A/N: I am in no possession of anything Harry Potter related. Except for the books and DVD which I purchased legally. Thank you.

Also, do you know what word I need to use? Goons, lackeys or cronies. Any idea how to incorporate those words?

:*: 5 – Underneath the Stars :*:

I immediately felt my insides go cold. I felt like I was nothing.

"What?" I managed to choke out.

"Is anyone… I mean, are they…" Hermione asked. Her eyes were wide and her skin had paled.

"All alive – " George said.

I immediately went warm.

" – But hurt. St. Mungo's." George was speaking in fragments and wasn't making a whole lot of sense, but we knew where to go: St. Mungo's.

We turned around to the fireplace and with Hermione clutched tightly to my side, I yelled "St. Mungo's!"

"Fred!" I heard Mum say as I walked into the waiting room. She hugged me so tightly I swear I heard some ribs crack.

I saw Harry and Ron sitting on chairs looking rightfully shaken and covered with dirt and bruises and bandages.

Bill, Charlie and Percy were there too.

"Where's Ginny?" I asked, noticing she was the only one missing.

Mum started crying. Dad walked over and hugged her, guiding her back over to the chairs. Bill got up and walked over to me.

"She's in the critical care unit right now," Bill said. He was also very pale.

"What happened?" I demanded. I tend to get angry when I'm upset.

"Fred," Hermione said, crying. "Shh…"

I unconsciously wrapped my arm around her.

"Bill," I said. "Tell me…"

They didn't know much. Bill stressed that point. All they could decipher was that a large group of Death Eaters had gotten into Diagon Alley and just started blasting things apart. Stores, carts, and even people. There was no known motive, because the injured were all types of wizards: Pure bloods, half bloods… It was so unprovoked.

What happened to Mum and them was they were walking out of Gringott's when a few of the Death Eaters spotted Harry. They ran over shouting numerous hexes and haphazardly aiming. A Destructor Curse hit the wall of Gringott's and a chunk of cement fell.

It must've been a very powerful curse to break the wall of a magical building. Only totally Dark Magic could do that.

Anyways, the cement crumbled onto the group, mostly on Harry and Ginny. Ginny, it seems, jumped to cover and save Harry, thus resulting in her more serious injuries.

"What's going to happen?" I asked. I wasn't crying… Not yet.

"The Mediwizards are in there now," Bill said. "They say it's too soon to tell. The number of Healing Charms they have to place on her will be very advanced and  difficult."

"But she's going to be okay? Right?" I asked. I felt a tear on my cheek.

Bill didn't respond. Hermione sobbed louder and I hugged her tightly.

:*: :*: :*: :*: :*: :*: :*: :*: :*: :*:

I don't think I've ever experienced a longer five hours in my entire life. We just sat there. No one said a thing.

Harry was, you could tell, feeling guilty. He kept pacing and peering through the Critical Care Unit window.

Ron was just staring at the wall, occasionally running his hands through his hair nervously.

George kept trying to say something, but could never get the words out.

Percy had brought some work with him, but wasn't doing it. He just kept sifting through the papers.

Dad was just hugging Mum, who was silently crying. So was Dad.

Bill kept picking at his Dragon Hide boots whereas Charlie kept picking at a burn on his arm.

Hermione had stayed by my side. I just kept my arm around her as she cried into my chest. I was still trying to keep my tears in.

After what seemed like an eternity, a doctor walked out.

We all stood up, expecting news.

He wasn't Ginny's Mediwizard.

We sat down again and resumed our aforementioned tasks.

Another eternity passed by until another doctor came out.

We all stood up again. The Mediwizard removed his mask and was smiling.

"The Charms were a success," he said. "Miss Ginny Weasley will be fine."

There was a loud sigh of relief and then a lot of happy crying and hugging.

Hermione was smiling happily, but I could see in her eyes there was something else. It was fear.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" I asked her.

"Not now," was all she said before hugging me tightly.

Needless to say, I hugged back. In fact, I picked her up off the ground and spun her around. It was nice. I caught Charlie, George and Percy all looking at me funny.

Finally, Dad asked the question we all wanted to hear the answer to:

"When can we see her?"

"Well," the Mediwizard said, consulting his carts. "Right now, if you want."

"Of course we want!" Bill exclaimed. We all practically sprinted into her room.

"Oh, Ginny!" Mum cried, throwing her arms around her.

Ginny looked so small… like she might break. But we all piled on to hug her anyways.

"Mum," Ginny said, "I can't breathe."

Mum whipped back quickly. Ginny smiled, then turned to look at everyone else. Her eyes lingered on Hermione and I (we were standing together, and I, once again, had my arm around her shoulder. I always found a way to sneak that in, didn't I?) before smirking and turning back to the family.

"Hey!" I said suddenly. "I forgot! I got a job!"

Suddenly, the attention was all on me.

"Oh, dear, that's wonderful!" Mum said.

"Where?" Charlie asked.

I shot a "holier-than-thou" look to George before saying, "Zonko's."

"You lucky weasel, you!" George said, laughing.

Everything seemed to be turning up roses for the Weasley clan, didn't they?

:*: :*: :*: :*: :*: :*: :*: :*: :*: :*:

Ginny was released from St. Mungo's two days later. She was very happy to be home. Not only because she was healthy and all, but because Harry asked her out.

