Hermione was lying on a couch in the common room, her head in Fred's lap as she read her favourite book and he ran his fingers through her hair. He had managed to convince her to take a short relaxation break away from studying, and though she would never admit it out loud, she really needed one. With these exams coming up, and Harry planning to sneak into Umbridge's office, the stress was finally getting to her. Harry and Ron sat on the floor at opposite sides of a table, both of them reading through notes for various subjects. After nagging them about studying, they finally decided to give in, although Hermione doubted their studying would go much farther than what they were already doing.
"I'm kinda hungry, so I'm going down to the kitchens. Coming, Harry?" Ron stood up, stretching, and cringed at the glare Hermione sent him. "Sorry, Mione. You know we're not as good at this as you. This is just a short break. We'll even bring you back some cake!"
Hermione smiled, her angry expression fading away. "Fine. But if you fail your exams, don't come running to me for help."
Harry stood and walked towards the portrait hole, holding it open for Ron. "Wouldn't dream of it." He grinned at her before leaving, following Ron out.
Hermione and Fred sat in silence for a few minutes before Fred cleared his throat.
"So, uh, Hermione. George and I, we've been planning something. I just wanted to let you know in advance, so you don't think I'm running away or anything, but nothing you can do can stop us because we've been planning this for a while and it's what we both want and-"
Hermione cut him off with a short laugh as he blurted out his confession. She smiled at him before looking concerned. "What is it? None of that really filled me with hope..."
Fred ran a hand through his own hair, watching as she set her book aside and sat up, crossing her legs and facing him.
"It's nothing too bad, really, it's just... well, you can't say anything about this because he asked us not to say, but you know how you wondered what Harry did with his winnings from the tournament last year? He gave them to George and I, for a joke shop."
Hermione's mouth widened slightly, before she shook her head with a soft smile on her face. "He's always so selfless. I don't entirely approve, but I can't do anything now anyway... This can't be why you were so worried, what else is it?"
"The thing is, now that we've not got Quidditch to keep us here anymore, and we managed to get a shop with the money, you're the only thing keeping me here, Hermione. And next year, I won't be here anyway, so we were thinking about leaving. As in, before the end of the year. In a couple of weeks. Or days. I don't know. I don't want you to think I'm leaving you though, because, well, you mean everything to me."
Hermione's frown softened at hearing this, and she gently kissed him, cupping his face with her hand. "I'll always support you. And although I don't entirely agree with not sitting your NEWTs, this is your dream, and I'm not going to hold you back."
Fred smiled widely, his whole body relaxing before saying, "You're brilliant, Granger. Really brilliant." He leaned in to kiss her more passionately, entangling his hands in her wild hair.
"Ah! Merlin, avert your eyes, Harry!"
Fred and Hermione broke apart upon hearing a loud voice enter the room. Hermione looked up to see Ron looking horror-struck and Harry struggling to hold in his laughter.
"Honestly, Ronald, at least try and be more mature." Hermione huffed, and slapped Fred's arm when he sniggered. Harry handed Hermione her promised cake before sitting in his previous spot.
"So, what did we miss? Apart from that... lovely display of affection, of course." Harry smirked as he spoke before ducking to avoid the piece of cake thrown at his head.
Fred broke a piece of the cake off and stole it from Hermione's hand, winking when she elbowed him. "Well, Hermione here happened to mention that you were planning on breaking into Umbridge's office. I can help you out with that."
Harry looked at Fred, doubt written all over his face. "How?"
"You just wait and see, young Harry. I''ll sort everything out."
Fred stood with George in the centre of the Entrance Hall, surveying the crowd for one particular face. He briefly noticed Harry arrive, putting some silvery sort of cloak in his bag. Finally, a bushy cloud of chestnut brown hair caught his eye. He vaguely registered Umbridge speaking to him and George answering for him as he locked eyes with Hermione. He prayed she could read in his eyes how he felt about her, that she was special to him and he wasn't leaving her. She smiled weakly at him, her eyes swimming with tears. He was brought back to reality when George subtly elbowed his side, drawing his wand. Fred copied his action, nodding to his twin.
"Accio brooms!"
Both twins mounted their brooms, and Fred turned to Umbridge. "We won't be seeing you." He said, stowing away his wand.
"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch." George added. Fred looked at the crowd before advertising the products used to create the divergence earlier. He gave the address of their shop, before they kicked off from the ground and flew out of the school.
Later that evening, Hermione entered her dormitory with conflicted emotions. She was sad to see Fred go, of course, but she wanted what was best for him. She put her bag by her bed and was ready to go and wash up before noticing a note lying on her pillow. Suddenly curious, she carefully opened the envelope , unfolding the paper.
Hermione,
I gave this to Ginny to put in your room, because as you know, boys aren't allowed in the girl's dormitory. I just want to say some things before I go, although by the time you read this I'll already be gone. You'll see me this summer, and that's only a few weeks away, and I'll write to you, I promise.
You do know I love you, right? I don't want to lose you, and I hope you realise that. I'm so sorry if I made you upset by leaving, but I couldn't stay there any longer. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone- or rather, don't let Harry do anything stupid while I'm gone. And stop worrying about your exams, you'll do great! You'll have the highest scores since Rowena Ravenclaw herself, probably. Actually, did the founders sit OWLs? They invented Hogwarts as adults, so surely there were no exams before that. But how did they learn..?
I'm rambling now. You should see if you can find out, let me know when I next see you.
But seriously. You're brilliant, Granger.
Love, Fred x
A/N - Not sure whether I should continue or just leave it here. Let me know what you think :).
