Dear Fred,

Two days. It's been two days and I can't think straight without having you beside me, which is ridiculous because I'm pretty sure I remember not feeling as though I could think straight when you were here! I'm amazed at how lost I feel without you. No one was very happy with the stunt you and George pulled. I'm okay though, just putting up with a lot of strange looks and whispering. I preferred it when you were here to kiss my worries away. I hope you and George are well and that your mother hasn't murdered you.

All my love

Hermione xxx

.

Dear Fred,

Another day without you. Things have calmed down a little bit. Your swamp is still going strong. Filch is having to ferry people across it on a boat, something I thought you'd find hilarious. Even Flitwick has no idea how to get rid of it. Anyway, it's been a week and I still haven't heard anything. I know you're busy but even if you could just send me a sentence to let me know you're okay, that would be amazing.

All my love

Hermione xxx

.

Dear Fred,

It's been nearly two weeks now, and I still feel so lost without you. Who'd have thought one silly little kiss would lead to all this? I sometimes wonder what it would have been like if I hadn't kissed you that day...if we'd have lived our whole lives just across from one another, never knowing what could have been. School is getting busy and there's so much revision to do. I'm so nervous about our O.W.Ls, I really don't want to fail them. I hope you and George are doing well with the shop, I can't wait to see you again soon.

All my love

Hermione xxx

.

Fred,

I'm starting to wonder if you're receiving my letters, but I'm going to keep writing them anyway because I promised. I miss you. More than you could imagine. Peeves is doing a wonderful job of causing havoc wherever he goes, I think he took your last orders a bit too seriously. He flew around the castle not two minutes after you left, upending every table he could find. Those skiving snackboxes you and George made have been doing a fair bit of damage themselves. I can't wait to see the shop when we get back from school, and I can't wait to see you either.

All my love

Hermione xxx

.

Fred,

I hope you're doing alright. I miss you terribly but I've been okay since you left. People keep moaning about this place, talking about 'doing a Weasley' so, if you weren't the stuff of legend before, you certainly are now. The pranking here from other students has got considerably worse, it's like they're competing for the open spots you left. Although, I feel like Lee has lost his mojo a bit since you left. The Inqusitorial Squad and Filch keep trying to catch the pranksters in the act, but there's so many of them that they don't know which way to turn. And horrid, unexplainable things keep happening to some of the squad, like Warrington ended up with cornflake skin just last week and Parkinson grew antlers.

Umbridge has put four entire classes in detention because they'd all coincidentally started bleeding, swooning, sweating and vomiting during her lessons. The school have dubbed the strange illness Umbridge-itis since it only happens during DADA. Peeves has also managed to shut Mrs Norris in a suit of armor twice. He's been juggling burning torches over everyone's heads, flooded the second floor by pulling off all the taps in the bathrooms and dropped a bag of tarantulas in the middle of the Great Hall during breakfast. Ron was not pleased with him for that one. He went quite pale and I don't think I've ever seen him move so fast. I think it gave him a flashback, poor thing.

I've managed to fill you in on quite a bit since I had some extra time to write today. I really miss you, so much, but I'm so happy that you've finally managed to fulfill your dream. I really hope it's going well. I didn't expect for the school to be entrenched in so much chaos purely because of your departure; I always thought that once you and George left, things would calm down and it would be a little less lively. It would seem as though you've started a revolution.

I love you, I'll write again soon.

Hermione xxx

Hermione had written to Fred every day for the last three weeks, and had no reply. At first she'd started to panic but then she remembered that Umbridge had a screening process and wouldn't have been surprised to find that all her mail had been confiscated. Angelina was wallowing in as much misery as Hermione, having also recieved nothing from George.

"I bet she isn't sending ours to them, either," Angie grumbled. "Miserable old bat."

Hermione nodded, nudging her food around her plate. "It wouldn't surprise me," she said quietly.

Harry and Ron sat down beside her, Ginny joining them and sitting next to Angie. Lee was sat the other side of the chaser, having banded together with them once Fred and George had waved goodbye.

"Have you had any trouble with Umbitch yet Mione?" Lee asked, looking at her curiously.

Hermione shook her head. "Not much. She took fifty points off Gryffindor the other day because my handwriting was too small. Other than that, every time it looks like she's eyeing me up for something, Peeves causes a massive disturbance and she has to run off and deal with it."

"Yeah, it's almost like he's just waiting for her to start on you," Harry said, his eyebrows raised.

Hermione's lips twitched. "Mere coincidences."

"Bloody convenient coincidences," Ron muttered.

"I'm impressed," Ginny said. "Peeves never does anything he's been told. Unless you count when the bloody baron tells him off."

Hermione shrugged and went back to pushing her food around her plate.

"Are you not hungry this morning?" Harry asked her, giving her a rather sympathetic look.

Hermione shook her head. "No...I'm trying to think of a way I can send a message to Fred that'll actually get to him. Like...is there a way I can send it from someone else, or to someone else, without Umbridge cottoning on, and without having to tell Fred that's what I'm doing...?"

Ginny shrugged. "Probably," she said. "It's Fred and George-"

"-anything's possible," Hermione finished for her, smiling across at the young witch.

Lee frowned. "What if I sent one?"

"Huh?" Hermione said.

"What if I sent a letter to the twins? That might work?" he looked between Hermione and Ginny.

"The problem is, I don't think Umbridge is going to approve any letter sent to either of them," Hermione sighed. "And I don't think she's going to approve any letter I want to send at all."

"So we need to find someone on the outside that we can send a letter to for Fred," Lee said, shrugging as though this was easy.

"Yes, but the problem is, we can't tell them it's for Fred, they're just going to have to guess," Hermione groaned. "We should have thought of this before he fucking left!"

"Yeah, you should have done," Ginny said, smirking as Hermione threw a bread roll at her.

"Either way, I'm going to keep writing to him," Hermione said. "If only to piss Umbridge off even more. She's the one who has to read them."

"That, and if you don't write to him, she might be tempted to think your whole relationship was a lie," Lavender chipped in, having been eavesdropping from two seats down.

Hermione frowned at her, the girl's tone of voice set her on edge. "Well, she can be tempted to think what she likes. It's not a lie."

Lavender smirked and raised an eyebrow at her. "And it never has been...?"

Hermione stared at her in shock for a few seconds. "Of course it hasn't," she said, shaking herself out of it and trying to keep her voice even.

"You sure about that?" Parvarti asked, her lips pinched as she looked gleefully at Hermione.

"Yes I'm sure!" Hermione snapped.

Katie dropped down into a seat across from Lavender, Alicia slipping in next to her. She eyed Hermione nastily before starting to load her plate with some breakfast.

"Well, I heard different," Lavender said primly.

"You heard wrong," Hermione argued, a lump in her throat and her eyes starting to tear up.

Angelina was shaking as she glared at Katie. "I knew you could be a vindictive little bitch but I honestly didn't think you'd stoop this low," she growled at her.

Katie blanched, looking more shocked than Hermione had done upon finding out that Lavender had insider information.

"You're one to talk," Alicia hissed. "Becoming best friends with the enemy?-"

"She's not the fucking enemy!" Angelina shrieked loudly at them, causing Hermione to cringe and half table to fall silent. "You pair need to grow up and stop taking your shit out on other people! This isn't a fucking joke or a God-damn game!-"

Alicia flung her arm out at Hermione, glaring back at Angie. "She stole Fred from Katie!" she cried crossly. "Whatever happened to the fucking girl code?!"

"Oh my God!" Angie roared, abruptly standing up as Hermione buried her face in her hands. "Fred wasn't Katie's. He was never going to be Katie's! He's not even fucking Hermione's. He's his own God-damn person, and you don't get to take his autonomy out on his fucking girlfriend!" With that, Angie picked her bag up from beside her and stormed out of the Great Hall, the rest of the crowd looking on in shock.

Alicia scoffed and Ginny held a hand up, silencing the girl quickly.

"Alicia, I think I speak for almost everyone at this table when I say...shut the fuck up," she murmured.

Hermione lifted her head slightly and chanced a glance at the teachers' table. Her stomach dropped when her eyes met Umbridge's beady little black ones. She was smiling sweetly for the first time in weeks, an excited gleam in her eye.

"Oh shit..." she muttered, watching the woman totter towards them on her piggy legs.

Umbridge grinned at the smallish group. "Well, that sounded very interesting. It would seem you are a thief after all, Miss Granger..."

