Summer 1995
A couple of days into the holidays and the Weaseys were moved into Grimmauld's Place by Dumbledore. Everyone hated the house at first because it was dark, dingy and there were creepy things all over the place. But Fred, George, Ginny and Ron soon settled in and spent their days helping their Mother make the house human friendly, exploring the many levels of the house and forcing Sirius to tell them stories of his many adventures around Hogwarts.
Hermione and Fred wrote to each other every day as promised, and Fred started to count the days until she was leaving her cruel parents and coming to stay with them. A date had already been arranged but not through Fred. Ron and Molly had already spoken to Hermione about it. Hermione had told them that she had asked her parents and they were fine about it, but in reality she was planning on just disappearing. She had told Fred that they wouldn't even notice.
Two weeks into the holidays and the house was dark and quiet. Fred and George were sleeping in their shared bedroom when Fred woke suddenly and sat bolt upright in his bed, his eyes wide and sweating.
"What's up?" George yawned, waking up beside him.
"Something's wrong" Fred whispered before throwing the covers off him and rushing out of the room. George followed close behind.
"What's wrong?" George asked, sounding confused.
"I don't know" Fred replied, running down the stairs and along the hall way. They entered the kitchen and heard a soft sob. George turned on the light and gasped.
Hermione was lying on the floor, covered in blood and shaking in pain. She was lying on her front, her hands stretched out in front of her and she was pulling on the floor, like she was trying to get away from something. Her eyes looked up and found Fred and George. Once she saw them, relief seemed to wash over her and her head collapsed onto the floor and her arms went limp. Fred rushed to her side, kneeling over her.
"Get Mum" he ordered George, who suddenly disappeared into thin air. Fred carefully turned Hermione over, cradling her close to him. Hermione's eyes started to close.
"Stay awake" Fred told her, taking her bloody hand and bring it to his lips. He stroked her hair out of her face as she struggled to reopen her eyes. A large cut was across her forehead and it was bleeding, covering her face in blood. Hermione's leg was also sticking out at a strange angle, and her arms were covered in fresh bruises and cuts. Fred couldn't help but notice that some of these cuts and bruises were old and healing already. Hermione's eyes closed again as George and Molly rushed into the room.
"Oh my God" Molly gasped, going to their side.
"Hermione" Fred cried, "Wake up!" he shook her.
"We'll have to take her to St. Mungo's" Molly told Fred, who had panic in his eyes. He nodded, shaking. George helped Fred pick Hermione up, who was completely limp now. They apparated to the hospital with Molly right behind them.
Two nurses rushed over to them with a hospital bed and helped them lie Hermione onto it.
"Wait here, we'll take care of her" one of the nurses told them, before rushing down a corridor. Fred ignored them and followed close behind.
"Will she be ok?" Fred asked, but the nurses didn't reply. They went into a room, closely followed by a Healer. Fred tried to get in, but a nurse held him back.
"Sir, you have to stay outside" she said, before shutting the door. Fred kicked the wall nearby and then lent against it, sliding to the floor, his head in his hands. He was struggling not to cry.
"What happened?" Molly demanded, coming up to Fred with George next to her.
"She arrived like that" George told her.
"Yes, but how did she get in such a state?" Molly asked, sitting on a bench opposite the door and pulling her dressing grown closer around her. She looked pale and blood was on her hands. George kneeled next to Fred and put an arm around him. Fred's shoulders were shaking and they were both covered in dry blood.
"It was her parents" Fred hissed, squeezing his hands into fists.
"What!" Molly gasped, putting her hands to her mouth. Fred looked up to her mother, his eyes red and said,
"All the injuries she gets, the broken arms and the bruises, they were all her parents' doing"
"And you knew? Why didn't you get her to stay with us?" Molly asked, shock in her eyes.
"I tried, but nothing worked" Fred told his mother, "She wanted to go back there because she thinks it's all her fault that they do that to her" Molly shook her head, sadly.
"Poor child"
"How did she get to Grimmauld's place though?" George asked, "She's never been there before"
"Remember when Ginny was four ad she was being chased by a dog?" Molly asked. George nodded.
"She managed to apparate to the house you were visiting" George replied.
"She had never been to that house before" Molly told him, "It is ancient magic that mostly works with children under seventeen; when they are in great peril they can apparate to the person they love the most even if they haven't been there before"
"Like their bond is a magnet or something?" George asked. Molly nodded.
