Author's note: alright, Saturday again...I think it's time for the next chapter ^^
This one is more or less the exact opposite to the last one...ehem...!but please! Everything is just fine with it. It was not written out of a romantic phase or something like that, I wrote everything on purpose! Fred does already...uhm...'think' like that even though he didn't really show in the last chapter!

Anyway, thanks again to everyone who read this story, left a review or/and added it to his/her favs or alerts! It always makes me smile :)

Reviews are appreciated ;)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story. All characters and the world belong to J.K. Rowling


Chapter 7

-I do care!-

~Hermione's POV~

Arriving at the flat, I immediately wished to be elsewhere. A glance at the couch made me remember the two times when we woke up together. In our room, it smelled too much like him. George's room was taboo, the shop was closed and I wouldn't feel good being there. Only the kitchen or going to my parents was left. Well…the latter wasn't really possible either; they would ask too many questions.

So, I went to the kitchen and jumped onto a counter. I hid my head in my hands. The only thing one could hear in between the silence, were my quiet sobs and twice a rather loud crash which came from my shoes when I kicked them off…

I wondered whether someone…Fred to be honest, would already miss me or if Ginny had already told George and Katie that I had left. If yes…how had they reacted?

~Fred's POV~

My dance with Angelina couldn't be compared to those we used to have. It was rather distant and I always had the feeling of being watched. No, it was not the same anyway. Funny yes, but I didn't feel too good while dancing. The situation improved, however, when George and I had the same idea at the same time. We changed partners and soon everyone did. After a few steps, we changed again so that everyone was dancing with everyone at least once.

On my third change, I danced with my Mom and grinned down at her the whole time. She seemed proud but embarrassed at the same time. After my Mom, I danced with Alicia, Luna, the Patil twins and with one of my Dad's colleagues. But then I accidently changed to Oliver Wood! Damn, his face was worth a price! And mine, too, I suppose. Our eyes went wide and our eyebrows almost merged with our hair.

But I would not be me if I would let the fun just slip away. I shrugged, grinned and started dancing around with him. I felt some gazes at me but I just laughed as did the people around me and, at the very end, also Oliver. Mission completed, I would say.

After that dance, I needed a break and returned to the table Harry, Ginny, Ron, Luna, Mione and I had shared. To my big surprise, Hermione was not there. I looked around the room; saw several red dresses, several brown-haired heads but no Mione. I thought about where she could be for a moment while sitting down but didn't find another answer than she might have gone with Mom to prepare something for later.

More than an hour later, Mom came back into the tent and I sprinted towards her. As soon as I had her to stop in tracks, I asked, "Mom? Is Hermione still in the house?"

"In the house? She wasn't in there, dear. Not once." she answered. When she saw my eyes widen, she added, "Why? Is something wrong?"

"No…it's just that I haven't seen her since coffee-time."

"Mh…maybe Harry, Ron, Ginny or Katie knows where she is. Just ask them."

She pressed her hand against my cheek for a moment, then walked away to join Dad and Percy. She was right…I should just ask around. I started with Ron and Harry, none of whom knew anything. So her two male best friends had no clue…maybe I had more luck by asking her female best mate. But finding Ginny was not an easy task. My sister was rather small and not to be seen that well when she was in the crowd. But I eventually had success after ten more minutes. I caught her dancing and decided to join the dances again. When she changed partners, I took the initiative.

"Ah, dear sister mine, what a surprise, isn't it?"

"Yeah it is as I thought you stopped for the rest of the day." she retorted.

"Me? No, 'course not. I had intended to dance with my fiancée but I can't find her anywhere…you know where she is?"

"She left hours ago because she felt sick. Said that she maybe had had too much cake."

"She LEFT? Without saying a word?"

"Have you even paid attention? She told ME that she would leave and I told George and Katie when they made a dance-break."

"And why didn't you tell me? Or better, why didn't she tell me herself?"

"Well…you were dancing when she left."

Cold realisation hit me straight in the face. I immediately let go of my baby sister, not caring who was dancing with her now (it was Dean Thomas). I had been dancing…dancing with Ange! She hadn't felt sick…at least not because of the cake. I hurried to my twin, who had a conversation with Charlie at the moment. Oh I felt so bad interrupting them!

"Forge, I have to leave. But I promise, I'll be right back!" it almost burst out of me and before he could even answer, I disapparated to our flat.

