A/N – This chapter is slightly disjointed as it's just after the party. Hopefully you'll all like it :D
Quote – A change in behaviour begins with a change in the heart – Unknown -_-
Actions speak louder than words
Fred looked at Hermione; he was completely shell shocked, he looked down at the small crying girl and felt a wave of emotion that he couldn't control Did I made her cry? He thought, walking backwards off of the balcony, into the large room and back into the party room. Hermione heard the footsteps walking away but she continued to stare at the stoned floor, watching her tears turn to ice as they hit the floor. She tried to walk after him, but the floor wasn't as stable and she slipped, only just catching herself on her hands. Hermione sighed. How pathetic am I? Hermione asked herself I set a curse on my soul mate and I can't even win him back with a true loves kiss! Hermione looked up and realised she was all alone; everyone was in the main hall celebrating the New Year. She moved round so she wasn't facing the door and instead looked out of the balcony. She pulled herself into a ball and watched the first few freckles of snow fall down from the sky. Slowly and silently she let the tears fall. How pathetic am I?
Fred continued to walk with his head in his hands, until he found himself at a door that led outside. He went to turn the handle but the door was opened before him.
"Fred!" George stood in front of him, smiling; he took in his facial expression. "How did it go?" George asked, looking at Fred's confused face. "You were going to tell her tonight, remember" Fred looked at George; George's face held pure confusion. "You haven't stopped talking about it since you found out" Fred looked confused.
"Found out what?" Fred asked.
"Soulmates?" George prompted.
"George, don't be silly we can't be soulmates we're related and I like females… You're male" Fred joked.
"Not me, you twit!" Sighed George "Hermione, she's your soulmate, how can you not remember?" He paused to think "Mom told you to tell her, but you wanted her to like you before she knew that she had to be with you. So mom gave you till New Year to tell her" George sighed.
"Soulmates? George did you have an alcoholic beverage? Soulmates don't exist" Fred laughed. George just looked at him "Does Hermione like me? Has she got you to tell me that story?" Fred continued laughing. George just looked at him and walked away.
"Am I right? The book worm likes me! George, we might not ever have to do our homework again!" Fred joked and triumphed. George turned quickly and looked at him, his face full of anger.
"Fred! What is wrong with you?" George's voice was growing louder with every word "YOU'VE FOUND YOUR TRUE LOVE AND ALL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IS IF SHE'LL DO YOUR HOMEWORK! DID YOU EVEN TELL HER?" George yelled causing the people nearby to look around. Fred looked ashamed.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know you cared for her, I thought she was just the smart one that always stopped our pranks" Fred looked at his brother "Is she really my soulmate?" He asked.
"You don't remember?" George said mainly to himself and turned to leave. He ran through the crowd; Fred followed him and grabbed his arm.
"George I made her cry. I don't know what I did, but I know it was me- I can feel it." Fred spoke in a whisper, worried someone would over hear. George nodded. "George, I should apologise shouldn't I?" George nodded again. Fred led them both to the place where he had last seen her, surprised to find a red haired girl sitting with her. The red haired girl turned sharply and got off the floor, advancing towards them.
"YOU!" Ginny yelled, pointing at Fred "You complete arse, Fredrick Weasley" Ginny shoved him hard, watching him stumble backwards into George.
"It's not his fault" Hermione said, standing up from the floor. Fred looked down at her from behind George and smiled.
"Ginny, he can't remember anything" George stated.
"Hey!" Fred shoved George "I can remember loads of things" Fred looked angry, Hermione tried not to laugh but did, everyone turned around to look at her and she turned it into a cough. Fred smiled and continued to glare at his twin. "The only thing, or person should I say, that I can't remember is you" He smiled down at Hermione, she gasped and tried to cover it up "I can remember who you are" Fred said, trying to be helpful "I can remember that you're Ron's friend and that he has a huge crush on you – Ow! Ginny!" Fred glared at Ginny, who had poked him hard in the ribs.
"You're not supposed to tell her!" said Ginny through gritted teeth.
"Ginny, it's not like it was obvious" stated Fred.
"Yeah, he didn't stare at her, every second" Agreed George.
"Of every minute" Fred smirked.
"Of every hour" George continued.
"Of everyday" Fred continued.
"Of every week" George continued.
"Of every –" Fred started but was cut off by Ginny.
"Yeah okay we get it" Said Ginny, still annoyed. "What are we going to do?" she asked, turning back to stand next to Hermione. They all gave her puzzled looks.
"There's not really much we can do" said Hermione quietly, as she shivered slightly from the cold.
"Are you cold?" Asked Fred quietly, who had now moved around to stand by her, the four standing in a strange shaped circle. Hermione looked up at him in surprise and shook her head. Ginny looked at the two of them in confusion but then decided it wasn't important.
