Chapter Eleven
A/N: Well, I lied, back in chapter six or seven I said that only once was I going to use the point of view of George, well obviously I need to add some more insight. Also sorry about the wait, the length isn't exactly what I was hoping for when I sat down and hand wrote this out (what I always do before typing). Anyway, the * symbol is at the start and end of the Fred p.o.v ___________________________________________________________________________
Last time: [He sighed quietly, "Go to hell mudblood."
"Am I a mudblood? I thought we had discussed this already.
He glared angrily at her, and then swiftly leaned down and kissed her. She gasped at the sudden contact with his cold lips. As his arms slid around her waist she felt herself leaning into him, letting his seductiveness take over.
"No," she said quietly pushing him backward, touching a hand to her mouth.]
"No, I don't know why you think that you can walk away from me," he said taking a step towards her as she took a step back.
She grimaced, "Look I don't know what you're playing at but I." he leaned down and kissed her again, she struggled to push him off of her again.
"Malfoy what the hell was that for," Hermione shrieked moving as far away from him as she could.
He turned away from her, "Just wanted to shut you up Granger," his voice was colder then the December air outside but it trembled slightly.
She watched as he began to stalk away, she thought of how easy it would be to turn Malfoy into a ferret again, like Moody had in their fourth year. She quite preferred him as a ferret, he couldn't insult her that way, and it's not like she didn't know the spell, she had long ago learned how to transfigure humans into animals. Now that she thought about it, fourth year had been an interesting one, more killings, and Voldemort's undignified return, mixed with the accidental death of Cedric Diggory.
"Something is happening to the wizard world," Ron had said to her one evening whilst Harry was off working on solving his next clue in the TriWizard Tournament. "I can already feel it."
He was of course correct, even before fifth year had begun trouble had begun to stir for both Harry and all of the light side. She had barely been home a week when she had received an urgent letter from Dumbledore asking her to immediately leave her home and travel to number nine Grimwald place, otherwise known as the secret headquarters of The Order of the Phoenix. She had walked through the invisible door and into the house of Black, and there waiting for her was the Weasley family, along with a very agitated, wild Sirius Black.
She had spent her summer there, waiting for any information on new Death Eater plans from Snape, heard via the twins' extendable ears, or at least until Molly Weasley discovered the use of them. Then the real trouble started, but Hermione really didn't want to think about that... Harry had gotten into far more trouble then usual and now that Hermione knew Snape was indeed one of the good guys he seemed even more malicious then usual. In fact he and Harry had ultimately led to the demise of Sirius Black himself, although neither of them wanted to admit it.
She let out a sigh as she entered the Common Room; somewhere she was still rather uncomfortable. Everyone seemed to be working without a care and she envied them, they could at least pretend that they weren't worried. She spotted Harry and Ron sitting together on one of the couches and she went to join them.
"Hey guys," She said her voice sounding tired and worn.
"Oy Mione, you look dreadful," Ron said looking at her with concern, "don't you sleep at all."
"Well good evening to you too," She huffed.
Harry just blinked and looked at them breathing deeply. She did have to admit that she did look quite worn, in fact she seemed to look years older then she was. All of the stress that had been building was taking its toll on her. What she really needed was a warm bath and about three weeks of undisrupted sleep.
"How are you Harry," she asked ruffling his hair affectionately.
"I've been better," he replied rather gloomily.
"What's wrong mate," Ron asked from his opposite side, oblivious to the fact that Lavender was staring at him and tapping her foot impatiently.
"Did you have something planned tonight," Hermione asked carefully choosing her words so that Fred and George wouldn't start teasing him. "With Lavender I mean."
"What," he blushed, "what do you mean."
"Ron," giving him her best McGonagall look, "I may be a bookworm but I'm not stupid, by the look on her face she wants to drag you off to a broom closet or something."
The red-haired boy grinned, "I am irresistible."
Harry took it upon himself to hit the other boy in the face with a pillow, "What in the hell are you doing sitting around here then?"
"My best friends problems are more important then snogging," he pointed out.
"My god," Hermione said clasping her hands to her chest in mock horror, "did he just say what I think he said?"
Harry laughed, "Ron, if you don't go over there and talk to her now I'm pretty sure that you won't be snogging anyone for a long time. Who knows what she could tell people!"
Ron looked from Harry to Hermione skeptically, "Alright then," he said as he stood and made his way toward the girl.
"So what's really the problem," she asked Harry quietly.
"What do you think the problem is," he barked.
She gritted her teeth, "Well pardon my asking."
"I'm sorry," he said defeatedly, "it's just that now, with the attacks starting again... I feel like it's my fault."
"Harry," she sighed, "none of this is your fault." 'Well, okay, I admit some of this could have been avoided,' she thought, 'what the hell am I thinking? Harry is my best friend.' "I know that you like to play the part of the hero, but eventually you're going to have to realize that you can't always handle it."
