The next few days at the Burrow proved to be awkward and uncomfortable for everyone. Every time Hermione happened to walk into the same room that Ron was in, he would make a big show of how upset he was with her by storming out of the room and sometimes knocking over objects in the process. It even went as far as him not joining the rest of them during dinner. "My appetite disappears the moment I happen to lay eyes on her," he told them sourly.
To Hermione's surprise, no one seemed to blame her for Ron's bitterness. In fact, they treated her as they always had. "Don't take it too much to heart, dear," Molly had reassured her. "He's been this ways since he was a boy. Always throwing a tantrum when he doesn't get his way."
Poor Harry, on the other hand, was in just about the same boat as Hermione. Ron was upset with him for taking Hermione's side in the matter. "She broke up with me, Harry!" he had practically shouted. "How can you take her side?"
"I'm not taking sides, Ron," Harry had tried to explain. "All I'm saying is that Hermione did what she thought was best. If we're going to be honest with ourselves, you're not in love with her either. She's like our sister, mate. I mean, would you rather you both pretend to be in love with each other for the rest of your lives?"
Ron had stormed out of the room at those words.
Now, Hermione sat in her bedroom, figuring it was the one place in the entire house that she would not have to worry about running into Ron, and read her book. However, she was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Come in," she said, marking her spot in her book and setting it aside.
Harry's raven-haired head peeked inside the door. He smiled at her as he walked inside the room. She smiled back at him.
"What's up, Harry?" she asked.
"Well, I was wondering if you would like to join Ginny and me on a trip to Hogsmeade?"
Hermione laughed a little before she spoke. "Honestly, Harry! You can't bring me along on every date that you and Ginny have."
Harry turned bright red at her words, which Hermione found quite amusing as Harry hardly ever blushed. He began pulling at the collar of his robes as though he were warm. "Er, it's not a date. We, um... Fred and George wanted Gin and me to check out the new shop they have down there, and they wanted me to ask you to come too."
Hermione quirked up an eyebrow in confusion. "Me?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, they said that they figured it would be nice for you to be able to get out of the same house as Ron for a few hours. They also said something about constructive criticism."
She smiled at that. "Okay, I'll go," she said as she got up from the bed.
"Great!" he said. "I'll go tell Ginny and we'll meet you downstairs." He was out of the room before Hermione could say another word.
Hermione smiled, shaking her head as she got up from her bed and made her way over to the cupboard. She rummaged inside it for a few moments before pulling out her traveling cloak. Slipping it on over the red top she was wearing, she then put on a pair of shoes, tied them, then made her way down the steps.
When she arrived downstairs, Harry and Ginny were sitting on the sofa talking. Harry laughed at something Ginny had said, his eyes sparkling as he looked at her.
They're really love, Hermione thought to herself. I guess love only exists for those select few.
She cleared her throat as she stepped further into the room, which grabbed the attention of the couple.
"There you are, Hermione," said Ginny, standing up from the sofa and dragging Harry up with her by their joined hands. "Let's go then." Ginny reached out her free hand to Hermione, which she took, and then the three disappeared with a crack.
Once the uneasiness left Hermione's body, she look up at the building that they had landed in front of. She recognized it immediately as Zonko's Joke Shop, but it no longer had those words written on the sign. Instead the sign now read Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
Without even bothering to wait for the other two, she walked inside the shop. Almost as soon as she stepped inside she was greeted by Fred and George, who both had near identical grins spread across their faces.
"Hermione!" they said together.
"We knew Harry would be able to convince you to come down here," said George.
"Yeah, we figured it would be nice to get away from our git brother for awhile," Fred said, flashing her a smile.
"And of course your opinion is valued here at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."
"Since when?" asked Hermione. "As I recall, you two always did what you wanted no matter how many times I expressed my opinion."
"She's got a point there, Georgie," Fred said.
"I thought you said we could use her criticism to improve our products," George said.
"Well, yeah, I did, but-"
"Oh, for heavens sake!" Hermione exclaimed. "I'll help you as long as it isn't potentially dangerous."
Both Fred and George placed their hands over their hearts in mock-hurt.
"Why Hermione," began Fred.
"How could you?" spoke George.
"Us-"
"-Dangerous?"
"Never!" they finished together.
Hermione rolled her eyes, but despite herself, she smiled. It was then that she noticed that Harry and Ginny hadn't entered the shop yet. She looked over her shoulder to see if she could see them out the front window, but they weren't there.
"Where on earth did Harry and Ginny go?" she asked, though it was mostly to herself.
"Well, we have a confession to make, Hermione," Fred told her. "Harry and Gin want be joining us until much later today."
"Why?"
"We told them," started George, "That they needed some time to themselves and that you needed to be around other people besides them, Mum, Dad, and, of course, Ickle Ronniekins."
"They agreed with us," said Fred.
"So, this was a trick?" asked Hermione.
"A trick. A genius plan. Call it what you will, but it's for your own good," Fred said, shaking a finger in her direction as though he were scolding her.
Sighing in defeat, she nodded. "Alright, fine!"
"Excellent!" Fred and George exclaimed.
"Well, the first thing we should probably do," began Hermione, looking about the shop, "is clean this place up."
And that's just what they did. They had enchanted several brooms and mops to clean the floors, and a few dusters had been enchanted to dust about the shop. George went to work sorting through unwanted items that had been left behind. Fred was repairing old shelves and display tables. Hermione, meanwhile, was repainting all the walls in a chevron pattern of magenta, pale green, and orange, which, thanks to magic, was far less messy than doing it the Muggle way. They went about this for about an hour before they were finally finished.
