I apologize for any typos or grammatical/spelling errors

Disclaimer: I don't own HP, any of the characters, yadda yadda, you know the drill

Sometimes I went back to the Great Hall to help clean up. Most of the time I would disappear to a corner somewhere and sit for a while. On day, I noticed I a picture of him in the corner of a corridor. He looked so lively; smiling, laughing…a tear hit the corner of the picture. I let them spill from my eyes as the picture blurred and I thought of the first time I had ever talked to that stupid, lanky Weasley boy named Fred…

"Hello."

A first-year me looked up from my book. "Um…hi." The third-year was leaning against the portrait hole.

"Why are you up so late?" Fred asked.

"I could ask you the same question." The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. He raised his eyebrows, a tiny smile spreading across his face. "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-"

Fred laughed. "Don't apologize. I like a girl with sass. George and I, we were, ah, leaving a few messes for Snape, if you know what I mean." He pulled a Dungbomb out of his pocket and tossed it up in the air before catching it and slipping it back into his pocket.

I gasped, mortified. "You know you really shouldn't do that. That's disrespecting a teacher and you could lose points for Gryffindor."

"Listen, kid, there are a few things you need to know about Hogwarts. Number one, don't stay up so late studying. You're only a first year, and you're barely three weeks in. If you're going to stay up late, do it for the right reasons. Second, George and I are notorious for 'disrespecting teachers.' Sure, we may lose some points for Gryffindor, but we always win the House Cup anyway. A few points here and there won't make any difference. Thirdly, Snape's a bloody arse."

I gasped again. "That's so incredibly rude!"

Fred grinned, walked over to me, and slammed my book shut. "I'll take this…Goodnight." And with that, he ran up to the boy's dormitory before I could catch him.

I picked myself up from the ground and Disapperated to the Weasley's home. Everyone just stood around, not sure what to do with themselves. George was still nowhere to be seen. Mrs. Weasley turned around at the small pop of me Apperating into the kitchen. She ran over to me and pulled me into a hug. "Oh Hermione…I'm so glad you're alright." She always did that when I returned. "Ron and Harry are out back."

"Oh okay. Thanks, Mrs. Weasley." I gave the woman one last hug before jogging out to the yard to see Harry and Ron sitting on the ground playing Wizard's Chess.

"Hey guys…"

"Hermione!" Ron jumped up and swooped me into a bone-crushing hug. I hadn't been back in a few days. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, just…you know." I shrugged and sat down with Ron. "Hey Harry."

He looked up at me. "Hey, 'Mione." I smiled. He hadn't called me that in years. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. So, what are you doing?"

"What's it look like?" Ron gestured to the board. "Wizard's Chess."

I gave them a weak smile. "That's barbaric."

The three of us dissolved into a fit of giggles before returning to a solemn silence. "I'm, um, going to go see what I can do for your Mom." I put a hand on Ron's shoulder before standing and walking back to the house.

"Mrs. Weasley?" I said when I entered the house. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

The woman turned around. "Oh, Hermione, you're such a doll. I understand if you don't want to, but could you maybe try and find George for me?"

I nodded. "Yeah, yeah of course."

I walked around for the next fifteen minutes, trying to find George. Finally, I found him in the garage and tentatively walked in. "George?"

He was asleep on table which had what looked like half-finished trick wands, Dungbombs, and a variety of other tricks the twins were famous for. I picked up a trick wand. My mind drifted…

"FRED WEASLEY!" I stormed down the stairs of the Burrow to the kitchen where Fred and George were eating. "WHAT IS THIS?!" I slammed down one of their stupid trick wands in front of him. I had been working on a really hard potion the summer before sixth year when my "wand" blew up and splattered the potion all over my apron which now lay in a sizzling heap in the sink.

"Ah," he replied, setting down his sandwich and picking up the wand. "That, my good lady, is our new product, which I so graciously offered you before they hit stores."

I glared at him. "You replaced it with my wand and I completely messed up the potion I was working on, which I now have to start over. Thanks a lot." I began to storm off again when he grabbed my hips and pulled me into his lap. "What the hell are you doing?" I yelped.

Fred wrestled me to the floor and pinned me down. "Oh, come on, you know you like them," he grinned.

I tried to fight my way out of his grip, but it was no use. "Let me go!" I yelled.

"Admit they're awesome and I'll let you go," he replied.

I continued to fight him. "No!"

"Alrighty then." Fred straddled me and grabbed his sandwich. "I could stay here all day. And I will, unless you say that our trick wands are cool." He took a big bite of his sandwich. I tried to move my arms put they were pinned against my body by his legs.

