There was something oddly relaxing about the long journey on the Hogwarts Express and Hermione was welcoming it in her state. Her recovery was going to be a steady one, she had been told that by her healer in St Mungo's and she was finding that out very quickly as she tried to return to normal life. As far as she was aware, Madame Pomfrey was intending to give her an entire examination to identify the extent of her injuries and to make sure she was getting the right medical care for them but she was hoping that she would need very little attention from her and she could just recover with a little bit of time. Everyone had been enthusiastic to make sure that she was comfortable and that hadn't stopped on the train either. Ron kept asking if there was anything she needed or if she was in pain and Harry kept adjusting the cushion that was behind her to make sure that she didn't add back pain to her list of injuries. Once the train pulled into Hogsmeade she was even a little relieved as she knew she would be able to take a step back from the boys' attention, at least whilst the feast was happening.

The carriages pulled them up to the castle and soon she found herself at the Gryffindor table surrounded by her friends. Word of her attack hadn't quite got out yet but everyone stared when they saw Harry and Ron helping her into the hall and even more so when she winced in pain as she sat down. She didn't want to become a talking point of the school but she knew that very soon it was going to become unavoidable, especially if she was in and out of the hospital wing and she was being supported by Harry and Ron at every opportunity. She sat herself next to Fred and noticed him tense a little as she did so. She waited until the feast was underway and then leaned into him a little and gave him a small nudge.

"We need to talk." She told him.

"About what Granger?"

"You saving my life."

She didn't give him a chance to respond as she turned her attention to Ginny, who was sat across from her, and started talking rapidly to her about some new beauty potion that the younger witch had purchased in Diagon Alley the previous week.

Dumbledore announced that Quidditch would be suspended for the year in order for the Triwizard Tournament to take place. He explained the age restrictions, much to the annoyance of much of the school, and the dangers that each champion would be facing. If Hermione was being honest she was quite glad that she and her friends were too young, a quiet year was all that she could hope for after the drama of the Quidditch World Cup. She just wanted to watch from the side lines for once and know that they were all going home safe at the end of the year. The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students made dramatic entrances, with Durmstrang bringing Viktor Krum along with them.

As dinner began to wind down she leaned in towards Fred again, "Can we talk tonight?"

"Meet me outside the picture of the fruit bowl down the stairs towards the Hufflepuff dorms in fifteen minutes and we'll talk." He winked at her and followed George out of the Great Hall.

Harry helped her up from the table and she tried her best to walk alone out of the hall but needed a little help as they reached the staircase that would lead them up to Gryffindor Tower.

"I need to go and see Madame Pomfrey!" she said quickly, about halfway up the second set of stairs.

"Now?" Ron asked.

"I was supposed to go straight from dinner to let her know how I'm getting on, I'll be back later!" she lied and began to head in the right direction, just long enough for them to go far enough away so that they wouldn't see her struggling back down the stairs towards the portrait.

Fred was already waiting for her when she arrived and he gave her a small smile, he even looked like himself for the first time since before the World Cup in her opinion.

"Why here?" She asked.

Instead, he said nothing and reached up to the portrait, tickled the pear in the picture and a green door handle appeared.

"After you," he said, opening the door and motioning her inside.

She found herself inside the kitchens with tens, maybe even more than a hundred house elves running around cleaning up after the enormous feast that they had just had.

"How do you even know how to get in here!?" she asked, utterly amazed.

"That is a secret that shall remain between myself and George I'm afraid!" He laughed and then motioned for her to follow him over to a small table that sat at the side of the enormous kitchens.

"Why didn't you tell me that it was you?" she asked after they'd sat in silence for a few moments.

Fred thought about it for a minute before he replied.

"They told me that it was almost a miracle that they were able to revive you, that your pulse was so weak you shouldn't have been alive." He began. "I-I found you surrounded by three Death Eaters and Lucius Malfoy was leading them, watching you writhe in pain when he cast an Unforgiveable on you and laughing as they made you carve the word mudblood into your own arm. Eventually I managed to make myself draw attention to where I was, even if it meant they came and attacked me instead of you. B-but they could hear other people coming closer too, it was Dad and Bill, and they ran off, apparated most likely, and I ran over to you and that's how they found me. I was just holding you and crying because I was in such a state. I-I was pretty sure that you were dead, almost a hundred per cent positive. But Bill took over and was shouting about St Mungo's and they took you straight over. Charlie took over looking after me and took me over too to get me treated for shock. But the reason I didn't tell you that it was me was because I was so bloody scared of it all that I wanted to shut it out for a bit, I didn't want to talk about it." He finished and took a deep breath.

