AU: I repeat, this is AU. Fred is ALIVE in this fic. Because this fic is written for the Twin Exchange December challenge. They love Fred there and so do I. Also, I mention parts from the 7th Harry Potter movie because I feel it fits with this story.
The prompts to look for:
Fountain, Global warming,
Pairing: Fred/Hermione
Quotes: "Try, I'm begging you"
"It's fun, I swear"
"Hand it over or else"
Theme: Christmas/Winter
The Burrow after the war was rebuilt by half the wizard community. Hermione felt like the Burrow was her second home. After all, aside from Hogwarts, she spent most of her life there. Even after the war, she stayed on. When she found her parents in Australia, she brought them back home and continued staying on. Over the years, Harry and Ginny got engaged, then pregnant. She and Ron dated once or twice, but Hermione broke it off with him and started working in the shop with the twins, since Ron wanted to be an auror alongside Harry. Their relationship ended mutually. Both felt like they were brother and sister, instead of boyfriend and girlfriend.
"Oh my god! Hermione! They made me a chocolate fountain! With bacon!" Ginny squeaked! Ginny's shrill voice brought Hermione back from the memory.
She looked around. She was in the Burrow's living room for Ginny's baby shower. A Christmas tree shimmered in the background, and snow decorated the yard outside the window.
A chocolate fountain flowing freely is just what Ginny wanted. The crisp, fried bacon was for Ginny to dip in with the chocolate. She had craved bacon and chocolate the entire pregnancy, which made Mrs. Weasley think Ginny's having a boy. But Mr. Weasley thought she was having a girl. Hermione's eyes moved towards the kitchen as the doors swung open. Molly had a beautiful arrangement of homemade macaroons in every color with Arthur behind her.
"But Molly, she wanted chocolate! Sugar and spice and everything nice, isn't that how girls are made?" He smiled.
Hermione chuckled as she listened to the argument for the tenth time.
"Arthur, she's craving salt too. Which is where the bacon comes from. Hermione dear!" Molly had just noticed Hermione had arrived later than planned. Hermione took off her scarf and laid it on the chair. Or what she thought was the chair. He shifted in his sleep.
"Fred's been working late," Molly said as she gently woke up her son.
"I know he has. I had to help him with inventory," since George was on vacation for his honeymoon."
Hermione didn't notice Fred taking her scarf and tucking it under his coat.
"Bacon," Ginny moaned as she tried a chocolate dipped bacon strip.
"Don't get used to that!" Harry said, as he looked disgusted.
"Try, I'm begging you!" she grinned as chocolate ran down her face.
"No thanks, it's all yours." Harry stuck his tongue out. "Don't get use to eating like that after the baby is born," Harry said, grinning at Hermione.
"Oh, I forgot! Your present from me is outside. Let me go get it for you," Hermione said as soon as she accepted a cup of coffee from Molly. She set the coffee down on the table next to her.
"I told you not to get me anything!" Ginny mumbled through bites of bacon.
Hermione hurried outside into the snow, forgetting her scarf. As soon as she rushed outside, she wished she could be back inside. She had specially ordered a crib for Harry, which had arrived shortly after she did. She made the delivery person leave it at the border of the burrow's grounds and made them think nothing was down that road. The Burrow's privacy after the war meant a lot to Molly and Arthur.
She walked a mile in the snow, wishing she had her scarf and jacket. Hermione suddenly stopped, thinking she had been followed. She turned around and saw Fred standing a few feet away.
"You forgot your scarf so quickly, I didn't want you to be cold." He handed her a white scarf decorated with Christmas trees in the snow.
"My mother gave it to me last Christmas. She knitted it herself." She accepted the scarf, and carefully put it on. She pulled her hair out of the scarf. She noticed him watching her every move.
"Why did you leave the gift all the way out here?" Fred asked.
"I bought it from a muggle. Don't tell your father. He'd want to tweak it. The delivery guy had never heard of this address before, so I told him to leave it here. The only thing is, it's heavy." Hermione said as she started to walk closer to the meeting zone.
"So how were you going to get it back?" Fred asked, walking beside her. He lifted his feet one foot in front of the other, and fell as he walked. Hermione couldn't help but smile as she saw him literally knee deep in the snow.
