Luna Lovegood was already sitting in the compartment when Neville arrived. The Hogwarts Express was crowded that day, the hallway covered by girls trying to see Harry Potter. Luna's eyes were trained on a copy of The Quibbler. He wondered for a moment if the girl knew the magazine was upside down.
"Hello, Luna," Neville greeted, taking the seat across from her.
"Hi, Neville. Have a good summer?" Her eyes were still trained on the magazine in her hands.
"It was alright," he told her honestly. "How was your summer?"
"Daddy and I spent it in Sweden looking for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack." Neville wasn't sure what that was and was saved from asking by Harry Potter entering their compartment.
Harry's numerous fans kept looking over at them and staring. Neville had never been given this much attention before. Him and Luna weren't famous like Harry. He was only used to people staring at him when they were laughing at him for messing up again. "They're even staring at us!" he exclaimed to Harry. "Because we're with you!"
"They're staring at you because you were at the Ministry, too," Harry told him. "Our little adventure there was all over the Daily Prophet, you must've seen it."
"Yes, I thought Gran would be angry about all the publicity," Neville stated. "But she was really pleased. Says I'm starting to live up to my dad at long last. She bought me a new wand, look!" He pulled out his new wand to show Harry. "Cherry and unicorn hair. We think it was one of the last Ollivander ever sold, he vanished next day."
Neville was sad to hear about Ollivander missing. He was a nice man. The train was moving now.
"Are we still doing D.A. meetings this year, Harry?" Luna asked, glancing up from her magazine.
"No point now we've got rid of Umbridge, is there?" Harry answered. Neville hadn't realized that they didn't need the D.A. anymore. He loved the D.A. Harry was a good teacher and Neville didn't feel so foolish in the lessons.
"I liked the D.A.!" Neville told Harry. "I learned loads with you!"
"I enjoyed the meetings too," Luna commented. "It was like having friends."
Neville opened his mouth to refute that. Didn't she know by now that they were friends? But before Neville had the chance to say anything, Harry's admirers appeared at their compartment. "Hi, Harry, I'm Romilda Vane," one said. Neville tried to think if he had seen her around Hogwarts before. He couldn't remember. "Why don't you join us in our compartment?" she continued to Harry in a loud whisper. "You don't have to sit with them." She looked pointedly at Luna and Neville.
"They're friends of mine," Harry stated coldly.
"Oh," Romilda Vane said, "okay." She and her friends left after that.
"People expect you to have cooler friends than us," said Luna. Neville just nodded, agreeing with her.
"You are cool," Harry said simply. "None of them were at the Ministry. They didn't fight with me."
"That's a very nice thing to say," Luna beamed at Harry before glancing back down at her magazine.
Neville studied Luna for a moment. He didn't know anyone else in the whole world like her. She never shied away from stating the truth. She never let anyone embarrass her. She was completely her own person.
The sun was cascading down on her through the window, making her look like she was glowing. She was beautiful, he suddenly realized. She was strange, but she was beautiful.
He shook those thoughts from his head immediately. Luna would never be interested in him that way. And she was his friend, nothing more. So, determinedly distracting himself, he asked Harry what he did that summer.
-----
Fred didn't go with the Weasleys to see Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione off at the train station. He and George were too preoccupied with their store. Though, he did want to see Hermione off before she left for the entire term. He knew he was going to miss her, but he also knew she would rather die than not finish her education.
The day went by slowly. Their targeted demographic had just left for Hogwarts for the school year. They wouldn't have those students again until Christmas. Fred was glad they had decided to keep the owl business going.
Fred was also thankful that the entire Ministry of Magic seemed to be made of morons. The amount of workers in the Ministry that couldn't produce a proper Shield Charm was astounding. He had thought the education at Hogwarts wasn't lacking in anything, but apparently it was. Maybe Harry should go back and teach there after he defeated You-Know-Who. He was a decent teacher, after all.
That evening, Fred and George attended an Order meeting. Moody spent most of the time talking about how important it was for those on watch to stay awake and alert. "Constant vigilance," he kept murmuring. The majority of the meeting was boring and Fred was vaguely reminded of school. Near the end of the meeting, however, Moody turned to Fred and George.
"You two will be trailing Narcissa Malfoy. Arthur-"
"Sorry," George interrupted. "Why're we trailing Malfoy?"
"Lucius is in jail-" Fred continued.
"And Narcissa might know something. We don't know where Bellatrix Lestrange or the other eleven escapes from Azkaban have gone. Narcissa Malfoy is Lestrange's sister. She might know something. So, we have to tail her," Moody explicated for them in an annoyed voice.
