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Chapter 13
"Good morning Hermione," Ginny greeted her friend as she walked into the Great hall and sat down beside her.
"Morning," she replied as she turned the page to the book she was
reading.
"How was your evening last night?" the red head asked, grinning slyly.
"Interestingly amazing and ultimately confusing," Hermione admitted, sighing as she shut the book. She was only reading the same paragraph over and over again anyway.
"Really? What happened?"
"Charlie took me to the land your mum gave him. He told me that he wanted me to help
him plan the house, what's in it and all. Then he told me he wants me to be his
family," Hermione said quietly.
Ginny's mouth gaped open. "Wow. What did you say?"
"What could I say? It was so sweet and so terrifying, but the more this all goes on,
the more likely someone is going to get hurt. I really hate the Ministry right now!" the young witch exclaimed angrily, throwing her napkin down across the table.
"What did that napkin do to you?" Harry teased as he and Ron sat down at the table.
"Shut it, Harry," Hermione snapped, immediately regretting it. "Sorry Harry. That was
uncalled for."
"It's all right. What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.
"Just this whole Ministry Marriage Law is getting to me," she replied, sighing.
"Why is it gwiting tw ou?" Ron asked through food inside his mouth.
"It's sad that I understood that," Hermione said, grinning slightly.
"I'm glad you did but I sure didn't," Harry laughed, placing a biscuit on his plate.
Ron swallowed. "I said, why is it getting to you," he replied, his mouth empty for a moment.
"It just is," Hermione answered, not really wanting to get into it with the boys.
Thankfully, the morning post interrupted further conversation on the matter. A beautiful black owl came and perched itself in front of Hermione, with a rolled up piece of parchment tied to its claw.
"Isn't that Fred's owl?" Ron asked, looking confused at the bird.
"Yeah, I think it is," Harry agreed, placing the biscuit he had been eating back on
the plate and shoving the whole thing away.
"Why would he be sending you a letter?" Ron wondered, still confused.
"I don't think its any of your business," Ginny replied, glaring at her brother and her fiancée.
Hermione gave the owl a bite of bread before sending it on its way. "I think I'll just go to the library," she decided, gathering her things and quickly walking toward that doors of the Great Hall.
"Miss. Granger," Professor McGonagall called to her before she could escape. Hermione
turned around and placed a smile on her face.
"Miss. Granger, here is your schedule of classes. Also, this evening I need you to come
to my office for a meeting about all of the balls. I know you don't have the official title of Head Girl, but I think of you as such. Do you think you can handle it?"
Hermione took in a deep breath and smiled as she took the schedule from the professor. "Of course. I'll do my best," she replied.
"As you always do," Professor McGonagall smiled slightly. "You will have help, so you won't be entirely overwhelmed. have a good first day of classes."
"You too, Professor," she replied, walking toward the library to read her letter in
peace. She walked to the table in the back of the room where she usually did most of
her school work. Taking her favourite seat at the table, she pulled out the rolled up
parchment and opened it.
Dear Hermione,
You have no idea how excited I was when I got your letter last night. I'm so glad
that you want to write back and forth and see where this goes.
I will be telling George that I'm writing you today. Not sure how he will react, but I will let you know.
How is everything at Hogwarts? Are you glad to be back or do you wish you were done?
Well, I'll cut this short, because I want to get this out before George wakes up. I can't wait to hear all about your day.
Yours,
Fred.
Hermione smiled and pulled out the pack of parchment she had in her bag, along with her favourite quill and ink...
Dear Fred,
Its weird being back here after being away for a year. I was able to do what I wanted, whenever I liked without having to ask anyone's permission. Now, I've gone back to having to be the perfect student once again. It's going to be interesting, that's for sure. (I really hope you don't think I'm complaining. I don't want you to think I'm ungrateful for being back, its just going to be different).
Good luck talking with George. If you need me to talk with him just let me know. I'll talk to Charlie today and let him know.
Well, I better go or I'll be late for my first class, which would not be good.
Always,
Hermione.
She rolled up the piece of parchment and put it in her bag to take it to Austen after classes. Hermione looked at her watch and sighed. It was time for her first class of the day. She just hoped that Ron and Harry wouldn't be asking her questions about Fred's letter. She quickly gathered her things, placed them in her bag, and ran towards Transfiguration.
Fred had been up most of the night re-reading the letter that Hermione had sent to him. He was insanely happy that she wasn't opposed to sending letters back and forth.
But he was so nervous about talking to George about it. This was the first secret he
hadn't told his twin and he didn't know how George would react.
"Fred, why are you wearing a hole into the floor?' his twin asked as he walked into the back room of their shop.
Fred stopped pacing and sighed. "I need to tell you something and I'm nervous about your reaction," he blurted out.
George raised an eyebrow and took a seat at one of the stools they kept at their work bench. "What did you break? Or what did you purchase with out telling me?" he asked, assuming that it had something to do with the business.
"Actually, it has nothing to do with the shop," Fred admitted.
