Hey guys. Here's another chapter. I don't own Harry Potter.
Arriving at the gates of Malfoy Manor, Fred glanced around, trying to spot the best way in. After Voldemort fell, the wards had been altered. Now anyone could enter, but only through Muggle means. That meant Apparating in to rescue Hermione was definitely out of the question. Setting his jaw and squaring his shoulders, Fred approached the high wall and slowly began to scale it, taking care to find the best hand and footholds. He'd be no help to Hermione, he, knew, if he fell and cracked his skull open on the ground below.
Reaching the top of the wall, Fred paused for a moment. Taking in the appearance of Malfoy Manor, Fred caught sight of a silhouette in one of the front rooms. It was slim, and, even from this distance, had a proud haughty look to its stance. Malfoy, without a doubt. Glancing around, Fred spotted a small, back entrance to the Manor. It was doubtless only used by those beneath Malfoy's notice – house elves and such like. Perfect, Fred thought.
Jumping down from the wall, Fred steadied himself as he landed on the ground. Glancing up again at the window that offered him a clear view of Malfoy, he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that he was still in the room, settling himself in a chair with a book.
Keeping to the shadows, out of sight of the window, Fred slowly crept through the large gardens towards the side entrance. Upon reaching the old, wooden, weather-beaten door, Fred was unsurprised to find it heavily padlocked. Evidently the Malfoy family took no chances when it came to ensuring no one could get into their precious Manor. Withdrawing his wand, Fred whispered, "Alohomora". Nothing happened, but he hadn't expected it to. Someone who had taken such effort at sealing the door wouldn't have overlooked charms preventing someone from undoing those locks with a simple spell.
Opening his jacket slightly, he pulled out a small pack that he always kept in his inside pocket. From out of it he pulled a hair-slide, and bent it out of shape. He had always taken care to have this pack with him, it had proved itself useful long ago, when he, George and Ron had broken Harry out of Privet Drive, and now was to prove itself useful again.
After a few minutes of patient work and manipulation, he was rewarded with a click as the lock popped open. Fred snorted as he put the pack back in his pocket. Lesson for all future wizards, he thought to himself, never underestimate Muggle methods. Pulling the lock out of the hasp, Fred tossed it outside and pulled the door open slightly, wincing as the disused hinges creaked. Slipping inside, Fred pulled the door to again.
"Homenum revelio." Nothing appeared, and so Fred continued down the passage, keeping his eyes peeled for any clues that could tell him where Hermione was. He passed door after door, corridor after corridor, casting the Homenum revelio spell at regular intervals, but there was so sign of Hermione.
Fred was starting to lose all hope of ever finding her in this maze that was Malfoy Manor when he heard footsteps approaching him. He immediately took a step backwards, but his back hit something. Glancing behind him, he saw that he was up against a door. Grasping the handle, he prayed to everyone and everything he could think of, as he twisted it. Thankfully it turned, and Fred stepped into the room it revealed and shut the door smartly behind him. Leaning against it, he listened as the footsteps passed him by. Only when the threat of being discovered had passed did he take in his surroundings. He was standing in a very plain room – whitewashed walls and bare floorboards. Against one wall was a wardrobe, and a wash basin was next to it. Opposite, against the other wall was a bed. However, it was what was lying in-between those two walls that caused Fred's heart to skip a beat in terror. For there was Hermione, lying on the floor, bruises blossoming on every inch of available, delicate skin. Fred immediately rushed over to her prone body, and brushed her hair from her face. Her eyelids were closed, and when Fred ran the backs of his fingers down her cheek, there was no response. Heart in his mouth, Fred scooped her up in his arms and gently laid her on the bed. Once she was lying on the bed, he headed over to the wash basin and, cutting off a square of his shirt with his wand, ran it under the water, and wrang it out.
He sat there, gently stroking her hair, and dabbing her face with the square of cloth in the vain hope of reducing the swelling and bruising. Slowly, her eyelids began to flutter open and she stirred. Her eyes opened and locked with Fred's, who smiled gently down at her and pushed away a strand of hair that had fallen across her face.
"Hey, Hermione, how are you feeling?"
"Fred? What are you doing here? What's going on?"
Hermione struggled to sit up, and Fred slid a hand behind her back and pulled her up, bringing her body close to his. "Ssh, Hermione. It's ok."
