"Do you trust me?" Fred asked her as they stood in the Quidditch pitch on a Sunday evening.
It was the middle of December and the ground was frosty in preparation for the inevitable snow that Hogwarts received every year. Hermione had wrapped up in what felt like a hundred layers of clothes whilst Fred simply wore a thick jumper over his t-shirt.
"Of course I do." She replied.
"Alright. Now climb onto the front of the broom." He told her as he pointed at his broom in front of them.
"Fred I can't!" she stared at the broom and began to feel uneasy, she never had been a fan of flying, even more so when it came to flying a broom.
"You've already said that you trust me, so get on the broom!" he grinned at her, completely discarding her previous protest.
She swung her shaking leg over the handle of the broom and felt Fred slide on behind her, wrapping one arm around her and the other clinging to the broom. She felt her stomach drop as he prepared to kick off from the ground.
"Ready kitten?" she could practically feel his grin as she adjusted her grip on the broom handle in front of her.
"I think so," she told him quietly before he kicked off from the ground with a whoop and she felt her stomach lurch and churn as they gained height.
It had been Fred's idea that she try to conquer her fear of flying and she had been keen to start with, that was until she had found herself in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch facing a broom. Regardless of her fear she was determined to try, at least once, to please Fred in the hopes that perhaps once he saw just how terrified she was he would drop the idea of helping her to fly.
As they continued to climb through the air she felt herself refusing to look down. She was surprised when Fred halted a short distance above the hoops and Fred urged her to take a look around her.
"It's surprisingly beautiful." She managed once she had found her voice.
"George and I would sometimes do this at home when we wanted a bit of time. We'd take our brooms and sneak up to the orchard and fly about for a while, it clears my head more than anything else."
"I feel far safer being up here with you," Hermione told him honestly.
"Don't worry, a few more times and then you can borrow George's broom and hop on up here yourself!" he laughed, winding her up a little to ease her nerves.
In all honesty it wasn't as bad as she thought, but then again it was a lot calmer than the lessons they were given in first year or the rush of a Quidditch match. She didn't dare tell this to Fred quite yet, she didn't want him to make her fly alone straight away. Aside from that she quite liked the feeling of Fred's chest against her back and the way his arms were wrapped around her to hold onto the broom handle. If flying felt like this all of the time she would probably have quite liked it when they were first taught in first year.
Eventually after Fred had lapped the pitch a few times he decided to call it a night, something which she was rather thankful for.
As her feet hit solid ground once again she felt shaky and she let out a sigh of relief.
"You did really well." Fred told her as he wrapped an arm around her waist.
"I feel sick!" she said as they began to walk back up to the castle.
"You'll be fine love. Let's just not get caught on our way back, ok?" he grinned at her once again and started to jog with her up to the castle, evidently trying to keep her mind off of her churning stomach.
Ever since Professor Umbridge had gained more control within the school it was becoming difficult to do anything without some sort of repercussion. Hermione guessed that being out of the castle in the evening to fly around the Quidditch pitch, especially since Fred was supposed to be banned from flying.
Instead of being subtle, Fred led Hermione by the hand straight through the entrance hall and then running up the main staircase. By the time that they reached Gryffindor Tower they were both breathless and laughing uncontrollably.
"You're such a bad influence on me Fred Weasley," she laughed.
"You're friends with Harry Potter, who is constantly breaking all of the rules, and you say I'm the bad influence!?" he pulled her close and pressed a small kiss to her lips.
They climbed the last few steps that led into the common room and were surprised to find the others in front of the fire.
"We were waiting for you so that we could head over to the meeting," Ron said quietly as they joined them.
"Sorry, we didn't realise that you would be waiting for us." Hermione told him and excused herself to go and get ready.
She was almost late for the meeting, Ginny was the only one still waiting when she returned from her dorm, and the two girls practically sprinted to the room of requirement. Harry started just after they arrived, telling the class that they would be practicing what they had already learned and then left them to it in pairs, trying to practice spells on or with one another.
After an hour of practicing with various partners they all began to say their farewells for Christmas break and just as Hermione noticed Harry and Cho hanging back and beginning to have a moment. Fred and George, once again, swooped in and practically carried her off on what they were calling "an adventure".
"Granger, you are about to witness-"
"-some of the greatest secrets that-"
"-Hogwarts has to offer."
Instead of returning to Gryffindor Tower Hermione found herself getting a tour of Fred and George's favourite spots around the castle, at least she presumed that George was there until they reached their first destination and she realised that George had melted into the shadows.
"Looks like it's just me and you then Freddie," she whispered as he pulled her behind a tapestry that she had barely even noticed before.
"No one knows about these places, I thought it'd be fun if I shared them with you. This one's definitely the most fun, it's a slide down three floors; it takes us out beside Professor Binns classroom. Ladies first!" he gave her a little nudge and she found the edge of the slide and pushed herself down, appearing, as promised, outside Professor Binns classroom.
She couldn't stop laughing as Fred crashed into her and it was taking all of her energy to stay as quiet as possible given that it was now well after the time that all students were expected to be in their common room areas.
