Hey all! Sorry I haven't updated in ages! D= I feel so guilty, but lots of things have been coming up and stuff :/ Anyways! I actually started working on this is January and it's only now I've finished it! xD We see a new character in this chapter too so I hope you like them ^.^ I was also listening to a musician who inspired me for their character description, so yeh lol. Hope you enjoy it! :D

Hermione and the boys spent the next few days wandering around the city, staring in awe at beautiful cathedrals and towers and expensive shops. They visited restaurants where the boys ordered the food and drinks on Hermione's behalf, seeing as she couldn't understand the menu. It was all delicious. Mostly.

"Argh! Urgh! Oh Merlin's Beard, this is disgusting!" Hermione coughed as she tried to swallow the foul and bitter dark liquid, whilst her gag reflex worked against her. Fred chuckled into his cup.

"I said you wouldn't like it!"

"Why'd you let me order it then?!" she choked, indicating desperately for the water across the table. Draco poured her a cup and passed it over, smirking slightly.

"You'd never survive for long in Italy Hermione, espresso is a favourite drink here."

She frowned at the tiny cup in front of her which held another mouthful or two of the awful bitter drink.

"Don't ever let me have that again!" she muttered darkly to Fred, who laughed before downing his own espresso. Draco asked a passing waiter for the bill and Hermione began gathering her things. She put on her sunglasses as she and Fred stepped out from the shade of the little café, and into the bright Italian sunlight. That was one odd thing about the curse that Hermione had noticed recently. Both Fred and Draco had been suffering from the intense summer heat, and both were in t-shirts and shorts, whilst she herself had not been touched by the warmth. Even now, her hand felt icy in Fred's warm one. She felt foolish, shivering slightly, wearing Fred's cosy Weasley jumper, as people walked past stripped to the bare legal minimum.

"Right! Where to now?" Draco asked appearing at Hermione's other side, blinking through the bright sunlight.

"Let's go up the Asinelli tower!" Hermione said, with excitement. She'd been dying to go up there for days.

"The what?" Draco and Fred both asked at the same time. Hermione blushed a little.

"I read about it a few days ago, in the morning when you guys were still asleep. It's in all the tourist brochures at the apartment".

"Typical 'Mione! Reading in the early hours whilst everyone else is asleep!" Fred smiled, winding his arm round her shoulders and pulling her into his side. He nuzzled her hair for a second or two before they set off towards what was locally known as 'The Two Towers'.

"Are you sure you'll be able to cope with this, Hermione? The lady says its 498 steps to the top!" Draco turned to her, on the spiral staircase at the bottom of the tower. The little cabin built into the wall housed a bored looking woman, who took the admission fee of a few euros to go up the tower.

"I'll be fine, honest! The view from the top is meant to be fantastic! I can do it. Please? I've been wanting to do this for ages!" Hermione pleaded.

"You make me sound like I'm your mother for crying out loud! I'm only making sure you'll be able to do it!" he shook his head with a hint of a smile before turning back to pay for them all.

They set off, Fred leading the way, holding Hermione's hand, who was in the middle and Draco bringing up the rear.

The spiral stairs opened out onto a platform that showed that you had barely climbed a few metres. Looking up only proved this, as rickety wooden staircases clung to the 4 sides of the wall, with another platform in the distance. Hermione took a deep breath.

"How many steps are there in total again?"

"498…we can go back down if you want?" Draco raised his eyebrows questioningly.

Hermione flicked her hair, defiantly and began the next flight of stairs. Fred chuckled and followed after her.

"There. See? That's what I love about you, 'Mione!"

The warmth spread across her arm again, and she blushed as she climbed the steps.

Despite having set off with such determination, it only took 4 flights of stairs to completely exhaust Hermione. She was angry at herself and the curse, it made her feel so weak! And she hated being weak.

She'd sent the boys ahead of her, so that she wouldn't slow them down, but now they were both waiting for her two flights up, leaning dangerously over the wooden railings. Her heart rate was hammering away rapidly, her muscles ached and felt like jelly and she was out of breath, but she still didn't feel hot or even faintly warm.

She put her hands on the steps in front of her and turned to sit on the staircase, huddling in Fred's jumper, trying to regain her breath. This was so humiliating! Before the curse, she would've been completely fine and could have climbed the entire tower and beaten the boys whilst barely being out of breath! But she'd barely made it up a third of the way and she was already sat on the stairs gasping for oxygen, whilst Italian tourists sidled past her on their way up.

