This first part was kind of hard for me to do, and I'm sure I did it over three times before settling. Conflict makes me nervous, so any nervousness in my stories is very real people; it's from my homely, shell shocked soul.
Sorry for the choppy scenes too, it was a little strange to decide on which scene to grow on.
BTW I realize the DA only used the Black Quill in the films, but I've used it in this story. You'll see.
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She had faced monsters before. Huge snakes cowering in her school, raging centaurs in the Dark Forest; and a few questionable teachers as well. Fear had coursed through her entire body, and she knew what it felt like to await death. To her amazement, Hermione felt more emotion in this moment than she did in any of the past horrors she had faced. The Burrows kitchen had cleared completely except for her and Fred, who hadn't looked at her since George read their letters aloud. She could barely look at him herself, her cheeks growing uncomfortably warm every time she glanced up hoping to say something. Mrs. Weasley hadn't even poked her head in yet, the rest of the family had dispersed around the home.
"Hermione," His whisper cut rather suddenly through their tense silence. Hermione still refused to look up, instead turning her head to the side, revealing her ear from her curtain of hair.
"Yes?"
"I don't know what to do," he scoffed at himself, trying to gain back some control of the situation. "Or say, to you, which is strange because you're my friend, but I can't, or I don't know," He stopped. Hermione felt like crying from the relief rushing through her, realizing they were on the same embarrassing page.
"Oh Fred, I'm sorry," The bench between them didn't seem as daunting as she slid down farther towards him. He took a quick peek before ducking his head into his tea, still ignoring her. He mumbled something, but she didn't catch it so she slid closer still, only a few inches left of the bench between them. "I didn't hear that,"
"I said: I'm sorrierier." Hermione couldn't help the giggles that escaped when he mumbled again, this time lifting his head for her to hear. Without thinking, she sat right next to him and gathered him in a one armed hug, pulling his shoulder into her neck.
"Oh Fred, what am I going to do with you?" a deep sigh broke through from the moody red head as he finally raised his head, looking straight into her eyes.
"Marry me, apparently."
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Hermione watched as the Weasley family settled into the sitting room, Percy starting the fire up, as Ginny pushed past him to pull Harry onto the loveseat with her. She cursed the large family silently as she urged her still feet to move from the kitchen doorway.
"You'll have to move eventually." Fred whispered near the top of her head, stooping over to allow his quiet voice to reach her.
"Obviously," she growled, fully aware how ridiculous she was being in that moment, stalking the Weasley family like they were a mouse Crookshanks had discovered.
"Alright Snape, get a move on." She tossed a glare over her shoulder, realizing the glower lost most of its heat when she had to crane her neck to look up at him. She slipped away from him, choosing to ignore the muffled laughter following her out. She kept her eyes trained on the stairs, a sense of relief beginning to course through her until a cursed freckled hand shot out and snagged her arm.
"Where do you think you're going? Sit down, relax." Ginny pulled her down, raising her eyebrow until Hermione relaxed and sat next to her on the loveseat, forcing Harry to bunch up into the armrest. Fred crept in after her, looking much less awkward than she had as he slipped down beside George, the two immediately starting to talk and poke at Percy, who looked like he wanted to fall through the floor. Hermione stared at him once more before turning away to see Ginny watching her, a grin pasted across her face.
"Oh shut it," Hermione mumbled, her cheeks now flaming as she ducked her head into the tea tray.
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"I'm freaking out."
"No, you're not."
"Yes I am, you can't tell me this isn't a good freak out moment, Georgie." George sighed heavily, slumping into the flat futon couch he and Fred had in their sitting room of their flat. Fred had begun pacing back and forth as soon as they'd stepped out of the fireplace from the Burrow, not stopping after ten minutes had passed. George had been planning on taking Angelina out for a celebration dinner, but quickly realized those plans were quickly flying away from him. His brother hadn't stopped moving and it was beginning to worry him.
