"Dance with me, Granger."
Hermione blinks, looking up, past the extended hand, her eyes tracking up a woolen sweater with a giant yellow 'F' to the face of a grinning Fred Weasley. George, hovering a few steps behind him, is looking very amused.
"Is this some sort of trick?"
"Why, I would never," Fred says, an affronted and hurt look passing over his face; it looks as genuine as Crook did when she berated him about Scabbers. "I'm merely asking a pretty girl to dance."
She narrows her eyes at him, shaking her head; certain now that this is a trick, but he doesn't lower his hand, eyes open, face earnest.
"Don't you dare stand on my feet," she sighs, resigned, and his grin becomes even wider as she takes his hand-
He pulls her up fast, clamps a hand around her waist and spins her twice in the span of a second. "Fr-Fred!" she stutters, but off they go, dancing, moving, Fred dips her and spins her and twirls her out, railing her back in, lifting her from her feet to spin himself as he raises her up in the air.
The music is much too slow for this sort of dance, but as usual the Weasley twins have decided to write their own rules. She spots George giving poor Katie Bell the same treatment in a fleeting glance, because then she is twirling again, and she can't slow down enough to even see one single face. They all blur as she spins, the candle lights becoming streaking flames and the only thing she sees more than once is the red of Fred's hair.
Fred moves fast, elegantly, always a step ahead, dragging her through the great hall and she laughs as she twirls again and again, her school skirt flying out, her tie coming loose, her hair escaping the bun she had wrestled it in that morning.
Red and Gold intertwine and become one as they dance.
Finally, the music slows to a stop and this time he twirls her at the right speed, and she faces him again at the crescendo and he pulls her in at the conclusion.
Her heart is beating fast, her face feels warm and flushed, and she can't stop smiling, her body tingly all over. That was exhilarating, just as the rides she took in Disney Land the time her parents had taken her to France.
Fred, looking mischievous and very pleased with himself, gives her a dazzling grin.
"Save me a dance at the ball, yeah?" and he kisses her knuckles, before he is off to find George. Katie looks a bit green, she knows her hair looks a mess, Harry is grinning as he watches McGonagall berating the twins on not dancing on tempo-they do not even have the grace to look even remotely guilty- and Ron's face is a mix between amused and resigned.
Hermione thinks she definitely will.