"I can handle it," he said quietly, "it's my fault that Sirius died and now I have to take my revenge."
"Revenge isn't the most suitable of reason's to kill someone," She said before she thought about it. "Oh Harry, I didn't mean that, it's just that I'm so tired."
"It's alright Hermione," he answered, "I just can't get over it."
She checked around the common room to see if anyone was listening, "I was there too Harry, you can't blame yourself, if you blame yourself you have to blame me as well, I was there, I could have stopped it, or somehow figured out that the house elf had lied."
Harry placed his head in his hands; "You didn't know him like I did."
She patted his shoulder gently, "No I didn't, but what I did know about him made me realize he was a great person, he was always eager to get outside Harry, he hated being cooped up in that old house, we both know that."
"He hated that house," Harry managed a weak laugh.
"Everyone hated that house, I swear if I heard his mother say that I was filthy one more time I would have...well I suppose I would have thought up a spell to make her shut up."
"Yes." At the sight of tears she spoke again, "Look Harry, the world isn't fair at all, I suppose you know that better then I do, but it just seems like we've both been through a lot recently. If the world were fair then Voldemort would have died a long time ago."
A few heads shot up at the mention of the Dark Lord but they soon went back to work. He sniffled and hastily wiped the tears away. When a grin broke out on his face she wondered what was going on in that head of his.
"And Malfoy would still be a ferret," he laughed, a real laugh.
"I think we're on the same brainwave tonight," she said happy to hear the sound of his laughter, it had seemed like ages since she had heard him laugh like this.
"I thought that Ron and Lavender were leaving," he said noticing that they were having some sort of quarrel.
"Ron," Lavender shrieked, "what do you mean you can't take me to Hogsmeade this weekend because you've got practice?"
Ron's ears turned pink, "I'm sorry, it's just that I...well I don't want to get kicked off the team, it was heaven that I made it in the first place."
The girl made another high-pitched squeal and stormed off to bed, Ron made a sad attempt to go after her but George stopped him at the stairs.
"You know very well you can't go up there without going through the passageway," George said with reason, "besides, she'd hex the ears off you if you went in her room right now."
Nodding at his brother he came back and sat down roughly in the spot he had left earlier. Harry gave him a sympathetic look and punched him in the arm.
"Tough luck mate," Harry said.
"I guess so," he said sighing, "game of chess."
It had been and hour of so, Hermione reading a book on advanced potions and the boys playing their game of chess. She had just reached a particularly interesting chapter about the uses of dragon's tongue when Ron let out a whoop of triumph.
"I win," he said smirking, "you owe me a bag of chocolate frogs."
"No way," Harry said furrowing his brow, "another game, double or nothing."
"If you're going to play another game then I'm heading up to bed," she said closing her book and rubbing her eyes.
"Yeah sure," Harry said giving her a smile, "thanks for everything Mione."
"Don't call me that," she joked.
"See you at breakfast," Ron said already setting up the new game.
*
Fred looked at Hermione as she slept soundly with her four-poster curtains slightly open. This was a blessing to him, it gave him a breathtaking view of the girl, moonlight dancing across her face showing her pained expression.
'Probably a nightmare,' Fred concluded.
He had been watching her now for an hour, watching as her chest steadily rose and fell giving him a restless outlook. He sat down on the bed and gently ran the back of his hand across her cheeks.
"Beautiful Hermione," he said aloud, "how easy it would be to kiss now."
'Or kill you,' something in his mind said. 'All you have to do is put you're hands around her neck and end all of this.' He quickly moved from the bed, never in his life had he been this tempted to kill anyone, with the exception of Voldemort and his brothers when they were being prats. As he tiptoes through the passage to his dorms he wondered if he was losing his mind.
*
"Morning Harry, Ron," Hermione said as she sat down next to Ron at breakfast the next morning.
"Mphning," Ron said through a mouthful of sausage.
"Have you seen George yet today," Hermione asked trying not to sound overeager.
"Not yet," Ron said taking a sip of juice.
"You know Fred isn't here either," Harry said quietly.
"I know why," he leaned in so that no one else could hear them, "they're planning something."
"What," Harry asked enthusiastically.
"Not quite sure," he answered eating some toast hungrily.
"Can't be too important," Hermione said over Ron's chewing, "I mean if it were something big we'd know about it. Besides they've already guaranteed a name in this school."
"Best pranksters since Marauders," Harry nodded, "if not better."
"I bet it's some new type of candy for the store," Ron said thoughtfully, "it's really popular, mum can hardly believe all of the money they are making."
"Maybe we'll get lucky though, you never know when they'll shrink Snape's head."
"Or wash his hair," Harry added to Hermione's comment.