"Fred, just sit for a mo'." Fred only shook his head, spinning to face the front door before turning back to George on the couch.
"I can't, if I stop I might hurl," his hands went immediately to his hair, pulling the long strands around his fingers and pushing it away from his face. "George what do I do? Ron is going to kill me, and I think mom was seriously thinking of punching me out. And Hermione," here he groaned and collapsed beside his brother, hanging his head between his knees like Bill had taught them to do after getting dizzy during their first broom ride. George tried not to laugh at his twin, instead laying his hands on Fred's shoulders, rubbing roughly to try and wake him.
"Fred I think you may be over thinking this, brother." the conflicted twin raised his head to look at his brother, confusion clear across his face.
"How could I be? I'm literally breaking my little brother's heart right now, and ruining his girl's life."
George shrugged, pulling Fred to sit back at the same time, "Maybe, but Ronnie didn't seem too angry with you. If anything, I think he looked a little happy," he paused, causing Fred to look at him in bewilderment, "you know, under the grossed out look on his face." Fred frowned and punched George in the arm.
"That, dear brother, is not helping." George shook his arm out, chuckling at his brother once before shaking his head like he was clearing it.
"Right, sorry, sorry." The two sat in silence for a while, Fred staring into the fire, and George trying to wrap his mind around this situation. Fred had never been so quiet; the nearest being right after the war, but that had only lasted the rest of the day before the two were out spreading joy again. This funk he was in now was beginning to worry George a bit.
"What did Hermione say earlier? She seemed just as weird as you." Fred flushed, not looking George in the eye.
"We didn't really say much," Fred mumbled out, scratching the back of his hands nervously.
"Of course you didn't," George sighed again, getting the feeling he was going to be doing that for a while.
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"I'm starting to freak out now."
"What have you been doing all this time then?"
"I honestly can't tell if I'm breathing, Ginny." Ginny sighed heavily, sitting up from her bed to look over at the twin bed next to hers. Hermione was clearly beginning to hyperventilate, her shoulders heaving as she clutched at her head. Ginny sat up from her bed, swinging her legs over to step over to her friend's side. Once everyone had left the Burrow or went to bed, Hermione had taken off running to their room where she had launched herself onto the bed and hadn't moved since.
"You're breathing alright, but maybe slow it down a bit, yeah?" Hermione nodded, missing Ginny's joking grin. It took her a moment, but eventually the heavy quick breaths slowed down to normal. "Better now?" Hermione nodded, but didn't stop staring up at the crooked ceiling.
"What do I do?" The older witch finally whispered, her voice cracking from disuse. Ginny couldn't help sighing once more, as she took a seat next to Hermione's hip.
"I don't know what you mean, 'Mione." The girl finally sat up, shifting to lean against the wall behind her pillows.
"With Fred, Ginny, what do I need to do?"
"Um, marry him, I suppose." Hermione scoffed and crossed her arms across her chest grumpily.
"That's what he said too. You Weasley's are no help."
Ginny laughed merrily, patting the mass of curls on the top of her friends head fondly, "Well, did you talk to him earlier? Did he say anything?" Hermione shook her head, her face falling even more.
"No, we just kind of sat there, and he mostly apologized and said we were getting married. But does that mean he's okay with this?" Hermione sunk lower into her bed spread, her mood declining more so if that were at all possible.
"I think the first step should be having an actual conversation with my brother Hermione. You two have been getting closer, I thought you were pretty good friends by now. It shouldn't be too hard; Fred's not a bad guy." Hermione nodded, her shoulders collapsing steadily, relaxing visually.
"I know; I rather enjoy hanging out with the twins. But I never thought about spending the rest of my life with one of them, or starting a family," The curly haired witch choked on her words, both girls eyes meeting each other's very quickly, Ginny's brown eyes growing wider as the news caught up to her.
"Oh Merlin," Ginny whispered, raising her fingers to fiddle with her hair. Hermione interrupted her first,
"I have to sleep with Fred!"
