Hermione awoke with a start early the next morning, quietly groaning as she stretched and rubbed her neck to try and relieve the pain a little. She checked her watch and sighed, seeing that it was only four am and knowing she would never get back to sleep. She gathered up her book and trudged, yawning, up to the girl's dormitory, looking forward to a hot shower.
Half an hour later, she felt more refreshed, but it was still too early to do anything. Dressed in her school uniform, she filled her bag and walked down to the common room, intending to at least make a start on some homework. Hermione managed to complete a charms essay before dozing off in the chair, quill slipping out of her hand onto the floor. She was shaken awake a few hours later, a familiar voice filling her sleepy mind. By the time she came to, Harry and Ron were coming down the staircase. She looked to see who had woken her, and spotted Fred hitching his bag further up his shoulder and following George out of the portrait hole. Before he left, he turned and winked at her, smiling quickly at her blush.
"Did you stay down here all night, Hermione?" Harry's concerned voice brought her back to the present.
"No- well, almost, but I woke up early, so I went and got ready and tried to work down here."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Only you would voluntarily work this early in the morning, Hermione. Come on, I'm starving."
Smiling at the mention of Ron's insatiable appetite, Hermione gathered up her work and left to go to breakfast.
Hermione walked out of another History of Magic lesson. That one had been particularly hard to stay awake in, possible because it was last period before the weekend on a lovely sunny day. Harry and Ron followed behind, bleary eyed. Along with the rest of the class, they had been unable to resist the tempting call of slumber, and would be begging for her notes later on. Hermione was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice how crowded the corridors had become, and walked straight into the back of the last person she wanted to see. Draco Malfoy.
"Oi, watch it, you filthy little mudblood!"
Her books clattered to the ground as she struggled to keep her balance. Bending to pick them up, she tried to ignore the burning in her cheeks and the muttering of the other students. Harry and Ron seemed to come to focus, and drew their wands. Malfoy turned to face her, a scowl on his face.
"Thanks a lot, Granger! You know, I should insist that you pay for this, but I don't accept muggle money... Especially not from you."
Hermione straightened up, ready to reply with a scathing remark, when a voice interrupted her.
"Leave her alone!"
She spun around, trying to see who was shouting, and saw Fred Weasley approaching.
"Don't tell me you're offering to pay for it, Weasley. You'd never be able to afford it. If you could, maybe your family wouldn't look like such a disgrace."
Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw Harry grab Ron, stopping him from getting any closer to Malfoy. Fred clenched his jaw and pointed his wand at Malfoy.
"If my parents were buying robes, they definitely wouldn't have chosen ones that smelled so bad. That's why you've got that expression on your face, right? And at least my parents don't go around bribing people to keep them out of jail. So why don't you shut your little ferrety mouth before I do it for you, okay?" Fred smiled sweetly, anger written all over his face. Malfoy's cheeks flushed pink.
"My father will-"
"Hear about this, yeah, yeah. Now off you go, before I lose my temper."
Malfoy glared and turned to leave, whispering under his breath, "Stupid blood traitors and mudbloods."
There was a flash of blue light as Fred finally snapped, jinxing Malfoy, his calm exterior slipping and his anger taking over. He raised his wand, ready to do it again, before Hermione placed a soothing hand on his arm. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before flashing a weak smile at Hermione. "I warned you, Malfoy. Now get lost before I do even worse."
The crowd suddenly trickled away, a foreboding sound of heels clicking against the hard floor.
"Mr Weasley! No magic in the corridors! Ten points from Gryffindor and a detention with me! Come and find out the details later!" Professor McGonagall's voice echoed around the hall as Malfoy smirked at Fred and tried to slip away.
"Don't think I don't know you were involved in this, Mr Malfoy. Ten points from Slytherin!"
Malfoy's smirk slid off his face and he glowered before leaving. Fred turned to walk away, and with an apologetic glance towards Harry and Ron, Hermione followed.
"Fred- wait. Are you okay?"
Fred kept walking, turning into an empty classroom. He leaned against one of the desks as Hermione closed the door and sat on top of a desk next to his, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just had to calm down before I did anything else stupid." He smiled at her and threw an arm around her shoulders. "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you or anything?"
She leaned closer into his side. "No, I'm fine. Listen, I'm sorry you got a detention because of me."
He laughed. "Hermione, one detention is nothing, besides, it's not like you told me to jinx him or anything. Not your fault."
Hermione tried to look disapproving, but her attitude quickly changed when Fred ran his fingers up her sides.
"So, Granger. Are you ticklish?"
She glared at him. "No. Not at all."
"Is that so? Well, let's find out." He grinned before attacking her.
"No- Fred!" She squealed, before dissolving into peals of laughter, trying to take his hands away from her. After he finally stopped, she realised just how close they were, their faces inches apart. If she just leaned in...
"Hey, Mione- oh. Uh, sorry, uh, we were wondering if you were coming to dinner. We'll keep you a seat." Harry's voice interrupted the moment as he gave a sheepish smile and closed the door again.
"Um... You hungry?" She asked Fred. He cleared his throat before grinning and replying, "Did you really need to ask?" She laughed as he hopped of the desk before offering her his hand and helping her down. She didn't fail to notice that he didn't let go until the reached the Great Hall.