Sorry about the time it took to get this written and posted. I won't bore you with why, just know I am going to try my best to keep going with this story.
Fred tried his absolute hardest to distract his mind from anything possibly related to Hermione. He tried to focus all his attention on his joke shop, he couldn't say George put in the same dedication. He wasn't surprised, his break up with Angelina had been pretty rough. George tried to help out where he could but Fred would catch him staring into space or hiding some memento from her he had stashed away. At least George could tell Fred about his girl problems, Fred had no one to talk to about any of his issues. They just ran through his head without escape.
"Fred! George! Wake up." Molly said opening their door one morning, they had been roped into helping around the house to make it more usable as a base for the order. "Hermione is arriving today and there is still a list longer than Merlin's beard to complete." Their mother left the room as fast as she had entered to go and wake the rest of the house.
Fred's stomach twisted itself into knot at the sound of her name. He had no idea what he should say to Hermione when he saw her, or even worse what she might say to him. He'd not heard from her so far, but he had also not sent an owl or word at all. He knew Ron had spoken with her and he tried to intercept the letter she had sent before Ron woke up but Pigwidgeon had refused to let the damn thing go.
Hermione had talked herself into going about a thousand times. She had talked herself out of going just as many times. Each time she packed, she unpacked. Each time she went to tell her parents her plans to stay at Grimmauld Place, she bit her tongue and chose another topic. But now they knew, she was packed and heading to meet Ron in London. She tried to calm her nerves by reading on the underground, but she was too stressed and having to juggle all of her school things and try to keep Crookshanks in check was not helping.
She had not even considered how things would be with her and Ron when she spotted him. She had expected another person to tag along as well. She knew Harry had not been escorted to London yet but she at least expected one adult to be with Ron. Instead he stood alone, his hands in his pockets looking bored as he tried to spot her in the crowd. He smiled and waved at her as he spotted Hermione. She took in a deep breath and headed towards him.
"Ron," she said when she was close enough.
"Hey, Hermione." He said, they stood awkwardly for a moment, neither sure if a hug would be appropriate. They stood still for long enough that just heading towards the three broomsticks became the natural option.
"Good summer so far?" Hermione asked trying to fill the silence with small talk.
"If you count cleaning a house from top to bottom good, then yeah I guess so." Ron said, Hermione noted he did not attempt to help her carrying anything. She felt a little surprised by her disappointment. "How's your summer been with the muggles?"
Hermione was not sure how to respond. On the one hand the muggle world was the one she grew up in. The one she now thought of as the opposite to her own. It seemed boring, but it was nice to spend time with her parents before she reentered the world she thought of as home.
"Good," she said as he pushed the door to the pub open. They headed over to the fire place without any discussion. Ron went first so she would know where to go. It took Hermione a moment to manoeuvre her trunk and Crookshanks inside but she was being pulled out by Mrs Weasley's caring arms in no time.
"Hermione," she said pulling her into a hug. She would never deny Mrs. Weasley's affection, she had made her feel welcome in a world that often wanted to push her out. And for that she would always be grateful. "How are you? Let's get you settled in, you're sharing with Ginny, shes excited to see you." Mrs. Weasley said as she led her out of the kitchen. "You just have to remember to be quiet in the halls. Ginny will explain why. Fred, George help Hermione take her things upstairs."
Hermione was frozen for a split second as the twins stood from the table and walked towards her. She took a moment to decide who was who. Fred stood out when he couldn't look her in the eye. George smiled at her but he did not look happy either. She had heard from Ron that George had broken up with Angelina. She gave him a sympathetic smile and followed the twins, with Crookshanks squirming in her arms.
No one said a word as they climbed the stairs. When they reached the room she would be sharing with Ginny Fred put her bag down in the doorway and headed back down the stairs without even looking her in the eyes. George stayed for a moment.
"How are you Hermione?" George asked, she let Crookshanks climb on top of the dresser. "How has your summer been so far?"