"I'm going to be an aunt!" Ginny's exclamation was met with a sharp smack, followed by giggles from the both of them.
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A strange occurrence in the Burrow was a moment of silence. With all her chicks back in the nest, Molly Weasley was ready at the crack of dawn to begin the day's work. The twins had gone back to their flat last night, but every other Weasley was still roosted somewhere in the ramshackle home. Beside Fleur and Bill, all the others were lumped together in rooms. Harry, Ron, and Percy were together in Ron's old room. The twins usually slept in their old room with Charlie, which Molly was sure Percy would bring up this morning at not being told he could bunk with his older brother with the twins gone, and leave the younger wizards to themselves. She started on the large breakfast, preparing the meat first, hoping it would rouse a few of her children and she could coerce them to help.
"Morning mum," Molly jumped from her position in front of the stove, surprised someone was awake already. Taking a peek at the sun dial on the window ledge showed her it was a few hours before any one of her children should sound so chipper. She looked around the doorway, craning her neck up to see the top of the winding staircase. To her even greater surprise, Ginny was the one traipsing down the stairs, dragging a much more bedraggled looking Hermione behind her. While her daughter looked uncharacteristically chipper, her self-adopted daughter was dragging her feet and rubbing her frizzed hair out of her eyes.
"Well, good morning my dears. What has you two up so early?" Ginny finished pulling Hermione down to the ground level, and quickly deposited her friend in one of the kitchens many wooden chairs. Molly tried not to smile too widely as Hermione dropped into the seat and immediately let her head fall down onto the place mat, a groan following close behind.
"We were up talking most of the night, and decided we were going to go out shopping today. Just us girls," with this, Ginny sent a rather radiant smile at Hermione, who to Molly's amusement, glared heavily at the witch.
"You don't even like to shop you evil little pygmy puff." Hermione muttered, causing Ginny to break out in peals of laughter while Molly looked at Hermione in shock. This wasn't anything like the little girl Ron had dragged home in second year.
"Your cursing hasn't gotten any better 'Mione. I'd have thought living with Harry and Ron would have groomed you to misbehave more often." Hermione snorted and waved her wand over to the kettle, starting its flame up for tea.
"I think I cause more mischief than either of those boys. They'd probably be better off without my nosiness." Molly scoffed then, gaining her two incredulous looks from her girls. "What's wrong, Mrs. Weasley?"
"I rather doubt those boys weren't the cause of all that trouble, Hermione." a guilty frown creased Hermione's face as she swiped her wand through the air once more, lazily setting out tea sets for each of them. She didn't say anything more, focusing on measuring the tea out accordingly. Ginny was watching her amusedly, finally turning to speak with her mom once more.
"I think, if Hermione hadn't met up with that troll in her first year, those three would have never gotten together." Hermione shrunk down.
"Troll!? You were the one to find that troll?" Ginny didn't stop there; she continued to point out many of the mini adventures the Golden Trio had gone on in their early Hogwarts days. She recounted quickly Hermione's core involvement in the Basilisk's unveiling, and saving Buckbeak from death the year after. She didn't mention much of Hermione's fourth year, as Molly realized Harry had been rather reclusive with his friends during the Triwizard Tournament. She soon took a seat across from the girls, propping her chin up and listening. Ginny became more involved in her story telling the farther she went, eventually pulling Hermione in as well, making the oldest young witch begin fixing facts Ginny mixed up. As Molly listened to Hermione begin the tale of Dumbledore's Army starting up, and the measures she went through to keep the large group a secret, and Ginny laughed at Hermione's rendition of Ron producing his first Patronus, Molly suddenly had the wonderful feeling of relief. She hadn't ever thought about it, but Hermione was so well fit for Fred, it was amazing no one had ever pointed it out. Any lingering thoughts of doubt between the two beginning a relationship vanished immediately, and she couldn't help the grateful smile that washed over her face. A full hour after Hermione and Ginny had come down stairs; the rest of the household began to stir. The first down the stairs were Harry and Percy, the latter looking freshly showered and wide awake. Harry came down quite similarly to Hermione, his hair sticking up at strange angles and his eyes squinting behind his circle rimmed glasses.
