Some parts will be out of character and some of the characters who were killed in the seventh book will be alive in this one. Hermione and Ron are strictly friends in this fanfic! I own nothing but the idea.
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Hermione, Ron, and Harry were each looking at brochures that had been sent to them through the post. It was advertising a cruise for all of the Hogwarts students including those who had just graduated. Sure, the three hadn't technically been there for their seventh year, but they were still considered graduates nonetheless.
"Come on, Hermione. You've been through so much with us, how can you be afraid of a little boat ride?" Ron teased her with a hint of humor. Harry didn't say anything but watched the pair intently. Hermione shrugged her shoulders up and down a little at she looked at Ron.
"I don't trust boats." She answered matter of factly. "There has been so much that's happened, ships sink all the time."
"Yea, but this one is unsinkable!" Ron replied incredulously. "You'll be totally safe." Hermione still looked unsure but then gazed over to where George was sitting.
They were spending yet another summer at the Burrow. Harry and Ron were taking time to enjoy themselves after the war and before they seriously started studying for their Auror tests. Hermione still wasn't quite sure what her future entailed yet. She had been personally invited to teach at Hogwarts, which was where her heart truly was but another part of her was edging to go with Ron and Harry and continue on with their adventures. At least with these sorts of adventures they would have more time to plan and they would have more training than they did in their Hogwarts days. The biggest reason Hermione didn't want to go on the cruise with her two best friends was because of George. Ever since Fred had been killed in the battle, George hadn't been himself. He had withdrawn himself from the rest of his family. Yes, Fred and George had been twins but a part of George had died the day Fred did. Hermione didn't want to leave George alone with just Molly and Arthur, Molly had a tendency to be overbearing and Hermione understood that there were times when George needed his space, not to mention Molly was going through her own period of grief and could be unpredictable as a result.
"Earth to Hermione?" Harry was now waving his hand in front of Hermione's face, trying to get her attention. She blinked a few times and looked at him. Out of the corner of her eye she saw George getting up to leave the table and felt a small part of her that wanted to follow him. Recently, George had had a habit of going places without telling anyone.
"Let me think about it and get back to you." She finally said and stood up, perhaps a bit too abruptly. Before Harry and Ron had a chance to answer her, Hermione was gone. She disapparated.
Hermione had spent a lot of time considering where George was going until it finally occurred to her. She had apparated to the place where Fred was buried and sure enough that's where his brother stood, kneeled in front of the stone with his hand on the top and his forehead resting against it.
Blimey, Gred, what am I supposed to do without you. I can't just move on. You're a part of me… Hermione was able to make out. A lot of what George was saying was incoherent after that. Hermione walked up quietly behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. George whipped around to face her and the site of what George had become made her want to break down.
He had lost a lot of weight and there were large dark circles under his eyes. His eyes, where there used to be his trademark Weasley twin twinkle, were dull and almost lifeless. George's face needed a desperate shave and his hair, if not a good cut, at least a trim.
"Why did you follow me here?" George all but snarled at her. Hermione took a few steps away from the grieving twin and tripped over another headstone in the process.
"George, I'm really worried about you." She stammered and George shook his head a couple of times, tears continued to flow down his face until he sat back down on the ground. Hermione timidly walked over to where he sat and put her arms around him. George wrapped him arms back around her and put his face in her shoulder, continuing to cry.
"What am I going to do?!" George moaned into her shoulder. "I am nothing without Fred."
Hermione didn't know what to say to him at all. She had never been in a situation anywhere near what George was going through. Even though Ron and Harry were her two best friends in the entire world, they didn't know everything about her. She was always very careful with how well she allowed people to get to know her. With George however, things were starting to feel different. At Hogwarts, she had tried so hard not to let Fred and George get away with their antics while she was secretly egging them on. The truth was, Hermione had always admired the twins but now she felt like she could make a difference to George. Then, an idea popped into Hermione's head.
"George, I have an idea." Hermione suddenly said. He looked up at her, sniffling and kind of confused in the process.
"What is it, 'Mione?" Was the reply. She shuddered a little bit, she usually hated it when people called her that but in this case it kind of sounded right.