The classes went by quickly, Hermione was sure this was because she didn't have potions to deal with, Snape had a very disconcerting presence, and Neville had proved this by his brilliance in Herbology but failure in Potions.
That evening she met George in the Common Room after everyone was asleep. He stood there waiting patiently while Hermione went upstairs and asked Harry if she could borrow his invisibility cloak.
"Shh," Hermione said, dragging George up to the Astronomy tower, "this cloak doesn't mask sound."
"You've lectured me countless times about this," he said, "in fact you tell me the same thing just about every time we use this thing."
She laughed, "I suppose I do."
Once they got inside Hermione let out a deep breath, she was always on alert, you never knew when Mrs. Norris was going to appear out of nowhere. She took off the cloak and deposited it on the floor near the door to the balcony. She led him outside and leaned into him.
"Well Hermione, if anyone had told me that I would be in the Astronomy tower with you I would have told them they were insane. Somehow I just can't picture you in anything less romantic then a room filled with roses and candles."
She snorted, "I'm sure."
"A snog in the Astronomy tower," he laughed.
"We aren't here to make out George," she said sternly although it sounded hardly believable. "I came to look at the stars and think."
"Oh right, look at the stars," she could hear his smile through his voice.
She sighed, "George Weasley you are impossible."
"I do believe that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me," he answered.
She smiled to herself, she loved how George could joke around, make the load that she carried a little lighter. She has many things crossing her mind, things like Voldemorts attacks and the safety of her parents along with the reason behind Neville's death and how she fit in to it. In one sudden powerful attack things flashed before her eyes and made her even more unstable.
"Hermione are you okay," George asked her noticing her sharp intake of breath.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Liar," he breathed in her ear. "I have a sneaking suspicion that you were thinking about what has happened lately."
"I just don't understand," she admitted looking up at the stars, "why is this happening to me? Does someone up there think that I need more stress? I have to worry about my friends, my family..."
"Be strong Hermione," he grimaced at his cliché phrase, "you can't admit defeat now."
"I can do whatever the hell I want to do," she barked at him.
"So you're just going to give up?"
"Yes," she said.
"Then Neville will never truly be released from our world, and will never have justice."
"What do you want me to do about it," she half-screamed, "you expect me to have all of the answers."
"I expect no such thing, but I think you should go to Dumbledore with the journal, I think he'll be able to help us."
"He- he'll blame me for Neville's death."
"That is the most idiotic thing you've ever said," George announced, "Lucius Malfoy is to blame. Neville was going insane, just like his parents before him, although I suppose it was a very different spell, a dark one nonetheless."
"Fine," she said, "I'll go talk to Dumbledore about it, but first I have to go the library to finish my potions essay."
She felt as if she had just caused the lose of the house cup, but inside she knew that it was right to go the headmaster, in fact she should have done so long ago.
"That's my girl," George said reassuringly.
They sat there for a while, just looking up at the sky and relishing in each other.
"I think I'll go with you tomorrow," George said finally.
"Do you think that's entirely appropriate," she giggled, "don't you remember the last time we were in the library together?"
"No not really, maybe you should remind me," he said managing to pull off an innocent look.
She turned around and raised an eyebrow, "Do you mean to tell me that you don't remember the first night that we..."
"We what," he smiled, a large toothy grin that seemed to reach all the way to his ears.
She leaned in close, "made love," she whispered into his ear.
"I seem to recall something of the sort," and he laughed gallantly.
"Why are you laughing," she asked.
"Take it as a compliment," he said, still laughing, "it was the best night of my life."
"You must not get out much. I'm sure if we tried we could make tonight even better."
"Really," he asked, "and how do you propose we do that?"
"I have an idea," she replied letting him wipe away the tears that had fallen earlier in the evening.
"Does this idea involve a physically straining activity?"
"How did you guess," she asked kissing him gently.
She liked this feeling, she felt that when she kissed him all her pain went away. It was like he had the power to extract her pain through his touch.
"Herm," he whispered her name, "how about we finish this in the Gryffindor tower," George said sensibly, "after all we've spent a long time out here in the December cold."
"Okay," she agreed and they ran through the corridors not bothering to wear the invisibility cloak and taking a wrong turn, resulting in a slight detour through the dungeons.
"Is this how you used to get around the castle," Hermione asked dashing by a dimly lit Potions classroom and then put on a burst of speed as they heard Snape coming towards them.
"We had the Marauder's map," George called to her, "and we never ran through the dungeons unless we were sure Snape wasn't in his classroom."
She turned a corner, ran up a flight of stairs and stopped abruptly causing George to trample into her. 'Filch' she mouthed to him, turning to the old gnarled man. As soon as he was out of sight they began to run, hearing the sound of Snape still following them.
They finally reached the tower happy to have noted that Snape had given up and gone back down to his classroom. They stood there awkwardly but grinning.