It was evident that he was nervous, she could see his hands shaking a little as he rested them on the table and then lifted one to run it through his hair.

"Thank you." Hermione said quietly.

"I wouldn't have done any of it differently. You're one of us and you always have been, we look out for our own," he smiled at her and she could see more of him coming back to the surface each time that he did so.

"Madame Pomfrey is checking me over tomorrow and Dumbledore's been looking into my attack but I just want some time for things to be normal."

"I know exactly what you mean. Looks like we won't get much of that this year Granger."

"Why's that?"

"The Triwizard Tournament? George and I are already devising ways that we can apply even though we're under the age restriction. Dumbledore's face when one of us gets chosen will be priceless!" He told her, trying to lighten the mood, he had meant it when he didn't particularly want to dwell on the subject.

"It won't work and you know that."

"Sure it will, trust me!" he helped her up from the table.

"I should get going; they'll wonder where I've got to."

"Yeah George is probably looking for me too."

"What if we're seen together?" she asked, a little worried as to what people might think.

"Don't worry, I'm meeting George on the fourth floor so our little secret is safe for now," he winked at her. "But Mione, if you ever need anything you know that I'm here, doesn't matter what it's for or what time of day, just let me know, ok?" he said more seriously and then hurried out of the kitchen before she had a chance to reply.

She walked back to Gryffindor Tower in a sort of daze, not entirely sure what to make of Fred or what he had said to her. It had nearly broken her heart to hear what had happened to her from him and she had no idea that she had been that close to death, she owed so much more to Fred than she had first thought.

She found Harry and Ron in their usual chairs by the fire when she arrived back in Gryffindor Tower. They asked her what Madame Pomfrey had said and she told them that she had to go back in the morning for her check-up before spending what felt like forever explaining to them that she felt absolutely fine. She had to admit that it made her happy to know that she had people like Harry and Ron who cared so much about her it was just a little overwhelming at some moments. She bid them goodnight and slowly made her way up to her dorm to try and get a good nights' sleep before she actually had to go and see Madame Pomfrey the following morning.

Of course as soon as she got into her dorm the other girls were there waiting to find out the story of what had happened to her and she couldn't help but give in, people were going to find out eventually.

"What happened to you? We noticed you were limping and that Harry and Ron were helping you to walk and we knew it had to be serious!" Lavender Brown started as soon as Hermione had gotten in the door.

"I-I was attacked at the Quidditch World Cup." She said quietly as she sat down on her bed.

"Oh my goodness! Do you know who it was?" Lavender asked again.

"What did they do?" Parvati Patil joined in.

Hermione sighed, she wasn't going to get the early night that she had hoped for but if she didn't set the record straight she knew that there would be all sorts of horrible rumours as to her strange injuries. However, it didn't mean that she had to give all the details. Instead, she spent the next half hour telling the girls the basic story without going into details. Afterwards they kept her up discussing their summers and then the topics gradually drifted to beauty products they'd picked up and boys that had "gotten good looking" over the summer. Hermione managed to excuse herself sometime after midnight and get into bed, pulling the curtains around her four poster bed and finally getting the much needed rest that she had wanted over two hours ago.

She awoke early the next morning and padded down to the common room, which was empty. She was scared as to what Madame Pomfrey was going to tell her, the healers in St Mungo's had told her very few details about her condition, only telling her that they had treated her for spell damage and taken care of her wounds, so to hear the facts from Madame Pomfrey on her own was going to be hard.

It was then that she remembered what Fred had said to her the night before; he was there for her if she ever needed anything. Without another seconds thought she crept up to the dormitory that she knew belonged to the sixth year boys. She saw Fred on the far side of the room and quietly made her way over to him.

"Fred!" she hissed as she shook him gently.

"Merlin Granger! What are you doing in here!?" he said loudly after he realised she was there.

"Looking for you."

"Well you've found me, what can I do for you?" he whispered back, carefully looking around to see if any of the other boys were awake.

"I need someone to come to my check-up with Madame Pomfrey, I'm too scared to go alone and you said last night if I needed anything to come to you, but if you don't want to then it's alright…" she trailed off as she realised that she was rambling.

"I'll get dressed and meet you in the common room." He grinned at her.

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