A/N: Here's a new fandom from me! This is my first Harry Potter fanfic here. It's a gift for SilverLining1294 who was the 620th reviewer on another one of my fics, the prize granted for being that number reviewer. They requested this particular pairing and that it was meant to be romantic. So here ya go!

Setting: Semi-AU Sixth year. After Ron and Lavender get together.

Rating: T/PG-13

Characters: Fred Weasley/Hermione Granger, other HP characters.

Warnings: Kissing. If you are a fan of Hermione/Ron, this is NOT the fic for you.

Disclaimer: I do not in any way own Harry Potter. I am using it for fun and make no profit.

Trading Up

Lavender Brown.

Freaking Lavender Brown.

She had come to hate the name. As she watched the bimbo brunette titter and croon over her friend, Ron Weasley. It was quite disgusting to watch, really, the spectacle they made of themselves. It almost made Hermione smirk at the desperate measures Lavender took to make sure Ron's attention didn't stray from her. Not that she needed to worry about any threat from Hermione. The bookish 16-year-old had finally accepted that Ron liked another person. She still hated Lavender for using the tactics she did, but most of the jealousy had ebbed. She was okay with it.

She had found someone better.

"Won-Won, kiss me…come on baby!"

Hermione snorted in disbelief at the other girl's obnoxiously loud proclamation, making sure that all of Gryffindor saw her and the youngest male Weasley make out . It almost put her off her charms essay.

"Are you as sickened by this as I am?"

Hermione grinned at her other best friend. Harry Potter. Even after six years, she sometimes had to pinch herself at having his friendship. He was just as clueless as Ron could be at times, but there was a sharp edge about him, tempered by the obvious love and loyalty for all of those he cared for. "Yes," she replied. "But I cast aguamenti last night. It's your turn."

Harry made a funny face. "He's my best mate and all…" he trailed off at Hermione's stern look. Sighing, he picked up his wand and flicked it Ron's way, murmuring the incantation for the water spell.

The shrieks of shock as cold water hit the heated bodies were so gratifying to Hermione's ears. Now, hopefully, they could shove off so she could finish this essay. Only when she had her educational obligations fulfilled would she be able to escape from the tower.

Ron's red (and wet) face broke into her thoughts. "Oi! What was that for?"

"I didn't wet you," the bookworm replied placidly.

"I did," Harry chimed in.

Ron stubbornly ignored his best friend and yelled in Hermione's face, "Just because you can't deal with me and Lav, doesn't mean you can do whatever you want! If you can't handle it-"

"I can handle it just fine," Hermione replied calmly, although inside she was laughing at his cluelessness. "I'm concerned about the smutty example you and your girlfriend are setting for the younger years, cavorting around in the common room like you do. Go and find an abandoned classroom. As a prefect, I do it for the welfare of Gryffindor."

Ron's face went an even darker shade of crimson as he opened and closed his mouth soundlessly, unable to retort the logicality of Hermione's arguments. He finally huffed, whirled around and grabbed Lavender's hand, rushing out of the common room, no doubt to find an unused classroom.

Hermione felt the satisfaction of the cat with the cream, seeing Harry hiding an amused smirk behind his hand.

"You're brilliant, you know that?" the black haired teen said, green eyes twinkling in his glee.

"I know, but I like that you remind me," Hermione replied with a smile. She quickly finished her essay with the distraction of Ron and Lavender gone, and asked quietly, "Can I borrow your invisibility cloak Harry?"

"Yeah. No worries," he replied absently, now so used to this request he didn't even bother questioning it. His friend had been disappearing on odd nights with his cloak and when questioned, wouldn't reveal a thing.

Ruffling the messy hair in thanks, the brunette went up to Harry's dorm room, retrieving the cloak quickly before going to her own room. She was relieved that there was no one around to witness her next steps. "Expecto Patronum," she murmured. Her silver otter came out, looking at her for direction.

"Go to him and tell him I'll be in the alley behind Dervish and Banges in fifteen minutes," Hermione instructed quietly. The otter left in a swirl of silver.

Shucking her school robes, she picked out pretty muggle clothing in red and silver. It was better cover. The invisibility cloak was pulled over to hide her conspicuous clothing. Hermione was pretty proud of herself. She had done this for the past month and a half and she was never caught, nor did anyone seem to notice.

Little miss goody-two-shoes was breaking the rules and no one was around to see it.

