Fred pulled Hermione into the Room of Requirement with a tug on her hand. She looked nervous and ready to bolt. Maybe I should've warned her. The familiar garden filled the room, and he led her over to their tree. He looked sideways at her and noticed the locket was in place around her slender neck; he sighed in relief. They both sat leaning against the base of the large oak. He still held her hand in his own and placed them in his lap. They sat in silence until Fred could no longer take it. "I really am sorry, you know. If I could undo it, I would. I don't know what else to say. Is there some way I can make this better?"
"I don't know." Her voice was low and hesitant. "I suppose I should have expected it. But I didn't."
"I should have told you." He swallowed thickly, this wasn't going well. "I just didn't know how." She nodded but remained quiet. "Hermione?" She looked at him. "Are…are we okay?"
He saw her eyes glisten before she looked away. "I don't think so." She sniffled and Fred felt a lump rise in his throat. "I think I just need some time."
"Time?" He repeated in a choked whisper. "Time apart?"
"Yes." She turned to him, her face set. "Things have been pretty difficult here this year. Maybe if…" Her voiced trailed off and she again looked away.
"Hermione, you can't be serious." He squeezed her hand. "Please tell me you're not serious."
"I'm sorry, Fred." She removed her hand from his and stood. "I'll see you later, right?" She spoke in a little voice that he barely recognized. He sat in stunned silence not even responding to her question. She didn't wait however, just made her way to the exit. She didn't look back at Fred where he slumped forward head in his hands.
He stayed in that position for nearly an hour before he was disturbed. "Fred?" His twin approached him slowly giving him time to compose himself. "What happened?" He sat to his right and rested a hand on his shoulder.
"She said she needs time apart." Fred refused to lift his head; he didn't want to move at all. He heard his brother sigh beside him.
"I thought it might be something like that. She came back to the common room alone. Plus, her eyes were all red like she'd been crying."
Fred shook his head and faced George. "I can't believe she did that. I never thought…" He tilted his head back to rest on the tree. "If I had known this was going to happen, I wouldn't have come."
"Come on, brother, let's get out of here." George gave him a hand up. "Give her time, maybe she'll come around."
"Maybe. George, I'm in no mood to sneak. Let's just get back to that damned passageway."
"Right you are." They were down to the second floor before they met up with any teachers. And there standing in the middle of the corridor was Dumbledore. "Professor."
"I think you'll find the front gates much more accessible this time of night." Dumbledore smiled at them, hands clasped in front of him. "And perhaps next time you want to pop in you should just wait for a Hogsmeade weekend. I'm sure the owners of Honeydukes would appreciate it." He winked at them.
"Yes, sir." They chorused and found their exit through the front gates before apparating to their flat.
Hermione had sped through the common room as quickly as possible. George had caught her eye and she self consciously wiped at her cheeks. She entered her dorm room and flung herself across her mattress. She could hear the footsteps of the other girls follow her up, so she drew her curtains and put up a silencing charm. "What did I do?" She rolled to her back and fingered the beautiful locket from Fred. "I'm an idiot." She rubbed her face and decided to skip dinner and just go to sleep.
Hermione woke disoriented. She had been having an extremely vivid dream about Fred, she groaned when reality broke through. It had been months since she talked to him. He hadn't owled her and she didn't know what to say to him, so she too had kept the silence between them. Yesterday morning her mother had wrote giving her permission to spend the first half of the winter holidays at the Burrow. She hadn't told anyone yet. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do, and until she did she wasn't going to involve any of the other Weasley's. Ron had been busy snogging Lavender constantly lately so she didn't have to feel his somewhat cold treatment of her too much. Ginny had taken to glaring at her often but saying nothing on the matter. Harry tried to remain neutral. He attempted to split his time between Ron and Hermione. Though, due to Ron's face being practically glued to his girlfriend's, Harry spent more time with her in the library.
Almost daily, she was tempted to take one of the Patented Daydream Charms. She resisted however, she knew it would only make matters worse. She wondered if Fred was even bothered by the mess or if he had simply moved on. He's probably already dating someone new. She sat in Ancient Runes playing with the locket which she still wore. She had taken it off for about a week but found she missed it dearly.
"Miss Granger?" The professor stood in front of her desk, snapping her attention back to the room.
"Yes, sir?" She tried to pretend she hadn't been somewhere else but to no avail. Her professor eyed her for a moment before continuing with the lesson. Hermione sighed; she had been having increasing difficulty concentrating in her classes. Professor McGonagall had even asked if she needed a trip to the Hospital Wing. What she needed was to talk to Fred, but it would have to wait until after the start of the new term. She had already written to her mum informing her that she would rather spend the whole of the holidays with her parents. Her mother had been delighted and she didn't have the heart to disappoint her now.
"Hermione?" She turned to find Cormac McLaggen standing entirely too close. She opened her mouth to respond, but he plunged forward without waiting for her acknowledge him. "Do you have a date for old Sluggy's Christmas party?"
"No." She didn't think she liked where this was going. She desperately tried to think of an excuse not to go with him.
"Wonderful, than you can accompany me. I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall and we can walk together."
"What? Oh, I…um…actually, I-"
"What's this I hear? Cormac snatched you up already, has he Miss Granger? Spectacular, really. I will see you both there then." Professor Slughorn continued down the corridor where he had been heading. McLaggen followed behind him making idle chat, leaving Hermione to dread the party more than she already had.
When Ron heard that she was meeting the older Gryffindor, he was furious. "What about Fred?"
"I doubt Fred's just sitting around pining after me. Besides, it's not as though I fancy Cormac, it's just a party. Harry's taking Luna." She tried to change the subject. Ron sent her a look of disgust and charged off to find Lavender and drown his anger in kisses.
The weeks up to and following Slughorn's party were terrible. She was happy once again that she had chosen to accompany her parents on holiday rather than spend it at the Burrow with her not so friendly friends. She had a relatively fun time with her parents; it had been years since she spent the entirety of a break with her family.
However, her peace of mind was not meant to last. She arrived back at school to a slightly warmer Ron and Ginny. After dinner the second night back, she managed to corner Harry away from the others. "Harry, can I ask you something?"
"Of course you can."
"And you'll keep it between the two of us?"
"Yes, Hermione." He rolled his eyes at her.
"Did…did you see Fred at all?" She did a fairly good job of keeping her voice steady.
"Yeah, he was there."
"Alone?"
"Nope." Her heart plummeted. "George was with him." She glared at her best friend while he chuckled at her.
"That was mean Harry."
"I know, sorry." Although he didn't sound very sorry, or look it.
"Is he angry with me?"
"Hermione, I have no idea how Fred feels. If you're curious, you need to ask him. He didn't talk about you and I didn't ask." He patted her shoulder. "You really should write him, you know."
"Yes, I know." She sighed in defeat. She wasn't sure what she had hoped Harry would be able to tell her. Maybe she wanted to hear how sad and lonely Fred was, but that just made her heart twist. She decided to do the responsible thing and speak to him. She left Harry and headed to the owlery.
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A/N: Don't hurt me please. I know this wasn't what most of you wanted but there it is. It's too late to take back now. HEY! JackMyles if you throw ONE more tomato at me, I will refuse to review your stories from now on. Empty threat, you say? Well we'll just see about that, won't we. ;)
So, this is your last chance to vote on the George's love life poll, I'm closing it before I update again. As it stands Verity is just a couple of votes ahead of Luna. George will date Verity, but whether or not he stays with her is in your capable hands. See how much I trust you? So, show me that you know how to make a responsible decision by reviewing this chapter. Who threw that?