Ginny said yes, but I guess you already knew that.

After all the sweetness that came from Harry and Ginny's new romance, I remembered what I had seen in Hermione.

"Hermione," I said at dinner that night, "What were you feeling that day at the hospital?"

Hermione looked quickly around the dinner table, mouthed "outside," grabbed my hand and outside we went.

"I didn't want anyone else to hear," she said when we reached the pond.

Yes, the pond where we shared our first conversation this summer.

"So," I said. "What's a matter?"

"You remember what I said in the 'Three Broomsticks,' don't you?"

"About you being scared to go back to Hogwarts?" Hermione nodded.

"Doesn't this prove it?" Hermione asked. "Doesn't what happened in Diagon Alley prove that something bad is going to happen this year?"

"What?" I said, shocked. "No! It doesn't. This was just… some… whacked out idiots. I bet they were drunk."

Hermione looked at me skeptically. Hell, I didn't believe myself either.

"I don't want to go back to Hogwarts where something is going to happen to me or Ron or Harry or Ginny or anyone else there. Well," she said, "Maybe if something happened to Malfoy or his goons (A/N: Haha! I did it!), I wouldn't care."

I laughed.

"Hermione, nothing is going to happen to you, because I won't let it. I'll die before I let anyone hurt you," I said sincerely.

Hermione looked at me and smiled gratefully.

"Thank you," she said.

Hermione looked up at the sky, which was completely clear and the stars were twinkling innocently.

"Does Hermione have a constellation?" I asked, trying to find something to talk about so that we could stay outside together.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Your name. Hermione. It's a Greek Goddess, right?"

"Yes," she answered, looking at me weirdly.

"Well," I said, "Some Greek mythological things have constellations. And if yours did, where is it?"

Hermione looked up into the sky, then back to me.

"You know, I don't know."

I clutched my chest.

"What?" I exclaimed dramatically. "Hermione Granger, not knowing something. My world is spinning out of control!"

I started spinning around chaotically, running into Hermione, who fell onto the ground, giggling.

She just laid on the ground, laughing, so I did the most logical thing I could think of at the time: I laid down next to her.

"You make me feel so much better whenever I talk to you," she said to me.

"I'm glad. I like making people happy. Especially when people is you," I replied, looking into her eyes.
Hermione looked back at me then laughed.

"That sentence made no sense whatsoever!" she cried.

I laughed too.

I liked laughing with Hermione. It was nice.

Everything, I've noticed, to me,. Is nice. Laughing with Hermione is nice… Hugging Hermione was nice… Dancing with Hermione is nice…

I really need a Thesaurus.

What's another word for thesaurus?

God, I have the weirdest tangents.

Anyways, I was laying on the grass with Hermione, looking at the sky.

"God, it's so beautiful out here," Hermione said.

"It really is," I answered. As cheesy as it may be, I wasn't looking at the sky. If Hermione had looked at me, she would have seen me seeing her. I mean, looking at her. And God, was she beautiful.

She looked the exact same she always did, but there was just a new aura about her. I guess I began to see her more as a person than just as a high-strung bookworm.

"So," Hermione said. "How long do we plan on lying out here?"

"As long as we can," I answered. "we should sleep out here. That'd be fun."

Hermione laughed.

"I'm serious," I said. "Sleep under the big sky."

"We'd freeze," she said.

"We could keep each other warm," I offered.

Hermione laughed again and hit me softly on the shoulder.

"Come on," she said, getting up.

I groaned. I didn't want her to leave. I wanted her to stay there, wrapped in my arms.

Hermione bent over and pulled me up by the arm, which was a challenge as I'm a little bigger than her.

"How much do you weigh?" Hermione asked playfully.

"More than you," I said. "And that's all you need to know."

Hermione started walking towards the back door, but I walked slower.

"Hermione…" I said.

She turned around.

I wish I could say at this point I declared my feelings for her in light of the whole "Life is short" incident involving Ginny, but I didn't.

I had every intention to, but when she turned around and I saw her big brown eyes… I just froze. I couldn't.

"What?" she said, taking a few steps towards me.

"I…" I paused. "Thank you for being so open with me."

Hermione smiled and walked inside. I mentally kicked myself for being such a chicken.

"Hey," I said to George as I reached our bedroom.

"So," was all George said.

"So what?"

"So," George repeated. "You and Hermione?"

I dropped the shirt I was about to put on.

"What?" I said. "No!"

"Oh, come on!" George said. "You two have been doing everything together. And don't think I haven't noticed all the times you seem to have your arm around her. So tell me," he added. "Are you two secretly dating? Going on nasty little rendezvous?'

I threw the shirt at him.

"There is nothing between me and Hermione," I said. "Except a friendship."

"Sure," George said, unconvinced.

"There isn't!" I insisted.

"That may be true," George said reasonably. "But you want there to be more, don't you?"

My brother knows me way too well.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Go to bead you nosy git!" I said, throwing the covers over my head to George repeating:

"Fred and Hermione Weasley. Mr. and Mrs. Fred Weasley. Mrs. Hermione Granger-Weasley."

Mr. and Mrs. Fred and Hermione Weasley. I can't say that that sounds horrible…

A/N: I'm so glad you all like this story so much! I like writing it. I have school tomorrow (and the rest of the week) but I'll be writing in all my spare time to get the next chapter out ASAP.