Soul Mate
"What you reading, Hermione?" Asked Ginny ask she slid off of her broom. Ginny had been flying with Harry and Ron and decided to come see what Hermione was up to. The boys were still flying.
Hermione looked up from her book and said, "I got this book last week. I was just reading this interesting story about how to find your soul mate."
"Really? Want to try it? I really don't need to. I know who my soul mate is, but I'd like to see if the spell works right." Ginny told her excitedly.
"I don't know Gin. What if something goes wrong? What if Harry isn't your soul mate? You'd be devastated. It's not a good thing to mess with things like this." Hermione told her.
"Come on Hermione. Let's do it. Mum and Dad will be gone this evening we can do it then." Ginny told her firmly with a little excitement in her voice.
"I don't know, Gin."
"Come on it will be fun. What's the matter? Do you think your soul mate won't be Ron?"
"No, that's not it. I just think we shouldn't do it."
"We can even let Harry and Ron to join us." Ginny said with enthusiasm. "It'll be fun."
"I don't know, Gin." Hermione sounded like this wasn't a good idea.
Ginny looked at Hermione and said, "This will be fun. Everything is going good for us. Voldemort is gone. I'm happy, you're happy, Harry and Ron are happy. We can do this and then celebrate that even more. Then we'll know for sure we belong together."
"What if something goes wrong? What if we find that Harry and Ron aren't our soul mates?"
"How can you say that? Even think that? I love Harry. He is my soul mate. Is something going on with you and Ron?"
"No, of course not. I love Ron too. It's just that I've learned not to mess with things you shouldn't be messing with. But if you're sure we'll do it."
"Hey, why don't we invite Luna and Neville over and we can have a little party?" Ginny asked excitedly.
"First let's see what Harry and Ron think." Hermione answered. "What if they don't want to do this?"
"Ok. Let's see." Ginny told her then she yelled. "Harry! Ron! Come down here for a minute." And as soon as they landed Ginny said to them "Hermione found a spell that we would like to try. Mum and Dad will be out tonight and we thought we could invite Luna and Neville over and do it as a group."
"Ok." Ron replied.
"What kind of spell." Harry asked.
"It's a spell that shows you who your soul mate is." Hermione answered.
"Why do we need this? Don't' we already know who our soul mate is?" Harry asked.
"You sound just like Hermione." Ginny told him. "It will be fun."
"But just suppose it shows something different than what we think?" Harry countered.
"Do you think it would?" Ginny asked him.
"No. I don't think so, but how can we be sure that it will show what we want? But if you want to I'll do it. Ron- you in?"
"Yes, I'll do it." Ron said. "While we're down here let's go get something to eat."
By the time Neville and Luna arrived everyone was excited about the spell they were going to do. Charlie was home that evening so he decided to join them. "It can't hurt, can it? I may even find out who I should be looking for and save myself some time." He told the group laughing. Making it obvious that he thought this spell was a joke.
They gathered in a circle and Hermione passed out a piece of paper with the incantation they would all need to say. She didn't know how they would be shown who they were supposed to be soul mates with, but they agreed that they would do the incantation at the same time.
"Okay everyone, three two one." Hermione said and then they all began the incantation. When they finished nothing happened for a couple of minutes, then a light blue bubble appeared in front of each of them with an image inside it.
"I got Harry." Ginny squealed. Looking around at the others.
"And I got Ginny." Harry said happily.
Ginny was so excited she became the spokesperson for them since some of them appeared to be in shock. "Neville, you got Hannah Abbott. Ron, you've got Luna and Luna got you. Oh Hermione. I'm sorry. Hermione you got Fred? She questioned. Charlie, you got Alicia Spinet?"
"Who is she?" Charlie asked?
"She was two years ahead of us at Hogwarts." Harry explained. "She was on the Quidditch team with us. She's a good person."
"I guess all that's left is for me to go meet her." Charlie said.
"Not so fast." Ginny said. "She is dating Oliver Wood. I guess we can introduce you, but you'll have to see where it goes."
