Fred paced out in the hall. They wouldn't let him see her. They wouldn't let anyone in, even Dumbledore was no where to be seen. And Harry, Fred hadn't seen Harry yet either. Or Ron.

"They'll be fine," George said quietly.

"Last time we were here, you know what happened?" Fred snapped, "You-Know-Who came back, and he nearly killed Harry. It was more than that this time, this is so much worse-"

"Because Hermione's hurt?" George asked flatly. Fred looked back at him.

"And Ron!" He said. George shook his head and went back to staring at his hands. He was waiting on Angelina, Fred knew. He didn't really care. He didn't have the burning in him, the absolute need for information. Fred did. He so rarely understood why Hermione devoured books like she needed them. He would read ten thousand pages if it could just explain what had happened to her. And Harry and Ron.

"They've always been fine," George said clearly, "They're luckier than a leprechaun's left butt cheek."

"Yeah, but she isn't invincible, no matter what she thinks!" Fred said. George raised his eyebrow, "A-And neither is Ron... Where are Mum and Dad at?"

"Still with the Order, I reckon," George said quietly. Fred pulled at his hair, trying to figure out why his thoughts kept circling back to Hermione instead of Ron. Fred had known Ron literally all of his life. There was no time that Fred could remember not having Ron there. He'd been about two when he'd been born, and while there were photos of him holding Ron as a little baby, Fred certainly didn't remember it. He remembered that he and George had always been trouble makers, but that spirit had seemed to skip Ron over and hit Ginny with it instead. And then there was the Teddy Bear Incident.

Fred looked up when George nudged him. At first he didn't see what was going on, then he caught sight of the tall, dark haired Ravenclaw.

"Jacob!" Fred shot to his feet. Williams' eyes shot wide open, and he swallowed nervously. He ran, which for a Ravenclaw was a pretty stupid thing to do. Williams may have had the height advantage, but Fred had every other one. Fred tore after him. He needed somebody to blame, that was true enough, but more importantly he needed someone who would actually tell him something. Williams could, and would, tell Fred exactly how it was that Hermione had managed to overthrow Umbridge and nearly get herself killed in the Ministry doing Merlin knew what.

Second unfortunate choice for Williams; he ran into the Great Hall. There was no escape for him. Fred lunged, secured his arms around Williams' legs, and dragged him to the ground.

"Merlin- gerroff, you looney-" Williams speech was cut off as Fred pulled him into a head lock and dragged him from the silenced hall.

"Mr. Weasley!"

"What are you gonna do, expel me?!" Fred demanded, not pausing for a moment. "Carry on!"

There was no laughter. For the first time, the Weasley twin had appeared to have lost control in front of everyone. And it wasn't a good loss either. He wasn't pissing himself with laughter. He was dragging someone from the Great Hall with a very bitter set to his mouth.

"I told you to watch over her. I told you to keep her safe," Fred said quietly, dragging Williams into an unused broom cupboard. Williams rubbed at his throat and looked sheepish, leaning against the wall. "And where is she?"

"Uh, I actually... she just up and disappeared after Umbridge caught them," Williams mumbled.

"Oh? And?"

"According to Tess, Malfoy said that -and he's not exactly the most trustworthy of people and you'd know better than I- Dumbledore's Army had been making this weapon for Dumbledore to use against the Ministry out in the Forest. Potter'd snuck into Umbridge's office to tell him it was done, but Dumbledore never told him how to," Williams swallowed, "From that we figured that Potter was trying to Floo someone about something important, got caught, and Hermione saved his ass by luring Umbridge into the Forest and letting the centaurs have her."

"Well, shit," Fred groaned. Who would Harry try to contact? Sirius or Remus, most likely. He couldn't exactly send them a letter, that was for sure. The risk of interception was too high. Maybe they had been trying to reach Dumbledore. But why?

