No Other Choice

"Hermione, dear, can you go and help Fred organise the bedrooms? Ron, you can help George de-gnome the garden. And Harry, would you mind helping Arthur with the chickens?"

Hermione doesn't want to be split up from Harry and Ron—they have to plan for their Horcrux hunt—but there is no getting around Molly Weasley when she sets her mind to something. If Hermione wants to meet with Harry and Ron, it will have to be in secret.

The three of them all nod at Molly and go their separate ways. Hermione heads upstairs while the boys both head out to the garden. A small part of Hermione wishes she had been given an outdoor task. Not because she wants to be with Harry and Ron, but because the weather is so nice she'd like to be outside in it.

She reaches the top of the stairs and opens to door to the bedroom that is being made up for Fleur's parents. She hadn't expected Fred to actually be organising the room, but she was expecting him to be doing something more than just lying on the bed throwing a pair of balled up socks into the air.

"Long day?" Hermione asks, a smirk crossing her face when Fred jumps at her words.

Fred shrugs—or, at least, he does the best shrug he can while lying down. "Just boring work. Mum sent you to help, has me?"

Hermione nods. "I think she trusts Harry, Ron, and me together about as much as she does you and George."

"That can't be true," Fred says as he sits up. "She's got nineteen years worth of reasons not to trust us."

"I think she overheard us talking about—" Hermione stops herself. She knows she can't talk about next year with anyone but Harry and Ron. She's been so careful about not letting it slip in front of other people. Why does she feel so safe around Fred?

"About what?" Fred asks, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"That… er… that's Harry's business to tell. It wouldn't be right for me to say." She knows the excuse sounds weak, but she's never been the best at improvising.

"Hermione, you do know she's just worried, right? She doesn't want you to go off risking your lives to beat You-Know-Who, and neither do the rest of us."

"We have to," she says in a small voice. "There's no other choice."

Fred pats the spot on the bed next to him and Hermione sinks into it.

"Do you?" he asks. "Being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble. It means being able to stay and protect the people you care about if you need to."

Hermione smiles. "I know. But there's no talking Harry and Ron out of it, and if I don't go with them, they're not going to manage it."

Fred laughs. "Yeah, those two are almost as stubborn as Ginny. I'm surprised she hasn't tried to do… whatever it is you're doing with you."

"She has," Hermione says. She can't hide the laugh that escapes her lips. "She can't, though. Still has the trace on her. Not that I think Harry would let her even if she didn't."

The two sit there in silence for a moment. Hermione contemplating the journey ahead of her. She doesn't like to admit it, but she has had doubts about their task, especially since Dumbledore didn't explain very much to Harry. Talking to Fred only made the doubts resurface.

"You know," Fred says, breaking the silence. "I was expecting you to tell me off for making the room up like Mum asked."

Hermione laughs. "Honestly, I was hoping you wouldn't be. Don't tell her I said this, but Molly's been piling way too much on us. We're not going to forget about Voldemort by folding bed—"

She's cut off as a pair of lips crash against her own. She gasps in surprise and her mouth is her own once more.

"Shit, Hermione, I'm sorry," Fred mutters, taking in the bright red appearance of her face.

Except, Hermione doesn't want him to be sorry. Hermione wants him to kiss her again. She wonders for a brief moment where the thought has come from, but then she shakes it away. Of course, she knows where it's come from. He's intelligent, funny, and she can't deny how attractive he's become since leaving school. The world of business suits him.

"I'm sorry," Fred says again. "I was presumptuous, I won't—"

This time, it's Hermione who cuts Fred off. She leans up until their lips meet, and her hands instinctively find their place on the back of his neck.

It's as the kiss is deepening and the two fall softly backwards, Fred lying slightly on top of Hermione, that the door opens and Molly Weasley walks in.

"Honestly, you two should have been done by—"

They spring apart at the sound of her voice, and by the shade of red her face is getting, they're both in for a long talk. Hermione lets out a small sigh. This was going to add another name to the list of people Hermione wouldn't be sent to help.

Word Count: 861.

This is for:

Hogwarts April Event – Auction;
Fred/Hermione

Hogwarts Yearly Event – Insane House Challenge;
563. Being kissed unexpectedly mid-sentence.

Hogwarts Yearly Event – 365 Prompts;
208. A first kiss.

Hogwarts Yearly Event – Fanfiction Resolutions;
65. Write a collection of 'first' drabbles.

Hogwarts May Event – The Crafty Cooking cocktail Corner;
Starter Pack – Fred/Hermione.

Hogwarts Writing Club – Character Appreciation;
21. (era) Trio.

Hogwarts Writing Club – Disney;
Q3. "Being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble."