Here you go! :) I own nothing. I wish I did.

Chapter 7

Hermione quickly made her way back into the house after the brief kiss, mumbling something about needing to write a letter. That left Fred sitting under the massive tree, alone. He sighed and banged his head on the tree, extremely frustrated with himself.

What the hell were you thinking, he scolded himself. You just kissed the girl that your brother, your best friend, your TWIN has been in love with for years! He got up from his seat, too disgusted with himself to sit at the scene of the crime for much longer. He began pacing and sighing; sighing and pacing, trying to figure out what he was going to do about it. He had to admist that his feelings for the young Ms. Granger had been steadily changing in the last few months from friendship to something stronger. When he had woke up at St. Mungo's, her eyes had been the first he saw. She had looked so beautiful, even with her hair all askew and clothing toworn from fighting during the war. In that moment, he had finally understood what his twin had seen in her for all of those years.

But hes liked her for a LONG time, Fred though, trying with much difficulty not to think about her. To think about his twin instead. She's the only girl he has ever had problems asking out, Fred recalled. George had never had issues asking a girl to Hogsmead once in a while. But that had a changed when Hermione had visited the Burrow for a few days the year before the Tri-Wizard tournament. As they spend time together at the Quidditch World Cup, George had quickly become quite smitten with her. It had been quite difficult for Fred to calm him down when they had lost her in the ciaos when the Death Eaters had shown up.

At school that year, George had tried everything he could think of to impress her, including trying to enter into the tournament itself. Fred chuckled at the memory of them both turning old right in front of Hermione. It had made George so angry. Later that year George had gathered up enough courage to ask Hermione to the Yule Ball when Ginny had informed her brothers that she already had a date with a mystery man. It had taken every ounce of who he was for George to act normal as she made her way into the Great Hall on Krum's arm. Gosh she looked so gourgous that night, Fred found his self thinking.

"Err! Stop it!" he screamed aloud, scaring a gnome that had found it way in the garden of the Burrow.

You can not do this to your brother, Fred told himself. That kiss was just something that shouldn't have happened. You will forget it ever happened, Fred told himself over and over again, Sighing, he made his way to a very quite house. Confused, he looked at the clock to see that it was quite late.

Everyone must be asleep. Good, he thought as he walked up the stairs, making a pit stop at the bathroom before quietly making his way to the room he shared with George. The light was out, his brother fast asleep.

Thank Merlin, he thought as he quietly pulled his shirt and shoes off, falling fast asleep.

Hermione still couldn't believe what had taken place the night before between herself and Fred. She had quickly escaped the situation to write the letter confirming her date with Draco. Then she had tossed and turned most of the night, wondering what it had meant. Finally, about 2:45 in the morning, she had enough and took a little bit of sleeping draft, knowing she would need to be well rested when meeting Draco.

As she was getting ready for her date with Draco the next morning, the kiss from Fred was all she could think about. Why did he kiss her? Why did she kiss him back? Was he going to give her petition? What would Charlie do if his own brother petitioned her? These were just a few questions that kept playing over and over again in her mind.

"Hermione!" Ginny hollered loudly at her, startling her out of her thoughts.

"For Merlin's sakes, you didn't have to yell at me. I'm right here," she scolded the read head who was standing in the doorway of their room.

"Obviously I did," Ginny smirked. "Otherwise you would have heard me the first four times that I called you."

"Four times?" Hermione asked, feeling a blush forming on her cheeks. "What did you need, Ginny? I'm sorry."

"I just came to tell you that breakfast is ready," she answered, watching the brown haired girl closely.

"Oh, thank you. I'll be down as soon as I put my shoes on," the older girl replied, smiling brightly.

"Are you nervous about meeting with Malfoy today?" Ginny asked, deciding to start there. She knew something was really bothering her friend and she intended to find out what it was so that she could help.

"A little," Hermione admitted, grabbing her bag so she could just floo onto Diagon Alley after breakfast. She was nervous about what she would talk to him about.

