A/N: I apologise for the long wait. I don't really have a good excuse, so on with the next chapter!
Chapter Six: Back Again
Through the hustle and bustle of getting back on the Hogwarts train, Fred and Hermione didn't have a chance to talk. Neither did Ginny and George. Both had wanted to find out where their roommates had gone to in the early hours of the morning.
Ginny had the perfect oppurtunity to talk to Harry on the train, however. Ron and Hermione had left to go get their prefect instructions, while Ginny and Harry shared a compartment to themselves.
"I think something bad is going to happen to Hermione this year," Ginny said seriously.
Harry's face scrunched up in worry. "Why do you say that?"
"She was gone for about two hours this morning and I thought I heard George ask Fred where he was around the same time Hermione went missing."
"Do you think something is going on between Hermione and Fred?" Harry asked, trying to read between the lines. "I thought it was George that was all over her."
"He was, but I don't think that anything is going on between her and Fred. Hermione would tell us. Besides, she fancies George, not Fred. But I think that Fred and George are up to something. They've been acting funny lately, like they've got something up their sleeves." Ginny said matter of factly.
"Yeah, you're probably right. Fred and George are usually up to something. I just hope Hermione realizes it in time." Harry developed a bittersweet look on his face.
"You're not going to tell her?"
"No, and neither should you," Harry looked sternly at Ginny, who frowned. "She won't want to hear what we have to say. This is something she has to learn for herself."
"Who has to learn what for herself?" asked George. The twins walked in and sat down; George next to Harry and Fred next to Ginny.
"Never you mind," Ginny said, glaring at her brothers. She folded her arms on her chest, her jaw set. "Now, what are you two planning to do to Hermione?"
"What do we plan to do to Hermione, she asks," George said, a large grin popping onto his face.
"We aren't planning anything for Hermione," Fred lied smoothly, an identical grin on his face. No matter what he felt for Hermione, or any girl, for that matter, he would always feel the instant thrill of the oncoming of a prank.
"We know you're planning something," Harry said. "But I have to warn you that if you hurt her, we'll have to repay you."
"Hurt who?" Ron had squeezed inot the compartment and sat next to Fred. It was very cramped and Ginny was squashed against the window.
"No one," Harry, Ginny, Fred, and George said hurriedly.
"Right, then. What's going on?" Ron asked eagerly as he settled down. But no one seemed too keen on letting Ron know that the girl he had liked since he was 11 liked someone else, and that that someone else (who happened to be his own flesh and blood) might like her back. "Come on! You can trust me!"
"What's going on here?" Hermione asked, looking at all the guilty faces (and Ron's thoroughly confused one).
"They're all hiding something from me!" Ron said angerly.
Hermione surprised everyone by smiling and looking pointedly at Ron. "We all seem to be hiding things from eachother, aren't we, Ron?" Hermione raised her eyebrows while Ron blushed profusely.
"Don't talk about that," he mumbled, his cheeks soon matching his neck and ears.
"Ickle Ronniekins has got a secret!" Fred said as he started to rise. George followed.
"Maybe you'll talk once we perfect our latest invention," George added as he and Fred migrated to the door, pushing Hermione out into the corridor. The ones left sitting stared at the twins and Hermione. The three of them paused, looking at each other. Fred looked behind him and then nudged George in his side. George said, "Right, then. We'll be seeing you, Hermione." He grinned and leaned down to plant a soft kiss on Hermione's lips. She was too shocked to do anything expect blush as red as Ron. After a few seconds, the kiss ended and Hermione proceeded to back into a wall while the twins turned and left. Without the twins' tall bodies blocking her view, Hermione came face to face with Draco Malfoy's sneering face while Crabbe and Goyle brought up the rear.
"What's this, Granger? Graduated to an older Weasley?" Draco swooped to a stop and glared down at Hermione. He smirked and said, "No matter how hard you try, you'll always be a filthy little mudblood to me."
"Back off, Malfoy!" Harry shouted, his wand pointed directly at Draco's heart. Harry was the first to recover from the shock of seeing Hermione and George kiss.
With a glimmer of fear in his eyes, Draco managed, "Lucky for you, Mudblood, that ickle Potty is here to save the day." With that, Draco swooped away and Crabbe and Goyle stumbled clumsily after him.
"Thanks, Harry," Hermione said somewhat breathlessly.
