I don't own any of this.
I just want everyone to try to be patient with me. I've never wrote a fanfic before so I'm not familiar with everything yet.
I'll try to update as much as possible so don't get your panties in a twist.
Hermione was ready for the dinner she knew it would be difficult but she needed this. She can't just hide for the rest of her life. She tried to get everything together and make herself appear presentable. She hadn't exactly been herself lately and you could tell by looking at her. She had bags under her eyes and her hair was a mess (well more so than before). She looked like a wreck and she didn't want Ron to see her like that. She wouldn't allow him to see the damage that he had caused. She couldn't help blaming everything on Ron, but she felt so betrayed. It was like she was reliving 6th year all over again except this time it was a thousand times worse. She just couldn't understand his decision. She wouldn't admit it ,but she was a little curious about how Ron was taking the break-up. They had been in a serious relationship for 2 years so he couldn't be taking it well. She hated to think that way ,but if he was taking this break-up as bad as she was she couldn't help but feel a little satisfaction. She wanted him to suffer through it just as much as she was.
She pulled her hair behind her ears and tied it into a very fuzzy ponytail. There really wasn't much she could do with it today ,but she had to at least try to make it look good. She was better off with a really fuzzy ponytail than a head full of crazy fuzzy going everywhere. She shouldn't have let it get this out of control ,but she was just too depressed to do anything. She finally wrestled the hair into a some what managed ponytail and continued to apply light make-up to cover her noticeably exhausted face. You could still see it in her eyes ,but she was mostly successful with hiding the hell she had been through. When she was content with her reflection she gathered her things and continued to the sitting room fireplace.
She stepped into the fireplace and appeared at the burrow through a swirl of fire. The family rushed over to hug and greet her. She hugged them all and followed the family into the kitchen. That's when she saw him. He was leaning against the doorway staring at her. She had expected the meeting to be intense ,but she wasn't expecting him to look completely fine. She couldn't tell that there was anything wrong with him. He obviously wasn't losing any sleep over her and he seemed to pretend like nothing had happened. He walked over to her and said "Hey Mione, I havn't seen you for a few weeks. I was wondering if you could help me with a bit of paperwork I have for the ministry. Please Mione?" She was dumbfounded. Not only had he acted like nothing was wrong, it was like he had reverted to their relationship from childhood. Like they had never looked at each other in that way and they were just old friends. In a way she was relieved that there wasn't going to be some big confrontation, but overall she was devastated. He obviously hadn't regarded their relationship like she had. She had expected him to be going through an emotional rollercoaster just like her. He was standing in front of her like nothing had ever happened between them. She simply looked into his eyes and said "Well Ron, I'm certain you aren't a confused 13 year old boy that can't read a book once in a while. Do it yourself. I'm not some puppet that you can use for your ministry work." She didn't mean it to sound as snappy as it was but he seemed to take it without realizing it.
She tried to make it seem like she was just as unfazed by the break-up as he was, but she knew she was failing at it. She had planned on talking everything out with him and returning her engagement ring. She didn't expect him to act like there was nothing wrong. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the ring and handed it to him. She whispered " I know this was a family heirloom and I couldn't keep it. Don't argue with me just take it and put it to good use." She was shocked to see him nod and smile at her. He was acting like she had just given him a pencil he had let her borrow for the afternoon. She just couldn't handle this. She broke away and went upstairs to Ginny's room in a hurry. She just had to get away from his stupidity and talk to her best friend. Ginny had to be up here because she hadn't seen her downstairs. She ran up to her room and burst into the room. She was startled by the site that was in front of her. Ginny sat up from the bed quickly buttoning her shirt and pulling her panties back into place. Harry fell off of the bed with a thud and cursed. He peeked his head over the side and stared at Hermione. Hermione apologized and quickly shut the door. She was so shocked. She wasn't sure why because Harry and Ginny had been engaged for a few months now. Ginny had even told her about losing her virginity to Harry the year before ,but actually catching them in the act just blind-sided her.
The more she thought about it the funnier it was and before long she was sitting on the stairs laughing to herself. She had just walked in on her best friend at one of the most intimate moments. She couldn't help feeling sorry for the two. They were probably extremely embarrassed. She was almost in tears with laughter when she realized someone was standing behind her. She looked around to find Fred Weasley looking at her with a bemused expression on his face. She blushed slightly at being caught laughing to herself like that. It had to look odd from a different point of view, but she simply couldn't help herself. She just laughed even harder at the expression on his face. She finally settled down and tried to catch her breath from the scene that had just played out.
She looked around at Fred who was now sitting on the step next to her "sorry about that. I just couldn't help myself. You would be laughing too if you had walked in on Harry and Ginny. Not to mention your expression was priceless." He looked at her and smiled " couldn't help it. I've never seen you laugh like that before. I'm was just surprised to see you having a fit on the stairs." She smiled up at him "Well, It was a long needed laugh" His smile grew into a mischievous grin "So does this mean you're ready to put Ickle Ronnykins through hell" She kept the smile on her face "definitely" "good because my lesser half and I have concocted a series of pranks that may leave the poor bloke wanting to die" Hermione couldn't help the smile that was spread across her face as she shook hand with Fred. "When do you fill me in on the detail?" "How about after dinner? Meet us in the garden" Hermione was excited for the havoc that she was going to cause with the twins. She usually hated jokes and pranks like this ,but the fact that it was aimed towards Ron made it so much fun. She marched down to the kitchen and started to help Molly with the preparations.