Well…not exactly. There was one person. He had, in fact, encouraged it.

Soon, Hermione was out of Gryffindor tower and out on the grounds, heading for the Whomping Willow. The great tree was still as she approached, making it easier for her to levitate a stick nearby to prod the knot one of its roots to allow her passage.

The travel was harder than it had been in third year, due to her pretty skirt and the height added by puberty. Still, it was less risky than taking the Honeydukes passage.

She arrived in the Shrieking Shack, giving a fond look to the walls. It was her passage now, to see her…well, 'boyfriend' was so juvenile, while 'lover' was a bit too strong of a word. Current romantic interest fit a lot better. Leaving the shack, Hermione held her wand out as she made her way into Hogsmeade. It was dark and who knew if there was a death eater lurking about. When she made it to Dervish and Banges's back alley, she heaved a sigh of relief and removed the invisibility cloak. Thank Merlin she had once again made it safe and undetected.

She peered in the darkness, looking for a familiar flash of red and a cheeky grin. She was about to think he wasn't there when arms encircled her and a warm voice whispered in her ear, "Hello my little lioness."

Hermione beamed and spun around in his arms. "Fred!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him.

He was warm and vibrant, his energy licking against her own more sedate one. He brought out a fire in her though, one more powerful than the one Ron had ever did. Less violent too.

Hermione never expected to find such a kindred spirit in cheeky, brash Fred Weasley, but she did. And she was pleasantly surprised too. The twin had been a comfort to her in the days after Ron and Lavender's hook-up had shaken her world. The comfort had morphed into a friendship, more than the respect she already had for him and George after the Umbridge debacle last year and for his obvious intelligence in co-making the inventions for WWW. In the letters they exchanged, Hermione found that the more she found out about Fred, the more she wanted to figure out his quirks.

They had met up one Hogsmeade weekend, Fred and George scouting out Zonko's joke shop for a potential expansion of their own joke shop. While George had gone off to Honeydukes, Fred had led Hermione off to a nearby park where they had talked and talked and talked, to the point that, at the end of it, Hermione had felt an insane urge to kiss him.

And she had. While he had been talking animatedly about his clientele at Diagon Alley, she had grabbed a handful of Fred's robes and brought his lips down to hers, hoping her gut instinct was right. Relief was so sweet when Fred had kissed her back after his initial surprise.

After it, Fred had asked her if he was just a rebound, a replacement for Ron.

She had replied, "No. He has brought me nothing but pain and humiliation. You've brought me care."

And so had started this relationship, still going pretty well considering the circumstances.

No one knew except for George, and he vowed to keep the secret for as long as they wanted it secret.

Hermione came back to the present when firm, sure lips brushed against hers. She pressed into it for a few seconds before pulling away.

"You know, it always amazes me that you sneak out of there to come see me," Fred grinned, leading them over to a little bench.

"You're worth it," assured the brunette. "Every time I come out here and you kiss me like that, I know it's worth the potential trouble."

The redhead chortled. "I'm rubbing off on you Hermione."

"You are," she agreed, but leant into him, gathering his warmth to herself. "One day soon, watch out. I'll be pranking you."

"The world will be in trouble when that day comes, with that lethal intellect of yours," teased Fred, holding her close. They both chuckled at the thought of it.

"I missed you," Hermione admitted softly.

"Good," Fred said, equally quiet, his tone turning more sombre. "I miss you too. I find your rationality…refreshing. I find you refreshing after all the death imminent and all."

Hermione blushed. She still wasn't used to being so attended to in her life. She showed her appreciation by tilting her head up and pressing another kiss to his lips. Instead of pulling away like she had done, her boyfriend searched for more, deepening the kiss and igniting fires along her neural network as he plundered her mouth. A soft moan escaped her, eliciting a growl from the redhead.

"How my brother can't see you for the beauty you are I'll never understand. I'm just glad I'm the lucky bugger who figured it out," Fred whispered fiercely, breaking the kiss.

"I'm glad too," assured Hermione, deciding that with the limited time for talking, there were better activities to do.

So she grabbed his head between her hands again and snogged Fred.

Trading up was definitely the best choice she had ever made.

A/N: Well SilverLining, I really hoped you liked it and that's what you were looking for. To anyone else who reads this, drop me a line in a review if you liked the one-shot. I found this pairing really hard to write because I like most of the canon pairings, but I relished the challenge and I think I did pretty good.

Until next time my lovlies!