Then they began placing products on all the shelves. Skiving Snack-boxes, Whizzing Whiz-Bangs, and a variety other products soon occupied the shelves. Pygmy Puffs were placed inside cages that were placed in various spots about the store. Signs were displayed in the windows and on the walls. The shop was coming together nicely. As a finishing touch, Hermione waved her wand, causing several pink and green bubbles of light to float about the room.
Now that they were finished, they stood in the very center of the shop. They turned about the about the room, taking in their handy-work. Hermione had to admit that this was a rather wonderful looking shop. She would even go as far as to say that it would give the one back in Diagon Alley a run for its money.
"That was fun," said George. "Now, who's hungry?"
"I am!" Fred and Hermione said together. They looked at each other, both a little surprised at the fact that they had spoken in unison. A grin spread across Fred's face and he winked at her, which made Hermione laugh.
The three of them decided to walk down to the Three Broomsticks and have lunch there. They found a rather shabby looking table and sat down. Fred sat next to Hermione and George sat across from them.
"What can I get you lot?" asked Madam Rosmerta a few moments later. They ordered and once again were left alone.
They chatted about the shop in excited voices. Hermione had asked what the plan was now that they had two shops. The boys told her that they would run the one in Diagon Alley during the summer holidays and they would run the one in Hogsmeade during the school term.
"It's gonna be a bit of a challenge since Lee will be leaving us to move on to bigger and better things," said Fred. "Least we still have Verity working for us for awhile longer." There was a long pause before anyone spoke again. However, the silence was broken by a gasp from George.
"I've just had an idea!" he exclaimed excitedly. Both Fred and Hermione raised their eyebrows at him in questioning. "What if Hermione came and worked for us for awhile?"
Hermione raised her eyebrows further until they all but disappeared. "What?"
"Think about it, Hermione," George started again. "You would be able to get out of the house, and you wouldn't be alone because Fred and I will always be near by. You'd make a bit of money too."
"Y'know, it could work," Fred said, nodding in agreement. "I mean, you could work there until you feel comfortable enough to go out on your own and get a different job if you wanted."
"Are you mad?!" Hermione exclaimed. "I'm scared of my own shadow these days. I could very well kill one of your customers by accident because of how jumpy I am."
"Well, you wouldn't necessarily have to work with customers," George told her.
"Yeah, you could work on products in the back until you're ready to work with customer," Fred reassured her. "Only trusted personal can enter the room thanks to a spell of George and I's own personal invention, so you wouldn't have to worry about anyone untrustworthy coming in and attacking you."
Hermione sighed in defeat. She knew that they wouldn't drop it no matter what. They were too stubborn, which was a trait that all the members of the Weasley family happened to possess. "Fine! I'll do it."
Fred and George high-fived in triumph. "I knew I could annoy you until you agreed to work with us," Fred said, a wide grin on his face. "Just like when I annoyed awake from your coma."
Hermione rolled her eyes and shoved his arm lightly, but she smiled anyways.
It was then that their food was brought to them.
oOo
Fred's POV
When Fred, George, and Hermione arrived back at the shop, they found Harry and Ginny waiting for them.
"There you are," said Harry smiling at them. "Gin and I were beginning to worry that the two of you kidnapped Hermione and ran away to America."
Fred laughed at that before saying, "Now, Harry, you and I both know that Hermione would have jinxed George and I both before we even made it out of the door." He ruffled Hermione's hair affectionately as she laughed along with him.
"We have some good new to share with you, by the way," George said. Harry and Ginny both stared at him expectantly before he continued. "Hermione's going to work at the shop with us for awhile."
"That's wonderful, 'Mione," Ginny said.
Hermione only smiled.
"Fred, do you mind if I talk to you for a minute," Harry asked suddenly.
"Sure, mate," Fred replied. "We can talk in the back."
The pair of them walked back into the backroom of the new shop. It was a bit different than the one back in Diagon Alley. This one had a table and chairs in the center of the room, which was littered with several books. There was a few shelves in the room that had cauldrons and a variety of ingredients on them.
"So, what is you want to talk about?" asked Fred.
"Hermione," Harry stated simply.
"Oh, what about her?" Fred felt himself grow slightly nervous.
"It seems she's able to be herself when she's with you." Harry paused for a moment, then continued. "I may be oblivious about a lot of things, but not when it comes to Hermione's well being."
"Okay," said Fred, not exactly understanding what Harry was saying.
"Fred, I know how you feel about Hermione."
Fred felt his heart stop at those words. "How do-"
"George told me years ago," Harry said, cutting him off.
Git! Fred thought to himself. I swear to Merlin that there will be pay back.
"Anyways," Harry continued, "I think you're good for Hermione. She's not afraid to open up around you; you're always there for her when I'm not. And this job that you and George set up for her is a brilliant way for her to be able to trust people again."
Fred's heart had now begun beating rapidly. Harry's words had caused several thought to start buzzing in his head. He had dreamed that for years that he would be given a chance to be with Hermione Granger, the girl he's practically been in love with since he was sixteen.
"Just promise me something, Fred," said Harry, pulling Fred from his thoughts.
"Okay?"
"Don't hurt her. She's been through enough pain and heartache to last her a life time."
"Of course, mate," replied Fred instantly. The thought of anyone hurting Hermione, including himself, made him upset. He was certain that if he ever did do such a thing, he would never forgive himself.
"Good. Well, I better get going. See you around," said Harry leaving the room.
I better not mess this up, Fred thought as he left the room a few minutes after Harry had.
AN: Okay, yet another chapter! I would just like to apologize how dialogue heavy this one is. I just felt that it was a bit necessary. Now, as far as the name of this chapter, I based it on a song called She's Got You High by Mumm-ra. It's a really good song and I totally recommend listening to it. Please leave a review as I love reading them. Till next time.
