This is my entry for The Twin Exchange's monthly challenge. I hope you like it!
Prompt: Alcohol
Pairing: Hermione/Fred
Quote: "Go ahead, if you think you can."
Theme: Valentine's Day/Anti-Valentine's Day
oOoOo
As the clerk rang up her Honeyduke's purchases, Hermione eyed the display of heart-shaped cookies (which advertised a different pick-up line with each bite) with a glare.
It wasn't that she necessarily minded being alone on Valentine's Day. As a matter of fact, she'd been single for every Valentine's Day she'd been alive for. No, what bothered Hermione was that she was the only one who was alone.
It was Valentine's Day and a Hogsmeade trip, which meant that Ron was at Madam Puddifoot's with Lavender, Harry was off hunting some obscure creature with his odd match, Luna Lovegood, and Ginny was in the arms of the "oh-so dreamy" (her words) Dean Thomas.
Hell, she'd even seen Neville strolling with Susan Bones.
Which left Hermione as, seemingly, the only person in the entire castle without a Valentine.
She huffed to herself as she headed for the exit, wondering if it was too early to go back to the castle. There, she could at least study and concentrate on something that didn't remind her of this stupid holiday.
Her thoughts were interrupted rather abruptly when she pushed the door open and collided with a rather tall someone, causing both Hermione and her hapless victim to tumble into the snow. As she fell, she was fairly certain she saw a flash of ginger hair.
Dear Merlin, she thought with gritted teeth, if Lavender Brown is watching me knock Ron Weasley off his feet, I swear I'll –
"All right, Granger?"
And she was immediately certain it was not Ron.
Hermione looked up into the bright eyes of a grinning Weasley twin as she brushed the snow out of her hair. Oddly enough, just one Weasley twin. The one.
Just my luck.
Sighing, she pushed herself into a kneeling position so she could retrieve the candy she'd bought that had been unceremoniously scattered during their fall.
He immediately began helping her. "You all right?" He asked again.
"Yes." She bit out. "Where's George?"
"He's got a date with Angelina."
Hermione's eyebrows crawled together and she looked up again. "Didn't she go to the Yule Ball with you last year?"
Fred gave a one-shouldered shrug. "Turns out she thought it was George who had asked her until the night of the dance. She was a good sport about it, though."
Having collected all of her things, they both stood. With a grin and a raised eyebrow, he said, "I noticed you didn't have any Kissing Crunchies or True Love Truffles in that bag. Where's your hot Valentine's date?"
"Oh, he's too busy being nonexistent." Hermione said sarcastically.
Fred laughed heartily, and her heart jumped. Inwardly, she hissed at herself. Don't be stupid.
Her (irrational) crush on the more outgoing of the Weasley twins had started sometime at the beginning of her fourth year, but had since fizzled out to a dull but hopeful sort of longing. At this point, she'd managed to convince herself that there was no way it could ever happen. She wondered why she'd even thought it was possible.
"The brilliant and beautiful Hermione Granger, most date-worthy of all dateable girls, is dateless on Valentine's Day! This is an outrage!"
Oh. That's why.
She smiled grudgingly up at him. "I'm going to head back to Hogwarts, if you don't—"
"I'd be happy to escort you, Miss Granger! Do you want to stop for a butterbeer first? On me."
She groaned to herself. He really shouldn't be toying with her like this, not after she'd spent the last year and a half pining uselessly for him, completely wasting away every ounce of her dignity.
At her hesitation, he nudged her and said, "Come on, Hermione. We're both far too attractive to be spending Valentine's Day alone."
How could she say no?
oOoOo
Hermione squirmed as the butterbeer flowed through her, effectively warming her insides. Trying her best not to sound like she was desperately in over her head, she said, "I'm surprised you didn't ask anyone to come to Hogsmeade with you today."
Fred kept his eyes on her as he gulped down his drink. When he finished, he said, "No one's really caught my eye, I suppose."
"Um – you have – um…" She pointed to his upper lip, the corner of which was smothered with cream.
