Chapter 2: Turning Red

Author's Note: I do not own the rights to this. The rights to Harry Potter are owned by the magnificent J.K. Rowling!

Hermione closed the door gently behind herself, hoping no one heard or saw her escape. She was actually enjoying herself just before everyone had barged in. She would never blame them for her mood swing, though. Images kept flashing in front of her eyes; visions of the battle, the explosions, the curses, the bodies. She had to watch her friends die. This wasn't something she could deal with lightly due to the fact that her brain thought it wise to reenact scenes without her consent. When all of the boys innocently rushed in to warm up by the crackling fire, all Hermione could think of were the people, pushing and shoving, either to run away from an attack from the death eaters, or to pursue someone themselves. She always tried to overcome the images, but she was not strong enough, not mentally nor physically.

She settled herself down, after a moment of pacing, attempting to rid herself of those horrid thoughts, into the seat at her desk. After a while of coping with trial and error, she found that rereading Hogwarts: A History was the best medicine. She opened it to page 356, Dragons and Other Fire-Breathing Creatures. She must have read this at least 200 times! Sitting there, attempting to read, but in reality reciting what she had previously memorized, her thoughts of the battle of Hogwarts vanished. She was reminded of Hagrid every time she revisited those pages; the fact that he wanted and loved such strange and captivating creatures always made Hermione's heart glow. She missed him tremendously and could not wait to join him again at Hogwarts in September.

A half hour must have passed before she decided to get up from her spot. Unsure what to do, and feeling strangely tired, she turned and flopped onto her bed, snuggling under the blankets and into the warmth.

Everybody was trickling out of the room leaving Fred, George and Ginny to sit and stare at the ceiling.

There was a long pause.

"Well, isn't this a blast! I'm so glad that you suggested to come inside Forge..." George commented sarcastically.

Fred rolled his eyes, "Gred, you suggested that! You blast ended skrewt!"

At that they both cracked up laughing. "Oh yeah! But who am I supposed to blame? Ginny was already inside and I definitely wasn't going to blame myself!"

The wave of laughter subsided and the twins looked over at Ginny; George was hoping he'd made her a bit happier with trying to lift the tension in the air. Unfortunately Ginny seemed to have barely noticed their presence; she was staring off into the direction of their family photo on the mantlepiece. She was trying to create a plan to speed up the process of getting Hermione out of her room and it took her a moment to notice Fred and George waving their arms wildly in front of her face.

"Earth to Ginny!" They said in sync.

Her eyelids fluttered and she turned in their direction.

"Dreaming about snogging Harry again, eh?" said George with a snicker as Fred made kissing noises.

Ginny rolled her eyes and gave a little smirk, "I know that's what you do in your spare time, but I don't do that." she said as she crossed her arms.

Fred and George put on bewildered looks,

"Did our sister,"

"Actually just,"

"Direct a decent comeback,"

"At us?" They finished together.

Ginny let a small smile come to her lips, though she wasn't sure if her brothers were actually proud of her or not.

"That's our girl!" the twins yelled as they pounced and pinned her to the couch, tickling her as she squealed.

Amidst a ball of red hair and laughter Fred piped up, "But you do think of that often. It's quite obvious, what with the drool dripping from the edges of your mouth!"

Ginny smacked him playfully on the collarbone as he and George were leaning on her to keep her pressed to the cushion. Fred faked that he was hurt and that made Ginny giggle again. George gave Fred a knowing nod and they both lunged into her face and kissed her cheeks and forehead.

"Oh Harry!" they mocked as the all laughed, kissing her face relentlessly, "Oh I love you Harry! I just want to snog you all day long!"

Ginny, on the brink of tears from laughing so hard, shoved her brothers aside, jumped and bolted out of the room still laughing, her brothers bellowing her love for Harry behind her. The two of them were buckled over from laughing so hard. They were so proud that their sister was keeping the Weasley spirit alive.

