I am so sorry everyone. I have been meaning to post another chapter. I know I missed last week, But life completely got in the way. I haven't had any down time at all in the past two weeks until today. Stupid mock exams + applying for college + teachers giving tons of homework +family hogging the computer = no chapter until today. Sorry! To make it up to you this chapter is twice as long as any of my other chapters.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer:
By this point, I would assume that most people who have common sense would know that I don't own Harry Potter.
However, in my life, I have come to learn a very significant lesson: most people do not have common sense.
Bummer.
So for the beginning of EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER I have to write, I have to explain, in long, boring sentences, that guess what?
Did I just hear you ask what? Well I shall tell you!
I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER.
"No way, Just another ginge! Tell me more!" I hear you cry.
Fine. This is my story.
Well, MY story. I mean, the story about ME. Not the chapter I wrote that you can skip right down to.
Okay. Let's start at the beginning. The VERY beginning.
One day I was born.
Shocking right?
Then, a number of long years later, I decided to write a story. It was a story about Harry Potter. It was perfect in every way, except...
It turns out that, apparently, I'm technically not allowed to write stories about Harry Potter unless I owned Harry Potter. If I didn't, then I would be arrested, taken to jail, and then hung on the gallows and humiliated in front of all the people I know and a ton of others that I don't. Then, to be sure that I'm dead, they would shoot me a few times, tear out all my vital organs, and eat them for lunch.
As I said before, bummer.
But then I had a marvellous idea! I would write a disclaimer explaining how I didn't own Harry Potter!
It was a genius plan. But as I soon found out, people already had this plan, and I wasn't allowed to sue them over it. So I sued the government over this flaw, but that is another story.
Anyway, the other people had boring disclaimers, blah, blah, blah, so I made my own interesting disclaimers.
THE END!
The next morning Hermione woke up with a smile. She got out of bed and started to brush her bushy mane and then it hit her. She had slept all night; without any nightmares.
Hermione took a step back in shock. Never had she not had a nightmare at night, they plagued her dreams constantly. Even with dreamless sleep, somehow they got through. But she hadn't had them. Instead she had had a very strange dream about a fox and an otter playing by a stream. She shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind, not having a bad dream just meant that she was putting the war behind her, right? Hermione tried to forget about it and finished brushing her hair, getting on with the rest of her morning routine.
Once ready she apperated to the entrance to the ministry. Why the ministry couldn't think of anything else a tad more dignified was beyond her, but she stepped into the toilet and pulled the flush. Down Hermione span, not getting wet, but soon arriving at the ministry. She was surrounded immediately by a swarm of reporters. Hermione sighed. What had Harry done this time? The reporters usually only bugged her if Harry had gone and done something either heroic or stupid. But the hubbub of noise was so loud that Hermione could not make out a single question from among the mass. She tried to take a step forwards just to be pushed backward by overzealous reporters. By the time another minute passed Hermione had had enough and sent red sparks into the air with a bang.
Silence fell.
"Okay all of you, who do not work at the ministry, get out!" hollered a voice from across the entrance hall that sounded a good deal like Kingsley. The reporters scarpered; they did not want to get on the wrong side of the minister. Soon Hermione was able to make her way across to where Kingsley was indeed stood.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome Miss Granger, the press are a pest and I will not have them clogging up the ministry, otherwise no one is able to get anywhere. Do you have any idea why they were bothering you?" Kingsley questioned.
"That's the strange thing, I don't. Do you know if Harry has done anything news worthy lately?"
"Sorry, I don't think I have."
"That's okay minister. Well, I should be off. I need to get on with some paperwork."
"Have a good day Miss Granger." Kingsley said, tipping his hat at her as they split ways.
Hermione walked down to her office, ignoring the inquisitive look that Ann gave her as she passed, and sat down in her chair with a sigh starting to get on with her paperwork. This was normal, the standard; this was the normality in her life, her sure foundation. She loved to do paperwork. Then why did she feel so bored? Before that day Hermione could sit there for hours doing paperwork and even wanting to do more. But now, now she didn't want to do any of it. Now Hermione was finding herself jaded and utterly uninterested. She didn't know what was wrong and was still contemplating this whilst filling out sheet after sheet of parchment, bored out of her mind for the next 5 hours.
At mid-day Ann opened the door to find Hermione playing with a rubber band ball, a pile of completed paperwork next to her.
"Yes Ann?"
"There is someone her to-"
Ann was suddenly interrupted by a small rubber duck waddling its way into the office.
"What the?-"
There was a puff of smoke and Fred appeared, seemingly from thin air.
Ann rolled her eyes.
"I guess I'll leave you two to it." She said, winking as she left and closed the door behind her.
There was a moment of stale silence that threatened to be awkward before Fred unexpectedly shouted,
"Jigidy-whoey!"
Hermione raised an eyebrow at Fred's antics.
"What... I don't like awkward silences."
Hermione sighed. Fred would be Fred and there was no stopping him, but his randomness was endearing. Hermione shook her head to clear it; she was not letting those kinds of thoughts in her head again. Fred was just a friend. Besides, why would he ever want to be anything else? He's Fred Weasley!
"So, why are you here?"
Fred raised a sceptical eyebrow.
"Don't you remember? You agreed that I was taking you out to an actual lunch today, rather than kidnapping you for the whole day! I am here to just that" he said, arms wide and took a step towards her.