Hermione swallowed slowly and tipped her head up to look at the horrid woman.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for being the cause of such a disgusting disturbance..." She looked at Hermione in contemplation before saying slowly and smugly, "You know, I am the Headmistress now, and I have the power to expel students for whatever behaviour I deem inappropriate. And I think-"

Before she could finish her sentence an almighty BOOM could be heard from directly above them. Umbridge glared at Hermione before she went stalking out the door to investigate.

Hermione breathed out a small sigh of relief, her whole body shaking. She wiped the few tears from her eyes that had pooled there and sniffed.

"Hermione..." Katie said softly, not really knowing where to start.

Hermione stood up as soon as Katie had opened her mouth. She shook her head as she collected her things.

"I can't believe you hate her as much as you do," Ginny said, frowning at Katie.

"I don't-"

Ginny let out a sardonic little chuckle, cutting her off. "Yes you do. To be so utterly selfish that you'd not even think about the very real and life-changing consequences of your actions...you must hate her. What other conclusion is there?" She shrugged, looking up at Hermione as she put her bag over her shoulder.

"I was hurt-" Katie simpered.

Ginny scoffed."I know. So, obviously your actions are completely justified. Hermione starts seeing the guy you like so you get her wand snapped and rip her away from all her friends. Sounds fair."

"It's not - Hermione!" Katie called, standing up as the bushy-haired witch walked away without a word or a backwards glance.

Fred,

I really wish you were here. Katie's made friends with Lavender and Parvati, and it sounds like they've been sharing secrets already, which is great for me. The three of them and Alicia are like some wicked little coven, although I do think they felt bad when they had a screaming match with Angie in the middle of the Great Hall and Umbridge threatened to expel me for it.

I feel like I'm treading on thin ice here. Half the time, I only get away from her because Peeves just so happens to have pulled one of his many stunts just as she's about to inforce some kind of awful punishment on me for walking, or breathing. At least that's how it feels. I'm on edge the whole time, waiting for her get me. Every corner I take and everywhere I go, it feels like she's going to be creeping up on me. I can't wait for this year to be over. I'm spending most of my time praying that I'll get to take all my exams before I'm cast out, just so I can keep my wand and not have to leave you all.

Anyway, I hope you and George are okay, and the shop is doing well. I love you both, and I can't wait to see you again.

All my love

Hermione xxx

"Should we say something?" Hermione said, her cheek pressed against the charms window as she watched Mr and Mrs Montague march inside the castle. "About what happened to him? In case it helps Madam Pomfrey cure him?"

"Nah," Ron said, indifference pouring off him. "He'll recover."

"Anyway, it's more trouble for Umbridge, isn't it?" Harry said in a satisfied voice.

They were supposed to be charming teacups to walk around the table, but so far it wasn't going well for either of the boys. Harry's had grown legs that weren't long enough to even reach the table and Ron's had collapsed underneath it's own weight and cracked in two.

"That's all very well, but what if Montague's permanently injured?" she said, muttering reparo under her breath as she fixed Ron's teacup.

"Who cares?" Ron said irritably, trying again and watching as the teacup's too-thin legs trembled violently at the knees. "Montague shouldn't have tried to take all those points from Gryffindor, should he? If you want to worry about anyone, Hermione, worry about me!"

"You?" she said, catching her teacup as it scampered happily away across the desk on four sturdy little willow-patterned legs. "Why should I be worried about you?"

Ron grimaced. "When Mum's next letter finally gets through Umbridge's screening process, I'm going to be in deep trouble." He held his teacup gently as it tried to support it's own weight. "I wouldn't be surprised if she sent another howler."

"But-"

"You wait," he said darkly. "It'll be my fault Fred and George left. She'll say I should've stopped them leaving. I should have grabbed the ends of their brooms and hung on or something...yeah, it'll be all my fault," he finished miserably.

"Well, if she does say that it'll be very unfair, you couldn't have done anything! But I'm sure she won't, I mean, they've got premises in Diagon Alley so it's obvious they've been planning it for ages," Hermione said.

"Yeah, but that's another thing! How did they get premises?" Ron said, hitting his teacup so hard with his wand that it's legs collapsed again and it lay twitching before him. "It's a bit dodgy, isn't it?"

Harry shared a look with Hermione.

"They'll have needed loads of galleons to afford the rent on a place like that. She'll want to know what they've been up to, to get their hands on that sort of gold."

Harry grimaced and Hermione shrugged softly.

"I mean, I've kind of been wondering whether Mundungus has persuaded them to sell stolen goods or something..." Ron sighed.

"He hasn't," Hermione said, nudging Ron and getting him to look at her. "Harry gave them his Triwizard winnings last June."

Ron took a minute to let that sink in, and then he beamed. "But this is excellent!"

Harry grinned. "Right?"

"I mean, other than being the last to bloody know-" he scowled briefly at the two of them "-it's all your fault, Harry!"

"What?!" Harry cried.

"Mum can't blame me at all if you gave them all their funding!" Ron smiled happily. "Can I tell her?"

Harry groaned and then sighed. "Yeah, I suppose. You better had really, especially if she thinks they've acquired it through nefarious means."

Fred,

I can't express how much I really wish you were here right now! Remember how I told you all about Norbert and the crazy man who owned him?! The crazy man isn't just crazy, Fred! He's downright ridiculous! He's certificably insane! Honestly! I can't believe the bloody gall of the man! And I can't even tell you what he's done! I'm pulling my hair out here Fred!

On another, far more positive note, Ron saved several goals the other day. The rest of the school commandeered that awful 'Weasley is our King' song and changed most of the lyrics so it's now a winning anthem. Gryffindor won! Your sister caught the snitch right from under Cho's nose, apparently, although I have yet to ask Ginny about it. We didn't see it, of course, due to the mad man who wanted to tell us a secret I wish he'd kept to himself! Merlin! I am so fucking pissed! One of those hard and fast sessions would be good right about now.

All my love

Hermione xxx

A few days after Harry and Hermione had told Ron about Grawp, they found themselves in front of the fireplace with Ginny, Lee and Angelina.

"I heard you caught the snitch at the match Gin," Hermione said, yawning as she curled her feet up under her. There was a study book on her lap, but she needed five minutes break from staring down at the page just to wake her up.

Ginny grinned and nodded. "Yeah, it was amazing. Chang wasn't paying enough attention."

Harry chuckled. "Ron said she wasn't too happy..."

"No, I believe she sulked for some time," Ginny snickered. "Seemed mighty friendly with Roger Davies at the start of the match though," she said, wincing apologetically at Harry.

Harry shrugged. "I know, I saw. I don't really care all that much anymore."

"So you're definitely over then?" Ron asked, yawning himself as he looked up at Harry.

Harry nodded. "I'm pretty sure we were over when I told her that Hermione's trick with the sign up sheet was fucking brilliant..."

He laughed with Hermione when she choked, sniggering along too.

"Why would you say that to her?!" Hermione cried. "You moron!"

Harry shrugged again. "I don't know...I guess I just got tired of the drama. And she tried to defend Edgecomb. She couldn't understand why I was so upset."

The common room suddenly got very quiet very quickly. Hermione frowned and looked around to see everyone in the room gaping in awe, their stares fixated on something just inside the portrait hole. She closed her book and placed it on the table, standing up and moving around the sofas to see what all the fuss was about.

As soon as she saw him, her jaw dropped, tears sprung to her eyes and she went flying madly across the room. She jumped into his open arms, squeezing him tight as he spun her around, laughing and grinning like mad. As soon as her feet were on the floor his lips were on hers, kissing her soundly.

"Fred!" Hermione cried, happy tears sliding down her face. "What the hell are you doing here?!" She noticed George and Angelina in a similar embrace.

"Well," Fred said, "we got fed up waiting to hear from you. We figured Umbitch had something to do with it, so...we snuck in to see you."

Hermione hugged him tightly again, ignoring all the avid stares from the rest of the room.

"I missed you so much," she sighed.

"Missed you too, love," he murmured, kissing her again. "I kind of wish we could sneak out, but I don't think it's worth the risk."

Hermione shook her head. "No, it's definitely not worth the risk."

"We did, however, bring all the orders we've had from our wonderful customers," George said loudly, laughing at the resounding cheers he got as most of the crowd came to life.

Hermione untangled herself from Fred and went to give George a quick hug, Angie doing the same thing. The next thing they knew, the twins were sitting down in front of the fire with the rest of them, chatting away about all the things they'd missed.

