Remoror Carbasus

Maniacal Behavior

"I…I don't know," Hermione stammered. "I thought it was just an odd dream," she said as she pulled her comforter up to her neck. She suddenly felt exposed in her pink tank top and shorts. Fred wouldn't have noticed what she was wearing anyway, she realized. His face was still pale and he had begun to pace back and forth on her carpeted floor.

"You mean, you've never read a book on something like this?" he asked.

"I haven't read every book in Hogwarts you know," she replied. She couldn't help but feel slightly offended. Sure, she knew a lot, but that didn't mean that she could just answer any question in the world.

"Well, you've certainly put a bigger dent in that library than I ever did," he replied, his voice flat. He does have a point, Hermione thought logically. She began to wrack her brain for any information that related to their situation. Minutes passed in silence, Hermione sat thinking as Fred continued pacing back and forth on her floor.

"Turn around," she stated abruptly.

Fred stopped in his tracks. "Pardon?"

"Turn around please, I…I need to grab my robe," she replied, her cheeks becoming a shade darker. His mouth changed into the shape of an "o" as he realized what she was talking about, and he quickly turned around. Hermione threw the covers back, grabbed her robe and quickly tied it shut. Telling him that he could turn around, she turned to her bookshelf and began searching. Fred waited patiently for her to finish.

"Found it!" She exclaimed pulling a book, whose spine read Natural Magic and brought it over to her bed, bidding Fred to join her. She hastily opened its pages, scanning the contents table and heading straight for page 124. She began to read the pages aloud.

"Mental and physical bonds are considered to be one of the oldest types of magic involving humans naturally found on Earth, excluding elementals, Seers and Healers. Modern wizard has known about these bonds since Ancient Egyptian times, but text indicates that they were around even before the Mesopotamian civilization. Bonds are found in both wizards and muggles alike (though muggles can not feel it as strong as wizards). These bonds connect people for their entire life; even after death bonds have been known to keep people from entering the "hereafter" before their "time" has supposedly come. Though no one is sure exactly what causes these bonds, most are thought to be created between two people after a traumatic incident that both participated in, an example would be between siblings if they witness their parents' murders or if two people witness the death of a close friend or are involved in an accident. Others have been reportedly created by as a tool used in the fulfilling certain strong prophecies, such as one about ending a war or the saving of someone's soul. Most bonds are created between people of different genders, such as male-female, and rarely wizard-muggle. Other than this, not much is known about the powerful natural magic that creates these bonds and no concrete evidence has been uncovered to prove the theories that witches and wizards have sought to prove over the years.

"In wizards, the most common symptoms of a bond is: the sharing of dreams, the reading of others minds and shared thoughts (which is normally confused as natural Legilimency or telepathy manifesting itself), persona switches (when the personality of the two witch/wizards are switched between bodies), and in the most extreme cases, the forcing of two minds into one body, leaving the other comatose."

"So you think we're bonded?" Fred asked incredulously. Hermione shrugged. Indeed, she had thought it was some type of bond between the two, but other than the dream, they showed no signs of sharing such magic. "You must admit 'Mione, that sounds a little out there."

"Well do you have any better ideas," she snapped. Fred shook his head and sighed. "All I know is that I could hear your thoughts in my body," he said, placing his head in his hands. She smiled softly, chuckling at the memory of Mrs. Weasley's face.

"You're mum was pretty mad wasn't she?" Fred's face shot up in surprise. "Mum…Merlin I'm dead," she heard him mutter. He looked at her quickly. "I've got to go. She'll be wanting to deal with me now," he said, getting up to apparate. Just as he was about to return to the old mansion, Hermione called out for him to wait. He stared at her, waiting for her to answer him.

"Is…is Harry alright?" she stammered. To say that she was worried would be the understatement of the century. She had been too caught up in the mystery of her dream to think of him when Fred had first apparated into her room.

"There was an attack at the Dursley's just after dark. Harry suffered a nasty blow to the head, but he's supposed to be all right. Dumbledore's got that stupid family of his in Grimmauld Place. They've been wailing constantly since the Order rescued them, the prats," he spat the last part before smiling sadly. "That's all I know at the moment. I'm sure Ron we'll be owling you soon…" he trailed off. "Actually, I think it would be best if we kept this…dream to ourselves."

"But what if something's wrong," Hermione asked. "Dumbledore would want to know about this," she stated logically. "and he'd probably know what to do."

Fred shrugged. "We'll research it more. I think Dumbledore's got enough on his mind at the moment. Just don't say anything," he said, and before she could reply, he was gone.

She scoffed at where he should have been. The nerve, just coming around and acting like he knew what was best! What if they were bonded? What if they didn't do anything and their minds joined and one of their bodies became comatose? She certainly didn't want to share a body with anyone—especially Fred Weasley. She reread what she had found on bonds and realized that even if they were bonded (which was highly unlikely anyway) there was nothing she could do about it. Bonds were clearly irreversible.

She sighed and leaned back onto her pillow, suddenly too tired to think about anything. Fred was right. Ron would be owling her in the morning and she would soon be on her way to Grimmauld Place. Besides, she thought as she was drifting off to sleep, whatever was going on would certainly be interesting with Fred thrown into the mix, and for some odd reason, the thought of solving this mystery with Fred was more comforting and appealing than it probably should have been.

Hermione awoke the next morning to an incessant tapping on her bedroom window. She smiled as she saw Pig flying fanatically around her window. She opened it wide enough for him to zoom in, and quickly shut it again, jumping up to catch him. Taking the letter from the bird, quickly read through Ron's sloppy letter.

Hermione,

I was wondering if you would like to come over for the summer. I know that you were planning to vacation with your family first, but it is important that you come as soon as possible. I can't say much, but seed your reply back with Pig and…people…will come to pick you up.

Hope to see you soon,

Ron

Hermione couldn't help but smile at Ron's trials to be vague. She was a little disappointed that he didn't mention Harry in the letter, but realized that it was quite easy for the little owl to be intercepted. She smiled and sent her reply back with Pig after giving him water and an owl treat that she had nicked from Ron before she went home.

She had talked it over with her parents and explained why she wanted to go to stay with her friends, rather than going on that trip to Spain that they had planned to take. Her parents had nodded their understanding—the Wizarding world was in a war after all, and more and more muggles were becoming affected by it. With their permission she had gone up to her room and pack.

Now, she was sitting on the sofa in their den, waiting patiently for word to come about her transportation to Grimmauld Place. She jumped as she heard the infamous pop that was distinctly heard when someone apparated into a room. She looked up to see two identical faces smiling down at her.

"Hello Hermione," George greeted, smiling brightly. Fred, she noticed, shared his brother's smile, giving no indication that he had seen her just that morning. She greeted them and introduced them to her parents, who had wandered into the den when they heard the male voice.

"Exactly how are you planning to bring me to Grimmauld Place," she asked suspiciously. "I can't apparate, you know."

"My dear Hermione," Fred spoke, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We're using muggle transportation, of course," he explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Hermione's eyes grew wide. Had the Order members lost their minds? It was an insane idea. Hermione smiled ruefully. Most things are insane at the moment, she reminded herself.

I'd like to thank my beta, Chorin, for helping me with the kinks in this chapter and for writing the excerpt on Bonds. The credit for that part all goes to him. Thanks a lot.

I'd alsolike to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. You have no idea how grateful I am to know that you support me. I hope this chapter is as long (or longer) as you hoped it would be.