Hermione Granger didn't like being sick. She didn't like it at all. She didn't like feeling weak, or gross, or tired, or like she could fall asleep at any moment, or that her legs both hurt even though she hadn't done anything to them that could've made them that way. Hermione Granger really didn't like being sick. Yet there she was, sick in the common room, seemingly alone, wrapped in a blanket across from the fire place, coughing horribly. She didn't even notice another person in the room until they were giving her a hot chocolate and a smile.
"Go away, you're gonna get sick!" She said hoarsely, the sickness apparently making her brain fuzzy. Fred laughed a bit at that, but still smiled politely. He sat next to her, making her look at him strangely, like such a thing as sitting next to her was unheard of.
"What makes that bad? I'd get out of class." He said with a grin. She tried to hide her small giggle. "Now take the hot chocolate, don't waste a perfectly good trip to the kitchens." She glanced at the cup suspiciously. He nudged it closer to her.
"I didn't do anything, I promise." He said. She took the cup slowly, watching him as she took a sip. Her eyes widened and she took another sip.
"This is really good." She said, in slight awe. He shrugged and looked down a bit, as if, Hermione thought being sick was making her imagine things, as if he were embarrassed.
"I got the house elves to let me make it with my mom's recipe. I liked it, so I hoped you would too." He said. She nodded with wide eyes.
"I love it." She whispered as she laid her head on his chest. He smiled and hid a hand in her hair, playing with the closest strand. She looked back up at him, then, realizing something.
"Why are you making me hot chocolate when I'm sick? You and I aren't really even friends. Why the sudden change in heart?" She asked. He shrugged and removed his hand from her hair, almost bashfully.
"Well, you just looked kinda sad and I thought, and I thought, well, you might want some company. I mean, it is pretty awful this struck during the Hogsmeade trip, and I figured you might want some cause I know it always makes me feel a bit less gross. So I made it for you and I really wasn't expecting you to question me." He said, his voice jittering as he talked. Hermione smiled up at him.
"I think that's really sweet." She said. Then, what she said next was what he thought was brought on from sickness and deliriousness, but then she put her head back on his chest and hugged him. "I love you, Fred." He gasped slightly, not loud enough for the delirious girl who had just confessed her love to take notice, but enough to tell it was astonishing to him. He hugged the girl.
"I love you too, 'Mione." Fred said. Hermione looked back up at him with drowsy eyes and a smile.
"I like that name." She said to him, then fell to sleep in his arms. The next morning, she would find herself in her room when she woke up. It would take her a moment to realize what had happened, and another moment to realize she was craving more hot chocolate. She would sit next to Fred at breakfast and grab some and smile at him, commenting on how it wasn't as good as his, amend he would laugh, although later he would make her another one. But right then, at that moment, with her pale face and her way to warm temperature and her hacking cough every few minutes and her deliriousness, Fred knew he had never, and probably would never again, love her more.