1Of Love and Dungbombs

Disclaimer: No, I don't own it! Gosh! Idiot! …ha-ha…shifty eyes

Remember I post my progress on my profile. On with the show… umm story… yea…

revised.

Chapter 4 – When the Sun Goes Down

After they had finished their supper Ginny and Hermione had headed up to their bedroom and flopped on their beds to have their nightly talk.

"So, what's with you and Ron?" Ginny asked as she absentmindedly twirled her shoulder length red hair around her finger.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on Hermione. You were glaring at him all supper. I'm not dense you know." Ginny snapped, irritated that Hermione was playing dumb.

"Oh you know, same old. Ron said I was a shallow, library obsessed girl with no life.".

"What! Wait – start at the beginning!" So Hermione told her exactly what happened pausing every once in while to let Ginny cut in with 'I can't believe he said that' and 'No way!' Hermione was starting to feel better having gotten all that off her chest when she had a thought.

"You don't think I was too hard on him, do you?" Hermione asked.

"Of course not! You have every reason to be upset with him." Ginny exclaimed.

"Thanks Ginny." Hermione said to her before changing the subject. "So, I heard you and Harry were spending a lot of time together today." She said slyly.

About a half an hour later, they shut of the lights and eventually fell quiet. Hermione couldn't force her eyes to stay shut though and rolled over onto her back, staring at the ceiling. People should put pictures on their ceilings.

Hermione looked over at her sleeping friend and sighed. She knew Ginny was having nightmares. She always was. There was no way Hermione could talk to her about it either. Not that anyone would hold it against her; she had been through a lot. Hermione stood up and crept over to the door. She opened it, took one last look at Ginny to make sure hadn't woken her and walked out the door.

xxxx

Down the hall, Ron was telling Harry all about the fight he and Hermione had had. Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Way to ruin your chance." Harry said to him when Ron had finished his story.

"It's not like I meant to say those things!" Ron yelled.

"Whoa Ron! I wasn't criticizing you… well not really… It's just that that's the problem. You never mean to say what you say. You really have to think about what you say before you say it." Harry explained.

"I did…really I did. I just couldn't help it." Ron mumbled.

"You never can. 'Night Ron." Harry reached over and shut off the lights. He rolled onto his side, shut his eyes and before he knew it, he was asleep.

xxxx

Like Hermione, Fred was also having troubles getting to sleep. He was really worried about his mom. Percy was ruining their family. And as much as they needed to, his parents just weren't ready to let him go. He sighed and looked over at his twin. He doubted his brother was really asleep but he was obviously pretending to.

"I am going for a walk, George." He said to him as he climbed out of his bed.

"Why are you talking to me? I am asleep, remember?" George replied. Fred rolled his eyes and laughed. "Right George. Whatever." He crossed his room and walked out the door.

Instead of going to get himself something to eat from the kitchen like he usually did, he headed outside. There was a small pond at the burrow, just up a little path. It was his favourite place to go to think. When he got there he sat down, back against an old tree. As always, his parents' initials were etched into it. When his parents had first bought the house they had carved their names in it surrounded by a heart. Ginny always said it was romantic. Fred just thought they read too many romance novels.

xxxx

Back in the house, Hermione made her way down the stairs extra carefully to avoid falling again. She thought back to that moment. I made a total fool of my self. Even if it was just Fred, it was still really embarrassing. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she turned left and headed into the kitchen. But she did not stop in the kitchen. She opened the back door and walked outside. She only stopped when she reached the end of the path. The path that led to the pond.

The stars were shining brightly that night and as Hermione walked across the grass barefoot, still in pyjamas, she couldn't help but think what it would be like to share a night like this with someone. But to her that was a silly thought and she quickly pushed it away. The last thing she wanted was to become one of those girls she always pitied who only ever talked about how hot some guy was. She even knew girls who got really good grades but threw away their potential to be with some guy. And a guy was definitely not going to come between Hermione and her grades.

Turning one last corner, Hermione arrived at the pond, only to find that she wasn't alone. Fred Weasley sat at the base of a tree a few feet away, his head in his hands.

"Fred? George? Whoever you are! What are you doing here?"

"It's Fred." He replied, looking up. "And I should be asking you the same question."

Hermione shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."

"Yea, me neither."

xxxx

Meanwhile, Harry was tossing and turning in his bed, nightmares haunting his sleep.

Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his godfather's face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind, then fell back into place. And this time Harry knew he would not reappear. "Sirius!" Harry yelled as his heart broke all over again. "SIRIUS!"

The next thing Harry knew he was back in his bed, his breath coming in searing gasps, sweat dripping down his forehead. And a single tear rolled down his face. Words could not describe how much he missed his godfather, the closest thing he had to a father. And now he was gone.

Shaking slightly, Harry stood up, threw on a shirt and headed downstairs to the kitchen where he saw Ginny sitting at the table sobbing quietly. He made his way over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, hoping to comfort her. But instead she jumped, and jerked around, hitting him square in the stomach.

