Her heart pounded fast and hard against her chest. Hermione held her breath as she walked towards the train and in its hall. She imagined everyone surrounding her could listen to her nervousness. Whenever a bright coloured head of hair appeared, she ducked -feeling quite stupid, to be honest- before realising it wasn't the 'F' word.
The day before returning to Hogwarts Hermione had made up her mind… she was going to act cold and detached towards him, at least to make him see he'd been an idiot. However, now she didn't feel brave enough. What if Hermione broke something difficult to fix?
She was jittering, ignoring the friendly smiles and "hellos" from her classmates. When Hermione finally stumbled across her messy raven haired friend, she pushed him onto a seat and slumped next to him.
"Ha, hello to you too!" he smiled at her, though she was too concentrated on hiding her face to speak.
"Hermione?" Harry nudged her. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, sorry. Hi, Harry," she responded meekly. Her eyes kept darting towards the door of the compartment.
Harry pulled away from her and stared at her face, not letting Hermione's concentration wander towards anything else but his green gaze.
"Seriously, what's wrong?"
She opened her mouth to speak, but what could she say? Would it be inappropriate to tell him what went through her head? Was she even capable of explaining it? Hermione could feel her face heat up. She rarely got too embarrassed to talk with Harry… Then again, he had rarely shared anything with her the last couple of months; she really didn't owe it to him.
"I'm just tired…" Hermione faked a yawn and rested her head on his shoulder. "I need some sleep."
"Oh, then, go ahead and rest," he mumbled. She felt him stiffen at first, but he was probably as tired as she said she was; soon he was relaxed and breathing profoundly.
It eased her a little, seeing Harry so comfortable around her. At least he wasn't acting strangely, at least he hadn't forgotten about their friendship.
Hermione's eyelids started weighing a ton. Every blink seemed eternal and opening her eyes was physically painful. Rolling on her bed did tire after all. Maybe she could indulge herself and have a nice platonic nap with Harry...
xxxx
"I'm telling you, she's not going to be happy when she sees you," although George had a mocking twinkle in his eyes, he seemed serious.
"What are you saying? I've done nothing wrong!" Fred hit him lightly with his bag, walking next to him in the station. George chuckled and shook his head in disbelief.
"Right, avoiding her for weeks doesn't count as 'something wrong'"
"Shut up," Fred hissed as they crossed the magical brick wall. Had it been weeks? He felt they were months.
"Anyways, just tell her how you feel, mate. You've got nothing to lo-"
"Except her friendship," Fred interrupted grumpily.
"You're so dramatic," his brother laughed again. "Odds are she feels the same."
George patted him on his shoulder reassuringly and shoved him towards the express. Fred barely had time to wave at his mother, whose scowl seemed intent on making all his future pranks flee from his mind.
"There's no time to waste," George whispered. "Let's find Granger."
Fred stared at his brother's face. Dismayed, he wondered if George planned on witnessing him pouring, or vomiting -he was nervous-, out his feelings for Hermione.
Winter holidays had turned out to be a great moment to think. The chores, the annoying family moments, and the lack of homework cleared up his mind. Maybe Fred couldn't exactly spell out what was it that made his heart clutch and his smile appear uncontrollably, but there was no denying it was something awesome.
He wanted to see her so badly and know what she had been up to -huh, it would have helped if he had answer her letters more, uh, intelligently…
"I think that's Harry," Fred spotted a dark tangled mass of hair. He neared him, knowing sooner or later Hermione might look for her friend.
And she had certainly found him. And now they were snuggling.
xxxx
A loud tapping startled her. Hermione lifted her head so fast it hit Harry's side painfully. Great, now her ears were ringing.
On the other side of the glass door -awesome- the Weasley twins. George grinned maniacally whilst knocking. Beside him, Fred stood with a weird look on his face. He seemed about to be sick. The image froze in Hermione's mind for a second before a slightly annoyed Harry opened the door.
"Where's Ron?" he asked groggily seemingly trying to rub his face off.
"Don't know, lovebirds, but here are the two superior Weasleys at your service," George sat across them. Fred continued to stand in the doorway, staring. Hermione almost jumped out of her skin as the word 'lovebirds' was being spoken. She turned to Fred and shook her head slightly, hoping the message was translating.
"George," Harry smiled at him. "We're not lovebirds."
"Oh, really? I thought- Well, you know, with all that snoggin'" George said apologetic.
"Snogging!" outrage spilled from Hermione's mouth as George chuckled and Harry grew red as an apple.
"C'mon, Fred, join us," George gleamed at his twin.
xxxx
Fred knew what he was doing. George had said those things to get information. So, it seemed Harry and Hermione were only napping together platonically. Right... It had been like a slap in the face, seeing them so close to each other.
He sat next to George, avoiding Hermione's eyes and making sure his thoughts weren't too transparent. Fred only hoped a friend of his appeared at the doorway to take him away, he would even walk out with Malfoy.
Harry chatted placidly with his sibling, asking about their holiday and future plans. He knew very well a storm of jokes and pranks was coming. It was only a matter of time. With the Tournament the Weasley twins had more interesting targets. However, Harry's conversation steered clear from that topic. There was no denying he was as afraid as the moment his name popped out of the goblet.
"There you are!" Ron appeared at the doorway, sweaty, and clutching food in his hands. He didn't need to explain why he had taken so long to find them.
Fred began standing up, taking his little brother's presence as a sign to go. But George's hand retained him. Sitting back down, Fred finally glanced at Hermione. She seemed dazed and just a tad angry.
They were finally moving. The window now showed a of flurry parents waving gently at them.
"Well, Granger, what did you do with your family?" he did his best to smile confidently. At least he was an expert at pretending. Sadly, though, his charm wasn't working. Hermione scoffed.
"So you do care about what happens in my life," Hermione startled him and the rest. Ron's eyes grew wide with confusion as well as Harry's. George simply nodded to himself.
What?
"What?" his mind and mouth were synchronized.
"Sorry, it's just…" Hermione's voice lowered. "I thought ignoring my letters was your way of saying 'don't really care'."
"But I did answer!"
By his side, George caught Harry and Ron's attention. "Hey, mates, why don't we go look for Longbottom? That kid sure knows how to party!"
"You call that an answer?" Hermione rebutted. Her pretty cheeks were flushed and the creases on her brow began getting creases of their own.
The door of the compartment opened and closed, the swift thump was barely noticeable. Finally, they were alone. Maybe these weren't the best circumstances. However, it was now or never. Although he wasn't feeling romantic, there was some air that needed clearing.
"I'm so sorry," he softened his voice as much as he could. "Hermione, it's just that I'm not very good at communicating… through writing, that is."
xxxx
"The thing is," Fred's eyes were hypnotic, calming, and so pretty, "I do care, a lot."
Damn you, smooth talking Weasley.
An attractive cocky smile bloomed on his face whilst Hermione did her best not to appear too happy by his words. She was still angry, of course, but she could work on that.
"So, are we okay?" he asked. Fred leaned over and took one of her hands into his. His fingers were surprisingly warm and silky. Hermione's heart stopped for a second.
"Can we please continue being friends?" the last word was like a stone thrown towards her face.
xxxx
She nodded with a smile that somehow looked more angry than happy.
A conversation sprung between them. Everything was pleasant enough. Still, there was something bugging him. Fred felt he had done something very stupid.
