A/N Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to update I was actually working on it, and I lost the disk I had saved it on. So without further ado, ON WITH THE SHOW!

Chapter 3: A Phlegm Filled Wedding (Part 1)

The next morning at 8 am

I was reliving the night before with full vivid detail, when a feeling of security and familiar warmth saved me from my pain and filled me with an almost incoherent bliss. I was safe; I was home. Nothing could hurt me now. I cuddle deeper into that warmth until I realized it had substance. In fact, it was a human body.

I opened my eyes, but all seemed to still be dark. Then I understood that the warm, human mass was what was blocking out my light. It shifted, and Fred looked down at me yawning. "Good morning, 'Ermione," he greeted lazily. Then it apparently hit him that we had repeated the same mistake as the night before because he added, "We gotta stop meeting like this." I gave a groggy laugh.

"The planning for the wedding starts today, doesn't it?" I said, sitting up. "I'm starting to wonder if it was such a good idea to come here a week before the wedding." I groaned. "A week of having to put up with Phlegm is going to be torture!"

"Consider the alternative," he stated. Images of the nightmare that I had fled flashed through my mind. I could feel the tears coming before I could stop them. He pulled me back towards him. "Shhh… it's okay now. He can't get you here. He doesn't even know where you are. You're safe. And anyway, if you hadn't come, you wouldn't get to share a bed with a Weasley Twin twice in a row."

That didn't help at all. "Yes, and because of that my boyfriend broke up with me, and my best friend feels alienated from me. Even though he won't say it, it's true."

"I intended that to be a joke."

"Well the jokes aren't going to fix anything, are they? It won't make Ron love me again, will they?" I shouted, standing up, infuriated not necessarily at him or anything really, but just because I was, and he was the closest outlet. "Don't you get it? My life is ruined! I have nothing now! No friends, no home! Nothing!" I paced the room in my rage, flinging my arms up in the air as if asking for some divine aid.

"You have me," he whispered looking truly hurt over something I didn't wish to even fathom at the moment.

"And what good has it done me? I'm still dirty and impure! Maybe even more so because you are the brother of my now ex-boyfriend, and I for some reason feel more compelled to be with you and let you hold me than my boyfriend!" I yelled, saying words I had not intended to say, truths I didn't want to think about. " I need you right now instead of him, and I now that it's wrong, but true none the less! I barely know you, and yet I lean on you like a cripple with a crutch!" Every sentence was a touch softer, but no less fierce or confused. "I'm Hermione, the smart bookworm with nothing better to do than save Harry Potter from killing himself every time he turns a corner, but I feel like I'm some timid child, and I can't seem to catch my grounding again. What's happening to me, Fred? Why am I like this?" I looked at him then and saw him sitting on the bed looking confused, patient, and hurt all at the same time. "You did nothing wrong. You've been my only help, but I'm battering you with insults accusations. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just can't…" I collapsed on the bed crying, and he didn't even hesitate to draw me in and hold me. I needed this strength, his strength, but I was too scared and far-gone to let myself claim it.

There was a knock on the door, and George stuck his head in. "Not disturbing anything, am I?" Then he looked at the bed. His eyes widened, and he came to sit on the bed and placed a hand on my shoulder. "What's wrong, Mione? Do you want my to get you some tea?"

"No, it's alright George. I'm fine." The expression on his face said he clearly didn't believe me.

"I just came up to tell you two the Mum's done with breakfast, and that she wants all the girls to go to Diagon Alley for dress fittings. She said that Fleur's parents are paying for the wedding, so there are no money constraints, and she wants you to pick out the most expensive, gorgeous gown you can find. Fleur says, 'Eet duzant mattehr vat eet kosts az long az Ay peek zeh colore.'" (Translation: It doesn't matter what it costs as long as I pick the color.) "Oh, and Fred, we have work today, so I'm so sorry, but I must break you two love birds up." At that I threw a pillow at his hear, but he dodged it. Damn.

"I guess I better get changed then," I announced, realizing I was still wearing my clothes from yesterday. I glanced around the room. "Um, does anyone know where my trunk went?"

"I shrunk it and stuck it under the bed." This from Fred, who had been silent since my little rant, which made me glance at him. I could tell he wanted to add something and didn't. I looked at George again and realized he must have noticed the same thing, maybe even sooner than I had, because he looked a little uncomfortable. Was it because George was here? What couldn't he tell his twin?

"I'm just gonna go…" George muttered slipping out of the room.

"What's wrong with George?" I asked, bewildered. When I looked at him I noticed that a tension seemed to have left his shoulders. What was I missing? I retrieved my trunk and dressed in the bathroom.

When I stepped back into the room, fiddling with my hair to find a style I liked, Fred was sitting on the bed with his head in his hands and there was a strain in his shoulers. It made me stop short, confused. Assuming he was worried about the same thing I was, I sat on the bed next to him and said, "Ron will get over it, and everything will be as it was again." I put a hand on his shoulder consolingly, and he went very still under the touch.

After a few moments, he looked up with an expression very much the Fred I had grown to know. "Last one to breakfast is a rotten egg!" he yelled and started for the door. Running down after him, I put my concerns to the back of my mind.

