DISCLAIMER: Nope...

Chapter 3: Lost and Found

Seconds turned to minutes and minutes became hours… Time passed by faster as she could imagine. Hermione felt as if she was falling into a bottomless pit. Yet she felt something holding her back, something like a chain around her foot that kept her from falling deeper. She felt the warmth of someone holding her.

Fred.

Tears were still streaming down her cheeks as she opened her eyes to look at his chest. He had pulled his arms around her and held her closely so that she again could smell the grass and lemon odour that swept around him. It felt good to be that close to him. Yet…

All of a sudden she pulled away from him, escaping his grip. She almost stumbled off the couch; just before hitting ground she pulled herself up again and then left the living room running, her insides burning with the fire of self-loathing. How could she sink that deep? How could she be so selfish?

Tears still streaming down her cheeks, she ran out of the house into the night. She could hear footsteps behind her but didn't turn around. She couldn't stop now that she ran away. She felt even sadder thinking about abandoning Fred's caring grip. Yet she wouldn't allow herself to think like this, she wouldn't allow herself to crawl on her knees, to beg for help, to –

No. Not again.

She realized she already begged for help, she already crawled on her knees, she already let herself down… how could she cry in front of Fred? How could she actually leave home with him, how could she possibly spend two weeks just with the twins? She must have been blind, she must have been stupid and totally out of her mind. And she still was.

She kept running through the dark, unaware of what was in front of her, unaware of what was behind. It was then, when she suddenly felt two hands grabbing her from behind. She let out a tearful scream, kicking the air when someone lifted her up and covered her mouth. Arms were pulled around her chest, lifting her off the ground. She couldn't see anything, but she smelled the odour of grass.

That, however, was the last thing she could think of before she passed out into an even darker world. The world of unconsciousness.

"Where's Hermione?", George asked when he came downstairs to see his twin lean against the doorframe of the kitchen, staring into the cold night. "Is she still sleeping?"

Fred didn't answer.

"Fred?", George asked again, stepping next to his twin. "Why are you standing here?"

He had often seen Fred doing strange things yet he couldn't remember this odd expression on his twin's face. An almost empty expression.

"Fred? What's wrong?", George kept asking.

Fred still didn't move.

"Goddamnit, FRED!", he yelled in his twin's ear, kicking his side.

Fred suddenly jumped, holding his ear with one hand.

"George! Bloody Hell, what was that for?", he asked with an angry look at his twin, rubbing his side with the other hand.

"You tell me, Bro", the other one said, looking concerned. "Where have you been?"

"Erm, right here", Fred replied, raising one brow. "Where else?"

"You seemed to be far away", George said, looking puzzled. "What happened? Don't tell me you're enjoying the night…"

"No", Fred said barely audible. "I…"

"What?"

Fred moved through the open door, stepping in the dark. George followed him.

"What?", he asked again.

"I lost her…", Fred said into the darkness. George could see him, rubbing his head as if someone had hit him.

"Who?"

"Hermione…"

"How? I thought she's still asleep upstairs…?"

"No, she wasn't…"

"So what happened?"

George stared into the dark where he expected his twin to be, but couldn't see anything. "Goddamnit", he mumbled and pulled out his wand from his pocket. "Lumos", he said and watched the small light at the tip of his wand illuminate. His surroundings lightened up at least a bit so he could see Fred standing in front of the little sea just a couple metres from him. He walked towards the place where his twin stood, staring into the dark again.

"What's wrong with you, mate?", George asked, his temper slightly rising. Fred never acted that strange before. His silence was quite annoying.

"Tell me or I'll kick your dumb ass into the lake!", he went on.

Fred suddenly turned to his twin, his gaze serious and a deep wrinkle between his eyes. "I lost her, how many times do I have to tell you? We were sitting in the living room when she suddenly ran away into the night. I followed her but I lost her."

George stared at his twin. "You lost her?"

"Yeah, goddamnit, do you get it now? She's somewhere out there, running to her own misery perhaps."

"It's not your fault –"

"Yes, it is! I scared her away!"

"How?", George asked puzzled. It was pretty unlike Hermione to be scared by a Weasley. Especially one of those Weasleys that she, as a prefect at Hogwarts, used to threat if they were starting to play a prank on someone again. She was the last one to be afraid of a Weasley.

"Don't start that now, George, we have to find her!", Fred said, suddenly standing many feet away from him, again staring into the dark.

"How? Where? She could be anywhere…"

"If we start searching, we might find her before dawn…"

"That's crazy, Fred, how should we find her in the dark?"

"Are we wizards or what?", Fred replied, pulling out his own wand and illuminating it as well.

"This reminds me of last summer", George said, when they started to search the nearby little forest.

"You mean the Quidditch Worldcup?"

"Yeah, let's just hope there are no Death Eaters around now…"

Hermione awoke with a bad headache. Her eyes hurt and her throat felt kind of scratchy. She coughed realizing that she lay on her back. Jerking her eyes open, she found herself lying in the dark, a dirty ground underneath.