"It's only bloody stairs!" she chided herself, a scowl etched across her pretty face.

"Ciao, hai bisogno di aiuto?" [Hello, do you need some help?]

Startled, Hermione looked up into smiling warm green eyes. She blinked. She couldn't understand a word this young, attractive man had said to her.

"Er...s-scusate, io sono inglese.. non capis-...capisco" [Sorry, but I am English, I don't understand] she spoke with her poor Italian. This was one of the few Italian phrases she had been able to remember. Different languages were not her forte. Transfiguration, Potions, Defence against the Dark Arts, she could handle any day, but when it came to remembering the right words in the right order she was stumped.

The young man smiled kindly and spoke again in English this time.

"Ah! Me too. I just assumed you were Italian, sorry. Would you like a little help?"

The green eyes shone with a gentleness that made Hermione smile herself and he spoke with a slight Southern English accent, he was probably from Kent or thereabouts.

Hermione was about to reach for his hand and thank him, she needed to get back on her feet and catch up with the boys when a different voice came.

"La signora sta bene. Grazie per la vostra offerta ma saranno aiutati da noi!" [The lady is fine. Thank you for your offer, but she will be helped by us] came Draco's familiar, cold voice from directly behind her. She wondered how he could manage to sound threatening in a beautiful language like Italian. Hermione looked confused, she had no idea what had been said. The young man met Draco's steely look with his own, before turning back to her.

"Do you know these gentlemen?"

She nodded, still confused as to what was going on. The mysterious man smiled at her, nodded stiffly at the boys before saying "Excuse me," and moved past them up the stairs in one graceful movement.

Fred bent down and helped her to her feet.

"You alright there, 'Mione?" he asked, before dropping a kiss on top of her head.

"I'm fine, but I don't understand what just happened…"

"Don't worry. We just came back down to help you." Fred replied. He bent his knees a little and told her to climb onto his back.

Fred had climbed quite a way up the tower with Hermione on his back, before he stopped, gasping for air. Hermione clambered down awkwardly.

"Sorry…"

"No no…it's not…your fault…you're not heavy…it's just…a lot of steps!" he puffed out.

"It shouldn't be far now," Draco commented, looking from Fred who had nearly keeled over on the steps to Hermione who looked completely wiped out herself. "Come on, get on my back," he said, bending slightly for her. She blinked.

"P-pardon?" she managed to stutter out.

"Just get on, it's the only way you'll get to the top, unless you want to turn back now?" he raised his eyebrows at her. ~Music: 'Boy Lilikoi' – Jonsi~

Looking to Fred, who waved his hand dismissively as if he were too tired to care who she got a lift with, she climbed onto Draco's back.

They began the upward climb again, with Fred slowly walking behind them and Hermione Granger being carried by the boy, now man, who had been the torment of her school years.

She glanced out of windows as they ascended and she could see they were already high above the rest of the city. It was a sunny, hazy day out there, making the entire expanse of country that was visible look breath-taking. And they weren't even at the top yet!

Finally they reached the last platform and allowed several people to squeeze past them on their way back to the bottom. Hermione glimpsed blue sky through the door and asked Draco to let her get down and walk the rest herself. On shaky feet she climbed the remaining few stairs and stepped out into brilliant sunshine.

"Merlin's Beard!" she whispered.

The entire city stretched out below them and she could see hills in the distance. The warm air blew her curly hair around her face and she pushed it back impatiently. Where they were standing, was at the top of the tower. There were metal railings that rose from the small wall and went right over their heads, encasing them in a cage of safety. Hermione squealed with delight at the wonderful view and ran to the metal bars and peered down through them to the city below.

"Oh! I feel sick!" she cried out. Both boys ran to her, asking her how bad did she feel? Should they go back down? What was wrong? She laughed at them and pointed below.

"I'm fine, but look down there, you can see the other tower below. Look how slanted it is! That's what making me feel dizzy!"

They peered down and sure enough saw the smaller tower. It was indeed slanted, like the tower in Pisa, however as they were looking down on it from a greater height, it did indeed make them feel sick and dizzy for a little while, until the shock wore off.

Hermione laughed and skipped round to the other side, her strength renewed from the sights. It had been worth the climb! A gust of warm wind blew then and Hermione grinned into it, her hair flicking back from her face, leaving her free to gulp it in.