"Good morning," Percy chirped and helped himself to tea and the warm biscuits. Harry mumbled something that Molly thought might have been a greeting before practically falling into his chair and leaning into Ginny's shoulder. To her credit, Ginny didn't laugh at her fiancé, instead patting his hair down gently and nudging his head to rest more comfortably. Hermione smiled fondly at her friends, watching Harry nuzzle his nose blearily into Ginny's shoulder. Hermione was well aware she and Harry were the worst morning people; both of them had at one point caused Ron to threaten them with curses. Ginny seemed well versed to Harry's morning personality, smoothing his wild fringe back before it dunked into his tea.
"Hermione, are you feeling all right my dear?" Hermione felt a soft hand come down to her shoulder, shocking her out of her thoughts. Mrs. Weasley was leaning into her slightly, a concerned frown comfortably fitted across her face.
"Of course, I think I may still be trying to wake up." Mrs. Weasley smiled softly, patting her shoulder lovingly, and Hermione couldn't help but lean into the woman. She lifted her own hand and patted the calloused hand of the matronly lady. Mrs. Weasley's other hand snapped up immediately, catching Hermione's wrist before she could slip it back to her lap. Hermione frowned, snapping her head back to look at what Mrs. Weasley was doing. Immediately, Hermione felt her body freeze as she glanced at the same scar Mrs. Weasley had discovered. The long bandage that had been covering her entire left forearm had come loose, revealing the 'd' and even cruder 'b' of the long scar covering the inside of her arm.
"Molly," Hermione whispered so quietly she wasn't even sure if the woman had heard her. Mrs. Weasley did not reveal she had in fact heard her, but she continued to stare at the long, poorly healed letters.
"What is this?" She finally said, not at all quiet like Hermione had thought. The rest of the table stopped moving, unaware of what their mother could be looking at. Harry must have noticed first, his eyes roving over Mrs. Weasley and Hermione's clasped hands. A look of complete dread washed over him, before he masterfully covered it up. Mrs. Weasley's hand hadn't let go of Hermione yet, and to her complete horror, she began to push the bandage aside to reveal the scar even further.
"Please, don't," was all she could whisper, realizing there was no way to dissuade her now. Mrs. Weasley continued to push down the bandage, uncoiling the long strand she had kept on for the past few weeks. It fell off rather suddenly, taking the dramatics down a notch though Hermione didn't feel any less frightened. Mrs. Weasley took more than a moment to look over Hermione's entire arm, checking her shoulder as well, though there wasn't anything there to check.
"Who?" her voice was cracked, Hermione suspected she was rather flustered.
"Bellatrix; when we were taken to Malfoy Manor." She didn't ask anymore, just nodded like she remembered herself. Hermione wasn't too sure if Ron or Harry had filled her in on what they'd gone through, but she must have known something.
"We tried to get her, I promise Mrs. Weasley." Harry spoke up, leaning in like he wasn't sure Mrs. Weasley could hear him. Hearing him speak up only seemed to shock the woman and she dropped Hermione's hand, letting it drop to the table.
"It says, oh, that horrible woman! What a vile thing to do! And your hand too! What purpose does that serve?" Hermione watched her face grow completely red, reminding her of Ron.
"That wasn't from Bellatrix, Mrs. Weasley. We got our hand scars during fifth year with Umbridge." Mrs. Weasley's face blanched and clutched the back of Percy's chair. Ron suddenly made an appearance in the kitchen, a happy grin on his face. Hermione wanted to smile at him as she hadn't seen him happy in a few months, but at the same time couldn't wipe the grimace of her face.
