Hermione stared around the room and shifted uncomfortably. She knew it had been a mistake to buy these shoes. She wanted very much to sit down, but she knew that if she sat down then some new loser would turn up and demand that she dance with him.
It was the Victory Ball. And she was hot property. She hadn't seen her fiancé Ron for an hour. She supposed he must be off with Harry somewhere. Harry's fiancé Ginny was nowhere to be seen either. Knowing her she had probably forgotten the baby in her belly and was most likely drunk somewhere.
"Tired, Granger?"
She turned to see one of the twins standing behind her. She studied him for a moment. "Enjoying yourself, Fred?"
"Who says I'm Fred?"
"George is more of a lightweight than you." She pointed to where the other twin was sloppily dancing with Angelina Johnson and doing his level best to grope her bottom.
Fred snorted and pulled a couple of chairs out for them. "Fair point. I'd better keep an eye on him. She may need rescuing."
"I wonder if she knows it's not you. I mean, she was your date to the Yule Ball and she seemed to like you rather than him."
Fred laughed. "They've been dating for a few weeks so I'm sure she knows which twin it is."
"Oh, I didn't know that. Do you mind?"
"No. He's welcome to her. I was done with her long ago."
"Ugh, how very romantic of you." She sputtered sarcastically.
"With the right girl I think you'll find I can be very romantic." He waggled his eyebrows.
"Fred Weasley, are you hitting on me?"
"No harm in it."
"I'm engaged to your brother."
"Well considering what I just saw my baby brother do in the bathroom with a certain boy who lived, I'd say your relationship is pretty open."
"Oh not again. They're really not discreet about it are they?"
"Does Ginny know?"
"Oh yeah. The baby isn't even Harry's."
"Whose is it then?"
"Be a laugh if it comes out blonde."
"It's Malfoy's?"
She laughed. "Yeah. Harry knows it's not his too. He doesn't mind. He's happy to let her have her affairs as long as he has Ron."
"What about you?"
She paused. "I don't need my affairs."
"If you don't mind my asking; why all the show? Why are you and Ginny marrying them if they don't love you and you don't love them?"
"You can thank your mother for that. She's had us set aside for each other since we went to Hogwarts for the first time. We don't exactly have a choice in the matter."
"That's not right."
"That's the way it is. Would you like to challenge your mother about something like this? She's got her heart set on it. She wants to acquire both me and Harry for her family."
"So what happens to you when you still have no children with Ron after being married for a few years?"
"I don't know. I'll let future Hermione deal with that. Excuse me, your sister needs to stop what she's doing in her condition."
She walked away, slightly wobbly on her high heels, approaching Ginny who was drunkenly flirting with an equally drunk Draco Malfoy.
Fred watched her go, a devilish idea forming. He noticed Harry and Ron emerging from the bathroom looking very satisfied.
"Hey Ron, can I have a word?"