"That reminds me" Molly sighed, "We should tell Ron" Fred looked up, his eyes still mad.
"No" he said, receiving shocked looks from both his brother and mother.
"Hermione might not want him to know" Fred explained, "We should wait until Hermione wakes up" Molly nodded, turning her eyes to the door that hid Hermione.
Arthur arrived half an hour later with clean clothes for all of them. Molly explained what had happened.
"Ok, I'll notify the Ministry and go over there to pick up Hermione's things" Arthur told Molly.
"I'll go with you" Fred said, standing up. George grabbed his arm.
"You're not" he said, looking at Fred seriously. George pulled Fred away from their parents.
"Why are you stopping me?" Fred asked.
"You can't see you eyes but I can" George told him, "They look ready to kill"
"Because I am ready to kill!" Fred hissed, "They could have killed Hermione! We still don't know if she is ok"
"I know but you should let Dad and the Ministry sort it out" George tried to calm him, "Killing them won't do you any favours, nor Hermione" Fred took a deep breath and sighed.
"And most importantly, Hermione will want you here when she wakes up" George said. Fred nodded, knowing he was right.
They were allowed into Hermione's room an hour later. The Healer had informed them that Hermione's heart had stopped because a rib that had been broken had pieced an artery and she had lost a lot of blood. The Healer had managed to save Hermione and fix her broken artery and the rest of her injuries.
Fred rushed into Hermione's room as soon as the Healer told them they were allowed. Hermione was asleep; all of her injuries gone. The cover was up to her chest and her face was frowning slightly. Fred was followed by George and Molly who too rushed to Hermione's side. Fred took her hand.
"Thank Merlin she managed to get to Grimmauld's Place" Molly said, wiping tears from her eyes.
"She would have died if she was there any longer" George said, anger in his eyes. It nothing compared to Fred's though. He stroked Hermione's hair, breathing deeply.
"They should go to Azkaban" he hissed. Both George and Molly nodded.
"I doubt they will though because their muggles" Molly told him, "This will be a job for muggle police"
"But it was a crime against a witch!" George gasped, shocked by this.
"We'll see what your Father says, he is looking into it now" Molly replied, "I don't think there has been many cases of muggles hurting wizards and witches"
For a few minutes more no one said anything; they all just watched Hermione whose face had relaxed since Fred had started stroking her hair.
A little while later Molly left to talk to Arthur and George went back to Grimmauld's place. The Healers had told them that as soon as Hermione woke up it would be ok for her to go home. Fred was extremely tired, seeing as he had been up most of the night, so was beginning to drift off much to his disappointment. He awoke though as Hermione stirred. He took both her hands as her eyes opened. She looked up at Fred, her eyes dark and empty. She seemed slightly confused.
"Fred?" she asked, her voice croaked.
"It's ok, you're safe now" Fred whispered to her, caressing her cheek with his hands. Tears leapt to Hermione's eyes as she remembered last night's events.
"I thought I was going to die" Hermione cried. Fred bent down and pulled her into a hug, climbing onto the bed so that he could pull her into his lap. Hermione welcomed the embraced and clang to Fred's top, crying into his warm chest.
"I've never felt so scared before" Hermione told him, "Not even when I saw the basilisk" Fred rocked her back and from gently, holding her close to him.
"Tell me what happened" he said.
"They got drink and they took a lot of drugs" Hermione told him into his chest. Fred had to lean even closer to hear.
"I hid in my room and read but they came in, my mum had a knife" Hermione crawled closer to Fred. She was shaking and hid her face into Fred's chest, not looking at him.
"Dad pinned me down and they tried to crave freak into my forehead, they were laughing about it, but they were too drunk so they just cut me" Fred winced, tears coming to his eyes. He wanted to hold Hermione so close that they became once and he could took all her pain away.
"They...they kicked me and punched me" Hermione continued, "My Dad is really strong and so is my Mum so I couldn't do anything, they shoved me down the stairs and I can't remember anything after that" Fred tightened his grip on Hermione, his face buried in her hair.
"I'm never allowing you to go back there" he told her, firmly. Hermione didn't say anything. She pulled away and wiped her eyes. Fred helped by stroking her wet cheek.
"Can I stay with you tonight?" she asked.
"Silly" Fred said, kissing her, "My Dad is picking up your stuff"
"Your parents know?" Hermione mumbled, looking worried. Fred took her hand.
