Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They all belong to J. K. Rowling.
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Chapter 4:  During a Chessmatch

Hermione whizzed through the air, gaining on George every second. She could hear Fred behind her but on his old broom there was no way he could catch up. George on the other hand had managed to pass her when they had made the second turn around the gnarled, old oak tree in the field behind the Burrow. Something had slowed her down as she looped through the branches, with a wry grin she figured that it might have had something to do with George grabbing her foot as a last ditch effort. She had become tangled momentarily in the branches while George had sped off back towards the house, towards victory. Hermione wasn't beaten yet, however, and she knew it. While George might have quite a lead, his old Cleansweep was nothing compared to the Nimbus 2000 that Viktor had given her. She was so close now, but George kept dodging in front of her making it impossible for her to pass him. Fred who had realized that there was no way he could possibly make a come back, or even finish gracefully for that matter, had started to cheer her on.

"Go Hermione, pass him, pass him!!! You can do it, you know that you're faster than him, don't play nice!" 

George turned to give his twin a baleful look over his shoulder and knew immediately that he had made a mistake. Hermione took a chance and dove underneath him. She came up right in front of him and George had to pull his broom to one side. George groaned knowing that his momentary lapse had cost him yet another race. Hermione passed the house, signaling the end. She contentedly spiraled down to the ground where George and then Fred soon joined her. Fred was grinning while George looked a little angry. Hermione had one fearful moment where she though George was going to yell at her when instead he turned to his brother.

"Fred how could you? Your own brother? Your twin, your mirror image? How could you betray me?" 

Fred looked at George and said, "I didn't betray you, I just wasn't going to cheer on a cheater!" 

"A cheater?" roared George coming over to Fred in order to glare at him properly. "How dare you call me a cheater!" 

"I saw what you did to Hermione, knocking her into that tree, she could have been killed!" As Fred yelled this at George, Hermione couldn't help but notice the little twitch that each twin had at the corners of their mouths. They were both trying so hard to not grin. She knew they weren't really fighting; they were just putting on another show. She had spent so much time with them this past week that she was starting to pick up on their little nuances. Hermione knew that deep down she didn't know everything about them, probably not even half of everything. But one thing that she did know for sure is that the twins never fought. They were best friends. Thinking of best friends reminded her about Ron. She had been trying hard not to think about Ron this week. The twins had been going out of their way to make sure she had fun. They played game after game; their favorite had been racing. Ron refused to do anything that included Hermione so playing a game that involved teams was out of the question. Racing seemed like the next best choice, Fred and George knew that she had a better broom than either of them, but neither thought she could really fly it. They had been stunned in the first race when she had zipped past them easily. The Viktor Krum school of training had obviously paid off they thought. Hermione was brought out of her reverie when George touched her arm.

"You aren't really hurt, are you Hermione?" He looked at her, worry in his eyes. "I wouldn't intentionally hurt you, I didn't think grabbing your foot would have worked so well."

"I'm fine George," she said giving him a gracious smile. "And I still won anyway, even with you cheating!" Hermione winked at him to let him know that she was only teasing. 

They walked up yard to the house. Hermione looked up and caught Ron watching them from his bedroom window she cautiously waved at him. He paused, Hermione could swear that he was thinking about waving back, but he just disappeared again. The threesome went into the kitchen to get some water. Mrs. Weasley had gone to visit some neighbor friends for the afternoon. The Burrow seemed so quiet, a warm breeze drifting through the open door. Hermione felt sleepy as she listened to a bee buzzing cheerfully in the doorway. 

"Let's play chess," said Fred crossing the room to pull an old chess set out of the cabinet. As he did so a letter fell out and drifted to the floor. As he leaned down to pick it up Hermione noticed that George had suddenly gone very still was examining the tiled floor with great interest.

"George" Fred said in a oddly quiet voice, "when did this letter from Angelina get here?" 

"A letter? You got a letter from Angelina, really?" George's response was a bit to fast to be believed, his interest and concern just a bit to forced. 

"Yes George, this letter from Angelina, when did it get here." Fred asked again. Hermione raised an eyebrow, she was surprised, they seemed almost serious about this, and Fred and George were never serious.

"Oh... that letter, um, yeah, I think Mum may have mentioned a letter coming the other day. It must have slipped my mind." George guiltily looked down at the tiles again.

"Slipped your mind did it? You kept this from me." Fred accused and then set the chessboard down on the kitchen table, turned, and left without another word. 

George glumly began to set up the board, watching the little figures walk across it to their squares. Hermione watched Fred as he went up the stairs and out of sight before she turned to George.