"Oh no, you are not carrying me again!" Hermione said; her voice rose slightly at seeing the playful twinkle in Fred's eye that he always had when working on a prank with his twin. She had learnt very quickly to be extremely wary of that twinkle.
"Fine, I won't." Fred said, his voice dripping with fake disappointment. He held out his hand to Hermione, "Come on then!"
She took his hand and they exited the office and Fred broke into a skip, dragging Hermione behind him for a second before she too joined in. Hermione guessed that they looked like a very strange duo, but she was having fun for the first time all morning and did not care what any of the other ministry workers thought of her.
Fred laughed; it was fun to just act so free, like he didn't have a care in the world. Doubly so that he could share the feeling with Mione, he never seemed to just relax anymore. Well apart from yesterday, and Fred wanted to be able to make her feel like that as often as he could.
Fred mentally sighed, he half-wished that he had used the moment last night and kissed her. But he hadn't, and one part of him was glad. He could see that she was still hurting a lot form what Ron had done to her. Kissing her would have probably just resulted in her conflicting emotions meaning that she would have isolated herself from everyone else until she had sorted them out. But that could take years; one did not just get over being cheated on quickly. Fred would know.
It had happened to him during his fourth year at Hogwarts. Fred and Anna Mirfield had dated for a good 3 months before it started circulating around the school that she had been seeing Jason Samuels, the Ravenclaw beater, behind Fred's back. Of course she had denied it when he asked her about it, but Fred had turned to walk down the charms corridor when he saw them in the centre of the corridor, eating each other's faces.
Fred had quite calmly walked up to Anna, tapped her on the shoulder and told her that they were over. She didn't seem to care and soon resumed her activities with Jason. Fred had walked away without doing anything to her, shocking all that witnessed the event. But by no means did that mean that Fred had not gotten revenge. Anna was immediately dubbed the twin's target for a solid month before George had decided to rein Fred in and put a stop to the merciless pranking. However Fred didn't truly move on for a while after that.
So he knew exactly how Hermione was feeling, and just what was needed to alleviate the pain. Hermione need to find someone else. Fred knew it sounded cheesy and clichéd, but it was true.
Fred stopped skipping, snapping back to the present when he felt a squeeze on his hand.
"Fred? Hello? Earth to Fred! Do you read me?"
"Why in the name of Merlin's sweaty socks would I read you? I know you're a bookworm and all, but you're not a book!"
Hermione rolled her eyes at Fred.
"Muggle expression." She muttered.
"Where are we going by the way?" She asked, Fred could tell by her voice that Hermione was incredibly absorbed by her need to know what was going on.
"You're going to have to wait and see!" Fred sang.
This time rather than taking her to the apperation point Fred took Hermione out through the front door.
"We're walking?" she asked.
"Nope," Fred replied, "I just wanted to keep you guessing. Hold on!"
He turned on the spot, apperating and taking Hermione with him. Moments later they appeared in Fred's flat; the aroma of food cooking permeating the air. Fred was instantly nervous, what if she didn't want to eat at his flat? What if she wanted to go out? What if she didn't like what he had made?
Fred's thoughts were interrupted by Hermione asking, "Where are we?"
"My flat; I made lunch." Fred said his uncertainty evident in his voice.
But Fred need not have worried, for as soon as he said this Hermione's eyes lit up as she started sniffing in an attempt to identify what Fred had made.
"Fish dish of some sort?" Hermione asked
Fred grinned; they didn't call her the brightest witch of her age for nothing.
"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!"
Hermione's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline when she heard Fred using such a muggle term.
"You watch muggle game shows?" she asked, her curiosity at its peak.
"No, silly." Fred said waggling his finger in her face, "I took muggle studies. Well, and I overheard some muggle using it and thought I'd give it a try."
It was at this moment that Fred realised that he was still holding Hermione's hand. He dropped it and motioned to the table.
"Ladies first."
Fred followed her to the table and pulled her chair out like the gentleman that his mother had tried to raise him as before taking his own seat. With a flick of his wand the first dish he had made appeared before them.
"Bouillabaisse?"
"I remember you said that you liked it in your fourth year."
"You paid attention to that?" Hermione said blushing, "It's true though, I do like it, rather a lot actually. Thank you, you didn't nee-"
"It's okay Mione. I wanted to."
Hermione could find her word and so picked up her spoon, tried some and hummed appreciatively around the spoon.
"Fred this is delicious! I didn't know you were such a good chef!"
"Well either Georgie or I had to learn to cook when we moved out. And George can't even make pancakes."
Fred chuckled, remembering the last time George had tried to cook; he had ended up spraying half-cooked pancake mix all over the kitchen. Since then all the cooking had been left to Fred and he had gotten quite good at it if he did say so himself.
"This, I dare say, is better than your mum's cooking!" Hermione said, eating some more of the bouillabaisse.
Fred put his hand to his heart dramatically and gasped.
"Blaspheme!"
Hermione giggled and then started coughing.
Her hand flew to her throat. Hermione face started to go red and managed to gasp, "Cant. Breathe."
Fred was on his feet in an instant.
His mind blank.
He couldn't think of any of the healing spells he knew. He started to panic as Hermione's face started to go purple.
Unable to think of a better plan he picked her up, threw some floo powder into the fire and stepped into the green flames shouting "St Mungo's!" and disappeared.
Anna and Jason are not mine, they are also JK's. They are only characters mentioned in passing in the books though.
So, what do you think? Use the button, you know the one down there!↓ Thanks! :D