Hermione didn't particularly enjoy France. That was probably the skiing though. She thought that maybe, just maybe, if she had a shred of athletic ability, she might have liked it. It turned out that falling down the hill while her dad glided by with ease wasn't as much fun as promised. Her mum was nearly as bad; once while trying to help Hermione back up, she fell and slid half a kilometer down the slope until a snow drift near a tree swallowed her. Hermione crashed into the tree when she tried to help.
Thankfully Mr. Granger did not see this.
Hermione tried to find something for Fred while wandering the ski lodge's gift shop. Unfortunately, she didn't have a clue what to give him. Both Muggle and Magical gifts that had any substance to them eluded her. She considered writing Bill or Charlie to ask, but even the thought of doing so made her cringe. Maybe George would know.
She was spared having to go out on the slopes again when an owl tapped on the window of their room late that evening. Hermione's dad looked up from their game of cards in awe, Hermione yelped and whirled to her feet. She took the owl's letter and allowed it inside. It perched regally on the edge of the dresser.
Hermione,
Dad injured, attacked by giant snake doing something for Order. Won't tell us what. Harry possibly involved, not sure how. Fred going crazy without you, which is typical. He needs you before he has a break down. Ron also shaky. I don't know what the fuck is going on. Holiday cheer isn't working, and neither is Weasley. I would like to cordially invite you to fix this mess, which is what you're best in.
Who knows, maybe your future twin-in-law,
Gred.
Hermione dropped the letter her hands were shaking so bad. Giant snake... You-Know-Who had one of those, Harry had said. She hoped to God that Harry wasn't in You-Know-Who's head when it happened. He was already mad and stressed enough without this on top of it. Hermione pulled a hand through her hair, pacing and trying to collect her thoughts. She didn't notice that her parents had picked up the letter from the floor. All three had gone very pale. Hermione's father began to pace, and her mother patted at her bun, then undid it and let her hair fall, then redid it tighter. Hermione tugged at her hair again, closing her eyes as she turned.
"Hermione-"
"Dad, I-" Hermione frowned, glancing at the letter in her mother's hand.
"A giant snake?"
"Future twin-in-law?!"
"I have to go back and help-"
"Do you know how to fix the injuries of giant snake attacks better than doctors? You can't help them, Hermione," her father said. "And it isn't that I want to stop you, it's just-"
"Hermione is their friend, she can give them moral support," her mother said softly.
"Moral support?"
"He could be dying!" Hermione said, turning and ripping out a few strands of her hair. She started at the pain and turned again. "He could already be dead, and -"
"What is the Order again?"
"Are you and Fred that serious?"
"I don't- The Order is- Fred and I-" Hermione took a few deep breaths, trying to clear her muddled head.
"Dear God, he hasn't proposed, has he?"
"Proposed?!"
"What?!" Hermione's attention snapped to her terrified parents, "Proposed?! Are you mental, he's 17, and I'm 16, of course he didn't propose, what are you on about?!"
"I knew I'd raised you better than that," her father let out a long breath of relief.
"Twin-in-law?" Hermione's mother asked flatly. "It certainly sounds serious."
"Well, I'm not into fooling around," Hermione frowned.
"Thank God for that."
"Dad, can I go back?" Hermione asked.
"Why did he call himself Gred?" her mother asked, referencing the letter again.
"They do that when they're trying to make each other feel better," Hermione explained.
"He hardly used a full sentence anywhere," she continued, "There's only..."
"Mum, it doesn't matter," Hermione said.
"I'm just saying that communicating telegraphically-"
"Honey, you're losing us," Hermione's father sighed. "Go."
"You could always take me too, I took a psychology class," Hermione's mother said. "I could help."
"I can't understand why neither of you like skiing!" Then his voice faded as he tried to explain why skiing was so nice, the same way Harry and Ron's did when they talked about Quidditch. Hermione packed her things quickly and was on her way.
Seeing as the boy lacked all control, Hermione wasn't surprised to hear that Harry had indeed been in the mind of You-Know-Who. Or rather, Harry had been in You-Know-Who's head, and You-Know-Who had been in the snake's head. Either way, Harry felt as guilty as if he had attacked Mr. Weasley personally.
Fred snuck into Hermione's room the first night. Ginny had managed to stake a claim to her own room. He found his way to Hermione's bed, tripping every other step until he half fell onto it. He was not alright, not at all.
"What do I do if he-"
"Stop," Hermione whispered, taking his hand and pulling him up until he lay beside her, facing her. "Your father will be perfectly fine, you'll see."