"You appeared in the middle of the kitchen, covered in blood; me, George and Mum brought you here and Dad had to report it to the Ministry" Hermione paled if that was possible.
"I don't want to press charges, I don't want them arrested" Fred was surprised to hear this and it caught him off guard. He was confused about why she didn't want these monsters to go to hell.
"Well, Ron and Ginny don't know and I told Mum not to tell them anything" Fred said, changing the subject.
"Thanks" Hermione mumbled, looking away. Fred touched her cheek and turned her head gently before kissing her.
"I'll look after you" Fred said, "I promise" Hermione didn't say anything and turned away again.
Fred took Hermione back to Grimmauld's Place an hour later. The Healer had given Fred a flask of Dreamless Sleep potion for Hermione to take for a little while. They arrived in the kitchen and Hermione painted on her fake smile for everyone to see. Fred let go off her waist and let Ron and Ginny greet Hermione with surprise.
"What are you doing here?" Ron asked, giving her a hug.
"My parents are going away to visit a friend in France so it seemed silly to be on my own" Hermione replied. Fred sat at the long table in the kitchen, next to George, and watched. Hermione did seem somewhat relieved to be around her friends but still looked uncomfortable with so many eyes on her. Sirius, Remus, George, Fred, Ron, Ginny and Molly were all in the kitchen and all their eyes were on her.
"Why didn't you send an owl?" Ginny asked.
"I wanted to surprise you" Hermione lied, "So Fred brought me here"
"Come on now, don't crowd the poor girl" Molly said, walking over to the three and putting her hand on Hermione's shoulder. Molly guided Hermione over to the table and sat her down.
"Do you want some lunch, dear?" Molly asked, "I was just about to make some" Hermione shook her head.
"No thank you, Mrs Weasley, I'm not really hungry" Molly frowned.
"Well, I'll make you some anyway, I'm sure if you don't eat it someone else will" she replied. Fred was sure his mother was thinking the same as him. Hermione was unnaturally skinny again. Her thin wrist was just visible under her jumper. Molly made a mountain of sandwiches, with crisps and cakes to go with them. Hermione didn't eat anything though. She sat and listened while Ron told her about everything he couldn't send through post.
Where they were; what the Order of the Phoenix was and what they did and everything else. Hermione happily sat there and listened, her eyes showing some colour at being with friends again. They were sill dark though and she looked extremely tired and worn out.
"And now Mum is trying to get this house more 'welcoming'" Ron told Hermione, using his fingers to emphasis the last word.
"You can try all you want Molly, but this house is always going to be horrible and dark" Sirius sighed, "It was the way my mother wanted it and even in her death she will make sure it stays that way"
"Negative thoughts like that won't help" Molly scolded, before turning to Hermione, "Any help will be much appreciated" Hermione gave a weak smile back.
"I'll be glad to help" she replied.
"Well, you probably want to unpack first" Molly said, standing up, "I cleared a room out for you earlier this morning and all your stuff is up there"
"Isn't Hermione sharing with me?" Ginny asked.
"No, I thought Hermione might like her own space, plus it's the room with all the books" Molly replied. Hermione smiled gratefully.
That evening, Fred knocked on Hermione's door and looked in. Hermione was unpacking her trunk, with Crookshank curled up on a chair nearby. Hermione looked up and smiled when she saw him. For a split second Fred caught sight of her real smile. He closed the door and Hermione rushed over and hugged him tightly. This caught Fred by surprised but he hugged her back, stroking her back and kissing her head.
"Are you ok?" Fred asked. Hermione shook her head and looked up at Fred.
"No, but I will be" Fred stroked Hermione cheek tracing her thin face.
"As long as I have you I will be ok" Hermione told him. She stated it as a fact, like something she had just read out of one of her books. Fred smiled down at her and then scooped her into another hug.
"Can you stay in here tonight?" Hermione asked after a couple of minutes. Fred looked down at her. She looked small and fragile, like she could just break in front of Fred's eyes.
"I...I don't want to be alone...I want someone to hold me" Fred bent down and kissed Hermione. He tried to make the kiss soft and gentle. He tried to let her know that she wasn't alone, that she had him. He tried to let her know that he will never leave her. All through a single kiss, Fred tried to explain what words could not.
They lied down on Hermione's bed and Fred held the girl that he loved so much. Hermione lied against his chest, and hugged his arms. Fred held her close to him and kissed her neck gently.
"I love you" Fred whispered in her eyes as Hermione fall asleep.