Ginny ran into the kitchen to where her mother was doing the dishes and her father was researching the muggle object called the rubber duck, still laughing and quite red from the incident with her brothers. Her mother turned with a grin,

"What was all that ruckus about?" she shook her head knowingly, "You're turning out so much like your brothers!"

Ginny just laughed. She wasn't sure whether she should be proud of this fact or not. One thing she knew for sure was that her brothers would give her a little less crap now that they knew she could joke around like one of the boys.

Mrs. Weasley continued on as she turned back to the dishes, "So where's Hermione, dear?"

Ginny stopped laughing immediately and just stared sheepishly at her mother. With this silence, Mrs. Weasley put down the half cleaned bowl, dried her hands and walked over to her daughter. She looked up into her mother's deep, concerned eyes.

"Back up in your room again, I presume?" Ginny lowered her head and nodded. "She'll come down in due time, sweetie, don't you worry. You made her feel comfortable enough to come down with encouragement today, maybe soon she'll just leave her books on her own account, knowing that we're all here for her. For now, all we can do is show her."

Ginny gave a small smile and her mother hugged her.

"So that's what they're used for!" exclaimed Mr. Wealsey from the corner of the room, acquiring quizzical glances from his wife and daughter.

"Oh... um... Sorry. Mother-daughter bonding time. I see! I'll just... go to the dining room..." he continued as he left the kitchen.

"Boys! I found out the use of the so-called rubber duck! Come here and I'll show you! It's absolutely fascinating!"

Ginny and Mrs. Weasley chuckled at his enthusiasm quietly. Her mother gave her one last squeeze and sent her off to find Hermione again.

"That's great dad!" called Fred to his father after he was finished explanation.

"Yeah! We certainly would not be able to live our lives without the wonderful history of the rubber duck hammered into our skulls!" George said with a sneer.

Mr. Weasley's smile started to waver, but then his face brightened with a huge goofy grin, "I knew you boys enjoyed it! See Molly," he called over his shoulder as he walked into the kitchen "I knew I'd be able to understand my boys one day!"

The twins looked at each other and mouthed the word "Sure" while shaking their heads before clambering up the stairs to their room.

As they both flung themselves to be first in their room, they toppled in through the doorway. Laughing, they helped pull themselves up and they made for their beds. A little while after they got themselves comfortable, George researching some ingredient side-effects for their new product, the Gabbing Gum – gum that makes it impossible for a person to stop talking for at least an hour for every two minutes you chew, and Fred just laying on his bed staring at the ceiling, Fred broke the silence,

"Do you think Hermione's okay, George?" Fred was now playing with his thumbs nervously.

George looked up from his book, a nasty gleam playing in his eyes gone unnoticed by his brother.

"She's been through a lot, Freddie. Hell, we all have. So I doubt she's doing well, but she sure is doing better than before." He took a side glance at his brother to notice him breath out a small sigh of relief.

"Why? You want to help her in some way?" continued George, with a bit of playfulness in his eyes. Surely he suspected his brother fancied the little, bushy-haired witch, but he was only suggesting to help her by getting her some soup or finding Luna for company, he did not expect the tops of Fred's ears to turn slightly pink.

Fred could feel his body going warm. Oh shit! Don't let George put the pieces together! I don't want him to know! I need to calm down! Don't turn red! Do not turn red!

Too late, he saw his brother out of the corner of his eye sit up and turn towards him with a knowing smile playing on his face.

"Oh... um.. I don't know... I mean, she has Ginny right! She doesn't need much more help than a servant 24/7!" Fred squeaked out with a tight laugh.

He met Georges unflinching, all-knowing eyes after a moment.

George smiled with a slightly evil grin, "Freddie, would you like to tell me something?" he said as he got up and pulled a chair up to sit in front of his brother.

Fred just turned redder, exhaled and nodded.

This was going to be a long night.

Thanks for reading! If you have any suggestions/comments on what I just incorporate into the following chapters please inform me! I'll be glad to hear your thoughts!

PS: Gabbing Gum was invented by Wizards-Pupil! The credit goes to her! I may use other items that she has invented because I like them a lot, but I will make sure that she gets credit where credit's due** :)