"Hagrid did what?" Fred murmured to Hermione, his eyes wide. She'd managed to fill him on the down low about that one.

"Yeah, tell me about it," she hissed. "I was seething when we came out of the forest. You should have seen the letter I wrote you!"

Fred sighed sadly. "I haven't had a single one..."

"I figured as much," she said, resting her forehead against his. "I still wrote them anyway..."

"Me too," Fred said, a small smile in his voice. "When Umbitch is long gone, we'll have to see if we can get hold of them."

Hermione giggled and nodded.

They spent the rest of the evening, until the early hours of the morning, sitting together and snuggled up with one another, making the most of their time. When it finally came time to say goodbye again, Hermione was too choked up to really say any words at all.

"It won't be long now, love," Fred whispered. "A few more weeks and we'll be home free."

"I know," Hermione whispered back, nuzzling her nose into his collar bone.

Fred slipped his hands either side of her face and cradled the back of her neck with his fingertips. He smoothed down her cheeks with his thumbs and gazed into her eyes for an impossibly long time, his nose almost touching hers. Hermione's hands had come up, her fingers wrapping around his wrists as he held her face. He lowered his head, his lips touching hers, slowly but firmly pushing down, opening her mouth up, slipping his tongue inside. He kissed her like it was the only way to tell her he loved her, and for now, that was still the truth. He hugged her tight once more, gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and suddenly, he was gone, like he'd never been there in the first place.

Hermione waited for several long minutes before slinking back to the sofa and collapsing on it, tears streaming down her face as she cried herself to sleep. She was so happy to have seen him but even more broken when he'd left again.

Fred,

Exams are pretty much here and although I haven't really got the time or the energy, and I know you aren't actually getting my letters, I'm still writing. I think it's because I want to talk to you so much that even though I know this isn't really talking, it's still telling you shit. God, I wish I could get just one reply from you.

I'm trying super hard with my revision. Studying gets so boring and I miss having you beside me, keeping me awake, testing me, distracting me when I get in too deep. I honestly can't wait to see you again at the start of summer. I'm going to try and persuade my parents to let me stay at The Burrow for at least some of the holidays. I'd like you to meet them, if you feel ready for that. I think you'll like them and I know they'll love you.

Katie's got a bit better recently. She seems to be leaving me alone and it looks like she's keeping a leash on Lavender for the most part. I don't think she realised what a big mouth the girl has, but it wasn't like she was dubbed Gryffindor's Gossip Queen for nothing.

I'll try and write again before summer is over, but probably won't be until after exams now. Not that you'll notice or care since you won't get any of this...

I love you Fred

Hermione xxx

.

Hermione was shaking from head to toe. The words 'well that escalated quickly' ringing loudly in her head. Harry was screaming at her, which she'd just about had enough of, and she was sat on the floor covered in giant blood. She sighed and dragged herself up from the ground, wanting nothing more than to bury herself under a blanket and cry.

Harry was so sure that Sirius was being tortured by Voldemort, in the Department of Mysteries no less. Hermione was aware that their Government was most probably corrupt, but there was corrupt and then there was allowing the most evil wizard of all time to saunter on down to a secret department that no one was supposed to really know about. It didn't make sense, but Harry was too upset to listen to reason and she was dangerously close to being the one who was sounding unreasonable.

She pulled herself up from the ground and sighed. "Look, we can't do anything without wands Harry," she said hopelessly. "And anyway, how exactly were you planning to get all the way to London for fuck's sake?"

"Yeah, we were just wondering that," a familiar voice sounded from behind her.

Harry and Hermione both swung round to peer through the trees at where the voice seemed to be coming from. Not a second later and Ron came into view, closely followed by Ginny, Neville and Luna. They all looked a little beaten and battered - long scratches ran the length of Ginny's cheeks, Neville was sporting a large purple lump above his right eye and Ron's lip was bleeding profusely - but they all looked rather pleased with themselves.

"So," Ron said, pushing aside a low hanging branch and handing Harry his wand back. "Had any ideas?"

Harry took his wand and stared at them all in amazement. "How'd you all get away?"

"Couple of stunners, a Dismarming charm, Neville brought off a really nice little Impediment jinx," Ron said airily, handing Hermione's wand back to her too. "But Ginny was best. She got Malfoy with a Bat Bogey hex. It was superb. His whole face was covered in the great flapping things. Anyway, we saw you heading into the forest from the window and came down to follow you." Ron looked around briefly, a small frown on his face. "What've you done with Umbitch?"

"She got carried away by a herd of centaurs," Harry said nonchalantly.

Ginny gasped, an incredulous look on her face. "And they left you behind?!"

"Well, they were going to until Hermione opened her mouth," Harry grumbled.

Hermione growled. "They got chased off by Grawp," she muttered, instead of blowing up at her best friend.

"Who's Grawp?" Luna asked.

"Hagrid's little brother," Ron said promptly. "Anyway, never mind that now. Harry, what did you find out in the fire? Has you-know-who got Sirius or -?"

"Yes," Harry said, rubbing his forehead without thinking. "I'm sure he's still alive but I don't know how we're going to get there to help him."

Everyone seemed to fall silent. The enormity of the task seemed to make it impossible.

"Well, we'll have to fly, won't we?" Luna said, in the closest thing to a matter-of-fact voice any of them had ever heard her use.

Harry rounded on her, his irritation overly evident. "Okay, first of all, we aren't doing anything. And second of all, Ron is the only one with a broomstick that isn't being guarded by a security troll, so-"

"I've got a broom," Ginny said, staring defiantly up at them all with her arms folded.

"Yeah, but you're not coming," Ron said angrily, glaring back at his sister.

"Oh go suck on one Ron! I care about what happens to Sirius just as much as you do!" she snapped, her jaw set so that her resemblance to Fred and George was suddenly striking. Hermione knew then that there was no point fighting with her, Ginny was coming.

Harry shook his head. "You're too-"

"If you say young Harry, I'm going to fucking deck you," Ginny said fiercely. "I'm three years older than you were when you fought you-know-who over the Philosopher's stone, and two years older than you when you climbed down into the chamber of bloody secrets to save me! I mean, for fuck's sake, it's because of me that Malfoy is currently stuck in Umbitch's office with giant flying bogies attacking him-"

"Yeah but-"

"Harry, just shut the fuck up and get over it," Ginny growled. "We're coming whether you like it or not."

Harry glared at her.

"We were all in the DA together," Neville added, his voice quiet and his tone calm but firm. "It was all supposed to be about fighting you-know-who, wasn't it? And this is the first chance we've had to do something real. Or...or was that all just a game or something?"

"No! Of course it wasn't!" Harry said impatiently.

"Then we should come to," Neville said. "We want to help."

"That's right," Luna said, smiling happily at them all.

Harry and Ron exchanged a look that Hermione could read without having to meet their eyes. Instead, she rolled hers. If the boys could have chosen any members of the DA to join them in a rescue attempt, they wouldn't have picked Ginny, Neville and Luna. Hermione, however, thought they'd done pretty well.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway," Harry said through gritted teeth, "because we still don't know how to get there-"

"I thought we were going to fly," Luna said, frowning at him.

Ron was clearly starting to lose his temper. "Look, you might be able to fly without a broomstick but the rest of us can't sprout wings whenever we-"

"There are other ways of flying," Luna said serenely.

"Yeah, I s'pose we're going to ride on the back of the Kacky Snorgle or whatever the hell it is?" he demanded testily.

Luna gave him a small, reprimanding sort of look. "The Crumple-Horned Snorkack can't fly," she said in a dignified voice. "But they can..." She pointed to an empty space and the only person who seemed to see anything was Harry. "Hagrid says they're very good at finding places their riders are looking for."

"Yes!" Harry whispered.

"Is it those mad horse things?" Ron said uncertainly, staring at the space where Harry was patting thin air. "Those ones you can't see unless you've watched someone snuff it?"

"Yeah," Harry said.

"How many?" he asked.

"Just two."

"Well, we need three," he said.

"I think there's six of us, actually," Hermione said, still a little shaken but determined all the same.

Harry looked at her incredulously. "Don't be stupid! We can't all go!" he cried angrily.

Hermione glared at him but he didn't hold her gaze long, swinging back to the other three.

"Look, you three," he pointed at Ginny, Neville and Luna, "you're not involved in this-"

Neville shook his head. "This isn't just your fight Harry. You're not the only one who lost people to you-know-who, and you're not the only one who still has people to lose to him, either."