"But Remus has always watched-"
"Dumbledore has me doing something else," Remus informed them. He looked tired and he had a faint scratch on his face. Fred had forgotten about the full moon. Before Fred and George could ask Remus about his top secret mission, Moody continued the meeting.
-----
It had been a month since the start of school. Hermione was surprised, along with the rest of the student body, to learn that Snape was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Harry seemed to complain about it everyday. But that might have been mostly because Snape had given Harry detention during the first class. Hermione didn't see what good complaining would do, there was nothing to be done about it.
Hermione was sitting in the library alone, working on her Potions essay. She couldn't stand Potions anymore. Honestly, Harry was cheating his way through school and Ron, was of course, taking Harry's side. When Hermione had told Fred about Harry's stupid book, he said that Hermione should just be grateful Harry and ron were no longer copying off of her. She wasn't amused. That book was not good, Hermione knew. But Harry wouldn't listen to her.
Frustrated, she finished her essay and put her Potions work away. She owed Fred a letter, so she took out an extra piece of parchment. Dipping her quill in the ink, she wrote, "Dear Fred..." and that was it. She honestly couldn't think of anything in particular to write. She knew he wouldn't find her academics to be interesting. And, a part from the Quidditch tryouts and Harry's annoying use of the Half-Blood Prince book, nothing had happened. They went to class, Harry spouted his ideals that Malfoy was a Death Eater, and Lavender....
That's what she'd write about, she decided. She knew Fred would love to hear about Ron's obliviousness to Lavender Brown's advancements. Lavender was nearby most days, always starting at Ron. She had even asked Hermione how to get Ron to notice her. At this point, the only things Ron did notice were food and Quidditch. Lavender didn't find that very helpful.
Truth was, the past month had been hard for them. The last few letters Fred had sent were rushed and barely had any essence to it. Hermione knew he wasn't telling her something. Perhaps, it was for the Order and he couldn't put it into a letter. Whatever it was, it seemed to be wedging itself between them.
That worried her. Parvati Patil had told her that long distance relationships never worked. She said that Katie Bell's older sister tried to carry on a relationship with someone at Hogwarts when she left. It didn't last more than a few months. Distance might make the heart grow fonder, but distance also made the heart forget.
She took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts from her mind. Hermione wasn't Katie Bell's sister and Parvati was just a gossip, so there was possibility that the story wasn't true. But the lies she told herself did nothing to minimize the worries.
She put her letter to Fred away for a moment to compose a letter to her parents. Maybe if she started again tomorrow with Fred's letter, she'd know exactly what to say. For now, she would write her parents about the first month back at Hogwarts. She would take extra care to mention how safe she had been, knowing they were still worried about her attending Hogwarts.
When she had finished the letter, and was starting to put all of her books in her bag, she noticed movement by one of the shelves in the restricted section. Curious, she peered through the gate that separated that two sections of the library.
The figure she saw glanced over at her, as if sensing her watching him. The silhouette ducked behind the large shelves, blocking her view. But she had seen enough. She would recognize that blonde hair anywhere.
-----
Fred tapped his fingers against the table at the Three Broomsticks. He wasn't sure if he had seen the place as crowded as it was right now. He wondered for moment if Hogwarts was letting first and second years out to Hogsmeade, too. He was certain he was not that small when he was third year.
Fred glanced down at his watch again. Ginny had told him about the Hogsmeade weekend. He had wanted to surprise Hermione and spend the day with her, but he didn't take into account that Hermione, Harry, and Ron might not be coming to Hogsmeade. Where could they be? He wondered.
"Hey, Fred," a familiar voice greeted. Fred looked up to find Katie Bell smiling at him. "What are you doing here?"
"Thought I would surprise Hermione. How're you, Katie? Here with anyone special?" She chuckled.
"Just my friend, Leanne. Did you hear 'bout Ginny and Ron? They've made the team this year, Harry's Quidditch captain."
"Reckon it's about time," he murmured. "How's the team this year then?"
They talked about Quidditch for a few minutes before they heard, "He was nicking Sirius's stuff!" Fred knew it was Harry before he looked at the three people who had just entered the building Hermione whispered something to Harry quickly. Harry huffed while Hermione headed to the bar, no doubt to order drinks for the three of them.
"I'll see you later, Katie," Fred murmured before hopping to his feet and following Hermione to the bar. She was facing away from him when he stood beside her. Smirking he said, "Finally buying me that drink, then?"
