Hermione sobbed, and lurched forward on the Astronomy tower. She had had enough, she saw no point in living anymore. She wanted nothing to do with her life, she loathed every aspect of it. She despised herself, and she just wanted it all to end. She was a coward, oh she knew that, but she could not bring herself to care anymore.
She still had tears running down her face, but there was a hardened look in her eyes. She slowly placed one foot on the opposite side of the tower, and trailed the other foot on the bar. With grace, the other foot was settled on the side with nothing but air under it, and Hermione was only hanging on with the strength of her arms.
"This is it," she whispered.
And it was. Hermione let one hand fall to her waist, only one hand now on the bar. She was sobbing again, quiet sobs that tear apart your chest, not from psychical pain, but emotional pain. She let go, and it took not even a second before strong hands wrapped around her and pulled her back into safety.
Fred Weasley was shocked, to say the least. Hermione Granger was about to jump off the Astronomy tower. Hermione Granger, Harry and Ron's best friend. He just couldn't let that happen, and before he knew it, he was pulling her back to safety.
"What are you doing, Fred Weasley, let me go!" Hermione sobbed.
"Hermione-"
"Let me go, just let me die, please," she sobbed, clinging on to his shirt. "Just let me die, Fred, just let me die."
"Let me help you, Hermione, just tell me what's wrong," Fred said, not letting his grip loosen one bit. He hoped those words were comforting, he never was good with comforting other people.
"You don't care," she replied.
"I do, just talk to me," he encouraged.
"It's-it's everything!" she burst out. "I hate being me. I hate who I am. I hate what I stand for. Everyone calls me a know-it-all, and if it's not that then it's mudblood or buck-teeth or ugly and I hate it, Fred. I just want it all to end."
"You're not ugly, you know," Fred whispered, turning Hermione's head to face his own.
"Yes I am, and I'm fat, too," Hermione whispered.
Fred stayed quiet, and looked into Hermione's eyes. "You're not fat, you have curves, and-"
"That's another word for fat," Hermione scoffed.
"It's not. You have curves, a lot of guys like that. There's more to feel, more to love. And you are most certainly not ugly, you're the most beautiful girl in the school, Hermione," he said.
Hermione looked skeptical for a moment, and then stared at Fred. "You're just saying that because you want to make me feel better."
"Am not," Fred said. "Remember last year, when you went to the Yule Ball with Krum? They weren't staring at him, they were staring at you because you looked gorgeous."
"But what about when people call me a know-it-all mudblood? That hurts a lot, actually," Hermione sniffed.
"I bet it does," he whispered.
"It does," Hermione nodded.
"Why does it hurt so much, though? Sure, they may be calling you a mudblood, but know-it-all, in a way, means smart, doesn't it?" Fred asked.
She avoided his eyes and stared down at the hard floor. "All throughout my muggle school years, I was made fun of. I didn't have any friends whatsoever, and every called me the weird know-it-all who is a loner and nobody likes. When I got my Hogwarts letter, at first I thought it was a joke. Then it made sense, I could make weird things happen when I was angry or even sad. Then I remembered this one time when a boy named Oliver Ransom was making fun of me, and all the other kids joined in, and the next thing I knew Oliver was hanging upside down from the monkey bars screaming and crying. Nobody even talked to me after that. I finally thought I'd be accepted somewhere, where other people could do the weird things that I did."
Hermione sniffed again, and then continued. "The reason why I've always tried so hard here is that I never knew about this world before. You, Fred, grew up surrounded by magic, I grew up surrounded by muggles. It was all so knew to me in my first year, I had to try hard to live up to everyone else. I did everything happily, and I still cannot understand why the other students complain about doing everything. I mean, it's magic, for Merlin's sake. I just want to live up to everyone, Fred. The truth is, I do struggle with a lot of things in this world. I don't know the pureblood customs, I don't know a lot of things about the Ministry. But I try so hard, Fred, I do."
"I know you do," Fred murmured.
"And I always feel so alone. There's a difference between lonely and alone. Feeling lonely, to me, is when you're bored and you have no one around you to do something with. Being alone is when you really believe no one loves you, and nobody wants to be around you. It's hard to feel so alone and depressed and worthless all the time," she muttered.
"What about Harry and Ron?" he questioned.
"Ron can be a right prat, no offense, though, he's your brother. Harry is...Harry. I love him like a brother, but-" Hermione started
"You can't go to him with anything?" Fred finished.
"Yeah," Hermione said.
"Let me help you, Hermione," he pleaded. "Just let me help you."
Hermione was silent again for a few moments. "Please do, I need help."
Fred chuckled quietly. "I promise I will." Hermione was about about to respond, but he sealed her lips with a passionate kiss. Fred had wanted to do that since his fourth year.
"Just let me help you."
Review please! This is my first story, well one-shot, and I want to know if I should do more. Feel free to criticize, if need be.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Harry Potter, that belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.