Ginny became much less suspicious and smiled. "It will be fine, Mione. There's nothing to worry about. And if he says or does anything to upset you, just decline the petition. My brother will be here, waiting with open arms."

"Your brother?" Hermione squeaked, shooting straight up from putting things in her bag.

Ginny raised and eyebrow and stared at her. "Yes, Charlie, my brother. The other person you are considering."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Hermione laughed. "Charlie. Of course. I think I took too much sleeping draught last night," she explained as she passed Ginny, who was once again suspicious.

"What other brother would I be talking about?" Ginny asked, gently grabbing her friends arm.

"I don't know. You do have quite a few of them," she retorted back, looking down at the hand that was still holding onto her arm.

"Come on Hermione. What's got you all hot and bothered?" the red head teased. Hermione's face quickly became extremely red, affirming the younger girls suspicions.

"I am not hot and bothered!" Hermione hissed.

"What's going on then?" she wondered. "I won't say anything."

It would be nice to tell someone what happened, Hermione admitted to herself.

"If I tell you, you can not tell anyone, not ever Harry."

Ginny's eyes widened, knowing that it was serious if she didn't want Harry to know. Hermione told him everything. "I promise."

Hermione looked around the landing where they were standing, to make sure no one was there to hear what she was about to confess. Satisfied, she lowered her voice and sighed. "Fred kissed me last night."

"Where are those girls?" Mrs. Weasley wondered. She had sent Ginny up to retrieve Hermione for breakfast. She wanted the girl to have a good mean before her date with the Malfoy boy, even though she didn't want it to be a good date.

"I'll go check, if you would like me to," Charlie offered, standing.

"That's alright. Go ahead and eat. I'll go get those girls," Molly replied.

The boys began eating. The boys that were still there anyway. I still don't know why Fred left so early this morning, Mrs. Weasley thought as she walked up the stairs. She slowed down her vigorous pace when she heard voices.

"What's going on then? I won't say anything," Ginny was saying as Mrs. Weasley paused in the middle of the stairs.

"If I tell you, you can not tell anyone, not even Harry," Hermione replied in earnest, causing Molly to raise an eyebrow. She knew that girl always told Harry everything.

"I promise," Ginny said.

It was quite for several seconds before she heard Hermione sigh.

"Fred kissed me last night," Hermione confessed quietly. Mrs. Weasley threw her hands over her mouth to try and keep a gasp from escaping. Luckily for her, Ginny was making enough noise to cover it up.

"What? Fred kissed you? What did you do? Why did he kiss you?"

"Shh!" Hermione hushed the girl. "I don't know why he kissed me."

"What did you do?" her daughter asked once again.

Molly heard Hermione sigh once again. "What could I do?" she whispered.

Ginny gasped. "You kissed him back!"

Oh Merlin, Mrs. Weasley thought. There was silence for a moment, except for a small shuffling sound she assumed was a response.

"Do you fany him?" her daughter asked.

"I'm not sure," Hermione responded, quietly.

Ginny sighed. "We'll figure it out," she promised, hearing a thumping sound that she assumed was a pat on the back. "We had better go down to breakfast before Mum comes looking for us."

Molly quickly turned around and headed down the stairs quickly. Merlin help us, she thought as she entered the kitchen. We're going to need it.

After a very weird breakfast, Hermione decided to make her way to Diagon Alley early. Fred had already left for the day and George had not idea why.

"Maybe he's got a secret girl we don't know about," George had teased, causing Ginny and Hermione to choke on the food the had in their mouths.

"You must chew your food, Ginny. How many times must I tell you that?" Mrs. Weasley had scolded her daughter. Then turning to Hermione, she continues. "And dear, I know you are in a hurry to get to Diagon Alley, but you should chew your food and take your time."

Both girls had looked at each other and back at Molly Weasley, who was sending them glances that basically said, "I know."

I should have placed a silencing charm around us, Hermione thought as she stepped out onto the street. Diagon Alley was full of people, going here and there, bustling about. She never got tired of walking along those streets.