Harry huffed and shook his head. Hermione had a feeling his scar was playing him up, something which set her on edge. It didn't feel right. It played out too much like a trap. Voldemort was a grown ass wizard. He wasn't a bunch of teenagers squabbling in a forest. And he was smart too, wicked smart. He hadn't managed to terrorise an entire country by being an idiot.

"Okay, fine, it's your choice," Harry said curtly. "But unless we can find more thestrals you're not going to be able-"

"Oh give it a fucking rest Harry! You and Mione are both covered in blood, give it half a fucking second and there'll be loads more," Ginny barked.

"What makes you think that?" Harry scoffed.

"Hagrid lures them with raw meat, genius," Ginny answered, rolling her eyes at him and staring him down. "It's probably why these two turned up in the first place, because you two reek of it." She scrunched her nose up and shook her head.

"Okay then," he said, nodding at her. "Ron and I will take these two and go ahead. Hermione can stay here and attract more thestrals-"

"I'm not staying behind!" Hermione said furiously. "Just because you're fucked off that you have friends!"

Harry scowled at her.

"There's no need for Hermione to stay," Luna said suddenly. "Look, here come more now..."

Harry growled and rolled his eyes. "Fucking fantastic," he muttered. "Fine! Pick one and get on then!" he snapped.

Hermione, having just about enough of Harry, accepted Luna's help in climbing on an invisible beast and tried her best not send a stunning spell at the back of her best friend's head. She was pretty sure she preferred the broomstick, because at least she could see it. She closed her eyes and held on tight, hoping and praying that she was wrong. That it wasn't a trap and that Sirius really did need their help. Little did she know what they were really in for.

.

George frowned at the bird tapping on the upstairs window. He got up and let it in, offering a few treats for delivering the letter it had attached to it's leg. It was a Hogwarts owl, but they hadn't recieved one of them since they'd left school. They were well aware of Umbridge's unreasonable policing and confiscating of all mail to them and from them. She'd invoked the same wrath on Hermione and anyone else they affiliated with on a regular basis.

He took the parchment off the bird's leg and let it back out of the window. Fred was currently in the shower and the letter was addressed to George, anyhow. He sat down at the tiny little table in their make-shift kitchen area to read the scroll.

Dear George,

I know I'm the last person you probably want to hear from...well, maybe not the last but I'm definitely not all that high on your list right now. Anyway, something happened at school. It's difficult to explain, because for one I wasn't there so I'm not really sure what happened, and for two, it's really Fred I want to tell but I wasn't sure he'd read a letter from me and even if he did I didn't know how to say it without him flying off the handle before he got to the end of it.

George swallowed, he recognised the handwriting instantly, and feeling a bit nervous wasn't all that sure whether he wanted to carry on reading. There was something about the tone of Katie's voice that was setting him on edge.

Angelina is perfectly fine and wasn't involved so you don't have to worry about her. If she hasn't written to you, it's probably because she's been trying to find out what actually happened. Anyway, the problem is Hermione. The best I can explain it is to just tell you what I've heard through schoolyard gossip and that is, she went with Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna to the Ministry of Magic. They escaped from school, broke in to the place, fought you-know-who and a bunch of his Death Eaters and then Dumbledore rescued them and brought them back to school.

George's jaw had dropped and he'd gone very pale. He was feeling quite sick and nauseous, but he knew he had to keep reading.

Hermione is hurt, George. And so is your brother Ron. I think Ginny was okay, but I can't be certain. The last I heard, your parents had just got here, and they were waiting for Ron to come round before they told you all what happened, so you wouldn't crowd his bedside. From what I can make out, his injuries are lingering but not too severe. I just knew that no one would think to tell Fred about Hermione, and I couldn't not tell him that she was lying in the hospital wing. As far as I know, she's okay, but she suffered a nasty curse that could have killed her. She's going to make a full recovery but it was a close one. I didn't want to worry you but I knew you'd fare better at relaying everything to Fred, and he really should be with her.

I'm sorry I was such a cow about it all before you left. I miss you guys, and I hope this at least makes up for it a little bit.

Katie xx

George gaped at the letter and re-read it five more times before he heard the bathroom door open. He cringed as he thought how best to broach the subject and realised he should have asked Hermione about that spell she used to stick Fred to the bench. He didn't know how he was going to get through the whole thing without Fred running off to Hogwarts after he'd used Hermione and hurt in the same sentence. Or Hermione and you-know-who, or Hermione and Death Eaters, or Hermione and Ministry...there wasn't an awful lot he could put in a sentence with Hermione that wouldn't have Fred running off to Hogwarts without listening to the end of it.

Fred traipsed back into the kitchen area and dropped down in the seat opposite George. He sighed softly and ran his hands over his facing, thanking George for the tea he'd made whilst he'd been in the shower. George had crumpled up the letter and shoved it in his pocket before Fred had seen it.

"So, Fred..." George said, clearing his throat and leaning back at bit. "I've got a story to tell you..."

Fred frowned at him. "What kind of story? Is it for a joke-shop idea or something?"

"Not exactly," George said, wincing slightly. "Just, uh...go with me on it for bit, yeah?"

Fred gave him a strange look but nodded all the same.

"So, once upon a time there was an evil...robot," George said, trying to choose his words really carefully. "He was the meanest, most horrid robot that robot land had ever seen."

Fred rolled his eyes. "Is this going somewhere? Not to mention, most wizards don't have a bloody clue about what a robot is, so I'm not sure how we'll sell it if it is something to do with a business idea..."

George shook his head and waved him off, not even bothering to reply. "There were six good but quite young robots who all hated the mean robot. One night, for reasons unknown, the six of them went to battle the mean robot and his mean robot army in...robot...government...land...?"

Fred was looking ever so slightly on edge. "What happened to the six robots?" he asked, in an eerily calm voice.

"Uh," George stammered. "They were rescued by grown up good robots and taken back to robot school, where they were all perfectly fine except the boy one we're related to and the girl one you're in love with..."

"Fuck!" Fred cried, jumping up and immediately pulling his trainers on and heading for the fireplace.

"Fred!" George called, racing after him. "She is okay, as far as I know. She's alive and she'll be okay-"

"You're fucking shit at breaking bad news mate," Fred huffed, giving his brother a quick hug before standing in the fireplace.

"How are you going to get in there?" George asked.

"Honeydukes," Fred said, winking at George and throwing his floo powder at his feet as he said it.

.

Fred apologised profusely to the owner of the candy shop as he exited their fireplace. He and George had made good friends with the man, such that Fred could run down his stairs, open and close the front door without leaving and then silently make his way down to the basement. He ran up the secret passageway as fast as his legs could carry him, squeezing up through the opening of the witches hump and thanking Merlin he didn't have to check who was around or who might see him since it was now pitch black and the dead of night.

He whispered lumos and lit his wand tip, running through the corridors and hallways. He knew George would be along shortly, but he'd probably floo to the Three Broomsticks and walk up. Fred did not have time to walk. He had to see Hermione and make sure she was still breathing. He couldn't believe they'd broken into the Ministry and fought you-know-who and all his Death Eaters in the first place, what the hell were they all thinking?! He was going to kill Harry because he was nearly one hundred percent sure it was his idiotic idea.

After a few minutes of running through the castle, he skidded to a stop in front of the hospital wing doors. Taking a deep breath he charged forwards, swinging the doors open and scanning the beds, his eyes frantically searching for the bushy-haired witch who'd been stupid enough to follow her best friend into the fire. He didn't really blame her. Hell, he didn't really blame Harry. He was just worried, so fucking worried. And he felt sick, knowing it easily could have been worse, or still could be since he had no idea what had really happened.

"Fred?" Molly Weasley frowned at her son as his eyes roved over each bed, thoroughly confused to see him there. Even more confused when his gaze flew straight over Ron as though he wasn't even looking for him in the first place.

Fred hadn't heard his mother. He'd seen Ron and deduced (very quickly) that he was still breathing. His eyes flickered over Ginny who sniggered and just pointed at the bed the other side of Ron's. It had curtains all around it and he could hear Madam Pomfrey bustling about inside. He turned back to Ginny and walked over, dropping onto the bottom of her bed and rubbing his hands over his face. He still hadn't really noticed his mother, sat on a chair between the beds of both her children.

"What the fuck happened Gin?" he muttered, looking up at his little sister.