"Good thanks." She said, she was not sure what to say to George. Seeing his face made her think of Fred and their kiss and her mess of emotions. Hermione forced herself to move that to one side. George was a different person to Fred and neither deserved to be treated like the other. "I heard about what happened with Angelina, I'm sorry George."
"Thanks, Hermione. But it is what it is. No point in dwelling on someone who believes all the ignorance the ministry is sprouting. Just time to move on." George left with a nod goodbye. Hermione sat down on the freshly made bed. Crookshanks jumped into her lap and Hermione stroked his ginger fur.
"Hermione!" Ginny said walking into the room and giving Hermione a hug, "I've missed you."
"I missed you too." Hermione said, she relaxed knowing things would not be awkward with Ginny, like they had been with everyone else. "How are you?"
"Alright," Ginny said with a sigh and sat down on her own bed, "everyone just seems so uptight at the moment."
"Well, can you blame them?" Hermione asked, you-know-who being back was bound to have rattled everyone. Hermione had trouble sleeping since the tournament, every little sound at night made her sit upright. She had taken to sleeping with her wand under her pillow, just in case. But even now she feared for her parents, they had no idea what the wizarding world was dealing with. They had no idea just how much their own daughter was dealing with right now.
"No, but its other stuff too. Like George with the break up. And Fred seems all mopey." Ginny said a large smirk growing, "must be all the time you two have been spending apart." Hermione had to change the subject. Ginnys brothers were the last thing she wanted to be discussing.
"Maybe, or just you know the usual good vs evil stuff. Your mum said something about we have to be quiet in the halls?" Hermione said. She wanted to ask the question anyway, the subject change was just a bonus.
"Right, this house is weird. I'm sure someone will give you the tour tomorrow. The house belongs to the Black family, but they're using it for the order of the phoenix now. There's this portrait of Sirius's mother downstairs, she yells whenever we make too much noise in the hallways. I imagine she must have been a vile woman." Ginny explained, thinking back to the time the portrait had called her whole family blood traitors. Ginny hoped Hermione would never have to encounter the painting, she was certain it would call Hermione horrid names. "It was empty while Sirius was in Azkaban so it's filthy and filled with boggarts. Mum keeps us busy from sun rise to sun set cleaning every corner. But this place is huge, we've hardly made a dent. No doubt she'll have you helping."
"What is the order of the phoenix?" Hermione asked.
"They're a secret society. They hold all their meetings here. But we've never been allowed to listen in. Dumbledore founded them. It's all the people who fought against you-know-who before." Ginny explained what little she had been told. All her other attempts at gathering information had been denied. "Fred and George are trying out these extendable ears they're developing for their shop. We've not had much luck so far."
"Mum said dinners ready," Ron said opening their door without knocking.
Hermione followed Ginny down to the kitchen and made sure she on the opposite end of the table to twins and Ron. They were sat with a couple of wizards Hermione did not recognise, along with Lupin and Sirius. Hermione missed the cramped rooms of the Burrow but she felt right at home sat next to Ginny and Mrs Weasley. She had hoped they would talk about the order over dinner so she could pick up on more details but Ginny had been right. They let nothing slip. Instead people talked about Hogwarts and boring work stuff.
"So, Hermione," Lupin said from the other end of the table. "Fred was just telling us how you helped him improve his grades last year." Hermione dared a look at Fred who was turning red. He stared down at his plate hoping he could invent a spell to open the ground and swallow him whole. When Lupin had asked what had changed, he did not think he would be calling across the table and asking her questions. Fred had known he would be seeing Hermione, and they would have to spend time together but his heart had not been clued in on that information. It pounded in his chest and made his ears ring.
"Excuse me, I need to go and check on Crookshanks." Hermione said leaving the room as fast as she could. Fred felt his stomach twist. He knew someone would ask her about last year, but he had not expected her to run from the room so fast. He did not know what he had expected to happen.
Fred was not sure whether he should find Hermione and talk to her about their kiss. But it was too risky with his entire family in the house. Not to mention the nightly house guests. Instead he headed to bed early so he could lay awake and over think things until he fell asleep.
