Time Slipped By

Have I told you guys how great you are for sticking with me? Because you guys are AMAZING! My schedule is so busy with studying for my Praxis exams, but I only have ONE LEFT! I should then have enough time to finish this story up before I start student teaching in the fall! As always, Happy Reading!

Chapter 7: When He and George Left School

Hermione Granger is not a crier. Anyone can attest to that. It takes life and death situations to get a tear to fall down her face. When she was younger, and her parents and she watched Old Yeller and the dog died, she didn't cry. She actually logically explained why it was the right thing to be done in that situation. The dog was sick—it was going crazy—it had to be killed. Simple. Tragic, but simple. That, however, led to her being tested. Her parents actually thought for a moment that she was a psychopath or something; only to be told by the psychiatrist that, "No, your daughter is just highly logical. She's fine."

When Ron sacrificed himself first year she was terrified for sure, but tears were not shed. Sure, they were shed earlier that October when he was a complete and total arse, but that was really beside the point. She did cry when Cedric Diggory was murdered. But that was the "death" part of life and death. The death part which was becoming a more frequent occurrence as her years at Hogwarts passed. Being Harry Potter's friend was never easy.

So when Fred and George flew out of the school in a whirlwind of fireworks, swamps, and overall glory, Hermione's tears should not have been a factor. It's not as if she would never see them again! She was close with the Weasley's, and they were opening a shop, so she would have the opportunities! But….it was like an ending of an era. One that she was not expecting so soon. And, despite her and Fred not having formed an entirely close bond—one of which she hated to admit that she craved-she was upset with him for not saying goodbye.

It was completely ridiculous! Silly, even, but sometimes when it was quiet in the Gryffindor common room, and she would look up from her homework or a book she was reading, and their eyes would catch, and…..she would just feel like he was feeling what she was feeling. That their bond ran deeper than it logically should. That they had some sort of connection.

She honestly blamed that DA meeting when they were practicing casting the Patronus charm. His being that silly little beautiful bird that she adored just did something to her. Turned her brain to mush; made her heart beat a little faster every time she thought about it. Ridiculous, but she was in love.

So for four weeks after they left the school, at the most random of times, Hermione Granger would breakdown and cry. The first time it happened in front of her parents, Hermione was certain they were making plans for her to see another psychiatrist. Because if there was something off about logically explaining away the death of Old Yeller, there was definitely something wrong with hysterically sobbing over a whoopee cushion her father had bought to prank her and her mother.

That happened in week two, at a point when she really thought she was getting over them leaving without Fred saying goodbye. She was highly logical! They were barely friends! Acquaintances for the most part, really! All because he was the prankster and she was the school's uptight, know-it-all.

But she knew that wasn't all of what either of them were. If it was, yes, any relationship that they could have would be doomed, but there was something more to both of them. Traits which Hermione was sure that would complement each other quite nicely. But she was only sixteen, and even she wondered if her feelings for Fred were running a little too deep for her maturity level—advanced or not!

And then there was, of course, the whole matter of if he felt the same way. Sure those glances they shared seemed intimate to her, but what if they were just regular glances to him? What if all he saw when he looked at her was his little brother's annoying, straight-laced friend? Wouldn't he flirt or something if her felt the same way? He flirted with every other bird in the school-why not her if he held the same feelings?

Those questions just made her cry harder, so Hermione tried her hardest to push them away during her recent crying lags. By week three they were slowing down. And by week four they had all but stopped. She had one last good cry the Thursday of week four, and then all her tears seemed to dry up again.

Her parents were relieved. Hermione seemed back to normal, and they didn't feel as if they were walking on eggshells around her anymore. All was right in the world for them. And for Hermione, too. For on the Friday of the fourth week, Hermione got an owl from Fred. Really, it was from Fred and George. They were sending out invites for the grand opening of their shop. But with the way her name and address were written across the envelope in Fred's famous scrawl, it felt like something more. Something just from Fred to her. Something that meant that maybe, just maybe, he loved her, too.

Hope you liked this new chapter and it wasn't too rant-y. I loved writing it so much that it made me feel a little regret that I didn't have a Fred-only chapter with him writing about his feelings for her during their Hogwarts years. Oh well! If you want something like that, let me know and I may make a one-shot or something separate from this story.