Chapter 8
I spent the next week or two avoiding everyone. I went to the kitchens everyday for my meals and spent all my free periods in my room with my books and a bit of music. I spent class as best I could away from Harry and especially Ron. It was hard avoiding Lavender but I was successful in doing so. Spending so much time alone with my thoughts was bad, and I constantly thought about my dad and cried. My mother understood though.
I had written her a few times, it seemed like she was the only person I talked to. Lately it was like there wasn't even a point in wearing the bit of makeup I had grown accustomed to; it all came off when I cried, so I stopped. I got behind in my work; I was only a few weeks ahead. I was on my way back from the kitchens to my room before everyone left dinner when someone stepped in my way.
"Well if it isn't little book worm granger all alone," I looked up into the cruel faces of Malfoy and Pansy; I knew right away I wasn't in any shape to fight. I saw Malfoy walk away and stand by the only exit, guarding it. I looked at Pansy and whipped out my wand.
"Uh uh, mudblood. You wanted to fight the muggle way, changing your mind so soon?" I quickly threw a stunning spell at her but she dodged. She ran up to me, dodging all my spells and knocked my wand away. She grabbed the back of my hair and pulled me down. I made sure no tears of pain came out. I would not give her that satisfaction. I tried my best to rip her hands off of me and reach my wand.
When I grabbed my wand I did the first thing I could think of. I stabbed my wand into her ribs. I could tell I hurt her but wasn't sure if I broke skin. I quickly sent her a leg locker curse but she knocked my wand away with Malfoy grabbing it. Pansy pulled me by my hair farther down the hall and punched me in the stomach. All the air in my lungs whooshed out and I was left gasping for air. She then brought my face up and slapped me; the slap was followed by another. All the while I was thrashing around scratching up the hand that was still in my hair and any body part I could reach.
"You know it's your fault your dad died. You just let him die." When she said that I went completely limp, I didn't even try to fight back when she scratched me one more time. Finally she left me there, a limp bloody body on the floor. I didn't bother to try and get up, but when I finally did I didn't feel any physical pain. The emotional pain was so great I took a few steps out into the next hallway and collapsed. I laid there and cried until I fell asleep on that damp corridor floor.
~Fred's POV~
I spent most of every night waiting for Hermione to come down to the common room. Somehow she always found a way to get to class with any of us seeing her. Her avoiding us really hurt but most of us knew why she was. Ginny tried comforting me; she told me she knew I liked her. She said it was obvious, but George assured me it wasn't. Hermione was hurting and it was all Ron's fault. The worst part was he didn't even know what he did. None of us wanted to explain it to him, especially me. So I spent every night sitting in bed and watching her name move around on the map. Even though I knew where she was most of the time, I knew that if I tried to go to her, she would just out right ignore me. So I was content with going to my room and watching her little dot move. It was passed curfew so I knew she had to be back in her room.
I took out the map and whispered "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," I searched for her dot in the tower next to mine but saw nothing there. I searched the rest of the castle until I found her name, what troubled me was that her dot wasn't moving, but the dots closest to hers were moving away, and they were Pansy and Malfoy. I ran out of the room with the map and went to find her. When I did, I saw her wand first; I picked it up and put it in my pocket. I walked over to her and saw blood. Her face was all cut up and bruised, Pansy, She was sleeping curled up to her stomach. I also saw that there were streaks of dried tears on her bruised cheeks. I picked her up as gently as I could and rushed over to the hospital wing.
~HG HG HG~
"Is it just me, or do you spend an awful lot of time in the hospital?" I said to Hermione as she was waking up. "But have no fear, your fiancés here!" Hermione smiled a little at this and closed her eyes again. Hermione sighed before saying
"I'm done with her; I won't give Pansy anymore of my attention." The smile on my face turned bitter when I remembered what Pansy had done to her three days ago. The physical and emotional damage was enough to make Madame Pomfry keep Hermione here for days.
"That's good, but…I've taken care of her." I stated with a mischievous glint in my eye. She opened her eyes at that and narrowed them.
"Frederick Gideon Weasley what did you do?"
"Now hold on a minute, I was only defending your honor! And technically it was George. Let's just say she won't be much of a team player amongst the Slytherins for a while." I went on to explain how George had asked Dobby to put a special potion in her drink that would turn different body parts certain house colors. "Her hair is Gryffindor, her left arm is Ravenclaw and her right arm is Hufflepuff. And well…no one has figured out how to reverse it yet." Hermione laughed out loud at this, the first time any of us had heard her laugh in a while.
"Okay Ms Granger you are allowed to leave, just take it easy for a while." Madame Pomfry said. Hermione climbed out of bed to go change while I waited outside. Soon she came out in her uniform and we started walking back to the Gryffindor tower.
"Mione?" I said softly. She looked at me expectantly. "Ron's a wanker. I'm sorry, and the rest of us really miss you." Hermione listened intently as a tear rolled down her cheek, not even bothering to chastise me about my language.
