Chapter 10

February 1995

"Where are they?" asked Fred, rubbing his hands together for warmth.

Lee tightened his scarf as he stamped his feet against the chill, "Not sure about our girl but I'd wager your little brother is still avoiding us after the canary cream incident."

The others laughed, remembering the extra potent enchanted biscuits the twins had slipped Ron as revenge for his behavior the night of the ball, which had him transforming into a giant canary every fifteen minutes for an entire day.

"You're probably right but where's Hermione?" Fred asked. "Not like her to be late."

"Maybe she's with Ginny?" offered Katie.

Angelina shook her head, "No. Here comes Ginny now. Merlin! She looks in a right state. Wonder what's got her so upset?"

Ginny came charging towards them with a stricken look on her face. Once she was close enough Fred grabbed hold of her arm. "Gin? What's wrong?"

"Nobody can find Hermione or Ron," she panted.

"What do you mean, nobody can find them?" asked George.

"I mean they're missing. Cho and Fleur's little sister are gone as well." She eyes darted nervously between her brothers. "There's a rumor going around that the item that the champions will 'sorely miss' if they don't find it isn't an object at all. "

The twins felt their stomachs twist.

"What are you saying, Gin?" Fred asked in a low voice.

"It's people. At the bottom of the lake. They've taken Ron to use as bait for Harry and Hermione for Krum."

Before she'd finished the sentence Fred was sprinting toward the lake with George and the others hot at his heels.

They made it to the dock and forced their way through the mass of organizers and officials. Fred spotted Viktor and before anyone could stop him he'd grabbed hold of the Durmstrang champion, slamming the man hard against a nearby pillar.

Fred got in his face and snarled, "Listen! I don't care who you are. If anything — anything at all! — happens to her then I…" He caught himself and glanced at the group of friends behind him, "We will end you! Do I make myself clear?!"

Krum nodded. "I am very sorry," he said in his thick Bulgarian accent. "Please to understand. This is not my doing. I swear. I never want anything bad to happen to Herm-o-ninny."

"It's Her-my-o-knee, you oaf! If her life's going to be at risk because of you then at least learn to say her bloody name properly!" Fred managed to get in another shove before the Bulgarian coach pulled them apart.

Still needing an outlet for his anger, Fred rounded on Dumbledore, who was standing nearby. "And you?! What are you thinking?! How could you let them do this?! Hermione can't even swim!"

The elderly wizard laid his hand on Fred's shoulder. "Calm down, Mister Weasley. All the participants are perfectly safe. You should know that I'd never let anything happen to one of my students."

"Really?" said Fred, jerking away from the Hogwarts Headmaster. "I'm not sure we know that at all…sir."

Fred and the others were then escorted off the dock and made to stand on shore until the whistle sounded to begin the second task, leaving the spectators to stare at the flat, black surface of the lake with nothing but their imaginations to give them any idea of what might be happening in the murky darkness below.

They waited anxiously for over an hour before Cedric finally appeared with Cho. A few more fearful minutes passed and Fred and George were on the verge of diving into the lake themselves when Krum burst from the icy waters to deposit Hermione on the dock.

Within seconds her friends swarmed around her. George attempted a drying spell while Fred wrapped her in his jacket before Madame Pomfrey pushed her way through with a thick blanket and a warming potion. Fred insisted on being the one to accompany Hermione to the nearby tent so she could be checked by healers while George remained by the lake to keep a lookout for Ron and Harry.

Fred tried his best to stay out of the way of the medical team, lurking in the background until everyone was confident that Hermione had suffered no physical injuries from the task. Once Pomfrey and the others left, Fred made his way over to the table Hermione was sitting on.

He shoved his hands in his back pockets and asked, "So...how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," answered Hermione. "Madame Pomfrey informs me that you accosted Viktor before the task."

"We may have had...words."

She stared at him for a moment then smacked him hard. "Why?!"

"Why?!" Fred yelped, rubbing his arm in pain. "It was because of him that you were kidnapped and held hostage under the bloody lake for hours!"

"No one kidnapped me, Fred! The four of us were summoned to the Headmaster's office early this morning and asked to volunteer."

"You?! Volunteered to be held underwater for over an hour when you can't swim? You voluntarily relinquished your wand and put your life in the hands of a bloke you've only known a couple of months, just because someone asked you nicely? You don't actually expect me to believe that, do you..." He sat beside her and quietly hissed, "Kitten?"

Hermione pulled the blanket tight around her. "I was assured by Dumbledore and the organizers that I would be perfectly safe."

"Since when you trust the organizers of...wait, what did you call it again? Oh yes, I remember. I believe your exact words were 'a barbaric, antiquated, primitive travesty'. When Georgie and I wanted to put our names in the goblet you had VERY strong thoughts on the subject, even though we were willing participants. Why the sudden about face?"

Hermione pursed her lips but didn't answer him. Fred leaned over and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Tell me the truth. Did they threaten you?"

Hermione sat up straight. "No one threatened me," she insisted.