His tongue darted out of his mouth to rid his lip of the offending cream, and she froze. He seemed to notice, too, because he smirked, and said, "Better?"
She gulped. When had it gotten so hot in there? "Much."
He leaned back and his eyes met hers again. "I'm going to assume you said no to your various suitors because you're still too hung up on Krum."
"If by 'various' you mean zero and by 'hung up' you mean I've talked to him once since Christmas, then you'd be correct." She retorted. Merlin, I just need to stop talking altogether. She downed the rest of her butterbeer.
His infuriating smirk sat still and unmoving on his face, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking at every moment. It irked her to no end and it made her feel particularly violated. She squirmed again. Fred slapped a few Sickles on the table and dramatically swept his arm in the direction of the door, which he promptly held open for her.
She shivered as they stepped out into the cold, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders like it was second nature. She fought the urge to tense up.
"I've always liked Valentine's Day." Fred thought out loud as they strolled down the snowy path. "I don't understand why it gets so much hate."
"Maybe because it's just another excuse for happy couples to shove their public displays of affection in everyone else's faces." Hermione muttered.
Fred laughed. "Is that bitterness I hear?" He teased. "Come on, Granger, embrace the fact that love exists!"
"I'm not bitter!" She protested. "I just think it's a useless holiday and—"
"Not to worry, Hermione, dear, I'll be your Valentine! I'll even fight off all the boys that pull their heads out of their arses once they see how cute your nose looks when it gets all red from the cold."
"I don't—"
"Or how stunning you look when your hair is sprinkled with snow. Or the adorable wrinkles you get on your forehead when you're frustrated – yeah, exactly like that."
An odd feeling of hopelessness washed over her. With the way he was grinning down at her, like the rest of the world didn't even exist, she knew she didn't stand a chance against his natural charm.
Slowly, he said, "You know, Hermione, I'll bet I can guess why you haven't got a date."
She tried not to glare. Suddenly, she regretted drinking so much butterbeer. "Go ahead." She heard herself say, almost flirtatiously. "If you think you can."
"I don't think there's a bloke in that castle who's good enough to be with you."
She looked up at him blankly. Whatever she'd been expecting, it certainly wasn't that.
And suddenly, she was hyperaware of how close they were standing. His body was mere inches from hers, and he was still looking at her in that way, and she felt like she was in a dream.
Perhaps it was the butterbeer fermenting in her veins, or maybe it his effervescent charisma, or it could have been her old crush resurfacing, or maybe it just boiled down to the fact that she was alone on Valentine's Day, but whatever the reason, Hermione Granger made the impulsive decision to push herself up onto her tiptoes, planting her lips on his –
But she stumbled forward as her target stepped away from her.
Instantly, her face burned with embarrassment. Hot tears of humiliated pressed against her eyelids and she clenched her teeth to hold them back.
"I'm sorry." She said hastily. "I didn't—"
But he was smirking at her, mocking her, and whatever lust she'd been feeling for him moments before had turned to hatred –
"Hermione Granger!" He said in a low voice, his wide-eyed look now transforming to his usual smirk, "Kissing on the first date?"
It was her turn to stare in disbelief.
He continued, "I've been telling myself all morning that I should wait until our second date to kiss you, at least! Thought that'd be more gentlemanlike and all." He beamed. "But if you're that eager, I certainly won't say no."
Whack!
He ducked her swing, laughing.
"Frederick Weasley!" She seethed. "You let me believe for that moment that I had completely misplaced my assumptions – do you have any idea how humiliated I was?!"
He was still chuckling when he stepped forward, now inches away again, and he lowered his face to hers –
"Oh no!" She said, putting a hand on his chest. "Just for that, I'm making you wait until our third date!"
With an indignant but proud (and, he'll admit, incredibly sexy) glare, she turned on her heel and marched back to the castle.
He stopped just long enough to revel in the fact that his plan had ensued with only minor flaws. Grinning and punching the air with his fist, he whooped, "Best Valentine's Day yet!" and chased after her.