Ginny shrugged and gave a small but sheepish smile. "Same as usual. Harry can't see out the end of the school year without putting on a show..."

Fred raised his eyebrows at her.

"Well...you know about his dreams, don't you?" she said, sort of huffing at him, but it was more out of tiredness than irritation. "He had a really bad one during his History of Magic exam and passed out. It was of Sirius, being tortured in the Department of Mysteries. And because of Dad-"

"He thought it was real..." Fred correctly concluded with a weary sigh.

Ginny nodded. "Hermione tried to get him to see reason, and even made him check Grimmauld Place to see if Sirius was home. But then Umbridge caught him in the fireplace, and all of us that were helping too, including Neville who tried to stop Warrington from taking me."

"Who's us?" Fred asked.

"Hermione, Harry, Ron, me, Luna and Neville," Ginny said. "Anyway," she flapped a hand, "Umbridge called Snape for some veritaserum but was told she'd used all of it, Harry tried to communicate with Snape at the last minute - and even I admit that it didn't really sound like he was that successful - and then Umbridge was going to crucio Harry-"

"What?!" Fred gasped, again not really noticing his Mum's hands flying towards her mouth as she listened intently to Ginny's retelling of events.

"Yeah, right?!" Ginny said, clearly still indignant that the evil woman had come so close. "Anyway, your lovely girlfriend put on her charms and pretended to cry profusely and spill her guts-"

"Girlfriend?" Molly interrupted them. "Hang on a minute...girlfriend?"

It was then that Fred suddenly noticed that his mother was sat not even two feet away, gawking at him. "Ah shit..."

Ginny sniggered. "You didn't think he'd come flying into the hospital wing on account of his younger siblings, did you Mum?"

Fred glared at her.

"So who is it?" Molly asked, looking like she was about to start jumping up and down on her seat.

Fred groaned.

Ginny giggled. "Hermione."

Molly's whole face dropped as she stared at her son in utter shock. "Hermione Granger?"

Fred sighed and nodded.

"Hermione? Hermione wanted to date you?" Molly said, clearly very confused.

Fred scoffed softly, more amused than offended. He could understand why his mother was having trouble getting her head around it. "Gee, thanks Mum..."

"Oh, you know I don't mean it like that!" Molly waved him off. "You're just so...different..."

Fred chuckled, shaking his head and smiling. "You'd be surprised how similar we are too," he said.

Molly brow furrowed slightly as she looked at him, the twitch of a smile on her face. "You love her, don't you?"

Fred flopped back on Ginny's bed and groaned again.

"I'll take that as a yes," Molly said. She turned back to her daughter and gestured for her to continue. "So, you were saying dear...?"

"Right, well, Mione managed to stop Umbridge from torturing Harry. She told them there was a weapon they'd built for Dumbledore and that's who we were trying to contact..." Ginny petered off and shook her head. "I mean, seriously, the Ministry truly do employ some right morons. To believe a bunch of teenagers built a bloody weapon for their Headmaster to take over the country...honestly, they're so bloody naive..."

Fred chuckled, still lying across the bottom of her bed but stretching his arms out and putting his hands behind his head. "So, then what happened?"

"Oh, right, yeah," Ginny said, shaking all her ramblings out of her head and getting back to the story. "So, Hermione convinces Umbridge that she needs to follow them to the weapon, since she doesn't know what it actually is so she can't tell Umbridge anything about it. Umbridge decides to bring Harry, and Hermione manipulates her into thinking she shouldn't bring anyone else and then off they go."

"Where did they go?" Molly asked, now on the edge of her seat.

"The Forbidden Forest," Ginny said. "We saw them heading that way from Umbridge's office window. So we took down her pathetic excuse of an Inquisitorial Squad, whatever the hell that's supposed to be anyway, and went after them."

"How many did you take down?" Fred asked, grinning at her.

Ginny looked up as she counted in her head. "There were five to our four, I believe. Warrington, Malfoy, Crabbe, that Brady girl and Bullstrode," she said.

"Nice," Fred said, high-fiving her from his position.

"I Bat Bogied Malfoy," Ginny said, grinning. "It was probably the best one I've cast!"

Fred gave her a second high five for that.

"Well, that's all very well and good but how did you end up duelling Death Eaters in the Ministry?" Molly said, sounding equally cross and intrigued.

"Well, we went into the forest after Harry and Mione," Ginny said, continuing on. "Umbridge had been carted off at this point, by a herd of centaurs. And then Hagrid's little brother - Grewp? - something like that, chased the centaurs off. Apparently Mione said something they didn't like and they were almost taken away with Umbridge, but I don't know." She shrugged, giving Fred an apologetic grimace as she watched him tense up slightly before breathing out as he calmed himself.

"Hagrid's little brother?" Molly asked tentatively.

"Maybe we won't go into detail on that one right now, hey Mum?" Fred said gently, relieved when she nodded.

"Anyway, we met Harry and Mione in the forest and then had several arguments about who was going to the Ministry and how we were going to get there," Ginny said, continuing on her explanation.

Fred sniggered. "What idiot thought it was a good idea to give you orders?"

"Harry and Ron," Ginny muttered. "Like either one of them could talk. Harry'd been asking for a slap since he'd passed out during his exam! Stubborn-headed prat! He was lucky no one died!"

Fred growled in agreement.

"So, after I told Harry and Ron to fuck off-"

"Ginerva!" Molly scolded. "Language!"

Fred smirked as he watched his sister only just manage to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

"-we all jumped on some thestrals and flew off to the Ministry."

Molly sighed and shook her head. "I'm not sure I want to know what happens next..." She let out a wobbly little breath and sat back in her chair, her hand on her chest.

Fred stood up and went to give her warm hug. "Me neither Mum," he murmured, letting her go and going to sit back on the end of Ginny's bed. His eyes kept flicking towards the curtains around Hermione's bed, waiting for them to open so he could see her.

"When we got to Ministry, the phone box gave us these stupid badges with our names and Rescue Mission written on them," Ginny said with a groan and a roll of her eyes. "Seriously, I'm beginning to wonder if everything is joke to them or if they're just that stupid.'

'So, we head down the Department of Mysteries...to be honest, at this point, we're all just blindly following Harry. We got into a weird revolving room, trying to find the right door. There was some strange shit behind some of those doors...Harry finds the right door and we end up in a room with rows and rows and rows of shelves with odd little glass balls on them. So we find the right shelf and Sirius is nowhere in sight, and Harry has clearly fucked up and then, then...Ron finds a ball with Harry's name written underneath it."

Molly and Fred were watching and listening silently now, their breathing barely audible.

"So Harry being Harry couldn't just leave it, could he? No. He had to pick the fucking thing up! Neville told him not to but...anyway...once he'd picked it up Malfoy -Sr- came out of nowhere and demanded Harry hand it over. And then loads of other Death Eaters appeared..." Ginny cleared her throat and shook her head. "Honestly? I didn't think we were going to get out of there..."

Fred reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it comfortingly.

"Harry kept Lucius talking until he came up with a plan, and then on his cue we all shrank a load of shelves and the little glass balls fell and smashed and caused enough confusion and chaos for us to peg it down the aisles and towards the door. Only me, Ron and Luna ran through a different door to Harry, Nev and Mione. I don't really know what happened to any of them, just that the Death Eaters split up and all ran after us in different directions. Four of them chased us into a dark room full of planets. One of them broke my ankle before Luna could blow Pluto up in his face. They hit Ron with something but I don't know what, it was just like he found everything hilariously funny. He was a fucking wreck and totally useless after that.'

'Luna helped me, Harry had hold of Ron and Nev had Mione. We all ran for the nearest door when Bellatrix Lestrange smashed through into the revolving room with us and starting firing stunning spells at us along with two other Death Eaters. We managed to escape into another room but it wasn't till we were in it that we realised there were a ton of other doors all around it...Luna, Nev and Harry started sealing them all but they didn't get to the last one in time. Luna was knocked out cold, just like Mione. And then Ron, under whatever spell he'd been hit with, and being the idiot he is, summoned a bloody brain across the room towards himself which then started to wrap itself around him. And then, I got hit in the face with some kind of stunning spell. Next thing I know, Harry's jumping over me and chasing after Bellatrix. Then Lupin comes in and him and Tonks help us all out and back to school."

Fred frowned. "Why would Harry chase after Bellatrix?"

Ginny shrugged. "I think she almost killed Sirius or something...at least, Harry thought he was dead. That's what Neville told me anyway..."