"But what are you doing here? Did Draco..." she trailed off, unable to voice her worst fear – that Draco had somehow got hold of Fred as well.
"Relax, sweetheart. I got here by myself – I don't need an invitation to get into a place – ask Harry about the summer before your second year."
"Then why are you here?"
"Came to rescue you of course," Fred smiled gently at Hermione's face.
"But why? Why would you do that?"
"Why do you think, sweetheart?
Hermione just looked up at him, her brow crinkled into a frown.
"Do you honestly have no idea? Oh, Hermione," Fred murmured, stroking her cheek softly. "I promised to protect you and I have every intention of keeping that promise until my dying day. But why I'm here is because of so much more than a promise. It took me a while, but..." Fred trailed off.
"But what, Fred?" whispered Hermione, pulling back from him slightly to look at his expression.
"I like you, Hermione. Really, really like you. Merlin, dammit, I'm in love with you. At first I thought it was just brotherly affection and protectiveness, you know, that made me want to kill Malfoy from the moment I found out you were dating him. But know I realise how much more it was, and is. I love you, and it killed me to see you hurt, vulnerable and alone. Promise me that, whatever happens, you'll always come to me if you need anything, Hermione, anything. I couldn't bear to lose you. I was blind not to realise what I felt earlier. If I had then-"
He was cut off by Hermione's lips connecting with his. Blushing, she pulled away and ducked her head. "Sorry. You were rambling."
Fred put a finger under her chin and tilted her head back up. "I'll have to ramble more often, then, won't I?" He pressed his lips to hers for another kiss. Again, though, Hermione pulled away.
"What's the matter, sweetheart?"
"I'm scared, Fred. Scared of things changing between us. Scared of being in a relationship." Hermione admitted.
"I'm never going to hurt you, Hermione. I would die before I hurt you. I'm not like Malfoy – I would never force you to do anything, or expect anything of you."
"Thank you, Fred. With Draco, I never could relax, I was always scared of doing something wrong, and causing him to fly off the handle. He didn't like me hanging around with other guys, even if we were only friends. That's why I stopped coming to The Burrow, and your shop. But I also stopped coming because of you. My feelings were becoming harder and harder to ignore, and I was scared, so scared, of someone finding out. And then someone did find out, Draco. After that, I had to do what he wanted, because otherwise he would hurt you. I couldn't have that on my conscience. I wouldn't sleep with him though, and that got him really mad."
"Oh, sweetheart. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I promise, though, it's going to be ok from now on. I'll rebuild that heart of yours and love you how you should be loved."
"That's so sweet, Fred. Thank you. I'm sorry you had to find out my feelings like you did, though."
"If I hadn't, would you have told me yourself?"
"Probably not."
"Good job Malfoy mentioned it then, isn't it? Because I would never have told you – I would have assumed that someone like you would never be interested in someone like me."
"Someone like you? Why wouldn't I be interested in someone like you?"
"You're way too good for me, Hermione. You're part of the Golden Trio, you're beautiful, intelligent, caring, sensible. What am I, compared to that?"
"Fred, you're not serious, are you? You've always been really sweet to me, since the very first day we met at Hogwarts, and you've been even sweeter over the last couple of days, if that were possible. You've got a smile and a joke for everyone who enters the shop, and all those products – you created all of them. Just because you don't have perfect exam results doesn't mean you're not clever. And girls have been swooning over you for years – even back in Hogwarts half of them fancied themselves in love with you."
Fred was silent for a moment, then, "Even you? Were you one of the half of the female population who considered themselves to be in love with me?"
Hermione blushed. "Yes. Ever since fourth year, and the blasted World Cup."
"Really, since then? Well, I can't say it was entirely one-sided. I started to notice you more from that meeting in the Hog's Head about Dumbledore's Army. At first, as I said, I thought it was just brotherly affection and protectiveness, but it was more than that, so much more."
They sat together on the bed for a few minutes more, just holding each other. They were pulled from their reverie by a noise from just outside the door. An angry, male voice was saying, "No, you stupid house-elf, I told you, she wasn't to receive any food until she'd come to her senses." This reprimand was followed by a clatter and a terrified cry. Fred and Hermione pulled apart and looked at each other, horrified, as they realised that Draco Malfoy was just outside the door.
Cliffie! I'm doing that so much with this fic. Getting Hermione out of there is going to be anything but easy, guys. Just stick with them, and it'll be fine.
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