Look at that! I actually managed to update after two weeks :D If everything goes well then I will be able to update every two weeks on a Friday. You know what always helps with writing new chapters? REVIEWS! ;)

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WHAT IF

Chapter 29 - Feelings and Fights

Hermione had no idea what was going on with Ron. He behaved strangely towards her for a few days now. He swayed between being a total git, snapping at her at every possibility, and being overly insecure with her. It seemed like he himself had no idea how to behave. More than once Hermione thought he maybe wanted to ask her something but he never did. Hermione knew their friendship was based partly on them being annoyed witch each other but lately... it seemed more intense.

It irritated Hermione. She already regretted asking Ron to be her plus-one to Slughorn's Christmas Party. Maybe she would uninvite him if he kept behaving like that. Hermione had no desire to spend the evening with a moody Ron. Maybe her invitation was the reason for Ron's behaviour, maybe he reacted this way because his insecurity was hung up on the fact that he could only attend the party as a plus-one. Merlin, Hermione cringed, maybe she had offended him unwillingly. But when she had invited him he had seemed happy...

Merlin, Hermione sighed. The whole situation made her insecure too. Ron and she had their fair share of fights over the last years but they always had the indestructible base of being best friends. But now it felt like something was shaking up this base and Hermione had no idea what it was and why. It just felt different. Maybe it was because, for the very first time, she had no idea why Ron was angry. And Ron always had a reason, no matter how irrational. He wasn't someone who was nasty without one and often Hermione understood Ron's reasons better than he did. But this time… she had no idea. It was like she missed an important piece of information to solve this puzzle.

And now they had their next fight. This morning Hermione had been slightly angry and mostly worried when Ron had willingly drunk the pumpkin juice with the luck potion. But when Harry had revealed after the game that it had been only a trick to boost Ron's confidence... well, Hermione wasn't sure why this was a reason for Ron to be angry with her. To imply she wasn't believing in him and his abilities when he had been insecure about it in the first place. This morning Hermione had hoped that maybe, if Gryffindor won the game, that Ron would be in a good mood and she could talk to him about his behaviour. But that was clearly off the table now.

With a sigh, Hermione followed Neville back to the castle to join the celebration party in the tower. She would drink a few butterbeer with Ginny and then… Hermione let her hand rest on the inner pocket of her jacket. A new letter from Fred had arrived during breakfast and Hermione hadn't had the time to read it in peace. She couldn't wait to read it tonight. Maybe she would be able to slip away from the party a bit sooner.

OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO

The room was absolutely silent. And so, so white. The bed was white, the walls, and for some reason even the floor. And Katie Bell too was white. Sickly white. Her face was terribly similar to a ghost, with her veins shimmering through the skin. Only Katie's hair brought some contrast into the mix but unfortunately, the contrast also underlined how very pale she was.

Fred felt out of place as soon as he and George stepped into the room. Katie's parents had been kind enough to allow her friends to visit her even though Katie had still not woken up. The healers weren't sure if it would help her if familiar people visited and talked to her. But it would surely don't do any damage and so Fred and George had decided to give it a go. Katie had been their friend since years and it was simply unthinkable not to visit her.

With a heavy heart, Fred placed some flowers on Katie's bedside table. They were bright purple and orange and charmed with a preserving spell to keep them fresh so that she knew right away who had brought them. Just to be sure though they left a colourful card.

"Hey Katie," George sat down on one of the chairs and started to talk about random things. He talked about how the shop was, which pranks they were developing right now, and that he missed playing Quidditch with the old team. Fred also sat down and for a while and just enjoyed the stories. He had always thought that George was better with things like this. Things that required calmness and quiet. Fred let his twin's voice wash over him and remember fondly the old times when George started to retell old stories about Quidditch training with Oliver and winning the cup. After a while, Fred took over. He talked about the time when Katie had joined the Quidditch year as a small but feisty second year. How she had amazed everyone with her flying skills and how she had never been afraid of Fred and George's pranks.

They left after two hours. Two hours which had felt like eternity and Fred once again remembered how dangerous their world was right now. When Katie could be cursed in Hogsmeade, with all the teachers around and Dumbledore not far away, then the situation was worse than most people thought. Everyone was in danger right now.

"I think I need a drink, you're in?" Fred asked as they walked to the fireplaces to floo out.

"Definitely," George nodded tiredly. "Let's get Lee too. He visited this morning and surely needs one too."

