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Chapter Eighteen

George POV

The next day, George woke up before Hermione and he slid out from the bed to go surprise her with breakfast and coffee. When he walked out of his room, he saw Fred and Angelina sitting at the counter. "Good morning, mate." Fred smiled as he threw a blueberry from across the room.

George caught it in his mouth with a nod. "Nothing much. Just about to make some breakfast."

"Is Hermione ready for the upcoming school year?" Angelina asked before taking a sip of her tea. "I was talking to Ginny about Quidditch and it seems like Gryffindor is nervous about the House Cup since so many members of the team are changing around."

George shrugged. "I think she's alright. It's just a lot going on in the world and she thinks it's going to affect Hogwarts."

The two considered that. "It seems like it always does." Angelina decided solemnly.

He considered how the streets of the usual lively Diagon Alley looks and hoped that Hogwarts wouldn't be met with the same fate. Surely, Hogwarts was the safest place in the world. He was thankful that his friends and family that were still attending had excellent Defense Against the Dark Arts skills, thanks to Harry, otherwise he wasn't sure how confident he would feel.

After he had made egg, toast, and coffee for the two of them, he took the plates and mugs to the room ignoring Fred's wolf whistle from behind him. When he walked into his room, she was sitting up in his bed and rubbing her eyes. "Morning!" He sang in a cheery voice to her as he sat next to her on the quilt. "I brought some coffee and eggs. Care for some?"

Hermione's face filled with an appreciative smile. "You are the absolute best, George Weasley. Don't let that get to your head."

He kissed the top of her head. "Too late for that, Granger. Any compliment I get from you makes my ego ten times bigger. You should know that by now."

"I must be a slow learner." She joked between a bite of scrambled egg.

George rolled his brown eyes. "You are many things, but a slow learner is not one."

"I'm sad you aren't going to Hogwarts with me." She pouted and stared down into her tan colored coffee. "It's going to be a boring year without your antics."

He chuckled sadly. George so desperately wished to be able to walk the halls with Hermione and protect her from any harm that may come her way. "I'm sure McGonagall would love to have Fred and I to lose points for Gryffindor."

"Oh please. She loved you boys. I'm sure she will miss you desperately."

George didn't want to continue talking about Hogwarts. The thoughts of the potential danger and the nostalgia mixed together was too much for him. He smiled softly. "Well, no matter. Now we are both members of the Order. No longer being a student has some perks."

Hermione scrunched her nose. "I wish they would let Harry, Ron, and I join the Order. We have a right to know all of these things."

"I'll tell you as much as I can, but it'll have to be saved for the Hogsmeade trips and Holiday's. Owls aren't trustworthy anymore since they're being monitored."

"It's such a weird time we live in. I haven't told my parents what is going on. I don't think they would let me return to Hogwarts or visit the wizarding world if they knew."

The thought of Hermione not being able to visit him made George nauseas. "Yea let's not have that happen. I would miss my girl too much." He kissed her cheek which made her blush. "Well, we better get your things together, so my mum doesn't explode on us. She made me promise to get you to the Burrow today before lunch so that you could help the boys get all of their things together."

"You won't miss me, too much will you, George?" Hermione smiled sadly up at the red head.

George ruffled her morning hair and kissed her lips. "I will always miss you when you're not beside me, Hermione. Remember that." He smiled and backed up. George then added dramatically, "I suppose I will live."

Hermione POV

After George and Fred dropped her off at the Burrow, they stayed for the remainder of the day. They apparated home after dinner and George had embraced her like he would never see her again. The only reason they pulled apart is because Ron had walked into the kitchen at that point and made a gagging sound.

That night, Hermione had a hard time sleeping without George's arms wrapped protectively around her to comfort her throughout the night. This year would be awful. Perhaps she shouldn't have gotten used to sleeping at his flat above the joke shop this summer…

The next morning, Hermione, Harry, and Ron were in Ron's room, packing up the last of their books while Harry was venting about Malfoy's behavior. "He's up to something and I think we should take it seriously. His father is a Death Eater, and…" The boy with the messy, black hair froze halfway through his sentence.

Ron looked anxiously at him. "Your scar isn't hurting is it, mate?"

Harry shook his head and looked at them with wide eyes. "He's a Death Eater… He's replaced his father as a Death Eater!"

Ron began to laugh wildly. "Harry… He's only 16! He's not even of age yet. Do you really think that You-Know-Who would let him join?"

Hermione bit her lip debating the situation in her head. "It seems very unlikely, Harry. I don't want to say you're wrong, but can you tell me what makes you think that? Help me understand."

Harry gave a look at Ron who was still cackling on his bed before looking into her eyes. "Well when he was getting his robes fitted, he jerked his arm away from her when she tried to roll up his left arm. That's the arm they keep the Dark Mark on. Also, he showed Borgin something we couldn't see. I think that it could've been the Dark Mark because it really scared the shop keeper. What would scare someone more than the threat of Death Eaters destroying your shop like all the other shops on Diagon Alley."

The thought of shops getting destroyed and the shop keepers getting kidnapped made Hermione drop her Advanced Ancient Runes book into her trunk with more force than necessary. Her thoughts were clouded by the safety of George before Harry brought her back to the present with asking her. "What do you think, Hermione?"

