Anything Can Happen
By: mistress-of-the-soul
Chapter Three
Fred did not sleep well that night. His dreams were haunted with what his family had put him through. Twice he awoke panting, reliving the pain. It was just too much to bear. He could not sleep for his dreams would be plagued with those dark days. Sitting up Fred rubbed his eyes tiredly. He reached over and turned his lamp on. As Fred sat up in his bed with his lamp lighting one of his dark maroon walls, he looked over at his bedside table and slowly pulled open the small drawer. He pulled out a small brown leather book with gold lettering on it and carefully, he opened it and turned to a blank page. Fred pulled the pen with his name engraved on it out of the drawer and uncapped it. "I think it is time I start using this again," he whispered and began to write.
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Three and a half hours later, Fred and Hermione were sitting at the bar in the kitchen holding cups of coffee. "Couldn't sleep?" asked Fred. Hermione shook her head,"You?" Fred shook his head. Hermione took a sip of her coffee and let her eyes wander around the room. "This room looks different at night. It seems a lot more subdued. Or maybe it's just the fact that it is 2:30 in the morning." Fred chuckled and studied the forest green walls decorated with pictures of his family and friends from school. "You know," he said quietly, "this isn't the first time that they have done this. When they did this to me I came home and took all the pictures of them off of my walls. Two hours later I was back in here hanging them back up." Fred got up ad wandered over to the picture on the wall, sipping his coffee as he went. Hermione followed and went to stand beside him.
"No matter how much I say that I hate them, I know deep down in my heart that I will always love them. Nothing could change that. Life always seems to work out like that. Somebody does something bad to you and you tell them that you hate them and never want to see them again, yet we sit at home and stare at their pictures wishing nothing else but to be with them." Hermione looked at all the pictures. Everyone seemed so happy. The first one that she noticed was of Fred and George when they looked to be about five or six. One had elephant ears and the other had a giraffe's neck. Hermione giggled and looked at the next picture. It was of the entire Weasley family, Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, and all the kids. They all looked so happy. When Hermione looked at the next picture she saw three very familiar faces. Staring back her happily were Harry, Ron, and herself, looking young and happy. Fred came over to where Hermione was and smiled. He pointed out a picture on the very end. That is one of you. I don't know if you remember it, it was taken at the end of last year, right before you left to get on the train.
"I do remember it," Hermione said. "Ron had caught me by surprise. He brought me roses that day. How did you get it?" "I asked for it," Fred said. "I saw it in Ron's room and asked if I could have it, I didn't have a picture of just you in it." Hermione smiled, as if she was reliving the day the picture was taken. Her smile fell as she remembered who took it and why. "Who is that?" Hermione asked, pointing out a young girl's picture underneath hers. "That would be Alicia Spinnet; the woman of my dreams."
"Oh, Fred, George stole her from you, like Lavender stole Ron from me, didn't he?" Fred nodded and supped his coffee. "We had been dating since fourth year and we were having dinner on a Hogsmade trip when she said she had something to tell me. I was hoping beyond belief that it was the same thing that I wanted to tell her. I was going to tell her that I loved her. I told her to go first and I was so ready and so happy that I could barely contain myself. When she told me that she was seeing somebody else my heart broke into a million pieces. I asked who it was and she was hesitant to tell me but I made her. When she told me that it was George I hurt in places I didn't know existed.
"I went to my mum's house hoping to find comfort there, but instead I found Alicia, George, and the rest of my family, sitting and laughing. I walked in and everybody got real quiet. When I looked at George I started to cry. I thought that we would always be a team and that we would always be there for each other. I came here and cried and cried. I tried to kill myself, but as strange as it sounds, Professor Snape saved me. He gave me something that I keep very dear to me. He saved my life with a little book. When I heard you screaming the other day I didn't know what to think, but when I saw Ron and Lavender I instantly knew something bad was going to happen. When I got up and went down to breakfast, I found Ron and Lavender sitting at the kitchen table, just as Alicia and George had. My mother had healed their wounds and was talking to them as she talked to George and Alicia. They did to you what they did to me. Hermione, I am so sorry."
Hermione sank down onto the couch and placed her shaking coffee cup on the table. Tears snaked down her faced and she looked up at Fred, who also had tears coming out of his eyes. He set of cup down so he could wipe his eyes and try and compose himself. Hermione jumped up and ran into his arms. "Fred I am so sorry, I am sorry that you lost your love, I am sorry that you got dragged into this mess, I am…" Fred quieted Hermione by wrapping his arms around her and sinking to the ground. The two sat there in the darkened living room, crying on a shoulder that they had both needed for a long time.
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Fred and Hermione had fallen asleep in each others arms, and neither woke until well after noon. Hermione awoke first, becoming aware immediately of not the pain in her neck but of the warm body pressed up against hers. She quietly rolled over and opened her eyes. Her movement roused Fred who also opened his eyes. He did not register the situation at first, but when he did he jumped up and started apologizing. "Fred, Fred, FRED!" Hermione yelled. "It's okay. I don't think either one of us was going to be able to get to sleep last night. It did us some good, no harm done." Fred smiled sheepishly and shifted his weight. "Well, now that we know each others situations, I suggest we start planning revenge," Fred said. Hermione smiled her first genuine smile that anyone had seen in a while and they sat to work.
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"Let's give him boobs," Hermione suggested. "Nah," Fred said, "we have to go for the extreme! Think big!" Both Fred and Hermione grinned devilishly and went back to brainstorming. Arguing about what was extreme and what was not. All throughout the day, the duo came up with evil plans to get back at the Weasleys and Lavender. They survived off of peanut butter sandwiches and six pots of coffee. Finally, after hours of laughing and intense thinking Hermione jumped up. "I've got it!" she exclaimed. Fred looked up excitedly. "Well?" he asked. "Okay," Hermione said, pacing the living room, "Ron and Lavender are clearly intimate." Hermione said the word with a deep tone of disgust. "I do believe that Ron would freak out if he went to bed Lavender and found out Ronald Jr. was replaced with something else. The same with Lavender. I think it would be the best way top get back at them. As for the rest of your family, I think we should remove the genital areas all together. Temporarily of course, but we can change that if need be."
Fred smiled and embraced Hermione in a hug. "That is brilliant! You could turn out to be a prankster after all!" "Yeah," Hermione said, "it's kind of funny; we are acting like a bunch of Slytherins. We are putting Draco Malfoy to shame." Fred stared laughing but it turned into a yawn which passed over to Hermione. "I guess we should turn in for the night," Fred said. "Yea," Hermione agreed. Before going to her room Hermione turned and called out to Fred, "You know what?" "What?" he replied. "I think that after we get our revenge we will feel a lot better. So maybe we should just get out plan together, have our fun, and then forget about all of them until they come to their senses. There is no sense in ruining our lives because they can't control theirs." Fred smiled, "Now that is the Hermione I know, always analyzing everything." Hermione smiled and went into her room and Fred went to his.
Thirty minutes later, they were both in the living room, cuddled underneath blankets and on top of pillows, sleeping soundly.