Fred sighed. "D'he tell you what happened to Mi?"

Ginny's lip wobbled. "She silenced one of them and then a few minutes later he cast a spell that sliced through the air and across her chest. He said it looked like purple fire..."

Fred sat forward and tried to get control of his nerves. "Fuck..." he whispered to himself. Tears were stinging his eyes and he was still watching the curtains, waiting for Madam Pomfrey to finish.

"From what Poppy has told me, she was lucky she'd silenced him," Molly murmured. "She says she's going to be okay but it might take a bit of time for it to heal completely. She should be good to go before the term ends though..."

Fred nodded, smiling weakly at his mother. "Do we know which Death Eater it was...?"

Ginny sniffed. "Dolohov..."

Fred's whole face snapped towards Ginny, his eyes wide and hollow, his jaw dropped and his skin horribly pale. He couldn't believe the same psycho that had killed his Uncles had also been so close to taking Hermione away from him too. Molly was trembling and shaking her head.

.

Before any of them could try and allivate any tension or do anything to make the situation less awkward or awful, the curtains around Hermione's bed were opened and Madam Pomfrey stepped back.

"Mr Weasley? What are you doing here? Visiting hours-"

"Is she okay?" Fred asked, his voice quieter than she'd ever heard it.

Madam Pomfrey sighed, her shoulders dropping in defeat and a tired but amused smile twitching at her lips. "She's going to be fine. She had a close call, but she'll make a full recovery."

Fred felt a great rush of relief, his gaze flicking past the woman and over at Hermione.

"You can see her now," Madam Pomfrey said. "She was starting to stir when I left her..."

Fred didn't need telling twice. He rushed over to her bed and gently sat down beside her. "Hermione..." he whispered, softly sweeping the backs of his fingers down her cheek. He took hold of her hand and stared down at her.

Half a minute later and Hermione began to stir. She squeezed her eyes before slowly blinking them open, twisting her head back forth as she brought a hand up to rub her eyes.

"What...?" she murmured, looking around in confusion. "What hap- Fred?!"

Fred smiled down at her, his eyes shimmering with tears.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered, gingerly reaching up and touching his face.

"I, uh, I heard what happened," he said, still gazing down at her. "Well, sort of. Ginny filled me in when I got here, a bit. George told me a fucking ridiculous story about robots-"

"Fred," Hermione said, a tear sliding down the side of her face. "I love you. I love you so much..."

Fred chuckled, a watery chuckle, and lent down, pressing his lips to hers. "I love you too, you completely insane woman..."

"I'm sorry," Hermione whispered, sniffing now as she lost control of her emotions. "I'm sorry I just went off like that and I'm sorry I never told you what we were doing and...and I'm sorry I very nearly got myself killed..." She let out a small, strangled little sob and pressed the palms of her hands to her eyes.

Fred sighed, peeling them away from her face and smiling softly at her. "If you hadn't gone with them, you wouldn't be you, and I happen to be hopelessly and utterly in love with you. So..." He shrugged and grimaced a bit.

Hermione chuckled between sobs, going to sit up so she could kiss him properly but hissing at the pain she felt in her chest when she tried to move.

Fred smoothed her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead. "Come on, I'll give you a hand," he muttered. He slipped his arms gently around her body and instructed her to loop hers around his neck. Then, very slowly but surely, he lifted her body into a sitting position, rearranged her pillows so she could lean back on them, and shuffled her back a bit to sit up.

"You can let go now love," Fred said, loosening his grip on her.

"Just because I can doesn't mean I want to," she muttered, squeezing him as tightly as she could.

Fred laughed, burying his face in neck and hiding his tears as they slipped from his eyes. He kissed her over and over from behind her ear to the top of her shoulder, only pulling away when she'd started to giggle quietly. He looked deeply at her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'm sorry too, love," he said.

"Why are you sorry?" Hermione asked, frowning at him.

"Because I should have told you I loved you before I left," he said, his throat feeling scratchy and raw. "If...if...if that curse had been worse, if you were...if you weren't okay...? And I'd never told you..." Fred shook his head and cleared his throat. He looked up at Hermione as she used the pad of her thumb to wipe a tear from his eye.

"How could you possibly have known what was going to happen?" Hermione whispered, looking sweetly up at him.

"Well," Fred said, tipping his head and giving her a wry smile, "your best mate is Harry Potter and like Gin said, he can't finish off a school year without...what was it?" he asked, looking across at Ginny.

Ginny laughed. "Without putting on a show," she said.

Hermione chuckled, smiling at Ginny before seeing the woman sat next to her. "Mrs Weasley!"

"Hermione!" Molly cried, jumping up at once and bustling over to give the girl a hug. "Oh, I am so pleased you're okay!"

"Thank you," Hermione said, smiling up at her. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realise you were there..." She turned to Fred and glared at him. "...watching and listening to everything..."

Fred shrugged. "I forgot she was there too! I wanted to see you! Everything just sort of...fell away...the minute I saw you lying here."

Hermione gave him an unconvinced look. "I would have believed you more if you'd just simply said you were more concerned about me than what your mother would think about us," she said.

"Yeah, well, that too," he said, grinning at her. "And she knew before. Ginny told her after I got here."

"Oh," Hermione said, looking over at Ginny as the girl snickered.

"It's okay Mione, I think she's actually got over the shock of it by now," Ginny laughed softly.

Fred rolled his eyes, his lips twitching in amusement. "She said, and I quote, Hermione wanted to date you? Intonations and everything."

Molly huffed a little and looked a bit flustered. "I didn't mean...I was just surprised! That's all! I mean-"

"It's okay Mrs Weasley," Hermione said with a smile, "I was also surprised that I actually wanted to date him."

"Hey!" Fred said, going to poke her in the ribs and then thinking better of it. He went with a scowl instead.

Hermione snickered at him, taking his hand and threading her fingers through his.

"Well, the idea of it was shocking at first," Molly said, "but you two really do seem to make a wonderful couple, and I've only seen the pair of you together for less than ten minutes." She smiled at the two of them.

"Thanks Mrs Weasely," Hermione said, smiling back at her.

"It won't be too long before you start calling me Mum, I suppose...?" Molly said, big wide, excited eyes flicking between Fred and Hermione.

"Oh! Uh...well..." Hermione stammered, growing redder by the second.

Fred rolled his eyes. "You get to use that one time," he held up a finger to illustrate his point, "and that's how you choose to use it?"

Molly shrugged at her son. "I have a good feeling about it," she said.

"Have you used it on Fleur yet?" Fred asked, his eyebrows raised.

She hrrumphed at him and muttered something under breath.

"Bill is going to marry her Mum," Fred said. "So I you might want to get used to it."

Ginny scrunched her nose up and huffed, but stayed silent. Molly just looked reprovingly at Fred.

"What do you mean, your Mum gets to use that one time?" Hermione asked, frowning at Fred.

"Oh," Fred laughed, smiling at his mother. "So, you must have noticed how...enthusiastic Mum can be when it comes to pairing us off. She likes to drop the 'won't be long 'til you're calling me Mum' line a lot. At least, she used to. She got so bad, we all banned her from saying it. She's allowed to drop that line once per son, not per girlfriend."

"So, what does it mean if it's been used on me?" Hermione said.

Fred chuckled. "Nothing really. It's just Mum's way of saying she'd be happy if we got married someday."

Ginny cackled and pointed at them. "If? If? Ha! That's laughable!"

"Ginerva!" Molly admonished. "I don't believe it's your place to judge your brother's relationship. If you don't think it'll last-"

"I think Ginny meant he should have used when not if," Hermione said, looking sheepishly up at the older woman.

"Oh!" Molly said, trying to contain her excitement again. "Was she right?"

"Mum!" Fred cried.

"Probably..." Hermione blurted at the same time.

Fred's face snapped to Hermione's and he looked at her with wide eyes.

"Sorry," she said, grimacing at him. "I didn't mean to put you in an odd position, because I know we haven't really talked about it yet. Not that we really would have, or should have, I mean, I'm sixteen. You've only just turned eighteen...its not like marriage is, you know, on my mind right now-"

Fred chuckled softly and put his hands over Hermione's flapping ones. "Mi, love, I wasn't upset about you're answer," he said.

"You weren't?"

Fred shook his head. "Of course not," he said. "You had me from that first kiss, even if I didn't know it at the time."

Hermione let out a watery little laugh and a small sigh of relief, her lips twitching in amusement. "Really?"