Fred agreed but originally he had hoped to get an evening alone with George. A firewhiskey or two and maybe they would be able to talk about Angelina. And how George and she had been nowhere in sight when Fred had come about the other day. But he was pretty sure that Angelina had stayed the night.

OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO

"What the bloody hell am I looking at?" Hermione was stunned. This was not something he had expected to see today. She hadn't expected to see it at all. Like never once in this lifetime. But still, right in front of the whole common room and every Gryffindor student, Ron Weasley was snogging Lavender Brown.

"This is disturbing," Ginny frowned. "The damn hypocrite. He was scolding me only a few days ago when he caught me with Dean. And we didn't snog in front of the while house."

"I thought Lavender was still hung up on Seamus," Hermione mumbled to herself. She took a quick glance at Seamus who was talking to Dean and Neville, totally undisturbed by the display. Even though Hermione was still disturbed by the sudden and very public snogging session, she also realised with glee that this was her chance to leave for a few moments and read Fred's letter.

Originally Hermione had wanted to retreat to her dorm room but just as she got up she saw that Parvati was already walking up the stairs. Well, if she went to their room now she wouldn't have any peace. Parvati was surely bored and would want to discuss Ron and Lavender. Hermione could do without that.

Instead, she quickly made her way out of the tower and into the next empty classroom. Joy was spreading through her as she opened the small envelope and saw Fred's handwriting. It had become so familiar to her and Hermione was sure she would be able to recognise it everywhere.

My favourite prefect,

well, of course, you're right and a dutiful prefect like you shouldn't use prank products against misbehaving students. Still a shame. So instead I will tell you what Percy and Charlie always did as prefects to get us in line.

By now our favourite head of house should have taught you how to use Avis in transfiguration. And I'm sure you excelled at it and got Gryffindor some house points. But did you know you could use a nifty little spell named Oppugno to use these little birds as weapons? Charlie used them when he was prefect to wake us up in the morning and Percy send them after us when he caught us after curfew. It certainly makes one run. You should try it one day.

Hermione giggled silently to herself and with a whisper she used Avis. She had always liked those little birds, they were cute and beautiful. Hermione let her gaze wander through the room in search of an object to attack. She had to try it at least once in a safe environment before she attacked misbehaving third years who were out after hours. Hermione only wanted to scare them a little bit so that they would hurry off to their dorm faster, not actually hurt them. But she wasn't sure if Charlie or Percy ever had this kind of reservations when it came to their younger twin brothers.

"Hermione, there you are." Harry walked towards her, his expression worried and his steps a little unsure. "I was worried."

"Oh, I just needed a minute to myself," Hermione quickly pushed the letter in her pocket. "It was just so loud and I didn't want to talk with Parvati about Ron and Lavender." It took everything from her not to roll her eyes. Gingerly Harry set down beside her.

"You know, I don't think it's something serious between them." He started to ramble. "You've no reason to be sad about. I'm pretty sure Ron's just trying to prove something to Ginny and maybe, don't know, get some experience. He'll surely regret this..." Harry made a helpless gesture with his hands while Hermione tried to catch up with him.

"Harry, what are you talking about?" But a queasy feeling was already started to settle in her stomach before she got her answer.

Hermione had theoretically known this since their fourth year. Ever since Fred and George had had this terribly bet about how long it would take for Ron to realise he liked her. Seemed like both of them had lost this bet by now. Back then Hermione had been so preoccupied with her own feelings for Fred and her short romance with Victor that she had just forgotten about it. Ever since there hadn't been another sign that Ron liked her as more than a friend. He had never said anything and Hermione had never tried to find out. Maybe that had been a mistake. She should have taken the twins words more serious. She should have tried to discourage Ron's... whatever he thought he felt. Not that she had ever done anything to encourage him but maybe telling him casually that she was in love with her soulmate would have helped.

Harry only looked at the birds, his whole aura emanated discomfort. He probably didn't want to be in the middle of whatever mess his two best friends were going to create. But still, he was here because he thought Hermione would be sad. That she would be hurt.

"What does Ron need to prove?" Hermione asked again and this time Harry answered. He told her how Ron and he had caught Ginny snogging Dean, Hermione only knew the story from Ginny's perspective, and how the siblings had started to fight. How Ginny had accused Ron of behaving like a child because he had no own experience.

"She kind of mentioned that you kissed Victor Krum," Harry admitted quietly. Hermione just shrugged. It wasn't a secret, not really, just something she had never told Harry and Ron, mostly because of how Ron reacted during the Yule Ball. "I think Ron never really thought about the possibility of something more than pen pals between you and Krum. No matter how jealous he was. It kind of threw him out of the loop these last days."