"Then they all just disappeared," Williams said. His face set with a stubborn anger, "You know, you might have mentioned that? You said she spent all her time going between the library, classes, and the Common Room. Maybe if you'd warned us she'd Apparate-"

"You can't Apparate on Hogwarts grounds," Fred said, "Except during lessons in the Great Hall."

"I know, I was trying to hyperbolize- she fucking up and disappeared!" Williams said. "I know that Potter goes on crazy adventures at the end of the term but he doesn't usually take her with!"

"Every other year he does," Fred said grumpily. First year she's nearly gotten killed in Devil's Snare and a billion other traps with him. Second year she'd ended up fucking Petrified. Third year she wouldn't fully explain to him, but she and Harry had saved Sirius and Buckbeak. Fourth year she'd gone mental after Cedric and Harry had turned up. And this year-

"You should have warned us then!"

"Fred, is she okay?" Both boys jumped as Tess and Anita appeared in the doorway.

"I don't bloody know!" Fred snapped. The girls seemed slightly taken aback.

"You beating up Jacob?" Albert skidded to a stop behind them, panting slightly and bending over, "That's all well and good, but what exactly is going on and how did Hermione get to London? Also, Dumbledore's totally back, right?"

"I don't know," Fred said venomously. Everyone grouped around him shifted awkwardly. None of them had answers.

"Fred!" He ran out of the cupboard, shoving Albert into Anita as he bolted back to the sound of his twin's voice. The doors to the Hospital Wing had opened, and he slid inside before George had the chance to. Luckily there was a chair for him to knock over in his desperation. He slowed considerably, though he rolled after falling and ended up on his feet again between Hermione and Ron's beds.

"Fred," he looked at Remus. While the man had always looked beaten down, this was worse than ever. For the first time, he looked more than shabby. He wasn't put together. Fred had never seen him look so awful. Madame Pomfrey doted on Ron, wiping something on his arms, which were horribly scarred. Fred's throat closed as he looked away from Remus to Hermione. Her face was pale, her lips almost colorless, her beatiful hair matted and bloodied. She couldn't be- she couldn't be- Fred couldn't think it.

"No," he whispered, touching her cheek gently. It was cold.

Remus wasn't just shabby, he was grieving. Fred screwed his eyes closed. It had to be a nightmare. Stress from being away from her so long. He was going to wake up on the floor with the blankets twisted around him and George's face hovering over him and George would hand him a mug of coffee because Hermione had mentioned that Muggles drank it once and Fred thought of her when he drank it but it would all be a dream. It had to be.

"Poppy, wake her up," Remus ordered quietly. Fred's eyes shot opened, and he watched Madame Pomfrey with unveiled hope.

"But-"

"Poppy," Remus nodded his head toward Fred. The witch left Ron's side after another moment and conjured a small vial out of the air. She touched it to Hermione's mouth, then flicked her wand. Hermione opened her mouth and swallowed the potion. Madame Pomfrey abandonned her, going back to Ron.

Hermione groaned softly.

"'Mione," Fred said quickly, gathering her hand in both of his. Her eyes opened slowly, and Fred was horrified to see her irises purple for a long moment. She blinked twice and screamed. "No, no, no, it's okay, Hermione it's me! It's Fred!"

"No!" She pushed herself sitting, pulling her knees to her chest.

"Back, Mr. Weasley!" Madam Pomfrey ordered. Fred ignored her, touching Hermione's face gently.

"Hermione, you're safe, they can't hurt you!" Fred promised.

"It burned you up," Hermione whispered, shaking her head, tears streaming down her face, "You aren't real."

"What are you talking about, of course I am," Fred said quietly, brushing away her tears. "I'm just as real as you are."

Hermione stared at him, and as she did, her eyes returned to their gorgeous brown color. She took several deep breaths and leaned her head against his shoulder, "It was awful."

"I'm sorry," Fred breathed, resting his head on hers.