"I've always liked Hannah. She's a nice person. Maybe it's time for me to ask her out. I know she isn't dating anyone right now." Neville told the group.
"There has to be a mistake." Ron said.
"No, Ron there isn't. Luna is your soul mate."
"I knew he was before this." Luna replied. "I saw it in a vision I had when we were little kids. Before we even started Hogwarts."
"Luna, why didn't you say anything?" Ginny asked her.
"Well we were little. We had to have time to grow up and enjoy dating and stuff. I knew we would eventually get together."
Hermione couldn't even find it in her to be mad at Luna. "I guess the thing for us to do is to break-up." She told Ron.
"What? No! How can you even say that?" Ron yelled.
"Ron, I love you and this isn't what I would want, but we know how it will end and we don't need this kind of pain."
"What if I don't believe it?" He asked with an anguished voice.
"It doesn't matter. I don't want to be the one to come between you and your true love." She told him.
"Don't worry Hermione." Luna told her softly. "You and Fred have so much more in common than you and Ron."
"I'm sorry Luna, but I don't have anything in common with Fred." Hermione told her a little harshly, then added, "I'm sorry Luna, but you're wrong."
Luna continued, "You and Fred are both intelligent. Both of you like to make other people happy." Then she turned to Ron and said "I'm not saying you're not intelligent or that you don't make people happy, but you know how smart Hermione is and Fred has to be intelligent. Look at all the inventions he's made for his shop."
Ginny said. "Listen this was supposed to be fun. Let's not go all crazy. Everything will work out."
As Hermione got up she said to the group, "Please don't tell Fred about this. He is happy with Angelina and I don't want to be the cause of anything." With that she ran inside the Burrow with Ginny following her.
"Hermione, I'm sorry. This is all my fault." Ginny told Hermione as she held the sobbing girl in her arms.
"No, Gin. Don't blame yourself. It is what it is. I love Ron, but I think deep down I knew we weren't destined to be together. I never knew Fred was the one either. I don't know what to do. How will I be able to look at Ron and Luna without animosity? She'll have what I always wanted. What I always thought I would have."
"Listen nothing is going to change overnight. Let's just go on as usual and see what happens. Nothing in that book ever said when we would find our soul mates. It could be years down the road."
"No, Gin. Now that I know I have to take a step back. Ron deserves to be happy and if Luna makes him happy then I will step out of the picture. I don't think I should stay here anymore. It will be too hard."
"Hermione, you are the closest person in the world to me, so if you are going somewhere I will go with you. I will not let you be alone." Ginny told her. "We can talk about it tomorrow."
"Fred, did you hear the news?" George told Fred with a grin.
"I hear lots of things. What specifically are you talking about?" Fred replied from on top of the counter where he was arranging the display cabinet in their shop.
"Hermione and Ron broke-up and her and Ginny moved into her parents' house together. Now that he's out of the way you can make your move."
"Are you kidding?" Fred asked excitedly.
"No, it's the truth. I saw Bill this morning when I went to do yesterday's deposit and he told me. No one knows why they broke-up."
"I never thought Hermione would be free. I thought her and Ron would be together forever." Fred told George.
"I know it's been hard for you to see them together, but now that she's free you'll have a chance. What are you going to do?"
"I think I'll see what's happening first. But first I need to call it quits with Angelina. It shouldn't be hard because neither of us is serious. We mostly enjoy each other's company. I just needed a friend while you were with Katie. I'll tell her today if I see her."
"Ginny, you don't have to stay here with me." Hermione told Ginny.
"I know I don't, but I want to. Plus we can invite Mum and Dad over and Dad can play with all the Muggle things here. He'll be so happy." Ginny told her. "They're worried about you."
"I know. Why don't we invite them over for dinner tonight and I'll tell them what happened. This way they won't worry. But I still don't want to mention Fred." Hermione told Ginny.
After dinner that night the group went into the family room to sit and talk.
"I thought you two needed an explanation of what happened." She started but Mrs. Weasley cut her off.
"You don't owe us any explanations dear. Are you ok?"