"Yeah, really!" He laughed. "The reason I looked at you with such horror-stricken eyes is because my mother is one Mrs Molly Weasley..." He petered off as he heard Ginny snorting from her bed.

"What's wrong with me?" Molly cried indignantly, her hands going to her hips as she took advantage of the pause in Fred's words.

"Nothing is wrong with you Mum," Fred muttered, looking up at her, "but don't pretend like you won't be secretly planning our wedding for the next however many years!"

Hermione, embarrassed, buried her head in her hands.

"Of course I won't!" Molly huffed, giving him an affection smack to the shoulder. She turned to Hermione and placed a gentle hand on her arm. "He's having you on dear, don't listen to him. You know me better than that, don't you?"

Hermione nodded and forced a smile as she looked up at her. "Of course I do Mrs Weasley," she said weakly. Thankfully, the older woman had accepted her at her words and went back to her seat beside Ginny.

Fred smirked at Hermione.

"Don't say a word," Hermione hissed. She stuck a finger up at him as he opened his mouth. "Not a word."

Fred sniggered and nodded instead.

Hermione rolled her eyes, reaching out for him and taking his hand in hers. She played with their fingers for a long while, waiting for Madam Pomfrey to come back and kick Fred out. It didn't take long before the Matron was standing at the foot of her bed, staring down at the pair of them.

Madam Pomfrey sighed audibly. "I'm not going to get rid of you tonight, am I, Mr Weasley?"

"Probably not, no," Fred said, a small grin on his face.

Madam Pomfrey chuckled softly. "In light of the traumatic experience that Miss Granger has just been through, and against my likely better judgement, I'm going to allow you to stay. But should you end up causing a disturbance or getting in the way-"

"I won't," Fred said quickly. "I promise."

Madam Pomfrey nodded and sighed again. "Oh to be young and in love," she muttered to herself as she padded away.

Fred stayed sat on his chair, stroking Hermione's head until she fell asleep. He stretched out as best he could on his seat and folded his arms, letting sleep over take him, his head falling forwards as he nodded off.

.

He was woken up several hours later by Hermione, thrashing around and gently whimpering in her sleep. He sat up quickly and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, going to sit on her bed again and gently taking her hands. He stroked her face softly and waited for her to calm, her eyes starting to blink as she came to.

"Fred...?"

"I'm here love, everything's okay," he murmured softly.

Hermione's lip wobbled and a small sob escaped. Fred leant in and gently wrapped his arms around her, holding her as tight as he could without hurting her. Hermione sniffed and buried her face in his shoulder, squeezing him with as much strength as she had.

"I love you Fred..." she whispered, still sniffing as she let him go.

"I love you to Mi," he said, sitting back and gently stroking her temple with his thumb.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," she croaked, curling her fingers around his wrist.

"Love, you don't need to be sorry. I'm glad I was here," he said, smiling down at her.

Hermione nodded, her lip wobbling again. "I hate nightmares..."

Fred sighed and kissed her forehead. "Everyone hates nightmares. They won't last forever though love."

Hermione wiped her eyes and nodded, blowing out a heavy breath. "I really hope not..."

Fred sat with her until she'd drifted off to sleep again. He heard the doors to the hospital wing open and turned to see George creeping in.

"How's she doing?" George asked.

"She's okay, she'll get there," Fred said. "She was having a nightmare but I'm pretty sure, considering what she just went through, that it's not surprising."

George shook his head. "So what actually happened?"

Fred filled him in, relaying everything Ginny had told him. George just sat and listened, gaping at him every few seconds.

"Hey, how'd you find out about it?" Fred asked, suddenly realising that it was George who'd told him. "Did Angie write to you or something?"

George shook his head. "No, it was Katie," he said.

"Katie?"

"Yeah, I'll show you the letter when we get back," George said.

"Get back?" Fred frowned.

George laughed at him. "I give it maybe a day before your super stubborn and incredibly independent girlfriend kicks you out and tells you to go home."

"I agree with George," Ginny whispered loudly from her bed.

George turned and grinned at his sister, walking over to hug her and tell her he was happy she was alright. The three of them set up a game of cards while everyone slept on.

Another hour or two later and Harry appeared in the room. He looked guiltily at the occupants of all the beds before finding three sets of eyes all staring solidly at him in the low morning light. He trudged over to them, his head hanging low.

"If you want to hit me-"

Fred scoffed. "That would get me nowhere, you great prat."

Harry sighed and slumped down on the bed next to Ginny, mumbling a 'thanks' as she budged up a bit.

"I can't believe I was such an idiot!" he moaned, more to himself than the small group.

"Really?" Ginny sniggered. "You've done some pretty stupid shit before now," she said.

Harry scowled sideways at her. "Thanks," he huffed.

"My pleasure," she said, smiling widely at him.

Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head before commencing with his self-pity party. "Honestly though, how much of a moron d'you have to be to fall into a trap like that? I mean, it was so fucking obvious!..."

"Hindsight's a bitch," George said with a nod.

"I just seriously cannot believe I was so stupid," Harry muttered.

"Okay!" Ginny said, glaring at him. "We get it. You're an idiot. Can we move on now?"

"Huh?" Harry looked at her like she was mad. "Move on? Gin, I nearly got everyone killed!"

"No shit sherlock, I was there, remember?" she said, rolling her eyes.

"And I'm just supposed to forget that, am I? I'm supposed to ignore that Ron and Hermione are lying in hospital beds? That you had your ankle broken? That Neville-"

"Merlin Harry! You're so fucking dramatic!" Ginny hissed, losing her patience. "You fucked up! Big deal! Instead of feeling sorry for yourself and stewing in your own self-pity, why don't you try learning from it? And maybe next time you want to run off on a rescue mission, try not to be such a total dick to all your friends...?"

Harry winced and hung his head in shame.

"We all went with you because we wanted to," she said, her tone a lot less harsh. "You told us to stay behind. You told us you didn't want us there, but we came anyway-"

"I didn't tell Ron and Hermione to stay-"

"Because you knew it would be a waste of breath," Ginny huffed. "They've been ignoring that request for four years..."

Harry shrugged.

"We're all old enough and ugly enough to decide what we want to do," she said. "I know I'm only fifteen, but I don't care. I know what I want to fight for and I know it's not going to wait till I'm thirty and prepared for it."

Harry looked up at her, his eyes searching hers.

"I'm not telling you all this because I want you to feel better," she said astutely. "I'm telling you because I want you to quit taking my freedoms and choices away. You don't get to carry what happened to me, or any of us, on your shoulders. That's not fair. It was our fight too and it still is. And we want it."

Harry's eyes were wide by the time she'd finished talking, and so were Fred and George's.

"Here here," Hermione muttered from across the room.

Ginny chuckled and gave her an air-five. Fred jumped off the bed and went to sit with her.

"You're mad, the pair of you," Harry mumbled.

Hermione scowled at him.

"Harry," Fred said, "if I truly thought this was all your fault, do you honestly think I'd just casually be hanging out with you instead of trying to break your face?"

Harry grimaced at him and shook his head. "I'd deserve it..."

Fred huffed and nodded at George to smack him upside the head. Ginny got there first. "You thought someone you loved was in danger. You thought they were going to be killed. You didn't drag your friends into it, they chose to stand beside you. Don't sulk because people love you back..."

Harry groaned and flopped back on Ginny's bed. "Why can't you just let me wallow in peace?"

"Because it looks kind of...Moaning Myrtle on you," Ginny answered.

"I'm not being a moaning Myrtle!" Harry cried indignantly. "I'm just feeling rightly guilty about endangering all my friends!"

"Oh give it a rest Harry," Hermione snapped. "Given half the chance, you'd feel guilty about pretty much anything!"

Harry stuck his middle finger up at her since he couldn't see her to stick is tongue out.

"Come on Harry!" Hermione giggled. "So yeah, we came pretty close to death last night, but none of us actually died. Why don't you focus intensely on that for a bit instead of what didn't happen?"

"But you still got hurt," he grumbled.

Ginny rolled her eyes and poked him in the ribs. He squealed and jerked away so hard that he nearly fell of the bed. Ginny snorted and tried not to laugh.

"Oh just get over yourself," she said, laughing at him.

Harry glared at her.

"I'm serious though," Ginny said. "You want to wallow, do it in your own time."

Harry muttered something under his breath and settled himself back on the bed properly.