"George, I thought you liked Angelina?" 

"Oh, well I do, did, no I... I do like Angelina. We've just entered into the Angelina & Fred on again/off again saga." George reached out and flicked a knight that was lagging behind the other pieces. 

"Angelina and Fred? Saga? I don't think I understand" Hermione quickly snatched up the few remaining stragglers and placed them at their appropriate places before Fred could 'help' them along.

"Well," George started to explain, "you remember that Fred took Angelina to the Yule Ball last Christmas? They started to see each other after that. It didn't last very long and I thought good riddance, all I ever heard from Fred was 'Angelina this and Angelina that'. He stopped being interested in our joke shop. He started to follow her like a puppy, carrying her books, walking her to class. Uck, how... how... romantic." Fred threw out the term romantic like it was a bad word. "After they broke up, things went back to the way they should be, but it didn't last long. After a month they were at it again, hence the on again/off again saga. They broke up right before we came home, I had hoped that my peace would at least last through the summer, but no, Angelina had to send a letter." George looked grouchily down at the chessboard, the tiny figures flinched as his gaze traveled over them. 

Hermione watched George's faces and then grinned, "George you're jealous." He looked up at her startled.

"Jealous? I'm not jealous, what's to be jealous of?" He snapped back at her.

"You're jealous of Fred having a relationship with Angelina." Hermione grinned even more, she couldn't believe that George was jealous of his twin it just seemed so ridiculous. 

"Oh yes, I'm very jealous of Fred because relationships are such wonderful things. Just look at yours, you always seem so very happy when letters from your Quidditch player arrive." George glowered at Hermione, sarcasm dripping from his words.

Hermione was stunned by the viciousness of what he said. The last few minutes showed her that she didn't know the twins as well as she thought. The chess pieces were waiting for her to make her move but Hermione felt numb. She couldn't believe that it was so obvious about how Viktor's letter made her feel sometimes. She started to get up but then George seemed to regain some sense and realized what he had said to her. His face softened and remorse started to wash over him. 

"I'm sorry Hermione, I didn't mean that. I guess I could be jealous of Fred. We've always done everything together and now here is something where we don't" he stared sadly at the board. Hermione realized that George must have been feeling the same way about Fred as she was about Ron. They both felt that they had lost their best friend. She sat back down and moved her knight to a central position. They played in silence for a few minutes, George wasn't as good as Ron at wizard chess but he was certainly much better than Hermione. She soon realized that he was letting her win. 

"So Hermione, you really like this Krum guy, don't you?" George asked her without looking up. 

"I...I think so. I'm just not sure anymore. I know that I care for him, but sometimes I feel so...so..." Hermione trailed off and watched as her knight took his bishop.

"What do you feel?" George looked at her now, an odd searching expression.

Hermione thought for a moment, trying to formulate an answer, "Overwhelmed, I feel so overwhelmed with Viktor sometimes, I lose track of things, I forget about what is important to me."

George smirked as he moved his pawn, "things like a certain red-haired brother who shall remain unmentioned."

"I meant to tell Ron! I swear I did, I just...I just got distracted," she muttered softly, trying to ignore the way that George was watching her.

"I thought that being overwhelmed was part of the 'romance' attraction. Aren't you supposed to get lost in the person you love?" George seemed to know that Hermione was becoming uncomfortable because he looked away suddenly and studied the clock on the wall. 

"I thought so too, but I love other people, people that I don't want to forget about. I don't like being so distant from everything, so alone." Hermione stopped, wondering if she meant what she said, did she really feel alone with Viktor?

George looked back up at her; she was lost in thought again, her eyes becoming so distant. He wanted to bring her back; he didn't want her floating away. "You're not alone Hermione" he said softly. And before he even knew what he was doing, he leaned across the table and kissed her gently. His hand cupped her face and held her still while his other hand had taken hold of her arm. Time seemed to slow down for the two of them. Hermione became very aware of the bees droning outside in the garden. George could feel her hair being blown softly in the breeze against his hand. He tightened his grip and leaned closer to her. Hermione seemed to shocked to do anything but stay still. No one had ever kissed her except for Viktor. Viktor, she felt an odd quiver in her stomach followed by a rush of guilt. There was a sudden popping noise in the next room, Mrs. Weasley had just apparated home. 

"I'm home everyone," her voice chimed though the house. George fell back from Hermione looking as shocked as she did. He was breathing hard and Hermione was ashen-faced. Her hands trembled slightly as she pulled them under the table. 

Mrs. Weasley bustled into the kitchen, noticed the chessboard and smiled at George. "So, dear who's winning?"