With the usual loud crack, I appeared in the living room. Just the next moment, a quiet sob found its way to my ears. I turned around to see through the archway of the kitchen. There she was, sitting on one of the counters. Slowly and silently I walked to her.

"Leave…please…" she whispered through her hands. When she heard that I was still coming closer, she lowered her hands and revealed bloodshot eyes. I think I've never seen eyes as red as hers before. But when she saw me, she closed them hastily.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked quietly. Sure I knew already but I wanted to hear from her.

"Nothing…could you please leave now?" her voice was almost not to be heard.

"Yeah, you absolutely look like there's nothing." I said ironically, "C'mon, just tell me."

"Fred…" she had to gulp after saying my name, "…I'm perfectly fine…it's just a phase and I…don't feel good, okay?"

"You can't even look at me while trying to lie, how should I believe it?" I was still calm. By now, I stood right in front of her, my arms crossed.

She looked at me pleadingly. She asked me to leave without words. I shook my head. Our silent discussion went on for a few moments, then it was her who shook the head and she jumped off the counter.

"Very well…if you can't do me the favour to leave, I'll do myself." she mumbled. Then she tried to go past me. I allowed her to go a few feet wide but before she could go too far away, I grabbed her arm. She turned her head to me.

"Not without giving me an answer, Mione." I said, now a little bit more forceful. I wanted her to say that I had hurt her; I wanted her to tell me how she was feeling.

"I…I don't think that you have to know." she said lowering her eyes to the floor.

"I'm your fiancé and-"

She interrupted me, suddenly in a loud, painful voice, "And you still love Angelina! You still love her and would always prefer her above me and I. Cannot. Stand. It! I CAN'T! I'm sick and tired of being literally punched every time! I'm sick and tired of you pretending to care and of you ditching me as soon as Angelina appears! I've had it up to here; I don't want to go on like that!"

By the end, she was almost screaming. But to be honest…it felt much worse to hear it than I had thought. It was good to hear it, that was out of question but…it somehow hurt me, too.

"See, now you know what's wrong with me, so please…give me some more hours of peace!" now her words were more a plead again. My grip loosened and she went on.

I chewed my tongue until she was in the living room. A small part within me had considered to let her go for the moment…but the major part said that I had to make the situation good again. She was my best friend so to speak and I really, really didn't want to be on her bad side. This major thing…was my heart, if you want to know exactly.

"Mione, wait please." I said appearing at the archway.

Sighing loudly, she slowed down, but didn't stop completely.

"I do care, why don't you see it?"

"Because you don't…at least not when she's around." she retorted without even bothering to turn around.

"If it was like this, I wouldn't be here now, would I? No one asked me to look how you feel; no one said to me that I have to worry where you are or how you feel and why. I was looking for you and then Ginny told me that you felt sick. That she couldn't tell me because I had been dancing and then it hit me!" With every word I had come closer and by now, I stood in front of her again. I blocked the archway to the corridor.

"Yeah sure…"

"I realised that I had hurt you again without seeing it. I knew what was really wrong with you from that moment on."

"So why did you ask me? Why didn't you just 'feel bad' for yourself and leave me alone?"

"I wanted you to say that I hurt you. I need you to tell me when something's wrong. I want you to trust me!"

"How should I? How and why should I trust you if you don't even bother to choose me above your ex-girlfriend with who you'll never be together again? At least not as long as Oliver and I live and you don't intend to cheat on-"

This time I interrupted her. I took her head in my hands – the right one grabbed the back of her head while the left one rested on her cheek – and bowed down to her a bit. "I would never ever cheat on you or anyone else. You can trust this statement. I would never do this to you because it hurts me too much to see your tears." I brushed one of those terrible tears away with my thumb. Her eyes were widened and her head moved slightly from the right to the left.

"I did not intend to hurt you. I want to be with you. I want you to trust me and the fact that I do care, okay? I repeat: I would not be here if I did not care about you." I spoke slowly on purpose; she really should get the message. My eyes were fixed on hers. She tried to look away, but always ended up looking at me again.

Silence fell between us for at least a whole minute. We just stared each other in the eyes. I, for my part, felt…a bit strange. My stomach felt as if it made a little flip.

"Prove it…" she finally breathed. I did hardly get it as it was so quietly. Maybe she thought that I hadn't heard the first time…anyway, she repeated a bit louder, "Prove it to me!"