He studied her face carefully. "No. They did something worse, didn't they? They implied. They insinuated. They made you think that if you refused you'd be seen as less of a witch. You were the only Muggle born selected and they preyed on that."

Hermione averted her eyes. "It was never said in so many words — "

"—But you knew that's what they meant," Fred finished the thought as he pulled her into a fierce hug. "Those utter bastards."

Hermione briefly relaxed in his arms then leaned back and lifted her chin. "I'm not a victim, Fred. Thanks to you and George my ability to cast defensive spells has improved significantly over the past few months. I can take care of myself. This was entirely my decision."

"A decision made under duress. They manipulated you and that's not right!"

The venom in his voice surprised her and she took his hand in hers. "Fred. It's okay. I'm fine. Really."

"It's not okay. They put you in danger and it scared me...us...everyone. We thought you might — " He swallowed hard.

"But I didn't." She squeezed his hand then laid the blanket aside and shrugged off the jacket he'd wrapped her in earlier. "Thank you for your concern. And your coat. It was very nice of you but I think you need it back. I'm sure Molly's in enough of a state over Ron. If you catch cold because of me then I'll never be allowed back inside the Burrow."

Fred hesitated then pulled off his jumper, revealing a vintage Weird Sisters concert tee shirt underneath.

"Only if you put this on instead. It'll take a while for that warming potion to work its way through your system. You'll need the extra layers."

"Don't be silly, Fred. You don't need to — "

Fred didn't give her the opportunity to protest any further. He plucked the coat out of her hands and shoved the jumper over her head, causing her hair to spark and frizz with static electricity.

He grinned as he slipped his jacket back on. "Need help with the arms? I've had plenty of practice dressing my younger siblings as well as a ridiculous number of drunk quidditch mates. I've even had to wrestle Bill and Charlie into their clothes after the occasional bender. It'll be no problem."

She rolled her eyes and finished donning the sweater. "I'm fully capable of dressing myself, thank you."

She picked up the blanket and draped it over her shoulders before wrapping her arm around Fred's waist. "Now, let's go see how Harry and Ron are getting on, shall we? I'm worried they haven't surfaced yet."

Fred placed his arm around her. "Me too. With our luck the silly git has gone all noble on everyone again."

As Fred predicted, they arrived just in time to see Harry emerge from the lake with both Fleur's sister and Ron in tow, much to the relief of all parties involved.

The twins stuck to Hermione like glue over the following days and while she appreciated their concern she finally had to fuss at them for walking so closely behind her that they were stepping on the back of her shoes.

Time passed and things had almost returned to normal — and then came the night in June when they attended the third task and everything went to hell.

June 1995

Two days after the horrible events at the maze, a crowd gathered at the funeral of Cedric Diggory. The twins sat stone faced on either side of Hermione, each clutching one of her hands.

It had been bad enough when there was a possibility that someone could get hurt. Now someone - a student barely older than they were - had died and it made thinking about what might have happened to Hermione and Ron during the second trial even more terrifying.

Hermione maintained her composure during the service but once the three were alone she burst into almost uncontrollable sobs. The twins, surprised at the depth of her grief, gathered her in their arms.

"Hey. Kitten? You okay?" asked Fred.

"We're sorry. We didn't realize you cared so much about Diggory—" started George.

"This isn't about Cedric!" she cried. "I mean…it is, but…"

They gave her a minute to collect herself and she finally blurted out, "It's about you."

"Us?" the pair replied in unison.

"Yes! Don't you see? It might have been you! If your stupid plans to enter that awful tournament had succeeded that might have been you we were burying today. It might have been…"

She broke down again and the boys let her cry until Fred gently said, "Now you know how we felt while you were under the Lake."

"But we're okay," George added. "And so are you."

"Right. And it's going to stay that way, understand?" said Fred.

"It has to, Fred," she whispered. "Because I don't think I could cope if I lost either of you."

"Well you can stop worrying, 'cuz that'll never happen. You're stuck with us remember?" Fred said. "We're not going anywhere and we're never going to let anything happen to you either because we're friends. Forever."

"Promise?"

"Of course. We made a deal, remember?" said Fred.

She gave them a weak nod as the boys began steering her towards the door.

"Good. Now that we have that settled," said George. "Let's go and see what's cooking in the kitchens. I bet if we ask nicely, Winky will rustle us up some treacle tarts."

"But only if you promise not to try and free her against her will again," teased Fred, tapping Hermione on the nose before playfully nudging her shoulder.

"How can you even think of food at a time like this?" she gently scolded them.

"Because life goes on, Kitten," said Fred. "We mourn and we remember but the best way to honor Cedric is to live."

"Besides," added George, "We need to keep our strength up. The Ministry may not be willing to admit what just happened but we all know that Harry is right about You-Know-Who and that means things are probably going to get worse before they get better."

With that the trio went off, arm in arm, knowing in their hearts that George was right while at the same time desperately hoping that he was wrong.