"Yes, I'm fine, or at least I will be given a little time. But I do want to tell you what happened. Do you remember that night you went to the dinner the Ministry was having?" When they both nodded that they remembered she continued. "Well I found a spell that shows who your true love or soul mate is and we decided to do the spell. It turned out fine for Harry and Ginny, but Ron and I found that we weren't with our right partners. Ron didn't want to break-up, but seeing as his soul mate is Luna," as she said this you could hear both parents gasp, "I couldn't stand in the way."
"Oh honey, this has got to be so hard for you." Mrs. Weasley said while pulling her in for a hug. "Who is you true love?"
"I'd really rather not say right now." Hermione told them.
"So, it's someone we know?" she asked while keeping an eye on Arthur while he was touching everything he could. He was like a little child in his excitement.
"Yes." Hermione said. "But he has a girlfriend and I don't want to be the cause of a break-up. If it's meant to be it will be"
Just as Hermione said this a Patronus appeared and said in none other than Fred's voice. "I just heard you and Ron are no longer a couple, would you do me the honor of going out to dinner tomorrow evening?"
Ginny squealed and Mrs. Weasley said, "Don't tell me Fred is your true love."
"Uh huh." Hermione replied. Her face getting red.
"I have a feeling you're in for a crazy time." Mrs. Weasley said smiling at her. "But I must say, I can see you and Fred together."
"This explains a lot. Mr. Weasley said."
"How so Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Fred has been trying to get her attention for years. He's never been serious about anyone." He said.
"What about Angelina?" Ginny asked. "He took her to the Yule Ball and he's been seeing her since the war ended."
"I don't know why he took her to the ball, but he and Angelina just hang out because Katie and George don't have enough time for them anymore. They are friends."
"How do you know this Arthur?"
"He as much as told me. He asked what I would do if I fancied someone who was with someone that was like a brother to him. I told him I'd play it cool and wait to see how it ends up. That if they break-up he would get his chance, but he wouldn't want to hurt someone close to him. Then he said he would just hang out with Angelina until his turn came up. I thought he was talking about Lee when he said like a brother to him."
Ginny turned to Hermione and said, "See, it's going to work out."
"I can't go out with Fred. At least not this soon. I have to think of Ron's feelings. Thank-you Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. I just wanted you to know what was going on."
"Don't worry Dear; things have a way of working out." Mrs. Weasley said.
"Now can you show me how the telly works? Mr. Weasley said as the doorbell rang.
"Ron, what are you doing here?" Mrs. Weasley asked as Hermione let Ron in.
"Nothing, I just wanted to talk to Hermione." He said.
She led him into the kitchen.
"I just want to see if you're all right? I know you said you thought I should go out with Luna, but it's so hard for me to even think about doing that."
"I just want you to be happy. If that means you need to be with Luna then it's what needs to happen."
"Do you think this Soul Mate stuff is real? Tell me the truth," He pleaded with her. "Because, right now all I feel is hurt."
"I don't know. I'm hurting too, but I think deep down we know we weren't meant to be together. I've been thinking about this and I think you and Luna need to give it a try."
"Say you're right, and I do ask Luna out and it works out for me, what about you and Fred?"
"I can't say. He's with Angelina and I won't do anything to get in the way of that. If it happens, it happens. But you are in a position to see where this leads you. Go ahead, try it." She told him. "But promise me that you and I will always be friends."
"No matter what. I promise" He told her. Then after a few minutes of holding her he said, "If you're sure…I'd be ok if you wanted to see Fred also."
"Thank-you Ronald." Hermione told him as she hugged him. I do love you- you know?"
"And I love you too." He responded. "But I guess it isn't enough."
"I've been thinking and this may have happened for a reason. We've been together for so long, mostly as friends. Maybe we're meant to be friends."
"You're right, as always. No matter what happens you will always be my best friend."
"And you'll be mine. If I get with Fred I will make sure he knows you will always have a piece of my heart."
Fred asked Hermione out every day for two weeks before she finally said ok to him. They went out to dinner and then a walk. It was a perfect first date. Hermione was impressed and she told him so.
