"Did you get a letter from McGonagall asking to see her?" Hermione walked over to the twins who were chatting with Lee. She couldn't imagine that they were all in trouble again. They had done nothing wrong.
"Just got ours," George held his up.
"What could she possibly want?"
"Not a clue, love," Fred shrugged. "S'pose we could go find out," he stood up.
As they walked down the hall to their professor's office, Hermione spoke quietly. "You think we could practice some more?"
"Dancing?"
"Well, yeah," she shrugged, trying to seem casual. But in all honesty, she hated asking them for help. It was so unlike her to not be great at something.
"Sure," they replied together, smiling. They knew the bookworm was starting to enjoy their company. And as much as they would have thought otherwise, they quite liked her. When she chose to let go a bit and not be so worried about her books and studies, she could be fun. They could see a spark of a troublemaker and certainly an appreciation for humor in her.
As they entered McGonagall's office, she smiled at them. "Ah, good to see you three."
"Are you sick, professor?" George smiled.
"No, Mr. Weasley. I am not sick. I have been to speak with Dumbledor and he's agreed that you three should be allowed to visit Hogsmeade tomorrow with the rest of the students. You three have done an excellent job in the kitchens this weekend and feel you should be rewarded for that."
"Are you serious?" Both boys exclaimed. All three were smiling widely.
"Yes. Initially I was not going to permit Hogsmeade, but instead just let you know you weren't required to head to the kitchen tomorrow. But the Headmaster has decided that perhaps Hogsmeade was not out of the question. Seems to feel perhaps it's unfair to take away a chance at any shopping you may need to do for the ball."
"Remind me to buy him some lemon drops!" George exclaimed.
"You three go back to your house now. No stops. Understood?" She looked at them warningly.
"Absolutely. Thank you professor!" Hermione smiled as she led the boys out of the office and back into the hall.
"So what do you say, Mione? Butterbeers in Hogsmeade tomorrow?" George asked as the boys caught up to both sides of her.
"Sure," she smiled. She had certainly not expected that. She thought she wouldn't get to go to Hogsmeade for months. She was glad Dumbledore had a soft spot.
When Hermione woke up the next morning, she was in a considerably better mood than she had been the past couple of mornings. She was looking forward to going to Hogsmeade and spending time with her friends. She got dressed quickly and bolted down the stairs to the common room. She was glad she caught Ron and Harry before they went to breakfast. "Morning!"
"Someone's in a good mood," Harry laughed. "Don't suppose it has anything to do with not having detention today does it?"
"It has everything to do with that," she smiled brightly.
"I'm glad you get to go with us," Ron grinned as they walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. His friends noticed the look on his face changed when he saw the Beauxbatton girls pass by. "They're so-"
"Forget about it, Ronald," Hermione crossed her arms and ran ahead of them to sit next to Ginny.
"Hey Mione. You alright?" she looked at Hermione's sour face.
"Nothing," she huffed. She was so tired of those girls. The way everyone drooled over them. Even her best friends. "Is there a single guy in the school that isn't dying to talk to one of those girls?"
"Not every guy, love," George started.
"They're a bit boring, aren't they?" Fred gave her a wink she when smiled a bit.
"Ron won't stop talking about them will he?" Ginny giggled. "It's awful. I can't say I love having them here either."
When the two boys finally arrived to the table, they looked cautiously at Hermione, who simply ignored them and continued talking with Ginny.
"What's up with her, mate?" Ron muttered quietly to Harry, who simply shrugged and told him not to push it.
"Alright now, first and second years back to your houses! Third year and up make your way to the entrance hall to get ready for Hogsmeade!" Dumbledore's voice boomed throughout the Great Hall.
"Come on, Hermione. You can come grab some butterbeers with us before we go to Honeydukes," Fred smiled as he put an arm around her shoulders, leading her out with him and George.
"So why are you guys hanging out with me?" she asked as she sipped the drink George placed in front of her.
"Why not?" Fred shrugged. "Do you not like spending time with us?" he smiled.
"It's not that. It's just that...well, we've never really spent time together have we?"
"By all means if you want to spend the day listening to our brother pining over the Beaxbattons, please do. We just thought you might rather spend time having real conversation," George replied.
She smiled. It didn't seem like them to be so genuinely caring. But of course, she did know the Weasley's as a whole family were that way. Perhaps she had underestimated them. Perhaps they just hid it well under their prankster facade. After all she did remember them ready to jump on Malfoy for calling her a mudblood. And always looking after Harry on the Quidditch field. "Well I do appreciate it. Though I thought you'd be spending time with Angelina, Fred. Aren't you two-" she let her question hang, not positive what exactly she thought they were.
Fred simply laughed. "No, not quite. She's a great girl and all. But she's just not quite what I'm looking for. But since neither of us had dates, and we have fun together, why not go to the ball?"
"What about you George?"
"I'm taking Alicia, but we're not seeing each other. She's more into Lee I think. But since Katie and Lee are going together, she decided I wasn't so bad," he laughed. "Of course Lee is only going with Katie because Fred is going with Angelina. It's a huge web of love and pain," he grinned.
"So all of you are interested in one another but are going with someone else?" she laughed, shaking her head. "So complicated."
"Well, Freddie, here, isn't interested in anyone in our year," George smiled and then flinched when Fred stepped on his foot.
"So are you interested in anyone then?" she grinned. "Come on now. I told you I was going to the ball with Viktor," she pouted.
"Well you haven't told us if you want to be romantically involved with Mr. Krum," Fred raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know yet. Maybe. He's charming. And very much a gentleman. But I don't know him very well. I certainly would never become involved with someone I wasn't certain I could trust fully."
"You trust us don't you?" George gave her a wink, which earned a laugh.
"Well of course. But I'm not trying to date either of you now, am I?"
"You don't have to pick. We can share," George grinned mischievously.
"Very funny," she rolled her eyes. "Hey, wait. You got me on a whole different topic. There's still the topic of your mystery girl," she smiled at Fred. Her smile grew a bit wider when she noticed him blush a bit. "And don't tell me there's no girl," she said stubbornly.
"Fine. There's a girl. But I really don't want to talk about it," he took a large gulp of his drink.
"You don't have to tell me her name. Just tell me about her. Maybe I can guess," she smiled hopefully.
"I'd be willing to bet you'd never guess," George laughed.
"I don't care. Tell me," she was unsure why she found herself quite interested in Fred's potential love life.
"Well, she's bright. And quite lovely, though she doesn't always know it. She's fiercely loyal. Always tries to see the good in people-"
"Is she a hufflepuff?" Hermione asked quickly.
"Hey Fred, George," Angelina walked up to the table. "You guys still heading to Honeydukes after this? Lee's trying to get me to go and I'd rather you two went with us," she eyed them hopefully.
"Of course," Fred smiled.
"See you there in 10?"
"Sure thing," George replied as she left.
"Maybe I should go find the boys," Hermione pushed back her chair.
"They're probably at Honeydukes. Come on, we'll walk with you," George and Fred stood up with her and headed out of the Three Broomsticks.