A/N: Here's chapter 2 of Immortal and Forever! Yay! Sorry for the long wait!

Disclaimer~I don't own anything.

Hermione woke up early the next morning. Earlier than usual. Right when the sun was rising and peeked through the tops of the trees from the forest. Her house was still very quiet.

At some point during the night, the logical part of her brain made her decide not to run away. "Where would I go anyway?" She asked herself. "There's nowhere else I would go." But then she realized that she didn't need to go anywhere because she was scared. Scared of getting hurt.

She couldn't do magic so there was no way that she could defend herself. She needed protection from the things that would hurt her. She always had Harry when they did something that was against the school rules and/or dangerous.

If she just thought of Harry, would she be able to run away? She figured out that she would leave until the last day of August. That day she would be back and gather up her belongings to leave for Hogwarts on September 1st.

Hermione guessed that she would go into the wood. She wanted to see if it was really elves that made that beautiful music she heard last night. If it was, her grandmother might be too excited to worry about her safety.

"But of course, if while I'm in the wood, I decide to never come back, then I surely won't come back." Hermione said quietly.

In no time at all, Hermione had slipped out of her house unnoticed and was on her way to the wood. The morning was already hot, but in the wood, the air was damp and cooler.

Hermione was no more than two minutes into the wood when she exclaimed, "This place is beautiful! I wonder why I never came in here before!"

The whole wood smelled of maple and pine. It was full of life and light, casting long shadows from the trees. There were flowers she hadn't even seen before-and she has seen many different types of them at Hogwarts.

Then she saw the toad and said, "See?" The toad blinked. "I told you I was gonna be here first thing in the morning." It blinked again and nodded. Or maybe it only swallowed a fly.

Hermione walked toward an opening in the trees. It led to a small clearing with a stream. The clearing itself had many flowers and healthy green grass. Then something moved. Hermione gasped quietly and crouched down. "Well…if it is elves making that music, I'll be able to see them now." She thought. Her instinct told her to run, but her curiosity got the better of her. Hermione would get close enough to look. Just close enough to see if it really is elves, she told herself. She crept forward, pleased on how quiet she was, and hid behind a huge tree. But it wasn't elves in the clearing before her…

It was a boy. A boy, almost a man, who was very tall and pale. He had a mop of red hair, which slightly curled at the bottom. He was sitting at the bottom of a tree trunk with his eyes closed, seemingly deep in thought. Even though Hermione has only seen him for a few seconds, her heart was thumping wildly.

He wore a loose blue T-shirt and a pair of grubby tan trousers. Both items of clothing had fingerprints and handprints on them. His shoes were red trainers that reminded Hermione of Harry's old ones.

He yawned suddenly and rubbed the back of his neck. He shifted and started moving the pile of pebbles on his right. Beneath the pile, the ground was wet, and when the last pebble was moved a spurt of water, arching and returning like a fountain. The boy bent down and drank from the spurt. He lifted his head and licked his lips. The boy turned his head in Hermione's direction and-

Their eyes met.

They stood there, just staring, for a long while, or so it seemed. Finally he spoke. "You might as well come out of your hiding spot," he said, frowning.

Hermione stood up, blushing. "I didn't mean to watch you or anything," she said, walking into the small clearing. "I didn't know anyone would be in here."

He looked at her up and down. "What are you doing here?" He finally asked.

"It's my family's wood." Hermione said, slightly taken aback by the question. "I can come here whenever I want. Although, I never have actually been in the wood before."

"Oh," said the boy, relaxing a little. "You're a Granger then?"

"I'm Hermione," stated Hermione. "You are?"

"I'm Fred. Fred Weasley. How do you do?" He asked, sticking out his hand.

Hermione took it he looked even more beautiful up close. Her words-and breath-got caught in her throat for a second. "Do you live nearby?" She managed finally. "I have never seen you around until today, in my wood." But then added, "But it's okay if you come here. I mean, it's okay with me if you come here." She bit her bottom lip, something she does when she's nervous, and gazed into his cerulean eyes. They are beautiful, she thought.

The boy grinned a lopsided grin that Hermione's heart flutter. "No I don't live nearby. Just passing through. Thanks by the way, I'm glad that it's OK with you."

"Good." Hermione took a step back. "How old are you anyway?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm just curious."

"OK, I'm a hundred and five years old." He said sadly.

Hermione let out a short laugh. "No I mean really."

"OK then I'm 17 years old."

"17?"

"Yup." He popped the 'p'.

"That's old." Hermione said.

"You have no idea." He nodded. Hermione went and sat next to him.

They were silent for a while. "Are you married?" Hermione asked him, feeling pretty foolish.

Now it's his turn to laugh. "Hermione you ask a lot of questions."

She smiled when he said her name but then immediately frowned. "Is that a problem?"

"No, not at all. But no I'm not married. Are you?"

"No, I'm only 15 but I'll be 16 in September. September 15th."

"Then you'll get married?" He suggested.

"No, I don't think so. I…I don't even have a boyfriend." She frowned. Why was she saying all this to a complete stranger? Hermione didn't know but she didn't mind.

"Hey is that water good? I'm thirsty as ever."

Fred Weasley's face turned serious. "Oh-no it's not. Never drink from it. It comes right out of the ground. Probably pretty dirty." He started piling up the pebbles again.

"Yes but you drank some." Hermione reminded him.

"Yeah well me…I'll drink-and eat-anything."

"Why not?" She stood up. "It's my wood. It's mine and I want some." She moved closer to the pile. Now it was Fred's turn to stand up-he towered over her by the way-and he put a foot on the pile of rocks.

"Believe me, Hermione Granger, you don't want to drink this water. It'll be terrible if you do. Just terrible. Trust me. Just don't." He said staring down at her.

She was now staring intently up at him but finally sighed. "Fine. I won't drink any but if it didn't hurt you then why would it hurt me? If my father were here, he'd let me have some."

Fred went very pale. "You are not gonna tell him are you? About the spring?"

"Do you want me to?" She asked, her voice a little softer than before.

"Please don't." His voice was barely a whisper. Their faces were very close. He was gazing into her deep blue eyes and she was gazing into his cerulean eyes.

"Then I won't." Her voice was now a whisper. He sighed and Hermione could feel his warm breath on her face. "Thank you." He put his arms around her waist and Hermione could swear that he was about to kiss her. He was leaning down and her eyes fluttered close. He was actually 2 centimeters away from her face when they heard a voice yell, "Fred!" Hermione's eyes popped open and they separated quickly. "Yeah?" He called back.

A woman and a man came into view. They both had red hair but Hermione could tell that she was his mother and he was probably his brother. They were also very beautiful. "Mum, Bill, we got a slight problem." Fred said. With one look at Fred, with his foot on the pile and Hermione right next to him, Molly Weasley understood almost immediately.

"Well, Bill go get your siblings and Fred and-what's your name dear?"

It took Hermione a moment to realize that she was talking to her. "Oh! Um…Hermione. Hermione Granger."

"Lovely name. Fred and Hermione, come with me. The worst has finally come. We must tell her about the spring."

Suddenly, Hermione was being dragged by Fred, who was following Molly. She looked back to see 6 other red heads following them. They slightly smiled at her and then she saw the house.

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