Disclaimer: all things Harry Potter related belong to JK Rowling!

Chapter Eight;

Hermione's POV:

That night, I sat by the flickering fire in my favourite seat, completing the extra Arithmacy homework that had been set. Hopefully Fred had spoken to Ron, and everything would be okay, and we could let everyone know that we were together. The portrait hole swung open abruptly and Ron came in, giving me a cold stare before storming off to his dormitory. Fred followed, his head lowered.

'What happened?' I asked, getting up and walking over to him.

'He didn't take it too well,' Fred mumbled, putting one arm around my shoulders lightly.

I lead him over to the fire to sit down. 'Does he hate me?' I whispered.

'No, Hermione.' Fred looked me straight in the eyes. 'He could never hate you… He just needs time.'

I didn't reply. Instead, I wrapped my legs underneath me and put my head on his shoulder. Homework could wait until the morning.

'Hermione,' said a voice. It wasn't Fred's.

I looked up to find Harry looking at me, his emerald eyes filled with emotion.

'What is it?' I asked him, leaning up.

'Ron told me about… About you two.'

'Right…' I mumbled.

'Just come over here,' Harry sighed.

I got up from the sofa and walked over to Harry. 'What is it?' I asked.

'I just wanted to make sure you're making the right choice,' he mumbled.

'What do you mean by that?' I asked slowly.

'I mean… Well, you know… Ron's really upset.'

'And…?' I said. 'Look Harry, I really do appreciate your thoughtfulness, but I really like Fred… Like really like him. I didn't wish for Ron to be mad at us but he'll get over himself, it's not as if he thought I knew he liked me, after how he's treated me all these years.'

'You can't blame him really.' Harry smiled. 'He's Ron, isn't he?'

I laughed. 'Please, Harry… Try to get him not to be mad at Fred and I. He's still one of my best friends, just nothing more.'

Harry sighed. 'Okay, Hermione. I'll talk to him now.' He shuffled back upstairs to his dormitory.

'Hello, sorry about that,' I said to Fred, as I walked back over to him.

'Hello, Gorgeous,' he greeted, grinning.

I smiled; this was just perfect.

Fred's POV:

I couldn't understand why Ron was so angry at us. It wasn't as if he'd ever shown any interest in her, for God's sake! I was literally crazy about her. Every waking minute, I was thinking about her, when I would next see her, when I would next kiss her.

As I sat in my dormitory, waiting for George to get out of the bathroom so I could get ready to sleep, I felt an incredibly strange burning sensation coming from under my mattress. What the hell was that? I leaped off my bed, and found my trunk underneath my bed. I dug through it, feeling the heat growing stronger as I explored. Eventually, I found that communication pad that Dumbledore had leant George and I… I'd given one to Hermione! Excitedly, I opened it and read the message.

Fred, it read.

I forgot we had these! I guess they'll come in handy now. Do you want to meet in the common room again tonight? It's nothing important; I just love spending time with you… really. Well, hope to see you later.

Love Hermione

I smiled; trust Hermione to remember something as small as a little bit of magic. I grabbed the quill attached to the side, and wrote back.

Hello love,

Yes of course, is 12:30am okay for you?

Fred

Guess I wouldn't need to get ready for bed, then. She wrote back almost straight away saying that she'd see me then, and I closed the pad and placed it carefully under my pillow. George stepped out of the bathroom with a navy blue towel in his hand.

'What's happened to you?' he asked. 'You look like Zonko's is having a 75% sale.'

I laughed. 'Nothing,' I answered. I could feel my ears turn red, but I ignored it, hoping that George wouldn't notice.

'Pssht, yeah, and I'm Gilderoy Lockhart,' he said sarcastically.

'Oh shut up,' I groaned, getting up off my bed. 'It's nothing that concerns you.' I grinned.

George turned away. 'If you say so, Forge.'

Hermione's POV:

I was sat in my bed, leaning over some Ancient Runes books that we hadn't yet looked at in class. I'd just spoken to Fred on Dumbledore's communication pad, and we would be meeting in the common room later on… I just needed to keep myself awake until then. And the best way to do that? To study, of course.

'I swear that's like, all you do?' said Lavender Brown, as she stepped out of the bathroom, wearing a hot pink towel around her blonde head.