She looked at him with the startled expression he had been after. Her surprise melted away into the smile that Fred had been missing for the past month and a half. And it wasn't until he stood there looking at her that he realized how much he had actually missed her.
"What are you doing here?" she finally said, rushing to embrace him. He kissed her forehead briefly, knowing that she hated public displays of affection.
"Reckoned I'd come see you," he answered.
"I'm glad you did," she told him. "I really missed you." Hermione was handed the three bottles of butterbeer that she had ordered for herself, Harry, and Ron.
"Spend the day with me, Harry and Ron can get on for themselves for a few hours, can't they?"
"I expect they can," she answered.
"Great." Fred and Hermione sat alone at a table talking. Harry and Ron had left after a while, deciding to go back to the school early. They must have sat there talking for ages, discussing everything and nothing at the same time. Fred told her about his and George's plans to expand Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes to Hogsmeade. Hermione talked about the work they were doing in school, specifically nonverbal spells. "Reckon you're already brilliant at it," Fred told her. "Just like everything else." She gave him a small smile at that.
"This year has been really strange without you, Fred," she said. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too, Granger." She looked away from him, turning her eyes to the floor like she wasn't sure if she wanted to voice what she was thinking. "What's wrong?"
"Do you ever think we're fooling ourselves, believing that this will work?"
"Hermione-"
"This is the first time in a month and a half that we've had a normal conversation and we're not even talking about anything important."
"Hermione-"
"A war is coming, Fred. What are we going to do?" She looked frightened for a moment and Fred wondered how many nights she had spent thinking this through. He gently played with a strand of her hair.
"Why should we change for a war?" he eventually said. Her eyes met his for a moment and in her deep brown eyes, he saw profound determination.
"You can't tell me what you're doing for the Order, can you? It'll probably get you killed, but you can't tell me, can you?"
He wished he could refute her, but he couldn't. She was right. He couldn't say anything about it, least of all to Hermione, Harry, or Ron. He took a deep breath. "That has nothing to do with us, Hermione." She looked down sadly.
"I know," she replied. She sat with his only a minute more before standing up. She pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I better get back." He nodded, he wanted her to stay but he couldn't find it in him to stop her from going. Oh, he wanted to sit with her all day, but he let her go.
And neither of them spoke to the other for the rest of October.
-----
A knock came on Molly Weasley's door. She knew it was going to be Tonks before she even opened the door. Tonks came by regularly these days for the sympathy Molly was only too willing to give the girl. Personally, Molly thought Remus was being an idiot. He was never going to find someone more willing to love him than Nymphadora Tonks.
Nymphadora had a lot of her parents in her. She was brave and loyal. Yes, Molly thought they were perfect for one another. And Remus needed to be reminded that there were still people in the world willing to care about him.
But then, Remus was hurting, too. He had just lost his best friend all over again. He felt alone. That was why he was isolating himself from the Order, taking on this mission that Dumbledore had given him. Sure, his work with the werewolves was important, but it would sometimes be weeks before they'd hear from him. Something could happen to him and no one would know.
"Hello, Dora," Molly greeted, opening the door to the woman.
"Hello, Molly," Tonks replied, giving her a sad smile.
"Please come in," Molly said, "I'll just get us some tea."
It hadn't escaped Molly's notice that Tonks was no longer changing her hair into strange colors. Gone was the pinks and blues. Instead, her hair was forever a brown. Tonks had grown up a lot in the past few months and still Remus rejected her.
Molly sighed. She would just have to ask Arthur to speak to Remus about this. Tonks was shriveling up into a sad woman and Molly refused to let that happen to her friend. Remus was going to marry that girl if Molly had anything to say about it. She wanted them both to be happy and she knew that the only way they would truly be happy was if they were together.
Yes, Arthur would have to speak to Remus and soon. Molly's patience and tea was beginning to wear thin.
-----
Hermione stared at the invitation. Slughorn's Christmas party. Who was she going to take? Initially, wanted to go with Fred, but then she thought of Ron. He hadn't been able to go to the Slug Club meetings. She didn't want him feeling bad that his own brother was going to go to the party, when Fred didn't even attend Hogwarts anymore, and he wasn't. She sighed. To make matters worse, Ron was now dating Lavender Brown. If she asked Ron now, her reasoning could be misconstrued.
She had asked Professor Slughorn already if she could bring Fred even though he didn't go to Hogwarts. He was more than delighted to hear that she knew the creators of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, despite the fact that they were Ginny's and Ron's siblings. He had asked her to ask if Fred and George were willing to add entertainment to the night.