"Well, I'll get over him I suppose-"
"He doesn't deserve you anyway." I said, cutting her off and wiping her tear away. Boy did she look gorgeous in her uniform, but her beautiful face, with those sad eyes made me want to punch Ron so bad. She sighed and ran her hands through her hair. We had just arrived at the portrait when she turned around. She leaned forward and placed her lips against my cheek.
"Thank you Fred," She said, before she walked into the common room and up to her dormitory. The biggest smile lit up my face as I followed her example but instead of heading to the dormitory I sat on the couch. George walked over to me and sat down by my feet.
"What's got you happier than Snape torturing small children?"
"Oh nothing," I said with a smirk. Georges' eyes widened.
"You DIDN'T?"
"I didn't, she did." I loved how George could practically read my mind sometimes.
"Where?" He asked eagerly.
"Well that is strictly confidential." I said with a smirk and laughed, knowing I'd tell George later.
~HG HG HG~
~Hermione's POV~
I woke up the next day feeling better than I had in a while. I got ready for the day and then headed down to the common room to see Ginny, Harry, George and Fred waiting for me.
"Hello there," I said. I noticed Ron wasn't there but decided not to comment on it.
"Hermione we missed you!" Harry said as he practically launched himself into my arms like Crookshanks. Said cat was currently stalking the fire trying to capture the little sparks it gave off. I hugged Harry back and then was passed among the masses. I finally untangled myself from George when he tried to sneak his hand a little too low.
"George!" I scolded. He only smiled and winked at me.
"I'm Fred what are you talking about? And can't I hug my fiancé?"
"You are NOT Fred, George." I said, ignoring the fact that I wouldn't have minded if Fred had done that. "I know the difference better than anyone. Your eyes are darker and you're more of a leaner when you stand." I blushed a little as I said that. I turned to walk out of the common room with the rest of the gang; little did I know that everyone would soon be gossiping about my fiancé.
I left the Great Hall a couple days later with Harry and we headed off to Potions. As we walked toward the dungeons, I saw that a lot of people were staring at me and whispering. I ignored it, of course. We walked into Potions and took seats next to each other. I turned around and saw that Pansy was missing, I laughed a little bit on the inside. Won't be dealing with her for a while. Ron and Lavender had taken seats next to each other behind and to the right of us. Slughorn had yet to come to class so I turned to talk to Harry, I saw him glaring at a Slytherin.
"Harry what's wrong?" I asked.
"They were talking about you. I don't know what about but I definitely heard your name mentioned." He said angrily. I thought about this as Slughorn walked into the room. With a flick of his wand instructions appeared on the board.
"Get to work on this potion. I will come around momentarily and help. You can always asks Mr. Potter for help as well." Slughorn said grinning proudly. I rolled my eyes as I whispered to Harry.
"It's fine Harry," I got to work on the easy potion, "People will always whisper about other people until they find something better to do." I looked around the room and most of the Gryfindors turned their heads quickly away from me, not wanting to get caught staring. The Slytherins however didn't care and just sneered at me. As Harry struggled with his potion he looked up at me.
"Well Fred's name was mentioned too," he said with a shrug. I sat down copying a few more notes. He wanted to be an Auror along side his God father just like his parents. Wait! What had Harry said they were talking about? Fred… and I. A cauldron nearby exploded and snapped me out of my thoughts. I focused on my potion, I could think about this later.
The day flew by in a blur and I found myself walking to my prefects meeting. I walked in and sat by myself by the window. The head boy and girl, A Hufflepuff by the name of Ally and a Ravenclaw by the name of Sam.
"Okay everyone, we need to discuss what dances we want this year. We can choose between a couple, Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and an End of the year party. Anyone have any particular one they'd like?" Sam asked. I raised my hand at that point. "Yes?"
"Well I'd like to say I don't think we should have a Halloween dance. I may be a bit biased but, that was the day Voldemort" Everyone flinched, "killed Harry's parents. I feel it would be a bit disrespectful." I looked around the room to see that almost everyone seemed to agree with me, except the Slytherins of course. They seemed to want it even more now.
"Good point, Hermione," Ally said, nodding her head. "So Halloween is out. Also Halloweens only in a few days, Sam over here was hoping that if Halloween was chosen that he could whip up a great party in a few days. As if." Everyone laughed at this as Sam frowned. "How about a Christmas, Valentine's Day and if I talk to Headmaster Dumbledore I could probably get that end of the year one in too." She said with a smile. She and Sam then distributed different tasks to everyone. I was in charge of making flyers. "We are gunna have this first dance the day before vacation starts. We have three weeks to get this all ready."
"I want all your tasks done by the day after tomorrow, you are all dismissed." Sam said. I went straight to the library to get to work on these flyers, I only needed to make one and then I could duplicate it.