I didn't hesitate to do as she wanted me to. Without even thinking if it was wrong or right, I leaned in and kissed her tenderly. She shifted slightly in my grip for a moment but then relaxed and eventually responded. Her hands wrapped slowly around my neck. This strange feeling from a few moments ago became stronger…but it was positive. Butterfly-like.

The kiss only lasted a few moments and when it ended, I rested my forehead against hers. Both our eyes were still closed. I would probably never know why I did this special thing…but it was the right thing. It was right for me…and for her, too.

"So…do you trust me?" I whispered. She nodded slightly in response. I felt a smile appearing on my face.

A few more minutes passed by, in which we hugged and enjoyed the now far more comfortable silence. Then she asked, her head still against my chest, "What are we going to do now?"

"Uhm…well…go back to the party? I still want to have at least one dance with you, which was by the way the reason why I was searching for you and I would love to say goodbye to George and Katie before they leave for their honeymoon."

"Sounds good to me…Accio Shoes!" Her shoes came flying towards us from the kitchen and stopped just in front of her. She put them on as fast as possible and then took my arm again as she had had this afternoon to apparate together with me.

When we walked into the tent, nothing had really changed since I had left. People were still chatting and dancing. Amongst them all my siblings, their partners and my parents. No one realised that we had returned. Well…they would soon enough.

"So milady…it would be an honour if you allowed me just one dance with you." I bowed at my waist, offered my hand and winked at her.

Hermione's cheeks blushed a bit, but she smiled widely. "The honour is all mine." she said taking my hand.

Together we went onto the dance floor. As it was still classic dance, I soon put my other hand on her waist and she put her other hand on my shoulder. She really did trust me, I could tell while we were dancing. From her smile, her eyes…and just simply the way how we were dancing.

Unfortunately we soon had to part because the other pairings wanted to change partners again and as we joined them, we also had to do so. Laughing, we let each other being pulled to other people. As I could see, Hermione was chosen by Harry who looked at her in surprise. I got Fleur who immediately asked me, why I had gone in the first place. I answered truthfully that I had been worried about Hermione and that we had had to settle some issues.

Half an hour and many exchanges later, George and Katie called out for dinner which was just as delicious as the cake had been. We sat at the same table as for coffee and had loads of fun. There was no hint that Hermione had been crying before we came…well…except for the fact that there was no make-up left and that her eyes still were a bit red. But this didn't matter; Ron, Luna and Fleur also had slightly red eyes, maybe because of the light in the tent.

When dinner was over, we rested a while in which the happy chatting burst out again. George and my sister-in-law joined us a few minutes later and now the joking-time started. Oh it was so damn good to hear the family laugh like that.

The time passed by really fast. At some time we had a few 'games' for the bride and her groom, then we danced again. Ron stayed sit at the table because snacks had appeared which he could not ignore so…yeah…the party turned out to be a great success. From time to time some guests said their goodbyes and disapparated until in the end only the family was left. It was time for Georgie and Katie to get away.

We all followed them outside the tent. A broomstick was already floating in midair, waiting for them to climb on and fly away.

Mom and Dad's goodbye took a few minutes. They almost behaved as if they went to war not on honeymoon. My other siblings made it short so that Hermione and I had more time to say goodbye. We were the closest people to them, weren't we?

"Alright Forge…have two nice weeks in where-ever-you-go and make every wish your wife has come true immediately! But please…don't come back with news like 'we'll be parents'…I don't think that I'll be able to keep the shop going alone forever!" I said while hugging my twin. For the comment with them becoming parents, I was hit by him, Katie and Hermione at the same time but everyone was laughing.

"And Katie, my dear sister-in-law, show him how it is to be a husband. And have a great time! Send us a postcard or something like that."

"Sure we will. And keep the flat clean, help Hermione doing so!" she said back.

"No problem." I promised making space for Mione.

"I'll take care of it, don't worry Katie. Everything will be just as clean as it was today. Have a good flight, you two!" She hugged both of them sisterly and then took a few steps back to my side.

The two of them then got on the broom. George behind Katie. He wrapped one arm around her, the other one on the broomstick. Both were great flyers but I supposed that George would fly and Katie would relax if not even sleep. Few seconds later, they were away, flying towards to moon and to the horizon.

"So…two weeks alone…what'll we do?" I asked Hermione.

"First of all I need some sleep…let's think about it tomorrow, okay?"

"Deal." I said wrapping my arm around her shoulder and then disapparated.