And since Fred and George were technically going to be there anyway, perhaps she should just ask Ron to come with her as a friend. They would all have a good time and Slughorn might finally remember Ron's name.
With this decided, Hermione began composing her letter to Fred. He would understand. After all, he knew that she would never care for Ron in any way other than a friend. Besides, he knew how jealous Ron could be.
It didn't take her long to finish the letter. Afterwards, she began working on her Transfiguration work. It was late and Hermione was one of the only people left in the library. The other was sitting at another table, hidden behind a book.
Hermione could see him from where she was sitting, as she was certain he could see her as well. Briefly, she wondered what it would be like for him to actually be a Death Eater. She certainly didn't think that Malfoy was a Death Eater, of course, she just wondered what that would do to a sixteen year old boy.
And the more Hermione thought about it, the more she realized that Malfoy had been looking paler than normal. She wasn't sure she'd seen him eat in months. And he really had more or less left them alone this term.
And then she recalled something McGonagall had said. Harry had told her he thought it was Malfoy who had cursed Katie, but McGonagall said that Malfoy was in detention for not doing his school work. That wasn't Malfoy. He always did his work. He was second in their year, only beaten by Hermione.
She agreed with Harry that Malfoy was hiding something, maybe not being a Death Eater, but he was hiding something. And whatever secret he was hiding seemed to be consuming him. He looked like death walking and no one was doing anything to stop it.
Hermione wasn't sure what had compelled her to grant compassion to Malfoy, especially after all the mean things he had done to her and said about her. But she did. She wanted to help him somehow, but she wasn't sure how to go about it. Perhaps, she could speak with Professor McGonagall. McGonagall cared for her students and would be more than willing to help Malfoy, Hermione was certain of it.
-----
Fred and George brought with them numerous fireworks to Slughorn's party. They had attempted to reenact their triumphant exodus of Hogwarts. They had asked Hermione to play Umbridge in the reenactment, but she had refused. She couldn't imagine anyone wanting to play the woman, but in the end Ginny took pity on her brothers and shouted for the entire party to hear, "I WILL HAVE ORDER!"
Fred tried to find Hermione after their entertainment, but she seemed to have disappeared. When he asked Ron where she had gone he just shrugged. Fred couldn't understand why Hermione thought Fred would be okay with her asking Ron to be her date. George had reassured him that it meant nothing, but it felt like it meant something to him.
Fred wasn't accustomed to feel jealous of Ron and it took him a moment to come to realization of his emotions. Once he understood the emotion, he tried to suppress it. But that just made him irritable. He snapped at Ron and Ginny twice before George finally told him it was time for them to leave.
-----
Hermione had considered not going to the Weasleys for Christmas that year. She knew she should spend her Christmas with her parents, but they were going to go skiing again that year, something she wasn't fond of. On the other hand, she wasn't sure she would be welcomed by certain members of the Weasley family.
She had stepped away for a moment to see where Harry had run off to and had stumbled upon a conversation between Snape and Malfoy. When she returned Ginny told her that Fred and George had already left. She wished Fred had stayed at least to talk to her.
Sighing, she took a long sip from her tea. It was early Christmas Day and she hadn't seen anyone yet. Even Mrs. Weasley seemed to be sleeping today. But Hermione couldn't sleep. Her mind was playing over the conversation she had heard Snape and Malfoy having. What had Snape promised? And what was this job that Malfoy was assigned to do and by whom?
Hermione sighed again. None of it made sense.
"Hermione," said a voice from behind her. Startled, she nearly dropped her tea.
"Fred," she muttered, turning to face him, "don't scare me like that!"
"Sorry," he chuckled. "Didn't know you scared easily, Granger." He handed her a nicely wrapped box. Curiously, she opened it.
"You got me a mirror for Christmas?" she stated. "Is this supposed to tell me something about my appearance?"
"Merlin, no," he said quickly. "It's a two-way mirror. George and I have started selling them. Got the idea from Sirius." He sat down beside her and took her hands in his own. "I know communication has been hard for the past couple of months. We really can't say anything in those letters. But I'm not giving up, Hermione Granger. I love you and that's something worth fighting for. 'Cause I plan on being with you for long time."
Hermione leaned over and kissed him. I love you and that's something worth fighting for. He loved her. Fred Weasley loved Hermione Granger. He had never told her that before. "I love you, too," she whispered before kissing him again.