"But what if-"
"Fred, you love your dad," Hermione said. "It isn't hard to see, and I'm sure he knows that too. It'll be okay."
"It's just-" Fred gave a sharp breath and rolled to stare up at the ceiling. "I don't know... What would I do with myself if one of us... I can't..."
"Fred, no one is going to die," Hermione said. "The good guys always win, remember?"
And she told him the story of the Lord of the Rings. She didn't quite know why, and she gave a very small synopsis of the over arching story, touching here and there on major themes and making minor ones more clear. Hermione had grown up with the Lord of the Rings. It had been her bedtime story for longer that she could recall, her father had a copy of the Return of the King which had been signed by J.R.R. Tolkien.
"All the Hobbits survived," Hermione whispered. "Sam lived on to have children with Rosie, Merry and Pippin were almost as troublesome as you and George to the end of days, and Frodo and Bilbo were allowed to sail to the Undying lands with Gandalf and the elves. Aragorn became King of Gondor, and had a child with Arwen, Gimli and Legolas traveled far and wide across Middle Earth, Faramir and Eowyn lived happily together, and Eomer became the King of the Golden Hall."
"That's Rohan?" Fred asked sleepily.
"Exactly," Hermione smiled.
"But Boromir died."
"He did, to prove that temptation can be overcome, and that some friendships, and some tasks, are important enough to give your life for," Hermione sighed, wishing she'd glossed over that even more.
"And Dain never came with an army of dwarves."
"The last time Dain had ridden to battle with an army of dwarves, he'd lost his king and the line of Durin had ended. He wasn't keen for a repeat."
"What?"
"It's a whole different story," Hermione said, "One about Bilbo."
"You can show off your impressive memory of that one tomorrow night," Fred murmured, kissing her lightly.
"Is that a promise?"
"And the day after that I'll tell you all about the Warlock's Hairy Heart," Fred kissed her cheek as she recoiled slightly.
"The what?!"
George nearly had a heart attack when he found them curled up together in bed the next morning. Both had their pants on, but he nearly slipped and died on Hermione's tank top as he ran away to cower and get that blasted image of the two of them alone together out of his head.
"I hate him," Fred groaned, rolling out of bed and grabbing his shirt from the floor.
.o0O0o.
I am getting pissed with my internet and captcha; I just spent 20 minutes trying to log on to the site with both working against me.
Fandomqueen104: Same, my dad is never off my back for my handwriting. THEY NEVER TELL US WHAT THE FUCK THE TWINS PATRONUSES ARE AND IT PISSES ME OFF, I SPENT HALF AN HOUR LOOKING FOR THEM AND WHY DOES JO DO THIS TO US?! But it's good 'cause then I get to make them up and have be whatever the fuck I want them to be so *aggressively puts on shades*
Electrocorrosive: So far for year 6 ideas I have Hogsmeade, Quidditch matches (because we know parents and others are allowed to attend), Hermione trying to sneak out of the castle, and awkward couple time with Dumbledore. Plus, the twins are cannonically there when Ron is poisoned. Fear not, for Sir Williams will return again, another day.
Infernalbooks: You'll have to wait and see. If Fred dies, I'll cry, but I do that anyways. If Fred doesn't die, I'm sure I'll come up with something else that makes me cry even harder. But don't be too worried, 'cause someone is going to get it.
Guest: I wish you had a real account so I could know for sure for sure who the fuck you are. But thank you!
Thedoctorswif3: You're a Guardian?! I would love to be a Guardian, but I would just melt into a puddle of broke goo. I love Millie stories, especially that one.
Hollowg1rl: The snowball fight was completely impromptu. I had something longer and more complicated (and probably cuter) but my computer had a spasm and I lost it, and by that time I was annoyed because where I am, all the snow is melting and it's January, so the snow shouldn't be melting at all and I really wish I was having snowball fights. So much drama revolving around death. So. Much.
MademoiselleLottchen: Well, I'm banking on the fact that Ron is an idiot (after all he didn't ask Hermione out until book 7 in cannon when they definitely had crushes on each other in year 4). Like, I've invested all of my stuff in that by now. The problem with Lavender and Ron is that I personally feel that once you've broken up with someone, there is no way to fix that break of trust. Sure, friends, but to go back to being more than that is sketchy at best.
StarGirlPotter: I showed the episode from 2 weeks ago to a friend (the one with Pyrrha and Penny) and she nearly killed me for ruining her day. RWBY got dark and full of the feels.
Animelover5107: My favorite RT/AH moment is literally any time that Gavin screams. Never not funny.