I huffed. "You are the most…immature, annoying…a-and-UGH! Just let me up!" I squirmed under him and he gave me a huge smile.

"Nope."

I would never tell anyone, but I quite enjoyed Fred Weasley straddling me, and that's why I didn't say the simple words that would let me go for a good twenty minutes.

I was sucked back to reality by George stirring. I quickly set down the wand and scampered out of the garage, tears stinging my eyes. I ran away from the house as fast as I could, not stopping for at least 10 minutes when I reached the top of the hill far away from any civilization. By then I was sobbing my eyes out. I curled up in a ball against a tree. The next thing I knew George's arms were around me and I was crying into his shoulder.

"It's okay, 'Mione, it's okay." I felt dampness on the top of my head that indicated that George was crying too.

We must have fallen asleep because we awoke to Ron and Harry climbing the hill, calling our names. We stood up and walked down to meet Ron and Harry.

"There you are! We've been looking for you for hours! Where have you been?" Harry asked us, pulling me into a hug.

"At the tree," I mumbled.

"Well, Mom has dinner ready," Ron said.

We walked back to the house in silence. When we got there, everyone was already seated. Mrs. Weasley ushered us to our seats and we sat down. There were chicken and rolls waiting for us on our plates. I stared at the rolls, my mind drifting…

"Hey, 'Mione." I looked up from my dinner of steak, mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables and rolls to see Fred across from me at the Gryffindor Table stuffing his face with the buttery rolls. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes?"

"H may ruhls dyou thi ah ca pu in mah mou?" Fred asked.

"What are you even saying?" I replied.

George leaned over. "I believe what my oh-so-classy brother is trying to say is 'how many rolls do you think I can put in my mouth?'"

I sighed as Fred veraciously nodded and stuffed more rolls in his mouth. "I don't know, and frankly I don't really want to," I said.

Fred held up his index finger, indicating he wanted to say something. A few minutes later, he finally gulped down the last of the rolls and said, "Eight. The answer is eight of those delicious rolls."

I rolled my eyes in disgust. "That's gross."

He grinned, some bread still stuck between his teeth. "Yet charming."

I lifted the end of my nose and tried to smile. "Very classy." And with that, I turned my attention back to Harry and Ron's conversation.

"So, if the Hollyhead Harpies win this match, that will put them five points above the Chudley Cannons, making them still in the lead…"

I sighed. I had no idea what they were talking about. I again looked at Fred, who was now laughing at something George had said. I loved it when his face lit up like that.

"What?" He had caught me looking at him.

"Entertain me, Harry and Ron are talking about Quidditch."

Fred grinned. "Of course, madam." He crawled under the table and popped up beside me. "Would you like to see something?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Is it safe?"

He laughed. "Oh Hermione. Would you like to see something?" He asked again.

I groaned. "Fine. What is it?"

Fred smiled and pulled a little box out of his pocket. He wiggled his eyebrows at me and stood on the bench.

"Fred," I hissed. "What are you doing?"

"You'll see," he muttered back. He tossed the box into the air, and it exploded like a firework. Everyone stared in awe as Chocolate Frogs rained down on the Gryffindor table. People stood up and tried to grab some falling from the ceiling. Fred smiled and plopped back on the bench. He caught about five Frogs and handed them to me. "Happy birthday," he said.

"It's not my birthday," I replied.

"Oh well." He got up from the table, waved goodbye, and disappeared through the doors with George.

"Hermione? Hermione are you okay?" Bill waved a hand in front of my face. "Hermione?"

I shook my head. "Oh, yeah…sorry."

"I was just asking you if you still plan on returning to Hogwarts for your seventh year," Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Yes, yes I am," I replied. "Are you?" I gestured to Harry and Ron. They shook their heads. "Why not?" I gasped.

"Hermione, we just saved the world. Hell, Harry just defeated the most powerful Dark wizard of all time. I think we deserve a break. Plus, NEWT's aren't really going to matter now. I'm pretty sure we can find jobs as Auror's now. The Ministry needs us," Ron said.

"But, missing out on a whole year of learning!" I exclaimed.

"Again, just saved the world," Harry laughed.

"I can't believe it," I huffed.

Ron and Harry shrugged. "Whatever."

"It's late, I'm going to bed. Thanks for the dinner, Mrs. Weasley." I stood up and cleared my plate to the sink and went up to the room Ginny and I shared.

That night, I dreamed (you guessed it) of Fred Weasley.

A/N: Please review! I'll post the next chapter if this gets some audience and reviews...let me know what you think!