Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and don't make me say it again, unless you want to see me cry.
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Fred Weasley, 18 years old, stalked onto the Hogwarts Express, lugging his trunk after him. He was in a towering mood, as his mother had forced him to come back to Hogwarts for his seventh year. He was especially angry because his mother had made George go to Beuxbatons, as she had thought that he had been too much of a distraction. He played with the small hoop earring in his right ear, the last trace of their last act of mischief together for a year.
"A distraction, my a-"
Fred was cut off in the act of swearing when he rammed into a small somebody. Assuming it was a first year, he immediately began to scramble around, saying, "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to!"
But when he picked up a copy of, "Tranfiguration for 6th Years", he looked up and looked into the teary eyes of Hermione Granger.
"Hermione!" he exclaimed. "Are you okay?"
"It's RON!" she burst out. "He's been acting like a jerk to me ever since I turned him down on a date and he just crossed the line and-oh, FRED!"
She continued to sob, wiping tears from her cheeks with increasing regularity. Fred, feeling increasingly nervous, ushered her into an empty compartment.
"It's going to be okay, Hermione," he said soothingly. "Just, erm, ignore Ron and you can tell me if he bothers you again."
Hermione suddenly stopped crying and stared at Fred as if just seeing him.
"FRED!" she cried joyfully. She then proceeded to grab him in her trademark bear hug. He turned purple from the lack of oxygen. The reason for her enthusiasm was that Fred and Hermione had begun to become friends the last summer. Hermione then noticed that Fred resembled a grape that was on fire and immediately let go. Fred slowly turned back to his normal color.
"Fred, it's so good to see you!" she said happily. "What are you doing here?"
"Mum wants me to complete my last year of training. She sent George off to Beuxbatons. Recons he's too much of a distraction." He snorted. "Like I can't cause utter mayhem without him."
Hermione giggled and Fred felt his heart speed up, for some reason. Hermione hadn't changed a bit, except that her brown eyes had a slight sparkle to them. And there was a hint of pink on her cheeks. Oh, and her hair looked just a shade lighter.
Wait, this is HERMIONE GRANGER we're talking about. Bossy, nagging Hermione! Fred thought.
"Fred, you look flustered," Hermione said, laying a cool hand on his face, her face concerned. "Are you alright?"
"What? Yeah, I'm fine. Me, not all right? You're joking," he said, grinning his trademark grin to hide the fact that his heart was going a mile a minute. Hermione laughed and hugged him just as the door flew open. Ron stood there, his face dark red and his mouth twisted into an ugly snarl.
"So, you turned me down for one of the twins?" he sneered. "I knew you liked them, Hermione. I can't blame you. But I can blame YOU, Fred."
A/N: Okay, if you can't already tell, I hate the thought of Ron and Hermione. Hope you like it! Flames will be used to make toast.