"Oh. Well, you know you can tell me anything, though it doesn't mean I won't give you a hard time about it," George teased good naturedly.
"That's what I'm afraid of," Fred mumbled, taking the other stool across from his brother. He took a deep, cleansing breath and slowly let it out, trying to calm his nerves.
"Merlin Fred, what's got your knickers in a twist?" George asked. Then he gaped, his eyes bulging out. "Bloody hell! Are you gay? I mean, its all right with me if you are. More power to you. Who is he? Is it Oliver Wood? Always thought there was something
different about that one..."
"Would you shut it? No, I'm not gay, but its good to know that you would accept me if I were so inclined."
"Then what is it?" George asked, completely confused.
"I'm writing letters to Hermione," Fred blurted out.
"Okay. And why would that make me upset? You are friends, there is nothing wrong with that."
Fred sighed once again and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm writing to her because I miss her terribly. I miss the way she smiles and tells us we are going to blow ourselves up if we aren't careful."
"I do too," George agreed, smiling. Then, as if he realized what Fred had just said, he turned to his brother and raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to tell me that you petitioned her?"
"No, I haven't petitioned her..."
"Oh, thank Merlin," George sighed, interrupting Fred. "You scared me there for a moment."
"George, I haven't petitioned her because we've decided to write to each other, to see if there's anything there," Fred informed his twin.
"Why would you need to see if there's anything there? What would give you the idea that something COULD be there?" George demanded, not believing what he was hearing.
"Well, I kind of kissed her..."
"You WHAT?" George practically roared, standing with such force that it knocked the stool over.
"It was before you petitioned her!" Fred said in his defence.
"Oh, so that's suppose to make it better," his twin replied sarcastically, throwing his arms in the air.
"What's going to happen? Are you going to petition anyone?"
"I'm not sure what's going to happen. I do have a few girls that I'll be sending petitions to around Halloween, depending on what happens," Fred answered, watching his twin closely.
George sighed and ran his hand through his hair, in the exact same way that his twin had not long before. "Does she have feelings for you?"
"I don't know, George. She's so confused right now. That's one of the reasons I haven't petitioned her. All she wants is to find love and she is doing the best she can trying to find it."
George's face softened. "Hermione Granger is confused? What can we do to help her?"
"Take things slow, I would guess. Or just be there for her when she needs you. Let her make the decisions. She's being pulled in several directions, only one of which is not a Weasley," Fred answered.
George chuckled and picked the stool back up off the floor. "And we Weasley's are hard to resist. No wonder she's so confused. She has too much of a good thing to pick from."
"Damn right," Fred grinned, happy to see a smile on his brothers face, even if it was a small one.
"Look, I'm not saying that I'm completely okay with this, but if you like her and she likes you, I'll try to deal with it. Doesn't mean that I'm not going to be pissed for a while, but I will get over it."
"I can understand that," Fred replied.
"Well, I suppose we should get to work," George suggested, looking at the stack of
boxes that needed to be unpacked and shelved.
"Sounds good," Fred said grinning, happy that the talk was over and done
with.
"Oh and Fred?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm not going to give up on her," George informed his brother as he picked up a few boxes and carried them into the front of the shop.
Fred's grin widened. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Bloody hell! I thought that finding all of the Horcruxes was difficult, but that was a cake walk compared to those classes," Ron complained as they walked out of their last class of the day.
"Ron, they weren't that bad," Hermione replied, grinning at her friends observation of the day.
"Hermione, not all of us are as smart as you are," Harry said, taking Ron's side.
"You would be if you didn't put off studying until the last possible moment," she retorted, causing Ginny to laugh.
"You know, she does have a point," the red head girl teased her fiancée.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. But then there would be no reason for us to bug Hermione to help
us," Harry said, causing the brown haired girl to grin.
"I'm sure you would find something to bug me about," she replied. "I'm suppose to go to Professor McGonagall's office. I'll see you at dinner."
"Have fun," Ginny called.
Hermione got to the professor's office quickly and told the statue the password. When
she got to the top of the stairs, she knocked on the door.
"Come in," the familiar voice of the professor called out.
Hermione opened the door and walked into the familiar office, surprised that the professor was not alone.
"Ms. Granger, thank you for coming. Please take a seat next to ." Draco smiled up at Hermione as she sat in the seat that had been pushed closer then normal to her.
"Of course," Hermione replied, returning the smile.
"As I told you both this morning, there is much that needs to be done in way of preparations for the balls that are coming up. I need you two to over see the many committees that will be needed in order to make them all go off without any issues. You will be working closely together, so I need you two to please put away any issues that you two may have with one another."
Draco smiled at Hermione once more before turning back to the professor. "Actually, I've petitioned Hermione and she's said that she will consider it,"Draco informed her. "So we've been rather civil toward one another as of late."
"You petitioned Ms. Granger?" Professor McGonagall asked, in complete shock.
"Yes I did," the young Malfoy replied.