"When did it get so thick?" He asked, watching her grin.
" It's always been thick. Where have you been?" Hermione laughed as he took her by the hand and pulled her down in the snow next to him.
"Oh yeah? How are you walking on it so easily?" He asked watching her covered in snow.
"Snowshoes, until you pulled me down." She laughed and showed him the brown shoes he had not seen. She showed the shoe to him proudly. Fred quickly took the shoe from her after untying it.
"Hey!" She squealed. She faced him knee deep in the snow fighting for her shoe. He toppled over her, and rolled in the snow, ducking her punch.
"Hand it over!"
"No, I think it'll suit me better." He grinned as he attempted to put her shoe on him.
She dove for the shoe, but he was quicker and moved out of her way, forcing her to land in the snow face first.
"Bloody Hell the snow's cold!" she squeaked.
"Really. I hadn't noticed, Captain Obvious," Fred grinned. He laughed as she sat up in the snow with her face covered.
"No really, It's cold!"
"Well if it were hot, your face would be melting, and global warming would be happening."
Fred handed her another scarf he had under his first one and wiped the snow off her face.
The shoe lay forgotten near the fence as Hermione watched Fred. A scar was above his left eye. She wondered if he had gotten that in the war. He knew what she was looking at, and absentmindedly touched it.
"Yeah. The war," He said. He noticed she felt her arm where Bellatrix Lestrange had scarred her for life.
"You too?" He asked.
Tears formed as she remembered the torture.
Fred walked in the deep snow to her, wrapped his arms around her, and let her cry.
"The war was hard on all of us. I narrowly escaped death, myself."
"I know. I was there, remember?" She looked up at him with fresh tears on her face. He took his sleeve and wiped them away. As he pulled his hand away, she caught it.
"Hermione," he whispered her name.
"Thank you for letting me cry on you," she whispered as she held his hand tight.
"I've been watching you. I don't mean to sound creepy or like a stalker, But I've been watching you. You keep the sadness on your face. It's good to see you laugh," He said honestly.
"I know you have. It's hard being happy when your ex is engaged, your best friend is expecting, and all you're doing is staying put with life," She admitted.
Snow started to fall as they stood in the dark in silence. Hermione looked up over the field and turned back to Fred.
He kissed her. He couldn't help himself. She looked so pretty in the light of the silvery, full moon peeking through the snow clouds with the snow falling around them. She didn't pull away, and was hungry for him too. She wanted to taste his lips on hers and feel his arms tighter around her. It had been a long time since she held a man close to her. They gave the moment a chance. A taste of what could happen if they wanted to keep at it. They kissed in the snow. Hermione deepened the kiss, making herself feel like she wanted more. She then broke apart from him after a few moments.
"Why did you stop?" he asked.
"The baby shower. Don't you think they'll notice where we are?"
"With Ginny eating as much bacon and chocolate as she is, I don't think they will notice," he grinned. He got the shoe for her, and put it on watching her smile.
"The package is just a few feet away."
They held hands, and walked in silence to the end of the road. When they reached their destination, he stopped.
"Hermione, when we go back there, what will happen next?"
"We can figure that out when we get back. Do you know what I've always wanted to do, what I haven't done in years?" she asked before she picked up the heavy box.
"Snow angels. My mother and I use to make them on Christmas Eve in the dark." She let go of his hand, laid back in the snow, this time not caring about it being cold, and made one.
"You think I'm crazy," She said as she stood up and saw the angel she made.
"It's fun. I swear. You should try it." She looked at him.
"Alright. But if you try it with me." He pulled her on top of him as he fell down on the snow.
"This isn't how you were supposed to do it." She said landing on top of him.
"No? I like this version better. When we go back, we can either tell them about us, or tell hide it and let it be Ginny's night."
They made it back after only thirty minutes of being away. Like Fred predicted, no one knew they were gone.
"What took you so long?" Ginny asked as she saw them bring the wooden box inside.
"Snowing," Hermione said as she glanced at Fred, blushing, and then looked away towards the window.
She didn't know what was becoming of her and Fred, but she knew she wanted to taste him more.
Author's note: I may continue. If I feel inspired. I haven't written in a long time(Writers block and all)
Special thanks to my super fast beta Will WingedPanther73