"Let's go up to my dorm," he said, "I realize that your dorm would be most, er, inappropriate."
"You mean because of Lavender and Parvati?"
"Well yes."
"I think they'll be even more encouraged to gossip when they notice that I never returned to my bed."
"Tell them you fell asleep in the library," he said, "they'll believe that."
With these thoughts in mind she still quietly went with him to his dorm, "George what if someone wakes up and hears us."
"You ran past Snape's classroom in the middle of the night only to have him follow us halfway up to the tower and you're worried about them hearing us?"
"George," she whined.
"I guess we'll just have to be extra quiet," he said grinning.
She found this to be an acceptable answer and the only noises that came from George's bed that night were heavy breathing and Hermione's soft moans.
____________________________________________________________________________ ________
A/N: I think that there will be 2 more chapters, yes I think that's suitable for what I need to say, maybe three even.
AmSam Malfoy-Thanks, I hope to read your fic soon
Fluorescein- Who doesn't want her to end up with them? lol But then ending is er...I can't tell you
Brandy- A lot of people have thought the same way, but it's not the imperious curse, no it's something much different, because if it were imperious he would be getting commands from Lucius right
Random Reader- Yes I suppose everyone is o.o.c except maybe Harry who is in a constant sulk lol, but I didn't have to character build.
The Second Geek - Thanks
gryffindorbaby1- It's not over, I've already said that Draco plays a big part
Gwen Potter- I know how you feel, my computer was recently assaulted by quite a virus.or three
cool brat- Didn't exactly turn out how you thought it would but we've still got a few chapters where he can act like a human
George- lol
Mourant Flamme- Thanks
SycoCallie- Yes, it takes forever, I suppose I'm just getting lazy and some people must have lost interest by now, but it's great that you still review, and I'll try to hurry with the next chap.
Lirawen- Thanks, I was wondering in anyone would say anything, glad it got through to people! Thanks for reviewing
O.O- yes, the freaky stuff continues!
Arabella- No, Hermione likes George, she's just very confused as to Draco's antics, and Ron has a girlfriend sorry to say, so he's kinda out of the picture
Elizabeth- I'm going to try to write my next chapter within the next week
ThyInsaneOne- thanks, did I write that they were tortured in the story? If I did I would be grateful to know where and then fix it
Blood57- (
Angelkas-Thanks so much!
Pirate Lass- Should George find out, I suppose that would be a killer to their relationship, she kissed his worst enemy...I don't know yet
Chikachick- I'll try to update faster this time
Katherine5- I knoooooooow that you wanted it to be er, well, the story isn't over and I didn't want it to seem like now that Hermione is all mentally frazzled that everyone was trying to have a go at her...but the story isn't over, btw, I think it would be safe to say that Trevor was sent with all of his other stuff to his grandmother
hey hey hay-I will
boredsk8rpunk- Thanks! I will
rsweetie4evr-I hope it's getting good
slashlover- I used to be strictly Herm/Ron, guess that changed and I'll definitely read it, if you think you need help with sentence structure then you could always get a Beta reader! They're helpful (I don't have one, but I'm looking for one if I write another story) and god's gift to fic writers~!
Flare-or-Rei- I love it when people review and tell me about their stories! Thanks for reviewing and I will right more, hopefully at the same quality level! Look for my review to your story as well! I agree with you when you say that you never would have thought about George/Hermione though lol
PixieStix6- It almost made you cry, as weird as this sounds that was a monumental compliment!
KrystinePotterLover-His TRUE intentions are um...interesting
Crystal-I suppose it does, plus the characters are ooc, but hell, I tried
Spordelia Chase- Thanks
Epsilon Psi- I think I'll leave Malfoy alone right now, he needs to be single at the end of the book (evil grin)
Malfoy twin- I have read the fifth book, which caused some major problems with my story line, so I changed the time setting, if you go back (I'm not saying it's necessary) you'll notice small changes and that they are in their sixth year, Fred and George have returned on the command of Molly Weasley
sweetie2-I appreciate it!
Lila- Molly Weasley, simple spell to tell them apart
Amanda- Well I know I love Fred and George cause #1 they're twins and #2 they' re pranksters
Diana- I like that he usually redeems himself in fanfics, but I don't want Hermione to leave George at this moment...or any moment, who knows what I'll do tho
AngelofDarkness27- Thanks for reviewing
Artistgrl- No one wants him to be the bad guy, least of all me...DON'T stop reading because of him, he's not going to do anything drastic but we've got some er...figuring out to do about him
pyro_chick- Well, it comes from the inner workings of my twisted mind lol
SilverSpecs- I suppose you're right! She is lucky although she's also got problems...