"Her-Hermione," Remus said quietly, sitting down at the foot of her bed. Fred glanced at him again. Remus met his eyes and let out a long breath. "After you were cursed, the Order arrived. Ginny sprained her ankle -she's fine now- and Neville's got a broken nose, the Lovegood girl wasn't too badly hurt, and Ron... Well, something in there tried to strangle him, Ginny said it was a brain, but she wasn't making all that much sense. Anyway, the Prophecy got smashed, no one heard it. But... While we were duelling the Death Eaters... After Tonks-"

"What happened to Tonks?" Hermione asked, her words clipped. Maybe she'd seen the shroud of grief that Fred had. Maybe she knew before Fred did. Maybe she didn't need Remus' words to know. She had already let out a sob before Remus said anything.

"She's okay now," Remus reassured her. He closed his eyes, "But Sirius... He's gone."

"Wh-You mean he left the country again?" Fred whispered. It was a bummer, he didn't doubt Sirius could have helped-

"No, he's-" Remus cleared his throat and stood, turning his back on them. His voice broke regardless of his efforts to stop it happened, "He's dead."

"How?" Fred asked. He couldn't believe it. It wasn't fair at all. He and Harry, they were supposed to be... Fred didn't know what. He knew they were both supposed to make it.

"Harry saw it, he-"

"Oh my God," Hermione whispered. "How are you-"

"I'm fine," Remus snapped. "I have to go see to the others. Fred, I'll send your parents in."

"But-"

"I suggest you and George go home," Remus said, his voice clipped. Hermione sniffled and buried her head in Fred's chest. Fred wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head lightly.

"It'll be alright," Fred lied. There had been a storm brewing all year, and he'd been an idiot to ignore it for so long. It'd just burst spectacularly, complete with lightning and thunder.

"By the way, the Ministry knows about Voldemort. He showed up there," Remus said as he left the Hospital Wing.

"What's going to happen?" Hermione asked quietly.

"I don't know," Fred lied again. He knew perfectly well what would happen; it would be the same as it was before. People would die, and there would be a war. Hermione wouldn't be safe, no matter how many people Fred tried to surround her with.

"I wish you could've been there," Hermione whispered, "You would've made everything so much better."

"That's what I'm best at," Fred smiled feebly, though he wasn't exactly sure what she was talking about, trying to hide his own thoughts. He was of age. More than that, he was a dueler and an athlete and a genius. He made his mind up right then; he was going to join the Order. He was going to help Hermione however he could. If he had to, he would be a hero, like Sirius. He would always come rushing to her rescue, even if it meant he didn't get to see her safe at the end of it. He owed that to Sirius.

.o0O0o.

Guys, the emotionally manipulation is just beginning. I'm sorry, and the next few chapters (or like, the next two) won't be quite so traumatic.

Also, I have an obsession with characters whose eyes change colors, or whose eyes mean something significant, which is why you get purple eyes on Hermione for a little bit.

If anyone can draw, I'd love to have a cute fanart that I could use as this story's image. I know I'm not all that artistically gifted, otherwise I'd do it myself, so I can understand if no one wants to.

Female whovian: Basically to prove that I can to myself. Sowwy.

sdrlana21: It's coming, I swear.

Infernalbooks: Thank you! I'm glad you liked them!

Fandomqueen104: This is why we need a Hogwarts from say, Lily Evan's perspective. As a girl, and eventually, Head Girl, she would have the answers to these questions. Fuck James Potter and Why Won't Snape Piss Off?, I want Lily Evans and The Hell am I Bleeding For?!

Guest: Thank you, thank you. The twins were a bit snippy to each other today, on account of Hermione, but next chapter they'll be up and running as per usual.

Just 1 Thought: I know, I had so much feels writing that chapter! But the flames are gone! Fo eva

animelover5107: She's aliiiiiivvee!

I'm a Nerd and Proud: MAYBE THERE'S A BRA CHARM! O.O And thanks ^-^