'Of course it is,' I snapped. 'I wouldn't want to fall behind!'

'Pssht, like you'd fall behind.'

I laughed. 'Still, there's nothing better to do.'

Lavender walked over to me. 'You could try and get some sleep, you know,' she said. 'If you got some precious beauty sleep, that Ron Weasley might go out with you!'

What? 'Excuse me?' I asked, shocked.

'Everybody knows you fancy him,' she giggled. 'Although… I wouldn't mind being introduced to him.' She winked.

'No way!' I exclaimed. Should I tell her about Fred and me? He'd told Ron, so I guess that meant we were making it public… Well I'd better not, just in case.

Lavender giggled again. 'If you say so!' She winked. God, this girl was annoying.

'No, seriously. There's nothing between Ron and I… I can introduce you to him, if you'd like!' I had to say anything to get me out of that situation.

'Yay!' she squealed. Oh my God, she was so annoying. 'Thank you, thank you! Thank you!' She wrapped her damp arms loosely around my shoulders awkwardly. 'He's brilliant, isn't he?'

'Yeah,' I agreed. 'He's my best friend, Lavender. Well one of them,' I added.

'You're so lucky, Hermione,' she sighed. 'Harry Potter and Ron Weasley as best friends… Don't take it in the wrong way, but how did you become best friends with them?' she enquired.

I couldn't help but take it in the wrong way, of course. But I didn't say anything. 'They saved me from a troll,' I answered truthfully, grinning broadly.

'That's so sweet!' she cooed. 'Right, I'm soooooo tired. I'll see you in the morning, Hermione!' Lavender leapt up from my bed and took the towel off of her hair, drying it with a quick spell, before jumping into bed and pulling the curtains of her bed around her. I checked the clock; 11:43. Damn, too early to go to the common room to see Fred. But I'd go down anyway, as to not disturb the other girls in my dorm by reading. I was kind of glad that I was on speaking terms with one of them, to be honest. I'd never really had a girlfriend, besides Ginny, although she was more of a little sister. I really needed a girl that I could talk to boys about... And that was what I'd just done with Lavender… I think? I wasn't sure. Although I suppose boys were just easier to get along with; they were less squealy.

Fred's POV:

My bedside clock said it was 11:46, so I'd be bored until I could go and see Hermione. But, to make sure I didn't wake up my snoring dorm-mates, I decided I'd go down to the common room anyway. And so I grabbed some homework that Trelawney had set, and I took it downstairs.

I dragged a soft arm chair to the fire (awkwardly, with one hand) and set my homework down on the table. With a heavy sigh, I opened it and begun to read about dreams.

Suddenly, I heard a stair creak from behind me. I turned around; it was Hermione.

'Hello, love,' I greeted, standing up and wrapping my arms around her slender figure.

'Hi, Fred,' she breathed, looking up at me with huge, soft brown eyes. 'You're doing homework?' She laughed.

'Yes, actually,' I said proudly. 'Just some of Trelawney's stuff though; nothing important.'

'I hate that woman…' Hermione muttered angrily.

'Then let's not talk about that,' I said lightly, as I lead her over to the warm fire.

'Fred,' she begun. 'Are we uh… Telling people about… Us?'

I grinned. 'If that's alright with you.'

'Of course…' She looked to the ground, her cheeks blushing a slight pink.

'Hey,' I said. 'Do you want to go for a walk?' I asked innocently.

'No! It's freezing!' she said, laughing.

'And…?' I winked.

'That means we'll get cold…' she murmured.

'Wow. Hermione Granger, smartest witch of her age; when it's cold outside, we humans also get cold. Brilliant observation; that'll be one for the science books,' I joked.

'Shut up!' she laughed, hitting me lightly with a pillow from the sofa.

'I'm joking, love,' I said, putting my arm round her and grinning jokingly.

'Can't we just sit inside?' she asked. 'The fire's so relaxing.'

'True,' I agreed. 'Okay, we'll stay here. It's fine with me.'

And so we just sat there in the firelight, talking and laughing and just messing around. I really did love spending time with her; I felt as though she forgot about her homework when she was with me. It was almost as if she was a different person. In a good way, of course. I loved it when she got all serious… It was so damn cute.

AN: sorry I haven't updated for a while guys! Sooo caught up in school and stuff -_- but I'll try whenever I can!

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