"Did someone say Umbridge? Merlin and breakfast smelt so good." He moaned, sitting down in an empty seat and going to grab a scoop of eggs regardless. Mrs. Weasley's hand shot out and snatched Ron's hand up too, squinting to make out the faint Black Quill scar he had. Hermione stopped looking at him with pleading eyes, hoping he could still save himself.
"What does it say?" Ron visibly gulped, deciding the eggs could wait as he tried to think up some way to distract his angered mother. Hermione fleetingly thought this was slightly akin to parents finding out about a hidden tattoo in a Muggle home, but then she remembered this was more of a horror story compared to that tame situation. "Ronald Billius Weasley, you tell me right now, what does it say?"
"I must not break rules." He mumbled. Mrs. Weasley nodded sharply and looked back to Hermione.
"And yours, I already know Harry's, what does yours say?" Hermione ducked her head and rubbed her fingers across the length of the 'Mudblood' and circled the sentence on her hand.
"I am an insufferable know-it-all." She said, not at all ashamed at this scar. It was the more daunting of the two that gave her trouble. Mrs. Weasley gave a long suffering sigh and all but fell into a chair next to Percy.
"Oh, why didn't you tell me you had these?" Ginny suddenly shrank in her seat, and unluckily for her, Mrs. Weasley noticed. "Ginny!"
Ginny sighed and stuck her hand out, "I am not that pretty."
"Oh my girl, how could that vile woman do such a thing?" Mrs. Weasley looked ready to fan herself, leaning her head onto Percy's shoulder. He scrunched his nose like he was disgusted with the familiar touch, but he made a valiant effort to pat his mothers hair.
"Mum, 's not so bad. We only had the one detention with her so the scars never got deep enough for everyone to notice. It was really just Harry who got the worst," Ginny leaned back in her chair, like she was appraising her mother. Mrs. Weasley only started to cry, "And we know the insults are just her being petty. She made me write 'I am not that pretty' over and over because she thought I was being a shameless flirt in her class, when I was just asking one of the boys for homework. It was just something she remembered and used."
"Yeah, mine was just 'cause she had heard about me n' Harry going through the Chamber of Secrets." Ron piped up, obviously very ready to be done with this conversation. Hermione decided not to say anything; she figured hers was very self explanatory.
"And it was just you three?"
"Er, no it was the entire DA." Harry said, deciding he was quite finished with his breakfast, and stood to collect his and Ginny's plates. As he passed he grabbed Hermione's as well, and Hermione realized she really hadn't eaten very much. Fred is not going to be very happy if he hears about that. A deep blush covered her cheeks at the thought of him caring for her, so she pushed the thoughts away. Like he was listening in to her thoughts, the Floo suddenly lit up behind her in the living room, and two identical voices chimed in from the doorway.
"Morning all,"
"The favourites are home."
Mrs. Weasley's head shot up and her wand was out in the next second, freezing then twins in their place when they saw it. "You two will sit down and stick your hands on the table." George couldn't seem to sit down fast enough, while Fred took a moment to look at the others around the table before taking the seat next to his brothers and a couple away from Hermione. They both put their hands on the table, palms down. Clearly, their left hands were both puckered to show they had Black Quill scars as well.
"What do they say?" They both looked confused before George grinned and waved his hand around.
"We must not cause mischief," Hermione grinned at the use of plural.
"Still think we should have ignored her and put 'Mischief Managed'. Would have been much better I think." Fred grinned as well, waving his own hand with a flourish. Mrs. Weasley only stared at them, her wand dropping down.
"All right, you brought that on yourselves." She finally said and walked into her living room to sit on the couch. George and Fred both stared after her, George's jaw beginning to drop.
"Oi!" They both shouted in outrage, making the rest of the table break out into peals of laughter, Percy even cracked a smile.
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I'm so sorry if that dragged on and on and on and on and on and on…. You get it. I liked it a bit more as I went, but I'm still apologizing if it was lacking. But really, what story doesn't have a lack chapter?
Thanks, AJ