"Did you think I didn't know how to treat a lady?" He asked her happily.
"No, it's not that. It's just that I always found you to be joking. I didn't know you could be serious." She told him.
"There's a lot you don't know about me."
"Well I'm willing to learn all about Fred Weasley and what makes him tick." She told him.
"Really?" He asked happily. "Because I'm planning on it. Do you want me to pick you up every evening for a date, or do you want me to officially ask you each day?"
"Slow down. We can't go out every evening." She told him.
"Why not?" He asked confused. "Don't you want to be my girlfriend?"
"Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?"
"Yes. I thought that was understood. But let me make this clear for both of us. I, Fred Weasley, do hereby request the honor of being Hermione Granger's boyfriend until the time comes to take our relationship up a level. Do you accept?"
"This is a crazy conversation." She told him.
"No, it's not. Now give me an answer."
"What if I say no? I'm not ready for a relationship."
"Well that would be a wrong answer and I'd tell you to try again."
"So basically, you're saying that we are going to be in a relationship?" She asked laughing.
"Yep, pretty much. So what is your answer?" He grinned.
"Well if there's only one answer then I guess I'll be your girlfriend." She laughed back.
Hermione was caught off guard when he picked her up and swung her around saying "You don't know how happy you've just made me." As he put her down he asked, "So about my other question, do you want an official invite every day or shall I just pick you up?"
"What if I have other plans?"
"I don't know what you could be thinking. How could you have plans that are more important than spending time with your boyfriend?" He asked with a hand over his heart.
"I guess it's just silly of me to think of having a life away from you." She told him. "So I guess to answer your question there won't be a need to ask me out on a date daily. In fact we don't have to go out daily. That could get expensive. We can just as well spend time together at home. In fact why don't you come over tomorrow and we can eat dinner at my house. I'll have Ginny invite Harry and we can play a board game afterward."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world." He told her. Then he asked, "Why did you and Ron break-up?"
"I'll tell you the answer to that when we take our relationship to the next level." She told him laughing.
"I'll hold you to it." He told her. Then he kissed her goodbye and apparated away.
The minute Hermione opened the door Ginny jumped up and said, "Well?"
"You know Ginny, I think that spell may be right. I enjoyed every minute I spent with Fred. He is so easy to like." She told Ginny. "Oh, and by the way, can you invite Harry over for dinner tomorrow? I invited Fred and told him we could play a board game afterward."
"I'd love to."
Ginny found it funny the next evening because Hermione who was always so level headed was so nervous and excited.
"Hermione. Calm down."
"I am calm."
"No, you're not. You've fluffed that pillow 10 times already. You've looked out the window a dozen times, too."
"You're exaggerating."
"No, I'm not. Come on and sit down."
Just as she sat down they heard Harry and Fred talking as they walked to the door. Hermione went to open it and she heard Harry telling Fred, "You should have seen her face when she found out you were her soul mate? She didn't know whether to laugh or cry because she thought it would be Ron."
"Harry!" She yelled.
"Hi, Harry!" Ginny told him going around Hermione to jump into his arms.
"So, I guess this is the reason you and Ron broke-up?" Fred asked.
All Hermione could do was nod her head. She was so humiliated. How could Harry do this to her.
"I wish you would have done the spell a long time ago. It would have saved us some time." Fred told her. "Now come on, no more mad faces at Harry. This is the best thing that could have happened. Now is dinner ready? I have to see how you cook. I don't want our children to starve because neither their Mum or Dad can cook."
Hermione just couldn't be mad with Fred around. She led him to the table to eat dinner. Afterward they played the game like she said and after he left she told Ginny, "Gin, I don't know a time when I've ever been happier."
Ginny smiled and gave her a hug. "You know, I got the best part of the deal. Whether it was Ron or Fred, I get you for a sister."
Hermione smiled to herself as she went into her bedroom and thought to herself. Yes this is definitely going to be interesting. And she found that for the first time in a long time she was truly happy and looking forward to what was to come.