We ate breakfast, and then Fleur, Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, and I flood to Diagon Alley. As we walked down the road, it was as deserted as it was before the beginning of fifth year, maybe even more so. I was just waiting for the tumbled weed to roll past. There was a tension in the air that couldn't be denied. The large unusual posters in the window of WWW seemed to be the only hint of the old vibrant place this had been on my very first visit. I felt a strong urge to go inside, as if the only thing to save me from freezing in this place was to go inside to the laughter that would surely exist there. Apparently I wasn't the only one because it was the only place filled with customers.

"Maybe we should go see Fred and George awhile? They might want us to pick them up something while we're out," Mrs. Weasley suggested. I knew for sure then that I wasn't the only one to feel the impulse to go inside. We went in, and once inside it felt like a million ton weight had been lifted from our shoulders. The very light seemed to be less harsh, more welcoming, than the summer sun outside. I heard everyone let out a sigh almost simultaneously.

"Mrs. Weasley," exclaimed the girl behind the counter with twinkling eyes, "how good of you to visit! I promise you that the boys have been on their best behavior." The statement in itself made me wonder how many times Mrs. Weasley had been in here. It also made me wonder what relationship this girl had with the twins. The thought of her being involved in any way with Fred made me hate her just a little bit.

"Jamie! How are you dear? The twins paying you enough, I hope," Mrs. Weasley greeted in return. So her name was Jamie. I was just about to ask a very impolite question when George walked in. Oddly enough I could tell immediately the it was Fred just by the way he held himself. Was it a good or bad sign that I knew that? I eventually decided I'd figure it out later. Best not to dwell on subjects that might not have answers you like.

"Ginny, Mione, want to see this new experiment we've been working on?" he called to us.

The girl with twinkling eye, now dubbed Jamie, shrieked, "So you're Hermione! Oh my God, I've heard so much about you! Is it true? Are you really best friends with Harry Potter and Ron's girlfriend?"

"Yes, Harry's my best friend, but Ron and I broke up recently," I replied insanely uncomfortable.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know…" she said looking embarrassed.

"You coming or what?" George said. I could bless him a thousand times over for saving me. I followed him quickly to a display that was covered in pink and girlier than I could stand, but I didn't care really. Anything to get me away from that girl and that conversation would have been welcome at the moment. He was talking about the intricate details involved in the development, but for once I wasn't interested. I was running through the various events of the past two days. Things had definitely not turned out as I had planned. I would have probably been insane if it wasn't for Fred. I really did owe him a lot. "Hermione, are you even listening? I know you hate girly stuff, but you usually would be interested in the process of finding out which charms are compatible. If it's about what Jamie said, look she's a complete ditz about those types of things. I have no idea how Fred puts up with her. Talking to her will do you about as much good as beating your head up against the wall."

"Who is she?" It wasn't exactly what I wanted to ask, but I didn't want to come out and say 'Is she Fred's girlfriend?' because that would give off the wrong impression. Unfortunately George seemed to reach that conclusion all by himself.

He smiled at me not unkindly. "She's Fred's ex-girlfriend. You can ask him about it later. I'm sure he wouldn't mind talking about it with you." That was the last we talked about it that day, and not too long after we headed to Madam Malkin's shop to buy our dresses.

"Oh come on, Hermione! It couldn't possibly look that bad!"

"No way am I coming out there dressed like this!" I refused. My current attire was a dress of pale yellow that honestly looked nice on me, but my boobs were practically falling out as I wore it. The design was just basic muslin, butter-colored gown that was form-fitting on the bodice and belled out in the skirt covered with gossamer, golden lace formed into a completely transparent overdress. The gold lace was so fine that the only sign of its presence was the slight shimmer of the dress when I moved. The back was cut out and had ribbons to hold the garment on. Madam Malkin had tailored it to fit my body perfectly, so the excuse that it didn't fit wouldn't work. I actually loved the dress and how I looked in it, but I'm a bookworm, and there're very strict rules about the appearance of bookworms. This dress defied them all. I was also unclean and didn't deserve to look like that, but I couldn't tell them that.

"Fine! Then I'm coming in!" shouted a very annoyed Ginny.

"No! Do—," but I never got to finish the statement because she had flung open the curtain of the dressing room.

"What in the world is wrong with you? That dress looks fabulous on you!" She circled me to get a full view.

"It just doesn't say 'know-it-all bookworm' at all," I whined.

"And that's a bad thing?" she asked incredulously.

"Okay, I'll let everyone else see and get their opinion," I said. I tromped out and stood before the four-angle mirror with all the dignity of Lavender sticking her tongue down Ron's throat…meaning none.

"Ermioninee, you look vonderful!" Phlegm, I mean Fleur, exclaimed.

"Why didn't you want to show us, dear? It definitely looks good, so what's the problem?" Mrs. Weasley asked, confused.

"I don't feel like me. It's like I'm looking at someone else in the mirror." I looked at my reflection and just couldn't get my mind around the fact it was me in the mirror. The person that stared back at me looked pure and innocent. But I was tainted and the farthest thing from innocent. How could this person be me? How could I not look as dirty as I felt? There had to be a law against it.

"Well we don't see anything wrong. We'll buy it, and if your opinion doesn't change, we can always take it back," Ginny said decidedly. Looks like I'm all alone in my views.

A/N- You know your duty! REVIEW!