AN: Fred: 18 & Hermione 16 (Almost 17)
CHAPTER ONE:
REMEMBER ME?
Fred Weasley
Three Years Later...
First Day of Winter Break
My body moved down the deserted hallway, a vague feeling of familiarity hitting me. I continued onward, approaching a wide, rock arch in the fire-lit passage. My heart raced as I slipped under the sparkling arch and entered a room I hadn't entered in years. My hands trembled as I looked around the spacious and glorious room of Hogwarts' extensive library. Part of me screamed to retreat, I hadn't entered this room in nearly three years. Ever since...
I pushed away the thoughts as I inspected the area. There wasn't another student in sight, even Mrs. Pince wasn't lurking by her wooden desk with her sneer and glare. Silence greeted me, yet...
"No," my hushed voice echoed around, taunting me as I took a step forward. "It can't..."
Yet?
I rushed forward, weaving deeper into the maze of books. I headed to a place I hadn't seen in years and knew it hadn't been touched since. The books began to get bigger, and dust began to cover volumes, some possessing strange cobwebs that wound upward like the vines of plants. My heart felt as though it would burst out of my chest and my breathing began to quicken. Maybe...
I reached the last row of shelves, stopping short. Books towered towards the sky as my eyes wandered downward, to worn cobbled wall to the far left of the bookcase. A shiver traveled through my body as my fingers skimmed over the small indent near bottom of the last shelf, tucked away from passing gazes. Only those who truly looked, who truly cared, would ever be able to find it.
It was in the shape of a raven, causing me to smile softly every single time. I pushed on it, causing the wall, barely big enough for me to slip in, to open inward. My body slipped inside the cavern, hope burning in my chest.
Candles lit the spacious rectangular room. The shelves that reached the ceiling and covered most of the wall surface were filled with ancient and lost texts that one could only dream of reading. Against the far wall was a roaring fire that gave the room a pleasant, home-like touch. There was a couch and two plush chairs sitting in front of it, all three a royal purple. Turning to my right I looked up at the raised floor to see a old wooden table and matching chairs as well as two more rows of books. A Though, no one could have possibly found the room in years, it was spotless.
My spirits dropped as I saw the table empty.
She wasn't there.
"Hello?" a female voice called from behind one of the shelves, causing me to rush towards it.
Oh my-
The female revealed herself the moment my foot left the last stair and my heart stopped. With chocolate hair that fell around her gorgeous face and a lovely figure that caused all straight men to drool, I realized just how much I truly missed her.
She had grown, since the last time we saw each other; though her eyes, the color of cinnamon, brightened at the sight of me.
The large tomes she was holding dropped to the ground as she took a tentative step forward.
"Fred?"
I couldn't take it anymore, I rushed forward. My arms wrapped around her waist as I pulled her close, afraid I would lose her again.
"Fred!" Her arms moved around my neck as she pulled herself upward. "Oh my gosh! Fred!"
I murmured her name into her neck, breathing in her smell. She smelled sweet vanilla, like old texts, and right after a summer's storm. She smelled like a crisp fall day and a soft winter's night.
"Where have you been?" she whispered in my ear, her voice tight. I pulled back, seeing tears in her eyes. My heart tightened at the thought of causing her pain. How could I...
"I've been looking," I whispered. "Where have you been?"
A soft smile graced her lips as she leaned in close. "I've been looking for you too."
Her lips met mine and everything changed.
It was like I being yanked in a million different ways and I was finally being put back together. I was being tossed into the ocean yet I was laying on its white sandy beach. I was being struck by lightning and I was standing in the pouring rain.
Her name escaped my lips in a moan, as I lifted her small body up and slammed her into a bookcase.
"Fred," she gasped the word, making me growl in response. "Fred." She pulled away, leaning her forehead against mine with a soft smile on her kissable lips.
She opened her mouth, but unlike the words of a lover there was a scream of agony instead. My eyes widened as everything faded to black.
I awoke to screaming, my body swinging upwards from the vicious cries. No time to think about the dream or worry about what was truly happening, my hand reached for my wand as I pushed my body off the bed. George was following my lead as we moved towards the door.
The screaming was what bugged me the most. It felt like claws were grabbing at my heart and ripping it from my chest all the while something tore at my soul.
My hand reached for the knob and turned. Yet, it remained close. Brow furling and panic setting in, I turned the knob hard and slammed my shoulder into the door. Nothing.
"Move," George roughly pushed me aside and slammed his own body into the door. The door didn't budge as George slammed himself into it again...and again...and again.
A curse left my lips as I pointed my wand. Every door opening spell left my lips as I tried, unsuccessfully, to open the locked door. Nothing worked, not a single spell in my extensive knowledge would open the damn door.
Fire scorched the door, yet that was it. Rusting spells on the bolts holding it up, didn't affect it. Slamming the bed against it proved to be even more useless than we originally thought.
Good old banging and screaming failed to do anything.
And after all of that, the screaming continued.
It was endless, breathless, with nothing to relate that it was human; because no human could scream in such a manner. No human could feel such pain like the screamer and live. It was as though their being was being ripped from them as their heart shattered in a million different ways. The screamer sounded like they lost everything and was being eaten alive.
"Bloody hell!" George kicked the door, growling with defeat. Suddenly, the screaming stopped causing our room, Grimmauld Place, to fall into an eerie silence.
George and I looked at each other, the faint moonlight seeping in illuminating his face.
"Has it stopped?" George asked.
"Better question," I looked at the ceiling before turning slowly back to him. "Who was that?"
I awoke for the second time that day. But, to this time, it was to George.
"Come on Fred," he shook me back and forth. "Come on!"
I groaned, rolling over. He should know that I didn't get sleep for hours after the screaming. In fact, the last thing I saw before I fell into fitful sleep was George getting up to owl Verity about how she and the other workers were holding up.
"George, go away."
"Fred, there is this bird downstairs."
"There are hundreds of birds," I groaned, pulling my blanket above my head. "Go away."
George groaned. "You know for a fact that I wouldn't bug you unless she was drop-dead gorgeous."
I opened my eyes.
"And?"
George laughed. "She a fifteen out of ten."
My eyes widened. George only gave out elevens to a privileged few. A fifteen was a once-in-a-lifetime revelation and it was something my twin would never joke about.
I shot out of bed, running to the closet.
"I'll be down in seven." I called as I darted out of the room and towards the bathroom, George's laughter following me the whole way.
I rushed down the stairs, towards the kitchen. I passed a half-sleeping Ron being yanked by one Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom.
"Come on Ron," Harry pressed. "The girls are waiting."
The girls were the three girls that had become a part of Ron's and Harry's tight knitted group. It was, surprise, Luna Lovegood, Lavender Brown, and my baby sis, Ginny. They all became close after...
My heart stopped at the thought. My body burned as my mind traveled to very painful memories. She was gone, dead. Yet...
"Yeah," Neville spoke. "Don't you want food?"
I snorted as I jumped down the last stair. When did my brother not want food?
I shook my head, turning my thoughts away from Ron and her. I ran my hand through my hair once and pushed open the door. The first thing I noticed was the tense feeling in the room. Sirius Black, who owned Grimmauld Place, Ginny, Luna, Lavender, Tonks, Remus, my father, and George sat on one end of the long table, eyes looking over at the other end. Their looks varied.
Ginny and Lavender had a look of jealousy and curiosity burning in their eyes; Luna had a knowing look in her baby blue eyes; Sirius, Remus, and my father were staring at her with sorrow and fatherly concern for the guest at the end; Tonks looks torn at whether to dare sit with the girl at the end or give her space; George had a look of star struck and curiosity.
I sat down at the table, not having looked at the girl.
"Dad says they'll tell us who she is when Mum and the boys get in here. Something about it'll be easier telling everyone at once." George whispered. My resolve broke and I turned my gaze, a gasp escaping my lips.
Long chocolate ringlets framed her tan, heart-shaped face. Long fingers drew strange designs into the wooden table. She was dressed in a light green top and dark black jeans.
I knew who she was...I knew exactly who she was.
"What?" Ginny's voice rang out through the air as I stood up again. "Do you know who she is?"
I didn't answer seeing as I was moving towards her carefully, all my attention on her. She had yet to notice me, yet I knew she knew I was there.
I sat across from her, hope burning in my chest.
Her eyes finally raised to meet mine and my smile faltered. Cinnamon color eyes met mine, but they were full of pain.
She opened her pink, plump lips and allowed two words to escape into the world.
"Remember me?" Her hand inched closer to mine as she held her breath, waiting for my answer.
A breathless laugh escaped my lips as I nodded.
"Always."
Her eyes lit up with joy as a small smile crossed her lips. The door opened.
"Fred."
"Hermione."
Dun dun dun! Well thanks for the reviews guys. Anywho, if you enjoyed comment below! ~M2H
