Fred burst into the house, and ran frantically up and down the stairs, searching every room in their house. It took him half an hour before he was certain that not only was Hermione not there, but she had never come home. He swallowed down his fear and sadness, and apparated to the Burrow.
Everyone was sitting around the long kitchen table, talking quietly, wondering why George had called an emergency meeting, and then refused to tell them what was going on until Fred got there. Ron sat in a corner next to George, sullenly glaring at everyone in the room.
Molly kept looking over, and wincing, but every time she tried to get close enough to heal his nose, George would shake his head violently and say he deserved it.
Harry looked up when Fred walked in. "Okay he's here. Can someone please explain what the hell is going on?" he hissed.
George held up a hand and looked at Fred, who shook his head silently. George looked surprised for a moment, before it was quickly replaced with a look of worry.
Fred sat on the bench and put his head down on the table. He waved his hand in the air towards George, signaling for his twin to tell the story, who quickly filled them in on what happened.
"Well where's Hermione now?" Sirius demanded.
A sniffle from Fred's direction caused everyone to turn to him, shocked. His face was blotchy, and his eyes rimmed red. It was obvious that he had spent the entire time with his head down crying.
"I don't know," he whispered. "She never went home."
At this, Ginny looked up nervously, her hands fidgeting in her lap. Harry noticed, and looked at her oddly.
"Ginny, is there something you know?" he asked slowly. Fred looked up, hope shining clear in his eyes.
Ginny swallowed audibly. "No," she said, her voice wavering slightly as she looked down.
Harry's eyes narrowed, and he grabbed her by the chin. "Look in my eyes, and tell me you don't know anything."
Ginny shook her head, knowing she could never lie to Harry. "I swear I don't know where she is. But, you guys really need to find her as quickly as possible. She can not be alone right now."
George cocked his head to the side, trying to get into his sisters thoughts, but she was blocking one memory in particular. All he saw was Hermione smiling wanly at his sister from a hospital bed, her face pale and her eyes dim, before her shields went up. Ginny glared at him accusingly.
"Is Hermione sick?" George asked slowly.
Fred's head shot up. "I think she's had the flu the past few weeks, but she promised that she was feeling better," he said quietly.
George looked back at Ginny, whose face was almost the same color as her hair. Her eyes pleaded with George to stop with the questions out loud, nodding her head imperceptibly, before giving him access to the memory.
George's face blanched, before a fierce expression took over his usually gentle countenance. He turned to Ron, healed his broken nose, and then punched him again.
The sickening crack of Ron's second broken nose of the day caused everyone to look over at the two brothers. Molly jumped up. "Really George, is that necessary?" she yelled.
Th expression on his face caused her to sit back down. "This is his fault. If he hadn't been such a blathering idiot, Hermione wouldn't be alone and on the run right now."
Ginny nodded. "Hermione needs to be found, now."
Remus spoke up, "She won't trust any of us. She probably knows we were all in on it."
"It doesn't matter. Take her by force if you have to." George said.
"We can't just kidnap Hermione," Bill sputtered.
"Yea, plus she's an accomplished duelist. Do you really think kidnapping her is the best option?" Charlie asked.
Fred looked up, a peculiar look on his face. He barely had time to conjure a bucket, before he puked in it. He didn't stop for ten minutes, with Ginny looking at him the entire time, horror evident on her face. She glanced at George, whose face had gone as white as hers. "The bond" she whispered.
Ginny shook her head and looked at the group around the kitchen. "Listen to me, and listen to me closely. If Hermione does not return home in the next 24 hours, something very bad could happen." She stood up. "Were splitting into two-man teams. If you find Hermione, do not approach her. Send a patronus to me or George. We will go in and talk to her, get her to come home," she said with an air of finality.
"Why do you two get to be the negotiation team?" Sirius demanded.
Ginny scoffed. "Because we have leverage," she and George said at the same time.
The rest of the group looked at the two of them wondering what they knew, but decided to drop it for now, finding Hermione was the new priority.
George and Ginny walked out the Burrow together. "Do you have an idea of where she is?" George asked quietly.
"Yea, but it's just a hunch. Whenever you're really upset, who do you turn to for comfort?" she asked.
"Mum" George responded, catching on to what Ginny was saying. "But her mum's dead," he said.
Ginny nodded. "But the house is still there."
Hermione apparated into the living room of her parents old home. It was exactly the same as it was when she had last left it, too upset to move anything around. She walked silently up the stairs to her parent's room, and laid down on her mum's side of the bed. She could still smell the lingering trace of her mother's perfume, as she held one of the pillows close.
"Oh mum," she sobbed. "I wish you could be here with me. I don't know what to do, and I need you now more than ever."
The constant nausea she had ratcheted up a few degrees, and she barely had time to reach for the wastebasket next to the bed before being violently ill in it. She scourgified her mouth and returned to crying.
That's how Ginny and George found her, bawling her eyes out into her mother's pillow.
Ginny quickly crossed the room and pulled her best friend into her arms. Hermione immediately stiffened and turned to her friend.
She grabbed a pillow, and hit Ginny round the head. "How could you lie to me like that?" she demanded. "You're my best friend, and you let me run around like a complete nitwit with him, knowing it wasn't real!" she yelled. "Now look at the situation I'm in."
Ginny shook her head. "Madame Pomfrey said we could really hurt you if we told you the truth. Something about your real memories and your fake memories causing an irreconcilable difference. She said it could make you go crazy trying to figure out what was real and what was made up."
"So you just let me fall in love with a man who is probably, at best, tolerating me? How can I face him now?" she asked.
George finally spoke up, startling Hermione. "Hermione love, Fred is not tolerating you. He was wary at first, afraid of hurting you, but over the months, he has fallen completely and irrevocably in love. He's devastated right now, and wants nothing more than for you to come home."
Hermione shook her head. "It's a lot more complicated than you think George."
He laughed at her and came closer, pulling her into a tight hug she couldn't squirm out of. "Complicated? Oh Hermione, I think that this is the least complicated part of the whole thing," he whispered.
Ginny laughed, and jumped in on the hug. "We didn't mean to hurt you 'Mione. We all just wanted to protect you. Fred especially."
"But why? Why would he care?" Hermione asked. "You said at first he didn't want to hurt me. Why would it matter so much?"
Ginny sighed and pulled Hermione back to the bed. She settled the wastebasket next to her best friend, knowing that she would need it before the tale was over, and then she and George proceeded to tell her the story of how she was hit by the bludger, the bond, and the search for a cure. They told her how Fred devoted himself to her, how he searched far and wide for a new house, and protected her from her own mind.
At the end of the story she had tears in her eyes. "What should I do now?" she asked.
Ginny stood up, and held out her hand to Hermione. "First, we need to get you to the Burrow so you can reassure Fred that your all right. What you two do after that is up to you." She said waggling her eyebrows at Hermione.
Hermione gave Ginny a look of disgust. "Really? You think I want to do that right now? I can barely eat."
George smiled and took Hermione's hand. "Come on love. I'm sure Fred is going spare right now without you."