Julia- heh, I'm trying, I mean Neville was cursed and Ron has a girlfriend, so really it's only the twins and Malfoy
A/N: Well, I lied, back in chapter six or seven I said that only once was I going to use the point of view of George, well obviously I need to add some more insight. Also sorry about the wait, the length isn't exactly what I was hoping for when I sat down and hand wrote this out (what I always do before typing). Anyway, the * symbol is at the start and end of the Fred p.o.v ___________________________________________________________________________
Last time: [He sighed quietly, "Go to hell mudblood."
"Am I a mudblood? I thought we had discussed this already.
He glared angrily at her, and then swiftly leaned down and kissed her. She gasped at the sudden contact with his cold lips. As his arms slid around her waist she felt herself leaning into him, letting his seductiveness take over.
"No," she said quietly pushing him backward, touching a hand to her mouth.]
"No, I don't know why you think that you can walk away from me," he said taking a step towards her as she took a step back.
She grimaced, "Look I don't know what you're playing at but I." he leaned down and kissed her again, she struggled to push him off of her again.
"Malfoy what the hell was that for," Hermione shrieked moving as far away from him as she could.
He turned away from her, "Just wanted to shut you up Granger," his voice was colder then the December air outside but it trembled slightly.
She watched as he began to stalk away, she thought of how easy it would be to turn Malfoy into a ferret again, like Moody had in their fourth year. She quite preferred him as a ferret, he couldn't insult her that way, and it's not like she didn't know the spell, she had long ago learned how to transfigure humans into animals. Now that she thought about it, fourth year had been an interesting one, more killings, and Voldemort's undignified return, mixed with the accidental death of Cedric Diggory.
"Something is happening to the wizard world," Ron had said to her one evening whilst Harry was off working on solving his next clue in the TriWizard Tournament. "I can already feel it."
He was of course correct, even before fifth year had begun trouble had begun to stir for both Harry and all of the light side. She had barely been home a week when she had received an urgent letter from Dumbledore asking her to immediately leave her home and travel to number nine Grimwald place, otherwise known as the secret headquarters of The Order of the Phoenix. She had walked through the invisible door and into the house of Black, and there waiting for her was the Weasley family, along with a very agitated, wild Sirius Black.
She had spent her summer there, waiting for any information on new Death Eater plans from Snape, heard via the twins' extendable ears, or at least until Molly Weasley discovered the use of them. Then the real trouble started, but Hermione really didn't want to think about that... Harry had gotten into far more trouble then usual and now that Hermione knew Snape was indeed one of the good guys he seemed even more malicious then usual. In fact he and Harry had ultimately led to the demise of Sirius Black himself, although neither of them wanted to admit it.
She let out a sigh as she entered the Common Room; somewhere she was still rather uncomfortable. Everyone seemed to be working without a care and she envied them, they could at least pretend that they weren't worried. She spotted Harry and Ron sitting together on one of the couches and she went to join them.
"Hey guys," She said her voice sounding tired and worn.
"Oy Mione, you look dreadful," Ron said looking at her with concern, "don't you sleep at all."
"Well good evening to you too," She huffed.
Harry just blinked and looked at them breathing deeply. She did have to admit that she did look quite worn, in fact she seemed to look years older then she was. All of the stress that had been building was taking its toll on her. What she really needed was a warm bath and about three weeks of undisrupted sleep.
"How are you Harry," she asked ruffling his hair affectionately.
"I've been better," he replied rather gloomily.
"What's wrong mate," Ron asked from his opposite side, oblivious to the fact that Lavender was staring at him and tapping her foot impatiently.
"Did you have something planned tonight," Hermione asked carefully choosing her words so that Fred and George wouldn't start teasing him. "With Lavender I mean."
"What," he blushed, "what do you mean."
"Ron," giving him her best McGonagall look, "I may be a bookworm but I'm not stupid, by the look on her face she wants to drag you off to a broom closet or something."
The red-haired boy grinned, "I am irresistible."
Harry took it upon himself to hit the other boy in the face with a pillow, "What in the hell are you doing sitting around here then?"
"My best friends problems are more important then snogging," he pointed out.
"My god," Hermione said clasping her hands to her chest in mock horror, "did he just say what I think he said?"
Harry laughed, "Ron, if you don't go over there and talk to her now I'm pretty sure that you won't be snogging anyone for a long time. Who knows what she could tell people!"
Ron looked from Harry to Hermione skeptically, "Alright then," he said as he stood and made his way toward the girl.
"So what's really the problem," she asked Harry quietly.
"What do you think the problem is," he barked.
She gritted her teeth, "Well pardon my asking."
"I'm sorry," he said defeatedly, "it's just that now, with the attacks starting again... I feel like it's my fault."
"Harry," she sighed, "none of this is your fault." 'Well, okay, I admit some of this could have been avoided,' she thought, 'what the hell am I thinking? Harry is my best friend.' "I know that you like to play the part of the hero, but eventually you're going to have to realize that you can't always handle it."