She shrugged. "I think we just need more evidence…"

Harry shoved his Quidditch robes into the top of his trunk before storming out of the room. The Gryffindor girl sighed in defeat. She hated making Harry feel this way, like he was on his own against the world. She just wasn't sure there was enough facts to lead them to a final answer.

Ron cleared his throat from his bed and got to his feet. "So… Hermione… nice summer?"

"You're asking me how my Summer was, Ron? You never ask how I am." She raised an eyebrow and closed her trunk lid once everything was organized neatly inside.

Ron's face turned a violent shade of red and he looked to the ground at his scuffed shoes before back up to her eyes. "Well… I guess I am asking now."

"Well… I spent most of it here."

"No, you spent it at the joke shop most of the Summer." He pointed out with a slight frown and shoved books on top of his trunk.

"What's wrong with that, Ron. I spent it here and at my boyfriend's apartment. That's normal." Hermione crossed her arms and shifted her weight to the other leg.

Ron rubbed the back of his neck and let out a breath. "George's apartment. Yea. I know. I just wish you would've spent more time here."

"Well…" Hermione shifted her weight again, awkwardly. Ron never spoke like this with her and it was making her feel uncomfortable. This time last year, she would've appreciated being wanted by the Gryffindor Prefect. She was a different person now. "I knew that I would see you and Ginny at school. I won't be able to get to see Fred and George there. I wanted to spend time with them, too."

Ron seemed to smile a bit at that reasoning. "Sure… sure… Well, I'm excited that things will go back to normal soon."

She furrowed her eyebrow. "What's normal?"

He chuckled. "I guess with us, we never know."

She shook her head. Hermione didn't have time to try and decipher if he meant we as in the Golden Trio or him and her. She didn't think she wanted to know the answer either. It wouldn't make it any easier.

As they got to the platform, Harry motioned them to go to an empty compartment. "Sorry, Harry." Hermione blushed apologetically. "We have to go to the Prefect's carriage and then patrol the corridors for a bit…"

"Oh yea. Sorry, I forgot." Harry shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded sadly.

They left their friend in the empty compartment. Ron sighed. "I hate when we do that."

"Do what?" Hermione asked staring at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Disappoint him."

She laughed slightly. "I didn't know you understood others emotions, Ron."

"Guess I'm just growing up, 'Mione." He gave her a half smile before opening the Prefect compartment door for her. She hesitated before going in and thanking him.

After they arrived at Hogwarts, the Great Hall was lively and filled with students. Hermione was filled with anxiety. "He's not here yet." She felt her throat tighten and the threat of frustration tears to spill out of her eyes. Harry always seemed to find danger and it always happened when she wasn't there to help him through it. He could be anywhere right now.

When the large doors opened, and Harry walked in, she could feel her chest slightly fill with air from relief. That was, before she saw his face. The dark-haired teenage boy forced himself in-between the two Gryffindor's. "What've you done to your face?" Ron demanded as he looked at Harry's bloody face.

"You're covered in blood! Come here, let me fix it." Hermione huffed as she reached into her robes and pulled out her wand. "Tergeo!"

Harry smiled. "Thanks, Hermione. How does my nose look?"

"Normal… why shouldn't it look normal, Harry? What happened?" Hermione could feel the anxiety now reaching her heart and making it race faster than ever.

Harry shook his head. "I'll tell you later. Too many ears." He motioned towards Neville, Dean, Seamus, and Ginny who were leaning in to listen to their conversation from across the Gryffindor table. Hermione gave them a squinty eyed glare before they turned away to act like they weren't blatantly eavesdropping on the conversation moments before.

Dumbledore cut off their conversation to step up to the podium and announce the changes that were happening this semester. Hermione leaned in, excited to begin the year off on the right foot. He announced that Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products were banned, which made Hermione giggle, Quidditch teams would be holding tryouts soon and the school needed a new commentator, Professor Slughorn was joining the staff as the potions master, and Snape was going to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

The last bit of information made her friend say loudly, "No!"

Hermione slapped Harry's shoulder and shushed him. It was too late, heads from other tables turned to look at who was that blatantly obvious about their dislike in Professor Snape taking over Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Once Dumbledore gained all the student's attention again, the twinkle in his eyes disappeared. "Now, I must talk to you all about a more serious matter. As everybody in this Hall knows, Lord Voldemort and his followers are once more at large and gaining in strength. I cannot emphasize strongly enough how dangerous the present situation is, and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we remain safe. The castle's magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer, we are protected in new and more powerful ways, but we must still guard scrupulously against carelessness on the part of any student or member of the staff. I urge you, to abide by any security restrictions that your teachers might impose upon you, however irksome you might find them. The rules that you are not to be out of bed after hours is imperative that you follow. I trust you to conduct yourselves, always, with the utmost regard for your own and others' safety." He smiled once again. "Now, your beds await, as warm and comfortable as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top priority is to be well-rested for your first day of term!"

Hermione jumped up to guide the first-year students to the Gryffindor dormitories. She turned to ask Ron a question and shook her head in disappointment as she saw he had stayed behind with Harry. "Gryffindors' follow me!" She called out in a clear voice as the eleven-year-old students followed her with wide eyes and excitement.

A small smile filled her face as she remembered how she felt the first night at Hogwarts. How many of these students were muggle born like her and had no idea they were wizards until months prior when they received their letter to this school.