"The party is nearly over, considering it's been the New Year for a while, so I say we all decide on one thing, do we tell mom?" Ginny asked, taking charge, she was still in a mood with Fred but she was trying to get past it. Fred shook his head.
"I don't think we should, we should sort this out, and we go back to Hogwarts tomorrow anyway so there won't be much she can so" Fred said trying to sound confident. They all mumbled back in agreement.
"All right so we don't tell anyone!" Ginny confirmed.
"Don't tell anyone what?" Ron walked onto the balcony looking bored and annoyed. Hermione looked at Fred as she panicked. There was a long uncomfortable silence.
"Fine don't tell me!" Ron said sarcastically, storming off "Mom wants you home!" He shouted and left.
"Come on then" Ginny grabbed Fred quickly and motioned to George to talk to Hermione, he nodded back. Fred looked at Ginny in confusion as she pulled him away. Hermione looked after them, suddenly feeling colder. She shivered, causing George to look worried.
"Are you cold?" George asked.
"No. Yes. Well I am but there's nothing you can do about, I'm going to be cold for a while" Hermione sighed as the coldness started spreading, luckily there were no visual effects, but that didn't make it any better.
"What do you mean?" George looked confused for a moment before he realised "You mean Fred?" He stuttered. Hermione nodded.
"It happened before, he told you about what happened at the hospital?" Hermione asked. George nodded "I avoided him after that, I thought the coldness would just go away, that I was ill. It wasn't until he told Ginny he was cold that I thought it might have been a possibility." Hermione shrugged.
"Yeah but how did he get like that?" George asked, Hermione looked at the floor and shook her head.
"I tried, really I did" She explained "I was reading this book, and well it kind of set a curse on him, for a moment he became really mean and horrible so I kissed him remembering what the book had said" She looked at the floor hiding her face behind her hair "But I think it back fired and instead of breaking it, I made him forget about me, well us" Hermione took a sharp breath in and looked at George "I didn't mean to set the curse it's just all this soulmate stuff is scary and I thought if I told him he was joking, well maybe it wouldn't have been real" Hermione's breathing became unsteady like she was crying but the tears didn't fall. George looked down at Hermione.
"We'll fix it. But first I think we'll need a talk about what to do next, maybe without Fred; if he knows then he'll see it coming and won't fall in love with you again" George decided. Hermione nodded in agreement before George Disapparated.
When Ginny and Fred got back, the house was quiet, most people were tired from the party and had gone straight to bed. However Ron was sat in one of the chairs in the living room.
"I see you didn't all come back together- see you're not all chums" Ron said snidely.
"Ron we've got bigger problems than your jealousy!" Ginny snapped.
"Wait Ginny, we have to respect his hormones" Fred joked, bowing.
"You really are a git, aren't you? You knew I liked her! Why couldn't you just leave her alone?" Ron shouted. Fred's face became confused.
"What did I do?" He whispered to Ginny. She looked at him before turning on Ron.
"Just go to bed, Ron, we'll talk about it in the morning" Ginny said, pulling him out of the chair and shoving him out the door and closing it behind him.
"What can you remember?" Ginny asked quietly, afraid Ron was listening.
"Most things, I just can't remember spending time with Hermione at all, I can't remember how I felt about her, but I know that I did because when she smiles at me I feel happier" Fred shook his head "It's like I'm a robot with all new emotions when it comes to her" Fred sat down in the chair, exasperated "Is she okay?" Ginny smiled at Fred, she could tell it was going to be difficult, but not as hard as she first thought.
"Yeah, she's going to be okay" Ginny said happily. There was a crack and George and Hermione appeared. George looked rather pleased with himself and Hermione looked ill and confused. Fred gave George a look, and they both left the room and headed to bed. Ginny left after them at a quick pace, as if to catch up. Hermione shuffled towards the chair Fred had been sitting in and curled up in a ball; there were hushed whispers outside the room, but Hermione didn't even try to listen, she just curled up smaller and tried to stay warm. She knew it was pointless, it was like she was starving and freezing all at the same time.
Ginny came back into the room and coaxed her off of the chair and followed her back up the stairs. Hermione didn't bother changing, she just slid under the duvet and tried to sleep. Ginny turned the light off about an hour later, but Hermione found herself wide awake hours later when there was a knock on the door. She got out of bed and answered it; she moved very robotically and shuffled towards the door. George walked in looking happy and well (ish) rested; he woke Ginny up. Kicking her with his foot, she screamed and rolled off the other side.
"SHHHHHH!" He joked. Ginny gave him the evils.
"George go away" Ginny hissed.
"What do you want?" Hermione asked impatiently.
"Hermione, I'm here to help you win back Fred's heart, with a little bit of sexy, hotness and flirting" George winked at Hermione, who sat on the floor, watching a very happy Ginny. Hermione groaned and placed her head on the floor. This is going to be a long day.
A/N – Again I hope you liked this chapter; I can't wait till the next chapter as I'm really enjoying writing it. Please review :D