Stuck in Place
by KemAjiana
A/n: Sorry for the delay. My work schedule got shifted around and my laptop decided to quit on me (thank goodness the ex husband is a computer whiz!). Anyway, thanks to all my fabulous reviewers, here's the ninth chapter! Kind of filler-ish, but needed. Enjoy, lovelies!
Chapter Nine
Day five of her week
with the Weasley twins rolled around, and Fred found her cooped away in the corner behind the couch, just as he had the day before. Since Bill's Great Reveal, as they called it, she had fallen into a sort of trance - unmoving, still as a statue, eyes glazed and sharp, as if she had retreated inward. Which, Fred realized, was likely the truth.
"'Mione," he said softly, peeking around the arm of the couch. "Need any help, there?"
Her brown eyes, which had begun to take on an amber glow around the outside, much to the worry of George, snapped up to him. She shook her head softly, lowering her gaze and falling back into that pit that was her mind, filled with her endless thoughts. If anyone could figure it out, he surmised, it was the Brightest Witch of Her Age.
The elder Weasley twin gave a soft smile, ruffling her head and stepping away, pulling on his magenta robes to open shop. "I'm right downstairs if you need me, love."
When the thud of the door sounded behind him, Hermione finally moved from her place behind the couch. She knew she couldn't sulk forever - knew she may not have forever to sulk - but she could not shake the feeling that there was nothing to help her push away her deepest fear. She was a fox; and, even as human Hermione, no man had ever looked at her the way she'd pleaded with the deities for Ron to look at her.
She was alone.
Rap rap rap
Bill started at the sharp sound of knuckles on his door, but collected himself quickly before waving his wand to open it. Fred Weasley stood there, dressed in his vibrant WWW robes, his face pale. Immediately, his mind leapt to the idea that something must be wrong - George? - before pushing those thoughts away. "How can I help you?"
"Hermione won't move."
The eldest brother's brows shot high. "Pardon..?"
Fred closed the door softly, sinking into the chair across from Bill. "She won't move. Won't do anything. She's been sitting there for...going on two days. Ever since we left your office."
Bill steepled his hands, resting his chin on his fingertips. "I told you there's -"
"- nothing you can do. I got that," Fred waved him off abruptly. "I need to know how I can help her along."
"And how do you plan on doing that? Throwing a boggart in her face?"
Fred's eyes hardened to steel as he sat up straighter in his chair. "What did she show you?"
A shadow fell over Bill's features as he eyed his brother. "And why should I tell you? That'd be a betrayal of her trust in me. She let me see those memories because she believed I would say nothing. Besides, the memory I saw was purely accidental; she didn't mean to show me."
"Bill, please. I just want to help."
"Fred? Help?" Bull scoffed. "Isn't that more George's forté? You've always been the instigator; he's always been the soft one."
Fred scowled. "Of course he wants to help. He's just...worried."
"And why should he be worried?"
The red haired twin shifted under the scrutinous gaze of his elder brother. "I'valyshdathingferhr." he mumbled quickly, looking away.
"Pardon?"
"I've..." he took a deep breath, his face going beet red. "I've always had a thing for her. Since I was a third year."
"O-oh."
"Yeah...oh. But Ron -"
"- doesn't feel anything for her." Bill cut him off with a wave of his hand.
"What?"
"She kissed him, in the Battle at Hogwarts. Nothing. He rejected her, in the oddest way."
"That smarmy git!" Fred seethed. "She's been pining after him since they were first years!"
Bill gave a terse laugh. "You know that, I know that, hell, even Charlie knows that, and he's met her all of, what? Twice?"
Under his breath, Fred mumbled, "I'm going to owl him a trick wand."
"What?"
"It's a new product. Our Tricky Pleaser Wands. Really...relieves the stress," Fred grinned evilly. "If you catch my drift." He made a hand gesture that had Bill doubled over in laughter.
"Mum'll kill you if she catches you selling those sorts of things in the shop. So do me a favor - have someone take a picture at the Ministry with him holding that, will you?"
"Deal...only if you tell me what she showed you. What her fear is that's holding her back."
Bill looked torn for a moment before he sighed in resignment. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Either you help, or we're still exactly where we started." He gave a long pause. "Rejection. She fears being alone; that no one will ever want her. Ron gave her...quite a lot of insecurities. For a witch as lovely as she is, she's bound to find someone." He quirked an eyebrow when his brother murmured something beneath his breath. "Say again?"
Fred heaved a deep breath. "I said: maybe she already has."
