Chapter 21: The Letter

Two months later it happened; the letter George had been eagerly waiting for had finally arrived. He tore the envelope open, and took out the yellow piece of parchment.

Fred could see George's eyes flicker over the letter as he read it, but he couldn't read George's expression until a wicked grin spread across his face;

"Holy fuck, Freddy. They approved! We own a shop in Diagon Alley!"

George threw fists in the air, yelling "FUCK YES!" until he realized that Fred wasn't celebrating at all. Then it hit him: "Don't fucking tell me you're backing out now, Fred. We've been planning this for years!"

"George, I'm not backing out... I was just hoping we could stay at Hogwarts until graduation."

"Since when did you get so interested in your education?" George said before it dawned upon him why his twin wouldn't want to leave Hogwarts before it was absolutely necessary:

"Shit Fred, you'd rather stay here and snog with your girlfriend than follow your fucking dreams? And you're telling me this now after years of planning and preparation?" He was getting angry now.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you..."

"Why the hell didn't you?"

"Because you wouldn't understand!" Fred was getting angry now as well.

"You are a fucking selfish bastard! Do you really think of me as being so stupid that I wouldn't understand that you'd miss the hell out of Hermione? You need to realize that you leaving her is going to happen whether you like it or not; no matter what happens you can't return to Hogwarts next year and she'll still be stuck here."

George took a deep breath to calm himself down, "Freddy, you have to make up your mind, because I'm leaving tomorrow with or without you."

Fred sat himself down on his four-poster bed, put his face in his palms, sighed, and said; "of course I'm with you."

George sat down next to him and gave him a small pat on the back, "I'm sorry I yelled at you, I thought you were going to bail me."

They sat on the bed in silence until Fred quietly spoke, "Holy shit, we have a shop… and we're leaving Hogwarts tomorrow."

"I know. It kind of blows your mind, huh?" George offered him a small smile, "You should go tell her. She'll understand."

Fred found Hermione in her dormitory, sitting on her bed reading a book. As she saw him entering the room she sprang out of bed to greet him properly with a kiss.

"Hermione, I have something I have to tell you," he had a sad look on his face, that told Hermione that he had bad news.

'Oh no, this is it,' Hermione thought, 'Fred's going to leave me in favour of Angelina Johnson.'

"Should I sit down?" Hermione asked nervously.

"I don't know why people always assume that they should sit down in these situations. As if I could present you news that would make your brain lose control over legs and make you fall," he joked, but she didn't laugh.

She sat down on her bed, and Fred sat down next to her, now more serious; "There is something I have been keeping secret for you. You do remember mine and George's plan about pulling a master prank, right?"

'Master prank? Was she the one they were pranking? Was her relationship with Fred just one...big...prank?'

Fred took a deep breath, "George and I are leaving Hogwarts tomorrow."

She stared at him until his words sank in; "What?"

"Well, you know that neither George nor I have ever been taking school serious, so in our fifth year when McGonagall started these career-talks, George and I began thinking about opening a joke shop - we just couldn't see ourselves working behind a desk for the rest of our lives. We made some pretty good inventions, but we still had one major problem; money.

That was until Harry gave us the prize he won in the Triwizard Tournament last summer. We finally had enough to buy a shop in Diagon Alley and we found the perfect location, number 93, for it. Last September we made an offer, but the deal wouldn't close until March 31st where the sellers would consider all the bidders' different plans with the shop and choose who they thought were best suited for the site. I guess they liked 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' the most. We're taking over the lease tomorrow, May 1st. We were just told now."

Hermione's heart was broken; "You're…leaving me?" she whispered, her breath becoming more and more frequent as the tears welled up her eyes.

He looked at her, "please don't cry." Both of them now had tears in their eyes.

He kissed her, "I'm so sorry. I wish I could stay here with you, but I just have to do this."

The tears began to stream down her face but she nodded, "I know."

They kissed for a long time before he filled her in on what would happen the next day. He stayed with her until she fell asleep in his arms.