Just a little Fred and Hermione Christmas oneshot. Enjoy : )
Mistletoe
Hermione was grateful to be in Grimauld place for Christmas, she was safe she was with her friends and Molly Weasley was a great cook but the general look of the place made her shiver. It was Christmas for Merlin's sake and the only decorations up were house elf heads and some ratty tinsel Sirius had dragged from the basement.
At this point in time the bookworm was residing in the library, the only remotely cheery looking place in the whole house and that was only because of the fireplace. She couldn't focus on her book though, as out of the corner of her eye she could see Fred Weasley holding up some Christmas lights and scratching his head quizzically.
She raised an eyebrow as he tapped a bulb and it exploded. "Bloody hell!" he dropped them quickly.
"Fred, what are you doing?" She sighed; irritated at being disturbed.
"Mione, sweet Mione, I am attempting to decorate. Isn't it obvious?" He smiled crookedly.
"Well could you go decorate badly somewhere else please? I'm trying to read."
Fred just laughed. "Harsh, but there's no use pretending you don't want this place looking cheerier too. And I know that you won't be able to resist the urge to decorate with me." He winked and posed with the lights which exploded again.
Hermione snorted but put down her book too. "Alas, I cannot resist your charms it seems." She laughed and stood up stretching her legs. "I think we will need to repair these lights though Fred." She tugged at her loose jumper that fell to her knees. Mrs Weasley had, again, made her a Christmas jumper that was far too big but Hermione liked it better this way and from Fred's expression, he certainly did too.
The library was quite warm so Hermione was wearing some pyjama shorts that were hidden underneath the jumper. Her untameable hair was chucked into a messy bun which was already coming loose. Fred smiled slightly.
"Fred?" She frowned. "Look I really think we need to fix these."
Fred jumped and snapped back into reality. "Well I've been trying to do that!" He scratched his head again. "You're um, good at spells. Maybe you should?"
And with that Hermione set to work fixing the lights whilst Fred pulled out the ratty tinsel and multiplied it so that there was enough for a few of the other rooms. Hermione tucked a loose curl of hair behind her ear and squinted at the bulbs racking her brains for some kind of spell.
Fred leaned against the fireplace watching her discretely. It wasn't as if he had never seen her before. Harry and Ron were always dragging her around the burrow and she was often talking with Ginny about something. But Fred had never looked at her like this.
She wasn't overwhelmingly beautiful like some of the girls at Hogwarts but it was undeniable that there was something about Hermione Granger that made her so pretty. Her hair was wild and her eyes were fierce but she had a gentle smile and her laugh was such a happy sound that it made Fred grin. Plus she wasn't exactly bad or lacking in the body department.
Fred suddenly cleared his throat not wanting to daydream any further. "You ready Mione?"
She looked up slowly, puffing out her cheeks in a sigh and heaving herself up. "I guess, let's just hope none of these explode." Hermione wrapped the lights round one arm and picked up her wand.
Three hours later almost all of downstairs was decorated, with some help of course from Mr Weasley who only just managed to persuade Molly to let the kids stay up a little later. After that the adults went to bed trusting Hermione and Fred to go back upstairs too.
"You tired yet?" Fred asked, leaning against the kitchen doorframe.
Mione yawned and shook her head making Fred laugh. "I feel like we're missing something…" she walked over to Fred as if it would make her remember.
Fred felt a strange poking on the top of his head and ducked suddenly. "What the-"
They both looked up, puzzled at a weird greenish plant that was growing rapidly from the door frame. A few white buds poked out of the ends, opening slightly and stopping abruptly when they reached the tip of Fred's ear.
Hermione frowned. "Is that… Mistletoe?" She stood on her tiptoes to get a closer look. "Yes it is! Fred its mistletoe! How weird."
"Yeah, weird." Fred cocked his head to the side. "Well, that's enough excitement for one night." He smiled awkwardly, wishing that he could have been courageous enough to just lean in and kiss her.
As he went to move out of the way for Hermione to step past he felt a weird sensation run up his legs.
"Ah!" Hermione yelped as the same happened to her. "I can't move my legs! I'm stuck." She panicked.
"Your wand? Where is it?"
She bit her lip and wacked a hand on her forehead. "Dammit! I left it on the table!"
Hermione leaned forward from where she was frozen, attempting to reach her wand but it was no use. Fred blushed uncomfortably as her jumper rose up slightly.
"It's no use… what do we do?" she asked, looking the most vulnerable Fred had ever seen her.
"Never thought I'd hear you ask me what to do." He chuckled softly, suddenly aware of their close proximity.
She rolled her eyes, smiling. "Occasionally I do have to ask. It's all part of learning." She coughed awkwardly trying to find some way to lean that wouldn't get them too close.
"Trust us to get caught in a cliché like this. This is like a muggle fairy-tale, I'm the handsome prince that has to kiss the damsel in distress." Fred teased.
Hermione laughed, a faint blush rising to her cheeks. "Oh hah- Wait! That's it!" she exclaimed, eyes bright with an idea. "Mistletoe, you kiss under mistletoe. Maybe that's the jinx on us, we have to…" she trailed off, looking at the floor.
"We need to kiss?" Fred asked; bewildered. He wasn't scared of kissing Hermione, he was over the moon but he was scared of messing it up or scaring her off.
She nodded. "Look I understand if it's too awkward but I just think we'd be able to get to bed quicker- well not me and you I mean separately of course..."
As Hermione rabbited on Fred felt like laughing. How bizarre was this situation? Better yet, how great was this situation? He felt a sudden surge of courage and looked down at the petite Gryffindor stuttering and stammering.
"You can do this..." he muttered under his breath as he wrapped an arm around her waist.
Hermione turned crimson and bit her lip hard before relaxing into his arm. She met him halfway intending to kiss him briefly. Fred on the other hand wanted to kiss her so passionately that even he was overwhelmed by his feelings.
He leaned down, bumping noses clumsily and pressed his lips to hers. Hermione relaxed slowly and tentatively placed her hands on his shoulders, then brought her arms around his neck. As the feeling was regained in both of their legs neither of them let go.
Fred held her carefully, like she was fragile even though he knew she was anything but. The moment was so brilliant, he was worried that the slightest change in position would cause her to pull away.
But like all good moments, it had to end. They both pulled back for breath, resting their foreheads on each other's.
"Not too shabby, huh?" Fred whispered, smiling crookedly.
Hermione blushed again and kissed his cheek lightly. "Merry Christmas Fred."
I'M SORRY IT'S JUST THAT IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE AND I LOVE THIS PAIRING AND IT'S VERY CLICHÉ BUT WHO THE HECK CARES MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE THANK YOU FOR READING THIS!