Second Chances (Fremione)

27.

The year dragged on, nothing more eventful than it had been the first time, except for the fact that Hermione was desperate to sneak as many moments with Fred as she could.

Umbridge was even more unbearable than the first time. It was all Hermione could do to keep from dragging her out into the forest after the first day of classes and letting the centaurs have her right away.

Hermione was sitting in the common room one Sunday morning, mindlessly flipping through a book and nervously twirling her hair when Fred sat down next to her.

"Go get dressed." He said, looking down at her, still in her pajamas, hair barely brushed. She was embarrassed for a second, realizing that Fred had never seen her like this. But then he smiled, almost as if he was able to read her mind, and kissed her gently on the forehead. "I would love to stay here and be lazy with you. Somehow you manage to look beautiful even first thing in the morning. But Hogsmeade awaits. And I don't think you want to walk outside in bunny slippers!" Fred laughed as he gently slapped his hand on her knee and got up. "20 minutes!"

Hermione smiled, closing the book and heading upstairs. She quickly pulled on some jeans, a tshirt, and shoes before brushing her hair and grabbing her coat and scarf.

She ran downstairs to find Fred waiting for her by the portrait hole. He grinned and grabbed her hand, excitedly dragging her out of the castle.

Fred and Hermione wandered around the stores, talking about nothing of importance so they could avoid the subject that neither of them wanted to bring up. After lunch at the Three Broomsticks, they stocked up on candy from Honeydukes and snuck out to the shrieking shack.

This place always did kind of give Hermione the creeps, but she wasn't going to be attacked by a Death Eater disguised as a rat this time, so was there really anything to be afraid of?

Dusting off a table, Fred sat down and dumped out their stash, heading straight for the Fizzing Wisbees. Hermione took a Chocolate Frog, and without looking at him asked "Are we finally going to talk about it?"

Fred smiled. "I can't get anything past you, can I? But I guess being from the future and everything, you already knew."

Hermione nodded. "Are you sure you have to go?" Fred smiled and took her hand from across the table. "I'm sure. But I promise you won't be in this alone. I will meet you right here every Sunday at exactly 10 AM. Promise."

Hermione nodded, quickly wiping the tear from her eye and hoping Fred hadn't seen it.

"Now, let's talk about Sirius. Are we gonna save him or what?" Fred asked, leaning back in her chair. Hermione laughed. "Definitely."

"Ok, so tell me again. It's you, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna, right?"

Hermione nodded. "Along with Sirius and a few others from the Order and a bunch of death eaters. And I was actually unconscious for most of it but I've heard the story a dozen times."

"Do you think you can keep from being unconscious?" Fred grinned. Hermione nodded. "I know when it's going to happen, so sure."

"And you know when Sirius is going to die?" Fred asked. Hermione nodded again. "I've heard Harry tell the story a thousand times. It's just as Dumbledore arrives. Neville shouts his name as Bellatrix is dueling with Sirius. A minute or so later, Sirius is gone."

Fred nods, thinking hard. "So if you can petrify or stun Bellatrix from behind just as Dumbledore arrives, you can save Sirius."

"I think I can do that." Hermione says quietly. I hope I can do that is what she's really thinking. But it's the best chance they've got.

Hermione and Fred gathered up their candy wrappers and headed back to the castle as the sun began to set. When they reached the castle doors, Hermione threw her arms around Fred. "I'm going to miss you so much. Thank you for helping me and being there for me. I couldn't do this without you."

Fred let one of his hands bury itself in Hermione's hair as he hugged her back, tighter than he thought he ever had. "Of course, 'Mione. I'm always here for you. And I promise you'll see me every week." He let go and looked her in the eye. "Do you really think I could go longer than that without seeing you?"

Fred kissed her gently as Hermione smiled, knowing he was telling the truth. "You'll still be at breakfast tomorrow, right?"

"Of course! We're going to act like everything is perfectly normal until our big explosive exit." Fred winked at her and then took her hand as they headed back into the castle.

"Are you sure you don't need me to stay?" Fred asked when they got back to the common room. "I could come with you all to the ministry."

Hermione shook her head. "No, everything has to stay exactly the same except for the things that have to change. I'm just going to duck behind a bookshelf just before the death eater is going to attack me, and only come out very quickly to save Sirius. If you came along it would just be another variable and another person to keep track of. I'll be ok, I promise."

Fred nodded. "Well be careful all the same." He planted a quick kiss on her lips before heading upstairs. "Goodnight, 'Mione."

She smiled, putting her fingers gently to her lips where she could still just barely feel his. "Goodnight Fred!" She called as she headed up the opposite staircase.

The next morning at breakfast, anyone who was paying attention probably could have seen that something was different with Fred. He was always affectionate with Hermione, but he spent the entire meal with his arm draped around her shoulder and didn't pay attention to anyone but her. Even when George would shoot him excited looks in expectation of their grand exit later, Fred could only lightly smile back before looking back at Hermione.

Hermione raced through her tests faster than usual and sat patiently waiting for the sound of...

BOOM!

Hermione stifled a laugh. The look on Umbridge's face was priceless.

CRACK!

Again, the perfect combination of anger, fear, and total confusion as two giddy read heads rode in on broomsticks, accompanied by an impressive display of pyrotechnics.

The whole class erupted in laughter as Umbridge was chased by a fiery dragon. Everyone rushed out to see the grand finale as Fred and George rode off, cheered on by a soundtrack of the loudest applause Hermione had ever heard. And though the first time she had thought they were total idiots, this time she couldn't help but smile.

"I love you, Hermione Granger!" Fred shouted from the skies. Hermione instantly turned a thousand shades of pink as a chorus of "oooohs" broke out among the crowd. Several people nudged her and winked, and she was sure she even saw a few other girls turn green with uncontrollable jealousy. And though she couldn't control the slight feeling of embarrassment at being called out so publicly, she also realized she couldn't stop smiling.

As Fred and George disappeared in the distance, Hermione whispered "I love you too, Fred Weasley."