Prologue

Hermione Jean Granger sat at the table in the Great Hall. She looked down the table and her cinnamon eyes met crystal ones. She turned away quickly. She didn't know what was coming over her. Why was she all of a sudden so drawn to him? And why did he seem to be so drawn to her? It would be dangerous, the two of them together. And that's why Hermione knew she had to step closely. She had to be careful, because even though he was dreamy, it would be hard. Their relationship would never work. Because it would be frowned upon. The prankster with the bookworm. Hermione Jean Granger, the know-it-all, with Frederick Gideon Weasley, the joke king.

It had all started at the Quidditch World Cup. More like the morning she got to the Burrow to go. She had been the one sent upstairs to awaken all of the Weasley children, and Fred and George had been the first ones she had went to see. She had pounded on the door for several long minutes before finally letting herself in. She had never thought she would be standing in their room, but there she was, staring at two beds, one labeled Gred and the other Forge. She sighed lightly and turned the lights on. "WAKE UP!" she shouted. The two tumbled out of bed, and wrestled for a moment before jumping up. Hermione had always been able to tell the twins apart. There were distinctive differences. Fred's eyes were a slightly lighter shade than George's, and Fred had light freckles dashed across his nose.

"Good morning Hermione!" Fred said excitedly. Hermione's eyes were bulging because he was shirtless. She glanced at George to see that he had a baggy shirt on. But Fred did not. And Hermione could see his muscles, and the slight definition of abs. "You okay there?" he asked gently.

"I'm fine. Your mum said breakfast was ready and to get dressed quickly." Hermione said hurriedly before dashing from the room. She slammed the door closed behind her and leaned against it, letting her heart calm down, and let a breath out that she had, unknowingly of course, been holding in. She shook her head and proceeded to wake the other Weasley children.

But Hermione got no reprieve once the actual game started. She was sandwiched in between Harry and Fred. And Fred seemed dead pressed to spend the whole time trying to get her to laugh. At first, Hermione fought it with every fiber of her being; she would not give into Fred and his witty charm and good looks. But finally, he said something about Ron being gay for Viktor Krum and her wall crumbled. She snorted loudly before realizing a laugh that even she had no idea she had in her. Fred glanced at her with astonishment before a cheeky grin spread across his face. Then his attention was grabbed by the game and all throughout the game, he commentated it in a simple way for Hermione, so that she would understand it better, and in a way that would make her laugh the way she had.

Now, Hermione glanced at Ron who had just received a package. "Oh look, Mum sent me something." He said excitedly. He opened the box and pulled out something that, to a Muggle might have resembled a very ugly dress, but was in fact, dress robes. Ron stood quickly and went to his younger sister and Hermione glanced down at Fred. His crystal eyes shone with laughter and she saw a joke forming on the tip of his tongue. "Ginny, these most be for you." She heard Ron say to Ginny.

Ginny dropped her spoon at what Ron was holding up. "I'm not wearing that, it's ghastly." Ginny stated with disgust.

Ron stood there, holding these ugly dress robes up for all to see, making Hermione chuckle lightly. "They're not for Ginny, they're for you!" she said with a small laugh. Ron whirled around to look at her and she pressed her hand to her mouth to keep from laughing too hard. "They're dress robes!" she said. She already had Fred and George laughing happily.

"Oh Ronniekins, you can finally be Viktor Krum's date!" Fred exclaimed through his fits of laughter. Hermione had tried to be polite and not laugh too much at her friend, but once Fred had said that, Hermione's wall fell once again and she had her forehead on the table as she laughed. She felt her stomach muscles tighten and begin to hurt, but she had found it so funny.

Hermione glared at Ron who was still talking about his need of a date for the impending Yule Ball. Hermione shook her head lightly at all the things he said. "May I say, that Neville already has himself a date." Hermione butted in before going back to her work. That had only made Ron feel worse and make Fred laugh quietly.

Ron glanced at Hermione and a grin spread across his face, he was interrupted by a note fluttering into his hands. 'Get a move on or all the good ones will be gone.' He glanced over at Fred before whispering, "Who you going with then?"

Fred smiled and through an eraser straight at Hermione. Hermione looked up from her work with annoyance. Fred lifted his hands, to mimic a dance move, "Will you go to the ball with me?" he mouthed to her.

Hermione's eyes widened and she heard Ron take in a deep breath. Hermione looked down at her hands, feeling her cheeks go red before lifting her head and smiling brightly at him. "Of course." She whispered. Fred turned back to Ron and winked, just as Snape came over and hit both Ron and Harry for talking during Study Hall.

Hermione had never had so much fun in her life. But she knew it would have to end sometime. And this was then. She was sitting on the stairs in front of the Great Hall, waiting for Fred to get his coat. She leaned against the wall and sighed deeply. She was content with how things had gone. Fred had turned out to be more charming, and polite than she had ever imagined. "Granger." Hermione looked up to see some older girl standing before her. "He only asked you because I was already taken." She spat down at the younger girl. She saw the hurt form on Hermione's face before walking away with a smug grin on her face. Hermione blinked tears back and leaned against the wall and closed her eyes to think. When she opened them again, she was in someone's arms, being carried through the portrait of the Fat Lady and into the Gryffindor common room.

"Ah good, you woke up." Hermione looked up to see that it had been Fred carrying her. He placed her down, feet first, in front of the stairs to the girls' dormitories. "Did you enjoy yourself this evening?" he asked with a smile.

"I did. Thank you Fred." Hermione said. She went to go upstairs but stopped herself. "But Fred…what is this?" she asked.

Fred raised an eyebrow at this, "This? This is me taking a lovely girl to the ball." He said gently.

Hermione sighed. "Fred, I am so much younger than you though. And…we both know how Ron feels about me. It's not right." She said quietly.

Fred nodded slowly, "She talked to you didn't she…"

Hermione looked up at him and saw hurt swimming in his eyes. "She did. And Fred, it's okay if I was a second choice. I still had a great time. But, this, this cannot be. No matter how much I may want it…It can't because…"

"Because no one would agree with it. I know. Goodnight Hermione." Fred said gently, before kissing her on the cheek. Hermione nodded and dashed up the stairs to hide her tears.

This is completely AU, so I do not want to hear that this never happened!

I am writing this since Rowling had planned on Hermione and Fred getting together at first!
I hope you liked it though.

Tell your friends & review!

Yours Truly,

~Daryl-Dixons-Gurl~