Dinner was great except for the fact that she kept looking at Ron. She didn't want to stare but she just couldn't help herself. He hadn't looked at her once . She was feeling hurt by his lack of attention. She couldn't wait to meet with the twins and begin this war that she had declared on Ron. She was so excited. She knew she shouldn't be taking everything out on Ron ,but this would feel so good. Not only was she going to make his life a living hell ,but she was going to make sure he knew she was the one doing it. She ate quickly and went to the meeting spot for the twins. She had already planned one way to get back at Ron for being such a prat. She sat on the bench that she had sat on just 2 weeks ago and instead of planning to mend the relationship that she had with Ron like before she planned on ways to prank him. Fred and George walked into the garden and sat around Hermione. "Well, what do we have here? Is someone ready to change their ways and enter into the ways of the famous Weasley duo?" Hermione grinned at George and replied "You know, I've always wanted to see what was so great about pranking people and causing trouble all the time. Maybe I'm not changing all that much" George winked at her and put his hand around her. "So where do we begin?" Hermione interjected "Actually, I think I have an idea of what to do first." The two of them looked at her a little surprised and urged her to continue "Well, when I first arrived Ron asked me to help him with his paperwork from the ministry. What if I helped him with it" she had an evil smirk on her face the twins started to grin. "That brilliant" they said in unison.
Hermione went back into the burrow and climbed the stairs to Ron's room. She knocked and walked in. He was sitting on his bed trying to read through a book about muggle items and how they are used. She walked over and sat next to him "Ron, I've been thinking about earlier. I was a little mean about not wanting to help you with your paperwork. I'm here to apologize and I'm going to do the paperwork for you." Ron smiled at her "O thank you mione. I've been slaving over it for days." She walked over to his desk and started scribbling through the pile of papers on his desk. When she was done with the last page she stood "Well, I'm done. It's in order and should be ready for you to turn in." She walked out of the room and ran to the twins' room. She walked in and sat down on closest chair and told them "Well, I've done it. I've tampered with all of his ministry paperwork." The two of them looked at her a little surprised "We didn't expect you to go through with it. What did you do?" She leaned against the wall and a grin spread across her face " Well, his paperwork was about muggle items and their uses. Needless to say I may have made poor Ron look like a pervert. Every muggle item on the list I described as some wretched sex toy and even described the uses." The two looked at her in surprise "are you serious" Hermione smiled back "dead serious" They all started laughing and planning for the next prank on poor Ron.
Hermione left the twins' room and went downstairs to find Molly tidying up after a long day. She walked over to her and hugged " Thank you Molly. I really need this" Molly smiled back at her "I glad to see you're staying over dear. It'll be good for you to get away from that cramped apartment for a day or two. Well, dear I'm off to bed. Don't stay up too late." She hugged Hermione once more and started towards her room. Hermione walked up the stairs to Ginny's room and knocked on the door before she entered. She opened it up and walked over to Ginny with a smile on her face "So Ginny, how was your night? Anything exciting happen?" Ginny smacked her on the shoulder and smiled " O Shutup are you ever going to let me live this down?" Hermione giggled "nope". The girls giggled and sat up for the next few hours gossiping and chatting about their lives. Hermione told her all about how she felt about Ron and Ginny consoled her. The two talked late into the night until Ginny eventually dozed.
Hermione was left sitting in the room trying to make herself sleep. She had been having problems with insomnia before the break-up and it had gotten worse after. She wiggled out of her pallet and tip-toed towards the door. She snuck downstairs and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. She quietly got the water and when she turned around Fred was standing behind her. "You're terrible at sneaking around" Hermione almost dropped her glass of water. "O Fred. You startled me." Fred smiled at her "Sorry about that. I thought you would yell at me or scream. I guess it didn't work" She smacked his shoulder and walked towards the door. She went out to the garden and sat on her favorite bench. Fred followed her and sat next to her. They sat in silence for a few minutes until Fred broke the silence "You can't sleep either?" She shook her head "I havn't been sleeping very well since the War and it seems like the break-up didn't exactly help." Fred shook his head in agreement " I can understand. I've been through my share of sleepless night since the war." Hermione looked at him in surprise " I never realized you had trouble. You don't look like you can't sleep at night." He shrugged "I hide it pretty well. George worries about me ,but I told him at least I'm sleeping some. He can worry about me if I stop sleeping completely" She looked up at him "Do you have nightmares? That's what really drives my insomnia." Fred nodded " I always think about the battle. I almost died. Hell, I did die during the battle. George saved me that night. I saw so many of my friends die that night. I just see it over and over again. What do you see" Hermione sighed "I dream about Bellatrix. I don't tell many people this ,but she tortured me with the cruciatus curse at the Malfoy mansion. It haunts me. I shouldn't linger on something so stupid ,but I can't help it. It was so painful. I've never been so afraid in my entire life." Fred pulled her into a hug "You have every right to be afraid. If I had known I would have killed the bitch myself." She smiled at him and pulled away. "Thank you Fred. I needed a hug" He wiggled his eyebrows "anytime doll" She giggled and they sat on the bench for several hours just looking at the stars. At last, Hermione stood and went to Ginny's room for bed. She need to be ready for the hell she had planned for Ron the next day.
I'm going to try to make the chapter a little longer. This isn't quite as long as I wanted it to be but I think this will work.