"I can handle it," he said quietly, "it's my fault that Sirius died and now I have to take my revenge."
"Revenge isn't the most suitable of reason's to kill someone," She said before she thought about it. "Oh Harry, I didn't mean that, it's just that I'm so tired."
"It's alright Hermione," he answered, "I just can't get over it."
She checked around the common room to see if anyone was listening, "I was there too Harry, you can't blame yourself, if you blame yourself you have to blame me as well, I was there, I could have stopped it, or somehow figured out that the house elf had lied."
Harry placed his head in his hands; "You didn't know him like I did."
She patted his shoulder gently, "No I didn't, but what I did know about him made me realize he was a great person, he was always eager to get outside Harry, he hated being cooped up in that old house, we both know that."
"He hated that house," Harry managed a weak laugh.
"Everyone hated that house, I swear if I heard his mother say that I was filthy one more time I would have...well I suppose I would have thought up a spell to make her shut up."
"Yes." At the sight of tears she spoke again, "Look Harry, the world isn't fair at all, I suppose you know that better then I do, but it just seems like we've both been through a lot recently. If the world were fair then Voldemort would have died a long time ago."
A few heads shot up at the mention of the Dark Lord but they soon went back to work. He sniffled and hastily wiped the tears away. When a grin broke out on his face she wondered what was going on in that head of his.
"And Malfoy would still be a ferret," he laughed, a real laugh.
"I think we're on the same brainwave tonight," she said happy to hear the sound of his laughter, it had seemed like ages since she had heard him laugh like this.
"I thought that Ron and Lavender were leaving," he said noticing that they were having some sort of quarrel.
"Ron," Lavender shrieked, "what do you mean you can't take me to Hogsmeade this weekend because you've got practice?"
Ron's ears turned pink, "I'm sorry, it's just that I...well I don't want to get kicked off the team, it was heaven that I made it in the first place."
The girl made another high-pitched squeal and stormed off to bed, Ron made a sad attempt to go after her but George stopped him at the stairs.
"You know very well you can't go up there without going through the passageway," George said with reason, "besides, she'd hex the ears off you if you went in her room right now."
Nodding at his brother he came back and sat down roughly in the spot he had left earlier. Harry gave him a sympathetic look and punched him in the arm.
"Tough luck mate," Harry said.
"I guess so," he said sighing, "game of chess."
It had been and hour of so, Hermione reading a book on advanced potions and the boys playing their game of chess. She had just reached a particularly interesting chapter about the uses of dragon's tongue when Ron let out a whoop of triumph.
"I win," he said smirking, "you owe me a bag of chocolate frogs."
"No way," Harry said furrowing his brow, "another game, double or nothing."
"If you're going to play another game then I'm heading up to bed," she said closing her book and rubbing her eyes.
"Yeah sure," Harry said giving her a smile, "thanks for everything Mione."
"Don't call me that," she joked.
"See you at breakfast," Ron said already setting up the new game.
*
Fred looked at Hermione as she slept soundly with her four-poster curtains slightly open. This was a blessing to him, it gave him a breathtaking view of the girl, moonlight dancing across her face showing her pained expression.
'Probably a nightmare,' Fred concluded.
He had been watching her now for an hour, watching as her chest steadily rose and fell giving him a restless outlook. He sat down on the bed and gently ran the back of his hand across her cheeks.
"Beautiful Hermione," he said aloud, "how easy it would be to kiss now."
'Or kill you,' something in his mind said. 'All you have to do is put you're hands around her neck and end all of this.' He quickly moved from the bed, never in his life had he been this tempted to kill anyone, with the exception of Voldemort and his brothers when they were being prats. As he tiptoes through the passage to his dorms he wondered if he was losing his mind.
*
"Morning Harry, Ron," Hermione said as she sat down next to Ron at breakfast the next morning.
"Mphning," Ron said through a mouthful of sausage.
"Have you seen George yet today," Hermione asked trying not to sound overeager.
"Not yet," Ron said taking a sip of juice.
"You know Fred isn't here either," Harry said quietly.
"I know why," he leaned in so that no one else could hear them, "they're planning something."
"What," Harry asked enthusiastically.
"Not quite sure," he answered eating some toast hungrily.
"Can't be too important," Hermione said over Ron's chewing, "I mean if it were something big we'd know about it. Besides they've already guaranteed a name in this school."
"Best pranksters since Marauders," Harry nodded, "if not better."
"I bet it's some new type of candy for the store," Ron said thoughtfully, "it's really popular, mum can hardly believe all of the money they are making."
"Maybe we'll get lucky though, you never know when they'll shrink Snape's head."
"Or wash his hair," Harry added to Hermione's comment.