Glancing down at her watch, she noticed that she had about thirty minutes before she was to meet Draco. Hermione knew that if she went into Flourish and Blotts, it was a good possiblitly that she would stand him up. Not on purpose, however when she was in a book shop, alone, she tended to lose all track of time. She looked down the street at the many shops, trying to decide which one to go into.

The joke shops sign was impressive, but there was no way that she was going to go there. I don't think I'm ready to see Fred, she thought. There was the Quidditch shop and Olivanders, but seeing that her wand was fine and she didn't care for Quidditch, those were out of the question. She didn't need to stop by Gringotts to retrieve any money. Thankfully, her parents had aloud her to have the trust her grandparents had set up for her. She would be fine financially for many years to come.

"Hermione?" she heard someone call behind her.

Turning, she say Draco coming out of the book shop. He wore nice, dark muggle jeans and a white button up shirt, with no robe. He hair was not slicked back like he had worn it in school, but just a touch longer, flowing freely in the slight breeze.

"Draco?" she said, slightly shocked. Surprisingly to her, she found this look rather attractive.

The man laughed slightly and nodded. "Yes, its me."

"Did you just laugh?' Hermione found herself asking stupidly. She was beginning to wonder if she had lost the ability to speak intelligently during the war.

Draco laughed again, throwing his head back. "I suppose so. What are you doing here so early? We did agree on noon, did we not?"

Hermione smiled. She had never seen Draco Malfoy so carefree. "I needed some air, so to speak. I thought I would do some window shopping."

"Would you care if I joined you?" Draco asked, smiling down at her.

"I suppose that would be alright. As long as I'm not keeping you from finishing up your Hogwarts shopping," she replied.

"I'm nearly finished. The only think I have left is my robes and they should be finished this afternoon," he said, holding his arm out for her to hold onto. "Shall we?"

Hermione looked Draco in they eye, wondering if he was being sincere, or if this was all a trick. all she saw was happiness and something else she couldn't quite identify, but she knew it wasn't anything evil. Smiling, she excepted his arm and they began strolling down the busy lane.

Fred was absentmindedly unpacking some ingredients that had been delivered earlier in the day when a loud crashing sound came from the front of the shop. Quickly grabbing his wand, he made his way through the curtain that separated the storage room from the rest of the shop. George was standing by the front picture window and a box full of love potion was in a pile at his feet.

"What's wrong?" Fred asked, cleaning up the mess witha couple of waves of his wand.

"He's. Touching. Her," George replied angrily, staring outside.

Fred laughed. "Well, they are engaged, mate. Our little sister's growing up and Harry's a good man."

"What?" his twin asked, looking at Fred as if he had lost his mind. "Of course Harry is a good man. I'm not talking about them. Malfoy is touching Hermione."

"What?" Fred roared, earning a look of shock from his twin. Realizing that he needed to say something else, he added, "I mean, that should be you arm in arm with her, not him."

George nodded, accepting his twins assessment. "I know, but what do I do?" He looked out of the window, watching as they walked arm in arm down the street. Fred followed Georges gaze where he saw Hermione laughing at something Malfoy had said. He hated seeing Hermione with someone else, but he loved it when she laughed.

"What are you smiling about? Did you come up with a plan for me to petition Mione?" his twin asked, pulling Fred out of his thoughts.

He plastered a smile on his face and patted George on the back. "Yes, I think I have a perfect plan to petition her."

"What type of ice cream is your favorite?" Draco wondered as they looked over all of the flavors that were in front of them.

"Usually anything chocolate," Hermione replied, eyeing an ice cream with chocolate covered peanuts and chocolate swirls in it.

"I like chocolate but strawberry ice cream is my favorite," he replied, looking over the selections.

"Look, there's a strawberry and chocolate ice cream," Hermione exclaimed suddenly pointing it out for Draco to see.

"Can I help you two?" the young wizard behind the counter asked.

Draco and Hermione looked at each other and grinned.

"Two Strawberry and chocolate cones please," the young Malfoy ordered for the both of them.

"Coming right up," he replied, slightly bored.