Fred spent the next hour and a half running her crazy around the castle as he showed her all of the ins and outs of Hogwarts, as well as a few spots that were personal to Fred: the first place that he and George found on the Marauder's map, the first passage that they had used to sneak out of the castle and the place that Fred would run to if he needed some space and time for himself.
It wasn't until they snuck back into the Gryffindor Tower that they were caught. Professor McGonagall was waiting for them with the rest of the Weasley children.
"Ah, Mr Weasley, you'll need to come with me right away." She stared at Hermione. "You'd best come along too Miss Granger." Her face was unreadable as she led the small troupe out of the common room and towards Dumbledore's office.
Hermione and Fred still had no idea what was going on but given that they were all there and en route to Professor Dumbledore's office it wasn't going to be good news.
As they finally reached Dumbledore's office Professor McGonagall ushered them all into seats. Fred and George protectively stood behind Hermione and Ginny, resting their hands identically on the back of their chairs. Professor Dumbledore was frantically issuing orders to some of the portraits around the office, muttering about Mr Weasley and Grimmauld Place, whilst Professor McGonagall was trying to ease Harry, who was stood in the centre of the room in front of Dumbledore's desk.
"You will all be leaving for Grimmauld Place as soon as possible, I will have some of your things brought over tomorrow morning."
"Professor? What's happening?" Ginny asked from her seat next to Hermione.
"Your father was attacked this evening whilst carrying out work for the Order. He's been taken to St Mungo's and you'll meet your mother at Grimmauld Place."
"Is he alright?"
"How bad was the attack?"
Fred and George were getting irate at the lack of information they were getting about their dad, as well as being trundled off to London in almost no amount of time. Hermione reached behind her and gave Fred's hand a reassuring squeeze, although she knew it would probably have very little effect.
Dumbledore quickly explained what Harry had told him and before long he was getting them ready to leave.
"If you would all take hold of this portkey, you'll be in London shortly, I believe Remus will be waiting for you outside Grimmauld Place." Dumbledore didn't say another word as the portkey glowed blue and they all grabbed hold, being ripped into nothingness before quickly crashing down on the snowy ground in London.
Sure enough, Remus was waiting for them outside of the house and he quickly guided them all into the house and down into the kitchen. Molly was sat sobbing at the table with Tonks trying her best to comfort her. At the sight of her children she ran at them, pulling them all to her. Harry looked positively terrified and Hermione took his hand and pulled him into a hug.
"This wasn't your fault." She whispered into his ear before he pulled back.
Harry didn't respond but she felt him relax a little as she continued to hold her hand and she guess that was the best that she could hope for in the circumstances. Across the kitchen Mrs Weasley had let go of her children and was moving towards Harry and Hermione.
"I'm glad that you're safe, all of you." She told Hermione as she gave her a small hug.
She had stopped crying by the time that she reached Harry. She pulled him into one of the tightest hugs that Hermione had ever seen and she was sure that she heard Mrs Weasley saying thank you to him.
Fred and George had now moved to the table where they were sitting on either side of Ginny, all three of their heads together, murmuring things that Hermione couldn't hear but guessed that they were comforting her. Ron signalled to Harry to sit down and without wanting to intrude, Hermione slipped in next to Fred, who instantly wrapped an arm around her.
"I'm going to go to St Mungo's with Remus now. He'll make sure that I get there safely and he'll send word to you when you can come and visit. Until then you all have to stay here. Be safe and look after each other." She kissed each of her children on the head on her way out and then she was gone.
They sat like that for hours until their bums were numb from the wooden chairs and their heads were growing heavy from lack of sleep but eventually Remus returned in the early hours of the morning telling them that Mr Weasley was very weak, but alive.
"You mean he nearly-?" Ginny couldn't even finish her sentence, she was too shocked to even contemplate it.
"Yes." Remus told them with a heavy heart, "however that did not happen and you should be able to go and visit him in the afternoon, your mother suggests that you use your morning to sleep and she'll return to wake you around about lunch time before you all go in to the hospital." He told them before going to find himself a cup of tea.
"You heard the man, go and get some sleep!" Sirius told them and ushered them out of the kitchen towards the stairs.
Hermione climbed the stairs without realising quite how tired she was. None of them were in the mood for talking but as they reached the first floor they all realised that none of them wanted to be on their own and so they all piled into Harry and Ron's bedroom.
Hermione found herself sandwiched between Fred and George in Harry's bed whilst Harry, Ron and Ginny shared the other bed. It took a while but when Fred's arm flopped over her stomach and George's hand found hers she suddenly felt her eyes beginning to close and sleep was creeping up on her. As she lay in between the Twins she remembered why they had always had such a unique relationship with her: they had looked after her ever since Ron and Harry had saved her from that troll in her first year, just as Fred had told her a hundred times.
They all finally managed to get some sleep, pushing the idea of Mr Weasley in St Mungo's out of their minds, at least for a few hours. It had been a long night for them all and it certainly wasn't going to be an easier day once they woke up.
I'm so much happier with this than have been with the last chapter or two! I really hope that you enjoy this one!
L x