"Oh my gosh, Harry. I am so sorry! But seriously, don't ever sneak up on me like that again." Ginny said to him as she attempted a small smile.

"No I am sorry. I shouldn't have scared you like that." Harry paused." Are you okay?"

Ginny wiped her eyes quickly. "Why shouldn't I be?"

"Well, let's see." Harry said, as though pondering the question. "Your eyes are red from crying, and you attacked me just a few seconds ago. Come on Gin. You can tell me, I am here to help."

Ginny sighed. She didn't want to tell anyone that she was having trouble sleeping. But she figured if anyone would know what she was going through it would be Harry. "Okay, but you have to promise you won't tell anyone, they would start worrying about me, and smothering me, and I would never get any peace."

"I Promise."

"Bad dreams." That obviously wasn't a good enough answer but she knew he wouldn't press her any further. She also knew she was probably hurting his feelings by not trusting him enough to confide in him. Ginny looked up at Harry, debating with herself how much to tell him. He would surely tell Ron. And she could just imagine the look on her brother's face, the look when he found out she was still dreaming about Tom.

"Well, I've been dreaming about Tom." Ginny finally said, hoping that Harry would keep his promise, and keep it to himself.

"Tom? As in Tom Riddle?" Harry asked surprise evident on his face.

"Yes, that Tom! Do we know any other Toms?" She snapped, jumping up from her seat. Her eyes had filled with tears again and she was trying her hardest to hold them back.

Harry thought back to her first year. She had been through a lot for someone her age. And he could fully understand why Ginny was having these nightmares. I mean, Lord Voldemort himself has possessed her. Although Ginny knew him as Tom Riddle, a young man destined to become He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Harry suddenly felt a strong surge of anger towards Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy. If it wasn't for him, Ginny wouldn't be up at night crying. For it was Lucius who had slipped Ginny the diary that connected her to Tom and all the horror that followed.

Harry stood up too, his eyes filled with concern. "Oh Ginny," He said softly, reaching out to give her a hug. Ginny stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. And she broke down, right there, weeping on his shoulder. You'd think after Cho, Harry would have experience with crying girls, but just as before he did not know what to do and so he just did what felt right, and stood there stroking her back as she cried. She felt so good standing there in his arms. She felt as though she was safe, and since her first year at Hogwarts, times where she felt completely safe did not come often. And so she cherished every minute of it.

Once Ginny had stopped crying, they made their way into the den and sat down on the couch, where Harry's arm was wrapped around Ginny, her head resting his shoulder. Not a word was said. Not a word was needed. They were both perfectly content and soon began to feel their eyes close. And when Ginny fell asleep first, Harry pulled a blanket off the arm of the couch and covered them up. Harry looked over at the younger girl. She looked completely at ease, a small smile on her face. For once, it looked like Ginny wasn't having bad dreams. She was safe and happy, right there in his arms. As for Harry, he fell asleep soon after, happy to be able to comfort her so.

xxxx

"I am surprised you don't have a book with you." Fred laughed as the official Gryffindor bookworm sat down beside him. He looked over at her to find her frowning.

"You know Fred; I do have a life other than books."

"Oh yea, you have that spew thing going on too." He thought he was teasing her but he should have known better than to have said anything about S.P.E.W.

"It's the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare." She began hotly. Anyone who knew her should know not to get her started on elfish welfare. But before she could begin, Fred grabber her by the shoulders in an attempt to stop her.

"Whoa, Hermione! Lighten up! I was kidding." Fred exclaimed, his arms still firmly planted on her shoulders. But the frustration of the day, and her life, overwhelmed her and tears started falling down her face. Lighten up! Lighten up! He says. How can I lighten up when things are so many things to be serious about? Elfish welfare being the least of it. Voldemort, School, people's expectations. Teachers, adults, they expect so much from me. How can I lighten up when so much is expected from me? Sure, I guess I should get out and have fun once in awhile but one little mess up and they would be disappointed. And that is something I just couldn't handle,

Instinctively, Fred took his right hand of her shoulder and gently wiped the tears off her face. He assumed she was crying because of her fight with Ron that day, and well that was part of the reason, it wasn't all of it. He closed his arms around her and held her tight till she stopped. And when she did, a comfortable silence fell between them. Though eventually, Hermione did fell the need to say something.

"Sorry about that. It's just…today kind of overwhelmed me. You know, with the fight with Ron and everything." She didn't tell him the real reason. She couldn't. He would never understand. He would think she was overreacting or being a drama queen or something. He just would never know it feels to have that kind of pressure on you.

"It's okay Hermione." He looked into her eyes. "You know if want to talk or something..."

She smiled up at him, a genuine smile. "Thanks Fred. I'll remember that." She stood up "I think I am going to go try and get some sleep." She informed him before heading back to the house.

Who would've thought Fred could be that sweet.

Yea lots of crying in this chapter but hopefully you liked it. Well please review and tell me what should happen at the first tutoring session.