"Ah, that's why he behaved so strange." Everything clicked in place now for Hermione. "Merlin, what should I do now? I have to talk to him."

"Don't worry," Harry smiled, still a bit uncomfortable but trying his best. "I know Ron likes you and this thing with Lavender is surely a fling. Probably only a one-time thing tonight. But it's probably best if you take the first step, make the first move." Harry stuttered his way through most of his words while the little birds still fluttered through the room, chirping slightly. It was a bit surreal.

"Oh Harry," she sighed. "Does it really look like I'm having feelings for Ron?"

"Well, I thought so. That's why you invited him to the Christmas Party, right? And left when he snogged Lavender?"

"That's awful, I hope no one else got this impression." Hermione groaned and shook her head. "Promise not to tell Ron but, Harry," she almost was afraid of saying it. "I'm in love with someone else. And I already confessed. We're writing letters right now, trying to get to know each other better."

A slight blush crept about Harry's face at those words which caused Hermione to blush too. This was the first time they ever spoke so openly about her feelings. Normally everything was about Harry, which was fine. Hermione had Ginny for talks like that. She knew that her friendship with Harry - and Ron - was different and didn't need them to talk about everything.

"Oh, well, that's good to hear. If you're happy, you know," Harry let out a deep sigh. "It just complicated things with Ron because I'm halfway sure he's only snogging Lavender to make you jealous. I think he feels insecure like he's not good enough for you because he lacks experience. He's afraid you're not seeing him this way. Seems like he's right."

"Yes," Hermione's heart shrank painfully at the thought of hurting Ron. She had to talk to him. Put a stop on this as soon as possible. Sure, Ron would be hurt and probably don't talk to her for a while but it would be better to hurt him now than waiting. She couldn't spare him from this heartbreak if his feelings were really as Harry thought.

Suddenly the door opened with a fast swing, almost crashing into the wall. Ron and Lavender stumbled in, both absorbed with each other, kissing and tugging at their clothes. "Oh," Lavender's eyes widened when she realised they were not alone. Ron also froze for a moment before Lavender let out a shy giggle and went off. Ron looked after her, seemingly unsure of what to do. Talk to his friends or head after Lavender. Then he turned to them, apparently he had decided to stay.

"Hi, Harry! Wondered where you'd got to." Ron refused to look at her but there was something in his embarrassed smile that made Hermione instantly furious. It took her a moment of staring at him, examining his facial expressions, to realise he was smug. He tried to hide it and most people wouldn't have seen it. But there it was. The little glint of smugness, the pride of a job well done. Fred and George looked like this after a successful prank. Ginny looked like this when she did well on Quidditch. And Ron always looked like this when he bested her at chess.

"You know, you shouldn't leave Lavender alone for too long. She will wonder where you are," Hermione stood up, the little birds following her. She studied Ron again as he took in her words - which really were a little test - and she saw a mixture of smugness and relief on his face. The git wanted her to be jealous! And he thought he had succeeded! Every fibre of Hermione screamed at her not to do something stupid but a small part, the furious part, though it was a good idea to test Fred's spell.

"Oppugno!" With a satisfied smirk, Hermione saw how the little birds started to attack Ron and she closed the door with a loud slam. If this was how Ron wanted to deal with his apparent feelings and the accompanying insecurity then Hermione wouldn't stop him. If he wanted to be childish then she would not be the mature and reasonable one. Not this time, she had been responsible often enough. Especially since he had ruined her joy about reading Fred's letter. She would wait and read it tomorrow when she was hopefully in a better mood.

OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO

"See you next Sunday, Katie." Fred pressed Katie's hand a bit as a way to say goodbye, George doing the same on her other side. Over the last few weeks, their group of friends had established something like a schedule about visiting Katie. They wanted to make sure that someone she knew was by her side as often as possible in case Katie woke up.

Fred and George were in a grave mood when they left the room and stepped outside. Alicia Spinnet was already on her way and would spend the rest of the evening with Katie, but still, Fred felt slightly guilty for leaving so soon. But they had a shop to run and Order business and hopefully Fred would find a new letter from Hermione waiting for him.

