She put her fingers to her lips, still tasting the sweet flavor of spearmint on his breath. Unsure of what to do, she sat in the courtyard, staring up at the stars on the dark winter's night. She could deny it, act as if their lips had never met, as if he hadn't made her laugh through her heart-wrenching tears. Then again, if she were to deny it, who would know?
There was only one other person who even knew of Hermione's first kiss, only one person who could speak of the forbidden butterflies buried deep inside of her stomach which had exploded in beautiful shades of red, yellow, and orange as she felt his tongue graze softly across her lips. There was only one person who knew what her kisses tasted like, what they felt like, and what falsifications could be made from such an experience. Only one person knew, one person who had most likely kissed a hundred girls before her, something Hermione would never dream of doing and creating such a name for herself, and yet…deep down somewhere in her core, Hermione couldn't wait to feel his mouth on hers once more.
Hours before, as Hermione walked down the stairwell towards the Great Hall in her periwinkle dress and her hair, which she had spent hours to get straight and perfect, a wide smile covered her face. Never in her life, had Hermione felt as beautiful as she did now, with the eyes of hundreds of students from not only Hogwarts, but Durmstrang and Beauxbaton as well, upon her. She tried not to blush as Viktor Krum gently kissed her hand.
"You look beautiful Hermy-own-ninny." He said softly, looking deep into Hermione's brown eyes.
"Thank you," Hermione answered happily, a wide smile on her face.
She hadn't noticed the boy watching her from behind a pillar, the well-known face of an old friend whom teased her repeatedly.
Angelina would be furious if she knew her date was watching Hermione, seeing a beauty in the quiet bookworm that he had never noticed so dominantly before. Sure, Fred had always had a slight interest in Hermione, for much of the same reason that he had in any other girl. Though she wasn't one to stand out in a crowd for being exceptionally beautiful or amazingly stylish, when her eyes did light up with joy, whenever she would sass at him with her knowing attitude, he couldn't help but see a secret attraction. This wasn't one he could confess to anyone other than George, who agreed half-heartedly that Hermione could be attractive if she tried harder, but seeing her standing there in the periwinkle dress that he could tell she spent time to pick out, her hair pinned up with the occasional strand falling down around her face in soft ringlets, Fred couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat.
"Freddy-boy!" George said, breaking his train of thoughts as he felt the familiar hand on his shoulder, causing Fred to turn around quickly.
"Sorry, was distracted." Fred answered half-heartedly as George looked past him at Hermione with Viktor Krum, shaking his head in knowing.
"Ready mate? Angelina's waiting." George said, nudging his brother back to reality. They both had sensed (and George had often-times reiterated to Fred) since Hermione had first stepped foot in the burrow that she was off-limits. That Ickle Ronniekins was eventually going to step up and ask her out himself, that he was more of Hermione's type than Fred was anyway. This conversation amongst the twin brothers as they hand-wrapped their puking pasties had recently became less and less in Ronniekins' favor, leaving them with a simple headshake in disappointment for their brother as Hermione stood up during a study period, telling Ron she already had a date and storming out of the Great Hall.
Fred followed his twin over to where Angelina stood in her own velvety-purple dress. He knew it wasn't like one of the Weasley twins to be a poor host as he spent the Yule Ball doing what he should have, dancing with Angelina whenever the music played a slow song where he could hold her close, allowing his musky cologne to surround her as he gently placed his hands on her waist and pulled her body close to his. Instead of guiding Angelina to somewhere private to end the evening as planned, Angelina complained of a slight headache, causing Fred to guide her up to the Gryffindor tower, where he bid her farewell, kissing her softly before returning to join his twin as the ball came to an end.
"Here we go," George said, nudging Fred gently as he nodded over to where Ron sat as Viktor Krum kissed Hermione's hand gently and bid her good night. "Now's Ronniekins' chance."
