SOO sorry for the length of time between updates. I am incredibly busy. Saying that much, I hope you enjoy it!
Hermione
In the morning, I woke up nervous but I couldn't immediately remember why. Then I caught sight of the parchment on my nightstand. I leapt out of bed and within fifteen minutes I was sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. I was determined to be there when the mail came today. The owls arrived in a great flurry of wings. I watched for Hedwig, so focused on trying to catch a glimpse of white in all the brown that I almost missed the tawny owl that landed in front of me. I grinned and took the letter it carried noting the red wax seal. He had written back! I still had almost an hour before classes started so I hurried back up to the tower. I wanted to read this one in my room.
I ran my finger delicately under the seal, leaving it mostly intact. As I read, I couldn't help but smile. He wanted me to visit him. He wanted me to be around! Maybe I was reading too much into it but maybe, just maybe I wasn't. Of course the most logical solution was to ask.
The bell rang and I had to sprint to class but I didn't exactly pay much attention. Instead of taking notes in my History of Magic class, I tuned out Professor Binns (not a hard thing to do, trust me) and wrote a reply to Fred.
To: Fred Weasley
Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Diagon Alley
Would you really come get me? If I asked you to? Why? Because
I'm your little brother's best friend? Because I'm smart? Because
I'm your friend? What could possibly motivate you to do something
like that? It's a really short letter, but maybe that's because I
want an answer. A serious one.
Yours,
Hermione Granger
I wasn't sure I wanted to send this letter but I did want to know. I wanted to know badly enough that I would risk perpetual embarrassment and humiliation. If he rejected me, if he told me I was nothing more than a little girl, I wouldn't only be losing a guy that, if I was truly honest with myself, I loved. Who made my heart beat faster and who filled my dreams, my days, my nights with endless happy thoughts. I would also be losing one of my best friends. I don't think I will be able to spend much if any time with Ron. He'd remind me too much of his brother. And he would want to be with me. I know he wants more than a friendship but I know now, I realize I don't want that. I could never want that with Ron. He's my friend but he will never give me what I want or need in a relationship. So I send the letter. That means I spend the next few days driven to distraction. Even Harry and Ron notice which is saying something.
Fred
I got Hermione's note because really, it was too short to call a proper letter, but it was by far the hardest to answer yet. So I put it aside for a few days. I needed to figure out how much I was willing, no able, to tell her. I didn't want to scare her off, and I had to figure out how deep, how true my own feelings were. It was a serious thought and those definitely did not in any way come naturally.
The shop was up and running and business was slow but steady. George and I were trying to figure out the best way to run the shop and that meant almost daily rearrangement of, well of everything. Do the love potions belong in the front of the store or the back? Do the pygmy puffs sell better when they're next to the teen section or the charmed quills? Setting up a store is very much a science and it consumed many of our days and occasionally our nights. One of us would wake up in the dead of night with an idea to perfect the store and promptly wake the other, not that either of us minded. Needless to say I didn't reply to Hermione's note for several weeks. More like two months. I will admit I could have done so sooner but I didn't. I'm sure my slow reply resulted in a lot of stress and more than one sleepless night. Eventually though, I did get to it and it took me several hours to come up with the minimal answer she finally got.
To: Hermione Granger
Gryffindor Tower, Hogwarts
I realize that I have caused you buckets upon buckets of
unnecessary worry so I'm sorry, here's your answer. Yes I would.
Can you think of why? I'll give you a hint. My motives are
entirely selfish ones.
Sincerely,
Fred Weasley
When he sent the letter, he watched until the owl was less than a speck among the drifting clouds, his heart pounding. He walked back to the shop with his head in the clouds but when he got back, he was instantly transformed. As soon as he passed the door he became vivacious to the point of gaudy display, shoving his anxiousness as far from the surface as he could. Waiting for Hermione's answer was pure torture but he couldn't do much else. The worry would surface at odd times, ambushing him to the point of inconvenience.
Hermione
I spent several nights a week as an insomniac after I sent the last letter to Fred. I just wanted an answer and that seemed like a good way to get one but had I been too straight forward? Had I read something into the letter that simply wasn't there to be found? Was I finding it because I wanted it to b there? What did that say about me? What did that say about my feelings? About a month in I realized I was becoming the very definition of teenage angst, but the realization did nothing to lessen the pain and stress of constant worry.
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