"What was that?" Ginny said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I said, I was perfectly happy being all mehrr before you opened your mouth," he grouched, his lips twitching as he did his best not to look at her.

Ginny giggled. "You're really going with that?"

Harry shrugged and sniggered. "I'm committed."

George looked so confused.

.

Hermione had been let out of the hospital, much to her disgust, only three days before the end of term. On the train home Harry had been jumped by Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle in front of a compartment full of DA members. The dastardly trio were squished into a luggage rack and oozed the rest of their way home. The two boys played a game of wizard's chess, Ginny did a quiz in the Quibbler and Hermione read the Daily Prophet. Neville was sharing their compartment too, but was too focused on his Mimbulus mimbletonia to really pay anyone else any attention.

Over the duration of the journey it had been discovered that Cho Chang was now dating Michael Corner, and so, Ginny was now seeing Dean Thomas. Hermione tried not to laugh as Ron completely flipped out. She also found it quite interesting how much effort Harry seemed to have to put into being completely nonchalant about the whole thing.

Hermione grinned widely as she saw all the people waiting for them once they'd crossed the magical barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Mad-Eye Moody, Tonks, Lupin, a big black dog, Mr and Mrs Weasley, Fred and George, and her parents.

Without much thought she ran straight into Fred's arms, laughing happily as he span her around before setting her down and kissing her. A loud clearing of a throat made the two jump apart rather quickly.

"What exactly is going on here?" Hermione's Dad stared down at them, clearly trying to keep a hold of his temper.

Hermione chewed her lip and swallowed a curse. "Hey Dad," she smiled, "uh...this is Fred. My boyfriend..." She gestured to Fred while wincing at her Dad.

Fred nervously cleared his own throat and smiled at Mr Granger. "Pleased to meet you, Sir," he said, sticking his hand out.

Mr Granger stared at his hand and then up at Fred, crossing his arms as he looked him up and down. "I'd have preferred a proper introduction before you stuck your tongue down my daughter's throat," he said, narrowed and unpleased eyes on the young man.

"Technically, she started it," Fred blurted.

"Fred!" Hermione hissed, wide eyes on him as she smacked his shoulder with the back of her hand.

"What?" Fred muttered. "It's the truth! You shoved your tongue down my throat first-"

"Fred!" Hermione cried, trying to put her hand over his mouth.

Fred sniggered and stepped back, catching her wrist and licking her palm before he pulled her hand away from his mouth.

"Urgh! Gross Fred!" Hermione squealed, scrunching her face up in disgust. She wiped her hand on his jacket and he laughed.

"So...Fred..." Mr Granger said, still staring intently at him. "You're interested in my daughter, are you?"

Fred nodded. "I fancy myself a bit more than interested, but, yeah..."

"More than interested?" Mr Granger said, raising his eyebrows at Fred. "Is that so?"

"Tom..." his wife muttered, giving him a sideways look.

Tom ignored his wife and continued to glare at Fred. "Ten years from now, where d'you think you'll be?"

Fred smiled and looked down at Hermione. "Honestly? If Mi hasn't woken up and realised she's too good for me, probably doing whatever it is she wants to do in ten years," he said.

"I want to be with you in ten years," she said quickly, looking up at him, her eyes shining and her tone sincere.

Fred kissed her forehead and chuckled softly. "You say that now..."

"I'll say it always," she insisted.

Fred smirked at her. "I love that, and I love you, but," he said, leaning down to mumble loudly near her ear, "I'm trying to win your Dad over here, and I don't think that's helping..."

Hermione sniggered, her shoulders falling forward as she laughed. She met her mother's eyes, finding the same kind of mirth in them as her own. Once she'd finally managed to calm herself she looked up at Fred again and shook her head. "Fred, you could be the most wonderful, charming, perfect guy on the planet and I can guarantee you wouldn't win my Dad over today."

"Ah," he said, nodding. "Long game?"

Hermione nodded back. "Definitely long game."

"How long are you planning on this game being?" Tom asked, frowning at Fred.

Fred shrugged. "If I have it my way, the game'll never end..."

Tom grumbled something and folded his arms irritably.

"Don't mind him Dear," Hermione's mother said, smiling at him. "He's just pissed that you answered all his questions so well."

Tom huffed and glared at his wife. She took no notice. "My name is Martha, and it's a pleasure to meet you Fred," she said, extending her hand and shaking his.

"Nice to meet you too, Martha," Fred said, smiling back and letting out a small sigh of relief.

"That's Mrs Granger to you," Tom cut in, "or Ma'am," he said with a curt nod.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Ma'am?" Martha snapped, fiery eyes fixating on her husband.

Fred winced, having seen that exact same expression on her daughter. Mr Granger was going to regret opening his mouth.

"Yes, Ma'am," Tom said. "It's a perfectly respectable title-"

"How fucking old d'you think I am?!"

Tom's whole face crumpled and he groaned. "Shit..." he muttered.

Martha was still glaring at him. "Ma'am. I don't think so some how! I told him to call me Martha and that's exactly what he'll call me, won't you Fred?"

Fred nodded emphatically. "Absolutely..." And then, because he was a total git, and for reasons he couldn't even begin to fathom, he added, "Ma'am."

Hermione's jaw dropped and she jerked back to look up at him, her expression clearly indicating that she thought he'd gone stark raving bonkers. Martha just gaped at him, not really sure what to do. Both women were totally bowled over when Tom snorted and then started laughing, completely beside himself with mirth.

Fred pulled his lips between his teeth, trying to suppress a smirk, but he was failing hard.

"Okay," Tom said, wiping his eyes and still chuckling as he calmed himself down. "I like you. You can stay."

Fred beamed as both Martha and Hermione looked in disbelief at Tom.

"What? It takes balls to say something like that when you get all...like that," he said, gesturing to his wife flippantly.

"You want to keep talking?" Martha said, a warning tone to her voice that was completely betrayed by the amused twitch of her lips.

Hermione was still gaping at her father. "He dropped out of school this year to open a joke shop with his twin brother," she said bluntly.

"What are you doing?" Fred muttered, a little panicked.

"Trying to claw back some semblance of reality," Hermione muttered back. "My Dad doesn't just like people."

"Well, I like him," Tom said, shrugging and smiling at Fred. "And the joke shop thing makes a lot of sense. I can see that."

Hermione raised her eyebrows and looked at her Dad in disbelief. "He's eighteen-"

"Give it a rest, love," Fred said, gazing forlornly at her.

Hermione sighed and nodded, her shoulders sagging a bit. "I know. You're right. Besides," she said, smirking up at him, "you are Fred Weasley, anything's possible if you've got enough nerve."

Fred chuckled and pulled her into a tight hug. "Come on love, you're Hermione Granger, you can do the impossible. Even if the impossible was bringing home a boyfriend you're Dad might like," he said, laughing.

"I expect we'll be seeing a lot of you over the summer, Fred?" Tom said, smiling jovially at him.

"I expect you will," Fred said, holding his hand out again and grinning when Tom shook it.

"Well, we'll leave you to say goodbye," Tom said, dragging his still stammering wife away and waving to Molly and Arthur as he went.

"I can't believe my Dad accepted you, just like that," Hermione murmured, turning to face him.

Fred grinned. "Parents love me," he said with a chuckle.

Hermione scoffed. "Yeah, because you've met that many of them before."

Fred tipped his head in agreement and grinned again. He encircled Hermione's waist with his arms and pulled her in towards him. "You know?" he said, "I think this is the last place I expected to be when I got on the train at the beginning of the year."

"I believe I can say the same thing," Hermione chuckled, looping her arms around his neck.

"You should stick your tongue down my throat more often," he mumbled, bringing his lips to hover over hers.

"Oh I plan to," she said, grinning wickedly as she closed the distance between them.

The End.

So, that's it for Rebel with a Cause. I'm planning on adding more story that runs through the last 2 books, but it will mostly be a series of one shots for both. Look out for Rebel Waits for War which will follow The Half-Blood Prince. Again, I can't guarantee it'll be soon and the updates will be sporadic as usual.

I'm sorry to anyone who hoped Fred might have joined them at the Ministry at the end of this one, or hoped that I'd write the Ministry scenes/chapters, but it would have been word for word and if you're reading Harry Potter fan fiction, chances are you know what happened at the Ministry without me re-telling it. I'm trying to keep this story as canon as possible, that being said, I love Sirius and just couldn't kill him off.

Thanks for sticking with me, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it and that you enjoy the next one, once I get writing it!