"At Hogwarts they're trying to redo some of the staff because they've lost some and other professors are looking for new jobs because they no longer need the protection they got there now that's Voldemort's gone. I heard one of the positions they're trying hardest to fill is the Defense Against the Dark Arts class and even the Potions class. You could apply for one of those positions." George shrugged his shoulders up and down a couple of times although he was beginning to compose himself. Slowly, he lifted himself off of Hermione's chest and looked at her right in the eye.
"What makes you think I'm cut out to be a professor?" George, instead of sounding sad like he was earlier sounded angry that Hermione would even think of something like that.
"Well, think about it. You would have the chance to reach out to students who need it most at an age where they need it. George, you would have the opportunity to make a great impact in the childrens' education for years to come. Who knows, you might have the chance to teach a mini version of you." Hermione tried to smile while she reached out to touch George's knee. He quickly jerked his knee away and glared at her.
"It is none of your business what I should do with my life, Granger." George said coldly and disapparated without even standing up. This left Hermione alone at Fred's headstone.
She looked at it sadly and then drew in a great breath.
"Just because they didn't know about us doesn't mean I miss you any less." She murmured. "I love you Fred Weasley, please, try and knock some sense into your brother." Hermione could have sworn that she felt the wind blow against her face but when she glanced at the tree above her it was perfectly straight. She had to be imagining things. Hermione took a few more minutes and then apparated back to the Burrow. It wasn't a big surprise to her that George was nowhere to be found. Hermione went back into the bedroom that she and Ginny shared and saw the youngest Weasley perched on her bed, trying to paint her toenails.
"Oh, thank god you're back!" Ginny all but squealed when she saw her bushy haired friend come back in. "Please help me do this! I must have gotten nail polish on every bit of me but my toenail!" Sure enough, Ginny had and Hermione spent quite a bit of time and a fair number of spells to clean her up so the toes looked presentable.
"So where did you disappear to?" Ginny questioned and Hermione shrugged her shoulders. At first she really didn't want to tell her friend but suddenly she felt as though she owed Ginny the truth.
"I went to see Fred." Hermione finally choked out after a minute or two of silence. Ginny looked understandingly at her and took her hand in hers.
"Hermione, you probably miss him more than anyone else besides George." The younger girl said. Besides Fred and Hermione, Ginny had been the only other person to know about their relationship. They were originally going to come out as a couple after the war ended but due to Fred's death they were never able to.
"He and I were supposed to get married and have a family together!" Hermione said softly, some tears falling freely down her face. "I was so excited and proud at the thought of us bringing our children to the train and having their own adventures at Hogwarts!"
Ginny stood up suddenly and walked across the room and fumbled around her dresser. Hermione watched her as she dabbed at her eyes with a napkin.
"Hermione, Fred wanted me to give this to you incase anything ever happened to him." She said after she found what she was looking for. Hermione perked up a little, hoping for a letter or something from her love. Ginny came back to the bed with a jewelry box in her hands and gave it to Hermione. Hermione opened the box to reveal a beautiful necklace with a star as the pendant.
"How did he know?" Hermione murmured as she looked at it.
"How did he know what?" Ginny asked.
"How did Fred know that every night I would look to the sky and the brightest star would remind me of him?"
The two girls embraced and Hermione didn't think Ginny would never let go until she did to offer help putting the necklace on. Hermione got up to look at herself in the mirror and she could feel her tear stained face shine as she looked at it.
"Hermione, I know you really don't want to go on that cruise but I think it should do some good for you. You'll be able to have some you time." When Hermione looked at Ginny with surprise, she wasn't expecting to see the look of maturity on the red head's face.
"Ginny, I think you're right. I'm going to go and tell the boys right now that I want to go." Hermione told her and went to leave the room. "It really means a lot to me to have this necklace." She added before she left.
Hermione ran down towards the kitchen because that was most likely where Ron and Harry were and sure enough, it was.
"Harry, Ron? I've decided to go on the cruise!" Hermione told him excitedly. The three of them then went to their owls and sent off their RSVPs.