"Next time, why don't you ask me before someone else does!" Hermione screamed as George and Fred both flinched at her words from the distance as they leaned against the wall nearest to the drinks.
They watched as Ron stormed off, Hermione falling on the stairwell where she had once made her extravagant entrance, now bursting into tears.
"That was less than productive," Fred said with a sigh.
"You can say that again." George answered, shaking his head. "Not exactly how I expected that to go."
"Given up yet?" Fred asked, looking over at his twin who sighed heavily in disappointment of their younger brother.
"Go for it." George said, taking another sip of his firewhiskey spiked punch.
Fred tried to remain casual as he walked over to Hermione, kneeling down beside her as she sniffled and wiped the tears from her make-up covered cheeks.
"He is such a…a…" She started, shaking her head as she looked down in frustration.
"You can say it," Fred answered, "He's an arse and a dim one at that."
Hermione tried to fight back a laugh before finally letting it escape through her tears as she wiped the fresh ones away as well. "Well, I wasn't exactly going to go that far." She said with a chuckle.
"Ahhh yes, but it's true. Deny it." Fred answered with an understanding smile.
Smiling, Hermione already felt better as she looked up at Fred with relief. "Thank you," She said, her eyes showing that she meant it.
"It's nothing." Fred answered with a careless shrug. "Come on, you could use some fresh air." He said, holding out his hand for Hermione to take.
Staring down at the pale hand, looking at the single freckle that sat on the sensitive spot between Fred's finger and thumb, Hermione looked back up at Fred, unsure of what he was saying.
"Well," He continued with a smile, "Unless you'd rather sit her and cry, I will stay with you either way but personally, I think it'd be rather embarrassing to still be here once Moody over there gets done with his flask." He said with a laugh.
Hermione giggled as she took Fred's hand before looking over at George, who was still standing next to the punch bowl, watching his twin brother. "Umm…what about George?" She asked, having never seen the two of them separated.
"Georgie-boy will understand." Fred answered, "Besides, he has his own date to take care of, if you know what I mean." He said with a wink causing Hermione to blush.
"OH, well….ummm….I didn't mean to…ummm.." Hermione started, hoping this wasn't Fred trying to get into her knickers as she blushed profusely, causing her cheeks to turn a vibrant red.
"Nothing like that," The red-headed boy said as he led her down towards the Black Lake. "I was simply letting you know." With that Fred reached up, gripping onto a tree branch over his head and hoisting himself up onto the limb before holding out a helping hand for Hermione to take. "I only wanted to make you feel better after Ronniekins' bloody screw up…again."
"Thank you," Hermione said softly, taking Fred's hand and putting her foot against the bark of the tree as Fred pulled firmly. Grabbing ahold of the base of the tree with the other hand, she used it to get a better grip before readjusting herself and sitting down next to him. She couldn't deny that although the air was chilly and the snow on the ground had left the bottom of her dress damp, the wind felt nice on her still tear-stained cheeks and the view from where they sat was beautiful. She tried to hold back a shiver as she looked on at the full moon above the lake, seeing it's white reflection in the gentle rolling of the water below.
"Cold?" Fred asked, taking off his brown pin-striped jacket before Hermione could reply and draping it over her shoulders as he moved closer to her. "See, it's not all fun and games, just most of it." He said causing Hermione to smile once more as she shook her head in disbelief.
"And when you leave Hogwarts?" She asked, her voice matter-of-fact once more as she looked at Fred as if to expect a proper, responsible answer.
"George and I already have it planned." Fred answered proudly, sitting up straight. "A joke shop, best around. Puking pasties, fainting fancies, fake wands and invisible ink. You name it, we will carry it. Best around, Zonko's won't have anything on us."
"Nice…." Hermione answered, rolling her eyes at the thought as she pulled the jacket closer around her.
"Mum isn't too thrilled at the thought. Still expects us to grow up to become Healers or Aurors, perhaps work at the Ministry like dad, but we wouldn't be happy somewhere like that. Me and George, we are one of a kind." He said as Hermione burst out in laughter at the thought.