It had been a few days since he had sent his last reply and normally Hermione was pretty fast with answering. He would never admit it - George would tease him endlessly - but Fred was rather worried. Not in a something-bad-might-have-happened-to-her-worried, since he would know any of those bad news from the Order, but a maybe-I-wrote-something-stupid-and-she-hates-me-worried. And that was new kind of worry for Fred who never before had been so unsure with a girl.

They were almost out of the hospital when George suddenly stopped in his tracks. By now Fred knew that the only person to cause such a reaction was Angelina and for sure there she was. Standing at the welcoming counter and discussing something with the witch on duty. She looked rather professional but at the same time casual in her healer robes, her hair braided back. Fred's heart made a little jump at this sight but not because of Angelina herself. Because of the witch she resembled so much right now.

There was something about Angelina that reminded him of Hermione. Not because they looked similar. Or behaved similarly. Angelina and Hermione were their own people but there was this no-nonsense-look on Angelina's face which showed everyone that she would do anything necessary to do the right thing. That was something shared between Hermione and Angelina. Willpower and determination. It was odd to see this similarity but at the same time, Fred thought it was only right for them to be similar on some way. Since Fred and George were so alike it only made sense that their-

Fred shook himself out of his own thoughts. He was on dangerous territory here and it was an immense risk for his own heart to finish this thought. To admit to himself that there was something he wished for. That he wished to have the same thing as Angelina and George even though they were both stupid gits.

"Want to stare at her the whole day, Forge?" Fred teased and effectively got George out of his state. Sometimes Fred thought that Angelina had to be part Veela but with the specific ability only to get George Weasley into her ban. Or maybe it was just his twin being pathetic. Maybe Fred had to go back to this broom closet plan and really lock them up together. Even though he had had the hope this wasn't necessary any longer since that evening a few days ago when Angelina had come to the flat...

"Alright, alright," George sighed. "Let's go. Not the best place for a talk anyway." With quick strides, George entered the floo and vanished. Fred followed after him and found him in the workroom, already flipping through the pages of their potions book.

"My, my, Georgie, did I hear you right? You actually plan to speak to Miss Johnson? Like have a real conversation?" Fred teased, hopping on the table right beside the book so that George couldn't evade him. His twin only made a little snorting sound.

"Someday I will have to, don't I?" George showed him two pages in the book. "Which one should we do today?"

"Sure, I just thought it would take you some more time. Like maybe a year or two." Fred tapped on the recipe for the Fainting Fancies, they were almost out of stock of those.

"Haha, very funny," George rolled his eyes while he got the fire burning and hauled up an extra-large cauldron. Meanwhile, Fred accioed the ingredients to the table. He wouldn't give up his place on the table just yet. Not when it was so easy to annoy George this way. "So, has this something to do with the other night?"

"No idea what you're talking about," George muttered but his ears turned into a burning red. Fred grinned.

"Sure, sure," he handed George a vial with dried lavender. "It's not like you and Angie were nowhere to find the other night when I came up after closing the shop. But I thought I heard someone stumbling out of the flat in the wee hours of the morning."

To say Fred had been surprised was an understatement. He had expected to find Angelina and George in uncomfortable silence after he left them alone for ten or fifteen minutes. But instead, the flat had been seemingly empty and no one had answered when he had called. He hadn't thought much about it since he was too distracted with worrying over Katie and writing to Hermione. But in the morning the sound of the front door closing had woken him up. Fred had waited patiently these last few days for George to tell him about it but now he was out of patience.

"Nothing happened," George's blush was dark enough to let his freckles vanish. Ange took a calming draught and it made her drowsy. She wanted to lie down for a while and we fell asleep. Nothing happened."

"Maybe nothing physical happened, but something happened. Something changed, right?" Fred hated that he had to needle every little bit of information out of George, who kept himself busy with brewing the potion. But he knew that topic was sensitive and it was better to needle a bit than to ignore it like before.

"Maybe..." George sighed. "Probably, I have to talk to her first. Just to be sure. I just, well it feels like maybe it isn't so crazy to think that I might still have a chance. You okay with that?" George finally looked up, waiting for reassurance. Fred had told him over and over again that he was okay with it but he knew George just needed to hear it now.

"Of course I am," he grinned and only a small part of him was jealous. Jealous that George would probably be happy with his soulmate soon while Fred had no idea where this thing with Hermione would lead him.

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As always I want to thank everyone for reviewing and following this story :)

We're at a weird point in the story where important things happen but Fred and Hermione have little interaction since he's not at school anymore. But all the other things are important for the plot. I hope you enjoy it anyway.

And don't forget to leave reviews, it's fueling my writing ;)