The classes went by quickly, Hermione was sure this was because she didn't have potions to deal with, Snape had a very disconcerting presence, and Neville had proved this by his brilliance in Herbology but failure in Potions.
That evening she met George in the Common Room after everyone was asleep. He stood there waiting patiently while Hermione went upstairs and asked Harry if she could borrow his invisibility cloak.
"Shh," Hermione said, dragging George up to the Astronomy tower, "this cloak doesn't mask sound."
"You've lectured me countless times about this," he said, "in fact you tell me the same thing just about every time we use this thing."
She laughed, "I suppose I do."
Once they got inside Hermione let out a deep breath, she was always on alert, you never knew when Mrs. Norris was going to appear out of nowhere. She took off the cloak and deposited it on the floor near the door to the balcony. She led him outside and leaned into him.
"Well Hermione, if anyone had told me that I would be in the Astronomy tower with you I would have told them they were insane. Somehow I just can't picture you in anything less romantic then a room filled with roses and candles."
She snorted, "I'm sure."
"A snog in the Astronomy tower," he laughed.
"We aren't here to make out George," she said sternly although it sounded hardly believable. "I came to look at the stars and think."
"Oh right, look at the stars," she could hear his smile through his voice.
She sighed, "George Weasley you are impossible."
"I do believe that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me," he answered.
She smiled to herself, she loved how George could joke around, make the load that she carried a little lighter. She has many things crossing her mind, things like Voldemorts attacks and the safety of her parents along with the reason behind Neville's death and how she fit in to it. In one sudden powerful attack things flashed before her eyes and made her even more unstable.
"Hermione are you okay," George asked her noticing her sharp intake of breath.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Liar," he breathed in her ear. "I have a sneaking suspicion that you were thinking about what has happened lately."
"I just don't understand," she admitted looking up at the stars, "why is this happening to me? Does someone up there think that I need more stress? I have to worry about my friends, my family..."
"Be strong Hermione," he grimaced at his cliché phrase, "you can't admit defeat now."
"I can do whatever the hell I want to do," she barked at him.
"So you're just going to give up?"
"Yes," she said.
"Then Neville will never truly be released from our world, and will never have justice."
"What do you want me to do about it," she half-screamed, "you expect me to have all of the answers."
"I expect no such thing, but I think you should go to Dumbledore with the journal, I think he'll be able to help us."
"He- he'll blame me for Neville's death."
"That is the most idiotic thing you've ever said," George announced, "Lucius Malfoy is to blame. Neville was going insane, just like his parents before him, although I suppose it was a very different spell, a dark one nonetheless."
"Fine," she said, "I'll go talk to Dumbledore about it, but first I have to go the library to finish my potions essay."
She felt as if she had just caused the lose of the house cup, but inside she knew that it was right to go the headmaster, in fact she should have done so long ago.
"That's my girl," George said reassuringly.
They sat there for a while, just looking up at the sky and relishing in each other.
"I think I'll go with you tomorrow," George said finally.
"Do you think that's entirely appropriate," she giggled, "don't you remember the last time we were in the library together?"
"No not really, maybe you should remind me," he said managing to pull off an innocent look.
She turned around and raised an eyebrow, "Do you mean to tell me that you don't remember the first night that we..."
"We what," he smiled, a large toothy grin that seemed to reach all the way to his ears.
She leaned in close, "made love," she whispered into his ear.
"I seem to recall something of the sort," and he laughed gallantly.
"Why are you laughing," she asked.
"Take it as a compliment," he said, still laughing, "it was the best night of my life."
"You must not get out much. I'm sure if we tried we could make tonight even better."
"Really," he asked, "and how do you propose we do that?"
"I have an idea," she replied letting him wipe away the tears that had fallen earlier in the evening.
"Does this idea involve a physically straining activity?"
"How did you guess," she asked kissing him gently.
She liked this feeling, she felt that when she kissed him all her pain went away. It was like he had the power to extract her pain through his touch.
"Herm," he whispered her name, "how about we finish this in the Gryffindor tower," George said sensibly, "after all we've spent a long time out here in the December cold."
"Okay," she agreed and they ran through the corridors not bothering to wear the invisibility cloak and taking a wrong turn, resulting in a slight detour through the dungeons.
"Is this how you used to get around the castle," Hermione asked dashing by a dimly lit Potions classroom and then put on a burst of speed as they heard Snape coming towards them.
"We had the Marauder's map," George called to her, "and we never ran through the dungeons unless we were sure Snape wasn't in his classroom."
She turned a corner, ran up a flight of stairs and stopped abruptly causing George to trample into her. 'Filch' she mouthed to him, turning to the old gnarled man. As soon as he was out of sight they began to run, hearing the sound of Snape still following them.
They finally reached the tower happy to have noted that Snape had given up and gone back down to his classroom. They stood there awkwardly but grinning.
