As Fred heals George he can't help but ponder on the fact that George still followed when he told him to go back to the house.
As George feels his wounds being healed by Fred he can't help but wonder why he cares enough to heal him, he had seemed so angry earlier.
As Hermione regains consciousness she spots Fred healing the second Fred, who she now recognises as George from school. She can't help but regret what she did to George as it clearly hurt Fred.
When George is healed the twins move back to Hermione, who is now leaning up against a tree, in silence. For a few seconds no on talks as the boys sit down to form a rough circle. But silence cannot exist forever, there will always be someone to break it; and for them it's George. The boy Fred should be like but isn't. The boy filled with love, life and laughter. The boy who really wants to know what was so important that Fred had to rush off in the middle of the night. The boy who will always break the silence if no else is willing to.
"So is she the reason you rushed off in the middle of the night?" But, for once, George doesn't really want to know the answer. He wants Fred to say yes so he can get to the bottom of his change, yet he wants him to say no so he doesn't have to find what actually happened to the girl in front of him.
Fred knows this would be the first question George asked him yet he knows he can't answer without checking it with Hermione first. After all, whether she likes it or not, she's a part of the story he is going to have to finally tell. The story to do with why he changed and why he stopped changing.
Hermione waits for Fred to turn towards her, his head currently bowed to look at the ground. She waits to let him know that she doesn't mind if he tells George. Maybe it's time they let someone else help them with their problems. Maybe it's time to get help. So when Fred finally turns his head towards her she nods, happy in her decision because she knows that Fred would only tell someone who they could trust. Not to mention that she's curious to know why he changed from the boy she remember him being a couple of years ago to the one in front of her.
Taking a deep breath, Fred tells his story to the two people who have never left his side for any prolonged time. The two people who don't care what he has become. The two people who are willing to help him. The girl who stopped him from falling any further down the dark hole he had been. And the boy who was holding out a hand to pull him back up.
"A few years ago, I snuck into the woods to pull a prank on Percy after he took our book '101 Pranks for Beginners'. I just thought I would grab some plants that I needed to transform into bugs to give him a scare. I never expected to see what I did or I wouldn't have go in. I wouldn't have. I would have gone and got mum or dad. But I was only a couple of minutes in when I heard screaming near me, only a couple of feet away. I
don't know why I moved towards it. I know I should have gone and got someone immediately but once I saw what was happening I couldn't move. It was like someone had cast a spell on me. There were some Death Eaters standing around a girl who looked like you Hermione, but with shorter hair. She was the source of the screams, they were torturing her. They kept casting the Cruciatus Curse on her until she stopped screaming. They just laughed at her at one cast a curse I didn't recognise and she started bleeding from a slice that appeared on her chest. Then they just apparated away, leaving her for dead. I waited for a minute to see if they were going to come back but when they didn't I went up to her and tried to stop the bleeding. I healed the cut and she still had a pulse but she was unconscious, and I knew she needed help so I started trying to lift her up. But she woke up and she saw me. I know she did, she tried to say something but she couldn't speak after so much screaming. I panicked and ran. I would never do that again, if I could do it again I would have got someone immediately. But I didn't. I locked myself in the bathroom, when I noticed I still had her blood on my hands. I was sick, I couldn't help it and it took a few washes to finally get her blood off."
Fred can't continue as sobs wrack his body, his mind keeps replaying the awful memory. George and Hermione don't say anything but wrap their arms around him, giving him the only comfort they know how to. George never knew this and Hermione had an idea but never thought it was this bad. Yet both know they have to say where they come into this horrid story, whilst George's part isn't bad Hermione knows her part will just add to the guilt Fred feels. So when it becomes clear Hermione isn't going to speak first George starts his part.
"I remember that. Mum and dad were worried that you'd caught the flu or something worse. You weren't getting better. But suddenly you did when the Daily Prophet came with an article about her. There was a picture of her on the front with a girl that was barely younger than us, couldn't have been younger than Ron anyway. It was a muggle photo but it looked as if she was running away from the child. The report just gave her name and when she went missing. There wasn't much information on her. Her name was Grace Georgia Granger and she was a Muggleborn and the other girl in the photo was her little sister. She went missing the day before you were sick Fred."
Hermione knows that there isn't any way not to tell her part in the story now. Especially since Fred knows her last name. At the same time Fred can only really concentrate on the girls last name - Granger. The same name as Hermione. If she is in any way related to the girl then he's not sure how he can live with himself.
"I knew her." Came Hermione's weak voice causing both boys head to whip towards her. "She was my big sister. She was amazing, she always looked out for me. She always supported my intelligence but also taught me how to be smart. She would say that the difference between intelligence and smarts is that one means you know stuff and the other means you know how to use it. She was a witch, like me. I never expected to be a witch, she was cool and I wasn't. When things happened around me I just presumed it was her playing a trick on me. When she disappeared my parents went into really bad grief. My dad was drunk all the time and mum had loads of affairs. They just presumed she died and when I said that she didn't they yelled at me. I was sure she wasn't dead. I could feel her magic. I know it sounds weird but her magic always seemed to live and be able to do extraordinary things. I still don't think she's dead. Maybe she's just lost her memory."
With this Hermione looks up hopefully, as if begging them to tell her she's right. But all they answer her with is a shrug. So they sit in silence, all lost in their own thoughts. No one noticing the sun rise and no one noticing the girl who had listened to their story and slunk back to her tree.
