Lost

Chapter Five

Hermione ran her fingers over the spines of the books in the very back of the library, which was dedicated to potion making, even with the wide variety of materials that lay before her there were very few books on the subject she needed. As she ended a row she slid her finger down to the next, she felt something sharp cut into her finger, and she pulled her hand back instantly.

"Fuck," she whispered looking down at her index finger, which now had a deep cut that was beginning to bleed. She pulled out the book that had cut her, blew off the dust that had settled against the cover from years of neglect, and found the words 'love potions in the twentieth century' carved into the dragon-hide cover.

She opened it and a silver necklace slipped out from in between the pages, Hermione bent to pick it up, and after examining it carefully she noted that it was a silver lion attached to a chain, engraved in the back were the initials N.L. The surprising thing was that it was a locket, but she couldn't seem to get it open. Becoming to frustrated she put the locket in her bag and flipped through the book.

"Hermione," someone asked.

She jumped in surprise, someone had been watching her, "Yes? Oh, it's just you Fred, you startled me."

"I'm sorry, it's just me," he said looking at her strangely, then noticing her hand he spoke again, "did you cut yourself?"

"Yeah, this stupid book sliced my finger."

He took her hand gingerly in his own, "Does it hurt," he asked looking into her eyes.

She shivered, it was strange talking to Fred, she had always felt less comfortable with him then with George, but now it seemed that everywhere she went he was there. George dismissed her worries when she told him, telling her that if they ever got married he would be part of her family. Even still Fred always left her with an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She pulled her hand back carefully, "It's fine." She whispered a healing spell and the wound closed instantly.

"Do you need any help, cause I'm going to be here for a while," he told her quietly.

"I was actually just leaving, it's getting late," she lied. In truth she still had a lot of work to do, she still needed to find information on the history of the love potion, but Fred was really beginning to creep her out.

"Right, well.....I was just about to head back to the common room," he said giving her a nervous smile.

"You just said that you had a lot of work to do here," she said looking at him suspiciously.

"Well, all I really had to do was research my potion, but that can wait."

She rolled her eyes, "You really should research it now, you shouldn't wait until the last minute to finish this assignment, Snape never takes pity on his students."

"You are wrong, he takes pity on you and my brother," he spat.

"I have to go," she tried again, and she shoved the book into her bag.

"At least let me carry that back," he said trying to make up for the comment he had just made. "You're bound to hurt your back with all the books you shove in here."

She sighed, "Okay, let's go."

They walked in silence for a few minutes before he broke the silence. "Are you in love with George?"

"I don't know, love is a strong word, and I'm sure that he would have the same reaction as I'm having now, I never really thought about it. I think that maybe I do." She smiled, and they walked in silence.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, it still surprised her every time she thought about how different their personalities are. Sure they were both humorous, and loved to get in trouble, but George was a romantic, and Fred was lustful.

"Why," he asked breaking the silence, his tone had turned icy.

"Because, he's been there for me when I needed a shoulder to cry on, and he encourages me. He's not like the rest of you Gryffindor boys, he doesn't seem to mind that studies are important to me." She explained, "he listens, and understands me."

"You think that George is different from the rest of us because you barely know the rest of us," he seethed. "You've never given us a chance."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, "Why is this so important," she asked him questioningly.

"It's important because you think that George is the right person for you when you haven't even begun to see the person who you should be with. I think that I'll just have to MAKE you see."

"H-how do you propose that you will do that," she asked trying to keep her voice from cracking. He was beginning to scare her, and the glint in his eyes wasn't helping.

"I'll just have to show you now," he said dropping her book bag and turning towards her.

'Run you stupid girl,' her head screamed, but her feet were frozen in place.

She looked around the darkened hallway, no one was coming, and it was unlikely that anyone would, no one ever took the long way to the common room from the library. He turned to face her, with each step he took towards her she took a step back, it was a simple game of cat and mouse. As she collided with the wall he took another step, holding her there with his body.

"I think that you'll begin to see what I mean," he whispered into her ear.

"Why," she whispered.

He narrowed his eyes and pushed all of his weight against her, leaving her feeling like her ribs were being crushed. "Because, you're too good for him."

He pressed his lips down painfully against hers, and let his hands trail hungrily into her robes and to the hem of her shirt. As his lips left hers and began a painstakingly slow trail down her neck she gasped and tried not to let herself enjoy it.

He kissed her again, harder this time, bruising her lips. She felt tears well up in her eyes, this was a nightmare, not supposed to happen, not now, not ever. She felt his hand slide up her thighs and in between her legs.

"You are mine," he whispered when she flinched, "do you hear me, you are mine."

Suddenly a voice rang through the hall, "What the hell are you doing?"

Fred looked at her and then at his brother, "George."

Hermione looked at him with tears in her eyes, "George, I told you, he tried to....."

George cut her off, "How could you, I trusted you, both of you! I actually thought that you loved me, but then you go behind my back and you," he choked and turned his glare to Fred, "my own brother!"

"I do love you," she cried, "he did this, he tried to-"

He interrupted her again, "How could you do this to me after everything that we've been through together?" He screamed the last part, the look of anger on his face turned to pure hatred as Fred slid his hands out of her robes.

"I didn't," she sobbed, "how could you ever believe that I let him do this." 'You could have fought it,' she thought.

George shook his head, turned and ran, ran to somewhere that he was sure no one would go in October, the Astronomy Tower. Meanwhile Fred smirked at her as he watched her begin to so wail, she looked at him through her tears and then slapped him as hard as she could.

"Get away from me," she screamed.

He turned and walked away, not bothering to give her another look. She crawled to her bag and took out the locket and ran her fingers over the cold silver. 'You couldn't save Neville, you couldn't save your relationship with George, and you won't be able to save yourself,' a voice said inside of her. She took the locket and slid it roughly over her palm, she watched as it turned red and blood began to run from it.

"Granger," a cold voice said from behind her, "what did you do?"