"Let's go up to my dorm," he said, "I realize that your dorm would be most, er, inappropriate."
"You mean because of Lavender and Parvati?"
"Well yes."
"I think they'll be even more encouraged to gossip when they notice that I never returned to my bed."
"Tell them you fell asleep in the library," he said, "they'll believe that."
With these thoughts in mind she still quietly went with him to his dorm, "George what if someone wakes up and hears us."
"You ran past Snape's classroom in the middle of the night only to have him follow us halfway up to the tower and you're worried about them hearing us?"
"George," she whined.
"I guess we'll just have to be extra quiet," he said grinning.
She found this to be an acceptable answer and the only noises that came from George's bed that night were heavy breathing and Hermione's soft moans.
____________________________________________________________________________ ________
A/N: I think that there will be 2 more chapters, yes I think that's suitable for what I need to say, maybe three even.
AmSam Malfoy-Thanks, I hope to read your fic soon
Fluorescein- Who doesn't want her to end up with them? lol But then ending is er...I can't tell you
Brandy- A lot of people have thought the same way, but it's not the imperious curse, no it's something much different, because if it were imperious he would be getting commands from Lucius right
Random Reader- Yes I suppose everyone is o.o.c except maybe Harry who is in a constant sulk lol, but I didn't have to character build.
The Second Geek - Thanks
gryffindorbaby1- It's not over, I've already said that Draco plays a big part
Gwen Potter- I know how you feel, my computer was recently assaulted by quite a virus.or three
cool brat- Didn't exactly turn out how you thought it would but we've still got a few chapters where he can act like a human
George- lol
Mourant Flamme- Thanks
SycoCallie- Yes, it takes forever, I suppose I'm just getting lazy and some people must have lost interest by now, but it's great that you still review, and I'll try to hurry with the next chap.
Lirawen- Thanks, I was wondering in anyone would say anything, glad it got through to people! Thanks for reviewing
O.O- yes, the freaky stuff continues!
Arabella- No, Hermione likes George, she's just very confused as to Draco's antics, and Ron has a girlfriend sorry to say, so he's kinda out of the picture
Elizabeth- I'm going to try to write my next chapter within the next week
ThyInsaneOne- thanks, did I write that they were tortured in the story? If I did I would be grateful to know where and then fix it
Blood57- (
Angelkas-Thanks so much!
Pirate Lass- Should George find out, I suppose that would be a killer to their relationship, she kissed his worst enemy...I don't know yet
Chikachick- I'll try to update faster this time
Katherine5- I knoooooooow that you wanted it to be er, well, the story isn't over and I didn't want it to seem like now that Hermione is all mentally frazzled that everyone was trying to have a go at her...but the story isn't over, btw, I think it would be safe to say that Trevor was sent with all of his other stuff to his grandmother
hey hey hay-I will
boredsk8rpunk- Thanks! I will
rsweetie4evr-I hope it's getting good
slashlover- I used to be strictly Herm/Ron, guess that changed and I'll definitely read it, if you think you need help with sentence structure then you could always get a Beta reader! They're helpful (I don't have one, but I'm looking for one if I write another story) and god's gift to fic writers~!
Flare-or-Rei- I love it when people review and tell me about their stories! Thanks for reviewing and I will right more, hopefully at the same quality level! Look for my review to your story as well! I agree with you when you say that you never would have thought about George/Hermione though lol
PixieStix6- It almost made you cry, as weird as this sounds that was a monumental compliment!
KrystinePotterLover-His TRUE intentions are um...interesting
Crystal-I suppose it does, plus the characters are ooc, but hell, I tried
Spordelia Chase- Thanks
Epsilon Psi- I think I'll leave Malfoy alone right now, he needs to be single at the end of the book (evil grin)
Malfoy twin- I have read the fifth book, which caused some major problems with my story line, so I changed the time setting, if you go back (I'm not saying it's necessary) you'll notice small changes and that they are in their sixth year, Fred and George have returned on the command of Molly Weasley
sweetie2-I appreciate it!
Lila- Molly Weasley, simple spell to tell them apart
Amanda- Well I know I love Fred and George cause #1 they're twins and #2 they' re pranksters
Diana- I like that he usually redeems himself in fanfics, but I don't want Hermione to leave George at this moment...or any moment, who knows what I'll do tho
AngelofDarkness27- Thanks for reviewing
Artistgrl- No one wants him to be the bad guy, least of all me...DON'T stop reading because of him, he's not going to do anything drastic but we've got some er...figuring out to do about him
pyro_chick- Well, it comes from the inner workings of my twisted mind lol
SilverSpecs- I suppose you're right! She is lucky although she's also got problems...
Julia- heh, I'm trying, I mean Neville was cursed and Ron has a girlfriend, so really it's only the twins and Malfoy