Hermione began pulling some coins out of her purse, but Draco put his hand over hers, stopping her from pulling it out.

"I've got it," he insisted,placing the coins on the counter and taking the treats from the man.

"Thank you," she said, smiling. No guy had ever really paid for her while on a date. Viktor Krum seemed to get things for free anywhere he went while in Hogsmead and that was the only place they had ever went.

"You're welcome," he replied, leading them to a table outside. It was too nice of a day to sit inside. "Are you surprised that I offered to buy that for you? I did ask you here, after all. It should be my responsibility to pay."

"I am surprised," she admitted. "Its very chivalrous of you," Hermione added teasingly, taking a bite of her ice cream. "OH, Merlin. I think that this is the best ice cream I've ever had."

Draco smiled and took a bit for his self. "Oh, that is good." They sat in quite, enjoying their treats.

"This is nice," Hermione said several minutes later.

"It is, isn't it?" Draco agreed, smirking as he spotted a small spot of ice cream on the side of her nose.

"What?" Hermione asked after a few minutes of feeling as if he was staring at her.

"You've got something," he started, leaning across the table, bringing his thumb up to gently remove the spot.

"Oh," she blushed, embarrassed that she had been so sloppy. "Um, thank you."

"You're welcome,"Draco smiled at her.

"Hello Hermione, Draco," came a dreamy voice over Hermione's shoulder. She turned to see Luna walk up to their table.

"Hello, Luna. How are you doing?" Hermione replied.

"Well, thank you. I'm meeting Ron in a few moments at the owl shop. It's a tradition in the Lovegood family to purchase a family owl together soon after becoming engaged. It helps to keep the sawelibees away from your new family."

"Really?" Hermione asked poliety, raising an eyebrow. She saw out of the side of her eye that Draco was doing his best not to smirk.

"Oh yes. Its worked for generations. My father's going to met us there as well to help pick one out and to pay for it, as a engagement present," the blond said, smiling.

"That's amazing," Hermione replied, not really knowing what else to say on the subject of 'sawelibees'.

"That's a very pretty ring you have there, Luna," Draco complemented, trying to move the conversation towards something a bit more normal.

"Thank you, Draco," Luna replied, happily. She held up her hand to looking down at the simple white gold band with a small canary yellow gem as the center piece. "Ron gave it to me this morning."

"Its a family heirloom," Hermione breathed, a little in shock seeing it on her friends finger. When they were a bit younger, Ginny had brought a box into her room that held several beautiful pieces of jewelry that had been passed down from both sides of the family. She remembered thinking that one day she had hoped to wear one of those beautiful family jewels.

'It is," Luna confirmed, looking at Hermione. She smiled kindly at the brown haired gril before backing away from the table. "Well, I'll leave you to your friendly meeting. I will be late if I don't hurry. NIce to see you, Draco. And I'll see you soon, Hermione."

"Good to see you, too" Draco replied, waving slightly.

"Bye Luna," Hermione said, quietly.

The pair watched as the blond walked down the side walk, both in their own thoughts.

"That was informative," Draco replied after a moment, smirking.

"Luna is very different," Hermione agreed half heartily.

"That she is. I wonder what she meant by 'friendly meeting.' That's a different way to word 'date'," Draco wondered, watching Hermione curiously.

"It is a different way," she said, shacking her head to try and remove the thoughts that were swirling around her head. "That's just Luna," she added, smiling brightly.

"She different then most, that's for sure," Draco said, happily. He was glad to see Hermione back to how she was before the interruption. "Would you like to go looking around some more? Or do you need to be somewhere/"

"I'll go," Hermione replied, standing.

Draco grinned, happy to have more time with the brilliant girl. He quickly offered her his arm, which she graciously accepted. She let him lead her down the sidewalk ask they talked about this and that. But she knew it was different then before. Something inside had snapped; changed directions. But which way am I going?

So are you surprised that I have a new chapter up only a few days after the last? :) Did you like it? If you did, will you please let me know. Reviews make me write more quickly...I promise they do. Anywho, let me know your thought. Happy Reading.