"But why?" she blurted. "My apologies. I just don't understand why you would want to marry someone that you've despised for seven years."
Draco nodded and looked the professor right in the eyes. "Many people have asked that same question, Professor. A lot of people think that I have some diabolical motive behind petitioning Hermione. I can assure you I do not. I've had a...crush on her since she punched me back in third year, as masochistic as that sounds," he said, smiling at the memory. "Of course I couldn't say anything. If my father would have found out about
my feelings for her..."Draco shuddered at the thought.
He turned and looked at Hermione, who had been looking at her hands until she felt his eyes on her. His eyes were the most sincere thing that she had ever seen. "When I had to stand there and watch my Aunt Bellatrix torture you, it was as if I had been put into my own personal form of hell. I knew that if I did anything to stop her that we would both be dead before anyone could save you. And as we all know, Harry can get himself out of just about any situation," he teased, trying to lighten the mood. Hermione grinned; she had said something similar right after the war was over.
"When the marriage law passed, Hermione was the first name that popped in my head. It was if Merlin himself had given me this golden opportunity for a chance with my dream girl. Professor McGonagall, that is why I petitioned her."
The older witch sat in her seat, completely flabbergasted by what she had just heard. The Prince of Slytherin had been holding his feelings in for the female member of 'The Golden Trio'? It was all a lot to take in.
"Well, that's...interesting. Ms. Granger, what made you decide to give him a chance?"
Hermione blushed and avoided everyone's eyes. "Everyone deserves a second chance."
The professor looked at her favourite student, knowing that there was some thing else, but didn't want to press her, especially with Malfoy in the room.
"That's very kind and grown up of you, Ms. Granger," she said instead. "So, I guess
that means there should be no issues with you two working close together then."
"No," Hermione confirmed.
"Not at all," Draco smiled over at the object of his affection.
"Very well then. You may go on about your evening. Once a week I would like a progress report on the work you've done."
"Yes, Professor," the students replied as they stood to exit the office.
"Have a good evening," the Professor called after the two as they walked
out of the office.
"How did the meeting with Professor McGonagall go?" Ginny asked that evening at dinner.
"It went all right," Hermione replied.
"What was it about?" Harry wondered, passing Ginny the bowl of mashed potatoes.
"About the balls. She wants us to head up all of the committees that will be needed for all of them," she answered, pulling out a piece of parchment and a quill. If she was going to be organizing three balls on top of all of her classes, plus everything else she was having to deal with this year, she was going to have to work while she ate.
"Us?" Ginny said, raising an eyebrow.
"Draco and I. She said that if there would have been a Head Boy and Head Girl, then it would have been us."
"Malfoy? Head Boy?" Harry asked, shocked.
"Apparently he has the second highest grades in our year," Hermione replied, taking
a bite of roll.
"And we all know who has the highest," Ginny grinned at her best friend who smiled back.
"Not if I don't figure out how I'm going to juggle everything this year. I'll have worse grades then Ron if I don't," she said, looking over to the red heads normal seat and finding it empty. "Where is he, anyway?"
Harry grinned."He paid the house elves a knut each to fix a picnic basket to take down to the lake for him and Luna."
"Seriously?" Ginny gasped, shocked that her git of a brother could be so romantic.
"That's one of the sweetest things I've ever heard of him doing," the brown haired girl replied, slightly jealous. She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't help not wanting the same thing. Although I guess it's me who is to blame for not having that, she thought. If I would hurry up and pick one of them, maybe he would just randomly surprise me with a picnic just because.
"Hermione, you're sighing again," Ginny informed her,looking at her with concern."What's wrong?"
Hermione began gathering her things, not very hungry any more. "I've just got a lot of work I need to do. I'm going to go try to find somewhere that's a little quieter then the Great Hall."
"Are we being too loud for you?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at his best girl friend.
"No, not you. Everyone else. I'll see you guys later," she promised as she walked out of the Great Hall towards the library.
"Do you buy that?" Harry asked his fiancée as they watched their friend walk out the door.
"Not a bit," she replied, biting into her chicken.
"What do you think is bothering her?" he wondered.
"What's one thing that you know to be true about Hermione?" she asked.
"She loves to read?" Harry asked.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Yes, love. But what else? Does she like not knowing things?"
"No, she hates not knowing things. If she doesn't know about it, then she looks it up and finds out about it," he answered. "But what doesn't she know?"
"She doesn't know who she want to be with; who she wants to love. So, she's going to try to figure it out."
"How can we help her?" Harry demanded, wanting to do whatever he could for the girl who had helped him figure out the Horcruxes.
"Calm down," she replied, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We just have to help her see whose best for her."
"Hows that?"
Ginny grinned a grin that could rival any evil genius. "By weeding out the great from the exceptional."
Here's another chapter. I hope you like it. I know some of you have an opinion of who she should end up with. Well, let me know and I'll make this be a story that you decide who her love will be. :) The one with the most 'votes' will be her man. :) So...let me know. Happy Reading