Fred woke the next morning to Hermione lying on his chest and still hugging him. She looked really peaceful and very beautiful in the morning light. After a few minutes of watching Hermione sleep, Fred's leg, which she was lying on, started to get pins and needles. He tried to move it slowly but Hermione stirred and her eyes opened. She looked up at Fred and smiled.
"Good morning, Sweetie Cakes" Fred smiled, kissing her on the forehead. Hermione laughed and got up. She stretched and yawned, sitting on the edge of the bed. Fred sat up and watched her. Her brushy brown hair was falling down her back and her slender shoulders were exposed. Fred lent over and hugged her from behind.
"You're so beautiful" he mumbled into her neck. Hermione giggled, leaning into the hug.
"I better get ready" Hermione told Fred. Fred responded by pulling Hermione back onto the bed and kissing her. He lied on top of her as they kissed passionately, running his hands through her hair and along her body. Hermione did the same, touching his chest underneath his pj top. They broke away to breathe and Fred lent his head against Hermione's. They looked at each other, into each other's eyes.
"I better go check on George, he's never spent a night without me" Fred told Hermione eventually. They say up.
"Do you think the monsters got him?" Hermione asked. Fred stood up and stretched his arms above his head.
"In this house, probably" Fred laughed, and lent down to kiss Hermione.
"I'll see you later" he grinned and then disappeared.
He reappeared in his and George's room, causing George to jump awake.
"Where have you been?" he exchanged, sitting up and throwing a pillow at Fred. Fred laughed, throwing it back.
"Silly love sick dog" George grumbled.
"Jealous are we?" Fred asked, sitting next to him.
"No, I just want to be crawled up in bed with Angelina" George confessed.
"Well, don't tell um" Fred said, "I was only with Hermione last night because she asked" George nodded, lying back down.
"Mum would skin you and you know it" he said "Not under my roof!" he imitated.
"Sirius would be all for it though" Fred laughed, "And he would argue that it's his roof"
"He would probably give you tips!" George told him. Fred laughed.
"None of this matters because we've never done anything anyway"
"Well, be kind, she is only 15, she might not know what 'it' is" George told him with a grin on his face.
"Hey" Fred smacked George, who held his hands up in defence. Fred leaned back against the bed frame and smiled to himself.
"I'm not complaining, just being with her makes me happy" George picked up his pillow and shoved his head under it.
"Girl" he muttered. Fred smiled and gave him a shove, before getting up and getting dressed.
After that, Fred spent most nights in Hermione's room. Hermione seemed to need it. Sometimes she woke in the middle of the night, shaking and crying. Fred would hold her and tell her she was safe until she went to sleep again. Sometimes this could take hours and Fred sometimes didn't get that much sleep.
"What's up with you?" George asked as Fred yawned widely. They were sitting in the living room, going over the package design for the skiving snack boxes. Fred looked across to Hermione who was reading while Ron and Ginny played exploding snap next to her. Fred was amazed that Hermione was able to stay so focused with that much noise going on.
"Hermione had a rough night" Fred replied.
"Nightmares?" George asked. Fred nodded, rubbing his forehead.
"What are you going to do once we go back to Hogwarts?" George asked, "You can't sneak into her room then" Fred looked at him, grinning.
"I'm a Weasley, my dear brother, and better yet I'm Fred Weasley" Fred told his twin, "If I want something, I shall achieve it"
"Ok, but what about when we leave next year?" George asked. Fred sighed and looked back over to the quiet Hermione.
"I don't know" he admitted, "She won't be living with her parents anymore so hopefully the nightmares will stop"
"I still don't understand how she is going to hide the fact that she has moved in from Ron and Ginny" George said, shaking his head and sketching a box like image on his piece of paper.
"With our help" Fred replied, returning to his own design.
"Harry's back" George laughed as Harry's voice echoed through their floorboards.
"He needs to shout a bit louder, I don't think France heard him" Fred commented, raising an eyebrow.
"Reckon we should go sort the chaos?" George asked. Fred grinned and they apparated to Ron and Harry's room and laughed as Harry jumped. He looked ready to explode and Hermione looked ready to cry. This made Fred slightly angry.
"Stop doing that!" Hermione mumbled. Fred caught her eye and gave her a small smile. Hermione gave him a smile back and looked away, wiping her eyes.
