He had been missing for nearly two weeks and despite what the others thought, Hermione knew better. At least she thought she did. Granted, they had never been especially close, but it still seemed extremely out of character for him even after a war. Even after something so traumatic as losing an ear. And his own twin was freaking out. That was a pretty good indicator, as well, she thought.

George Weasley was missing. It had been 13 days and counting and Hermione was convinced that something was wrong. It just wasn't normal. They needed to be out looking for him. Fred was a mess and obviously had no clue where his other half had gotten off to and yet the Weasleys just sat around, dismissing his disappearance as needing time to adjust to his new impairment. Please. George was just not the type to be so concerned with a physical attribute that he didn't even alert Fred to his whereabouts for this long.

Still, no matter what Fred said, the rest of his family wouldn't listen. Hermione couldn't entirely blame them. She knew the combination of euphoria and grief from the recent battle was enough to make anyone stop seeing things clearly and that was obviously what was happening now. She knew she had to help somehow, but she didn't even know where to begin. She and Fred had a…precarious…relationship, to put it lightly, given her time as a prefect and their time as well, underachieving troublemakers, but she still felt a duty to help him find his brother. The Weasleys were family to her even though things with Ron were never going to work out and she had to do what she could for all of their sakes.

So that was her current situation. Sitting in the kitchen at the Burrow trying to decide how best to approach Fred about helping him find his twin. It was unlike her to be nervous and not completely straightforward, but something about Fred had always made her a little uneasy. He was older than her and extremely confident and they were both qualities that put her on edge. Add in the fact that he was very handsome and incredibly charming and she was pretty much left looking like an idiot after every conversation.

It had to be done though so she bucked up all the courage she could muster and walked over to where he was sitting in the Burrow's living room, mindlessly bouncing a ball back and forth against the wall. Seeing this gave her a bit of courage. She desperately wanted to see the happy-go-lucky Fred back. The one that always had a joke or laugh and seemed carefree no matter the situation.

"F-Fred?"

"What is it, Hermione?" he asked. She tried to ignore the annoyance and tired sound in his voice. He no doubt thought she was there to lecture him for something and she knew it was with good reason.

"I was just hoping I could help you find George," she said quietly, hoping the others in the room wouldn't hear her, but that she could get the proper sincerity across. The last thing she needed was for him to think she wasn't serious.

It did the trick, getting his attention at least. The ball fell to the floor and he continued staring at the wall for a moment before turning to look at her. "Are you serious" he asked. "You believe me?"

She only nodded in response, not wanting to rock the boat or make things worse than they already were. She waited patiently to see what his response might be.

It was heartbreaking to watch, really. His eyes looked a little dull and it broke her heart to see the sparkle that they were so famous for missing from his eyes. When he finally looked up, she knew it was worse than she had even suspected.

He nodded his head slowly. "Thank you," he said, his voice hoarse, likely from not talking much in recent days. It took another moment, but he continued. "Thank you, Hermione. I have to find him. Something isn't right. George would never leave and not tell me."

"I'll help you," she said, sitting down beside him and taking his hand in earnest. "We'll find him. I promise. We'll leave tomorrow."

"Where do we even start?" he asked. "I am his bloody twin and I don't know where to begin."

She smiled softly, hoping even the slightest humor might give him reprieve. "Oh, leave that to me. I am the brightest witch of my age, after all."

Clearly it worked because she swore that just for a moment she saw that old Fred Weasley smirk cross his face. Honestly, despite her original commitment to helping him, it was seeing that smirk that convinced her that she would see this thing through. No matter what happened to George, and she so hoped it was nothing bad, she wouldn't stop until she reconciled him with his twin.

"Let's do this, Granger."

"Right here with you, Weasley," she said with a smile.

I know this first chapter is fairly short, but I'm trying to set the stage for the story. It is a little different than my other two Fremione stories. I hope you will stick with me and let me know what you think. :)