"No problem. Why don't you come back into the compartment. I think we all need to talk." Harry gently grabbed Hermione's hand and led her into the compartment where Ginny and Ron still sat. Hermione took a seat next to Ginny while Harry sat next to Ron.
"What's going on between you and my brother?" Ron blurted out, a hint of anger and accustation in his voice.
"Nothing!" Hermione looked inot the disbelieving eyes of her three best friends. "Well... Something. But I don't know what! I've hardly ever talked to Fred and George before and now they're both saying George fancies me..."
"Wait... They're both saying George fancies you?" Ginny asked, looking troubled. "When did Fred say George fancied you?"
"Oh," Hermione blushed. "Well, I couldn't sleep last night -"
"Or any night since you came to the Burrow," Ginny said, looking at Harry since Hermione refused to look at any of them, especially Ron. Ron, however, just sat there, quietly seething.
"Yeah. Er... Well, last night I went downstairs to make tea because that's what my mum does when she can't sleep and then Fred was there and he wanted to take a walk so we walked and talked and he said George fancies me and then we saw -" Hermione stopped her frantic speech. She realized she was about to blurt out what Fred and her had found out about Percy.
"You saw what?" Harry asked.
"We saw... We saw the sun!" Hermione said hastially. She glanced at everyone, hoping they would believe her. "We saw the sun, so we decided to head back. And that's it," Hermione concluded lamely.
"Yeah, okay," Ron said finally, breaking the silence that followed the end of Hermione's speech.
"It's true!" Hermione wasn't exactly lying, because they did go in once the sun rose. However, she knew that Percy had to be kept secret, at least for now. She felt that she (and Fred) hadn't heard the end of Percy. Hermione also liked the fact that she and Fred had a secret that only they (and Percy) knew. Oh no! Hermione thought. I'm starting to fall for Fred, too!
"I - I have to go," Hermione mumbled. "Patrol duties." She rose from her seat, avoided everyone's eyes, and exited the compartment before they could argue.
Ron pulled out a paper and glanced at it for a second. "She doesn't have patrol duties for another 15 minutes! What's going on?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Ginny siad impatiently. "She and Fred saw something last night. Something big. Big enough to confuse her about how she feels about George."
"What?" Ron asked, getting extremely annoyed. "I thought Hermione liked George. Now you're saying she likes Fred? JUST SPIT IT OUT ALREADY!" Ginny looked affronted and crossed her arms, not saying another word. Ron let out an angry growl, his eyes becoming slits.
"She's saying that Hermione likes both of them," Harry said, trying to keep peace. He looked at Ginny for conformation. Ginny nodded, not looking at Ron.
Meanwhile, Hermione was just about to lose her mind as she wandered the corridors. She could not figure out how she really felt and about who. Maybe it was because they looked exactly the same, Hermione didn't know. What she did know, however, was that she had to get everything sorted out, lest she lose her mind - literally.
As Hermione walked aimlessly, she barked out orders at random people she encountered. She, most unfortunately, barked an order at a certain redheaded boy.
"Get back into your compartment!"
"Now, now, Hermione. It's not nice to take your anger out on others," Hermione's head shot up and to her horror, she was face to face with one of the two people she least wanted to meet up with.
"Are you George or Fred?" Hermione didn't know why she bothered to ask. No matter which one this boy was, she felt exactly the same.
"I'm George. And you are?" George smiled brilliantly.
"Look, George. I don't know what's going on, but -"
"But you're going to have to wait," George cut in and grabbed the wall to steady himself. The Hogwarts train had begun to slow to a stop. "It's time for the feast!"
Hermione just stood there, blinking. What a horrible time for the train to stop! she thought. Students began mulling out the doors. George disappeared into the crowd. He needed to get away from Hermione. He did not want to hear what she had to say to him. He had a sneaking suspicion that it was about the kiss. For some reason, George didn't want Hermione to tell him never to do it again.
Though the throngs of students, Hermione, Fred, and George each made their ways to the horseless carriages separately. Each of them were in their own worlds, each thinking about the other two.
In hollow sounding voices, in three separate carriages, Hermione, Fred, and George each muttered sarcastically, "It's great to be back again."
A/N: I thought this would be a humor fic, but it doesn't seem to be turning out that way. As a result, I am going to take down the humor part on the listing. Sorry about that!