She noticed the boy from earlier, his back was to her and he had his arms spread wide, his head thrown back. The wind rippled through his black hair and she heard him give a deep chuckle from the sheer pleasure of being on top of the world. A small smile appeared on her face as she knew how he felt.

Then she saw something strange happen. His hair changed from a jet black to a sudden bright blue, then black again! She only knew of two people who could do that!

Hermione turned around. Fred and Draco were on the other side of the tower and another glance told her that it was only herself, the two boys and this odd boy on the top of the tower. Evidently he had thought he was alone. He was still laughing into the wind when she silently stepped next to him.

"That was a clever trick!" she said to him.

He jumped nearly a foot in the air.

"Bloody Hell!" he gasped, clutching his chest, before composing himself. "I don't know what you mean," he said stiffly. His hand was slowly reaching behind him for something. Was he going to obliviate her or something? She'd better let him know it was ok.

"Don't worry! I know. You're a Metamorphmagus! I'm a witch too!" she blurted out. His hand froze and he frowned. A horrifying thought came to her. What if he wasn't a Metamorphmagus (and therefore not a wizard) after all? Had it been a trick of the light? Oh dear! She'd just admitted to being a witch! Her own hand started drifting to her wand hidden in her enchanted pocket.

"You're a witch? Really? Did you go to Hogwarts?"

She breathed a sigh of relief and nodded dropping her hand.

"Where did you go? I don't recall ever seeing you there…"

"I went to an Italian wizarding school, I grew up both in England and Italy…"

She hadn't heard of an existence of an Italian wizarding school, but then again there must be one, mustn't there?

"My name's Luke. Luke Elliott." He smiled his infectious smile and held out his hand. She shook it and grinned back.

"Hermione Granger."

His mouth dropped open. "The Hermione Granger?! Who helped defeat You-Kn-…Voldemort?"

She nodded again, shyly.

"Ha! Wow! I feel stupid for asking if you needed help earlier! You don't my need help, you can do practically anything!" He grinned, but this time she didn't smile back.

"Well…not lately…" she muttered under her breath.

"Sorry? Didn't catch that-"

"Hermione!" Fred's voice came from her left. He was standing with Draco whose arms were folded, both of them frowning at Luke. "Is he bothering you again?"

Luke's eyebrows raised.

"Merlin! Who are these guys? Your body guards?"

"Pretty much," Draco replied coolly. Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"No! I'm fine, he isn't bothering me at all! In fact I started talking to him!" Fred's eyes flicked to her briefly, and Hermione read the hint of worry in them. Was he jealous? "He's a wizard too! What're the odds? And a Metamorphmagus!"

Luke's eyes narrowed a little as he took in the ginger and blond, but he held his hand out nonetheless.

"Luke Elliott."

It took them a few moments of hesitation, but both Fred and Draco shook his hand and introduced themselves. Luke explained why he hadn't gone to Hogwarts and how he grew up in Italy and eventually the boys warmed up to him. They were soon discussing Quidditch, the Battle of Hogwarts and The Weird Sisters.

Hermione was starting to feel sluggish and tired. Her legs and arms felt like lead and her head was pounding. A mixture of the curse and sunstroke from being out on the tower top for too long was probably what was wrong. She was willing her composure and countenance to betray none of the pain or exhaustion she was feeling. The three boys were getting along well, despite their earlier mistrust and she didn't want to ruin that.

Draco looked over at her, as if he'd just remembered she existed and pulled his eyebrows down into a concerned frown.

"Hey, Hermione...are you ok?" They all turned to look at her.

"I'm fine, I feel-".

'Great' was what she should have said, but she crumpled over and nearly cracked her head on the hard floor if it hadn't been for the rush of arms to catch her.

Green, Grey and Hazel colours were looking down at her. Fuzzy voices and blurry colours echoed around. 'Why must this always happen to me?' Was her last thought as she closed her eyes, sinking into the darkness.

Ta-daaa! There we go! :D So did you like Luke? I know I did ;) mehehee lol sorry! :P I'm so weird! Anyways, hope it isn't too much of a cliff-hanger! And I think I may keep Luke as a main(ish) character! Don't worry, there'll be more Fred and Hermione moments to come, they're still my one and only Harry Potter OTP! 3 Hope you liked it! xxx