"Hello, Harry" George smiled at the angry boy, "We thought we heard your dulcet tones"
The Twins, Hermione, Ron and Ginny started to tell Harry about what he had missed. Fred and George fussed around with their extendable ears while the others talked, adding nasty comments about Percy when the time was right. Fred kept looking over to Hermione, who sat quietly on Ron's bed, watching Harry carefully. Her tears were gone but she still looked sad and guilty.
After dinner and the meeting was over, Fred apparated into Hermione's room. She was already in her night clothes.
"Hey Sweetie cakes" Fred smiled, kissing Hermione on the lips, and the cheek, the nose and any other areas he could on her face. Hermione giggled, hugging Fred. It was a very sweet sound and it made Fred feel happy.
"You ok?" he asked, as they lied on her bed. He held her hand, which had small marks all over them from Hedwig. He kissed the marks gently.
"Yeah, I just feel sorry for Harry" Hermione told Fred. He looked up at her. Hermione was looking into space.
"He shouldn't have shouted at you like that" Hermione sighed.
"I know, but I understand his anger" Hermione told Fred.
"But you know" Fred said, "If it wasn't for you, Harry would be in deep trouble" Hermione looked at him and frowned.
"How so?" she asked.
"You read all those books and made all them potions" Fred told her, pulling Hermione across his chest, "He wouldn't have been able to solve all them riddles and fight all them monsters without your help"
"Or Ron's" Hermione added, "He helped a lot too"
"Harry's head is just too big for his skinny body" Fred grinned. Hermione laughed lightly.
"Yeah, but I understand why he is angry, he thinks me and Ron have been conspiring against him all summer" she told her boyfriend. Fred laughed at this.
"About what? How to best clean his silver forks? Or how to get rid of his dust bunnies?" Fred asked, "All we've been doing is cleaning this damn house" Hermione run her fingers up and down Fred's arms, looking like she was deep in though.
"I know" she mumbled, sighing softly. Fred kissed her hair and shut his eyes, stroking Hermione's back. He felt her relax at the movement and they both drifted off to sleep.
A couple of days later and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Ginny, Sirius, Remus and Molly were in the kitchen. Fred and George were wearing identical clothes and were showing off a new game they had created.
They stood next to each other and than apparated around the room several times in different spots before coming to stop in their previous place. They then choose someone to guess who was who. Ron, Harry and Ginny were enjoying the game, shouting loudly and laughing. Sirius and Remus were watching silently with amused looks on their faces. Molly was tutting very loudly every time the Twins apparated around the kitchen and clearly disapproved, and Hermione was once again engrossed in a book.
"That one is Fred!"
"Don't be stupid, that one is George!"
"No it's not!"
"Boys, stop it!"
"That one id defiantly Fred!"
"Are you sure about that?"
"If you get splinced it's your own fault"
"That one is George!"
"Wrong again, my dear brother" George grinned, "I'm George" Ron growled at his mistake and Harry laughed at him. Once again the Twins disappeared and appeared around the room. Once stopped next to Molly and gave her a kiss on the cheek before disappearing again. They both appeared in front of the table and grinned in unison.
"Hermione, you're turn" one said. Hermione looked up at her name in surprise.
"What?" she asked.
"You have to guess which one is which" Ginny told her. Hermione looked at the twins and pointed to the one on the right.
"That one is Fred and that one is George" she said without hesitation. Everyone looked back at the twins who clapped.
"Well done, Granger" George laughed.
"No way, you gave it away" Ron accused.
"Do it again" Harry added. Both the twins winked at Hermione before disappearing. Hermione put down her book down and sighed, a small smile playing on her lips. They reappeared and she pointed to the one on the left.
"Fred" she said simply. The twins nodded and everyone looked at her in disbelief.
"How do you know so well?" Ginny asked. Hermione shrugged.
"I guess it's more of a feeling than the way they look" she tried to explain, "Everyone is different, no matter how much they look the same, finger prints, eye and tongue prints are all different even on identical twins"
"So you can feel their finger prints?" Ron asked, looking confused. Hermione sighed.
"No" she looked around and noticed that everyone was watching her, "Have you ever felt like you were being watched, but you know it wasn't anyone bad? Like your parents checking on you at night, you don't have to open your eyes to know who it is?" Ron and Ginny nodded. Harry didn't.
"It's like that" she finished. Fred smiled at her and she could tell that she watched to sweep her up and hug her. At the bottom of the table, Sirius, Molly and Remus exchanged glances and grinned.
Such a long chapter! Hope you like :) Please review.