"You mean two of a kind?" She asked, a true smile remaining on her face.
"Details." Fred answered with a careless shrug as he wrapped his arm around Hermione, pulling her closer to him. He rubbed his hand against her upper arm, acting as if the reason he had pulled her closer were to keep her warm.
Hermione didn't fight Fred as he had expected, instead gently laying her head on his shoulder. It felt good to laugh, to feel young again. It was something she hadn't felt since school had started this year at Hogwarts, first worrying about S.P.E.W. and how she was going to get other students to see what was happening to the poor elves, and then finding out that Harry's name had been drawn from the Goblet of Fire. There had been little that hadn't been concerning her lately, little that hadn't left her emotionally exhausted and yet when she did fit in time between her studies and S.P.E.W. to lay her head on the pillow and attempt to get some rest, sleep came without ease as she worried about one of her best friends and knew she was no longer on speaking terms with the other.
She couldn't explain what came over her as Fred leaned down, placing his free hand under Hermione's chin and lifting her face so that her eyes met his. As she looked into the twin's warm brown eyes, she knew Fred wasn't normally her type. He was a prankster, and an overly active one at that. He was someone who didn't take life seriously, whose long hair and constant playful smile screamed out that he was a rebel but, Hermione reminded herself, it was harmless rebelliousness and a playful teasing. He was someone who could make her laugh, even when she wanted to cry.
Without thought, Hermione followed Fred's lead as he leaned in closer and allowed his lips to gently graze across her own. Her hand reached up and found the nape of his neck as his slowly moved to cradle her cheek instead. She tasted the sweet mint of the toothpaste he had used to brush his teeth with earlier that night, most likely for Angelina to enjoy rather than herself, but somewhere in Hermione's mind, it didn't seem to matter who the toothpaste was for.
She was the one enjoying its sweet flavor as Fred's tongue grazed across her lips and she slowly opened her mouth to allow him to deepen the kiss a little bit further. She could feel Fred's hands shaking as he explored her mouth with a gentle concern, sending butterflies soaring through her in a mixed hormonal emotion that she had never felt before.
Nibbling gently on her lip before pulling away, Fred's eyes met Hermione's once more.
"I should probably be getting you back." He said softly, "No need in making a scene out of our sudden disappearance."
Hermione nodded her head, blushing profusely as she cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Okay," She answered in a soft voice, pulling her hand away from the nape of his neck and instead putting it on her own where she could still feel the heat of embarrassment wearing off.
What had she done? She….did she seriously just kiss Fred Weasley, Ron's older brother? Feeling ashamed and yet excited, Hermione allowed Fred to help her from the seat in the tree where she, only moments prior, shared her first kiss with him.
"Thank you," Fred said, kissing Hermione's hand as he stared into her eyes as they stood in front of the sleeping Fat Lady.
"Thank you," Hermione answered with a blush-filled smile, allowing Fred's soft lips to meet the back of her hand before they both headed into the Gryffindor Common Room as if nothing had happened at all.
Hermione took one last glance back as she saw Fred jump over the back of the couch in the Common Room, flopping down in front of the fireplace, before she smiled to herself and hurried up the stairs to change.
Hours had passed by as slowly the rest of the girl's dormitory filled back up with returning students. Hermione kept her back turned to the door as she heard Lavender rush in with muffled giggles, only to lead to whispering between her and Pavarti. She kept her back turned as Ginny opened and closed the same door, moving around quietly before laying down in her own bed, and Hermione even faked sleep as Fay Dunbar crawled into her bed, tripping over her shoes before she settled down.
Tossing and turning, Hermione felt another sleepless night taking over before she looked at her watch. 3 am. Knowing she may as well give up on sleep, Hermione softly put her hand to her lips, feeling the lingering touch of Fred's kiss against them and went down to the courtyard to think about what she was going to do.