Hermione Granger was sitting on the sofa in the Gryffindor common room reading Pride and Prejudice, a Muggle book her mother had sent her, when Ron Weasley and Harry Potter dragged themselves in through the portrait hole.

"Hello! Where have you two been? McGonagall's about to leave for Hogsmeade and you two are off running around the castle!" Hermione said, shutting the book with a 'bam' and stuffing it into her bag resting at her feet. She stood up and swung the bag onto her shoulder.

"We're not going." Harry grumbled as he flopped down on the sofa.

"What? Why?" Hermione let her bag fall to the floor and sat down next to Harry. Ron flopped down on her other side.

"We got in trouble with Snape…" Ron sighed.

"For…" Hermione asked, knowing the answer.

"…hexing Malfoy." Harry finished for Ron.

"Harry! Ron!" Hermione rolled her eyes as the bell rang again, calling the students to the Great Hall so they could leave.

"Hermione, come on!" Ginny Weasley, another one of Hermione's best friends, Harry's girlfriend, and Ron's little sister, called from the portrait hole.

"I'll be right there!" She called over her shoulder. "Do you want me to stay?" Hermione asked, turned back to Ron and Harry.

"No, go ahead." Harry groaned and fell over on the couch.

"Go on. Oh! Could you take this to Fred and George for me?" Ron asked, pulling a letter out of his pocket and giving it to Hermione.

"Sure. I've got to go, see you boys later!" Hermione said, grabbing her bag, kissing both of them on the cheek and running out. She was in such a hurry to catch up to Ginny she didn't notice the longing written on Ron's face as he lifted his hand to his cheek and sighed. Harry rolled his eyes and threw a pillow at him.

"C'mon Mate, we've got homework to do."

The bell above the door tinkled as a young woman and her son left Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Fred Weasley leaned his elbows on the counter and groaned. His brother, George, walked into the store from the storage room and laughed at his twin, who was flopped on the counter.

"Looks like somebody needs to get some more sleep," George said as he restocked the shelves with one of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' new pranks—MockingBirds. MockingBirds were small candies that looked like birds made of sugar. When a person ate them, they could think of someone else and immediately imitate them; from their voice to their way of walking.

"I'm fine…" Fred grumbled from the counter, turning his face away from George. "I'm going in the back, shout if you need anything." He walked back into the storage room and stretched out on the beat-up old couch the boys used during long days when they needed a nap. He'd only been lying there about ten minutes when he heard the bell tinkle once again. He groaned and rolled over onto his side, for once ignoring a customer. He heard muffled excited voices, and within a few moments, George had poked his head in the door.

"Sleeping Beauty, we have guests." He laughed, then his head disappeared and he'd shut the door. Fred groaned and rolled off the couch, walked to the door and opened it. When he reached the door, his eyes; which had only seconds before been on the verge of collapse, snapped open.

"Hermione?" He hadn't seen Hermione in over eight months and the girl standing in front of him now—well—wasn't a girl any longer.

"Fred!" She dropped the package she was holding. As Fred held back a laugh, Hermione blushed and grinned at him, showing perfectly white, perfectly straight teeth. Neither one said anything; they just stared at each other. After a few moments, Hermione, blushing even deeper, turned away. Ginny stood next to her, talking to George. Fred caught Ginny staring at him from the corner of her eye, shooting looks between him and Hermione. She looked at him with questioning curiosity in her eyes. Fred snapped out of his shocked stupor and in two steps had crossed the room and stood at Hermione's side. She threw her free arm around his neck and gave him a quick squeeze of a hug. "Fred, it's been so long!" She said smiling, and then picked up the package she had dropped. "It's great to see you again!"

"It has been awhile…Hey Ginny," He said, reaching over and giving his sister a quick brotherly hug, then returning his gaze back to Hermione. "Come on in the back you two and I'll grab a few butterbeers." As Ginny and Fred turned and started to walk into the backroom, Hermione just stood there, watching Fred walk away. George put his hand on her back and pushed her gently towards the door.

"Hermione, are you with us today? Or are you off in some distant world of your own?" He whispered as her eyes snapped to attention once again.

"Oh, um…yes, I'm here." She blushed again and walked to the backroom.