~HG HG HG~
~Fred's POV~
I was bored; I sat in Charms class not really paying attention at the moment. My thoughts were captivated by a certain curly haired Gryffindor. I suddenly had a great idea to get out of class. I pulled out the latest Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes product and popped it in my mouth. I soon broke out with a horrible case of the chills and felt as if I'd throw up. Sweat was pouring down my face and I really had to blow my nose. I raised my hand and Professor Flitwick took one look at me and said
"Madam Pomfry's office, now, you aren't looking very well." I grabbed my stuff and slowly made my way out, stopping at the doorway of the class to lean on it a bit for dramatic effect. As soon as I was far away enough from class I quickly grabbed the reverse pill and downed it. Instantly I was cheery and well again. So where would Hermione be right now? The library! I sped purposefully down to the library and slipped in, quickly finding Hermione drawing on a piece of paper.
"What're you doing Mione?" I smiled when she practically jumped five feet in the air.
"Don't do that! You scared me!" She hissed at me. She turned back to her work while I laughed.
"You never answered my question," I said, as I slid into the seat across from her. She was wearing only her uniform, her robe was draped on the back of the chair she was sitting on. That skirt is too short; I took a breath to relax a bit.
"I'm making the fliers for the Christmas Ball." With a final flick of her wand she said, "And now I'm done."
"So now what?" I asked as she packed her things up and put her robe back on.
"We go to lunch silly. Duh." She said. I saw people behind her staring at us, so I steered her out and we walked toward the Great hall.
"So Hermione," I said as I threw my arm around her shoulders hoping she would think it was casual, "favorite weather?" I asked looking down at her, she was a bit shorter than me but it was so cute. With her chocolate colored hair and long lashes it was hard to focus. She scrunched up her face in concentration then said
"I love it when it snows but only if I'm not freezing my arse off. I love the color of the leaves in the fall and the smell of the flowers in the spring. The warmth of the sun in the summer, so I think I love them all, you?"
"Wow, deep. Might have to rethink my answer, I would say spring! Perfect time of the year for a prankster doesn't cha think?" I said with a grin, "Ooh another question then you can ask me anything you want, and it doesn't have to be favorites. Who…is your favorite Weasley in the entire world!" As I said this I gestured my arms out around me widely. She laughed at this.
"Certainly not YOU Fred Weasley," As she said that she tried to make a run for the Great Hall laughing.
"Get back here young lady! I'm gunna get you!" I ran passed all the people in the hall, following her musical laughter and caught up with her easily enough. I grabbed her by the waist and slung her over my shoulder laughing the entire time.
"Fred Weasley you put me down this instant!" She said but I could tell she was smiling. I started walking to the Great Hall with her on my shoulder.
"Not until you admit I'm the best, most handsome, smartest Weasley AND your favorite!" I said gleefully.
"Never!" She said as she hung over my shoulder, I walked a bit faster and jumped in the air, clicking my heels together.
She screamed when I jumped, "Don't do that! If you drop me so help me-"
"I would never drop you silly. So admit it now or I'll have you do it in the Great Hall in front of everyone."
"You're evil!" She chuckled at this, "Fine, you're my favorite Weasley and you're the best, most handsome and the smartest. But mark my words Fred; I'm going to get you back somehow." She huffed but smiled a little at her revenge filled thoughts. I sat her down and we walked the rest of the way to the Great Hall, discussing questions she could ask me.
~Hermione's POV~
Fred could always make me laugh, as we sat down at the Gryffindor table for lunch I had to catch my breath from all the laughing I did. I started piling my plate with food while the boys and Ginny started a conversation about quidditch. Midway into my meal, someone had tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to see Lavender. Ugh.
"Yes Lavender, is there something you want?" I asked a bit sharply.
"Oh, I just wanted to congratulate you on your engagement. Maybe one day we'll be sisters!" I looked at her like she had just grown a second and third head.
"Excuse me?" I said. The table around me had gone silent.
"Oh everyone's talking about it. You're marrying Fred Weasley. How you managed to get one of the Weasley twins I'll never know." And with that Lavender Brown flounced away towards Parvati and Ron.
Hurt registered on my face before I quickly concealed it. Of course I'd never be able to be with one of them. A short burst of hatred towards Lavender quickly reminded me where I was. I turned towards the group.
"Who told anyone I was marrying-" I stopped myself short. Fiancé, Fred, Ooooh. Right then I started laughing uncontrollably, and a little hysterically. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy.
"Hermione, why are you laughing?" Harry said bewildered.
"Because someone must have told them about how Fred told the hospital he was my fiancé!" At that everyone started laughing and we continued eating. After lunch I walked back up to the tower along with George, Ginny had class right now and Harry was walking her there while Fred ran off to the Quidditch pitch, mumbling about needing to think.
So as I got the common room I tried to get back upstairs to my room, not wanting anyone to realize Lavender had hurt my feelings. George grabbed my wrist before I could make it up the stairs. "What?" I asked. I looked around to see we were the only ones in the room. I didn't know if that was a bad thing or a good thing.
"How do you feel about Fred?"