She got up sleepily, rubbing her eyes that tried hard to get used to the darkness. When they finally focused, she saw that she was inside a very small room, something like a shed or a closet. She stood up weakly and leant against one of the near-by walls and pushed off the dust from her clothes. Furrowing her forehead, she looked around, realizing that she knew this shed.

It was the shed that was standing right behind the Burrow.

How did she get here? Who brought her here? What happened after she ran away from Fred?

Fred…

She suddenly remembered the reason she ran away at all. Now she felt even more stupid – if that was possible. She took a step towards the wooden door of the shed, pushing it open to reveal even more darkness. But there she could she the weal glowing of the fire of the chimney inside the house. And she could hear voices calling her.

She stepped into the darkness, following the voices.

"Hermione!", she heard from somewhere far away.

"HERMIONE!", someone yelled right next to her.

She let out a shriek and covered her ears. Steps approached her and then there was a small light blinding her.

"Hermione?"

She blinked into the light, slowly recognizing Fred's outline.

"Yeah, I'm here…", she said weakly.

"Where have you been? We've been looking for you for hours!", he said, watching her concerned.

"I… I, well I ran into the forest and… erm… I can't really remember", she said, scratching her head in confusion. "I… I woke up over there…" She pointed back at the shed. Fred stared past her before he stared at her in bewilderment.

"What!"

"I… I don't know what happened…", she whispered, rubbing her arms as the cold of the night took her into its freezing grip.

"Come, let's go inside again, shall we?"

She just nodded and followed Fred into the house. When he walked back outside to call for his twin who seemed to be still looking for her, she leant against the kitchen table, still rubbing her arms. She felt so stupid…

Fred then came back into the house, George on his tail. Both looked at Hermione with concern. They both changed gazes before George left the kitchen, heading to the stairs. Fred grabbed her arm gently and moved her toward the living room.

He sat down on the couch; she took the armchair next to it, staring into the glowing fervour of the fire. She bit her lip and scratched absentmindedly the skin under her sleeve.

"Hermione, tell me what's wrong", she finally heard Fred's voice.

She didn't turn to look at him, just continued staring into the fire.

"I'm sorry, Fred. I didn't mean to run away and cause you trouble or anything. I'm really sorry…", she muttered and got up slowly. "I think I better go…"

"Where to?", he asked.

"To… well, I don't know…"

And she turned to face him, tears glimmering in her eyes. He got up as well, looking down at her out of earnest blue eyes.

"It was wrong to call for help… I shouldn't have done that… I… I'm just an annoyance and I only cause trouble and –"

"Self-pity isn't the right thing now, don't you think?", he said quietly.

She stared at him, the first tear falling down from her eyes.

"Or let me say it differently, Hermione", he said and took a step towards her. "You are not an annoyance and you don't cause anyone trouble… it was right to call for help… one can only imagine what might have happened if you hadn't… now, calm down, get some rest and we talk it about tomorrow, alright?"

She still stared at him, standing just inches away from him. Her lips trembled. She wanted to say something but no words came out. Fred took her hand and smiled down at her.

"May I take you to Ginny's room, then?"

Hermione raised both brows.

"To answer your questions: yes, you can stay here. And no", he added, grinning. "I just want to get sure you find the right room!"

She caught herself smiling at him.

He then led her up the stairs towards Ginny's room where he stopped and opened the door for her.

"So, I hope you will be still here tomorrow, you wouldn't want to miss George's great breakfast!", he said, smirking.

"I –"

He let go of her hand and shook his head. "Don't ever thank me or apologize again, alright?"

"I try", she said, smiling. "It's hard though…"

"I know", Fred said, laughing. "Everyone wants to thank me!"

Hermione suppressed a laugh. She locked eyes with him and felt herself falling slightly. It was then when she realized something she hadn't thought about before.

"Erm, Fred?"

"Hm?"

"I… all my clothes and stuff are still at my parents' home…"

"So… you don't have anything to wear?", he said, grinning.

"Don't grin like that, it's…", she turned her head to look away, blushing slightly, whispering the last word: "Embarrassing!"

"I'm sorry, alright, do you want some shirt or what from me?"

It was just a simple question yet she felt her heart race faster.

"I think that was a yes", he said, pulling out his wand, and whispered: "Accio shirt!"

He stretched out his hand just in time as a blue shirt came flying through the air. It landed right in his hand. He then gave it to Hermione who took it still not looking at him.

"Tha-"

"Nah!", he said, laughing. "No more thanks for me, I can't handle that!"

She then finally looked up at him and smiled shyly.

"Good night", he said, breaking the eerie situation.

"Good night", she replied.

With that he left her standing in front of Ginny's room.

She then turned around to enter the room, feeling slightly relieved to not be stared into a heavily blushed face anymore. She closed the door and walked over to the bed. Feeling the shirt in her hands, she sighed and got off her clothes, pulling on Fred's T-Shirt that was way to large but very comfortable – and it smelled of lemons…

And she liked lemons…

A/N: Now what's that? I got a question for you: What or who had caught Hermione in the forest and put her into the shed? What do you think? Tell me, I'd be interested! Thank you!