As Captain, I now pronounce you..." Snape was interrupted by three more fish-men descending on him. He slashed and evaded, kicking and punching at any part of the enemy he could reach. "You may kiss..." Once again, his sentence was cut short.
Hermione and Fred were not doing much better. Desperation seemed to have set upon Riddle's men as they threw themselves into the fight, maybe with only the hope of taking them down with them.
"You may kiss..." Snape grunted. Hermione couldn't waste the precious second that would take to check on him as she fought next to Fred. The enemies were unrelenting, but their numbers were slowly dwelling. If she could just hold for a little longer...
With an equally victorious and irritated shout, Snape took the small reprieve in enemies coming at him to yell in the couple's direction, "... JUST KISS!"
Without needing to be told further, Fred and Hermione dispatched their opponents and met in the middle. His free hand buried itself in the wet hair at the nape of her neck, pushing her hat slightly forward, as the other circled around her waist, keeping the sword away from her even as he pulled her closer. Hermione, in turn, wrapped her arm around his neck, making sure to keep her sword's blade away from him.
Their lips met in a rush of excitement, hats bumping over their heads with the force of their coming together. Around them the world raged on; the waves, the rain, the screams and the shouts, but in that moment in her husband's arms, Hermione felt perfectly at peace.